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In director Joe D'Amato's 1982 fantasy film The Blade Master (AKA Ator 2: L'invincibile Orion, Ator The Invincible, and Cave Dwellers), a fantastic editing mistake occurs around the 20-minute mark. The villain, Zor (David Brandon) is speaking to the wizard Sandur (Osiride Pevarello), and is in the process of delivering the line, "Sandur, there is someone I want neutralized." Just after the word "want," there are a few still frames of the characters in slightly different positions, and then halfway through the word "neutralized," there is an obvious cut to a different take. However, in the second take, the line is changed to, "There is someone I want eliminated." Since the cut occurs several frames too late, the line comes out as "Sandur, there is someone I want [pause] neutro-eliminated." Genius.
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The top ten most widely-spoken languages by number of native (first language) speakers are:
1. Mandarin Chinese (~982 million)
2. Hindustani (~460 million)
3. English (~375 million)
4. Spanish (~330 million)
5. Portuguese (~216 million)
6. Bengali (~215 million)
7. Arabic (~206 million)
8. Russian (~165 million)
9. Japanese (~127 million)
10. German (~105 million)
The top ten most widely-spoken languages by total number of speakers (including second language and foreign language speakers) are:
1. English (~1.5 billion)
2. Mandarin Chinese (~1.1 billion)
3. Hindustani (~650 million)
4. Spanish (~420 million)
5. French (~370 million)
6. Arabic (~300 million)
7. Russian (~275 million)
8. Portuguese (~235 million)
9. Bengali (~233 million)
10. German (~185 million)
Source: Statista.com, 2016
*****
The top ten most widely-spoken languages in the United States by total number of speakers are:
1. English (~230 million)
2. Spanish and Spanish Creole (~38 million)
3. Chinese dialects (~3 million)
4. French and French Creole (~2 million)
5. Tagalog (~1.5 million)
6. Vietnamese (~1.4 million)
7. Korean (~1.1 million)
8. German dialects (~1 million)
9. Arabic (~950,000)
10. Russian (~900,000)
Source: United States Census Bureau, 2011
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The top ten longest single-word official place names in the world are, in order:
1. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhe nuakitanatahu, hill, North Island, New Zealand (Māori, 85 letters). Meaning: "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one"
2. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, town, Wales, UK (Welsh, 58 letters). Meaning: "Saint Mary's Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of Saint Tysilio with a red cave"
3. Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, lake, Massachusetts, USA (Nipmuc, 45 letters). Meaning: "Fishing place at the boundaries of the neutral meeting grounds"
4. Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein, farm, North West province, South Africa (Afrikaans, 44 letters). Meaning: "The spring where two buffaloes were killed with a single shot"
5. Azpilicuetagaraycosaroyarenberecolarrea, valley, Navarra, Spain (Basque, 39 letters). Meaning: "The low field of the high pen of Azpilkueta"
6. Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä, bog, Lapland, Finland (Finnish, 35 letters). Meaning: "[alliterative nonsense words] bog"
7. Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik, lake, Manitoba, Canada (Cree, 31 letters). Meaning: "Where the wild trout are caught by fishing with hooks"
8. Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta, village, Andhra Pradesh, India (Telugu, 28 letters). Meaning: "Venkatanarasimharaju's city"
9. Bovenendvankeelafsnysleegte, farm, Upper Karoo, South Africa (Afrikaans, 27 letters). Meaning: "Upper end of Throat-Cut Hollow"
10. Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya, hill, South Australia, Australia (Pitjantjatjara, 26 letters). Meaning: "Place where the devil urinates"
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During World War II, the creator of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician comic strips, Lee Falk, joined the US Army as Propaganda Chief at the St. Louis radio station KMOX and didn't have the time to write his comic, so instead the task was taken over (uncredited) by a young writer named Alfred Bester.
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The Olympics start in a little under 50 minutes when Sweden and South Africa kick off the women's football tournament.
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You forgot Robert April, voiced by James Doohan, NCC-1701's first captain, who preceded Pike, as shown in the TAS episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".Wasn't he a commodore by the time he appeared on TAS?
A Coomedore on the way to retirement, in fact. But he changes his mind at the end of the episode as a reminder that people can have something to contribute, no matter how old they are.
"The Counter-Clock Incident" AFAIK, was also the last episode of The Animated Series". There was also a novel which featured both Robert April, and George Kirk as central characters on the first voyage on the as-yet unnamed starship, NCC-1701.
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You forgot Robert April, voiced by James Doohan, NCC-1701's first captain, who preceded Pike, as shown in the TAS episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".Wasn't he a commodore by the time he appeared on TAS?A Coomedore on the way to retirement, in fact. But he changes his mind at the end of the episode as a reminder that people can have something to contribute, no matter how old they are.
"The Counter-Clock Incident" AFAIK, was also the last episode of The Animated Series". There was also a novel which featured both Robert April, and George Kirk as central characters on the first voyage on the as-yet unnamed starship, NCC-1701.
I was only counting film and TV appearances of characters who held the rank of captain of the Enterprise on screen. Expand that to include all commanding officers (including higher and lower ranks), and the list probably doubles.
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England's University of Warwick is named after the county of Warwickshire, rather than the town of Warwick, and is in fact situated several miles north of Warwick on the southern outskirts of Coventry, near Kenilworth. Adding to the location confusion is the fact that Coventry is no longer in the county of Warwickshire, but instead is in the West Midlands, leading to the current situation where the university straddles both counties.
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Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light) is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime (calcium oxide), which can be heated to 4,662 °F (2,572 °C) before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and candoluminescence. Although it has long since been replaced by electric lighting, the term has nonetheless survived, as someone in the public eye is still said to be “in the limelight.”
The limelight effect was discovered in the 1820s by Goldsworthy Gurney, based on his work with the "oxy-hydrogen blowpipe," credit for which is normally given to Robert Hare. In 1825, a Scottish engineer, Thomas Drummond (1797–1840), saw a demonstration of the effect by physicist and chemist Michael Faraday and realized that the light would be useful for surveying. Drummond built a working version in 1826, and the device is sometimes called the Drummond Light after him.
The earliest known use of limelight at a public performance was outdoors, over Herne Bay Pier, Kent, on the night of 3 October 1836 to illuminate a juggling performance by the famed magician Ching Lau Lauro. This performance was part of the celebrations following the laying of the foundation stone of the Herne Bay Clock Tower. The advertising leaflet called it "koniaphostic light," and announced that "the whole pier is overwhelmed with a flood of beautiful white light."
Limelight was first used for indoor stage illumination in the Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1837 and enjoyed widespread use in theatres around the world in the 1860s and 1870s. Limelights were employed to highlight solo performers in the same manner as modern followspots (spotlights). Limelight was replaced by electric arc lighting in the late 19th century.
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"Limelight" is a song by the Canadian progressive rock band Rush, first appearing on the 1981 album Moving Pictures. The song's lyrics were written by drummer Neil Peart, with music written by bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson. "Limelight" expresses Peart's discomfort with Rush's success and the resulting attention from the public.
The single charted at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top Tracks chart and #55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and remains one of Rush's most popular songs. "Limelight" was one of five Rush songs inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010.
"Limelight" sees Rush commenting on their commercial success, and the fame and its demands that come with rock star status; the song, according to guitarist Alex Lifeson, "is about being under the microscopic scrutiny and the need for privacy--trying to separate the two and not always being successful at it". Bassist Geddy Lee describes the motivation for "Limelight" in a 1988 interview:
"Limelight was probably more of Neil [Peart]'s song than a lot of the songs on that album in the sense that his feelings about being in the limelight and his difficulty with coming to grips with fame and autograph seekers and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands on his time ... he was having a very difficult time dealing with.
"I mean we all were, but I think he was having the most difficulty of the three of us adjusting; in the sense that I think he's more sensitive to more things than Alex [Lifeson] and I are, it's difficult for him to deal with those interruptions on his personal space and his desire to be alone. Being very much a person who needs that solitude, to have someone coming up to you constantly and asking for your autograph is a major interruption in your own little world."
In a 2007 interview, Alex Lifeson gives his take on "Limelight":
"It's funny: after all these years, the solo to "Limelight" is my favorite to play live. There's something very sad and lonely about it; it exists in its own little world. And I think, in its own way, it reflects the nature of the song's lyrics - feeling isolated amidst chaos and adulation."
Lifeson's guitar solo was performed on what he called a "Hentor Sportscaster", a modified Fender Stratocaster equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato arm. Critics frequently point out Lifeson's use of vibrato in the solo, with Max Mobley writing that it "is dripping with Floyd Rose whammy". "Limelight" has been described as Lifeson's "signature song", and Lifeson himself calls it his favorite solo. The song is a staple of Rush's live performances, having been played on every tour since its release except the Grace Under Pressure Tour (1984), the Presto Tour (1990), and the R40 Live Tour (2015).
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The London Borough of Brent, United Kingdom has the highest proportion of Irish residents (4% of the population) of any district in mainland Britain. Brent is a twin town with South Dublin, Leinster, Republic of Ireland, despite both Brent and South Dublin being districts or counties, as opposed to actual towns.
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Boring, OR is an unincorporated community located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area. Boring, fittingly, is a twin town with the village of Dull, Perth and Kinross county, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on their leader, actor Humphrey Bogart, until his death in 1957. The name "The Rat Pack" was first used to refer to a group of Bogart's friends in New York. Several explanations have been offered for the famous name over the years. According to one version, the group's original "Den Mother," Lauren Bacall, after seeing her husband (Bogart) and his friends return from a night in Las Vegas, said words to the effect of "you look like a g&&*!*n rat pack."
According to Bogart's son Stephen H. Bogart, the original members of the Rat Pack were Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall, Sid Luft, Humphrey Bogart, Swifty Lazar, Nathaniel Benchley, David Niven, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, George Cukor, Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, and Jimmy Van Heusen. In his autobiography The Moon's a Balloon, David Niven confirms that the Rat Pack originally included him but neither Sammy Davis, Jr. nor Dean Martin.
By the 1960s, "The Rat Pack" was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, which included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse, Buddy Greco, and Shirley MacLaine were often referred to as the "Rat Pack Mascots." The post-Bogart version of the group (Bogart died in 1957) was reportedly never called "The Rat Pack" by any of its members--they called it "The Summit" or "The Clan."
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In 1977, the producers of Taxi saw Andy Kaufman's "Foreign Man" act at The Comedy Store. They had already created the main characters for the pilot but they enjoyed Kaufman so much they immediately offered him a role based on the character. Kaufman wasn't a fan of sitcoms, but his manager, George Shapiro, convinced him that this would rocket him to stardom, where he would make a lot of money which he could then put into his own act, which became Andy's Funhouse. Kaufman agreed to appear as "Latka Gravas" in fourteen episodes per season, approximately half of the entire series.
One of Kaufman's conditions was that one of his other characters, Tony Clifton, be allowed to guest star in the series. The producers were well aware that "Clifton" was an alter ego of Kaufman, but went along with the fiction that Clifton was a separate actor. They signed Clifton to a separate contract, and announced to the cast that Clifton was being hired to portray the character of Louie's brother in the series' tenth episode.
However, after the first day of rehearsal, the producers felt Kaufman-as-Clifton was not up to the acting challenge of playing the offered role. Informed of this, Kaufman asked that "Clifton" be fired in public, ostensibly for coming to rehearsal late. Clifton then showed up on set for the next day of filming, and was demanding, boorish and obnoxious; the producers not only fired Clifton, but threw him off the set after he caused havoc and enraged actors Judd Hirsch and Jeff Conaway. The role was hurriedly recast, and when Kaufman (as himself) returned to work for the following episode, he acted as if nothing had happened.
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The name of the American pop punk band Green Day comes from a 1980s slang term for spending a day smoking marijuana. Shortly before the release of their debut EP 1000 Hours, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong wrote a song called "Green Day" about his first experience with the drug, and it soon replaced "Sweet Children" as the band's name.
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I didn't know that. I'll have to go back and watch BRit25C again. Buster Crabbe also played Flash Gordon, a character who primarily existed because Alex Raymond was such a fan of Buck Rogers.On a 1999 episode of TV series 3rd Rock From The Sun entitled "Dick's Big Giant Headache, part 1," series protagonist Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) meets the character Big Giant Head (William Shatner) at the airport. During the scene, Big Giant Head mentions "seeing something on the wing of the plane," to which Dick replies, "the same thing happened to me!" This is a reference to the fact that both Shatner and Lithgow played variations on the same character in the 1963 Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet," and the "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" segment of the 1983 film The Twilight Zone: The Movie, respectively.Similar fanservice in-joke in the pilot eposide of the 1980s Buck Rogers TV show -- Gil Gerard, playing the main character who has been frozen for 500 years, meets an old-time pilot who makes some comment about comparative ages; they go back and forth a bit. The old-timer was played by Buster Crabbe, who portrayed Buck Rogers in the late '30s.
My favorite variant of this was Batman: TAS's episode, Beware the Gray Ghost. But, in an attempt to look as cool and professional as Mr. Mallon:
"Beware the Gray Ghost" is the eighteenth episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It was directed by series regular Boyd Kirkland and first aired on November 4, 1992. The episode features guest star Adam West, best known for his portrayal of Batman in the 1960s Batman television series. West plays the Gray Ghost, a character who bears a strong resemblance to Batman antecedent The Shadow."
EDIT: oops, I failed! Fixed!
:D
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During World War II, the creator of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician comic strips, Lee Falk, joined the US Army as Propaganda Chief at the St. Louis radio station KMOX and didn't have the time to write his comic, so instead the task was taken over (uncredited) by a young writer named Alfred Bester.
Continuing on the theme of The Phantom - as of the issue that dropped last Thursday, the Scandinavian version of the comic will start to feature adventures with the 22nd Phantom (the current one's son and daughter) in-between the regular 21st Phantom and historical episodes.
The first instalment of these was drawn by Paul Ryan (who worked on the marriage issues of both Superman and Spiderman, and passed away earlier this year), and written by the Swedish Phantom-veteran Clas Reimerthi.
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I was only counting film and TV appearances of characters who held the rank of captain of the Enterprise on screen. Expand that to include all commanding officers (including higher and lower ranks), and the list probably doubles.You forgot Robert April, voiced by James Doohan, NCC-1701's first captain, who preceded Pike, as shown in the TAS episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".Wasn't he a commodore by the time he appeared on TAS?A Coomedore on the way to retirement, in fact. But he changes his mind at the end of the episode as a reminder that people can have something to contribute, no matter how old they are.
"The Counter-Clock Incident" AFAIK, was also the last episode of The Animated Series". There was also a novel which featured both Robert April, and George Kirk as central characters on the first voyage on the as-yet unnamed starship, NCC-1701.
I count characters that were actually commissioned as Enterprise captains with in the main timeline, not counting aborted future or alternate gtimelines. This means I count both Robert April and What His Name, Jellico, were both official captains of an Enterprise. This also means that Jen Luc Picard served two non consecutive terms as Enterprise commander.
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I count characters that were actually commissioned as Enterprise captains with in the main timeline, not counting aborted future or alternate timelines. This means I count both Robert April and What His Name, Jellico, were both official captains of an Enterprise. This also means that Jean Luc Picard served two non consecutive terms as Enterprise commander.
Hence why I qualified my statement-- you were counting all commissioned captains in the prime timeline (including those who had reached higher ranks before their first screen appearances), I was counting only those commissioned captains in the prime timeline who held the rank on screen on the show and in the films.
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The name of the American pop punk band Green Day comes from a 1980s slang term for spending a day smoking marijuana. Shortly before the release of their debut EP 1000 Hours, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong wrote a song called "Green Day" about his first experience with the drug, and it soon replaced "Sweet Children" as the band's name.
I was sad when I found out that their name did not derive from "Tuesday is Soylent Green day."
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The name of the American pop punk band Green Day comes from a 1980s slang term for spending a day smoking marijuana. Shortly before the release of their debut EP 1000 Hours, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong wrote a song called "Green Day" about his first experience with the drug, and it soon replaced "Sweet Children" as the band's name.I was sad when I found out that their name did not derive from "Tuesday is Soylent Green day."
Me too... Me too...
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The town of Auburn, New York was offered the chance to become the state capital alongside Albany. They declined, instead taking the other option of lucrative subsidization.
I think they got the better deal, too...
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In the comic book series Spawn (Image Comics, 1992-), the widow (Wanda) and daughter (Cyan) of the title character Spawn / Al Simmons are named after the real-life wife and daughter of series creator Todd McFarlane.
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According to American historian and author Robert Leckie, Imperial Japanese forces during the Second World War consistently suffered from communication difficulties, at least in part due to officers' reluctance to report defeats or failures of any kind.
A ludicrous example of this occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Tenaru on August 21, 1942 on the island of Guadalcanal. Japanese forces under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki (the famed "Ichiki detachment") had grossly underestimated the number of American marines present on the island, and the detachment was sent in a frontal assault against entrenched US forces. During the assault, the Ichiki Detachment suffered approximately 85% killed in action (777 out of 916 soldiers), effectively wiping out the unit, while the USMC 1st Marine Regiment only lost 44 out of 3,000 marines.
After the battle, Ichiki's commanding officer, Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake (Ichiki committed seppuku rather than face capture by US forces) reported to his superiors in Tokyo: “The attack of the Ichiki detachment was not entirely successful.”
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I didn't know that. I'll have to go back and watch BRit25C again. Buster Crabbe also played Flash Gordon, a character who primarily existed because Alex Raymond was such a fan of Buck Rogers.On a 1999 episode of TV series 3rd Rock From The Sun entitled "Dick's Big Giant Headache, part 1," series protagonist Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) meets the character Big Giant Head (William Shatner) at the airport. During the scene, Big Giant Head mentions "seeing something on the wing of the plane," to which Dick replies, "the same thing happened to me!" This is a reference to the fact that both Shatner and Lithgow played variations on the same character in the 1963 Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet," and the "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" segment of the 1983 film The Twilight Zone: The Movie, respectively.Similar fanservice in-joke in the pilot eposide of the 1980s Buck Rogers TV show -- Gil Gerard, playing the main character who has been frozen for 500 years, meets an old-time pilot who makes some comment about comparative ages; they go back and forth a bit. The old-timer was played by Buster Crabbe, who portrayed Buck Rogers in the late '30s.My favorite variant of this was Batman: TAS's episode, Beware the Gray Ghost. But, in an attempt to look as cool and professional as Mr. Mallon:
"Beware the Gray Ghost" is the eighteenth episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It was directed by series regular Boyd Kirkland and first aired on November 4, 1992. The episode features guest star Adam West, best known for his portrayal of Batman in the 1960s Batman television series. West plays the Gray Ghost, a character who bears a strong resemblance to Batman antecedent The Shadow."
EDIT: oops, I failed! Fixed!
:D
It's a great episode story wise, and Adam West really kicks it out of the ball park in playing a truly dramatic role.
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In 1502, the 11-year-old Prince Henry (later Henry VIII, King of England), inscribed in a schoolbook copy of the writings of Cicero "Thys Boke Is Myne Prynce Henry."
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The word "flak," meaning "antiaircraft shell fire" (alternatively "adverse criticism," often spelled "flack") derives from the German Wehrmacht's 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41, a Second World War-era anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun. The name "Flak" itself is an acronym for "Fliegerabwehrkanone" (airplane defense cannon).
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ITC Benguiat is a decorative serif typeface designed by Ed Benguiat and released by the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1978. The face is loosely based upon typefaces of the Art Nouveau period but is not considered an academic revival.
The font is used on the cover of The Smiths' album Strangeways, Here We Come, for the book covers of the Choose Your Own Adventure series, The Bitmap Brothers game The Chaos Engine, as well as in the logos of both the National Assembly of Quebec and the Melbourne Knights semi-pro football club. The typeface is featured in the main titles of the Star Trek films Star Trek Generations (1994) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996), as well as the TV series Stranger Things (2016). Paramount's FBI warning has also used ITC Benguiat since 1995.
In 1974, Ed Benguiat was responsible for a revival of the similar 1904 German typeface Korinna, best known for its use in television game shows, appearing as the display font for cues on Alex Trebek's version of Jeopardy and for displaying answer choices during the question round of Press Your Luck. It was used on ABC's Good Morning America from 1986 to 1988 and Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting from 1986 to 1989, as well as the chapter placard typeface for the television series Frasier (1993-2004) and Mork and Mindy (1978-1982).
The Korinna typeface is also used for the logo of Japanese video game company Capcom, as well as the logos of the tabletop role-playing games Advanced Dungeons And Dragons (1978-1987) and GURPS (1986-present).
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The first American citizen to learn of the death of Josef Stalin was Johnny Cash. Yes, that Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. He was a translator in the Air Force at the time, and it was he who translated the transmission with the news.
While stationed in Landsberg, Germany in his capacity as a Morse Code operator for the USAF Security Service, Sgt. Cash also formed his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.
Though many people attribute Johnny Cash’s inspiration for writing the song “Folsom Prison Blues” to seeing the infamous prison first hand, he actually wrote the song while stationed in Landsberg after seeing the 1951 film Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison.
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The first American citizen to learn of the death of Josef Stalin was Johnny Cash. Yes, that Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. He was a translator in the Air Force at the time, and it was he who translated the transmission with the news.While stationed in Landsberg, Germany in his capacity as a Morse Code operator for the USAF Security Service, Sgt. Cash also formed his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.
Though many people attribute Johnny Cash’s inspiration for writing the song “Folsom Prison Blues” to seeing the infamous prison first hand, he actually wrote the song while stationed in Landsberg after seeing the 1951 film Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison.
When he played a concert in a prison, the warden told him not to play any songs that would remind them that they were in prison. "What," said Johnny, "like they're gonna forget?" So he opened the show with Folsom Prison Blues. I think he was actually playing in Folsom Prison.
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Commander Shepard Boulevard, a road in Hampton, Virginia, USA, is not, in fact, named after the Mass Effect protagonist, but after US Navy aviator and astronaut Alan Shepard. The road is located nearby to Langley Air Force Base, the NASA Langley Research Center, and the Virginia Air and Space Center.
Alan Shepard eventually reached the rank of Rear Admiral, after having participated in two NASA missions: Mercury 7 and Apollo 14. He was the second human (and the first American) to travel in space, the first human to ever manually control a spacecraft, the fifth ever human on Earth's moon, and the oldest person to walk on it. While on the Moon, Shepard also hit two golf balls.
His namesake, Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, never rose above their rank, though they were promoted from executive officer to commanding officer of the Normandy, and being appointed as a special agent with a license to kill by a group of powerful aliens has to count for something.
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When he played a concert in a prison, the warden told him not to play any songs that would remind them that they were in prison. "What," said Johnny, "like they're gonna forget?" So he opened the show with Folsom Prison Blues. I think he was actually playing in Folsom Prison.The first American citizen to learn of the death of Josef Stalin was Johnny Cash. Yes, that Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. He was a translator in the Air Force at the time, and it was he who translated the transmission with the news.While stationed in Landsberg, Germany in his capacity as a Morse Code operator for the USAF Security Service, Sgt. Cash also formed his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.
Though many people attribute Johnny Cash’s inspiration for writing the song “Folsom Prison Blues” to seeing the infamous prison first hand, he actually wrote the song while stationed in Landsberg after seeing the 1951 film Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison.
That story may be apocryphal, but he definitely did open up his set with "Folsom Prison Blues" while recording his At Folsom Prison live album. The opening acts were The Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins.
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The Pricedown typeface, designed by Canadian typographer Ray Larabie, is used for the title logos of both the television series The Price Is Right and the Grand Theft Auto series of video games.
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During the Vietnam War, US Marine Corps sniper Carlos Hathcock was sent to an encampment that was being constantly harassed by a North Vietnamese sniper. After observing the terrain and seeing where the enemy's targets were when shot, Hathcock figured out where the sniper had to be shooting from. Rather than attempting to "duel" with his own sniper rifle, Hathcock decided to watch for the sniper's next shot, note his location, and then take out the position with an anti-tank rocket.
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The combined land areas of China, India, the United States, Mexico, Japan, and all of Europe can all fit comfortably inside the land area of the continent of Africa (including Madagascar).
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The Cheshire Mammoth Cheese was a gift from the town of Cheshire, Massachusetts and its pastor, Elder John Leland to President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. The 1,234-pound (560 kg) cheese was created by combining the milk from every cow in the town, and made in a makeshift cheese press to handle the cheese's size. The cheese bore the Jeffersonian motto "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
The cheese was eventually presented to Jefferson on January 1, 1802. Leland considered the cheese an act of "profound respect...to the popular ratification of his election." While the cheese did serve to praise Jefferson, the town also made a political statement in its letter to Jefferson, noting that "the cheese was procured by the personal labor of freeborn farmers with the voluntary and cheerful aid of their wives and daughters, without the assistance of a single slave."
Jefferson, who opposed this gift giving custom on principle, gave a $200 donation to Leland's congregation as a gesture of gratitude. The naming of the cheese was the first time the word "mammoth" was used as an adjective.
The cheese would remain at the White House for over two years, having been featured in a public dinner for an Independence Day celebration in 1803, eventually being replaced by the "Mammoth Loaf," a large loaf of bread made by the United States Navy out of a barrel full of flour.
President Andrew Jackson's supporters commissioned a similar cheese for consumption in 1837, as his supporters believed that "every honor which Jefferson had ever received should be paid him."
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"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort M'Henry," a poem written on September 14, 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the oversized American flag that was raised over the fort after the defeat of British forces (replacing the tattered storm flag that had flown during the battle).
Key gave the poem to his brother-in-law Judge Joseph H. Nicholson who saw that the words fit the popular melody "The Anacreontic Song" by English composer John Stafford Smith. This was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17; of these, two known copies survive.
The lyrics of the two songs could not be more different in tone. Compare (presented in their original form & spelling):
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
A few Sons of Harmony sent a Petition,
That he their Inspirer and Patron would be;
When this answer arriv'd from the Jolly Old Grecian
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute, no longer be mute,
"I'll lend you my Name and inspire you to boot,
"And, besides I'll instruct you, like me, to intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
The news through Olympus immediately flew;
When Old Thunder pretended to give himself Airs.
"If these Mortals are suffer'd their Scheme to persue,
"The Devil a Goddess will stay above Stairs.
"Hark! already they cry, in transports of Joy,
"Away to the Sons of Anacreon we'll fly,
"And there, with good Fellows, we'll learn to intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine.
"The Yellow-Hair'd God and his nine fusty Maids,
"From Helicon's banks will incontinent flee,
"Idalia will boast but of tenantless Shades,
"And the bi-forked Hill a mere Desart will be
"My Thunder no fear on't, shall soon do it's Errand,
"And dam'me! I'll swinge the Ringleaders, I warrant.
"I'll trim the young Dogs, for thus daring to twine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
Apollo rose up, and said, "Pry'thee ne'er quarrel,
"Good King of the Gods, with my Vot'ries below:
"Your Thunder is useless"—then shewing his Laurel,
Cry'd "Sic evitabile fulmen, you know!
"Then over each head My Laurels I'll spread;
"So my Sons from your Crackers no Mischief shall dread,
"Whilst snug in their Club-Room, they jovially twine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
Next Momus got up with his risible Phiz,
And swore with Apollo he'd chearfully join—
"The full Tide of Harmony still shall be his,
"But the Song, and the Catch, and the Laugh shall be mine.
"Then, Jove, be not jealous of these honest fellows."
Cry'd Jove, "We relent, since the Truth you now tell us;
"And swear by Old Styx, that they long shall intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
Ye Sons of Anacreon, then join Hand in Hand;
Preserve Unanimity, Friendship, and Love!
'Tis your's to support what's so happily plann'd;
You've the sanction of Gods, and the Fiat of Jove.
While thus we agree, Our Toast let it be.
May our Club flourish happy, united, and free!
And long may the Sons of Anacreon intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine.
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In the 1985 film Tuff Turf the characters Morgan (James Spader) and Jimmy (Robert Downey Jr.) are shown walking past graffiti reading "THE NEW AVENGERS." 30 years later, Downey Jr. and Spader would both star in the film Avengers: Age of Ultron, the second Avengers film, with Downey Jr. playing Avengers leader Tony Stark/Iron Man and Spader playing antagonist Ultron.
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That story may be apocryphal, but he definitely did open up his set with "Folsom Prison Blues" while recording his At Folsom Prison live album. The opening acts were The Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins.When he played a concert in a prison, the warden told him not to play any songs that would remind them that they were in prison. "What," said Johnny, "like they're gonna forget?" So he opened the show with Folsom Prison Blues. I think he was actually playing in Folsom Prison.The first American citizen to learn of the death of Josef Stalin was Johnny Cash. Yes, that Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. He was a translator in the Air Force at the time, and it was he who translated the transmission with the news.While stationed in Landsberg, Germany in his capacity as a Morse Code operator for the USAF Security Service, Sgt. Cash also formed his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.
Though many people attribute Johnny Cash’s inspiration for writing the song “Folsom Prison Blues” to seeing the infamous prison first hand, he actually wrote the song while stationed in Landsberg after seeing the 1951 film Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison.
I heard Johnny Cash himself tell the story in an interview on the radio.
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Canada signed the Japanese WW2 surrender document on the wrong line.
That is literally the best.
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There is a plaque in Elizabethtown, NY, commemorating the men in the county who were killed in the Vietnam War. Proudly featured in large type on the plaque are the words "Lest We Not Forget." Oh, Essex County, don't ever change...
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Oxygen is simultaneously both keeping you alive and slowly killing you...
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Every cell in your body is doing the same. To let you grow, and survive, and heal wounds, and so on, your cells need to divide and multiply. When they do, they create copies of both strands of DNA inside the parent cell, to give one full set to both child cells. When this happens, the strands accumulate errors - and some of those errors will proliferate into further generations of cells. When they do, the resulting cells become targets for the body's immune defense and are disposed of - unless the errors nullify the immune defense machinery for that cell. That is what we call cancer.
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Every cell in your body is doing the same. To let you grow, and survive, and heal wounds, and so on, your cells need to divide and multiply. When they do, they create copies of both strands of DNA inside the parent cell, to give one full set to both child cells. When this happens, the strands accumulate errors - and some of those errors will proliferate into further generations of cells. When they do, the resulting cells become targets for the body's immune defense and are disposed of - unless the errors nullify the immune defense machinery for that cell. That is what we call cancer.
Yep, life is a terminal, sexually-transmitted disease.
Sort of. Most life is, anyway. Except for the biologically immortal life. But those guys are weird.
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A bit different from my usual fare:
I recently dug up a rather lengthy but interesting article written by a downstater about the area in which I grew up (New York State's Adirondack Mountains), in particular its odd dialect:
Notes on the Dialect and Culture of the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York by Alex Shoumatoff
A number of audio clips and interviews relating to the local dialect can also be found here.