TIL Thread: Today I learned...

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:54 pm

Octavia wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:00 pm
TIL that Steve Martin was never actually a cast member on SNL.

He hosted and guested so much for a while that it’s easy to think he was a regular.

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** (?) » Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:08 am

(warning: mentions alcohol)

TIL that I can buy a 1.75L of vodka at my local liquor store for less than $10 before tax

diribigal · Post by **diribigal** (?) » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:52 am

The dots sometimes written in "naive" are a diaeresis serving the same purpose as the dots sometimes written in "cooperation".

SlateSlabrock · Post by **SlateSlabrock** (?) » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:08 pm

diribigal wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:52 am
The dots sometimes written in "naive" are a diaeresis serving the same purpose as the dots sometimes written in "cooperation".

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultu ... -diaeresis

Mechanical Ape · Post by **Mechanical Ape** (?) » Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:01 pm

diribigal wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:52 am
The dots sometimes written in "naive" are a diaeresis serving the same purpose as the dots sometimes written in "cooperation".

And the constellation Boötes, the herdsman.

respect the boötes

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:16 pm

diribigal wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:52 am
diaeresis

that don't sound too good

Vivianinatoga · Post by **Vivianinatoga** (?) » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:15 pm

When you double up your vowels
and it rumbles in your bowels

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Mon Mar 04, 2019 1:49 am

TIL that there are six surviving documents containing Shakespeare's signature, and in each one he spells his name differently.

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:19 pm

Mr. Big wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 04, 2019 1:49 am
TIL that there are six surviving documents containing Shakespeare's signature, and in each one he spells his name differently.

William Shakespeare: master troll

Mechanical Ape · Post by **Mechanical Ape** (?) » Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:43 pm

more names than you can shake a spear at

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:37 am

TIL that when the Simpsons episode "Team Homer" aired, the Oscar that Homer stole was originally Haing S. Ngor's (for "The Killing Fiends"). However, a month after it aired Ngor was murdered. The producers felt this would have made the joke be that Homer killed him for the trophy, so in later reruns and on the DVD the name was changed to Don Ameche, who won for "Cocoon"

minty · Post by **minty** (?) » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:07 pm

I learned that "Peter and the Wolf" is from the 1930's, and I thought it was older than that.

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** (?) » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:40 am

minty wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:07 pm
I learned that "Peter and the Wolf" is from the 1930's, and I thought it was older than that.

Same. I think it's because I always just remembered the composer as "some Russian guy" and mentally associated it with Tchaikovsky as the only Russian composer I really thought about. I'm sure as a kid I read that it was by Prokofiev, but didn't really retain that in memory to the point when I was old enough to know who Prokofiev was.

And I probably wouldn't even know Prokofiev was from the 20th century, if it wasn't for Billy Joel.

Pocket · Post by **Pocket** (?) » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:19 pm

TIL The Rescuers was Disney's most successful film ever at the time of its release, and would hold that record until it was broken by The Little Mermaid.

Having re-watched it just yesterday, I now have more questions about the world.

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:17 pm

Prokofiev is one of my favorite composers. I love this section from his Romeo and Juliet.

Aramek · Post by **Aramek** (?) » Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:52 pm

That's so good.

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:17 am

TIL that Jean-Jacques Perrey passed away. back in 2016

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:02 pm

Jill wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:17 am
TIL that Jean-Jacques Perrey passed away. back in 2016

My first introduction for him was, of all things, Amy Poehler's Nickelodeon cartoon "The Mighty B!". The closing credits music was Perrey's music that was available through a stock music company.

W.T. Fits · Post by **W.T. Fits** (?) » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:26 pm

TIL - Ernest Thompson Seton's father was an asshole:

Wikipedia wrote:On his twenty-first birthday, Seton's father presented him with an invoice for all the expenses connected with his childhood and youth, including the fee charged by the doctor who delivered him. He paid the bill, but never spoke to his father again.

Wikipedia wrote:Seton called his father, Joseph Logan Thompson, "the most selfish man I ever knew, or heard of, in history or in fiction." He cut off ties completely after being made to pay off an itemized list of all expenses he had cost his father, up to and including the doctor's fee for his delivery, a total of $537.50.

Seriously, what the crap?! That's something you joke about with your kid, not something you're actually supposed to do! :offendash:

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:54 pm

W.T. Fits wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:26 pm
TIL - Ernest Thompson Seton's father was an asshole:

Seriously, what the crap?! That's something you joke about with your kid, not something you're actually supposed to do!

Hazarding a guess that Seton’s life improved after cutting that turdburglar out of his life

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:42 am

TIL that there's a terminology for flights where you take off at night and land in the following morning: "Redeye Flights".

I'm going to go into one this May (from Los Angeles to Nashville), because it was the best flight I could get at my price range. At least I can sleep through it.

Skipper · Post by **Skipper** (?) » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:49 am

Mr. Big wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:42 am
TIL that there's a terminology for flights where you take off at night and land in the following morning: "Redeye Flights".

AKA “that fucking flight where this one fucker keeps his reading light on all night so you can’t sleep and oh yeah, the dude next to you who insisted he take the window seat needs to get up and use the toilet every 5 minutes of this 17 hour flight”

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:56 am

kookwowse wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:49 am
AKA “that fucking flight where this one fucker keeps his reading light on all night so you can’t sleep and oh yeah, the dude next to you who insisted he take the window seat needs to get up and use the toilet every 5 minutes of this 17 hour flight”

I guess that's why they call it a "redeye" flight, then

Skipper · Post by **Skipper** (?) » Tue Mar 19, 2019 2:27 am

The name is quite appropriate, yes.

(?) · Post by **Fizzbuzz** (?) » Tue Mar 19, 2019 7:20 am

Mr. Big wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:42 am
TIL that there's a terminology for flights where you take off at night and land in the following morning: "Redeye Flights".

I'm going to go into one this May (from Los Angeles to Nashville), because it was the best flight I could get at my price range. At least I can sleep through it.

Now all we need is for Redeye Flight to come back.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Fri Mar 22, 2019 7:07 pm

TIL that "A Charlie Brown Christmas" had some changes made from the original broadcast to the version available on DVD and in reruns.

Like, not just the Coca-Cola spots being removed, but also other changes, from some scenes getting trimmed to even a few shots getting reanimated (the closing credits, for example: in the original version, Charlie Brown blushed after being wished a Merry Christmas, and Snoopy joined the singing with the other kids). Also editing changes, with some sound effects being added in places where it was missing originally.

A side-by-side comparison video:

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:07 pm

They can make all the changes they want as long as they don't touch Vince Guaraldi's music.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:25 pm

They did change the music during the scene where Snoopy decorates his doghouse, although that was still Guraldi's music.

Also, they actually finished the song the kids sang in the end credits during the original airing, but for the later reruns the song fade-out, I'm guessing the compensate for the the Coke plug being removed.

In general, if you're watching early "Charlie Brown" specials, and you notice awkward fade-out and editing during opening and closing titles, it means there were plugs for Coca-Cola and Dolly Madison that got taken out for later reruns.

Orange Fluffy Sheep · Post by **Orange Fluffy Sheep** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:44 pm

Coke should be fine with having a holiday classic viewed yearly containing its brand since they used Christmas imagery so much, but I guess free advertising doesn't have money changing hands.

And toyota would get super jealous in a possibly litigious way.

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:02 pm

Today I learned that I'm a total dingus when it comes to designing sturdy mechanical connections.
I want to stack 4 IKEA Lack tables in a modular fashion and wanted to create custom parts to link them together with integrated side panel holders.
I did such a poor job that it wobbles extremely from side to side and does the Mario. Not very useful when 3D printers should be in this makeshift rack.
I'm super mad and disappointed in myself because it took almost one week to create all the parts and wasted a lot of material.
Yeah. Lesson learned but it made me grumpy today.

Mechanical Ape · Post by **Mechanical Ape** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:18 pm

The fact you even tried such a project is so far beyond what I’m capable of, so FWIW at least you get to say “I impressed Mechanical Ape”

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:51 pm

Well... Then see the madness for yourself

I thought that the interlocking parts would stick better together. In the small test It looked alright and tight but due to the leverage force of the long legs the parts skip out and everything breaks apart.

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:19 pm

My biggest IKEA project was figuring out that there's a specific brand of shelf that's the exact size of a standard audio rack to hold my preamps and other modules and it costs about a tenth of buying one specifically made to be an audio rack. All I had to do was screw in two brackets.

Vivianinatoga · Post by **Vivianinatoga** (?) » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:45 pm

My biggest IKEA project was a mattress

Mechanical Ape · Post by **Mechanical Ape** (?) » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:30 pm

TIL every music video is cuter when it’s pixels

Pocket · Post by **Pocket** (?) » Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:42 pm

TIL Pixar veteran Bud Luckey was the one who animated and voiced several sketches from Sesame Street back in the day. Small world.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:59 pm

Pocket wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:42 pm
TIL Pixar veteran Bud Luckey was the one who animated and voiced several sketches from Sesame Street back in the day. Small world.

Yep! Here's one he did. Luckey animated it and also sang the song:

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:26 pm

TIL that you can take any random article on Wikipedia and get to the page on philosophy within about 20 clicks by clicking on the first link in every article that isn’t a pronunciation or etymology link

Try it!

Mechanical Ape · Post by **Mechanical Ape** (?) » Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:21 pm

TIL oxen and cows are the same species. An ox is just a castrated bull with a job.

Cthulhu Inc · Post by **Cthulhu Inc** (?) » Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:41 am

Nor would I, were I given the full rights of an Englishman. But to call me one without those rights is like calling an ox a bull. He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his.