I Learned Something Today

[Peter Paltridge]

No matter how old you get, you never stop learning new things. When you learn something new, share your knowledge with the rest of us by posting it here.

Today I learned why crows divebomb at squirrels. I see this a lot and it's appalling how they pick on small rodents who can't fly. On the local news today, they showed a crow that was actually divebombing people, right in front of a bridge walkway. I thought they just did it because crows are mean, but it turns out, the crow on the news was defending a nearby nest. He just happened to build the nest on the tree right next to the bridge.

So there you have it. If a crow divebombs you, it thinks you're a threat to its nest, so....just walk away.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned not to eat barbecued food with rice. Most of you probably haven't done it, so you don't know that potato chips and fries perform a role in erasing the burnt smoky aftertaste from your mouth. Rice absorbs nothing. My mouth tastes nasty right now.

 

[Chris]

Today I learned I like strawberry-flavored marshmallows. I've always wanted to try them, so I did,

 

[TenPoundHammer]

Last Friday I learned that Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is awesome.

...What? I didn't watch CN for most of the 2000s.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Wander Over Yonder looks awesome too.

Anyway....it's time for YOU to learn something:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olymp...ime-olympic-gold-medalist-185156821--oly.html

Because this girl's from Oregon, I already knew who Mariel Zagunis is, and yeah, it does annoy me when deserving Olympians get the shaft. Don't get me started on Lindsay Jacobellis, the OTHER woman who won gold in skiing but was completely ignored while Lindsey Vonn got all the advertising. Lindsay was FAR better; she had a real personality. When she aced her run she flopped onto her back and kicked into the air; I loved how undignified she was about everything. Vonn was just so boring.

For those who are having a hard time remembering due to the similar names, Lindsay was the one with the tiara. That was another thing. She actually wore a tiara when she skiied. And it had cheesy flashing lights on it! Lindsay ruled, man.

 

[Chris]

I learned that Arctic Circle fry sauce is yummy and goes great on microwave White Castle cheeseburgers. I bought a bottle of the stuff because I went there Wednesday.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Wander Over Yonder looks awesome too.

Anyway....it's time for YOU to learn something:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olymp...ime-olympic-gold-medalist-185156821--oly.html

Because this girl's from Oregon, I already knew who Mariel Zagunis is, and yeah, it does annoy me when deserving Olympians get the shaft. Don't get me started on Lindsay Jacobellis, the OTHER woman who won gold in skiing but was completely ignored while Lindsey Vonn got all the advertising. Lindsay was FAR better; she had a real personality. When she aced her run she flopped onto her back and kicked into the air; I loved how undignified she was about everything. Vonn was just so boring.

For those who are having a hard time remembering due to the similar names, Lindsay was the one with the tiara. That was another thing. She actually wore a tiara when she skiied. And it had cheesy flashing lights on it! Lindsay ruled, man.

Lindsey Jacobellis is a snowboarder. Are you sure you aren't thinking of Julia Mancuso? She wore a tiara. Anyway, Lindsdey Jacobellis is hilarious, because she is the showboat who blew a gold medal doing a celebratory method air on her snowboard run. Seriously, watch this, it's one of the dumber moments in Olympic history.

[video=youtube;qkQvEHTyjAI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQvEHTyjAI[/video]

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Lindsey Jacobellis is a snowboarder. Are you sure you aren't thinking of Julia Mancuso? She wore a tiara. Anyway, Lindsdey Jacobellis is hilarious, because she is the showboat who blew a gold medal doing a celebratory method air on her snowboard run. Seriously, watch this, it's one of the dumber moments in Olympic history.

[video=youtube;qkQvEHTyjAI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQvEHTyjAI[/video]

Oops. Yeah, I got them mixed up. That's the one thing I remember that other girl for.

 

[Aquadementia]

What I learned in the last 24 hours is that I find the grunting in womens tennis really annoying.
Now I can scratch that off the list of ways I might be some sort of freaky pervert.

Also, bleach is a good way to get things clean. I knew that already.
The new thing I learned is that for something like a water cooler that never gets to dry out you can rinse with a little vinegar to get rid of the the chlorine.
Then to get rid of the lingering vinegar essence you can use a baking soda solution.
All of which takes a really long time. But still somewhat less time then rinsing repeatedly with water to get rid of that chlorine taste.
Maybe next time I can try lemon juice instead of vinegar. That would save a step because if the water has a slight lemon taste that's something I might even pay for.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Today I learned that Bananas Foster is incredibly dangerous. People have been maimed during the preparation of this flaming dessert. Probably better to go with something a little less flashy and inflammable.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...alm-harbor-restaurant-suffered-severe/1174963

http://www.tampabay.com/features/fo...-dishes-after-bananas-foster-accident/1175097

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned of a glitch in the Donkey Kong arcade game. I was watching a guy play it and on the fourth level, he walked up to DK and repeatedly jumped in place over and over next to him, getting 100 points each time. I had no idea that was possible.

[video=youtube;ixXB9JkuZiE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ixXB9JkuZiE[/video]
I saw this at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, which I did not know existed last year until it was too late...this year I managed to go. The people who promised they'd be there in the linked video were not there....maybe they show up later in the evening. There were many many games to drool at, but most were overpriced unfortunately. There was more amusement for free anyway (besides the $20 cover charge): plenty of playable games were on the show floor, every famous arcade game and every console up to the fifth generation; they sold games up to the sixth. There was a working Apple II I got to mess with. If you wanted to walk home with an Apple II, by the way, they were $200. Yeah. Never pay more than $50 for one.

In the end I couldn't justify overpaying for old games when I knew I wouldn't have time to play them, and I also know several excellent ones are coming out next month on the 3DS I'd rather save my money for (999 sequel!!). Ah well.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned the voice of Wallace (from Wallace and Gromit) is 92 years old. (!!!)

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned the name Samantha, while having 19th century origins, was not popular until the debut of "Bewitched." The writers selected that name because, at the time, it sounded as archaic and mystifying as "Endora." Now "Darrin" sounds goofier.

 

[Calvin64]

Could you scan the other issues that noted "cartoons were cool with adults again"?

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned the "To Be Continued" tacked onto the ending of Back to the Future was added much later than I thought.

Back to The Future VHS MCA Screener Without "to Be Continued" Ending Pre Release | eBay

Here's a screener tape for sale that doesn't have that tag at the end. This might be from before the VHS release was starting to be worked on, though, because it mentions "Pay TV" on the label. But I don't know why HBO or The Movie Channel would have gotten screeners.

 

[Dsneybuf]

I learned that Marilyn Monroe's performance of "I Wanna Be Loved By You" in Some Like it Hot did not mark the first time the song received a public release.

 

[Kung-Fu Yoshi]

Today I learned the "To Be Continued" tacked onto the ending of Back to the Future was added much later than I thought.

Back to The Future VHS MCA Screener Without "to Be Continued" Ending Pre Release | eBay

Here's a screener tape for sale that doesn't have that tag at the end. This might be from before the VHS release was starting to be worked on, though, because it mentions "Pay TV" on the label. But I don't know why HBO or The Movie Channel would have gotten screeners.

Wonder if anyone here will buy it.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Yesterday I learned the true identity of the company that converted images to red-and-blue 3D (such as in Disney Adventures). It was always listed as "Ray Zone." It turns out, "Ray Zone" was the name of one person; it was all done by one guy named Ray who was really good at it. He died in 2012.

Today I learned there's an unofficial YouTube channel devoted to Full House non-ironically, which calls itself "Full House Forever." And some of its clips have over a million hits.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Today I learned the first TV airing of Ghostbusters was a surprise stunt by HBO on Christmas Eve, 1985. Back then movies debuted on VHS long before they saw pay-TV. Under normal circumstances Ghostbusters would have had another year to clear for that to happen, but for some reason they thought "ahh screw it, it's Christmas." Most people did not catch this because it's the general custom to be in bed by that hour, especially for kids.

http://www.lomeop.com/tvmovies-urban-myth-solved-ghostbusters-on-hbo-christmas-of-1985/

Some people claimed it came on as early as 10 PM while others said it was after midnight. The airing was not listed by name and the on-air schedule displayed it as "A Christmas Gift." Several people on this page claimed the TV Guide listing was also "A Christmas Gift." I checked on that -- I found the TV Guide for that week, and looked for that day. That was, in fact, not what it said. The listing was at 11:30 and said, "To Be Announced (1 hour 50 min)". Kinda boring.

I was hoping there was a clip of the announcement on YouTube, but there is not.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Today I learned that Dune is one confusing-ass movie.