Stuff you didn't know and probably don't care about

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IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
68,852
26,643
136
The baseball term pickle is derived from the expression "to be in a pickle". The first know usage of the expression in English is from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Shakespeare's use suggests that the expression was in common usage at the time (ca 1610).

Alonso. And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?

Trinculo. I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.
 
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Fardringle

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2000
9,184
753
126
Not every group of mongoose is a mob though. It's only the ones in velour track suits with diamond collars.

How many colors can you see?

img.jpg


The results of this "test" also depend a great deal on the monitor that is being used to display the image. An improperly calibrated monitor will not show any (or enough) contrast between some of the color bars.
 
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Zanovar

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2011
3,446
232
106
Roy Cleveland Sullivan (February 7, 1912 – September 28, 1983) was a United States park ranger in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Between 1942 and 1977, Sullivan was hit by lightning on seven different occasions and survived all of them.

Holy fuck, I'm not sure if I should call him the luckiest or unluckiest bastard of all time. I sure as hell wouldn't walk next to him though :D

Jesus,after the fourth strike he thought something was out to destroy him.Heh indeed at least a few feet wide berth:p
 
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Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
126
Jesus,after the fourth strike he thought something was out to destroy him.Heh indeed at least a few feet wide berth:p

You are braver than I am my friend, If I saw that poor bastard walking towards me I would haul ass in the other direction as fast as my ass hauling capabilities allowed me.
 
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GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,297
2,000
126
How quickly can you ruin a promising career in Hollywood? Ask Marin Brest. In case you have not heard of him, you're not alone. He was a hot commodity for a while though. He directed Beverly Hills Cop to great acclaim and followed it up with Midnight Run (if you have not seen it, do so) which was also a critical and financial success. After that he directed Al Pacino to a best actor Oscar in Scent of a Woman. Following that he directed Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, not a huge hit or an Oscar winner, but it made money. That's a hell of a stretch for a director.

His next film was Gigli which he wrote and directed and it ruined his career. Not ruined as in he went downhill, not ruined as in he had to direct b-movies and not even ruined as in he had to direct commercials to earn his way back in. Ruined as in hasta la vista, baby. He literally has not been seen or heard from since. In the 15 years since Gigli he's written nothing, directed nothing, attended no film festivals, done no interviews, he could be living in a cave somewhere with Bigfoot and D.B. Cooper. I don't think anyone even went from "can't miss" to "can't get a job" more abruptly than that.
 
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GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,297
2,000
126
Actor Desmon Llewelyn appeared as Q in 17 James Bond movies, making him the actor with the most appearances in Bond films. What's interesting about that is that the character Q appeared in precisely none of Ian Fleming's books. He was only mentioned in the third person.
 
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GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,297
2,000
126
Most people who have watched SNL know of the famous "Olympia Cafe" sketches (Cheeburger! No Coke! Pepsi!) and most sports fans have heard of the famous Chicago Cubs Curse of the Billy Goat. Most people don't know about the connection between them. The Billy Goat Tavern is located across the street from Wrigley Field and the owned was a big Cubs fan. He took his pet goat whom the tavern was named for to games until he was kicked out of game 4 of the 1945 World Series because other fans complained the goat smelled. He cursed the Cubs for that. How strong was the curse? The Cubs were up 3 games to nothing over the Detroit Tigers and after the curse the Tigers swept the next four games including a game 6, 8-7 12-inning heartbreaker.

Bill Murray and Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) both lived in Chicago before they became famous and the Billy Goat was one of their favorite hangouts. Don wrote the first Olympia sketch based on the actual tavern and John Belushi based the character of Pete Dionasopoulos on his own uncle who had a hot dog stand in Chicago and supposedly treated customers that way.
 
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Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
7,673
136
How quickly can you ruin a promising career in Hollywood? Ask Marin Brest. In case you have not heard of him, you're not alone. He was a hot commodity for a while though. He directed Beverly Hills Cop to great acclaim and followed it up with Midnight Run (if you have not seen it, do so) which was also a critical and financial success. After that he directed Al Pacino to a best actor Oscar in Scent of a Woman. Following that he directed Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, not a huge hit or an Oscar winner, but it made money. That's a hell of a stretch for a director.

His next film was Gigli which he wrote and directed and it ruined his career. Not ruined as in he went downhill, not ruined as in he had to direct b-movies and not even ruined as in he had to direct commercials to earn his way back in. Ruined as in hasta la vista, baby. He literally has not been seen or heard from since. In the 15 years since Gigli he's written nothing, directed nothing, attended no film festivals, done no interviews, he could be living in a cave somewhere with Bigfoot and D.B. Cooper. I don't think anyone even went from "can't miss" to "can't get a job" more abruptly than that.

Martin, sad story.
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
40
91
lol.

250px-Stella-walsh.jpg


you don't say.

Walsh was killed during an armed robbery in a parking lot in Cleveland, on 4 December 1980.She was buying ribbons for a welcoming ceremony for visiting Polish basketball players. An autopsy showed that she had no uterus, an abnormal urethra, and a non-functioning, underdeveloped penis, although some sources suggest she also displayed female characteristics. Chromosome analysis revealed that most of her cells contained normal X and Y (male) chromosomes but some were X0 (containing only one X chromosome), resulting in XY gonadal dysgenesis.[3]

The controversy of her biological sex remains unresolved, and the situation is further complicated by the fact that many earlier documents, including her birth record, state that she was female; the Cuyahoga County coroner, Samuel Gerber, stated that Walasiewicz was "socially, culturally and legally" a woman. There has also been controversy over whether her records and achievements should be erased.
 
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who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
Starting this year,(spring 2018) students in Arkansas wanting a high school diploma or GED have to score at least 60% on the citizenship civics exam given to people wanting to become citizens.
 
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JimKiler

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2002
3,558
205
106
Starting this year,(spring 2018) students in Arkansas wanting a high school diploma or GED have to score at least 60% on the citizenship civics exam give to people wanting to become citizens.

I wonder how easy that will be to pass for H.S. students.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,679
14,934
126
Starting this year,(spring 2018) students in Arkansas wanting a high school diploma or GED have to score at least 60% on the citizenship civics exam give to people wanting to become citizens.


oh dear, them gonna be failing hard

I do applaud the school board on putting emphasis on civics.
 
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lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,900
74
91
You can blame your genetics on your parents. I'm not saying you're ugly, but this is what happens when 2 people who are undesirable mate. I always feel bad for the dumpy undesirable looking young girls. They stand a ZERO chance of finding a good looking mate. Instead, she will breed with another undesirable male and the sad cycle continues.
Well, unless she goes through plastic surgery. I read about someone in South Korea (IIRC) who didn't tell the guy she had basically a plastic face, they even got married and he only found out about her true genetic face when they got kids who were extremely ugly. I think they divorced after.