Things you were shockingly old when you learned

I would routinely drive 10 hours across Michigan to visit my girlfriend while we were in college; later we drove from to DC and it was 10 hours in Michigan the first day, and 10 through MI/OH/PA/MD/VA the second one.

When we lived in WA we would drive to MI every other summer; it was 2000 miles and took 3 days and the biggest city we went through was about 110,000 people. The western US is HUGE and EMPTY and North Dakota in particular can fuck right off.

I have some friends in Saskatchewan who have tried to talk me into driving to visit them

I'm pretty sure once I were to get past Minneapolis, the only city of note is Fargo, and then eight hours of pretty much nothing

huh, I just learned there's a town in North Dakota along the Canada border that is literally called "Portal" with "North Portal" on the other side in Canada

Nebraska is the fucking worst. Why so long east to west? Why so much stench of cow shit? Why such shitty dining options?

then you finally get to Colorado and surprise surprise the eastern 3rd of the state is just Western Nebraska

Off topic:

I just learned that the renowned baseball player Gary Carter coined the term "F-bomb" in 1988. I'm kind of intrigued by celebrity coinages, another example being Justin Timberlake and "wardrobe malfunction."

I have some friends in Saskatchewan who have tried to talk me into driving to visit them

I'm pretty sure once I were to get past Minneapolis, the only city of note is Fargo, and then eight hours of pretty much nothing

when i lived in minneapolis i was gonna drive up and see the (first) jets in their final season in winnipeg -- it's right next door, right? -- until it occurred to me that eight hours each way through the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter wasn't a great idea

One time I idly thought I would take a trip to the West Coast to visit friends in Portland, Eugene, and San Francisco. At first glance it looks doable as a road trip, in the way a Richmond to Philly trip might be. Heck, why not just rent a car and...

omg holy shitsnacks it is nine. hundred. muthaflippin. miles. No thanks, I will take an airplane.

― stone cold jane austen (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 22 April 2020 18:21 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

did this, and on to seattle

lovely spin

when i lived in minneapolis i was gonna drive up and see the (first) jets in their final season in winnipeg -- it's right next door, right? -- until it occurred to me that eight hours each way through the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter wasn't a great idea

Ha, I once considered driving up to Thunder Bay so I could legally drink beer before I turned 21.

Even at 20½ years old, it didn't seem like it would be worth the effort.

sixmonths none the pitcher

Once you get past Brainerd, most of the drive to Winnipeg is pretty scenic!

Oops, but that assumes you're going through the woods and lakes and not through the plains, nevermind

The Dust Brothers produced MmmBop

The Orb produced Higher Than The Sun

In keeping with the spirit of the last couple of posts: that M People's Heather Small re-sang the Loleatta Holloway samples on Black Box's Ride On Time, I knew they were denied use of the original but didn't know it was her what did em

The Orb produced the track four version of Higher Than The Sun, Weatherall and Hugoth produced the track 10 version

Paterson and who, though

Thrash

I only recently learned that ICI is no longer a company.

This thread reminds me I only found out a few months ago that Dr Dre's "Still DRE" was written by Jay-Z... after loving this track for 20 years !

That the Pointer Sisters were actual sisters called Pointer. I don't know why I didn't imagine this to be the case. There's actually a lot I learned reading their Wikipedia page. They had a soft rock phase in the 70s!

This thread reminds me I only found out a few months ago that Dr Dre's "Still DRE" was written by Jay-Z... after loving this track for 20 years !

― AlXTC from Paris, Sunday, 3 May 2020 10:33 (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

now I know this too

i thought it was like scott storch or something

This isn't a newly discovered fact so much as a realisation of my own lack of attention to detail:

Since our oldest son was a child (he's now 20) we've been reading an illustrated book named Gorf's Pond to him and then his brother and sister and eventually his little cousins.
It's a bit like The Ugly Duckling meets The Fly where lonely fish Gorf in his little pond is increasingly disturbed by the growth of lumps then limbs and by his tail falling off until he eventually realises (SPOILER) he's a frog.

After 20 years I just noticed last week that Gorf is Frog backwards.

https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9781858543765-uk.jpg

xpost
The Piano riff is Torch's, yeah.
And the lyrics are from Jay-Z. Which is kinda funny since it's all about bragging how he (Dre) is best in the game !

Also, the Pointer Sisters sang the famous pinball countdown song from Sesame Street

Wow.

That pleases me greatly.

Once you realize Dr Dre has never written lyrics, it’s fun to listen to individual songs and guess who the writer was. I mean, 90% of the time it’s one of the guest artists on the track, but not always

Right, I didn't know that either!

That Satyajit Ray wrote young adult science fiction as well as directing films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Shonku

xposts The Pointer Sisters sang the most well-known number song from Sesame Street but there was another one that my fellow olds might remember which was sung by Grace Slick.

http://www.youtube.com/-WSHvbGM6oE

Up against the playground wall motherfuckers?

Guy Debord shot himself.

the ultimate spectacle

Once you realize Dr Dre has never written lyrics

As a teenager, I once rang the radio annoyed after the classic-rock-announcer-and-morning-TV-host-who-had-moved-to-the-youth-station back-announced Express Yourself with "Ice Cube there, out front of N.W.A." Ten years in broadcasting had apparently failed to impress upon him that (bracketed names) under a song title on the back of a record jacket meant writing credits, not a helpful explanation of who the lead singer on each song was.


The Pinball Number Count got a 12" release on Ninja Tune in 2003, c/w the Larry Levan remix of C Is For Cookie:

https://imgur.com/a/YiyI5qw

https://i.imgur.com/XL5OHnI.jpg

keith jarrett is a white dude

well I'll be damned

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/seinfeld/images/3/3b/Darryl.jpg/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20120415174020

yeah I remember years ago seeing a picture of Keith Jarrett nowadays, having only seen pictures of him in black and white from the 70s with an afro or a natural and being quite surprised that he was an old white man

Huh, did not know this either

Nor I, but wiki says French or Scots-Irish father so maybe there's some North African ancestry.

Whereas Davey Graham was not a white dude.

MR. JARRETT: Yeah, Ornette Coleman. One of the earliest times I was in the same room with him, he said something like, `Man, you've got to be black. You just have to be black.' I said, `I know. I know. I'm working on it.'

lmao

His brother, who is also a pianist, looks like a white Keith Jarrett.

As a teenager, I once rang the radio annoyed

― Elon's musk (sic), Tuesday, May 5, 2020 12:20 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

You've always been like this!?

I used to be but they kept stealing my backpack and throwing it in the girls’ restroom in high school

who is Keith Jarrett?
get me Keith Jarrett
get me a white Keith Jarrett
who is Keith Jarrett?