Things you were shockingly old when you learned

28 years old he is stew

About the same time as I learned about the twiddly knobs on the underside of the control boxes, I also learned that they are now putting the red/green man on the same side of the road as you when you're waiting to cross, not the other side. The idea is that if you're not staring at the man on the other side of the road you're more likely to be aware of cars.

feel the little knob

this morning: the etymology of courtesy, which of course refers to behavior that is worthy of a court. i think i must have known this at some point and then forgot, since the norbert elias book i'm re-reading is heavily annotated by past me.

my kids used to think the little twirly knob was a hack to make the light change quicker and no amount of explanation would dissuade them

absolutely fucking floored by this knob news lads, never even dreamed such a thing was possible

Out of context bait

snap

> absolutely fucking floored by this knob news lads

where were you all in 2015 when it was first mentioned?

gazing raptly at the green man across the road as we stepped happily out into the traffic

Ray Parker Jr. plays the guitar solo on Stevie Wonder "Maybe Your Baby"

The Nice were formed to back up PP Arnold.

I've been listening to Mouse On Mars for 30 years but didn't realise that (according to tvtropes.org), "Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma ... were born on the same day, in the same hospital, in the same room," and were childhood friends.

that has to be a joke, right?

who knows! I actually went to middle school with a kid I'd never met before who was born in the same hospital, the same day. I mentioned that to my parents and they explained there was actually a mix up and he was taken to my parents' room and vice versa but it was very quickly figured out because we didn't look alike

I never knew that Jim Steinman produced "This Corrosion" until right this second! That's wild. (its kinda the one song i want to hear by SoM every blue moon...)

I found this out a few months ago. So weird but I love it - The song and the fact that he produced it.

Just learned yesterday about the first, Spector-produced, version of "Tell the Truth" by Derek and the Dominos. (Includes G. Harrison and D. Mason and was recorded during the ATMP sessions.)

xxp he also did "Dominion" and "More" (from the next album). Perfect pairing imo

I learned for the first time yesterday that "lizard people" is an antisemitic trope.

I remember reading a Jon Ronson book where he was traveling around with David Icke as his events were being protested and cancelled because people were calling him an anti-Semite and Ronson’s take was, “No, when he says lizards, he means LIZARDS — what you’re failing to understand is, HE’S INSANE.”

i'm afraid to know any more of ronson, despite my real appreciation of his work i know. some is q insightful, some so "well, duh." i'll just keep reading/listening i guess.

Today is Superman's birthday.

But he was born on the planet Krypton which didn't use the same calendar or have the same length of solar year, so how could that even be?!

I dunno. I assume because whatever unit of time measurement they used fell on the same day as an Earth leap day?

He's 35 in Superman years.

He grew up at the normal earth-child rate until he reached 35, then miraculously stopped aging, due to being a freakish alien monster.

Pete & Jason of Spacemen 3 were born same day, same year. Different hospitals though.

The same day as Superman?

Yes and they also have the same blood type, Type O Superman.

fun fact for all the fucked up children!

Superman’s birthday being the 29th of February was an editorial joke (Schwarz, I think) to explain to letter-writers why he did not age

A random one -- but until I listened to it again today, I was convinced the chorus to The Christians' "Ideal World" goes "In an ideal world, where your shoes don't curl..." Nope. And no idea where that came from.

That there is a Uyghur cuisine that Dubliners have some interest in.

Discovered that there is now a Uyghur restaurant on the continuation of O'Connell street. Didn't get a chance to try anything and prices were in double figures which may be standard for non fast food these days. Am intrigued by it's existence and want to check out what the food's like.
I only heard of the Uyghur people as an oppressed population in China. So glad if some have been able to start a successful business in Ireland.

“I-I-I-I….” in Dee-Lite’s “Groove Is in the Heart” is a sample of Eva Gabor sprechsinging “I get allergic smelling hay!” from the Green Acres theme song.

...learned that from the One Song podcast on Groove? That was a great episode. I was even more delighted to learn the "blblblblblb" blubbering at the drop isn't Miss Kier. It's a punchline from a Moms Mabley type comedy record

Excellent.

Had not heard the One Song pod - I just saw someone on social media point out that factoid so maybe that's where they got it from

Speaking of a sampled "I," the Arby's "We Have the Meats" stab at the end of their commercials clearly includes a bit of the opening "I" in Dave and Ansel Collins' "Double Barrel." I finally searched to see if anyone else had noticed this and found one person on Reddit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGTsiOttTYs

wow that's a good catch

the "blblblblblb" blubbering at the drop isn't Miss Kier


I think I always assumed this was Bootsy. Does Bootsy do it in the video?

me too

The tracks, on Blood On The Tracks, are the songs.

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
From the album cover of Ferrante & Teicher's Keyboard Kapers pic.twitter.com/5tQtNgMidV

— Bill Pourquoimec (@BillPourquoimec) March 2, 2024

Esso is an abbreviation for Standard Oil

!!

A while ago now, but I was pretty old when I realized Arby's was an abbreviation of roast beef.

Oh you did it now

they chose the name "Arby's," a phonetic pronunciation of the letters R and B, short for "Raffel brothers".[17][18][19]

I thought I read that here, not that I'm going to open an 11,860 post thread to find it.