Things you were shockingly old when you learned

I can't get no sanitation?

Pilate has a dog in The Master and Margarita, which is also where Jagger got his Pilate info from

The title is held by his son Christopher Guest, the fifth Baron, who succeeded him in 1996. Christopher Guest is a film director, writer, actor and musician, married to the actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is therefore the current Lady Haden-Guest.

I knew that Jamie Lee Curtis's mother was Janet Leigh, of Psycho - I had somehow never put two and two together that her father might be Tony Curtis, until I learned that earlier this year.

― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, April 3, 2024 6:41 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

You can see it though now, right? I think she looks so much like Tony C in the face.

xpost - I learned just last week what Lily Dale is when friend mentioned having gone there years ago. I had no idea! I need to visit.

Martin Luther King was called Michael after his dad from birth. Both only took on the name Martin Luther King years later. I read that in the intro to his autobiography last week. King pere was aqparently sent on a trip to Europe by his church during which he became heavily interested in Martin Luther, returned and changed both his and his son's names. His son was 5 years old.

Good one.

I learned that not so long ago myself. Trying to imagine telling my nearly five year old she would have a different name from now on - I don't think it would go down well.

Just realised that "Yakety Sax" is an extended arrangement of the sax break on "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters - the clue was right there in the name.

It also sounds the same!

yes there is also that

lol

Haha!

Traffic has a song called "Roll Right Stones" which is named after the Rollright Stones which is a set of megalithic monuments which I've never heard of until 10 minutes ago.

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

I fancy I’ll open a stationer’s
Stock quaint notepads for weekend pagans
While you were out at The Rollright Stones
I came and set fire to your shed
‘Cos you probably work at an all-night garage
You probably work at an all-night garage
You probably work at an all-night garage
With Talk Radio on

Flip Wilson coined “what you see is what you get”

The voice saying “number nine… number nine…” in “Revolution 9” is not John Lennon.

It doesn't sound anything like John Lennon!

These are not things that I just learned, but these are things my wife (who is about the same age as me) just learned in quick succession last night while we were watching the basketball game:

1) Knight Rider was about a guy and his talking crime-solving car.
2) David Hasselhoff was famous in Germany not for acting but for his singing.
3) The apes in the Planet of the Apes movies talk.

David Hasselhoff is also famous in Germany for believing that his execrable song 'Looking for Freedom' contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, and then singing the song perched on a crane above the Wall on New Year's Eve that year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ2Sgd9sc0M

I'd give him more credit than Reagan

It doesn't sound anything like John Lennon!

I always thought it was Lennon.

I woulda thought it was George before I thought it was John...

... George Martin!

I'd give him more credit than Reagan.

Oh God, yeah. I was living in West Berlin in 1987 when Reagan came to give his 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!' speech. I remember that Berliners of all political persuasions were irritated by yet another politician flying in for a self-serving soundbite and then clearing off again.

Definitely more than Thatcher.

Thatcher's only contribution to German reunification was to try to block it.

The Young Ones' Vyvian is named after Vivian Stanshal.

OK now that is a neat tidbit I never knew!

It doesn't sound anything like John Lennon

I’m an idiot! What can I say? All British accents sound the same.

Undeniably true

I disagree. I got really good at locating English accents by inflexion etc when I was hitching. Think I was getting down to nearest large town at least. There are a lot of them

I think I’ve trained myself to recognize a Manchurian accent from all the musicians I listen to who are from there.

Mancunian

The Mancunian candidates

I only learned the phrase “May December” (or “May September”) because of the new Todd Haynes film

When I heard the phrase I assumed the phrase referred to the school year: “a teacher dates a student over the summer holiday”, for example

I did not realize that it referred to the months of the year as a metaphor for the stages in one’s life

Yesterday the meaning of this phrase became clear to me after an unrelated google

The funny thing is that I’m a fan of Kurt Weill

I used to accompany my friend on piano covering Threepenny Opera songs and others

My stage name was Pfalz Gewürstraminer

And certain songs, like “Surabaya Johnny”, I just accepted that it was somewhat lost in translation

But “The September Song” never made any sense to me, because I didn’t get this “months = stages of one’s life” metaphor

When you don’t get the metaphor, it really is just a strange thing to hear Frank Sinatra belting “SEPTEMBER! NOVEMBER!” with the drama all dialled up

Anyway well it makes sense now

I figured out September Song after many listens to Lost in the Stars but it does seem to be a conceit that resonated more in the past. Just about everyone used to wind down a lot in their sixties, and nowadays who knows how many decades you got after middle age?

Sinatra recorded that whole September of My Years album when he was only 49!

life expectancy in the US in 1965 was 70 years. september is the ninth month of the year. (70/12)*9 = 52, so not far off in fact

wait, what's september gurls about? December boys got it bad because they are about to die?

It was inspired by three of the women in Chilton's life who he was thinking about at the time, including his ex-wife, having birthdays in September.[5]

Alex Chilton was a big astrology guy

He liked things enigmatically literally didn't he? Sister Lovers was him and abandmate dating a pair of sisters though it sounds like it should be a poetic allusion dunnit? may just be later valorisation?

Chilton born on Dec. 28 too.

Yeah I always assumed “December boy’s got it bad” was singular not plural

I only got the September song metaphor because my mom used to play “April Come She Will” a lot when I was a kid

I just learned the song "Popcorn" by Hot Butter was first done by a guy named Gershon Kingsley in 1969.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htuL6mvlTgk

TIL that Peggy Lee substantially rewrote the lyrics for her version of “Fever,” making it very quite different from the Little Willie John original.

TIL = within the past week

TIL = within the past week

TWIL

Didn't realise that the original letter locations on a typewriter were changed so that the word 'typewriter' could be typed with keys that are situated only on the upper row.

When Sholes sold his typewriter design to the Remington company, Remington engineers made an additional change to the layout by transferring the letter “R” to the upper row so their typewriter salesmen could quickly type the word “typewriter” to potential clients by locating all of the necessary letters in the upper row.