I did not know that... trivial stuff you just learned

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

On 4/27/2024 at 7:18 PM, Gil Bang said:

on the language, the BBC employs a reporter that gives reports, one-after-another, in a half-dozen or so languages.  

 

Found him

 

Secretary of Transportation Pete Butegieg (sp?) is also very gifted and speaks several. 

 

Don't forget Ronny.

 

[Parliament 14260]

God I miss Phil Hartman.

[YGIFS 19450]

Me, too.  I loved watching him as a teen on SNL but never fully appreciated him until later in life as I got to know some writers.  He could do almost anything from straight guy, to impressions, to the goofball, to scathing satire, even a little physical comedy peppered in.  Went down a rabbit hole the other night because I never really watched NewsRadio much, but between that and some other guest spots on TV and voiceover work (literally one of the very first celebrity comedic voiceover regulars of the trade), plus of course SNL-he was a completely underrated gem of his time and his chops endure today.  I still wonder why he never got more movie roles though, or even his own show.  he was certainly versatile enough, but I guess also kinda quirky and maybe not that much of mainstream America "got" him.  The whole story of Brynn is so fucked up.  

Two fun facts I learned on the deep dive, Hartman developed a long used logo for Crosby, Stills, & Nash as a young graphic design artist, after which he got serious into playing the guitar.  And on a sadder note, I didn't know that batshit crazy Brynn apparently, many times, threatened Jan Hooks on SNL to stay away from her husband outside of the show.  20/20 hindsight, but I always felt like there was a great chemistry between Hooks & Hartman for many years on the show that you don't really see between male/female cast members aside from cracking one another up.  

You have to be quite the dick, to have Jon Lovitz of all people slam your face into a comedy club bar.    

[locodos 5387]

Tutankhamun's knife was 'made from meteorite iron'

 

A dagger entombed alongside the mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was made with iron that came from a meteorite, researchers say.

The weapon was one of a pair of daggers discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1925 within the burial wrappings of the teenaged king.

The origin of its unrusted iron blade has baffled scientists because such metalwork was rare in ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun was mummified more than 3,300 years ago.

Italian and Egyptian researchers used "a non-invasive X-ray technique" to confirm the composition of the iron without damaging it, according to a study published in the journal of Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

"Meteoritic iron is clearly indicated by the presence of a high percentage of nickel," the study's main author, Daniela Comelli, said.

The researchers say the presence of iron - along with levels of nickel and cobalt - "strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin".

They compared the composition of the dagger to known meteorites within 2,000km around the Red Sea coast of Egypt, and found that one in particular - which landed 150 miles (240km) west of Alexandria - contained similar levels of nickel and cobalt.

Ancient Egyptians attached great significance to meteoritic iron for the production of fine ornamental or ceremonial objects, the researchers say.

"They were aware that these rare chunks of iron fell from the sky already in the 13th [Century] BCE, anticipating Western culture by more than two millennia," they write in their findings.

The high manufacturing quality of the blade in comparison with other simple-shaped meteoritic iron artefacts "suggests a significant mastery of ironworking in Tutankhamun's time", they say.

The dagger - which features a decorated gold handle and a gold sheath with a floral lily motif on one side and a feather pattern on the other - is now on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

 

[Underdog 28633]

 

[F250 28775]

Walton Goggins first name is not Walter.

[Serak The Preparer 3431]

10 minutes ago, F250 said:

Walton Goggins first name is not Walter.

Please be Frank, please be Frank, please be Frank...  /YGIFS

[YGIFS 19450]

I don’t get it.  Who is Frank Goggins?

[locodos 5387]

Lord Byron had a friar's skull turned in to a cup... and had a poem engraved on it.

Start not—nor deem my spirit fled:
   In me behold the only skull
From which, unlike a living head,
   Whatever flows is never dull.

I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:
   I died: let earth my bones resign;
Fill up—thou canst not injure me;
   The worm hath fouler lips than thine.

Better to hold the sparkling grape,
   Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;
And circle in the goblet's shape
   The drink of Gods, than reptiles' food.

Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone,
   In aid of others' let me shine;
And when, alas! our brains are gone,
   What nobler substitute than wine?

Quaff while thou canst—another race,
   When thou and thine like me are sped,
May rescue thee from earth's embrace,
   And rhyme and revel with the dead.

Why not? since through life's little day
   Our heads such sad effects produce;
Redeem'd from worms and wasting clay,
   This chance is theirs, to be of use.

Byron gave Medwin the following account of this cup: – “The gardener in digging discovered a skull that had probably belonged to some jolly friar or monk of the abbey, about the time it was dis-monasteried. Observing it to be of giant size, and in a perfect state of preservation, a strange fancy seized me of having it set and mounted as a drinking cup. I accordingly sent it to town, and it returned with a very high polish, and of a mottled colour like tortoiseshell.” – Medwin’s ‘Conversations’, 1824, p. 87.

 

[DixonHur 11304]

No CR, but until recently I didn't know dotard was a real word.  

I assumed it was just a combination of Donald and retard.  

[tigol 2398]

Weird dude.

No CR, but until recently I didn't know dotard was a real word.  
I assumed it was just a combination of Donald and retard.  

Never mind.

[Scranton 11]

On 4/30/2024 at 5:11 PM, Underdog said:

 

Hardest I’ve laughed in a long time. Thank you sir

[YGIFS 19450]

1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

No CR, but until recently I didn't know dotard was a real word.  

I assumed it was just a combination of Donald and retard.  

Wait until you learn about Don's Syndrome.  

I mean Down's Syndrome.  

[gsoda3 3261]

i just learned gruntled was a real word meaning exactly what you'd think. 

Edited May 15 by gsoda3

[DixonHur 11304]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

Wait until you learn about Don's Syndrome.  

I mean Down's Syndrome.  

It is interesting how the actual definition of dotard also applies quite nicely to Trump.

[BabaYaga 15298]

5 hours ago, locodos said:

Lord Byron had a friar's skull turned in to a cup... and had a poem engraved on it.

[Biff Tannen 45685]

1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

It is interesting how the actual definition of dotard also applies quite nicely to Trump.

What will really blow your mind is it came from Kim Jong Un. 

[DixonHur 11304]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

What will really blow your mind is it came from Kim Jong Un. 

What did?  Lil Kim called him dotard?

I have to admit, I'd be pretty embarrassed if a North Korean dictator had a better English vocabulary than I do.

[Biff Tannen 45685]

2 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

What did?  Lil Kim called him dotard?

I have to admit, I'd be pretty embarrassed if a North Korean dictator had a better English vocabulary than I do.

yup

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41357315

Edited May 15 by Biff Tannen

[DixonHur 11304]

8 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

I have to admit, I'd be pretty embarrassed if a North Korean dictator had a better English vocabulary than I do.

 

6 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

yup

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41357315

[Born to Run 6569]

Biff beat me to it

[atomheartbevo 89668]

1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

What did?  Lil Kim called him dotard?

I have to admit, I'd be pretty embarrassed if a North Korean dictator had a better English vocabulary than I do.

He learned proper English in an English-language school in Switzerland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Berne)

And his school years:

Quote

The Washington Post reported in 2009 that Kim Jong Un's school friends recalled he "spent hours doing meticulous pencil drawings of Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan". He was obsessed with basketball and computer games, and was a fan of Jackie Chan action movies.

We in America don't learn a lot of proper English words, so it pays to have a British friend.

[YGIFS 19450]

2 hours ago, DixonHur said:

What did?  Lil Kim called him dotard?

I have to admit, I'd be pretty embarrassed if a North Korean dictator had a better English vocabulary than I do.

Yes, I believe it was shortly after his meeting with Kristi Noem, Karri Lake, and a Mister Ronan Sinatra.  

[MAUFRAIS 6629]

I just learned that in Major League Baseball, until 1950, the home team manager chose whether to bat first or last.

[Not a cat 5657]

1 hour ago, MAUFRAIS said:

I just learned that in Major League Baseball, until 1950, the home team manager chose whether to bat first or last.

Did anyone ever choose to go first?  

[MAUFRAIS 6629]

Very rarely, then never, leading to the rule change:

https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-death-and-rebirth-of-the-home-team-batting-first/