Things you were shockingly old when you learned

Woah, I only thought churches in America looked like that.

Catholic church too... in Harlow. Quite an impressive building in fact.

Yeah it’s a good one (the C of E church in Harlow town centre’s excellent too, really good John Piper mural IIRC).

Plenty of interesting Catholic Churches of roughly that age, partly (though not wholly) as a result of the second Vatican Council, reducing the divide between the priests and the punters meaning you can be much more flexible with the space… Liverpool cathedral being a v famous example obv.

I think the catholic cathedral in Liverpool was designed by Frederick Gibberd, who was the town planner for Harlow.

It only occurred to me today that the idea of the grim reaper is that he “reaps” people from life just as a farmer would reap a crop from the ground. And that’s why he carries a scythe.

Also realized earlier this year: brainstorm is a play on rainstorm (?)

I just realized yesterday that the hip-hop label Wild Pitch was a play on "wild pitch" the baseball term.

there's a great Ray Bradbury short story about the reaping

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scythe_(short_story)

(you'll have to cut and paste that)

we did that one & The Pedestrian in my school English class! both really creeped me out as a kid, I should go back and read them.

Those two, and "All Summer in a Day," have stayed with me since childhood.

Bradbury totally haunted my childhood, I think I've read nearly every story he wrote

(i have the two 900+ page volumes of his short stories and even those aren't complete)

Does the Grim Reaper take his crops to market?

I figured out the reaper thing a couple of days ago while explaining it to my daughter after she asked me why she/he carries a scythe. I can't count the number of times one of my kids' questions led me to figure out some obvious thing I had never considered.

current grim reaper has stepped his game way up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest#/media/File:Agriculture_in_Volgograd_Oblast_002.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest#/media/File:Agriculture_in_Volgograd_Oblast_002.JPG

Grim Reapah uhburhburhburhbuhrubh

Nick Drake played saxophone before he picked up guitar. Had no idea, but am in early school year parts of Richard Morton Jack's biography.
& he's just screwing up A Level grades for the 2nd time, impacting University applications.

I think the catholic cathedral in Liverpool was designed by Frederick Gibberd, who was the town planner for Harlow.

― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, October 30, 2023 5:14 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Went to a wedding there 20 years ago. It's gorgeous.

1982: I hear and enjoy Loverboy’s “Workin’ for the Weekend”
2023: someone uses the phrase and I realise it means “grinding thru the work week to get to the weekend” and not “has overtime hours and has to work on Saturday and Sunday”

Swaddling clothes were seriously unhealthy and seriously dirty.
Wrapping a baby up this way restricted movement and forced underlayers into closer contact with skin. Created sores ext.
Also had guardians hanging kids up by the wrapping. On nails on walls etc.
At least if Elizabeth Badinter in her book The Myth of Motherhood is to be believed.
She talks about it being common practise to send babies off to be looked after for first few years of their lives in insalubrious baby farms in the 18th century. Until Rousseau helps create a trend to create better bonds with one's children and breastfeed instead of getting somebody else to. & the lack of getting process during the time wet nursing proliferated.
Interesting book, pretty harsh if true.

Tornado sirens are just regular sirens slowed down.

in that Old Grey Whistle Test footage from 1975, Lee Brilleaux of Dr Feelgood was 22 years old. people you found out were shockingly young

Swaddling being unhealthy or dirty is pure bullshit. When my gals were babies I swaddled them for bed in muslin wraps as tight as cordwood, they slept peacefully and both are ridiculously healthy young adults. Neither has had so much as a dental filling.

cosine

Badinter was trying to paint a picture of widespread neglect of children in the couple of centuries prior to Rousseau. Horror story level including leaving babies wrapped up for days not just overnight.

Autocorrect in earlier comment swaps the word vetting process to getting process.

I did wonder how sensationalist the book was. But is one that was recommended elsewhere.

an absolute doozy this one - i don't think I realised until... the other day? that thanksgiving was just a general seasonal/religious harvest festival and not something specifically American, with possibly some political underpinning (which was the very vague space that it occupied in my mind). v embarrassing. i'd like to apologise to all US ilxors (and apparently Canadian, Liberian ilxors. ...and anyone who lives in Leiden it seems?

I would think that the restricted movement as described in Badinter wasn't very healthy which is one reason I thought it had ceased to be practise. Sounded like putting a baby in a straitjacket or something. and as the practise was described being left in a similar state for extended periods.

Well that does sound pretty bad, I mean look at this guy
https://www.metaflix.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Eraserhead-1977-3-768x418.jpg

Sounded like putting a baby in a straitjacket or something

an absolute doozy this one - i don't think I realised until... the other day? that thanksgiving was just a general seasonal/religious harvest festival and not something specifically American, with possibly some political underpinning (which was the very vague space that it occupied in my mind). v embarrassing. i'd like to apologise to all US ilxors (and apparently🕸 Canadian, Liberian ilxors. ...and anyone who lives in Leiden it seems?

Yeah, a lot of them love it. There are lots of vids around of babies being unswaddled and most put their arms straight up like they've just landed a gymnastic dismount and they're all ridiculously cute.

lots of pets like wrapping themselves up tightly in blankets! maybe it’s adult humans who are wrong

babies are pretty restricted in the womb, I believe the theory is that it takes then back to that happy time.

Yes, I think that's right and, yeah, MH it's kind of the same principal as a thundervest.

And weighted blankets

lol Matttkkk for bringing Eraserhead into this, but yes my son (who was emphatically NOT a good sleeper) was aided immensely by swaddling. When we wrapped him up we called it "baby burrito."

i was too scared of the baby to watch Eraserhead when I was in HS. I got over the fear eventually.

It is disturbing though!

I learned just today that the woodwind in "Life in a Northern Town" is a cor anglais and not an oboe.

I know everyone else knew it, but I didn't know until last night that the lead singer of Streetband, famous for Toast, was Paul Young.

i: that there's a single stock sound effect which is used in countless movies, inc.all the star warses (viz when a minor character screams in fear or pain or when dying)
ii: it is referred to as the "wilhelm scream" after the character private wilhelm in the western THE CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER (1953), who gets an arrow in the thigh
iii: but it first appeared in DISTANT DRUMS (1951), as likely voiced by singer-actor sheb wooley
iv: sheb wooley is best known for the song THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATER (1958)

in conclusion ever movie to come out of hollywood in the 50s is -- openly or secretly -- about aliens (but this i already knew)

but I've also heard that every '50s movie from Hollywood is about communists/communism

https://www.artnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Posadist_meme.png

https://www.artnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/posadism-meme-2.jpg

omg mark s I am so happy you have discovered the Wilhelm scream

:)

In appreciation of The Wilhelm Scream

I just learned that if one always forgets to save some pasta water when cooking, then one should place a measuring cup in the strainer so they will see it and say “oh shit, save some of that pasta water.”

*high-fiving!* I felt like such an amazing genius when I realized that you could do that as a reminder. It only took, um, decades to figure it out.

Why would you save pasta water? Is it better than, say, hot dog water?