This is the thread for unusual details in wikipedia articles.

Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987 in Ányama, Côte d'Ivoire), or simply Gervinho is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a striker for French Ligue 1 club Le Mans UC72.

He was named after comedian Ricky Gervais who part-sponsored the installation of drinking water in his family's village.

Charles-Valentin Alkan(November 30, 1813–March 29, 1888) was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day.

Alkan died in Paris in 1888 at the age of 74. For many years it was believed that his death was caused by a bookcase falling on him in his home, brought down as he reached for a volume of the Talmud from a high shelf. This apocryphal tale, which appears to have been circulated by Delaborde, has been effectively disproved by Hugh Macdonald, who reports a contemporary letter from one of Alkan's pupils explaining that Alkan had died following being trapped beneath a falling porte-parapluies (a heavy coat/umbrella rack).

It has also been reported as a practice in hazing[7] among athletic teams. This is described in an article by Robert DeKoven from Gay and Lesbian Times.[8]

“ One such story involved what school officials termed a hazing incident, which involved three varsity wrestlers and three coaches at Argo Community High School near Chicago. The school suspended the wrestlers and coaches for a hazing incident that involved the “tea-bagging” of several freshman wrestlers.
Cyd Zeigler Jr. reports that the incident occurred on a bus trip home last year on Dec. 1. ... According to the Daily Southtown, the three varsity wrestlers pulled freshmen, one by one, to the back of the bus. There, two of the boys held each boy down as the third boy shoved his testicles in the freshman’s face.
”

Teabagging again gained national attention in 2006 in the national media for a similar incident that occurred in Avoca, IA where the local wrestling team performed a similar initiation as the Dennis Horkenbach Chicago incident.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sno_Balls

What's the unusual detail in that one? The mention of Prince?

Not from Wikipedia but from IMDB's bio section for Sean "P. Diddy" Combs:

Suffers from coulrophobia (fear of clowns), a condition so severe that he reportedly insisted on a "No Clowns" clause in his contract prior to appearing on the TV show "Fear Factor" (2001).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfields

The area is also home to a significant South African community, who were supposedly originally attracted to the area in the early and mid 1990s through their awareness of its proximity to Wimbledon, a name which they knew from their fondness of sports in general and tennis in particular. New arrivals told their friends, and with the change in the job market in South Africa in the 1990s, a trickle of new arrivals became a stream in the years that followed. It is also rumoured amoung locals that the areas predominantly white population is a key reason for the large South African community.

is all that just an overwritten version of "where de white women at?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O'Sullivan

After a family holiday in Ireland as a boy, O'Sullivan returned with a strong Irish accent and was sent to stage school to try to get rid of it, thus starting a distinguished acting career.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fluxblog&curid=2159420&diff=232558492&oldid=229464626

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hoy

Hoy shares his birthday - 23 March - with Sir Steve Redgrave, Roger Bannister and Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet.

Trivia
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)

The Back to the Future movie series is referenced often enough in Ozma songs to warrant mention here. The song Lorraine is about George McFly's girlfriend who is Marty McFly's mother. The song Game Over contains the lyric "where I go I don't need roads," which is a play off Doc Brown's dialogue at the end of Back To the Future, while Come Home Andrea contains the line "girl make one man cry, make another man sing" - referencing the Huey Lewis and the News song "The Power of Love" as featured in the first film. A less obvious reference is in the song In Search of 1988, which says "Warp me back at 88" - the speed in miles per hour required to travel back in time in the films. Most recently, in the song Motorology 3:39 the lyric "I'm still dreamin' of clock towers and synchronicity" is most likely a reference to the clock tower featured prominently in the film trilogy.

Ozma's first three albums all used a similar technique of using the acoustic version of a prominent riff from a song in some other section of the CD. However, Pasadena does not follow this pattern. On Rock and Roll Part Three the ending of Track 9 is the acoustic melody of Track 1. Track 1 on The Doubble Donkey Disc is the acoustic melody during 2:09 to 2:35 of Track 4 and 1:44 to 2:13 of Track 5. On Spending Time on the Borderline the end of Track 3 is a stringed instrument version of the melody for Track 4.

Daniel Brummel can be seen in the upper right side of the cover for Weezer's The Good Life EP. He's the one with light blonde hair.

Ryen Slegr is of Czech origin.

Ozma appeared on Track 1 of "Hear You Me! A Tribute to Mykel and Carli" with the song "Iceland". This compilation benefit CD of various artists was released in 1997.

The old official band website ozmaonline.com had a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) theme. Also, the song "In Search of 1988" references Mario and Luigi of The Super Mario Bros. games. "Maybe in an Alternate Dimension (Flight of the Bootymechanic)" references Link, "the Zelda warrior".

In the song Flight of the Bootymaster the lyric "Wesley Willis starts to break down, feels the beat, and hits the dance floor" is an accurate description of the artist, a diagnosed schizophrenic, as he would often join the audience and headbutt his fans.[1]

Prior to the 2002 Warped Tour, Star Wick was a passenger in a car accident that caused her to require eye surgery due to the airbag inflating and causing her contact lens to tear her cornea. She missed a few dates and Derek Grant from Alkaline Trio filled in for her on keyboards while she recovered. [2]

The title of the CD Rock and Roll Part Three is a reference to the Gary Glitter songs "Rock 'N' Roll (Part One)" and "Rock 'N' Roll (Part Two)."

The song Eponine is most likely an indirect tribute to the character Eponine from the novel Les Miserables. The character of Eponine had an unrequited love for the character Marius Pontmercy. The song merges the themes of revolution and bolsheviks which are only loosely related to Les Miserables.

Caballero probably attracted a lot of young skateboarders' interest to the band, but the music kept them coming back for more, and he wasn't the only skater in the band. Singer Gavin O'Brien was a heavy local at Winchester Skatepark and was more than able to hold his own in any session: vert, street, banks, whatever. Adam "Bomb" Segal's trademark high top Vans in all the bright, cool colors of the day had ollie holes on both shoes-the dude was doing switch tricks before anyone. Keith Rendon (drummer #1), Ray Stevens, II (bass) and Craig Bosch (drummer #2) were all accomplished skaters; Craig even has a trick named after him: the Bosch (a invert to blunt on a curb, ledge, etc).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faction

Plagurism

This seems like it's taken directly from an article, which is called plagurism.Ollie the Magic Skater 14:17, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Paul Morley (born 26 March 1957 in Stockport, Cheshire) is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful and relatively notorious periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications. His style divided the NME readership of the time (an early, confrontational interview with Jerry Garcia was judged to have lost the paper several thousand regular readers),[citation needed]. British Alternative band The Cure played a version of their song 'Grinding Halt' with new lyrics parodying Morley's writing style after an unfavourable review of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. He has been described as 'a nodder' and a 'pretentious git' on more than one occasion.
…

Dr. Octagonecologyst

The music on the compact disc was originally recorded on a thermo-nuclear 387-bit, non-linear tracking system dithered down to 20-bit compact disc format. Because of its high resolution, however, limitations can be heard in the compact disc format.

(Bill) Paxton has the unique distinction of being the only actor who has played characters killed by an Alien (as Private Hudson in Aliens), a Predator (as Jerry Lambert in Predator 2), and a Terminator (as the punk leader in The Terminator, he also had a cameo role in Terminator 2 as a resistance soldier but was not killed). (Lance Henriksen would be worthy of this distinction but for the word 'kill': his android character was dismembered but still functional and he requested deactivation in the sequel.)

the asperganoid point of order about Lance Henriksen elevates that one imho

# Eli Wallach appears in "The Wrap Party" as an old mischievous man with an interesting[citation needed] – and familiar[citation needed] – past. Wallach was nominated for an Emmy for this role.

Music video

A music video is being shot in Miami. Cameoes include Fat Joe, Trey Songz, The Inkredibles, and Jeezy's lamborghini.[1]

Kathryn Jean Lopez, (born March 22, probably 1976), a native of Manhattan, is an American conservative columnist, who is nationally syndicated by the United Feature Syndicate/Newspaper Enterprise Association. She is also the editor of National Review Online. Her nickname on National Review Online's group blog "The Corner", is "K-Lo", a wordplay based on "J-Lo", the popular nickname for Jennifer Lopez. She is noted for being hideously obese.

http://www.sadlyno.com/wordpress/uploads/2007/04/kathryn-jean-lopez.jpg

srsly though

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_%22Rudy%22_Ruettiger

Rudy also had another part in the making of the movie, where during the recording of the score for the final game sequence, Rudy himself conducted the orchestra while composer Jerry Goldsmith looked on in tears.[citation needed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enough

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Metacritic, the film had an average score of 95 out of 100, based on 32 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 121 reviews.

Renee Graham of The Boston Globe said the film "portays the horror of domestic violence in a realistic way, but keeps viewers interested." BBC film critic Jamie Russell said "this reactionary thriller is matched only by the realisticness of its premise." Jim Judy of Screen it! said "it's just great that so much of the film is thrilling, interesting and well thought-out, or simply amazing." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "a movie that feminists everywhere will appreciate." New York Magazine critic Peter Rainer said "Realistic, suspenseful, dramatic, the movie will likely move the cause of woman warriors forward decades." Richard Roeper said "It's a wonderful movie, it really is and it makes perfect sense."

Joe Leydon of the San Francisco Examiner called it "a juicy, exciting, but serious drama, the kind of flick that manages the difficult feat of appealing to your instincts while making you feel proud of yourself." Joe Baltake of The Sacramento Bee said the film was "perhaps the guiltiest guilty pleasure in a long time."

I actually screen-grabbed this and saved it while ILX was down just to put it up here. It's been edited out now:

http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=interestingwikibi3.jpg

Gah.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9698/interestingwikibi3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/britfilms56.gif

detailed analysis of the logic behind the Purple People Eater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_people_eater

"Written by Barry Cryer" (!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Goodwin

James "Jim" Goodwin (born November 20, 1981 in Waterford, Ireland) is an Irish footballer, currently playing for Huddersfield Town in Football League One.

Born in Tramore, he began his professional career with Celtic before moving to Stockport County.

Jim played at the heart of defence with Manchester United's fellow Waterford man, John O'Shea when Republic of Ireland won the 1998 under-16 European Championships in Perth, Scotland.

He was capped once at senior level by the Republic of Ireland (coming on as a substitute for Robbie Keane against Finland in Helsinki in August 2002) and he has been captain of the Republic of Ireland U-21 team.

He signed by Scunthorpe United in 2005, but was released on May 8, 2008, along with two other players, with his last game being the victory at home against Cardiff City, when he was substituted at half-time, driving away from the ground and vowing only to return to pick up his tin of WD40 which he uses to lubricate the hinges on the metal opening in the top of his head. He left behind his pink matador cape with which he guided attacking midfielders through to the United defence.

On June 5, 2008, he signed a 3-year deal at Huddersfield Town. He along with 5 other players made his Town debut in the 1-1 draw against Stockport County at the Galpharm Stadium on August 9, 2008.

You took that from the WSC email

i took it from a friend of mine who sent me the link on MSN, and yeah he's a WSC subscriber so blame him

Tévez has a distinctive burn mark from his right ear, down his neck to his chest which was caused by an accident with Wayne rooney when he was a child[3].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Tevez (obviously)

From the 'Fetal alcohol syndrome' entry:

Facial features

Several characteristic craniofacial abnormalities are visible in individuals with FAS. [...]

* A smooth philtrum — The divot or groove between the nose and upper lip flattens with increased prenatal alcohol exposure. This, sadly, puts fetal alcohol syndrome out of the running as an explanation for Robert Mugabe's personality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagles

On July 31, 1980, in Long Beach, California, tempers boiled over into what has been described as "Long Night at Wrong Beach."[7] Frey and Felder spent the entire show describing to each other the beating each planned to administer backstage. "Only three more songs until I kick your ass, pal," Frey recalls Felder telling him near the end of the band's set. Felder recalls Frey making a similar threat to him just as they began to sing "The Best Of My Love."

Not necessarily unusual but full of a sweaty obsession for very specific details, it's Linda Lusardi's wikipedia page:
Lusardi began her topless modelling career as a Page Three girl at the age of 18 in 1976 and in 1977 she appeared nude in the February edition of 'Mayfair' magazine. She was also nude but with her legs fully apart to completely expose her unshaven vagina in the November 1977 edition of 'Fiesta' magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micheal_R._Williams

In the 2007-2008 edition of the Tennessee Blue Book, Williams lists his party affiliation as "Independent NASCAR Fan."[3] In 2008 he ran for re-election to the State Senate as an independent candidate.[4]

lol "Micheal"

Lokomotiv Plovdiv's major opponent is the other local team, playing in the First division - Botev Plovdiv. Hooligans of the two teams often organise mass fights, usually on the derby days, at some secluded location in the city. Botev fans usually have their asses kicked by the Lokomotiv's supporters. Most people in Plovdiv, especially the educated ones, people of knowledge, support Lokomotiv. The team is the most popular one outside the capital. It is well-known that Botev was a communist party-favoured team during the communist era in Bulgaria. As such, the team was linked to the army, which was somewhat a common sructure with the communist party. Thus, plenty of army officials supported Botev. It is well-known that people in the army during the communist era were in the lower strata of the society in terms of knowledge and intellectual capacity. That is why well-educated people supported the other clubs in Plovdiv, most part of them being Lokomotiv fans. Obvisously intellectual capacity may be genetically inherited as nowadays, years after the fall of the Iron curtain and the communist regime, Lokomotiv Plovdiv is still supported by the intellectual elite in Plovdiv, while on the contrary, undereducated people claim their allegiance to Botev. Rivalry exists both on and off the pitch, inside and outside the ground. As time goes on the glory Botev achieved during the "golden" commo era of the club" fades away. This being so, some Botev supporters occupying some influential or representative positions take all and any actions, even not reasonalbe ones, to bring their team back to life but alas. History has turned to the right direction.

the educated ones, people of knowledge
but alas. History has turned to the right direction.
the educated ones, people of knowledge
but alas. History has turned to the right direction.

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke was at one time the world record holder for fastest sculling of a yard of beer.[3]

that's not an unusual detail, that's a point of national pride

Hear hear!

At Rock the Universe 2006, an annual Christian rock festival held at Universal every September, Relient K lead singer Matt Thiessen asked the fans to ride Back to the Future while it was still open, as they learned earlier that day it was closing. Each band is taken on a tour through the park every year.

"Brookes is also known as a supporter of the Conservative Party, and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher."

from Bruno Brookes entry.

Back to the Future is one of the best rides there!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

Because I can't imagine it'll stay up there:

William Shakespeare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OBAMA WILL WIN TOMORROW!!!! SUCK IT, DAMN GMS!!!! :P

Formatting is key here:

"The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web for obvious reasons) is a system of [...]"

I'm totally going to start calling it that. Well not really.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u288/robins3000/recession.jpg

Although it has now been removed, the end bit of the entry on Harbinger was curious -

Notable believers

Famous people who believed in harbingers:
Abraham Lincoln
Shirley MacLaine
Hilary Swank
Tupac Shakur
David Pleat.

---

What a team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harbinger&oldid=234094666