Things you were shockingly old when you learned

Fritz Lang may have killed his wife.

The jury's out on that one!
http://www.williamahearn.com/lisa.html

I'd assumed they used a stencil to do this:

Not tonight Netflix, I’ve found something else to watch till at least midnight. pic.twitter.com/1JzqqNWrXT

— Lee Madgwick (@LeeMadgwick) May 22, 2020

That doesn't look like any bike sign I've ever seen, but such is the ineffable nature of art, I suppose.

Michael Shannon is in Groundhog Day

Looks more like a bird wearing a monocle.

He's clearly had some work done since then.

In the '60s, Charles Wilp tried to get the Monks to record the soundtrack to an Afri-Cola ad but the execs rejected it.

Henery Hawk preceded Foghorn Leghorn.

That Costello is an Irish name, not Italian.

That ventriloquism developed from an ancient Greek religious practice called gastromancy, where the practitioner would channel the voices of the dead who were apparently resident in their stomach. It only became stagecraft in the 18th century, and dummies only began to be used in the 19th century vaudeville era.

i think this factoid was on QI or something

"The word ventriloquism derives from the Latin words ventri (belly) and loquor (to speak)"

there was a good-looking cultural studies book abt it all maybe ten years back -- by stephen something? -- which i bought to read and then was suddenly w/o a bday present for a friend and gave it to them unread and now can't remember author or title

an ancient Greek religious practice called gastromancy

^best school of magic

Scatomancy tho.

Dumbstruck by Stephen Connor?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dumbstruck-Cultural-Ventriloquism-Steven-Connor-ebook/dp/B001KVZPVC

The etymology of the word "tabby," which ultimately is from the Arabic, the name of some neighborhood in Baghdad. There's more to it, see here:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tabby

Ooh, that's a good one.

Thanks

That Costello is an Irish name, not Italian.

Costell'O

stephen connor, yes, cheers

That not refrigerating beer or wine and just drinking it with a couple of ice cubes thrown in is totally fine

I've done that many times with wine but for some reason never considered doing it with beer.

it is absolutely not fine

Lol yes i cry foul

When I was in singapore a most places gave you a glass of ice with your bottle of Tiger and after my initial revulsion it turns out to be awesome when its hot as shit and you are eating noodles and curry puffs and chicken rice.

well sure, Tiger

Just shuddering thinking of cubing a Trippel or a Quad

Had it served that way at a Vietnamese restaurant and surprised it worked, but it was a San Miguel lager, I think.

Oh yeah low grade lagers only. But part of me wants to ask for a 12% barrel aged stout on ice at a fancy beer bar someday

what if the secret to loving ridiculously overhopped ipas and other beardy beer treats was a couple cubes of ice all along

Linus Pauling was a dedicated dancer. Just heard that on a podcast about Genius Dinners that the Kennedys were throwing in the early 60s from a podcast called Feast.
Liked to tango and things.

cubing a quad is the new gleaming the cube

But part of me wants to ask for a 12% barrel aged stout on ice at a fancy beer bar someday

― joygoat

Scoop of vanilla ice cream or gtfo.

Manon and Manon Lescaut are different operas.

Steve Priest from The Sweet wasn't gay.

The saxophone was invented by a guy called Sax

Kevin Ayers was managed by John Reid for a while.

... as was Michael Flatley!

The saxophone was invented by a guy called Sax

irl titter

ditto

Born Warren Wilhelm Jr., he changed his name to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm in 1983 and finally to Bill de Blasio in 2001 to honor his maternal family.

Nothing untoward at all about renaming yourself for your mom's family but self-christening with a more "ayyy New Yoooak" name when you're running for city council is kind afunny

Will that, and the German emperor.

I had no idea that actor (etc.) Wallace Shawn was the son of William Shawn, the famed New Yorker editor. (I also could have sworn he was dead, but maybe I was thinking of William Goldman.)

Limahl (of “The Neverending Story” fame) was the singer in Kajagoogoo.

Kevin Spacey's real name is Kevin Fowler, which tbf is extraordinarily boring name for an actor and sounds like the reserve team manager at Accrington Stanley or something.

Limahl (of “The Neverending Story” fame) was the singer in Kajagoogoo.

Ha - at one point my learning process went exactly in reverse: Limahl, the singer for 80s one-hit wonders Kajagoogoo, had a song in the movie The Neverending Story, which I have never seen.

Yeah, no he is definitely of Kajagoogoo and indeed Limahl fame.