Well this is interesting

I didn’t know that Tony Randal was Jewish…I was looking up Jack Klugman 'cos TCM had a promo for “I Could Go On Singing” (1963), starring Judy Garland and Mr. Klugman…and well, then was curious about Mr. Randall, and well, you know…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Randall

13 Likes
8 Likes

Not only that, from 1790 to 1952, people who entered the U.S. and applied for citizenship had to prove they were “white.”

14 Likes

Galactic Greenwich (AKA Sagittarius A) was discovered by a couple of hackers with a shovel, working in their spare time:

http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/about/history/doverheights/index.html#DoverHITG

11 Likes

Inspired by my post in the Not Feminism thread, here’s the Menin Gate.

8 Likes

courgette = zucchini = marrow!

11 Likes

Yeah, marrows are basically courgettes that you didn’t pick in time but with a thicker skin. Also, they store really well, we’ve stored them for 6 months, all they do is dry out a little (or turn into a big, fragile sack of mush, there’s no middle ground). I highly recommend currying them.

5 Likes

Get used a lot in stir-fry and Italian pasta dishes here.

5 Likes

I’ll see your Io and raise you Cruithne. Earths second moon*.

5 Likes

I went into this show doubting a little bit, and by the end I knew better where that little cringe it brought up, comes from. I was converted a bit.

1 Like

Sounds great, thank you. I’ll look around for more about her.

Where do you think that like cringe it brought up came from? How were you converted a bit? From what to what?

3 Likes

Bigotry. The show brought me a moment of sonder, in a very important social context.

I’m pretty aware of my prejudices, I had thought they weren’t so race based or deep. You probably know me as not at all that guy, and I am not. Authentically, but we all do for so many reason have moments of reflex. Mine aren’t fear based at all, but I really got to think some about it all, and it was excellently presented.

Converted from me who hadn’t seen it to me who had, and was glad to have shared the experience with the crowd. Almost most illuminating was EVERYONE ELSE there, and their experiences being had,. The house light are on for much of it, and parts of the show happen around you.

There are some intense moments, that are humorous, because they are so intensely not okay. But not forced or angering, just WHAT?

I could identify with so many parts of her experience that were not race based, and it really really offered a unique perspective there! And so much US Census history. So much.

Also, she is so engaging personally, and so very very human.

6 Likes

Thank you for sharing, it does sounds like a powerful experience. We all do have socially instilled things that deserve attention and unpacking, and if she can get unconsciously empowered people to do that with themselves to some degree, I’d say she’s doing good work.

And thanks again, this time for elaborating on your experience, helpful indeed.

5 Likes

This is the same woman who took on the old studio system ,
where one’s contract could be extended without one’s consent,
among other heinous things; I wonder if anyone at FX realizes that?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/tv-guy/os-et-olivia-de-havilland-turns-101-fights-feud-20170701-story.html

12 Likes

I could not find a Wikipedia article for this, so if that’s the criterion for this topic then please delete, but, as a longtime silent film fan, I was fascinated to learn that one bear, John Brown, appeared in two of the greatest silent comedies of the 1920s: “The General” and “The Gold Rush.”

John Brown was a trained bear who appeared in a lot of silent films, including two of the greatest comedies: The Gold Rush and The General pic.twitter.com/GG00zUBYAh

— Silent Movie GIFs (@silentmoviegifs) July 15, 2017
12 Likes

In all honesty wikipedia just seemed like a convenient jumping off point. The main goal is get something interesting out there. So go for it.

3 Likes

Here’s something that I found interesting. Sometime back, I wondered what led up to the U.S. being so heavily involved in WWII in the Pacific - why Japan saw us as a threat and bombed Pearl Harbor and why we were fighting over all those remote islands, reefs, and atolls. An interesting thing that I discovered was that a large reason why we had such a naval presence, and so many outposts on little rocks in the middle of the ocean was, quite simply, shit. (From migratory seabirds.)

So literally, one of the contributing factors to the war in the 1940s was that almost 100 years earlier, the U.S. was batshit crazy (ok, birdshit, technically) and ever since had to maintain a large pacific fleet to defend those remote strategic stockpiles of shit. But we weren’t the only ones willing to fight over a pile of shit:

10 Likes

Speaking of star bears:

7 Likes

That’s history with more than one modern echo:

Nauru used to be the Saudi Arabia of birdshit…until it ran out. Now it’s a collapsing impoverished mess.

It’s why the Australian refugee concentration camps were moved there. The local government is desperate; they’ll do anything for foreign cash.

9 Likes

Canada’s long-standing territory dispute with Denmark, or what a real “Cold War” looks like:

7 Likes