We were both born too soon. If Gordo were starting out today, he'd probably do something like this: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61592104
Technologically interesting, but a little creepy and all the lights would give me a migraine. No, I think I was born about the right time. Back in a wild period of my long ago youth, I had this biker boyfriend who adored ABBA. He was the kind of guy who kept his Harley in the living room and was intimidating enough that none of his rocker friends ever hassled him about his ABBA albums. Riding down the road and catching strains of him singing "Dancing Queen" in falsetto was an experience.
Red Lobster restaurant sales increased 33% on Super Bowl Sunday in 2016 over the same day in 2015 after the chain was mentioned in a song (Formation) Beyoncé performed during the halftime show.
I know -- but any excuse is a good one to watch Brian Blessed. Not surprised. People want to go and see what the big deal is ... because people are -- (klaxon!!) -- sheep! That's right, sir, you win! Tell him what he won, Alex! Voiceover: The winner of tonight's show will receive a chance to go to Red Lobster!!! And also this set of beauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutiful steak knives!!! =P
Today I learned that a human brain has about 100 billion neurons forming about 1000 trillion synapses. 1000 trillion divided by 100 billion = about 10 thousand synapses per cell!
Today I learned that, thanks to an accident I had in October (and sustained whiplash injuries), that I will probably not be able to write for the time being. I've been struggling with writing anything ever since October, and succeeded in writing a few scenes and sentences, but they are trash. (Drat!)
Today I learned that the origin of the word chartreuse (a colour) is the Chartreuse region in France where Carthusian monks in 1737 first made the yellow and green versions of the herbal liqueur of the same name. Spoiler: colour wheel
Clearly you don't mean physically unable to write. What damage was done to affect your writing? (Asking for a friend.)
I actually do mean physically unable. I don't mean that I was unable to pick up a pencil and use it, or anything like that. But for about 4 months, I was in near-constant pain, which was almost all I could focus on. I was in the middle of writing a beat sheet when this happened. Every time I tried to continue the beat sheet, even focusing on it made my eyes water, gave me double-vision, and exacerbated the pain. So I tried something simpler, like my job. (I work as an accounts officer).
In music, the harmonic minor scale creates two tritones between the 2nd and 6th degrees and then again between the 4th and the 7th. Each tritone contains a minor 3rd atop a minor 3rd. When expressed at the seventh scale degree, an apocalyptic, cancerous, self-replicating chain reaction occurs in a 7 -2 - 4- 6 pattern that repeats forever without resolving. Musically speaking, this is the equivalent of a Borg invasion that assimilates everything in its path, destroying all other harmonies and creating a universe of repeating minor 3rds (a diminished 7th chord when combined) that will never resolve. If you have a guitar at home, play this in a straight line up any string, moving three frets (a minor third) at a time: 0 - 3 - 6 - 9 - 12 - 15 - 18 - 21 Hear that? That's a dissonance that cannot be escaped. I've known each of those pieces separately for awhile--some for decades--but didn't figure out that it originates at from the 7th degree of the harmonic scale until this morning. Mind blown! And if you really want to hear the craziness, you can combine everything into the diminished 7th chord which inverts every three frets in perfect symmetry, meaning that any of the four notes can be the root of the chord at any time without warning. It's hard to type out here, but imagine the following chords were tabbed from the D string to the high E from left to right: 1212 - 4545 - 7878 - 10,11,10,11 - 13,14,13,14 ... and upwards every three frets. Try it!
Today I learned that Che Guevara was actually a not-very-bright Irish highwayman named Ernest Lynch. Which is ironic, considering how he died.
That when it comes to sports in French, there's a difference between "faire" (to do) and "jouer" (to play).
Today I learned that the S&P 500 hit an all-time high last month, in large part thanks to the “Magnificent Seven” basket of tech stocks comprising Meta, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, and the chipmaker Nvidia, whose ability to mint the computer chips that undergird AI systems has made it extremely appealing to investors.
Today I learned that James Gandolfini was voted "Class Flirt" in his senior yearbook (New Jersey, 1979)
That's a neat coincidence, I just started a Sopranos rewatch. I think the last time I went through it was probably fifteen years ago. It's still so, so good. And relevant! Gandolfini was an incredible actor.
Yeah, good argument as the best show ever. It was the first long form, narrative show. The first streamable series before streaming was a thing. Really, it set the mold back when HBO was the only platform for a "television" series with shits, fucks, and tits like it was a regular thing long that as a for-real regular thing. Sopranos was for TV like Melville was for the novel.
Today I put two and two together - so I guess it is learning. Today I realized that the most famous line from the first feature-length movie with spoken dialogue - The Jazz Singer - is "You ain't heard nothin' yet." Hard to believe it's almost a hundred years ago.
Today I learned that Kris Kristofferson has said that he would like the first three lines of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire” to be on his tombstone: Like a bird on the wire Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free
Today I learned that, around 1420 CE, a cat peed on this manuscript and a Deventer scribe added illustrations of the event, by drawing hands pointing toward the stain and cursing the feline with a note.
