Entirely Trivial

Iron Eyes Italiano

2010-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Iron Eyes Cody, the crying American Indian seen in those old "Keep America Beautiful" public service announcements and hundreds of old western movies, was born Espera Oscar de Corti in Kaplan, Louisiana to Sicilian immigrants. He was honored by the Hollywood American Indian community for his contributions to Indian life in 1995 before the news of his Italian heritage became commonly known -- a fact that he continued to deny until is death in 1999.

Yield

2010-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

The "Yield" sign ("Give Way" in Hong Kong and throughout the British commonwealth) was invented by police officer Clinton Riggs in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1950. His original design had a keystone shape but this later morphed into an inverted equilateral triangle.

Blast off!

2010-12-09T08:15:00.001-08:00

The area code for Cape Canaveral, Florida is 321 as in "three...two...one...blast off"! The Florida Public Service Commission assigned the area code to Cape Canaveral and surrounding counties as part of the 407 area code relief in 1999.

Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy in honor of US president John F. Kennedy in 1963, however the name change was not popular in the state of Florida. In 1973 the Florida legislature passed a law restoring the original (400 year old) name and Cape Kennedy became Cape Canaveral once again.

Blast off!

2010-12-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

"Weird Al" Yankovic

2010-12-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

Weird Al Yankovic not only graduated from Lynwood Highschool (Lynwood, California) at age 16 but was also the valedictorian of his senior class.

Gunsmoke and Mission: Impossible

2010-08-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

James Arness (Marshall Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke) and Peter Graves (Jim Phelps from Mission: Impossible) are brothers. They were born James Aurness (May 26, 2923) and Peter Aurness (March 18, 1926). Peter Graves died on March 14, 2010 at the age of 83.

Wendy or not Wendy?

2009-12-03T11:30:00.001-08:00

We all know that entrepreneur Dave Thomas named his hamburger chain after his daughter, but did you know that Wendy isn't actually her name? Melinda Lou Thomas is her birth name. Wendy was just a nickname.

Balloon Boy

2009-10-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

When the whole balloon boy story took place, fans of Mythbusters immediately realized that the whole thing was bullshit. In episode 27 (November 3, 2004) they successfully debunked the Mr. Bean skit in which a large collection of standard, party-sized helium balloons lifts a baby carriage (complete with baby) up into the sky. It took 3500 balloons to lift a 4 year old girl (daughter of one of the sound crew) off the ground under carefully controlled conditions in an enclosed aircraft hangar. The collection of balloons were roughly the size of a two-story house and the 4-year-old girl obviously much lighter than a 6-year old boy. There is no way a flying saucer-shaped balloon 20' in diameter could have lifted the boy. Also, if it were open at the bottom as it appeared to be, the boy would have quickly suffocated in the helium and died (as happened to this young couple just a few years ago). No way, no how.

American Gothic

2009-09-26T15:08:00.001-07:00

American Gothic is one of the most famous pieces of art from the 20th century. It was painted in 1930 by Grant Wood.

The models for the painting were Grant's sister, Nan Wood Graham (1900-1990) and his dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby (1867-1950). The cottage in the background is in the Gothic Revival style and is located at 301 American Gothic Street, Eldon, Iowa, 52554. The phone number there is (319) 335-3927!

The background was painted first and the models were added later (they did not pose in front of the actual cottage).

This photo-op took place at Art Institute of Chicago in 1942.

Revenge of the Titles

2009-08-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

When the second sequel to Star Wars was first announced, its title was "Revenge of the Jedi". A few posters and other assorted ephemera exist with this title in place. Ultimately the title was changed to "Return of the Jedi", as Lucas felt that revenge wasn't a Jedi trait.

Paramount Pictures was hard at work on their sequel to the Star Trek movie at the time, titled "Star Trek II: The Revenge of Khan". Not wanting to have a title so similar to Jedi, they promptly changed the working title to "The Wrath of Khan".

While we're talking about Star Wars, we all know that Samuel L. Jackson played the role of Mace Windu in the prequel trilogy. But did you realize that there are three things different about his lightsaber than any other in the entire sextology?

The differences?

A) The blade is purple. (Purple is Jackson's favorite color.)
B) The hilt is gold. (All other hilts are silver.)
C) His hilt is engraved. (With the initials "BMF", nonetheless.)

Wes Raimi, or is that Sam Craven?

2009-07-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

In Wes Craven's 1977 film "The Hills Have Eyes", there is a scene where a poster for Jaws is seen on a wall. Ostensibly, this was to state that Hills was an even scarier film than Jaws.

Sam Raimi's 1981 film "The Evil Dead" homages this reference by placing a "Hills Have Eyes" poster in the basement of the cabin.

Craven caught wind of this and in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) upped the ante by displaying both a torn poster for "The Evil Dead" and having the character of Nancy watch "The Evil Dead" in order to try and stay awake.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Raimi went back on the attack and in 1987's "Evil Dead II", Freddy Krueger's razor tipped glove can be seen hanging above the door to the toolshed where Ash chainsaws his girlfriend's viced head.

Consequently, every single one of Sam Raimi's films contains a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 known affectionately as "The Classic". (Supposedly this is the vehicle that Raimi lost his virginity in.)

This vehicle even appeared in "The Quick and the Dead", a western film, though this time it was ensconced in a covered wagon frame.

Mary Kay Bergman

2009-07-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Mary Kay Bergman was a professional voice actress notable for her work as the voice of Mrs. Butterworth in the pancake syrup commercials, Daphne in several Scooby-Doo films, and many female characters in Disney animated films and "The Tick" animated series. She performed most of the female voices in the first three seasons of South Park until her untimely death via suicide on November 11, 1999 at the age of 38.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin

2009-07-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin received his nickname from his younger sister who had difficulty pronouncing "brother" in such as way that it came out "buzzer". Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.