The "Did you know" thread.....

[tygrkhat40]

Just because someone says the next generation will have this, it isn't necessarily so. True, no one has come up with a practical flying car, but when those predictions were being made, no one predicted things like the internet, cell phones, miniature electronic devices of all sorts. Haldeman "predicted" the internet like Ray Bradbury "predicted" artificial satellites. Many inventions are conceptualized long before they achieve a practical status, for instance, television and the ball-point pen.

Could the Wired Nation have been implemented with the technology available at the time? Probably not, but if the plan had been implemented, the research and development needed to make it work would have been given a priority.

[blondifan]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

... Haldeman "predicted" the internet like Ray Bradbury "predicted" artificial satellites...

Some feel that Pete Townsend (of the Who) predicted a form of the 'net with the abandoned Lifehouse project, circa 1971.

...the populace are forced to wear Lifesuits,[1] suits that could simulate all experiences in a way that no one would have to leave home.
The suits are plugged into a huge mainframe called the Grid, similar to today's Internet...

Guess there is a possibility that he'd read Halderman,

[bombermouse]

On the topic of flying cars, in my experience the average driver has his/her hands full dealing with two dimensions. Add a third and things are going to go wrong in all kinds of ways. On the other hand, this could be part of the solution to overpopulation.

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by bombermouse

On the topic of flying cars, in my experience the average driver has his/her hands full dealing with two dimensions. Add a third and things are going to go wrong in all kinds of ways. On the other hand, this could be part of the solution to overpopulation.

Yes,If an ordinary car breaks down,You roll to a stop,If a flying car breaks down,You fall to Your death and possibly kill someone on the ground as well.

[Greenman]

Did you know...that the cockney pub song 'Knees Up Mother Brown' or if you prefer 'Knees Awp Muvva Brahn' inspired Richard Sherman to write 'Step In Time' for Dick van Dyke to sing as Bert in 'Mary Poppins' And whilst on the subject it would appear that there is no one based on Mother Brown but what has always puzzled me is if she is told to go "under the table you must go, e,i,e,i,e,i,o" how would she be able to stay there without bending her legs, as the next line is "if I see them bending I'll saw your legs right off!" A bit extreme innit? I also discovered that music hall composers Bert Lee and Harris Weston wrote another version in 1938 or so which mentions about a french woman but it's not one I've ever heard and the lyrics change as well.

The other strange verse is "oh my, what a rotten song, what a rotten song, what a rotten song, oh my, what a rotten song and what a rotten singer too. Apparently this was sung by West Ham fans although I suspect they changed some of the lyrics to their own ends-the wags!

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

Crosby, Stills and Nash is the only group to have all it's members inducted twice; all as CSN, Crosby with the Byrds, Stills with Buffalo Springfield and Nash with the Hollies. Stills is the only person to be inducted twice on the same night, in 1997. And occasional bandmate Neil Young is also a two-time inductee, with Buffalo Springfield and as a solo artist.

When Ringo is inducted later this month, the Beatles become the second group to have all it's members inducted as individuals. But unlike his fellow Beatles, Ringo is not being inducted for his solo work. The Award for Musical Excellence "honors those musicians, producers and others who have spent their careers out of the spotlight working with major artists on various parts of their recording and live careers." Previous Musical Excellence inductees include Leon Russell, Tom Dowd and the E Street Band. Although, it could be argued that both Ringo and the E Street Band were definitely in the spotlight.

[Greenman]

Speaking of mothers, did you know that there are quite a few mothers mentioned in songs and entertainment. For example: Old Mother Hubbard in the nursery rhyme, Mother Brown (as mentioned above), Old Mother Reilly, which was a character made up by old time comedian Arthur Lucan who it was said inspired Les Dawson to create his character of Cissy in his comedy shows(along with Roy Barraclough as Ada) and a song On Mother Kellys Doorstep as sung, in drag, by entertainer Danny La Rue.

[Mal Hombre]

Dawson's Ada was actually inspired by His hero Norman Evans,A Northern commedian whose act included "Over the Garden wall" with Evans playing a comic gossipy housewife.

[Greenman]

Oh yes that's right and he was also inspired by the comedian Robb Wilton who used to do a monologue which began "The day war broke out, my wife said to me..."

Les Dawson once played piano in a French bordello. He had in his act him playing a piano but really badly - now that takes REAL genius. He also became an accomplished writer - one book was called Welfare My Lovely, a pastiche on Farewell My Lovely. He left this world far too early.

[alexrrv]

Did you know that there is a variant of one karat gold that contain less percentage gold than other one karat gold?