Trivia Thread!

[Ent]

Well. Ent has pondered the above for a long time now. (1.34829 seconds.)
All he can say is... 'good for her'. Would that some could do the same today..!
(Paparazzi = Orcs.)

 

[Eljorahir]

The paparazzi finally got "the point".

 

[LaurelinBearsFruit]

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That is truly amazing! Also amazing she didn't get arrested or imprisoned for shooting an arrow at someone.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

It was Italy, after all. 😄

 

[Olorgando]

That is truly amazing! Also amazing she didn't get arrested or imprisoned for shooting an arrow at someone.

Well, it wasn't exactly an English / Welsh longbow from the battles of Crécy (1346) or Agincourt (1415; actually Azincourt; the real French Agincourt is in an entirely different part of France).

(Paparazzi = Orcs.)

That's an insult to the Orcs.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood is home to the steepest street in the United States (and possibly the world): Canton Avenue. It is as steep as 37 degrees.

 

[Vorondil]

Well, it wasn't exactly an English / Welsh longbow

What a pity.

 

[Ent]

The General Sherman Tree, a Giant Sequoia, is the largest known tree on earth.
It is neither the tallest, nor the widest, nor the oldest.
But it is largest by total volume.

 

[Eljorahir]

Revisiting SES's post...
This story is just crying out for an alliterative newspaper headline. How about?:

Sultry Starlet Sends Shyster Shutterbug the Shaft
(Pernicious Paparazzi Get the Point)

 

[Firiel23]

The series of pictures tells the story so well. It's almost like a series of stills from a movie showing the progression
"and the last thing they saw...

 

[Ent]

It's almost like a series of stills from a movie showing the progression

Indeed. It's almost like it was staged... a publicity stunt.

It would not be out of character for her, as noted here:
"The combination of Ekberg's voluptuous physique and colourful private life (such as her well-publicized romances with Hollywood's leading men like Frank Sinatra, Tyrone Power, Yul Brynner, Rod Taylor, and Errol Flynn) appealed to the gossip magazines, like Confidential and she soon became a major 1950s pin-up, appearing in men's magazines like Playboy. Additionally, Ekberg participated in publicity stunts. She once admitted that an incident in which her dress burst open in the lobby of London's Berkeley Hotel[8] was prearranged with a photographer."

Just as a note:
Of the same incident mentioned in @Squint-eyed Southerner's post, rather than her 'beating someone up' then 'hauling the bow and arrow out of her car', the paparazzi followed her home after she kissed ((yet another) famous male actor at a bar. (She had a habir of selecting married men for her targets it seems.)
First, she 'went into her house,, returning with the bow and arrow', and shot the paparazzi in the hand. (She is said to have been a good archer, as well as trained in fencing and other things.) After that, she strolled up and gave him a rather pointed knee-jab in a most unopportunie spot.

The way it's written, she did nothing to 'dissuade' teh paparazzi from following her at any time, but ratehr sought the attention out. There's no indication she had any problem with him following her home.. she just used the opportunity as it was presented to her.

 

[Eljorahir]

While researching the Variags of Khand mentioned during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields I found this enticing slice of history.
When Tolkien was 12 years old a Variag of another sort steamed its way into the history books. I wonder if JRR new about this Variag.

Varyag (sometimes also spelled Variag), was a Russian protected cruiser. Varyag became famous for her crew's stoicism at the Battle of Chemulpo Bay (present-day Incheon, Korea) during the Russo-Japanese war, February 1904.

The last parade of the cruiser Varyag, by Vladmir Kosov

Outnumbered 15 ships to 2 and faced with an ultimatum to surrender or be destroyed…
‘Outgunned and outnumbered, and refusing advice from the neutral captains to surrender, at 11:00 on 9 February, Captain Vsevolod Rudnev of Varyag attempted to make a break for the open sea.’

After much battle damage and loss of life the captain ordered Varyag scuttled so as not to be of use to the enemy. The actions of the captain and his sailors during the battle led to a movie, monuments, poems, a postage stamp, songs, and eventually a great honor bestowed upon the Russian captain by his enemy…

‘After the war, in 1907, Japanese Emperor Meiji awarded Rudnev the Order of the Rising Sun, (2nd class), the first Russian to be so honored, and an unprecedented recognition of an enemy commander. Rudnev accepted the order, but never wore it in public.’

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

At the beginning of the WWI, tanks were grouped according to their 'gender'. The male tanks had cannons attached while the females carried machine guns. The prototype tank was named Little Willie.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

You reminded me of the old rhyme:

Little Willie was a chemist,
Little Willie is no more;
What he thought was  H2O,
Was really H2SO4.

More trivial information: this appeared repeatedly on the humor page of Boys' Life magazine, when I was a lad.

Still more trivia: the jokes were submitted by readers, and they paid $5 for each one printed. I sent one in, but though it wasn't printed, they kept printing -- and paying for -- jokes that had appeared only months before. Grr! 😡

 

[Ent]

Boys' Life magazine,

now THIS took me back quite a few decades..!!

 

[Eljorahir]

 

[Olorgando]

Boys' Life magazine,

Was that connected in any way to the Time-Life group (which also published some of my earliest "own books")?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Not that I know of; it's published by the Boy Scouts of America.

 

[Ent]

Was that connected in any way to the Time-Life group (which also published some of my earliest "own books")?

Not as far as I can tell from my research.
It was and remains the official mag of the Boy Scouts of America, founded and first published in 1911 by George S. Barton. Now called Scouts Life. Originally called Boys' and Boy Scouts Magazine due to 3 existing organizations at the time competing to be the primary/sole Scouts organization. Ultimately the BSA came out the remaining one.

 

[grendel]

You reminded me of the old rhyme:

Little Willie was a chemist,
Little Willie is no more;
What he thought was  H2O,
Was really H2SO4.

More trivial information: this appeared repeatedly on the humor page of Boys' Life magazine, when I was a lad.

Still more trivia: the jokes were submitted by readers, and they paid $5 for each one printed. I sent one in, but though it wasn't printed, they kept printing -- and paying for -- jokes that had appeared only months before. Grr! 😡

Willie found some dynamite
Couldn't understand it quite
Curiosity never pays
It rained Willie seven days