I recently remarked that reading children's books ad nauseam does not increase adult brain cells. For the most part, I think that's true. But I have to admit that I learned two things from a baby book that we checked out from the library:A baby goldfish is called a fry.
A baby guinea pig is called a pup.
Phew. I'm sure glad we got Sam that book. Now he won't repeat his parent's mistakes, mistakenly saying "baby goldfish" and "baby guinea pig" for 25+ years.
It's always a funny feeling when you learn something that seems to be common-knowledge to the general public. I always have this sense of disbelief, thinking, "Wait...how did I miss that?" Case in point: A few months ago, I learned that Carrie Fisher is the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. How come I never knew that earlier? Whenever I watched Star Wars as a kid, my dad made it a point to teach us that Carrie Fisher used to be married to Paul Simon. No one mentioned Reynolds. I guess that's because my dad would prefer listening to Simon & Garfunkel over "Singin' in the Rain."
Anyhow, I was quite floored when I found out the Reynolds/Fisher connection, especially since I love to watch old movies and read biographies of old actors/actresses.
I've become accustomed to the fact that I have a lot more to learn.
Okay. It's your turn to fess up. What was your most recent "I didn't know that!" moment?
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9 comments:
I did not know that RKO Pictures was purchased by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez and became Desilu
I know- big shocker
I just had one of those moments reading this post--I had no idea that Carrie Fisher was married to Paul Simon, although I think it was my dad that taught me that she was the daughter of Debbie Reynolds.
I have to brag and say I DID know the Carrie Fisher thing, only because mine are so much worse then yours. About two years ago I learned to spell Wednesday and February. Also, for the longest time I thought the Mary Poppins song "Feed the Birds" went "feed the birds, Toppins the Bag" and I thought, why are they calling that poor old woman a bag? That's so mean." Oh no, come to find out it's "toppins a bag" and toppins is MONEY. And now I'm remembering that it might be tuppins, not toppins.
Ha ha, Elmo, you crack me up! Now I'm going to laugh and think about the old woman as a "bag" every time I watch "Mary Poppins."
And I did know that about Desilu Studios, but I had forgotten. Thanks for that reminder, Alli! ;)
I'd have to say my most recent moment was actually the "Fry" not baby goldfish tidbit. Of course now I'll never look at french fries in the same whay again.
I remember when I found out that Shirley Maclaine and Warren Beatty were siblings. They just seemed such an unlikely duo for siblings.
A really, really embarrassing one for me is that I once, during my first week in my MPA program, had to read out loud in class and pronounced 'constituents' incorrectly. I didn't even know I said it wrong until I was teased about it after class and for about the next six months. Rather embarrassing considering that's such a key word in an MPA program. :P
Speaking of Carrie Fisher/Star Wars... Did you know that Darth Vader is Luke's father?! and Lea's! It blew my mind making that connection. Sorry for the spoiler. :-)
Anyhow, I was really going to say that I recently learned that Sean Astin (everyone's favorite hobbit and goonie) is the son of Patty Duke. And speaking of Desi Arnez, Alli, imdb said that for the longest time, Sean thought his father was Desi!
I also once looked up Nicolas Cage on wikipedia. He's Francis Ford Coppola's nephew and Jason Schwartzman's cousin. I need some famous relatives!
Me too, I never knew that! Wow!
I have to admit: I wasn't aware of any of the celebrity relationships that you guys have mentioned (aside from the Luke/Leia/Darth Vader bit, Josh!). Huh. I guess I have a lot to learn when it comes to celebrity inbreeding!
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