Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - QUACKS HAVE ACCENTS

Did you know.... You probably know the old saying, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it just may be a duck.” But there’s a slight wrinkle in that logic, because not all ducks quack the same.

 

Research has shown that ducks from different areas can develop regional “accents,” not unlike humans, that can be heard in their quacks. Professor Victoria de Rijke of London’s Middlesex University found that London ducks have a louder and rougher quack, described as sounding like a shout or a laugh, compared to the softer, more relaxed sounds of countryside quackers in Cornwall, England. Ducks are extremely adaptable creatures, and it's believed the city ducks made adjustments to compete with urban noise.

 

Hunters and call makers (people who craft animal calls for hunting) have also picked up on these regional differences, honing in on distinct styles to match local duck flocks. From the loud, high-pitched calls made by the ducks of Tennessee's beloved Reelfoot Lake to the subtle, more infrequent quacks of Louisiana waterfowl, each style reflects years of close listening to ducks whose sounds have been shaped by their habitats.

 

 

The 1980s movie Howard the Duck led to the creation of Pixar.
In 1986, an early Marvel movie called Howard the Duck was released in theaters. The film was a notorious flop, widely panned for its overall off-key strangeness — but it helped lay the groundwork for a major Hollywood success story.

 

The movie’s executive producer, Star Wars creator George Lucas, tapped his company’s computer graphics team to help with the film’s post-production. Soon afterward, partially due to Howard the Duck’s failure, Lucas attempted to recoup some financial losses by selling that graphics division to Steve Jobs, who had recently left Apple computers (though he returned in 1997).

 

That division became Pixar, and in 1995, the company succeeded in making Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated feature film. Pixar would go on to redefine computer animation in the film industry.

 

 

Source: Ducks quack in regional accents.

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - D'OH

Did you know.... Homer Simpson’s famed grunt has been ubiquitous both on the long-running animated series The Simpsons (which debuted in 1989) and in the collective imagination for decades now, with “D’oh!” getting its own Wikipedia article, YouTube compilations, and even a book. Yet not many people know the sound is actually a protected trademark owned by 20th Century Studios. Technically, it’s a sound mark, which the United States Patent and Trademark Office explains “identifies and distinguishes a product or service through audio rather than visual means” and " create in the hearer’s mind an association” between a sound and a good or service. 20th Century Studios filed papers to trademark the sound (registration number: 3411881) in July 2001, and it was officially registered in 2008. Other examples of sound marks include the noise Darth Vader makes while breathing and that instantly recognizable Law and Order “chung chung” sound effect.

 

Homer's utterance is hardly the only iconic Simpsons catchphrase — “¡Ay, caramba!” and “Okily dokily!” come to mind as well — but “D’oh!” may be the most enduring. TV Land placed it sixth on a list of the 100 greatest quotes and catchphrases in television history, ahead of such heavyweights as Fred Flintstone’s “Yabba dabba do!” and Seinfeld’s “No soup for you!”

 

The true location of Springfield has never been revealed.

What state do the Simpsons live in? According to one chalkboard gag, “The true location of Springfield is in any state but yours.” Despite creator Matt Groening once saying that the town was partially based on Springfield, Oregon, the show itself has made a joke of never revealing its actual location. There have been clues along the way, most of which contradict each other, but it’s likely that there will never be a definite answer. “I don’t want to ruin it for people, you know?” Groening has said of the phenomenon. “Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, wherever, I always go, ‘Yup, that’s right.’”

 

 

Source: Homer Simpson’s ‘D’oh’ is trademarked by 20th Century Studios.

Edited 18 hours ago by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS

Did you know.... With their gravity-defying basketball trick shots, the Harlem Globetrotters can make a school assembly feel like the final matchup in 1996’s Space Jam. Promoter Abe Saperstein founded the legendary exhibition team in 1926 as a way to showcase the talents of Black athletes, who were not yet allowed to play on professional basketball teams. For 12 years, the Globetrotters played standard basketball, but then began adding the comedic routines that would earn them the title of the “Clown Princes of Basketball.” Today, the team doubles as goodwill ambassadors, constantly speaking out on the importance of bullying prevention and mental health, among other topics. In their 100-year history, the Globetrotters have drafted 10 honorary members, including Henry Kissinger, Bob Hope, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Whoopi Goldberg, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jesse Jackson, and Robin Roberts. Two others — Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis — added the title to what may already be the most famous job in the world.

 

In fact, both popes were literal globetrotters well before receiving the honor. During his 27-year papacy (1978-2005), polyglot Pope John Paul II visited 129 countries, more than all his predecessors combined. And Pope Francis, the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church, accrued frequent flyer miles at a similarly fast pace — during his 12-year tenure, he visited more than 65 countries. The Globetrotters, meanwhile, remain the best-traveled basketball squad in history. Pope John Paul II welcomed the team to the Vatican in 1986 and 2000. The latter meeting fell on the eve of the Globetrotters’ 75th anniversary, so they presented His Holiness — then aged 80 — with an autographed “75” jersey and basketball. Pope Francis was slightly younger when he became an honorary member, in 2015. Player Flight Time Lang even helped Pope Francis briefly spin a basketball on one finger, to the delight of revelers in St. Peter’s Square.

 

NBC aired a TV movie called “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.”
Gilligan’s Island has spent so many decades in syndication that it’s easy to forget CBS canceled the show in 1967, after just three seasons. Yet creator Sherwood Schwartz believed more hijinks awaited the S.S. Minnow’s stranded passengers, so he co-wrote a trio of TV movies that aired on rival NBC between 1978 and 1981. For the final installment, NBC executives successfully pitched Schwartz a plot where the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders find themselves stuck on the island with Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (Skipper), and the rest of the returning ensemble. However, the Harlem Globetrotters were chosen to replace the cheerleaders because the latter had already committed to a competing special. In the end product, Gilligan and the rest of his former shipmates run an island resort called The Castaways, where the Globetrotters find shelter after their plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. Somehow, the plot also involves the discovery of a new element called Supremium, robots, and (of course) a winner-takes-all basketball game, in which — spoiler alert — Gilligan scores the winning shot.

 

 

Source: Two popes have been named honorary members of the Harlem Globetrotters.