Tell Me Something I Don't Know

[firecat88]

A few Colorado facts:

~ At just over 11.1k feet above sea-level, the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. It is a dual bore tunnel and each bore spans roughly 1.7 miles. Though construction on the Eisenhower tunnel began in 1968, the Johnson tunnel's construction did not begin until 1975. The tunnel project was completed in its entirety in 1979.

~ Freelan Stanley was one of the co-founders of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, a company that manufactured automobiles with steam-powered engines. Under recommendation from his doctor, Stanley vacationed with his wife in Colorado under the belief that the mountain air would do wonders for his health (he suffered from tuberculosis). When his health did show significant improvement, he and his wife settled in Estes Park permanently and founded the famous Stanley Hotel.

~ Speaking of the Stanley, it is where Stephen King got his inspiration to write The Shining. It is said to be very haunted, with the most active area being the ballroom (the kitchen staff have reported hearing parties going on there, only to find that the room was empty. Also, people have heard the piano playing when no one was there to play it). It is believed that the paranormal activity is caused by the large quantities of limestone and quartz that exist in and around the mountain.

~ Fruita celebrates 'Mike the Headless Chicken Day' on the third weekend of May. It is a day honoring Mike, a rooster that lived for 2 whole years after being decapitated by a farmer named Lloyd Olsen.

~ Alma, Colorado, is the highest incorporated town in the United States (10,578 feet). Leadville, Colorado, is the highest incorporated city (10,152 feet). Contrary to what many believe, it has always been this way. Alma has never taken the 'highest city' title from Leadville.

~ The 480 acres that now make up the Garden of the Gods was once owned by Charles Elliot Perkins. After his death, the land was given to the City of Colorado Springs under the condition that it be made into a park that was free and open to the public.

~ The following food-related businesses were founded in Colorado: Celestial Seasonings, Chipotle, Enstrom's Candy, Flying Dog Brewery, Jolly Rancher, Noodles and Company, Noosa Yoghurt, Qdoba

[fireheart]

Among the "Dumb laws" I discovered today, it is apparently illegal to "object" to a wedding in South Australia. Seriously. >.>

[KhirasHY]

A few Colorado facts:

Woo woo, Colorado Represent! Here's a few more:

-A large amount of the city property in downtown Denver, including the Capitol building, is built on land once owned by a man named Henry C Brown. Brown purchased a number of land parcels, one of which he donated to the state; he also donated $1000 (during the 19th century, quite a lot) to build the first public library in Denver. Later, he would also have one of the first open-atrium hotels (the Brown Palace) built as his "crowning achievement", but its construction ended up bankrupting him, and he had to sell it off. As a result, the hotel is one of the few buildings in the entire state which owns not only the property, but the sidewalks around it as well (which are usually city owned). It leases the sidewalks to the city, which keeps them in repair.

-The Brown Palace is also one of the oldest running hotels, having been in continuous operation since 1892. It's also well known as being one of the lowest paying hotels in downtown Denver, and hotel employees generally will share that it is notorious for having a crooked HR department. The things you learn...

-Thanks to a large portion of the state being around a mile over sea level, many Coloradans live in a thinner atmosphere than the vast majority of the US. This has a number of effects: things like golf balls or kicked footballs tend to fly 10% further, alcohol is more intoxicating, and the dry air tends to cause more dehydration than in lower climates. Due to less water vapor in the air, the sky appears bluer in Colorado than most other states.

-Also due to the thinner atmosphere, one of the most common physical ailments for out-of-state/country visitors is altitude sickness, which shares symptoms with a heart attack or stroke. Visitors are generally advised to double their water intake, and try to remember to take deeper breaths to avoid this annoying (but generally harmless) condition. The most common problem area for this is Pikes Peak, which sees a massive influx of tourism every year, but has a constant medical staff on hand for fainting visitors.

-Home-grown Denverites have a bad habit of assuming people know how to tell what direction they are facing. In Denver (or Boulder, or many other cities), the mountains are always to the west.

-Colorado is consistently listed as the thinnest state in the US, though we lost the title to Montana in 2014. In 2013, Colorado was the only state with an obesity average under 20%.

-Going back to the thinner atmosphere, Colorado is a favorite training ground for many athletes, including Olympic hopefuls. Training with less oxygen has had athletes reporting a boost of energy when they return to areas closer to sea level for years, so many of the official US Olympic training gyms relocated to areas in the foothills and mountains to capitalize on the effect.

-The Pikes Peak Railway is the highest cog railway in the world. It travels 8.9 miles, and goes from an altitude of 6571 feet to 14110 feet.

-Central City, about 45 miles west of Denver, is called the "Riches Square Mile on Earth" due to roughly a half billion dollars worth of gold that was mined there. The city now shares incorporation with Blackhawk, and is the only area in Colorado where licensed casinos can be operated (albeit with more restrictions than Las Vegas).

-The road to the top of Mount Evans (which is 14260 feet) is the highest paved road in North America.

-The mountainous area of Colorado is six times the size of Switzerland, containing 9600 miles of fishing streams, 2850 lakes, and more than 1000 peaks that are 2+ miles above sea level. There are 21 ski resorts currently in operation in the state, and there have been around 150 total resorts in operation since the 1930's (though that number includes buyouts, so some may be multiples of the same mountain resort).

[KhirasHY]

Since I'm rewatching it, here's some (non-spoiler) Battlestar Galactica trivia:

-The only actor to appear in both the original series and the remake is Richard Hatch; he played Apollo in the original series (21 episodes), and Tom Zarek in the remake (22 episodes).

-Characters present in both the original and remake series: Adama, Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, Tigh, Baltar, Boxey (in only the miniseries and a brief appearance in one episode), Admiral Cain, President Adar, and Zak. In the original series, Adar and "Zac" appeared in the pilot episode only, and Starbuck was male instead of female.

-Many of the weapons used in the series are actual modern firearms, and not custom props. The Marines often use Heckler & Koch G36 rifles and Beretta CX4 carbines, Anders frequently carries a Heckler & Koch UMP submachinegun and a Desert Eagle pistol, Helo sometimes carries a South African Protecta drum-fed shotgun, and Starbuck sometimes uses a pair of Skorpion vz 61 submachineguns. The fleet standard issue side arm is also a Five-Seven pistol with fake grenade launcher.

-The "family lighter" that Commander Adama presents to Apollo was bought at a garage sale for use in the episode in which it appears.

-The character Helo was never intended to return, but test audiences reacted so strongly, he was written into the show as a long-term character. Additionally, the subplot with Helo and Boomer was written without knowing what the goal was initially, and only later were decisions made about the outcome.

-Ronald D. Moore cites Peter Pan (1953) as a major influence on this show, specifically the phrase "All this has happened before, and will happen again." Moore found the notion both pessimistic and pragmatic, and worked it into the Cylon mythology.

-Paper (and photos, books, and even picture frames) in the series have corners cut off. It is said that director Michael Rymer did this during the miniseries as a reference to how he had to "cut corners" financially to make the miniseries work on a limited budget. The practice was continued into the series, although the producers have said on numerous occasions that although it seemed like a "neat idea at the time", having to cut the corners off every document seen onscreen became a nuisance for the weekly series.

-Edward James Olmos (Cmdr. Adama) had a clause in his contract that no strange aliens or monsters would ever appear on the show. He wanted to insure that the story stay focused on human drama.

-Though other actresses were considered, the role of Laura Roslin was written especially for Mary McDonnell.

-The network expressed apprehension at the casting of Tricia Helfer in the pivotal role of Number Six. At the time, Helfer was known primarily as a model, and had virtually no acting experience. Later, network executives were so impressed with her performance that they based the entire marketing campaign of the show around her character.

-Lucy Lawless was originally offered the role of Ellen Tigh, but rejected it feeling that she was wrong for the part. The producers so wanted her for a role on the series, however, that they later wrote the role of D'Anna Biers with Lawless in mind.

-In Hebrew the name "Adama" (last name of William, Lee and Zak) actually means "ground" or "earth" and pronounced almost exactly: "ada-ma". Hardly a coincidence since finding Earth is the main theme of the series.

-For the first season in the U.S., the opening theme was an instrumental piece. When broadcast in other countries, the opening theme was a completely different composition, a song with vocals, the same length as the instrumental theme. After the first season, the U.S. broadcasts used the same theme song as everywhere else. The vocals are a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda; the words are "OM bhûr bhuvah svah tat savitur varçnyam bhargô dçvasya dhîmahi dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers".

-Ron Moore said in a podcast commentary that though his initial intention was to bring the card game "Pyramid" and the athletic sport game "Triad" from the original Battlestar Galactica into the new series, he mistakenly transposed the names, which is why in the new series the sport is "Pyramid," and the card game is "Triad."

-In the original Battlestar Galactica, Viper weapons fire was red lasers and the Cylon Raiders fired blue lasers. In this version, both ships fire actual bullets. However, both sides fire the correct color of bullets.

[wolfie]

-Characters present in both the original and remake series: Adama, Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, Tigh, Baltar, Boxey (in only the miniseries and a brief appearance in one episode), Admiral Cain, President Adar, and Zak. In the original series, Adar and "Zac" appeared in the pilot episode only, and Starbuck was male instead of female.

Don't forget that in the original, Boomer was male.

Another difference between the series: in the original, Apollo, Starbuck, and Boomer were their real names, while in the remake they're callsigns.

A BIG background mistake was carried intact from the original to the remake. The Galactica is basically an aircraft carrier in space, so it can be assumed that the ranks used are naval ranks (confirmed by some characters having navy-only ranks). No navy would have a father and son serving on the same ship, with the son outranking the father (Apollo is a Captain, Adama is a Commander - Captain outranks Commander).

Could have been fixed quite easily by making Adama a Commodore. In the Napoleonic-era British navy, Captains were promoted to Admiral strictly on seniority. Commodore was a temporary rank - if it was necessary to put a Captain in charge of a fleet, but the Navy wasn't ready to promote him and all captains senior to him to Admiral, he would be appointed Commodore of the fleet (even if he weren't the most senior captain in the fleet). On the fleet accomplishing its goal and being split back into its constituent ships, the title would lapse, and he'd be back to Captain with his seniority unaffected.

[KhirasHY]

A BIG background mistake was carried intact from the original to the remake. The Galactica is basically an aircraft carrier in space, so it can be assumed that the ranks used are naval ranks (confirmed by some characters having navy-only ranks). No navy would have a father and son serving on the same ship, with the son outranking the father (Apollo is a Captain, Adama is a Commander - Captain outranks Commander).

Even if Lee had been a higher rank, it could've been explained away since he was only originally on Galactica for Cmdr. Adama's ceremony. It always bugged me that the ranks were out of order, but meh, it's a minor quibble all things considered

[fireheart]

Since we're on the subject of totally random TV trivia, here's some from Farscape (which I've started re-watching/actually watching: I haven't seen anything beyond Season 2)

-Nearly all of the cast and crew are Australian or New Zealander with the sole exception of Ben Browder (who is from the USA). (In particular, the actors for Zhaan, Aeryn, D'Argo, Chiana, Jool, Sikozu and Scorpius are all Australian, Crais is from New Zealand)

-Virginia Hey (who played the blue-skinned Zhaan on the show) wound up suffering from kidney problems caused by her blue makeup and had to leave the show (she also wanted to grow her hair back). The show were very understanding and gave her a graceful send-off as a result.

-The voice actor for the character Pilot is the same guy who plays Crais on the show.

-Rygel wound up nearly being "broken" at one stage. How? They used a new puppet for him in a filler episode and Anthony Simcoe (who played D'Argo) got a bit too OTT with force-feeding said puppet crackers.

-Chiana was originally meant to be a one-episode character. They wound up liking her so much that she wound up joining the show permanently. She also tended to cock her head a lot to compensate for the contact lenses she had to wear.

-Sikozu's crazy hair when she was first introduced is the actors actual hair

-Nearly all of the show was filmed in Australia and a good chunk of it was filmed out at Homebush, which is about 10-15kms from where I am located now.

-Among some of the "We were going to do this, but never did" moments, one of them was intended to wrap up Rygel's story. It never happened because they had more trouble with multiple Hynerian puppets!

-Aussies may recognise some of the guest stars that appear on the show, among them are Grant Bowler and Madga Szubanski. (the latter had a recurring role, the former was a one-shot character who looked quite handsome in bright red makeup )

-The show refrained from using CGI with Rygel as much as possible because they found it was too expensive. One of the few times its actually done is when Rygel is "walking" to meet with the Monster of the Week in one of the earlier episodes.

-During the filming of an episode in the second season, Claudia Black's phone went off while she was kissing the puppet Rygel. She had to buy a whole case of beer for the crew

[wolfie]

-Chiana was originally meant to be a one-episode character. They wound up liking her so much that she wound up joining the show permanently.

Klinger from M*A*S*H was intended to be a single-scene gag character.

-The voice actor for the character Pilot is the same guy who plays Crais on the show.

Before he came on board as Col. Potter, Harry Morgan played a bigoted general in one episode.

-The show refrained from using CGI with Rygel as much as possible because they found it was too expensive. One of the few times its actually done is when Rygel is "walking" to meet with the Monster of the Week in one of the earlier episodes.

The transporter in Star Trek was created to avoid the cost of repeatedly filming a shuttle landing and taking off.

[KhirasHY]

How about a Jay 2K version? That's right...random pro wrestling/wrestler trivia!

-Mick Foley (AKA Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love) has sustained one of the longer injury lists, such as a broken jaw, fractured left shoulder, broken right wrist, a broken toe, two broken noses, second degree burns and a total of over 300 stitches all over his body. 1998: In an intensely brutal Hell in a Cell match vs The Undertaker, Foley had, his shoulder and jaw dislocated and a tooth knocked into his nose. During a match against Vader (Leon White) in Munich, Germany, he lost 2/3 of his right ear when it was torn off by the ring ropes, which had been tightened without his knowledge before the match.

-The first (and only) time Mick Foley's two children saw him perform live at a show was an "I Quit" match against The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). The match was so brutal, both his children and his wife were visibly shaken and in tears, and had to leave the arena. Parts of the match, and more notably their reaction, is shown in the documentary "Beyond the Mat."

-If you're betting from home about who will win the yearly Royal Rumble match, the safest bet is on #27. More wrestlers have won the event from that position than any other (Big John Studd in 1989, Yokozuna in 1993, Bret Hart in 1994, and Steve Austin in 2001).

-Despite being one of the more legendary names in the industry, Jake "The Snake" Roberts never held any title in the WWF/WWE during his time there.

-"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, whose in-ring character is a boisterous Scottish man, is actually Canadian.

-Thus far, Wrestlemania XVI is the only Wrestlemania which did not feature a single 1v1 match between males.

-Speaking of Wrestlemania, there was never a main event for the WWF/WWE Championship that featured two wrestlers using their real names until Wrestlemania XIX, where Kurt Angle faced Brock Lesnar.

-When the "Smackdown" brand was originally created, it was envisioned to be a female-only brand of wrestling. Obviously, this changed.

-The longest WWE/WWF championship reign is held by Bruno Sammartino, which clocked in at 2803 days (more than 7 years). As of this moment, that's longer than the combined reigns of Randy Orton, John Cena, and Triple-H combined. It began before JFK's assassination, and ended two years after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

[wolfie]

In the U.S., Vicks Vapor Inhaler, an over-the-counter (i.e. non-prescription) decongestant, contains methamphetamine. Not as crazy as it sounds - the molecule exists in 2 chiralities (it's asymmetric, and the 2 forms are mirror images of each other), and the levorotary form doesn't have the same addiction potential as its mirror-image twin.

This isn't the only drug whose different chiralities have different effects - only one chirality of thalidomide causes birth defects. Unfortunately, since it can change chiralities "in vivo", the "no defect" form isn't safe for pregnant women.

[fireheart]

I have an interesting one that I found out tonight. I've started watching the latest Sentai series to grace Japanese airwaves, specifically Ressha Sentai ToQger (pronounced "Tokkyuger") which is train-themed. Their "ally" in this series is this guy:



(yes, that's a puppet on his hand. Said puppet in the show is a hilarious jackass who has some autonomy...as in he manages to pull the "conductor" along with him at one point)

Not only does he look fairly good for 61 years old(I am not making this up), but this guy also had a cameo role WAAAAAY back in the very first Sentai Series to grace Japanese screens, aka Himitsu Sentai GoRanger. He was a truck driver. So he managed to get a regular role I guess (He also had a role in Erik the Viking as a slavemaster.)


This guy however, does NOT voice the puppet though. The guy who DOES voice the puppet? He is the Japanese VA for Usopp from One Piece.

[Victory Sabre]

Wow, he's 61? I thought he was 50, tops.

Well, since you've mentioned Super Sentai, here's my addation to this thread.

Kazuo Niibori was the Red Suit actor for 13 years from Battle Fever J (Battle Japan) to Jetman (Red Hawk). He was also the suit actor for several of Kamen Rider series (1,2,X Amazon)

[firecat88]

While we're on the Sentai subject!

Singer and actor Kenta Satou has ties to two of the Super Sentai shows. His first appearance was in Kousoku Sentai Turboranger, where he played the red ranger. He also sang the opening and ending themes for the show, as well as several insert songs. At at least one of the Super Sentai Spirits concerts, he appears onstage wearing his costume from the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RPUPo6Mtc (Warning: Music may cause sudden urge to dance)

Satou also sang the opening theme for Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (the show that would go on to become the basis for the first Power Rangers season in the US).

[Fudgethatkay]

This guy however, does NOT voice the puppet though. The guy who DOES voice the puppet? He is the Japanese VA for Usopp from One Piece.

Yamaguchi Kappei also voices Inuyasha, Ranma, and L in anime.

[fireheart]

Wow, he's 61? I thought he was 50, tops.

I can go one better, although it's non-Sentai related.

This guy (linked because the image is huge) was pushing 60 when he retired from The Wiggles.

He did NOT look 40 when The Wiggles first debuted. (I remember this because I had one of the original videos when The Wiggles first debuted with the colour-coded shirts)

On the Sentai front, has anyone ever wondered why a number of the female Sentai costumes have miniskirts on them? (This is avoiding a few of the earlier series where the women wore basically leotards) Well, it happens to cover up that the people IN said suits are often male. I think Dekaranger is one of the first series (post Zyuranger) to avoid the miniskirts. (This isn't counting Gokaiger where there are non-skirted versions of a number of the outfits)