You Learn Something New Every Day (cont.)

[bloviatrix]

8 hours ago, splinky said:

must have been close for Mr Tune to keep making the error year after year

I agree, but I wonder where the error was.

[Sneakeater]

The guy who runs Sette Mezzo has a name like a Bond Girl.

https://www.grubstreet.com/article/oriente-mania-leaves-sette-mezzo.html

[Sneakeater]

One Times Square -- formerly The Times Tower -- has been empty for decades.  It became totally clad with billboards, which rendered the building uninhabitable because there could be no windows.  But as the most expensive signage in the entire world, the billboards were more lucrative than tenants would be.

It never occurred to me that the building was empty, although it's obvious when you think about it.  I was only vaguely aware that I hadn't seen that ugly white facade (with its windows) they installed in the '60s (when it was the Allied Chemical Building?) probably since I was in high school or college.

(Now they're getting ready to fill the building with "immersive" experiences aimed at tourists that will essentially be rented out to corporations as advertising.  A use that doesn't require windows, and generates additional income for the building owners.)

Edited April 3, 2024 by Sneakeater

[StephanieL]

There's a town in Florida called Frostproof.

[Anthony Bonner]

15 minutes ago, StephanieL said:

There's a town in Florida called Frostproof.

in true Florida style - not remotely Frostproof.

[voyager]

The last time I was in Florida it was 28F In February.   

[Sneakeater]

In 1960, after years of resisting, Moe Berg (one of my two biggest heroes) agreed to write his memoirs.  He quit the project when the ghost assigned to work with him confused him with Moe Howard. 

Edited April 10, 2024 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

Julian Glover is Robert Wyatt’s half-brother. 

[Wilfrid]

So he is. And both treasures still with us.

[StephanieL]

Hershey Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (the original) are made with sugar and not corn syrup like I'd assumed, so I can have some junk food on Passover.

[Wilfrid]

The Russian Samovar used to be the famous Sinatra hangout spot, Jilly’s.

[Sneakeater]

Oh THAT'S where it was?

[Sneakeater]

It's pretty cool that one space was a hangout of Frank Sinatra, Joseph Brodsky, and Phillip Roth.

[Wilfrid]

Right, but who knew? 

[Sneakeater]

Bee Wilson is Emily Wilson's sister (which means she's also A.N. Wilson's daughter).

This shouldn't be surprising, England being England.  But I sure didn't know.

[small h]

Ian Fleming invented the Vesper.

[Sneakeater]

This is obnoxious, but:  HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE VESPER (WITH RECIPE) FIRST APPEARED IN THE FIRST JAMES BOND NOVEL??????????????????

(Although some doubt that Fleming created the recipe -- obvs he created the name, as it's named after a character in the novel -- as opposed to "borrowing" it.)

Edited May 29, 2024 by Sneakeater

[small h]

I read Casino Royale when I was about  eight years old. At that time, cocktail recipes didn’t really make much of an impression on me. 

[Wilfrid]

I knew that can I have a gold star? 🙂

[small h]

I guess you get mine!

[StephanieL]

There's such a thing as salivary gland stones.  Ask me how I know.

[maison rustique]

14 hours ago, StephanieL said:

There's such a thing as salivary gland stones.  Ask me how I know.

Do we need to know how to prevent them?

[Orik]

2 hours ago, maison rustique said:

Do we need to know how to prevent them?

Salivate more! (serious answer)

[StephanieL]

13 hours ago, Orik said:

Salivate more! (serious answer)

True, and sucking on lemons is recommended to increase saliva production (serious answer--it's what my dentist told me).

[Wilfrid]

There are “shitty food porn” communities where people post photos of bad food.

I admit I am keen to investigate further.