Fact Of The Day

[Chainsawmidget]

According to a professor of Popular culture (whatever that is) at Syracuse University Charles Schulz's Peanuts is "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being.''

Peanuts ran from October 1950 to Febuary 2000.  There were 17,897 comic strips made. 

During that time, Charlie Brown kicked the football only one.  ... in 1956.  Schroeder and not Lucy was the one holding the ball that time. 

[BoyScoutKevin]

The more things change. The more they stay the same: the teen years.

Now
Then: 4 and a half centuries ago.

They liked to party, which would include dancing, and to entertain their friends.

Boys liked to participate in sports.
Then: jousting
Now: excluding Medieval Times, you don't see much jousting, except in Maryland, where I believe a variation is the state sport.
The question is how old a boy had to be ere they could joust, since one could be seriously injured and even killed, it might have been 18 or 19.

When one wanted to show one was interested in another, one sent them a picture of oneself.
Now: a photo, most likely a selfie.
Then: a miniature portrait.

While the advice was often wrong and contradictory, it would behoove the sexually inexperienced to seek advice from the more experienced, if only to prevent the next from happening.

When newlyweds had a martial spat, they went home to mother. That is both the bride and the groom.

It was not always the man's fault.

Teens were horny and enjoyed sex.
Then: one newlywed teen bride wrote to a friend saying how much she enjoyed spending every night she could sleeping together with her teenage husband, in the same bed. The only problem was that neither one was getting much sleep.

Relationships are made to be broken up by the parents.

Mother-in-laws and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law did not get along sometimes.

It was not always the mother-in-law's fault.

They still can be dumb as a rock.

They still live in their own world.

Prison can change one.

When one is imprisoned, one reaches out to one in a similar circumstance.

When one knows one is going to die, even more so.

Death of a teen still hurts. Grown men were seen to weep openly at hearing of a teen's death.

And, of course, teens were probably similar 4 and a half centuries ere then, and will be similar 4 and a half centuries from now.

Next time: why would a man attend a comic con?

[BoyScoutKevin]

Why would a man attend a Comic Con?

This question was asked on the internet, and while I do not know whether the questioner was being facetious or not, it did get me to thinking, and these are the reasons I came up with. Of course, this was from someone who has never attended a Comic Con, and most likely will never will, as it is just not my thing, so I probably missed a reason or two, but these are the reasons I came up with.

A. If one likes to cosplay.

B. If one likes to be amid a community of like believers.

C. If one has enjoyed a film or TV show, a visit to a theme park, playing a video game, or reading a book or comic book in the past, what does the future hold.

D. If one wants to meet one's favorite stars.

E. If one is a collector for fun and/or profit.

F. If one wants to learn how things are done.

And exclusive to D23.
G. If one is interested in Marvel and/or Star Wars. Probably the best place for it.

H. If one is a power player, then one gravitates to the power center of the most powerful--at this time--entertainment company in Hollywood, which is headed by the most powerful person in Hollywood. The last from The Hollywood Reporter.

Who may become even more powerful, as there is talk of his running for president in 2020.

Next time: if I can find the figures, the 10 most attended Comic Cons.

[ER]

According to page fifty-five of the thrift paperback edition of A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius Reilly liked bad movies.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Here are the top 10 genera cons by attendance figures.
A genera con is one with multi genera.

*U.S. only
**latest attendance figures and not necessarily the average attendance.
***from least to most.

Momo Con
(Atlanta, Georgia)
28,300

Indy Pop Con
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
30,000

Comic Palooza
(Houston, Texas)
43,800

Wonder Con
(Anaheim, California)
60,000

Dragon Con
(Atlanta, Georgia)
77,000

Mega Con
(Orlando, Florida)
100,000

Phoenix Comic Con
(Phoenix, Arizona)
106,096

Denver Comic Con
(Denver, Colorado)
114,500

San Diego Comic Con
(San Diego, California)
167,000

New York Comic Con
(New York, New York)
180,000

And that is only one type of Con. Other Cons. Other types of Cons. There are . . .

Gaming cons
Gen Con
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
60,000

Fan cons
D23 Expo
(Anaheim, California)
65,000

Sci Fi cons
Star Wars Celebration
(Orlando, Florida)
70,000

Though what separates one type of con from another type of con, I have no idea.

Next time: something new

[BoyScoutKevin]

Experts on facial expression say Mona Lisa's face reflects . . .
83% happiness
09% contempt
06% fear
02% anger

Either that or she saw and smelt Trevor's used undies, when her portrait was being painted.

Next time: ?

[AoTFan]

Today's word is icosahedron, which is basically a shape with twenty sides, common amongst D&D players.

[indianasmith]

The Coahuiltecan Indians of South Texas were so poor that they practiced something called the "Second Harvest" - they would pick through their own feces for undigested seeds and grains, wash them off, grind them up, and eat them again.

[BoyScoutKevin]

The Tudors and Dudley, or, why they were not like us.

Descendants of Henry VII from 1445-1664
Men (25)
Ages of death: 16 to 82
Average age at death: 46.5

Women (22)
Ages of death: 17 to 70
Average age at death: 51.5

Dudley Family Tree
(1460-1626)
Men (30)
executed: 6
killed in battle: 3
murdered: 1
total 33%

Women (24)
executed: 2
suicide: 1
total 17%

One family between 1525-1541
had 13 children or 7 boys and 6 girls

Of these . . .
1 boy and 4 girls did not survive past their 1st decade of life.
3 boys did not survive past their 2nd decade of life.
and 1 boy did not survive past his 3rd decade of life.
Thus, of the 13 children born, only 2 boys and 2 girls lived past 30.

The Church at that time said: "Girls can wed, when they reach the age of 12, and boys can wed, when they reach the age of 14."

Next time: what does the post office know, that we don't.

[lester1/2jr]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potoooooooo

Abingdon intended to call the young colt "Potato" and instructed the stable boy to write the name on a feed bin. The stable boy facetiously spelled the name as "Potoooooooo" (Pot followed by 8 "o"s), which so amused Abingdon that he adopted the spelling.[3] Subsequent writers have used a variety of spellings that reflect the intended pronunciation, "Potatoes".[1] In The Jockey Club's online database equineline.com, the name is spelled as Pot8O's.[4] The General Stud Book uses Potoooooooo.[5]

[indianasmith]

Apparently there are no qualifications required whatsoever to announce a high school football game.

[ER]

Sixteen years ago tonight I met the man I eventually married. When I set eyes on him that night, I saw fireworks. Of course 700,000 other people did too, right outside, but telling the kids the first part of that makes for a nice story.

[ER]

Last month an alternative press publication ran an article that showed in almost any city in America, including mine, if you trace a line between all the Outback Steak Houses, you come up with a near perfect (inverted) pentagram.

What do I take away from this? An explanation for why every time I eat there they forget to put my salad dressing on the side: the devil made them do it.

[ER]

If you're making a campfire and want to place stones around it, don't put the stones in a circle, make a semi-circle with the opening in front of where you'll be. This will draw the air into the fire by you, and make the smoke mostly blow away from you.

[AoTFan]

In a lot of cereal commercials what you're seeing in the bowl is usually NOT milk.  Think about it, commercials can take awhile to film and it doesn't take but a few minutes for cereal to get soggy and gross looking.  So, what do you use?  Often it's glue.  Another neat fact, all the flakes/chips/pieces you see in the bowl are usually hand picked beforehand.