DO YOU HAVE ANY TRIVIA?

As you should know, I'm NOT a trivial kind of person. Jog my memory though; what are you collecting. A specialty like 'rules of thumb' or something? The original rule of thumb, btw, has nothing to do with sticks and wives. The last joint of the thumb is an inch (more or less).

My favorite site for trivia questions and great answers is from a newspaper column in an old Chicago newspaper. "Cecil" writes a very popular column called "The Straight Dope". The link will take you to an archive collection. Scroll down and you will rapidly see just how much fun this column is! I suscribe to the weekly newsletter online - always look forward to it.

The Straight Dope ArchivesThe Straight Dope Archives

If you are wanting something to search in that database, try "What is a Merkin?".... heh heh

I know what a merkin is, Cobalt. Heh-heh.

Trivia:
The names of famous cowboy actors' horses
Roy Rogers - Trigger
Gene Autry - Champion
Tom Mix - Tony
Lone Ranger - Silver
Tonto - Scout
Cisco Kid - Diablo
Pancho - Loco
Red Ryder - Thunder
Smiley Burnett - Zero

Any additions, anyone?

I've got lots of trivial trivia. BTW the link Cobalt gave (Straight Dope) is a very interesting one. I've read that entire site.

It's a fella (Cecil Adams if I'm not mistaken) who claims to be the world's smartest person and is at least one of the world's best researchers. He is arrogant (in a funny way) and charming while he dispenses pearls to the "teeming millions" as he calls his fans when he isn't insulting them.

There's also Dr. Science ("He has a Master's degree... in SCIENCE!"):

http://www.ducksbreath.com/

Heigh Ho Merry Andrew:

Buttermilk comes to mind. Not the kind you drink, the kind you ride. Or at least the one Dale Evans rode, I think.

Reading a bestseller before
Hollywood trivializes it.

Hi Earthmother:

Here's a bit of movie trivia: Out of 71 Best Picture Academy Award winners in the 20th century, 30 were based on novels.

And here's a constructive one :wink: The minute hand on each of the four faces of the 320-foot-high clock for which Big Ben chimes the hours in London is 14 feet. The hour hands are 9 feet long; the clock faces are 23 feet square.

And here's one for the kids: Kermit the Frog was awarded an honorary degree when he delivered the commencement address at Southampton Colllege in Southampton, New York -- Doctor of Amphibious Letters.

An odd tidbit I picked up on TVLand tonight: after 'Leave it to Beaver' left the air, Jerry Mathers and one of the other kids from the show formed a singing group and cut a rock n roll record -- the group's name was Beaver and the Trappers.

I suppose there are some who might have known that, but I believe it is sufficiently obscure to qualify as trivia.

Anybody old enough to remember matinee Westerns of the 1950s? Remember the Durango Kid movies, starring Charles Starrett (born in Athol, MA, BTW)? Here's a bit of trivia for ya. He didn't do his own stunts. When he appeared as the Durango Kid it wasn't he with the mask on. That, in itself, wouldn't be worth much attention, but here's the kicker. His stunt double in all the Durango Kid movies was a man who later became a Western TV star in his own right -- Jock Mahoney, aka The Range Rider.

THANKS!
oooo thanks folks for the trivia, getting me started here. you all are a great bunch!

BTW, that "Straight Dope" site is great. Thanx, Cobalt.

Glad you enjoyed the Straight Dope site, MA! I always look forward to my weekly online issue. Now, I've been wracking (racking?) (ahhh - it is very late, here!) my brain for the name of this huge trivia site I listed in abuzz waaaaay at the beginning of the thread called "Seeking the Net's Best Reference Sources". I keep forgetting to go back and look it up for 'earthmother', here, but if anyone else remembers, please help. It was called something like http://www.funandtrivia.com

I also make a suggestion that trivia fans will learn alot from playing the various trivia and word games on yahoo,msn.com (the Zone), in http://www.pogo.com and other game sites. There were a few amazing trivia games I used to play in http://www.boxerjam.com. One I swear almost gave me heart attacks with the tension and the time counting out as you were desparate to make your guesstimate. It was like a one-player game, BUT there were always other people playing the same rounds as you, and the end of 9 rounds posted "the winner" with the total correct.

Earth Mother: in the immortal words of Bono (U2):

"I have found,
what I was looking for -"

I think I originally got this from Tourbus, an online subscription newsletter:

"Oh, the Humanities!
Philosopher Francis Bacon died from catching a cold while trying to prove that refrigeration could prevent food spoilage. You too can become the life of the party, by filling your mind with interesting trivia. Trivia Portal is the world's largest trivia site with over 350,000 trivia questions, games and quizzes.
http://www.funtrivia.com

SOMETHING USEFUL -
Did you know that 1 exajoule is equal to 239,005,736,137,667,296 thermochemical calories? That there are 3.26 light-years in a parsec? If you need to convert distance, Temperature, Speed, Weight or almost any other type of measure into something else, Online conversion.com is the place to go."

Trivia Portal
Online Conversion.com

Cobalt, you are amazing. Next time I'm in Texas, we have to get together for a round of Trivial Pursuit.

MA: or, the next time I am in NYC?

I hear from some pals that you were such an awesome tourguide! How I wish I could have been to dinner and then out the next day with you all and HCE!

Hey, do you ever actually come to Texas? The Armadillo, Joanne Dorel, danon5 and I would welcome you to the Big D!

BTW, DFW is a veeeerrry convenient connecting point. We got to meet with Ginny (longdog) for an hour this spring when she was connecting to somewhere exotic! It was so much fun "speed-talking", LOL.

Cobalt, et al.

Don't forget Ol' Jose out here in Cowtown!

Sure, I get to Texas from time to time, Cobalt. Was in the Houston-Galveston area back in August. Not my favorite part of Texas. I like the Dallas-Ft. Worth region much better. My wife hails from a town called Stamford, not far from Abilene, closer to Big Springs, if you know where that is. The Southwest is actually my favorite part of the USofA. I'm seriously considering retirement in either NM or AZ.

Here's some from www.bizarrenews.com -

The Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named
after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's
"It's A Wonderful Life."

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to
the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is
"screeched."

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a
radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.