Amazing Things I Learned Today!

[Nate the Great]

Edward Bulwer-Lyton did more than just coin the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night", he also coined "the pen is mightier than the sword", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", and "the great unwashed." He also wrote "The Last Days of Pompeii" which I know only by reputation.

Secondary "amazing things" (if completely pointless trivia):

"The Last Days of Pompeii" was based on a Russian painting, and the novel in turn inspired an American sculpture called "Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii". Lyton himself was British, of course.

[Nate the Great]

So I'm watching a Cutthroat Kitchen rerun featuring tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. This is a traditional combination, but I suddenly found myself wondering why it's so....

TATILT: The reason.

In the post-war years school cafeterias had to find economical ways to meet the new nutritional requirements on a budget. Combining tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches piles up enough nutrients to be a viable and less expensive alternative to meat.

Plus, I guess people found that this combination tastes good.

[Nate the Great]

There was once a Mathnet/Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego crossover!

Ah, PBS in the '90s...

[Nate the Great]

So I'm watching the Quark/Garak root beer scene again and one of the comments mentions that a lot of Europeans don't like root beer. I decided to investigate (or as Ashens might put it, I spent ten seconds and Googled it)...

Root beer contains an ingredient that is present in many medicines.

You'll recall that in its earliest days carbonated beverages were medicinal, not recreational. Therefore root beer had this methyl salicylate stuff added to make it smell like medicine.

So I suppose modern Americans drink this stuff enough as a child so that the particular scent is associated with "root beer" and not "medicine." And if Europeans in general don't drink it, that switch isn't flipped and so they hate it.

[Nate the Great]

Bill Nye the Science Guy once cameoed on Mister Roger's Neighborhood!

I mean, you don't expect to see a crossover like that, do you?

[Nate the Great]

Supposedly the Kakariko Village theme from Zelda was based on "On a Clear Day" from Kiki's Delivery Service!

Personally, besides a general similarity of meter and melody I can't really see it. I'll let you be the judge.

On a Clear Day (Version One)
On a Clear Day (Version Two)

A comment on the second one references Kakariko Village.

Kakariko Village (Ocarina of Time)
Kakariko Village (A Link to the Past)

Remember that Kiki was made in 1989, A Link to the Past was 1991, and Ocarina of Time was 1998.

Another forum thread mentions this theory. Weird.

And now for another Kiki-related Amazing Thing That I Learned Today...

A ramen company aged up the characters for a commercial.

Amazing and bizarre, who could ask for more?

[Nate the Great]

Today's TATILT comes from today's LGR video...

In the seventies there was technology to remotely operate the technology in your house!

Furthermore, it wasn't radio waves or infrared, it was sending radio signals through the house's electrical network, allowing for each module to talk to the others!