Learn Something Random Every Day Thoughts

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:29 pm

The smallest city in the U.S. with nonstop flights to Europe is...

[+] spoiler: Fairbanks,AK

Post by **brian** » Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:43 pm

Good trivia question. It seems counterintuitive until you realize how a globe works.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:23 am

brian wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:43 pm Good trivia question. It seems counterintuitive until you realize how a globe works.

Kyrie irving says "whaaaat?"

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:38 am

It's not really even because of that, I don't think. The east coast is still way closer to Germany than Alaska. It's just that there's no reason for any small Eastern town to fly there and apparently there's a tourism connection between Germans and interior Alaska that an 8 hour drive to Anchorage can't fix.

Post by **brian** » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:11 am

Ryan wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:38 am It's not really even because of that, I don't think. The east coast is still way closer to Germany than Alaska. It's just that there's no reason for any small Eastern town to fly there and apparently there's a tourism connection between Germans and interior Alaska that an 8 hour drive to Anchorage can't fix.

Fair enough. One of my favorite airline trivia bits was that the flight time on Icelandair from Seattle to Reykjavik was only about 45 minutes more* than NYC to Reykjavik, despite the flight time from NYC to Seattle being five+ hours.

*Route no longer exists I believe.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:14 am

"Since fantasy sports was in its infancy in the early 1980s, Gretzky's outrageous scoring totals practically broke the game, forcing leagues to either ban Gretzky altogether or split his totals into goals and assists (ie. you could draft "Gretzky's Assists" and "Gretzky's Goals" separately). It just didn't seem fair to have the first pick make that much difference in a draft. In 1985-86, when Gretzky had 215 points, he finished 74 points ahead of Mario Lemieux! In 1981-82, a 212-point season, he was 65 points ahead of Mike Bossy. That was just too much to overcome, forcing rules to be changed."

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/ ... cle611218/

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 7:04 am

Rush2112 wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:14 am "Since fantasy sports was in its infancy in the early 1980s, Gretzky's outrageous scoring totals practically broke the game, forcing leagues to either ban Gretzky altogether or split his totals into goals and assists (ie. you could draft "Gretzky's Assists" and "Gretzky's Goals" separately). It just didn't seem fair to have the first pick make that much difference in a draft. In 1985-86, when Gretzky had 215 points, he finished 74 points ahead of Mario Lemieux! In 1981-82, a 212-point season, he was 65 points ahead of Mike Bossy. That was just too much to overcome, forcing rules to be changed."

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/ ... cle611218/

Fascinating. It would seem to me Wayne Gretzky was a perfect storm reason to institute an auction draft and run the league rotisserie style.

MaxWebster · Post by **MaxWebster** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 7:11 am

ya i recall in junior high we had him count as 2 players (i.e. cut the points in half), he still went in the 1st round (wish i could remember who went first overall - i want to say Kurri...)

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:33 am

My Hall of Fame Sim league had to do something similar with Ted Williams in 2002.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:37 am

MaxWebster wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 7:11 am ya i recall in junior high we had him count as 2 players (i.e. cut the points in half), he still went in the 1st round (wish i could remember who went first overall - i want to say Kurri...)

Yeah - "the Gretzky Rule" For a couple of years, we just had our playoff drafts without him. Oilers still always flew off the board early.

MaxWebster · Post by **MaxWebster** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:46 am

just for the fuck of it, here's my current view directly on my right

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:51 am

What a team!

Just looked up the stats - Glenn Anderson scored 54 goals, had 99 points and was 5th on the team in scoring!

Gretzky had 10 hat tricks.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sun Feb 21, 2021 12:29 pm

An earthquake in 1556 killed 830 thousand people.

The deadliest earthquake in human history is at the heart of the deadliest day in human history. On January 23, 1556, more people died than on any day by a wide margin...
The Shaanxi Earthquake caused the deaths of 830 thousand people in China. The earthquake leveled the three cities closest to the epicenter in Shaanxi province. It caused landslides, mudslides, ground fissures, and fires that killed people over a 520-mile swath of land in central and eastern China.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 8:31 am

So we drove to the beach yesterday. The Googles.said go these back roads for a faster trip. Okay I love little towns and farm land so what the hell. Well cruising through some one road town in DE near Caroline Co a building had a sign for The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Well that required some googling.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen ... dd_Fellows

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 10:47 am

wlu_lax6 wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 8:31 am So we drove to the beach yesterday. The Googles.said go these back roads for a faster trip. Okay I love little towns and farm land so what the hell. Well cruising through some one road town in DE near Caroline Co a building had a sign for The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Well that required some googling.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen ... dd_Fellows

Nice! Pretty sure American Pickers did an episode on those guys. The original charter was issued in Baltimore, MD!

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 10:54 am

American Odd Fellows, birthed in Baltimore.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:44 pm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Fel ... Auditorium

Not to be confused apparently

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_U ... in_America

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Jul 09, 2021 3:10 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:45 pm Paula Deen's husband completed in this year's Ernest Hemmingway look-a-like competition at Sloppy Joes.

A_B wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:53 pm Kurt Cobain could win that contest.

For anyone who was curious, all apologies to everyone else

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Jul 09, 2021 3:39 pm

rass wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 3:10 pm
wlu_lax6 wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:45 pm Paula Deen's husband completed in this year's Ernest Hemmingway look-a-like competition at Sloppy Joes.

A_B wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:53 pm Kurt Cobain could win that contest.
For anyone who was curious, all apologies to everyone else

You see, you can lead a fish to horse but you can't water a frog. Or something like that. When you come at the king, you best not miss, I suppose.

Post by **brian** » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:23 pm

The most recent American entertainer to perform in Pyongyang is...Bob Hope.

In October 1950.

Rams Fanny · Post by **Rams Fanny** » Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:08 am

brian wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:23 pm The most recent American entertainer to perform in Pyongyang is...Bob Hope.

In October 1950.

Dennis Rodman?

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Jul 15, 2021 3:49 pm

Rams Fanny wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:08 am
brian wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:23 pm The most recent American entertainer to perform in Pyongyang is...Bob Hope.

In October 1950.
Dennis Rodman?

D.onald T.rump?

Also, FWIW, the DMZ is super laid back now. He may have actually done some good in the region, inexplicably.

Post by **brian** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:43 pm

On a scale of 1 (Challenger) to 10 (a pedophile blowing himself up in a fireworks accident), where would Jeff Bezos dying when his rocket explodes tomorrow rank?

I'll say 9.85 (only because of a low score from the Russian judge).

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:45 pm

Musk would be infinitely funnier but probably less overall good.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:48 pm

Personally, I would reserve scores over 8 for people I truly hate, like Trump and his cronies.

Post by **brian** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:52 pm

sancarlos wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:48 pm Personally, I would reserve scores over 8 for people I truly hate, like Trump and his cronies.

I think Bezos qualifies.

I'm trying to calculate the odds of him really dying and thinking about buying some very, very short-term put options on Amazon stock. If he died, I could easily clear about $10K.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:56 pm

If we're talking on sheer Utilitarianism*, I really don't think Jeff Bezos dying really makes the world that much better. And I know he's the direct result of significant harm in the world, but it's not like if he dies the new CEO is going to be like "Hey, we really need to start giving our workers to pee breaks and stop supporting sweatshops".

* and if I got the wrong term, sorry. I had Intro to Philosophy like 27 years ago.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:59 pm

sancarlos wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:48 pm Personally, I would reserve scores over 8 for people I truly hate, like Trump and his cronies.

You should hate Bezos.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:00 pm

L-Jam3 wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:56 pm If we're talking on sheer Utilitarianism*, I really don't think Jeff Bezos dying really makes the world that much better. And I know he's the direct result of significant harm in the world, but it's not like if he dies the new CEO is going to be like "Hey, we really need to start giving our workers to pee breaks and stop supporting sweatshops".

No, but at least he doesn't get to continue reap the rewards of exploiting his workers.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:09 pm

Would make quite the allegory.

Post by **brian** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:38 pm

I forgot Bezos isn't even the CEO any longer, so not sure what effect him blowing up into tens of thousands of tiny pieces would have on Amazon stock (probably still not great), so not sure if I'm gonna make this bet.

Post by **brian** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:15 pm

Welp, I pulled the trigger. If Bezos lives and AMZN stock jumps tomorrow I'll take a three or four hundo hit in the nads, but if something happens...I mean sooner or later, one of these billionaire douchebags going to space is gonna die.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:53 am

I mean, could they pick a rocket that looks more like a dick?

Baloney · Post by **Baloney** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:03 am

A_B wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:53 am I mean, could they pick a rocket that looks more like a dick?

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:22 am

Well, you can't win them all.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:08 am

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:58 pm

Qatar in Spanish is Catar.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:17 pm

Baloney wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:03 am
A_B wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:53 am I mean, could they pick a rocket that looks more like a dick?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 3:03 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 4:08 pm

A_B wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:53 am I mean, could they pick a rocket that looks more like a dick?

Speaking of...