Bakers Dozen

Alternate Universe versions of things in our reality

  1. The Inside Dope Chat Room (for the SDMB, natch.)
  2. President Bernie Sanders
  3. Second Russian Empire
  4. The Beatles 2017 reunion: 50 years after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  5. Execution of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
  6. The hit Netflix show Ordinarier Things
  7. The 2017 release of American Graffiti, Episode VIII: Toad in Vietnam
  8. President Trump is renowned for humility and political efficiency
  9. Lady GooGoo
  10. Mazeroski strikes out and Yanks win 1960 World Series

Alternate Universe versions of things in our reality

  1. The Inside Dope Chat Room (for the SDMB, natch.)
  2. President Bernie Sanders
  3. Second Russian Empire
  4. The Beatles 2017 reunion: 50 years after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  5. Execution of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
  6. The hit Netflix show Ordinarier Things
  7. The 2017 release of American Graffiti, Episode VIII: Toad in Vietnam
  8. President Trump is renowned for humility and political efficiency
  9. Lady GooGoo
  10. Mazeroski strikes out and Yanks win 1960 World Series
  11. Celebrate 200 years of low prices at a Walworth’s Department Store near you.

Alternate Universe versions of things in our reality

  1. The Inside Dope Chat Room (for the SDMB, natch.)
  2. President Bernie Sanders
  3. Second Russian Empire
  4. The Beatles 2017 reunion: 50 years after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  5. Execution of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
  6. The hit Netflix show Ordinarier Things
  7. The 2017 release of American Graffiti, Episode VIII: Toad in Vietnam
  8. President Trump is renowned for humility and political efficiency
  9. Lady GooGoo
  10. Mazeroski strikes out and Yanks win 1960 World Series
  11. Celebrate 200 years of low prices at a Walworth’s Department Store near you.
  12. Killer O.J. Simpson put to death by lethal injection.

Alternate Universe versions of things in our reality

  1. The Inside Dope Chat Room (for the SDMB, natch.)
  2. President Bernie Sanders
  3. Second Russian Empire
  4. The Beatles 2017 reunion: 50 years after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  5. Execution of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
  6. The hit Netflix show Ordinarier Things
  7. The 2017 release of American Graffiti, Episode VIII: Toad in Vietnam
  8. President Trump is renowned for humility and political efficiency
  9. Lady GooGoo
  10. Mazeroski strikes out and Yanks win 1960 World Series
  11. Celebrate 200 years of low prices at a Walworth’s Department Store near you.
  12. Killer O.J. Simpson put to death by lethal injection.
  13. Former First Husband Bill Clinton failed in his 2016 attempt to follow his wife’s Presidency with one of his own.

I’ll pass.

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
  9. “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.” - A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
  9. “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.” - A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle
  10. “Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.” Animal Farm, George Orwell

First Lines of Famous Novels that Aren’t Famous:

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
  9. “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.” - A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle
  10. “Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.” Animal Farm, George Orwell
  11. “The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended.” 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
  9. “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.” - A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle
  10. “Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.” Animal Farm, George Orwell
  11. “The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended.” 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
  12. “In 1913, when Anthony Patch was twenty-five, two years were already gone since irony, the Holy Ghost of this later day, had, theoretically at least, descended upon him.” - The Beautiful & the Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Noticed something interesting about John Steinbeck. Here are the opening lines from three of his books:

“The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay.” - East of Eden

“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.” - The Grapes of Wrath

“A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool.” - Of Mice and Men

I thought it was unusual how similar they are: a description of a natural geographic feature doing something.

  1. “The primroses were over.” - Watership Down, by Richard Adams
  2. “All of this happened, more or less.” - Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  3. “Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” - The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. “It was four o’clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive.” - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
  5. “It’s getting late.” - The Dark Fields (republished as Limitless) by Alan Glynn
  6. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  8. “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho’ not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.” - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
  9. “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.” - A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle
  10. “Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.” Animal Farm, George Orwell
  11. “The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended.” 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
  12. “In 1913, when Anthony Patch was twenty-five, two years were already gone since irony, the Holy Ghost of this later day, had, theoretically at least, descended upon him.” - The Beautiful & the Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  13. “The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods.” Babbitt, by Sinclair Lewis

Next subject:

Movies with memorable opening credits (include video link if possible):

  1. To Kill a Mockingbird, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) title sequence - YouTube

Movies with memorable opening credits (include video link if possible):

  1. To Kill a Mockingbird, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) title sequence - YouTube
  2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Opening Credits - YouTube

Movies with memorable opening credits (include video link if possible):

  1. To Kill a Mockingbird, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) title sequence - YouTube
  2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Opening Credits - YouTube
  3. Lord of War: Lord of War (Opening Title Sequence) - YouTube