# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 154
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3062 "2018-08-07T22:15:04Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note the context. This was part of the “so secret” statement. Despite everything, they still didn’t list it due to secrecy. It still doesn’t make sense. If the mission is secret, then you don’t tell people where the ship is, or even that it left port. But once you admit that the ship is at sea, what difference does it make? Listing a ship as “overdue” is no more secret than listing it as “sunk”. If you want to break the news to people gently, to cushion their feelings, it makes sense to list the ship as overdue first. (“How’s mom?” “She’s on the roof.”) If you want to keep the mission secret, it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3063 "2018-08-08T03:01:52Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Okay, I only just realized, on reading **Kamino** ’s wordplay here, that George Lucas named the protagonist in Star Wars after _himself_. :smack::smack::smack: It becomes easier to notice if you read The Star Wars, a comic based on one of the early scripts (published by Dark Horse, but I think Marvel has reprinted it)…they visually based Luke Starkiller on him. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3064 "2018-08-08T05:08:43Z")
I’ve been a Krazy Kat aficionado as long as I can remember. I own multiple Krazy books and have a panel blown up into a 2’ x 3’ poster above my bookcase, opposite my recliner. And I noticed recently an error that Herriman always made regarding the beaning of Krazy by Ignatz. Ignatz throws the brick with a “zip” and a “pow”. Krazy is always smacked into a 45% angle, with the ricocheted brick directly over his head. The brick should actually be more or less directly over his feet, because that’s where his head would have been at the time of smack. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3065 "2018-08-08T16:08:58Z")
I always thought that in the song “From Russia with Love” Matt Munro was singing about his “tongue tied young BRIDE” and wondered what the hell that was about. A few years ago I heard it again after a long break and realised it was “tongue tied young PRIDE” … ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3066 "2018-08-08T16:34:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It still doesn’t make sense. If the mission is secret, then you don’t tell people where the ship is, or even that it left port. But once you admit that the ship is at sea, what difference does it make? Listing a ship as “overdue” is no more secret than listing it as “sunk”. Note that during war time you do _not_ report a ship sunk right away. You stall. You don’t want the enemy to know how successful an attack was. This is war time secrecy 101 here. Shoot, the Japanese Navy didn’t tell their own Army about the losses at Midway. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3067 "2018-08-08T21:00:43Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It still doesn’t make sense. If the mission is secret, then you don’t tell people where the ship is, or even that it left port. But once you admit that the ship is at sea, what difference does it make? Listing a ship as “overdue” is no more secret than listing it as “sunk”. > > If you want to break the news to people gently, to cushion their feelings, it makes sense to list the ship as overdue first. (“How’s mom?” “She’s on the roof.”) If you want to keep the mission secret, it doesn’t. Quint gets a couple things wrong about the sinking of the Indianapolis - there was a distress signal sent, but it got ignored for a variety of really awful reasons, for example. So I’m not sure that the thing about it not getting listed as overdue “for a week” is true, or possibly a bit of hyperbole, or Quint not having the full story of what happened on land while he and the rest of the crew were playing shark bait. The Indianapolis was expected to arrive in port at a specific date. When it didn’t show up, there was a person who was responsible for sending that info up the food chain, but he failed to do it, and ended up getting a letter of reprimand for his failure. So I don’t think it was not reported because of security concerns. Rather, it just sounds like a clusterfuck of bureaucratic failures happening all at once that led to the ship being forgotten by the Navy in one part of the ocean, while the same Navy is pulling sailors from that boat out of a different part of the ocean. (I’m just going off the Wiki article about the Indianapolis - I’m not much of a WWII historian or military buff, so take this with a pinch of salt.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3068 "2018-08-15T15:34:58Z")
In the opening credits of _ **Corner Gas** _, the names of the cast are spelled out like the numbers that roll up on a gas pump. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3069 "2018-08-15T23:12:13Z")
Not sure if this is entirely obvious, but I just noticed that the American sitcom _Mom_ and the BBC Radio comedy _Cabin Pressure_ use the same theme music. It’s from the Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3070 "2018-08-16T00:43:52Z")
Do you remember the Doobie Brothers song that has a chorus of “bit by bit by bit”? No? Maybe that’s because I just heard it on Sirius radio, whose readout informed me for the first time that the name of the song is “Minute by Minute.” Which reminds me that about a half century ago I was sitting with friends in a diner where the jukebox was playing “Layla.” I mentioned that I thought it was odd that Clapton never used the name in the song. When people finally stopped laughing they clued me in that what I was hearing as “hey girl” was in fact … ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3071 "2018-08-16T06:28:20Z")
I always thought “Wookieepedia” was kind of a dumb name for the online Star Wars encyclopedia. Why single out Wookiees over a million other species and characters? Then three days ago, I saw a t-shirt from Milwaukee that said “Milwookiee.” Finally, my brain clicked and I realized “Wookieepedia” is a play on “wikipedia.” God, I am so dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3072 "2018-08-16T06:44:48Z")
Not really on topic but I was still surprised by this. I’ve seen the movie _Clerks_ a number of times. The movie was filmed at the actual Quick Stop Groceries convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey that Kevin Smith was working at back in 1994. I was just watching a YouTube video; that Quick Stop Groceries is still in business. (The video store next door is now empty.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3073 "2018-08-16T06:47:40Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > I always thought “Wookieepedia” was kind of a dumb name for the online Star Wars encyclopedia. Why single out Wookiees over a million other species and characters? Then three days ago, I saw a t-shirt from Milwaukee that said “Milwookiee.” Finally, my brain clicked and I realized “Wookieepedia” is a play on “wikipedia.” > > God, I am so dumb. I wish the Muppet Wiki was called Wockawaockawockapedia. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3074 "2018-08-16T07:13:48Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > I always thought “Wookieepedia” was kind of a dumb name for the online Star Wars encyclopedia. Why single out Wookiees over a million other species and characters? Then three days ago, I saw a t-shirt from Milwaukee that said “Milwookiee.” Finally, my brain clicked and I realized “Wookieepedia” is a play on “wikipedia.” > > God, I am so dumb. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I wish the Muppet Wiki was called Wockawaockawockapedia. A site for the 1940 presidential election could be Willkiepedia. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3075 "2018-08-16T08:13:25Z")
The info site for Dave Willis’ various webcomics is named [Walkypedia](http://walkypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Walkypedia_Wiki). (For those who don’t get the joke, Walky is the name of one of the main characters.) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3076 "2018-08-16T12:20:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Do you remember the Doobie Brothers song that has a chorus of “bit by bit by bit”? No? Maybe that’s because I just heard it on Sirius radio, whose readout informed me for the first time that the name of the song is “Minute by Minute.” > > Which reminds me that about a half century ago I was sitting with friends in a diner where the jukebox was playing “Layla.” I mentioned that I thought it was odd that Clapton never used the name in the song. When people finally stopped laughing they clued me in that what I was hearing as “hey girl” was in fact … My brother and I used to giggle about that song that went, “Little man, little man, little man”. 😕 “Forever Man”? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3077 "2018-08-16T12:35:04Z")
I’ve seen [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrhjdmXjck) from That 70’s show a million times, even linked to it because I like it. The last time I ran across someone else posting it, I noticed that, of the 5 people down there, _one_ had a cigarette to give her but _all of them_ had a lighter. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3078 "2018-08-16T13:02:07Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My brother and I used to giggle about that song that went, “Little man, little man, little man”. > > 😕 “Forever Man”? Really? Layla? I always heard Yanni. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3079 "2018-08-16T13:25:59Z")
While drinking about my thousandth Cup of Joe at BK this morning, I noticed the “e” in [Joe](https://www.google.com/search?q=Burger+King+cup+of+JOE&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CZZo5F4c37HNIjjf7lfIhy9o1dHLLhbyilzb1jNHZaazYdLUTEA6CbjSmNVICM5eFlmcXwt-feI2OduFUOkBqy3JUioSCd_1uV8iHL2jVEZ35K5gSJZghKhIJ0csuFvKKXNsRUh0EPald0b8qEgnWM0dlprNh0hErQ_1vf9R2aUSoSCdRMQDoJuNKYEeWp3S5lxQs8KhIJ1UgIzl4WWZwRMzSu3SBPUFwqEglfC3594jY52xHdnqVRRUTQoCoSCYVQ6QGrLclSEb-7HIy0y1ZN&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjctPXd1fHcAhXjSt8KHY2KAFoQ9C96BAgBEBg&biw=1600&bih=708&dpr=1.2) is actually formed by steam and a coffee cup. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3080 "2018-08-16T15:02:37Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My brother and I used to giggle about that song that went, “Little man, little man, little man”. > > 😕 “Forever Man”? Really? Fribble man, Fribble man, Fribble man. Yeah, I grew up in New England and always wondered why the were singing about [milkshakes.](https://www.friendlysrestaurants.com/menu/ice-cream/#fribble-floats) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3081 "2018-08-16T15:16:18Z")
Here’s one for the Monty Python fans. In The Argument Sketch, Michael Palin purchases an argument and the receptionist looks to see who’s available. She says: “Mr. DeBakey’s free, but he’s a little bit conciliatory. Ahh yes, Try Mr. Barnard; room 12.” Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard were well-known, pioneering heart surgeons during the late 1960s, just a few years before the sketch was first performed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=153) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=155)