# 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:** 250
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4985 "2022-09-13T10:31:58Z")
Before the iPhone was released, one of the major challenges of cell phone design was keyboard layout, look & feel, placement, etc. Prior to these rectangular screens, keyboards were a key differentiator among cell phone brands. In this churning market, in 2003, Nokia drops this bad boy, the N-Gage game system/cellular phone: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52354543046_730973b85f_b.jpg "SmartSelect\_20220913-052123\_Google") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/52354543046/) Lots of buttons, oddly placed, but it is definitely a product of its time. Right? Well, I just came across this 2011 post… team, it is worth blowing up the picture and reading the text. The last 9 words above the photo are jaw-dropping: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52354972185_4a4490bf7a_b.jpg "20220913\_051943") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/52354972185/) (In case you’re wondering, I did the research: 1999) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4986 "2022-10-01T04:53:48Z")
In the music video for Faith No More’s “Epic,” when it’s raining, Mike Patton, the singer, is the only one getting wet. Must have watched that video literally thousands of times and never noticed that until just now. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4987 "2022-10-04T21:40:06Z")
This is really embarrassing, but I only recently came to the realization that the Count… you know, the Count, on Sesame Street… is a vampire. I can’t really explain myself, I guess I thought he was just this guy who would stereotypically be assumed to be a vampire… but the dude has fangs. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4988 "2022-10-04T21:59:38Z")
And vampires are obsessed with counting (not sure where I “learned” this “fact” — I suppose it is folklore) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4989 "2022-10-05T11:55:32Z")
_emphasized text_When I was about seven, I heard the hymn (and Cat Stevens song) “Morning Has Broken,” and thought the line “Eden saw play” was about Eve going to Broadway and catching the latest Neil Simon or Ibsen theatrical drama. It wasn’t until late adulthood that I realized it isn’t a stand-alone sentence, but a subordinate clause, linked to the previous line (“born of the one light”) by an implied “that.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4990 "2022-10-05T12:45:18Z")
(I meant to italicize “Eve” for emphasis) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4991 "2022-10-05T14:15:54Z")
This one’s _really_ embarrassing; I only just realized a few days ago that the title of the _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ episode “I, Borg” was a play on “cyborg”. I mean, how much more obvious can you get? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4992 "2022-10-05T14:18:31Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > This one’s _really_ embarrassing; I only just realized a few days ago that the title of the _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ episode “I, Borg” was a play on “cyborg”. I don’t know whether that was intentional or not. But I assume it’s a reference to _I, Robot_, the SF book by Isaac Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![SlipperyPete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@SlipperyPete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlipperyPete)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4993 "2022-10-05T14:34:26Z")
I realized that Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character on Veep has a name that is almost an anagram for her other famous role. Veep: Selina Seinfeld: Elaine’s That’s gotta be intentional right? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4994 "2022-10-05T14:44:25Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > And vampires are obsessed with counting (not sure where I “learned” this “fact” — I suppose it is folklore) It’s actually [quite wide-spread as a belief](https://carnegiemnh.org/booseum-vampires/): > Why does Count von Count, a vampire, teach us how to count on _Sesame Street_? It comes from a European belief that vampires are compelled to count spilled seeds or grains. Some Slavic coastal towns also believed that vampires would count the holes in a fishing net. It was common practice to scatter seeds outside the entrances to a home (or drape fishing nets over them). Some Chinese myths say that a vampire must count every grain if they come across a bag of rice. A vampire would stop to count, delaying them until sun-up, and we all know that vampires don’t do well in sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4995 "2022-10-05T15:24:07Z")
I’m aware of the vampire counting thing but honestly I doubt Sesame Street thought beyond “He’s called the Count”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4996 "2022-10-05T16:17:25Z")
“They call me the Count because I love to count things!” “And they call me Guy Smiley because I changed my name from Bernie Liederkrantz.” ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4997 "2022-10-05T17:41:20Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > because I love to count things!” “…that, and I inherited my father’s royal title!” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4998 "2022-10-05T19:14:52Z")
But what if it was a vampire like Rainman? [Looks at the rice bag tossed, stops and checks it with his eyes, then says:] “246,000 grains of rice”… continues the chase… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4999 "2022-10-06T03:47:58Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > “…that, and I inherited my father’s royal title!” _Noble_ title. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5000 "2022-10-06T03:51:34Z")
(You’re absolutely right, but it’s a quote from a _Sesame Street_ segment. Blame the writers.) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5001 "2022-10-06T13:23:22Z")
I never really gave much thought to > [@](#): > > Eye of Newt, and Toe of Frogge, > Wooll of Bat, and Tongue of Dogge: > Adders Forke, and Blinde-wormes Sting, > Lizards legge, and Howlets wing: and so forth, but apparently (most of) these are pretty common herbs: eye of newt = mustard seeds, wool of bat = ilex, hound’s-tongue = cynoglossum 🙂 , etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5002 "2022-10-06T18:43:25Z")
I had heard that, but not in context of the Scottish play. I wonder what you would get if you put actually made that recipe ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5003 "2022-10-06T18:45:53Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > This is really embarrassing, but I only recently came to the realization that the Count… you know, the Count, on Sesame Street… is a vampire. Relevant _Family Guy_ clip: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HpeB9Kkvb2Y/hqdefault.jpg "Family Guy - Sesame Street Count a Vampire") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpeB9Kkvb2Y) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5004 "2022-10-06T19:11:16Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > This is really embarrassing Sure, you’re gone for nearly a year and you choose to post that as a comeback post 🙂? You shoulda picked a different thread. Glad to see you back! > [@DPRK](#): > > And vampires are obsessed with counting (not sure where I “learned” this “fact” — I suppose it is folklore) I learned it from the X-Files where a guy threw a handful of sunflower seeds on the floor and escaped while the vampire was counting them. It was played for laughs in a surreal episode, but I think that’s the only time I’ve seen it. Not a millionth time, and not me, but me and my wife were watching Season 8 of _The Brokenwood Mysteries_ last night. I mentioned something about a Maori character and my wife turned to me and said “Isn’t this set in Ireland?” That’s right, we already watched seven seasons and she never picked up on that. To make it even better, her parents were first generation Irish and she’s been to Ireland many times while growing up. And we vacationed in Ireland about 10 years ago. She’s going to be hearing about this long after we finish watching the series. 😀 [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=249) [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=251)