# 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:** 288
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5747 "2024-01-11T10:05:53Z")
Valleys tend to be surrounded by hills. I don’t see any big contradiction naming it after a nearby feature. Or there again, maybe it’s named after someone with the surname Hill. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2024, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5748 "2024-01-11T12:23:06Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Or there again, maybe it’s named after someone with the surname Hill. Well, there is precedent for that, with Eastwood Canyon. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5749 "2024-01-11T15:04:53Z")
\*Ravine ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5750 "2024-01-28T05:34:27Z")
It’s embarrassing but I just realized why Jim Rockford’s father is called Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5751 "2024-01-28T15:43:35Z")
Bit from the Simpsons that took me entirely too long to get- Homer and Marge trying to figure out a name for Bart before he’s born, but Homer nixes everything because of insulting rhymes kids will call him, but proclaims the name Bart to be perfect and taunt proof. Fart. He missed Fart. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5752 "2024-01-28T15:48:43Z")
Jane’s brother was Peter Asher of “Peter & Gordon” fame, whose big hit was the McCartney-penned, “World Without Love.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5753 "2024-02-26T05:08:04Z")
I never realized this until the last time I saw it and it is 60 years old so I don’t think I need spoiler tags. Over the ending credits of _Fail Safe_, we can hear the Russian delegate to the UN’s phone melting. > [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > Homer and Marge trying to figure out a name for Bart before he’s born, but Homer nixes everything because of insulting rhymes kids will call him, Was that before or after the Nicholas Cage & Victoria Jackson SNL skit? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5754 "2024-02-26T07:50:45Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Several years later watching Titanic with my daughter that I realized that Old Rose at the beginning of the movie when she’s doing pottery and overhears the TV discussing the Titanic…she’s wearing the Heart of the Ocean necklace. It just happens to be cosmetically concealed with a brass or bronze covering. See 1:19 mark in the video below. Sorry, but I don’t think that’s the HOtO. It’s teardrop shaped, and it has a heavy string of oddly-shaped beads supporting it, not a thin chain. She is wearing heart-shaped earrings, though; I think that’s what you’re supposed to notice in the shot. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5755 "2024-02-26T18:34:45Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Jane’s brother was Peter Asher of “Peter & Gordon” fame, whose big hit was the McCartney-penned, “World Without Love.” Heh, I’ve known that since I was 13. I really liked that song. P & G were just so geeky, though. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5756 "2024-02-26T19:38:18Z")
I just realized that Bender from _Futurama_ isn’t called that just because he bends things but also because he’s constantly drunk. He’s on a bender. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5757 "2024-02-26T20:06:43Z")
According to [Bender’s wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bender_(Futurama)?wprov=sfti1#Character_biography), his name is an homage to actor [Judd Nelson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judd_Nelson?wprov=sfti1#). ---
**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:** [February 26, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5758 "2024-02-26T21:47:08Z")
It didn’t take a million viewings but I was literally halfway through the **Hazbin Hotel** series before the penny finally dropped on the name “Sir Pentious”. Because he’s a snake guy. A _serpent_. I feel so dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5759 "2024-02-27T00:17:38Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Sorry, but I don’t think that’s the HOtO. It’s teardrop shaped, and it has a heavy string of oddly-shaped beads supporting it, not a thin chain. Did you miss the part where he says concealed? Beads would make a good disguise for a thin chain. Oversized brass cover for the diamond. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5760 "2024-02-27T01:55:02Z")
For a long time I was a little confused by the the line “Our house, in the middle of our street” from the Madness song, because in American parlance the “middle of the street” would mean literally _in the street_. I only recently realized that in Britain that presumably means “roughly equidistant from both ends of the street”, i.e. what an American would call the middle of the block. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5761 "2024-02-27T02:00:42Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > in American parlance the “middle of the street” would mean literally _in the street_. Better the street than the train tracks… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6QAuOF5gDNA/hqdefault.jpg "Alma Cogan 'In the Middle of the House'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QAuOF5gDNA) ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5762 "2024-02-27T02:06:19Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > For a long time I was a little confused by the the line “Our house, in the middle of our street” from the Madness song, because in American parlance the “middle of the street” would mean literally _in the street_. I was never confused by this, but I might have been if it had been “the middle of _the_ street” instead of “the middle of _our_ street.” “The middle of the block” could be vulnerable to a different sort of confusion, since “the block” could refer to either the portion of a street between two intersecting streets or to the rectangular area surrounded on all four sides by streets (as in “take a walk around the block”). ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5763 "2024-02-27T21:13:03Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I just realized that Bender from _Futurama_ isn’t called that just because he bends things but also because he’s constantly drunk. He’s on a bender. Mind. Blown. Can’t believe that never occurred to me either. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5764 "2024-02-27T21:22:16Z")
Maybe it’s like the Four Yorkshiremen sketch. “We had to live in a shoebox in the middle of the road!” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5765 "2024-02-28T13:33:39Z")
I’ve been listening to a performance of Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes story, **The Sign of Four** , and it made me notice something that I haven’t in the many times I’ve read it (or even heard it performed). I don’t know if Doyle did this deliberately or not, but now that I’ve seen and heard it, I can’t unsee/unhear it. At the very beginning, describing his dealings with women, after Watson proclaims his liking for the attractive Miss Mary Morstan, Holmes says he didn’t even notice. Watson calls him an automaton, and Holmes retorts: > [@](#): > > He smiled gently. “It is of the first importance,” he said, “not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit,—a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.” At the end of their adventure, Watson proclaims his intention to wed Mostan, anbd this dialogue ensues: > [@](#): > > “Well, and there is the end of our little drama,” I remarked, after we had set some time smoking in silence. “I fear that it may be the last investigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods. Miss Morstan has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in prospective.” > > He gave a most dismal groan. “I feared as much,” said he. “I really cannot congratulate you.” > > I was a little hurt. “Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice?” I asked. > > “Not at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met, and might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a decided genius that way: witness the way in which she preserved that Agra plan from all the other papers of her father. But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment.” I couldn’t help but notice the similarity in phrasing: '… the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money" “she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met” He uses the latter phrase while condemning Watson for taking up with her. Is he implying that Miss Morstan, being even a charming woman, might have something in common with that winning female poisoner? Or is this just Holmes’ own distrust of women? Holmes pastiches sometimes have him hooking up with Irene Adler and even having a child with her, but in the Canon, although she is to him “THE Woman”, she’s still a thief and a scoundrel. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/5766 "2024-02-28T14:03:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He uses the latter phrase while condemning Watson for taking up with her. Is he implying that Miss Morstan, being even a charming woman, might have something in common with that winning female poisoner? Or is this just Holmes’ own distrust of women? Holmes doesn’t “imply”. If he wants to say something, he says it. [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=287) [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=289)