# 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:** 317
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6327 "2025-06-02T17:57:02Z")
Tell me about it! I was in a marching band… in the Rose Bowl parade… behind horses. (And, no, we couldn’t deviate a half inch from our assigned trajectories.) ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6328 "2025-06-02T18:42:42Z")
Yes, the Rose Parade has always had horses and, eventually, marching bands. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6329 "2025-06-02T20:13:35Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’ve heard there’s recommendation about planning a parade. You can have marching bands or equestrian units but not both. One way round, no problem. The other, not so much. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6330 "2025-06-06T21:33:50Z")
It’s John Redcorn… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/r5yqklQwCWM/hqdefault.jpg "2 things about white people | Parks and Recreation S3Ep07") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5yqklQwCWM) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6331 "2025-06-10T04:52:49Z")
I’ve seen **Goodfellas** numerous times, but there’s one plot point that I never picked up until someone suggested it online, and became apparent when I watched the movie again this weekend: the babysitter was a mole for the police. It took me 35 years to figure that out. I’m such a genius. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6332 "2025-06-10T18:00:35Z")
Hmm. I think that’s a reasonable inference. But I don’t remember any evidence for it. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6333 "2025-06-10T18:12:19Z")
offhand, I don’t recall a babysitter. Can you remind me of the scene? Who babysat who? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6334 "2025-06-10T18:19:53Z")
Lois and her ‘lucky hat’, [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hexn9FU5TrU/hqdefault.jpg "GoodFellas Busted") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hexn9FU5TrU) ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6335 "2025-06-10T22:34:54Z")
I do so love the standard “testing drugs by tasting them” trope. Quality police procedural work there. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6336 "2025-06-10T22:49:05Z")
Except in real life I believe the babysitter got 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6337 "2025-06-10T23:16:18Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Hmm. I think that’s a reasonable inference. But I don’t remember any evidence for it. It’s possible. As far as I can tell she isn’t based on any real person. In real life Henry Hill was done in by a juvenile drug courier and the subsequent wire taps. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6338 "2025-06-10T23:27:59Z")
Maybe this is a trivial one. But I have probably watched Dogma five or six times and watched dozens of clips from the movie. But I was watching a clip the other day and it was the first time I noticed that Jason Mewes has a nose piercing. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2025, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6339 "2025-06-11T00:16:45Z")
In his 1962 parody “Don’t Buy the Liverwurst,” Allan Sherman sings: > Oh, buy the corned beef if you must, > The pickled herring you can trust, > And the lox puts you in orbit, A-OK! Only recently did I figure out that he was punning on “lox” (smoked salmon) and “LOX” (liquid oxygen) - the latter of which would have been familiar to Sherman’s listeners on account of its use as a rocket propellant during the space race. (Hence “in orbit” and “A-OK.”) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6340 "2025-06-11T03:57:35Z")
Perhaps it was the larger screen or perhaps the subtitles had been redone but a couple weeks ago I saw _Princes Mononoke_ in an IMAX theater and realized for the first time the Iron Town women were prostitutes Eboshi had rescued. That’s why they were so sassy. [![](https://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Princess-Mononoke-1997/pictures/34.jpg) ](https://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Princess-Mononoke-1997/pictures/34.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6341 "2025-06-11T13:15:42Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > In his 1962 parody “Don’t Buy the Liverwurst,” The song is actually called “Shticks Of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other” with many clever snipits on a range of topics; the final bit is about the liverwurst. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6342 "2025-06-12T19:25:57Z")
Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” For the longest time (heh), I thought Billy was singing “…Bay of Pigs and Beijing.” Since it’s a song of non sequiturs, I didn’t really wonder too much about the reference to China in the early 1960s. Last night, someone sent me a pic of them doing a karaoke version of the song and the lyrics were clearly visible: “…Bay of Pigs _invasion_” Duh. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6343 "2025-06-12T19:37:16Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > So, I know a little bit more about city streets now than I did when I was at university, and I realize that “street sweeper” is a euphemism for someone who cleans up after horses. That’s right; if you watch this YouTube video of San Francisco just before the earthquake in 1906, you can see a few ‘street sweepers’ venture out to gather horse manure. That stuff was relatively valuable. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHkc83XA2dY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHkc83XA2dY) ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6344 "2025-06-12T19:46:45Z")
Heh - I spent about a decade thinking “Studebaker, television” was “Scooter Baker Television.” (Presumably some kind of pioneering early program à la _The Ernie Kovacs Show_.) ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6345 "2025-06-12T20:24:41Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” > > For the longest time (heh), I thought Billy was singing “…Bay of Pigs and Beijing.” Since it’s a song of non sequiturs, I didn’t really wonder too much about the reference to China in the early 1960s. > > Last night, someone sent me a pic of them doing a karaoke version of the song and the lyrics were clearly visible: “…Bay of Pigs _invasion_” > > Duh. For what it’s worth, while this does fit this thread, there is also a long running thread specifically about misheard song lyrics: > [@YOUR misheard lyrics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166): > > There are a lot of well-known mondegreens. ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy’ and ‘Wrapped up like a douche’ come immediately to mind. This thread is not for those. This thread is for lyrics that you, personally, have misheard. Not what other people have misheard; what you have misheard. Granted, you’ve probably misheard the well-known ones. If so, then go ahead and post them – just as long as you, yourself, heard the song and misheard the lyrics. For example, I misheard the line in Games W… ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6346 "2025-06-13T05:52:53Z")
Well, I’ll be. I always slightly wondered what was going on in Beijing during the WDSTF timeline, and also thinking that Americans were still calling it Peking back then. [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=316) [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=318)