# 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:** 34
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/661 "2010-02-03T00:38:05Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Either way, I think you’re wrong. I think you’re confused on what forum you’re in. But I’ll certainly take your opinion into consideration with all the respect and deference I feel it deserves. You don’t know what impact it makes on me, truly. With that, I bow out of this silly hijack. Toodle-oo. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/662 "2010-02-03T01:07:19Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I think you’re confused on what forum you’re in. But I’ll certainly take your opinion into consideration with all the respect and deference I feel it deserves. You don’t know what impact it makes on me, truly. > > With that, I bow out of this silly hijack. Toodle-oo. :::shrug::: Sorry if you feel upset. I thought we were just having a conversation about this. Whatever, though. Back to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/663 "2010-02-03T02:28:01Z")
If **Peter Morris** is still reading this thread, here’s [my rendition](http://sites.google.com/site/jasbeau/files/alphabettwinkle.mp3) of the alphabet song on the left channel and “twinkle twinkle” on the right. I’m using the American version of the former, and since he’s British, he may be referring to a different version. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/664 "2010-02-07T09:04:15Z")
I feel particularly lame about this one, as I truly only realized it just this moment. Green Arrow’s secret identity is Oliver Queen. Olive are green. And it’s practically “Olive Green” Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/665 "2010-02-07T09:09:19Z")
Blindingly obvious, but I missed it through the entire book Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book” is a retelling of “The Jungle Book” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/666 "2010-02-07T16:01:55Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I feel particularly lame about this one, as I truly only realized it just this moment. > > Green Arrow’s secret identity is Oliver Queen. Olive are green. And it’s practically “Olive Green” Sigh… That reminds me: Olive Oyl. Olive _oil_ (for cooking) is usually labeled “extra virgin”, so I’ve always kind of wondered if the cartoon character’s name was slyly chosen with the idea that neither Popeye nor Brutus could ever get anywhere with her without the other interfering. Essentially, the two sailors created a perpetual cock-blocking loop, leaving Olive “extra virgin”. (And what the hell does “_extra_ virgin” mean, anyway? Virginity, like pregnancy, is a binary proposition: you are or you’re not. There’s no room for “extra” or “slightly” or any other adjective of degree.) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/667 "2010-02-07T16:07:02Z")
Virgin olive oil is from the first pressing. Extra virgin has less acidity than mere virgin. I guess the olives are more pure to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/668 "2010-02-07T16:21:57Z")
Trivia: Olive’s mother is Nana Oyl, dad is Cole Oyl, brother is Caster Oyl. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/669 "2010-02-07T18:19:17Z")
I grew up in Boston. I am a wino. I recently started collecting culinary mysteries. I was going through the mysteries in my library and I saw one called “Murder on the Vineyard.” “Ah, a wine culinary mystery!” I thought. Turns out it was one of a series set on Martha’s Vineyard. I grew up in Boston. I am a wino. I never once thought of Martha’s Vineyard in terms of grapes, wine, or inebrieation. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/670 "2010-02-08T02:37:58Z")
I noticed today that the dummy on Muthbusters, named Buster, is named after the show… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/671 "2010-02-08T03:39:25Z")
For some reason, perhaps the heavy snowfall around here recently, I was thinking about early-90s one hit wonder Snow and looked up the video for “Informer” (said one hit) online. I remember seeing this video back in the day, and when the song information came up on the screen I was thinking “Oh yeah, I remember his album was called _12 Inches of Snow_, and it was funny because his name was Snow and there could be like a foot of snow on the ground and…:smack:” In 1992 I was young enough that I honestly did not see the title _12 Inches of Snow_ as being anything other than a weather-related joke. It’s immediately obvious to me now that it’s a double-entendre with the primary meaning actually being a boast about the size of Snow’s…icicle…but this never occurred to me while “Informer” was still in the charts and I hadn’t thought about it since. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/672 "2010-02-08T05:30:47Z")
Speaking of _The Sound of Music_ hit “Do-Re-Mi”, I just had one in this thread. One of the lines is “Fa, a long, long way to go.” This always bugged me, “Wow, that’s a real stretch for far.” Recently, I learned about non-rhotic speakers and dropping the r sounds, so you get the vowel of ah-uh (the vowel drops slightly at the end). Fa, Fauh, Fa, Fauh. Hey, that’s not that bad a stretch after all. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/673 "2010-02-08T12:13:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I remember seeing this video back in the day, and when the song information came up on the screen I was thinking "Oh yeah, I remember his album was called _12 Inches of Snow_, and it was funny because his name was Snow and there could be like a foot of snow on the ground and…:smack: Also, 12 inches is the diameter of an LP. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/674 "2010-02-08T14:34:39Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I feel particularly lame about this one, as I truly only realized it just this moment. > > Green Arrow’s secret identity is Oliver Queen. Olive are green. And it’s practically “Olive Green” Sigh… I read comic books. I have a HUGE comic book collection. I watch Smallville because Justin Hartley, who I loved as Fox Crane in _Passions_, plays a great Green Arrow. I also have a “thing” for colors, and have a bunch of books about colors. I never once noticed that:smack: ---
**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:** [February 8, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/675 "2010-02-08T14:38:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > As I’ve posted before, for about a year I thought there was a singer named “Fiancee” that I kept hearing about, and one named “Be-younce” that I kept reading about. > > Image my :smack: when I put 1+1 together and got _one_ I had the same issue, but with different people: I thought that Justin Timberlake and Timbaland were either: 1. The same person, or (more likely), 2. That “Timbaland” was the name of Timberlake’s production company. Oops. Oh well. I’m reminded of the day when my grandfather, in trying to show me how in tune he was with modern society, accurately pointed out the Beatles in a drawing of the Beatles. In 1978. Now… get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/676 "2010-02-08T16:08:53Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Also, 12 inches is the diameter of an LP. That occurred to me as well, but by 1992 that would have been a rather dated reference. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/677 "2010-02-08T16:39:44Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Also, 12 inches is the diameter of an LP. > [@Lamia](#): > > That occurred to me as well, but by 1992 that would have been a rather dated reference. Wasn’t it in the early 90s when bands were trying to show how “old school” and “deep” they were by getting vinyl pressings of their albums released in addition to their tapes and CDs? Just thinking aloud. I remember the Fugees doing that - and thinking how pretentious that seemed to me. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/678 "2010-02-09T21:15:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. That “Timbaland” was the name of Timberlake’s production company. Wait… It’s not? [Wikis.] Oh damn, it’s **not**! > [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Wasn’t it in the early 90s when bands were trying to show how “old school” and “deep” they were by getting vinyl pressings of their albums released in addition to their tapes and CDs? Uh, these days, pretty much everybody but shitty mainstream bands releases their stuff on vinyl. Maybe even some of the shitty mainstream bands, too. I’ve heard that for a lot of music stores (especially small independent ones), vinyl actually sells better than CDs: the hyper-nerds buy vinyl, while the people who used to buy CDs just buy MP3s instead. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/679 "2010-02-11T14:49:25Z")
Joe Mantegna is the voice of Fat Tony? I watch both The Simpsons and Criminal Minds and didn’t realize this? Damn, Mantegna should be doing more voice over work. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/680 "2010-02-11T17:36:41Z")
[http://www.gog.com/en/newsletter/activision\_week3](http://www.gog.com/en/newsletter/activision_week3) Space Quest, anyone? Three games, ten bucks. [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=33) [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=35)