# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 103
**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:** [April 1, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2041 "2025-04-01T13:57:06Z")
The middle section of Rush’s “La Villa Strangiato” incorporates “Powerhouse”, which is kind of cool once you recognize it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2042 "2025-04-01T14:45:24Z")
If you’re over 50 years old and grew up in the U.S. or Canada, you’ll instantly recognize these song lyrics: _Boy, the way Glenn Miller played_ _Songs that made the hit parade_ _Guys like us we had it made_ _Those were the days_ It’s the opening song for All in the Family, of course. I discovered a couple interesting things about this song: - The lyrics were written by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse. Both are still alive: Adams is 100 and Strouse is 96. - Despite how well-known this song is, there’s no Wikipedia page for it. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2043 "2025-04-01T16:33:51Z")
I’m getting training in AI, and then I stumbled on this. Alan Turing, in his famous paper describing his test to check for machine intelligence in 1950: _Computing Machinery and Intelligence_, wrote about the imitation game and countered many possible objections to his proposal. > **[turing.pdf](https://courses.cs.umbc.edu/471/papers/turing.pdf)** > > 89.82 KB What I did not know, is that besides being prophetic, Turing also wrote about Telepathy/ESP as being one possible item to counter his test! He was annoyed that he could not then dismiss ESP, he thought that it could be a factor, but Turing also mentioned that one could ESP proof the test location! (AFAIK, there were tests done in those days that reported evidence for ESP; but later checks showed that the tests for ESP back then where flawed, no need to ESP proof the testing room.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2044 "2025-04-01T16:49:56Z")
This morning’s earworm was Bing Crosby crooning “Going Hollywood,” which necessitated researching the same-named film it was from: The writer praised co-star Marion Davies thusly: “She had a real **hoyden** ish, don’t-give-a-damn feeling about her, and it came across on the screen.” Word for the day: hoyden - a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous, or carefree behavior Co-star Fifi D’Orsay’s historical footnote was earned by popularizing the phrase **“oo-la-la”**. Maybe not a towering achievement, but perhaps somewhere between Ann Sheridan’s “oomph girl” and Clara Bow’s “it girl” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2045 "2025-04-01T17:09:52Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Platypuses use that flat, paddle-like tail to carry nesting materials. Beavers also have a flat, paddle-like tail. They often carry mud to patch up their dams and to make a scent mound on the edge of their territory. When they carry the mud, they walk on two feet, using their tail to help them balance. I don’t know how they use the tail when swimming. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2046 "2025-04-01T17:14:16Z")
I fell down a rabbit hole and ended up learning about the WW2 German radio counterintelligence organization known as the _[Funkabwehr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funkabwehr)_, mainly because of the name. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2047 "2025-04-01T17:16:31Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Beavers also have a flat, paddle-like tail. That is considered fish by the Roman Catholic Church for the purposes of fasting days. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2048 "2025-04-01T17:29:02Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > That is considered fish by the Roman Catholic Church for the purposes of fasting days. As was the [barnacle goose](https://sercblog.si.edu/science-superstition-and-the-goose-barnacle/) up to 1215, when it was prohibited by the pope. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2049 "2025-04-01T17:56:29Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Despite how well-known this song is, there’s no Wikipedia page for it. Note that the song was written sometime between 1968 and 1971 for _All in the Family_. It was not a old song that the people who created All in the Family decided to choose as the theme song. Adams and Strouse wrote a lot of songs, many of them together, in the late 1950’s and early 1960s. Despite the mention of Glenn Miller, who died in 1944, they were not particularly reminiscing about the 1930s and 1940s. I presume that the people who created _All in the Family_ told them to mention things about the 1930s and 1940s to make the song sound like it was written then. It was written for an audience that knew the songs of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees, the Supremes, and such. The younger people who watched _All in the Family_ thought of it as being about a couple who didn’t like the current music. The older people could sometimes remember the music of the 1930s and 1940s. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2050 "2025-04-01T18:10:31Z")
Today I learned, from Kristen Richardson’s _The Season_, about “kettedrums.” They were a more raucous form of afternoon tea parties for the debutante set in late 19th century America. > [P]arents put a large silver bowl or “kettle” in the middle of a large room, usually the parlor. Unattached young men crowded around the bowl and used spoons to make a din that would cover any flirtatious conversation. If someone who was drumming wanted to speak to a debutante at the party, he would leave the kettle and offer the woman a cup of tea. The young lady accepted with a spoon, signaling that the young man could court her. … > > The kettledrum reached a farcical point when a Mrs. Clark of Fifth Avenue held one for her pugs and invited all the elite dogs in the neighborhood. The point was to get around the social convention that the men and women could not talk lest they get ideas that would interfere with the arranged marriage a debutante was expected to make. As long as they were holding tea cups, conversation was permitted and saucy talk could pass by. The rich have always been crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2051 "2025-04-01T18:12:23Z")
Charles Strouse Who also wrote the musical **Annie** had an appreciation for the 1970s nostalgia for the 30s-40s. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2052 "2025-04-01T19:32:08Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > That is considered fish by the Roman Catholic Church for the purposes of fasting days. Puffins were also classed as fish because they spent so much of their time in the water. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2053 "2025-04-01T20:31:21Z")
So were swans, right? 🧐 ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2054 "2025-04-01T21:02:48Z")
But they can only be eaten by royalty. Who are not allowed to be Catholic. So it’s moot. (Unlike the swans, who are mute.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2055 "2025-04-01T21:06:53Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@Yllaria](#): > > > > Beavers also have a flat, paddle-like tail. > > That is considered fish by the Roman Catholic Church for the purposes of fasting days. So there are no days when Catholics are not allowed to eat beaver? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2056 "2025-04-01T21:13:02Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > (Unlike the swans, who are mute.) I gather you’ve never met a pissed off swan. They can hiss! (they’ll fight you, too, if you’re not heeding their hisses) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E4iS_CYlupU/maxresdefault.jpg "Hissing Swan") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4iS_CYlupU) ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2057 "2025-04-01T21:17:29Z")
As my username would suggest, I’ve met many swans! I was referring to these though: > **[Mute swan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan?wprov=sfti1)** > > The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to the largest populations outside of its native range, with additional smaller introductions in Australasia and southern Africa. The name "mute" derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 160 cm (49 to 63 in) in length, thi The m... ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2058 "2025-04-01T21:17:35Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > But they can only be eaten by royalty. Who are not allowed to be Catholic. So it’s moot. (Unlike the swans, who are mute.) There are and were countries with Catholic royalty. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2059 "2025-04-01T21:18:51Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > But they can only be eaten by royalty. It seems to me you must be English. > [@JacobSwan](#): > > Who are not allowed to be Catholic. Looks even more so. > [@JacobSwan](#): > > So it’s moot. So you think. > [@JacobSwan](#): > > Unlike the swans, who are mute Never! They are black! **[Partially](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/black-necked-swan-cygnus-melanocoryphus-spring-puerto-natales-patagonia-chile-64879789.jpg)**, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2060 "2025-04-01T21:19:33Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > As my username would suggest, I’ve met many swans! > I was referring to these though: Ah, got it now, never heard of that variety. I thought that you must be a swan expert by your username. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=102) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=104)