# Things You've Never Noticed, and Now You Can't Stop Noticing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368 "2004-06-26T23:28:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/41 "2004-06-28T11:15:45Z")
> [@raz](#): > > The spaces between posts on a thread. Sometimes they’re blue and sometimes they’re white. Someone pointed this out along with the fact that you can click the white ones to make them blue. Now I compulsively click every white space to make it blue. And now you all will too! OHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSS (sorry) I can’t believe I am not the only freak! I can no longer read threads till I make all the white lines blue. The worst are the half and half lines! Until I figured out how to fix them I thought I might go mad trying to figure out why they happened. I don’t care anymore cause now they are all blue. Ok! So I care!! Why, why, why are the blue lines there??? On a much calmer note I am glad I wasn’t the only one duped by CCC 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/42 "2004-06-28T12:07:27Z")
The next time you go to a Thai (ding!) restuarant do not (ding!) listen for the bell that (ding!) is in every song. It doesn’t (ding!) matter what restuarant or (ding!) what song there is always (ding!) this little bell in the (ding!) back ground, kind of like (ding!) a triangle like Ed Grimely (ding!) played. You can pit me later 😉 ---
**Author:** ![No\_Disguise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@No\_Disguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Disguise)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/43 "2004-06-28T13:12:41Z")
The cowbell in Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_. Damn SNL. But thanks to that skit, the world has finally found a part Christopher Walken is not perfect for (rock legend Bruce Dickenson). ---
**Author:** ![Low\_Key\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@Low\_Key\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Low_Key_1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/44 "2004-06-28T13:47:58Z")
I should not be reading this thread. I always become obsessed with these type of things when I learn about them. I’ve noticed the blue lines before in the threads, but didn’t know I could change the white ones to blue by clicking on them. Damn you, **raz**! > [@](#): > > Ever since I joined [www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) email list. (dictionary website) I’ve REALLY started to take notice when people use what I call “five dollar words” by that I mean words that aren’t commonly used by the general populace. I had to unsubscribe from a word of the day e-mail list a long time ago because I’d compulsively try to fit these great new words into my daily conversations. I’d also notice these “five dollar words” when other people used them. I’m thinking about subscribing to this again, though. NNow, I’m off to do something else so that I forget I ever heard about changing white lines to blue… ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/45 "2004-06-28T15:36:37Z")
And if you scroll back up to look at those lines you just meticulously changed to blue, some have turned back to white again. Gah. **usar\_jag** , with all of the obsessive/compulsive behavior on these boards, perhaps you shouldn’t start threads like this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/46 "2004-06-28T16:15:05Z")
Ever since Howard Stern pointed out the NBC announcer’s voice when he’s doing promos for something really dramatic, I can’t even listen to it anymore. “On the next ‘E.Rrrrrrr’.” He’s even annoying to me when he’s doing a promo for a sit-com now. I have to mute the TV. > [@No Disguise](#): > > The cowbell in Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_. Damn SNL. Me too! It’s all I hear now. No lyrics, no other music, just…cowbell! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/47 "2004-06-28T16:20:24Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > [Ailanthus](http://www.delhi.edu/page/plantsci/plantsciencedelhi/wpf/images/Ailanthus/Ailanthus_altissima/ailalt.html). One day I started noticing the ugly weedy tree all over the place, and I finally searched the internet until I found its name. Now, I’m completely obsessed with it. I have nightmares about it sprouting under my bed. I wish the damn tree-of-hell would leave me alone! It’s funny you say that because one of it’s common names is “Tree of Heaven”. (pre-whoosing myself if you were intentionally saying tree-of-hell for that reason.) Also commonly called “The Ghetto Palm.” Supposedly brought here from Asia to beautify and line the streets, but now nothing more than Kudzu or the Nutria. [More](http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm) on the ailanthus altissima. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/48 "2004-06-28T16:41:47Z")
Good call, monstro. Baltimore’s City Paper ran a feature about those trees a couple of years. I was glad to have that question of many years finally answered and in great detail, too. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/49 "2004-06-28T17:15:35Z")
It seems that I am seeing more and more cars around here without a front license plate. I don’t know if the law requiring a front plate has since then been changed. My friend from Kansas recently moved here to Idaho and in Kansas they do not require a front plate. Ever since he pointed out that he sees a lot of cars around here without a front plate I can’t help but notice it. It also drives me nuts since I expect to see a front plate and I like to know where someone is from when I see them driving around. I also never paid much attention to the cowbell in “Don’t Fear the Reaper” until SNL did their little skit on this. Now I hear it every time the song comes on the radio. Count me in on the FedEx arrow logo thing. For the longest time I never noticed that there is no dot in the Dr Pepper logo. I had probably also been writing it as “Dr. Pepper” up until then. Ever since someone brought it to my attention that there is no dot I now take note of this every time I see a Dr Pepper can. (I also had to make a conscious effort to not automatically type a dot after the “Dr” in this post as I would have likley done out of habit.) ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/50 "2004-06-28T18:16:18Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > **usar\_jag** , with all of the obsessive/compulsive behavior on these boards, perhaps you shouldn’t start threads like this. 😃 Your comment reminded me of a quip from the Matt Groening book, “Work is Hell”. The Three Warning Signs of Work (or the SDMB, for that matter) 1. Your Boss is Insane 2. Your Coworkers are Insane 3. You’re Finally Beginning to Fit In ---
**Author:** ![Sangre\_Azul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Sangre\_Azul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangre_Azul)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/51 "2004-06-28T18:32:00Z")
The [Wilhelm Scream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream) . I hear it [all the damn time](http://web.archive.org/web/20030622105312/http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html) now. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/52 "2004-06-28T18:36:16Z")
Once you know Yoda’s voice is Grover from Sesame Street, you will never hear Yoda again. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/53 "2004-06-28T18:47:32Z")
The feet getting out of a car scene in movies. You know, stock footage. Drives me batty. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/54 "2004-06-28T18:48:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Once you know Yoda’s voice is Grover from Sesame Street, you will never hear Yoda again. Ever. I knew right from the start that Frank Oz did Yoda, and I could only hear him as Fozzy Bear the Mystic. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/55 "2004-06-28T19:02:02Z")
**Things You’ve Never Noticed, and Now You Can’t Stop Noticing** Those white transformer boxes at all traffic light intersections. Traffic lights that are not hung evenly on the poles. I never noticed either of these until my husband pointed them out, now it drives me nuts when I am sitting in traffic 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/56 "2004-06-29T20:28:20Z")
In Foxtrot (the comic strip), when the characters are drawn in profile, their noses point up. I deeply wish no one had ever pointed that out to me, because it’s all I see now. Yes, now you are all going to suffer too, but that’s the point of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/57 "2004-06-29T21:03:09Z")
Ever watch those Police Chase videos on Fox? All the sound effects are added by foley artists. And they do a very shitty job! Every time a car moves, there is a “tire squeal” noise. Every time there is slight contact between vehicles (even when the camera is in a helicopter a couple hundred feet up) there is the same stock “crahsing and glass breaking” noise. I cannot stand to watch those videos. All I can concentrate on is the fake sirens, fake crash sounds, fake squealing noises. It drives me insane! If you ever watch those tapes for real, all you can hear is a high pitched buzzing sound - feedback from the engine and electronics. Obviously Fox executives figured that an audio track would sound better. But did they have to do such a shitty job at it?? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/58 "2004-06-29T22:32:22Z")
Shannon Dougherty. You know, from 90210 and that damn scare show on Sci-Fi. Several years ago, I noticed that her left eye is higher and squintier than her right… and now. I. CAN’T. STOP. SEEING. IT. Honestly, she’s now become absolutely hideous to my eyes. _shudder_ ---
**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:** [June 29, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/59 "2004-06-29T23:10:34Z")
If you position the scrolling cursor on the space between posts and then scroll a bit, you can get scooped-out areas. More effects discussed [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262582). Everybody’s missed the third arrow in the FedEx logo. The space between the bases of the “e” and the “d” forms an upward-pointing arrowhead with concave sides. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368/60 "2004-06-29T23:27:46Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Everybody’s missed the third arrow in the FedEx logo. The space between the bases of the “e” and the “d” forms an upward-pointing arrowhead with concave sides. Where’s the second arrow? I see the one between the E and X, but no others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-never-noticed-and-now-you-cant-stop-noticing/252368.md?page=4)