Before its announcement in July 2005, Windows Vista was known by the codename “Longhorn.” The name was taken from a bar at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.
Thanks, twickster.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, perhaps best known for his painting “Whistler’s Mother,” was a notoriously acerbic, combative and egotistical man.
*Whistler’s Mother *isn’t the actual name of that painting… it’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother.
The school colors of Bowdoin College are black and white.
Cop cars are known as “panda cars” in the UK because of their black-and-white colors. (Colours?)
Pandas, which primarily eat bamboo, are an endangered species native to China.
“Me 'Ol Bam-Boo” is a song from the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based on the 1964 children’s book by Ian Fleming.
Ian Fleming, an avid birdwatcher, named his most famous creation, James Bond, after the author of his favorite book on birds of the Caribbean.
The inspiration for the Bond character’s title of “M” comes from “C,” the title of the real life MI6 director, which in turn comes from Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who signed documents in green ink with that letter when he held that position.
Blue Oyster Cult’s song “Transmaniacon MC” was the inspiration for John Shirley’s first novel. He later became a lyricist for the band.
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Cindy Williams played Shirley Feeney in the TV show Laverne & Shirley, set in Milwaukee, WI.
Laverne, Maxine, and Patty were the first names of the Andrews Sisters.
Patty and Selma are the names of Marge’s sisters on The Simpsons.
Patty and Selma are the names of Matt Groening’s two older sisters, Maggie and Lisa his two younger sisters, and Homer and Marge his parents. Bart comes from “brat.”
Actually, make that:
Patty is the name of Matt Groening’s older sister, Maggie and Lisa his two younger sisters, and Homer and Marge his parents. Bart comes from “brat.”
Must have misremembered Selma. She might have been an aunt.
Groening’s grandfather’s name is actually Abe.
However, when it came time to name the grandfather, he was sick of having them share the names of his family, so he let the writers choose a name for him, Groening then left the room. Can you imagine Matt’s reaction when they told him the name that they picked, not knowing what his grandfather’s name is?
(Matt also had a brother, I think his name is/was Mark, but his name hasn’t been used in the series (yet))
Matt Groening’s last name rhymes with “complaining” (as he pointed out in one of his Life in Hell strips).
Dean Martin played Matt Helm in a series of comical spy movies in the Sixties; Tony Franciosa played a much more serious Matt Helm on a TV series in the Seventies.
Dean Martin, who had previously been Jerry Lewis’ comedy partner, played the captain on the first, and seminal, Airport movie.