Paul McCartney’s video of “Coming Up” premiered on an episode of Saturday Night Live. He was shown playing all the instruments in a band, made up a different character for each. One of the costumes was an imitation of Ron Mael of the band Sparks, a US band that was very successful in the UK but not at home.
When Paul McCartney wrote a song, he would usually work on the tune first, filling in nonsense phrases for the lyrics and replacing them with the real ones when he was happy with the tune. But not always - he left “the movement you need is on your shoulder” in “Hey Jude” at John Lennon’s insistence that the phrase was perfect as is.
Mrs. John F. Kennedy was photographed by the great Yousuf Karsh in 1957, three years before her husband was elected to the U.S. Presidency.
The Secret Service’s code name for John F. Kennedy was Lancer. Jacqueline Kennedy was Lace, Caroline Kennedy was Lyric, and her brother John Jr. was Lark.
Stan Freberg’s Thyme Incorporated was an ad agency in the 60s and 70s known for their offbeat campaigns. One ad for Geno’s pizza rolls directly parodies a concurrent ad for Lark Cigarettes where people on the street were asked to show their Lark cigarettes packs as the William Tell Overture ran in the background. Freberg topped the parody by having the Lark spokesman show up to complain about the ad; he is interrupted by Lone Ranger and Tonto to complain about the use of the music.
The Green Hornet was supposed to be the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger.
There have eight warships in the U.S. Navy named Hornet over the years, the most recent of which is a World War II aircraft carrier now preserved as a museum ship in Alameda, Calif.
Noted Canadian historian George Ramsey Cook, OC, FRSC, was born in Alameda, Saskatchewan, a small town in the south-east corner of Saskatchewan.
Between 1876 and 1883, Battleford, Saskatchewan was the territorial capital of the Northwest Territories (now Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, northern Quebec, northern Ontario and the Northwest Territories). With the creation of those territories and provinces, and the coming of the railroad, it was reduced to being a suburb of North Battleford.
Chris Jericho, a six-time world champion in professional wrestling, is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; however, at or around the time of WrestleMania XX in 2004, he was billed as being “born in Manhasset, New York”.
The movement of shipping through the increasingly ice-free Northwest Passage has become a point of controversy among Canada, the U.S., Russia and other maritime nations.
North by Northwest was an Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The crop duster scene was set in Indiana but actually filmed in California’s central valley.
The movie “Hoosiers” was based off the true story of Milan High School’s improbable run to the state basketball championship, and is only half-jokingly considered an important part of any Indiana native’s curriculum.
Gene Hackman is a US Marine.
As the saying goes, “Once a Marine, Always a Marine” - there are no ex-Marines.
In 17th century England, “marine” was slang for an empty liquor bottle, with the implication that Marines were drunkards. During one gaming and drinking session, Charles II is said to have once told a servant “to gather up all these Marines” (i.e. Clear away the empties). His brother James, the Duke of York, who was commander of the Marines, challenged him, asking why he called the bottles Marines. Charles responded, “Because they have done their duty and are ready to serve again.”
Lt. Gorman commanded the USS Sulaco-based squad of United States Colonial Marines shown in the 1986 James Cameron science fiction/adventure/horror movie Aliens. Sgt. Apone and Cpl. Hicks were next in the chain of command.
The main character in the movie The Stunt Man is named “Cameron,” which becomes an important plot point in the final sequence.
Lee Majors sang the theme song to The Fall Guy, “I’m the Unknown Stunt Man”. He also starred in that show.
In 1950, an elephant fell out of a monorail in Germany.
An elephant poops 80 pounds in one day.