# Unimportant questions you really, really want to know **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473 "2013-08-17T03:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/61 "2013-08-20T08:42:21Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, in my opinion, a jaunt is a light trip that doesn’t last more than a few hours and is undertaken for fun and probably involves a picnic. A sojourn is a trip with a purpose and definitely requires at least one night’s stay somewhere other than your home. A trek is a sojourn that has become arduous. Journey just means trip, but again the expectation is that you’re spending at least one night away from home. Agree with you on jaunt - it’s a light-hearted and enjoyable trip of minimal consequence. I also think you’ve hit a key factor in a sojourn - it’s a trip which takes you away for a period of time. You might only travel a relatively short distance but you’re on a sojourn if you’re gone for an extended period. Thoreau went on a sojourn to Walden Pond but he was only a couple of miles out of town. A trek is an arduous journey but I think it’s key factor is you’re going somewhere. You have to have a destination if you go on a trek and it’s often implied you’re staying at that destination. Settlers go on a trek to find a new home. Explorers go on a trek to find undiscovered lands. Your trip to Florida for Spring Break isn’t a trek even if you experience great difficulties during it. To me the difference between a trip and a journey is the significance. You can take a trip where nothing happens. But going on a journey means something. A trip just moves you around but a journey changes you. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/62 "2013-08-20T17:27:40Z")
Who did the spoken word portion of Rush’s song _Roll the Bones_? What does aerogel feel like? I keep wanting to buy some to find out, but at $35 for a sample the size of a quarter, it’s just not worth it. What did Balthazar Getty’s character do in _Lost Highway_ that was so terrible, it was unspeakable? How did Pope Leo the Great convince Attila the Hun to turn back from his invasion of Italy? Why are avocados so expensive while bananas are so cheap? ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/63 "2013-08-20T17:39:03Z")
Who is **Pat Pending** , and how did that chick get her name on so much stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/64 "2013-08-20T18:03:31Z")
> [@Scruples](#): > > Do parents keep actual photo albums anymore, or is everything just kept in their i-phones and various SD cards or thumb-drives or on the cloud or their computers? Do they print photos so they will have hard copies? As a fairly recent parent who has taken X thousand photos of his daughter over the past two years, they are mostly on computer disks. But I use photo printing services to make bound books [like this](http://www.photobox.co.uk/shop/photo-books#p=a4-personalised). I ought to do it more often so there isn’t so much of a backlog. > [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > Who did the spoken word portion of Rush’s song Roll the Bones? And ditto for REM’s _Orange Crush_. Is that Michael Stipe or is it a sample from some Vietnam documentary or something? And what are the rest of the words after it gets covered up by the vocals coming back in? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/65 "2013-08-20T18:09:37Z")
Why was Lacey Chabert never credited as Meg on _Family Guy_ (until very recently, when they started using old clips of her for various reasons)? Why don’t reality shows besides singing shows or _America’s Got Talent_ (or _So You Think You Can Dance?,_ once the early auditions are over) use contestant’s last names? For that matter, it’s been, what, 12 years now - why doesn’t _American Idol_ finally admit on the air how the audition process works? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/66 "2013-08-20T18:31:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And ditto for REM’s Orange Crush. Is that Michael Stipe or is it a sample from some Vietnam documentary or something? And what are the rest of the words after it gets covered up by the vocals coming back in? [/QUOTE] Ditto again for Queensrÿche’s _Silent Lucidty_. I’m wondering if it’s simply Geoff Tate on a voice augmenter. > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Why don’t reality shows besides singing shows or _America’s Got Talent_ (or _So You Think You Can Dance?,_ once the early auditions are over) use contestant’s last names? Privacy reasons, I’m sure. These people aren’t celebrities (yet), so their personal information is probably a lot less protected than your average celeb. > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > For that matter, it’s been, what, 12 years now - why doesn’t _American Idol_ finally admit on the air how the audition process works? Why would they? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/67 "2013-08-20T20:32:09Z")
How much do people on reality shows get paid? I know that some, like the Duggars (19 kids and counting) and the Browns (Sister Wives) do it partly for religious evangelizing or societal education; but the disruption and intrusion would require an incredibly high price to become acceptable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/68 "2013-08-24T03:12:21Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection? [Answered](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/656/when-someone-is-executed-by-lethal-injection-do-they-swab-off-the-arm-first) (more of less) by The Master. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473/69 "2013-08-24T03:53:04Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > [Yes.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_music) Wow! I’m so impressed by this! I wonder how long it took Braille to work this out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473.md?page=3)