TATILT #18

The actress Kaley Cuoco was in both 8 Simple Rules and The Big Bang Theory. Wow. Just wow.

What's so "wow" about that?

I guess I'll start numbering mine. Here's ATZLT #3:

There's a show called The Thick of It which has a character named Malcolm Tucker. And there's another one named Reeder!

(On the off chance someone reading this doesn't get the point, Enterprise has a Tucker and a Malcolm Reed.)

It's wow because I hadn't noticed it, and the two characters seem quite different from each other.

That as of today August 20th, I am the same age as current Doctor Who Matt Smith!

Getting older ain't all bad :)

Oh, uh... happy birthday!

...I'm too late, aren't I?

Just a tad, but meh............ta!

Today I learned..........um........well nothing really, but it does the brain good to rest now and then :D

Malcolm from The Thick of It says "fuck" an awful lot more than the other one does. Peter Capaldi actually came to the island for an event a month or two back, it's was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the arts centre. I did not go, it was a fundraiser and thus the tickets were unfortunately quite expensive.

I don't think I've learned anything amazing recently, but I do think it's pretty neat that we've directly imaged the first exoplanet recently (as opposed to more indirect methods of detection). I also learned that the ancient Greeks really were not people you'd want to hang out with, Athenians especially. I probably could have guessed that before though, to be fair.

Apparently you can buy deuterated, HPLC grade acetonitrile by the litre.
The price is "please inquire".

To put this in perspective, HPLC-grade solvents are generally more expensive than regular solvents because extra effort has gone into removing the impurities. You can generally buy this in 4L bottles.

Acetonitrile saw a spike in price because the industrial process that produced it as a byproduct went belly-up during the economic meltdown. The Great Acetonitrile Shortage is over, but I think the price is still hovering above where it used to be.

Deuterated solvents have had all their Hs replaced by deuterium (the stuff that makes the Enterprise go), a rarer isotope of hydrogen and the stuff that makes heavy water heavy. These are typically sold on a much smaller and can go for $30-$50 for 10 grams (about 10-10 mL).

Putting all that together and then selling it by the litre must be monstrously expensive, as is the HPLC-NMR instrument that requires it. If you want to use it for an experiment, it has to be really important.

TATILT #19

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/foru...-mind-is-blown

1337% (LEET, natch) of pi is 42.

13.37*3.14159=42, give or take.

Yeah, yeah, it's all a coincidence and you could find similar examples all over, but I was still tickled by it.

PS: "Natch" is lifted directly from editorial comments in old Marvel Comics. "We last saw Villain X escape from Hero Y in Issue Z, natch."

TATILT #20

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6235040.html

Yahtzee is a fan of Spoony!

TATILT #21

Jonathan Frakes used to play the part of Captain America in public appearances.

Check it out!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...h:1%26prmd%3Do

TATILT #22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin...#Gelatin_shots

There's an urban legend that Tom Lehrer invented the jello shot!

TATILT #23

Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (of Schoolhouse Rock and Ragtime fame) wrote the songs for Anastasia!

TATILT # 24

Zooey Deschenal was in one of my favorite films ever 'The New Guy'. I'd watched it dozens of times and never realised until now.

TATILT #25

The city of Cape Suzette from TaleSpin was a joke based on a real dish called the Crepe Suzette.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%AApe_Suzette

Oh man, Crepe Suzette. Those are good. Really, really good. Anyone who hasn't tried one should.

TATILT #26

I'm reading a compilation of Isaac Asimov science essays, and after mentioning the scientist Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky he uses a footnote to mention Tom Lehrer's song. Furthermore, he was a fan of Lehrer.

Listen to the song on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQHaGhC7C2E

TATILT #27

The same guy voiced the Teeny Little Super Guy on Sesame Street AND Mr. Glitch in Square One.

His name was Jim Thurman, and he passed away in 2007.

TATILT #28

Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher were married at one point (only for a year or two). That's kinda weird and kinda, well, amazing.

TATILT #29

The Captain Kirk Internet Meme "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am" came from a quote from a fiver!