Late Show - Dave Calls High School Teacher

 Is it just me or is this surprisingly emotional?

Why Do Americans Drive on the Right Side of the Road?

Why do Americans drive on the right side of the road? Because it's convention.

Why did it become convention? Because the American highway system is based on, and originated from, the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the 1700s and 1800s.

Why did people on the Pennsylvania Turnpike drive on the right side of the road in the 1700s? Because they were predominantly the Pennsylvania Dutch driving Conestoga wagons - Conestoga wagons were invented by Mennonites and get their name from the Conestoga River).

Why would using Conestoga wagons cause driving on the right side? Conestoga wagons were designed to have a large lever, a brake, on their left side. "Teamsters" would walk along the left side next to the handle or stand on a pullout board with the handle in close reach. Naturally, being on the left side of the wagon, the convention was to drive on the right side.

Why was the lever on the left side of the wagon? I don't know that we can know that. It seems there are two likely possibilities here: it's either because controlling a team of horses/oxen from the left side was already convention (because most people are right-handed and it's easier that way) or it's because most people are right-handed and it's easier to operate the brake lever that way.

So there you have it: Americans drive on the right side of the road because the brake on the Conestoga wagon was on the left side in the 1700s and 1800s.

It is interesting to note that after 200 years of history, after all the technological innovation of the Industrial Age, we are still operating a large brake lever with our right hand, now known as the emergency brake.

The Coldplay Trope

The idea for this post came to me while sleeping, I don't know if this will be anything.

I very much have a love/hate relationship with Coldplay. I love their first album and it's one of those albums that reminds me of an era. But from their first album onwards, I liked them less and less while they simultaneously became more and more popular and I've come to despise them (though I still enjoy that first album.) Same era and pattern in music as Dane Cook was for comedy.

That first album is Parachutes, and I've noticed a common pattern that happens over and over throughout the album. Over and over in the lyrics there are the words "singing," "calling," "saying" without any connection to the rest of the lyrics. And a large percentage of the time the word "singing" is followed by vocalization (lyricless singing) for example:  "sayin' ooooohhh, oooohhh". It's almost as a verbal aside, perhaps just for rhythm, like Michael Jackson's non-verbal sounds. As if they have extra syllables to fill and instead of coming up with lyrics it's easier to just add "singin' out" etc.

Here's the breakdown track-by-track:

1. Don't Panic - Nothing of note.
2. Shiver - "sing it" (3 times).
3. Spies - Nothing.
4. Sparks - "I say, oh" - (twice); "I said, oh"; "I cry, oh"; "sing it out <vocalization>."
5. Yellow - Nothing.
6. Trouble - "singin' that."
7. Parachutes - Nothing.
8. High Speed - Nothing.
9. We Never Change - Nothing.
10. Everything's Not Lost - "singin' out <vocalization>" (3 times)
11. Life is for Living (Hidden Track) - "sing <vocalization>" (3 times)

The pattern continues into the second album. "In My Place" - "sing it out"; "Clocks" - "singin'."

So that's it. Is this anything? I'm going to have to talk to my unconscious self, he just doesn't fit in anymore.

Popcorn in Bed - Austin Powers

 

Absolutely delightful.

Willy Wonka Filming Locations

 

I don't know if this will interest anyone else but someone put together a montage of all the "Willy Wonka" filming locations and what they look like now.

This is so detailed and meticulous... Someone put a lot of research and did a lot of exacting work to make a video for no money.

Popcorn in Bed - The Abyss

I am not a huge "Abyss" fan, I am an "Abyss" appreciator - I find the concept of drowning too distasteful to say I can really enjoy "The Abyss." But what I like about this is the stark contrast. Like it or not, "The Abyss" is so completely the opposite of a chick flick.