Yeah, they’ve since changed their name to Call This Number and You’ll be Held in a Queue for Four Hours. It’s not as catchy but reflects modern times better.
This sounds familiar. When I was at university we were made to do at least one module outside of our degree, which you had to pass but didn’t count towards your final degree. In the first year I took an introduction to English literature and in the second I took an introduction to the history of art. I chose those modules because 1) it was one lecture per week, 2) there was no exam and 3) it was one essay. I bunked most of it. The essay in English was on which writer from the 20th century writer you thought would be studied as part of the history of literature in the future. I said Iain Banks because I’d just read Wasp Factory. I owned two other books which I hadn’t read but pulled quotes from. Made up some stuff about what I imagined the rest of his books were like (we’re talking pre-google). I got a higher grade than some of my main degree essays. I picked the wrong subject.
You retained more from that class than I did from Ag Econ. I recall the phrase "elastic clause" (Or elastic theory?) because the professor demonstrated using the elastic on a pair of men's briefs. I don't recall what it means. Don't care, either, so please no one explain it to me.
Volodymyr Palahniuk, his eyes and cheekbones look came from reconstructive surgery after bailing out of a burning B24 during training
Except that he wasn't. He was born in Pennsylvania. His parents were Ukrainian so he is of Ukrainian descent, but he was not Ukrainian.
He was in the US Army Air Force, but he denied this B24 story- said it was a publicity piece made up by press agents.
I'd never heard that hanging reference, thanks! You would have had to have taken the class to understand this professor's theories on who was or was not Ukrainian or Russian. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't have wanted him in charge of any "Ministry of National Purity" or anything. Ever see Remo Williams? He was like that, but Ukrainian instead of Korean.
Errol Flynn was from the Australian state of Tasmania, but his publicists declared he was Irish because at that time too few people knew where Tasmania was. Edit. Cher was publicized as of Italian descent early in her career, which was half true on her mother's side. Her family name is Sarkasian and her father was of Armenian descent. Again, few Americans at the time had even heard of Armenia.
I beg to differ. I'm currently in my 70s, so I was in the generation that watched Sonny and Cher when they had their television show. We had all heard of Armenia, because when our parents wanted to shame us into eating whatever unpalatable pap had been put on our dinner plates, the statement was, "Finish your dinner. Think of all the poor, starving Armenians." I never understood how my finishing my dinner in the U.S. was going to help someone in Armenia who was starving. I did once suggest to my parents that it would be perfectly fine with me if they sent that particular dinner to Armenia. BIG mistake!
You knew where Armenia is. I knew where Armenia is. I taught in an area with a large ethnic Armenian community. Sadly most Americans aren't very geographically literate. One of the things I enjoyed reading as a youngster was maps.
I lived in Fresno County, California, which had one of the highest concentrations of expatriate Armenians and their American-born families in the world. At that time (late 60s, early 70s) many survivors of the massacres were still alive.
When I was at school in the UK in the 80s, it was the Ethiopians. We all knew of Ethiopia. Some of us knew Ethiopia was in Africa. A smaller group could point to Africa on a map. I don’t think any of us could have identified Ethiopia more precisely. All that mattered was that we felt guilty. No need for the geography when it comes to discipline.
Glendale/North Hollywood. I have heard there is another large community in New Jersey. Former California governor George Deukmejian was from Fresno.
If you decide to cook something in the microwave, and the label says to heat it on High for a minute-and-a-half, do you punch 90 or 1:30 into the keypad?
1:30 usually, but the choice depends on my whim of the moment. I'm kind of a split personality about numbers that represent time. I use common time (24 hour clock) for social and mundane world jobs, and military time for communicating with my children (former detective and fire fighter) and for my sheriff's office job.
So was Cher and a fair number of other well-known folks. It's a good place to be from- far from. Not among the favorites on the list of places where I've lived. I left 45 years ago and didn't even glance in the rearview mirror.
Huh? Do you mean common time=12 hour clock? Or am I really lost? I use 24 hour time for almost everything, but times are most often written in 24 hour time (or better) here. "Or better"? Yeah, some bars and izakaya pubs list their hours as similar to: 17:00-25:00 (L.O. 24:30) meaning open from 5pm to 1am, with last call (L.O.= Last Order) at 12:30 am. Kinda charming and makes perfect sense once you're used to it.
Today (June 20th, time zones) is 172 on the Julian calendar (which I actually used in a job long, long ago.)
I think Cher was from the Imperial Valley which is near Coachella. Sonny Bono was from that area too, and represented the area when he was elected to congress. The Kardashians are Glendale Armenians. Most of the ones I knew were working class. One student took me to see his dad's machine shop. In the old country he had been a toolmaker for Mikoyan y Gurevich. (MiG.) One thing I did learn from students was that there is actually two communities of Armenians in the San Fernando Valley. Colloquially they refer to themselves as Russian Arminians, and Persian Armenians. The former are immigrants and their descendants from the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. This was the population that suffered genocide from the Turks. The other have their roots in Iran where there are large Armenian areas in the northwest. There are cultural differences. Among these are many older members of one speak Russian in addition to Arminian, and the other has many Farsi speakers. I escaped from Barstow when I was fourteen, but kept going back. Family. As recently as last year for the funeral of a childhood friend, who had suffered a fall in the home.
