| CB27
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| 1099066. Fri Oct 24, 2014 4:53 pm |
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It's quite satisfying to see a Qi show and suddenly realise that a fact being discussed is something originally mentioned by yourself (post 1033727).
It's a reminder to not give up trying to find new things to write about :) |
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| Celebaelin
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| 1099096. Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:52 pm |
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I had to listen to it twice to make sure but yes, I was surprised to hear a reference to 'Kenilworth lighthouse' on QI today (well, yesterday's program technically but on iPlayer) partly because it's not actually a lighthouse but a former windmill and subsequently water tower converted into a residence but mainly because Stephen seemed to be of the opinion that it
| Quote: | | ... might be known by quite a section of the population. |
Having recently (in the last fortnight or so) talked to a Kenilworth resident who was entirely unaware of its existence I'm not so sure that this is the case.
Incidentally I heard that they actually had to use lighthouse paint on the structure as all normal paint seemed unable to provide any coverage - I can't vouch for this fact in its entirety but I do remember a period of years when the thing was either being painted, had recently been painted or was beginning to look shabby again. That Wiki mentions the nickname 'Kenilworth lighthouse' is oddly satisfying bearing in mind that Kenilworth is of the order of 100km from the sea (possibly a little less depending on how far up the Bristol channel you think the sea extends; arguably the nearest sea might be on the Wash which is 110km or so away). I wonder if any of this useless information might have made the XL edit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Tower,_Kenilworth |
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| CharliesDragon
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| 1099159. Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:10 am |
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| I liked the liquid nitrogene stuff, but I sort of feel bad for Fry for his rose segment coming off as a bit clumsy, because he sounded so in awe when telling the story of his teacher doing the same, in an earlier episode. Maybe he was just very excited to do it, and I don't blame him. Or I'm too harsh in thinking it looked clumsy. |
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| Ian Dunn
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| 1099216. Sat Oct 25, 2014 3:14 pm |
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| With regards to photo of the lightning striking Grant's Tomb - I thought that in the photo it was striking Washington Monument? |
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| brunel
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| 1099267. Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:18 am |
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Having watched the extended version, I do have a quibble about the section on the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
As far as I am aware, the spire on the Empire State Building is not there to make it taller than the Chrysler Building (even without the spire, the top floor of the Empire State Building, at 380m height, is substantially higher (60m higher) than the top of the spire on the Chrysler Building).
It is actually the other way around - it was the Chrysler Building that secretly had the spire integrated into its design in order to claim the title of being the tallest building in the world. That was done to snatch the title from the headquarters of the Bank of Manhattan, which had topped out a few months earlier and was fractionally higher before the Chrysler Building added its spire. |
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| Troux
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| 1099273. Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:52 am |
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I recall learning that the Toronto CN Tower used a lot more spire/antenna than needed in order to steal the tallest title when it was built, though I hadn't heard the same about the NY buildings.
The recently finished One World Trade Center (aka Freedom Tower) fine-tuned its extensions to reach a height of 1,776 feet to commemorate the year when we decided that we wanted to be an independent country that needs Asian oil and labor to survive. |
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| djgordy
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| 1099283. Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:44 am |
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That's a bit harsh, seeing as it needed genocide and slavery to exist in the first place. Anyway, Asian countries are only two out of the top five importers to the USA.
| Quote: | | The top five sources of U.S. crude oil imports for July (2014) were Canada (2,802 thousand barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1,231 thousand barrels per day), Venezuela (852 thousand barrels per day), Mexico (714 thousand barrels per day), and Iraq (496 thousand barrels per day). |
www.eia.gov/petroleum/imports/companylevel/
Also, the USA is nearing self sufficency due to all that shaley stuff, which is why the price of oil and petrol are so low at a time when, from the point of view of the instability in the middle East caused by ISIS, one would expect it to be sky high. |
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| djgordy
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| CharliesDragon
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| 1099362. Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:14 pm |
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The Small's Lighthouse story is rather gruesome, but very fascinating, yes.
I can't even say I've recognised things that's been discussed on this forum so far in the series... Except the liger. Anyway I take off my wig to those who find their contributions broadcasted. |
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| 'yorz
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| 1099364. Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:18 pm |
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| djgordy wrote: | I got two in this episode.
[...]
so ner ner! |
Back in Kindergarten, I see. |
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| Alfred E Neuman
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| 1099395. Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:50 am |
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| 'yorz wrote: | | Back in Kindergarten, I see. |
Back? When did we ever leave? |
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| djgordy
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| 1099469. Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:35 pm |
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I was milk monitor last term.
This term I'm milf monitor which is far more fun. |
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| CB27
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| 1099483. Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:21 pm |
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| Next term gilf monitor? |
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| RLDavies
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| 1099788. Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:59 am |
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| CharliesDragon wrote: | | I liked the liquid nitrogene stuff, but I sort of feel bad for Fry for his rose segment coming off as a bit clumsy, because he sounded so in awe when telling the story of his teacher doing the same, in an earlier episode. Maybe he was just very excited to do it, and I don't blame him. Or I'm too harsh in thinking it looked clumsy. |
I thought it was poorly pulled off as well, and Fry did seem to rush the whole thing, either from excitement or under pressure to hurry the show along.
It would have looked a lot more impressive if he'd slowly crushed the rose in his hand instead of smashing it on the table. One of my OU courses included an excellent demonstration of the same thing. The presenter showed the rose and moved the petals a bit to demonstrate it was a real, normal flower. He dipped it in the liquid nitrogen, then brought it out and took the time to show it looked exactly the same as before. And only then crushed it up in his hand like glass. |
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| djgordy
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| 1099798. Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:56 am |
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| RLDavies wrote: |
I thought it was poorly pulled off as well, and Fry did seem to rush the whole thing, either from excitement or under pressure to hurry the show along.
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Generally, Mr. Fry seems only to eager to pull something off when excited and it often goes off quicker when under pressure........ |
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