Why did the U.S. Government once tell a Hollywood star to change her hair style? And where does your fat go when you exercise? Hear answers to Infectious Trivia questions on the Off Ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. (Photo: Jib Jab)
Bob and Marcia Smith delved into a wide range of intriguing topics, from the origins of words and phrases to famous last words and quotes from notable individuals. Marcia shared interesting facts about famous people who died due to their fashion choices, while Bob inquired about the origin of Butch Cassidy’s nickname. The speakers explored various unconventional topics and fascinating facts, showcasing their curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. Later, Marcia and Bob discussed famous last words and quotes from writers and theatre people, including Eugene O’Neill, Anton Chekhov, Dylan Thomas, and Madonna. Throughout the conversation, the speakers demonstrated their knowledge and enthusiasm for these topics, making for an engaging and informative discussion.
Outline
US gov’t request to change Hollywood star’s hairstyle during WWII.
- The US government asked Hollywood star Veronica Lake to change her peekaboo hairstyle during WWII due to safety concerns.
History, culture, and trivia.
- Marcia Smith shares interesting facts and anecdotes, including the story of a famous dancer who died in a car accident and the metabolism of fat during exercise.
- Bob Smith asks questions and engages in conversation with Marcia, including the origin of Butch Cassidy’s nickname and the real name of the outlaw.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the origin of the name “Scotland Yard,” with Marcia providing a historical explanation and Bob offering a humorous aside.
- Bob Smith shares a surprising fact about the racial demographics of cowboys during the Pioneer era of the American West, specifically that one in four cowboys was African American.
Cow weights, commencement speeches, and graduation history.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the history of commencement speeches and the origin of the term, learning that it dates back to medieval times when students entered universities as apprentices and graduation meant they could commence their profession.
- Kermit the Frog received an Honorary Doctorate in amphibious letters at Southampton College in 1996, which made his speech wet and humorous.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the weight of cows and humans, with Bob sharing a fact from the New York Times about the average weight of a cow and Marcia joking about Bob’s weight.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the weight of humans, with Bob sharing a fact from the National Center for Health Statistics about the average weight of 19-year-old men and women 50 years ago and today, and Marcia joking about Bob’s weight.
Bodies, food, and brain health.
- Marcia and Bob Smith discuss their bodies, with Marcia asking Bob about the thickness of his skin and Bob sharing interesting facts about their skin.
- Marcia Smith discusses the unusual reason McDonald’s introduced the MC rib sandwich in 1981, citing a surplus of barbecue sauce in the country.
- Marcia and Bob Smith discuss the cost of a bachelor’s program at a public university in France, which is significantly lower than in the United States, and why more people might not be pursuing higher education there.
Sports history, hotel chains, and addiction.
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith a question about the history of Cincinnati’s professional baseball team, which was previously known as the Cincinnati Red Legs before being renamed the Cincinnati Reds in 1889.
- Marcia Smith shares an interesting fact about Motel Six and Super Eight motels, which were originally priced at $6 and $8.88 per night, respectively, when they first opened.
- Marcia and Bob discuss Beijing’s underground bunkers, Eminem’s sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous, and the meaning of “the bee’s knees.”
- Bees have knee storage units for pollen, while birds avoid flying during hurricanes.
Famous people, quotes, and trivia.
- Marcia and Bob discuss a woman who survived a plane crash and subsequent bombing in 1972, and later became a flight attendant again despite the trauma.
- Bob recites famous last words from a book by Ray Robinson, including those of writers and theatre people.
- Bob Smith: Writer’s last words were “I haven’t drunk champagne for a long time.”
- Marcia Smith: Reader’s Digest reader shared a teaching moment with her son about Jesus’ healing.
Bob Smith 0:00
Why did the US government once tell a Hollywood star to change her hairstyle?
Marcia Smith 0:05
And where does your fat go when you exercise answers
Bob Smith 0:10
to those and other questions coming up today on trivia during the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 0:15
Marsha Smith
Bob Smith 0:33
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steered clear of crazy. Take a side road to sanity and get some perspective on life. Well, here we are again, Marcia, indeed we are some fun trivia coming up. And some famous last words we’ll explore and I do like those. Let’s get to those first questions we teased. Why did the US government once asked a Hollywood star to change her hairstyle?
Marcia Smith 1:01
Well, the what I when I heard you tease that the only thing I could think of was that it was too. She looked too sexy. And they didn’t want the military officers getting
Bob Smith 1:11
aroused. Is that the word? The word I’m looking for? That’s a good guess. But no, that’s that’s not and it was during a war time. Okay, it was World War Two. And the peekaboo hairdo style set in 1940. Once film, I wanted Wings by Veronica Lake. Oh, I know who that is. Yeah, that started a lookalike craze and women with similar peekaboo hairdos where your hair is coming down and covering one eye is irritating. That was that was women were starting to get their hair caught in war plant eyeshadow. Yes, that makes perfect. So the government asked Veronica Lake to alter her hairstyle.
Marcia Smith 1:50
Get a ponytail for heaven’s sake, right. I mean, oh, god. Yeah. Who was that famous dancer that died because she loved to wear long scarves? Oh, yes. And she was in a little roadster convertible and it got caught up in the wheel. That’s right. And she died. She was stringless fame it was is the door at Duncan right? Stannis right. And for Lord knows what reason I remember it who Gertrude Stein is a famous writer. Back in that era, the 20s when she heard a visit Dora’s death, she said affectations can be dangerous.
Bob Smith 2:27
I’ll keep that in mind. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 2:30
She was a weedy one. So Bob, have you ever wondered where your fat goes when you’re slaving away on the treadmill?
Bob Smith 2:37
I always wonder why it isn’t going to get done. It’s like it’s still what
Marcia Smith 2:42
is this? It should be gone. Well, it’s where your fat goes. I just thought
Bob Smith 2:45
it melted. I thought it yeah metabolized as part of your body. Hopefully, that’s actually
Marcia Smith 2:50
true. Okay, but it still leaves your body. So when you fat burn, metabolizes. it morphs into carbon dioxide, water and energy. So you literally exhale the fat you lose. Really?
Bob Smith 3:04
Yeah. Parliament at least anyway, I can’t even grasp that concept.
Marcia Smith 3:09
Now. I wouldn’t mind exhaling a whole little person. I
Bob Smith 3:11
would like to exhale a lot of fat. If that’s all I have to do. Hey, I got a question here. This goes back to the Old West and a movie that we grew up on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Okay. How did the old west outlaw Butch Cassidy get the nickname Butch? I never thought of that one. No. Butch Cassidy.
Marcia Smith 3:34
Okay, hold on. Oh, is it something arcane? Like? It’s short for something butcher butcher? Yeah. And his father was a butcher or he was a butcher before he turned
Bob Smith 3:43
he was. He was a butcher at one time. You didn’t have to see I didn’t need that clue. That’s good. His real name was George. And who wouldn’t want to be called butcher? You know, George was his real first name and at one time in his life, he took a temporary job as a cattle butcher. His real name was George Leroy Parker Butch Cassidy. His real name was Ed. And he adopted the name Cassidy to honor Mike Cassidy. He was his teacher in the art of cattle wrestling and horse thievery.
Marcia Smith 4:12
Okay, everyone needs a teach. Everyone needs a mini tour. Okay, we’ve all heard of Scotland Yard. Oh, yes. Yes. British police, especially us because we’re Sherlock Ian’s and listen to Sherlock Holmes all the time. But the question is, how did this London based building get the name Scotland Yard?
Bob Smith 4:34
Well, no, that’s a good question. And there’s all kinds of things like that in England. strange names of places. What was that St. Martin of the fields? That’s right in downtown London, but it was a church out in the field at one time or a scratchy,
Marcia Smith 4:46
scratchy Bush
Bob Smith 4:48
scratchy boys strange names. I don’t know what’s the answer? Well, the netland yard something to do with Scotland.
Marcia Smith 4:54
I have good surmise. Okay. Yes. And that’s true, but it goes all the way back to mid II. of all times, the Scotland Yard headquarters stood on the site of a former medieval palace that would house Scottish royalty when they came to visit London like a b&b for them. Yeah. They’re not going to stay at the Holiday Inn. So in 1829, when the original Metropolitan Police Headquarters set up the location was always referred to as the Scotland Yard because of the palace that was there and all the people that stayed there. It’s one of the oldest and the most famous police forces in the world, because hardly anybody goes back to 1829. What did they do before police force?
Bob Smith 5:38
They just had rough hands that went around and, you know, push? No, I don’t I don’t know. It’d be interesting think they would have some kind of police force. Yeah. Interesting. Well, I have a question that comes a little more recent than 1820s. Okay. And it’s back to America. And it’s back to the West during the Pioneer era, which is the last 30 years of the 19th century. So think Civil War forward after the Civil War. Okay. One in four cowboys was what?
Marcia Smith 6:09
I was gonna say gay, but know that no,
Bob Smith 6:11
no, not that we know of during the Pioneer era, the last 30 years of the 19th century, one in four cowboys was was lactose intolerant,
Marcia Smith 6:19
you know,
Bob Smith 6:20
there you go again, no, no, well, one in four cowboys was black. Wow. Yes, that’s right. During the Pioneer era now that started in 1865. went on for the next 30 years. African Americans were 25% of all Western cowboys. So
Marcia Smith 6:38
Blazing Saddles was on the right. Historical track. Yeah, it had the share of black cowboy sheriff.
Bob Smith 6:45
Yeah, it’s probably one of the first Westerns that had a black how
Marcia Smith 6:48
boring it was that I remembered when I saw it.
Bob Smith 6:51
So one in four, that’s amazing. It shows you all of those classic Westerns totally ignored the fact that 25% of all cowboys were black never had one.
Marcia Smith 7:00
And you know, it kind of makes sense when you think about cowboy kind of depicts freedom and riding the range and no restraints and kind of on your own. Kind of see why that would appeal to that would
Bob Smith 7:12
be a way to go to escape slavery and all kinds of stuff or a bad a bad situation. That’s
Marcia Smith 7:16
fascinating. Okay. All right. Okay, lots of graduations going on recently. Yes,
Bob Smith 7:24
yes. And even Zoom graduations, a lot of those out. I’ve been thinking about that. And
Marcia Smith 7:29
they still have the speeches. Okay. And a lot of commencement speeches. So Bob, why are they called commencement speeches?
Bob Smith 7:37
Well, I always thought it had to do with starting a new life. You know, you’re starting your new life. You’re leaving high school or leaving college and Yeah,
Marcia Smith 7:45
well, that’s, now that I think about it. Yeah, that’s obvious. But I thought the, so
Bob Smith 7:53
that’s too obvious. It’s
Marcia Smith 7:55
the commencement is wrong. It’s not wrong. This is actually another medieval answer. Students in medieval times entered universities as apprentices and graduation means they were able to commence their profession. So you went in as an apprentice and came out of full blown whatever. Okay,
Bob Smith 8:12
so you’re an apprentice Baker, and you came out of full blown Baker and you could be licensed by the guild. That’s how the guilds were always there to make sure that only the best people could be bakers, as opposed to you know, a lot of things now,
Marcia Smith 8:25
hourly over there keeps eating the icing. On that’s good. But it’s a relic that we have kept from the past along with caps gowns and the speeches. So that all comes from the middle age. Yeah. Who would have guessed that?
Bob Smith 8:38
That’s fascinating. caps
Marcia Smith 8:40
and gowns. I mean, who thought of that? In 1996, Kermit the Frog gave a commencement speech at Southampton College.
Bob Smith 8:51
Graduates, welcome.
Marcia Smith 8:53
And he received an Honorary Doctorate in amphibious letters, which are all wet. And what would Kermit say when he was given that honorary degree?
Bob Smith 9:03
Thank you. I don’t know. I don’t know.
Marcia Smith 9:04
I want to hear you. Miss
Bob Smith 9:06
biggie. All right. I’ve got one how much can a cow’s weight vary within a single day? That said, farmers probably know this? monitors that? I would imagine farmers as I tried to explain still
Marcia Smith 9:20
get up on the scale in the morning and at night. That’s worse than me. How much cows 23 pounds. 75.
Bob Smith 9:27
Oh,
Marcia Smith 9:29
that’s absurd. In a
Bob Smith 9:30
day, house weight can vary up by up to 75 pounds in a day. Maybe
Marcia Smith 9:34
a Guernsey because they got the milk could be
Bob Smith 9:36
it doesn’t say the New York Times had a favorite facts of 2019 special two page spread they did back in December and I just harvested the stuff from it now. So that’s one of those facts, but that’s all I can tell you. I don’t know if it’s beef, or dairy, but it would make sense it would be dairy, you know. Okay, I have another weight question. Since we’re doing I’m touchy. Okay. Let’s compare what the average person weighed 50 years ago to today now, right so this is bigger. This is according to the National Center for Health and statistics in 1970. The average 19 year old man weighed 159.7 pounds. I remember weighing just about that same weight in 19 when I was 25, I think I was only 160 159.7 pounds. How much does the average 19 year old man weigh today?
Marcia Smith 10:33
Well, they’re taller. But still, they probably I’ll say 185 Not
Bob Smith 10:40
quite that bad. 174 So the average 19 year old man is 14 pounds heavier than he was 50 years ago. All right now about the women. The average woman 19 year old woman weighed 131 pounds in 1970. What does she weigh today? How
Marcia Smith 10:57
old 1919? Same age? Yes, I hope not. But 150 151?
Bob Smith 11:03
Yes, 20 pounds more. And here’s this may be the reason why. From 1977 to 2002, the number of Americans eating three or more snacks a day increased from 11% of people to 42% of Americans. were three or more snacks a day we’re
Marcia Smith 11:22
pudgy Jays taller, but punchy.
Bob Smith 11:28
All right. You make it sound so sexy.
Marcia Smith 11:31
Few factoids from good old art magazine.
Bob Smith 11:34
Okay, this is the American Association of Retired Persons magazine for
Marcia Smith 11:38
anybody over 50 Okay, yeah, right. I mean, you can all you have to do is be 50 and get this so I might only be 51. No, but
Bob Smith 11:46
I remember when Marcia got her AARP card when she turned 50. She goes, What is this? She swore and threw it away. And I kept mine when I got mine. And then we checked into a motel at one point, and Marsha was Alexa, pay the bill. So she took care of everything. And then when she walked away, I said, Excuse me. Do you have an AARP discount? And they said yes. And so we paid 15% less because I didn’t throw away my AARP card. Oh, you’re so wise. But now you’ve settled in? Have I
Marcia Smith 12:17
have I let you pay everything? No.
Bob Smith 12:20
I mean, you accept the discounts. Oh, the AARP. Okay, all right, cool. Okay, Bob, what do you got there? Your body? Oh, god.
Marcia Smith 12:30
Okay, on your body? Where is the thinnest part of your skin? And where is the thickest part of your skin?
Bob Smith 12:38
Well, let’s see. I would assume that your fingers and your toes because they do so many things. Those would be the thickest. They’d have calluses and so forth. So that’s a thicker skin. thinner skin, I don’t know where that would be. thin skin to your brain, your head. Your thin skin.
Marcia Smith 12:57
So you’re right about the head. It’s on your eyelids. They cover your eyeballs and it’s only point four millimeters thick. Wow, very thin that covers but the thickest which is as thick as a wedding ring and four millimeters thick. Average is under your feet. So it’s on your feet. So as you were your your
Bob Smith 13:16
skin down there under your feet as thick as an average wedding ring. Yeah. Wow. And you can’t you can’t wear a wedding ring there. That’s a shame. Just to share. Okay, we’ll be back with more on the off ramp. We’re doing trivia today, Bob and Marsha Smith in just a moment. Okay, we’re back. And I’ve got a an interesting question for you. Another food question. Since we’re talking food and bodies. What is the unusual reason McDonald’s introduced the MC rib sandwich in 1981.
Marcia Smith 13:49
Oh, I love the MC rib and it had the onions. It was delicious. Why? There was a surplus of barbecue sauce in the country.
Bob Smith 13:59
This is what happened when McDonald’s introduced Chicken McNuggets. It was so popular. It caused a nationwide chicken shortage real for for the chain. And the franchisees couldn’t get enough of that item for their customers. So in 1981, McDonald’s introduced the MC rib to give its restaurants another unique menu item. And but it was all stimulated because of a chicken short had
Marcia Smith 14:22
no clue. And I do wish they’d bring those back. Those were delicious. And here
Bob Smith 14:26
in Wisconsin, they had the brought the MC broad or whatever. That was really
Marcia Smith 14:30
Yeah, that was good to get it with sauerkraut. Yeah.
Bob Smith 14:32
Hey, here’s an interesting question. We all know college education costs are high in America. And this is a statistic from right now. This is not from a long time ago. College education costs are high in America, like you might, you know, some colleges might cost you 35 grand a year or more, you know, Oh, for sure. Okay. How much does it cost for a student to pursue a bachelor’s program per year in France? How much Oh,
Marcia Smith 14:58
I’m guessing it’s really low, they pretty much. I’ll say $500. It’s
Bob Smith 15:05
less than that. It’s less than that. It’s interesting. It’s far lower. And this deserves some digging to find out more about this. But in France, a bachelor’s program at a public university only costs about 170 euros, or about $187 a year. Wow. Why aren’t more people going to college in France?
Marcia Smith 15:24
We’d be rich. If we sent the kids over.
Unknown Speaker 15:27
That’s where we should extend.
Marcia Smith 15:28
What were we thinking? Okay, my turn, okay. What can cause your brain to shrink
Bob Smith 15:34
can cause your brain to shrink out?
Marcia Smith 15:36
Are there are three main conditions. Okay, high blood pressure. Really? You want to keep that low? starvation? Don’t want to go there? No. And this one, you don’t have to worry about pregnancy. Oh, but those three things can all shrink your brain. Wow. But the good news is studies show that exercise meditation and learning can all increase your gray matter. No, I
Bob Smith 15:59
always heard that you can’t grow any new brain so it’s finite.
Marcia Smith 16:03
Now they’ve tossed that idea. Yeah, that even old people like yourself, can what can increase can increase their intelligence and kill yourself depending on how you exercise your
Bob Smith 16:17
brain. Okay, Miss smarty pants. I have a question for you from the world of sports.
Marcia Smith 16:21
You have smart fans. Thank
Bob Smith 16:21
you. Cincinnati’s professional baseball team was born in 1882 as the Cincinnati Red legs. Seven years later, in 1889, they shortened their name to the Cincinnati Reds. And they have been the Cincinnati Reds for the past 130 years, except for four years when they changed their name. What did they change it to? And why? In what year? The years are 1954 to 1958?
Marcia Smith 16:47
Well, what was going on? Then?
Bob Smith 16:49
Why didn’t they want to be called the Cincinnati Reds?
Marcia Smith 16:54
Was that the Red Scare? Yes, that’s
Bob Smith 16:56
exactly right. Kidding me? No, this is true. They didn’t want to be associated with the reds, the communists during the Red Scare of the 1950s. So from 1954 to 1958. They were known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which is a variation on their original red legs. Yeah. And then in 1959, they went back to reds and they have been the Cincinnati Reds ever since then.
Marcia Smith 17:20
Did they ever have a coach named McCarthy? That would?
Bob Smith 17:23
That would have been interesting. Oh, here’s one.
Marcia Smith 17:25
This is in your wheelhouse. Okay, what do Motel Six? And Super Eight motels have in common? Oh, I know
Bob Smith 17:33
the answer to that. Of course you do. Oh, well, their name reflected the original price for a room per night.
Marcia Smith 17:41
Yeah, that’s it. Yeah. Motel Six, opened in 1962. And it was $6 a night. Super Eight opened in 1974 12 years later, and they were only charging $8.88. Now
Bob Smith 17:56
you’d add one or two zeros behind those numbers. Absolutely. You know, but I remember when Motel Six and and regal eight I think was when I remember. Those were the budget hotel chains. I remember staying in a motel six or a regal eight for a job interview when I went to Iowa really with my first wife. But that was a wife. That was I’m sorry, that was a that was a budget price. Now, if you if you went to a normal motel, it was like 1215 $20 $25 a night but then it was still only you could do it for eight or $6
Marcia Smith 18:31
by see your former wife taking her to places like that. Okay,
Bob Smith 18:35
Mark. Thank you.
Marcia Smith 18:39
All right. Oh, Ever wonder Bob.
Bob Smith 18:42
Yeah, I’m wondering a lot of things right now.
Marcia Smith 18:45
What happened to the 10,000 underground bunkers that Beijing built during the Cold War?
Bob Smith 18:51
Beijing built 10,000 underground bunker? Yeah, it’s so during the Cold War. So this is anywhere from the 50s to the end of the 80s. I don’t know what would
Marcia Smith 19:03
what any entrepreneur would do. They sold them as real estate. Oh, can you? I’d like to write the copy for that ad.
Bob Smith 19:12
Real Estate it like like it like what? You know
Marcia Smith 19:15
for gray walls? No windows. Oh, dear. I guess the word you’d use would be cozy? Oh,
Bob Smith 19:20
yes. Cozy fixer upper fixer upper fixer upper cozy? Yes. Yes. So they’re actually selling them for families to live in. I’d
Marcia Smith 19:28
love to know what they cost. Oh my goodness, my friends in real estate. Would Have fun selling those. Okay. All right. You got one.
Bob Smith 19:36
Yeah, I do. I everybody who’s a member of Alcoholics Anonymous needs a sponsor. So here’s the question, rapper Eminem. He is an Alcoholics Anonymous member. So who is his sponsor?
Marcia Smith 19:49
How it’s a famous person. Yeah.
Bob Smith 19:51
Well, how would I know? Another famous musician is an alcoholic? Well, this is somebody who knows a thing or two about addiction as we learned When we saw the movie Rocket Man
Marcia Smith 20:02
Oh, well, there you go Rocket Man is Elton John Elton John is Eminem sponsor a sponsor. They probably have fun phone call. I would imagine. All right. You heard the expression, the bee’s knees.
Bob Smith 20:14
Yes. What
Marcia Smith 20:15
did that mean? Did that mean you were special? You’re
Bob Smith 20:17
like, she’s the bee’s knees. Yeah, like She’s cute. She’s
Marcia Smith 20:20
great. She’s some hot girl.
Bob Smith 20:22
Okay, girl. She’s the bee’s knees.
Marcia Smith 20:25
There was so much kinder back in the 20s. But did you ever wonder if your favorite insect really has knees?
Bob Smith 20:33
I think they do. I think you look at their little legs. I’ve been there. I’ve seen pictures, microscopic pictures and
Marcia Smith 20:39
they had knees. Yeah. Do you know they have a purpose?
Bob Smith 20:43
Well, they everybody’s knees have a purpose. But these have a special Okay, tell me the special purpose that bee’s knees have
Marcia Smith 20:51
Marsh. They’re actually storage units. They store large buildups of pollen inherent in hairy baskets.
Bob Smith 21:00
On their knee carry baskets. Their knees
Marcia Smith 21:04
carry heavy baskets and inside the baskets are extra pollen for you know, a rainy day.
Bob Smith 21:10
That’d be a great name. Hello, I’m Harry baskets.
Marcia Smith 21:13
I think I used to date Oh
Bob Smith 21:15
my. Well, okay, here’s my bees eyes question. Bees eyes are tuned to a variety of wavelengths, including ultraviolet color patterns and flowers that are invisible to people. So Leah, they have superpowers they have Bee’s Knees. They can store pollen. And their eyes can see patterns that are invisible to people but deal with with flowers.
Marcia Smith 21:38
Wow. And birds have an extra layer of vision color vision to that’s how they distinguish each other.
Bob Smith 21:46
I have the bird question too. This is about tropical hurricanes. They have very, very powerful winds. Aircraft avoid flying during hurricanes. How about birds? Do they avoid flying during hurricanes? We all think animals are so much smarter than we are about natural disasters. They know it’s coming. Look at them. They’re they’re cowering. But the question is, what about birds? And the answer is no birds do fly during hurricanes or they try to so the hurricanes can interfere with their flight plans. Like I said, if you’re like me, you probably thought birds were smart enough not to fly during Tropical storms. But apparently not because in 2019 hurricane Dorian blew some birds all the way to Nova Scotia from the Gulf really all the way to Nova Scotia. They’re just amazing.
Marcia Smith 22:37
It’s trying to get to Disney World. Does it say why they knew that they were from the Gulf and landed up now.
Bob Smith 22:44
They’re probably tropical birds that ended up in Nova Scotia. And it’s like, what are you guys doing here? Yeah. Birds talking to each other? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 22:51
they do.
Bob Smith 22:53
We’re snowbirds. What do you call yourself? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 22:55
that’s awful cold up here. Okay. Gosh. All right, Bob. Who is? There’s no Volvo, Vic. And what is she famous for?
Bob Smith 23:04
There’s no follow Vic. Yeah. Well, that’s Madonna.
Marcia Smith 23:11
No, I don’t know. Okay. I’ll give you some clues. Okay. Her big event happened in 1972 aboard an airline.
Bob Smith 23:20
Really? A board in airlines. She was a flight attendant she was I was that’s when there were a lot of hijackings have anything to do with that?
Marcia Smith 23:32
Not exactly. on that plane, though. But that she was on in 72. There was a briefcase carrying a bomb in it. Oh dear. And it blew up the bomb and killed everyone. But not Vezina. She dropped out of the plane 33,330 feet Wow, do the ground and survived. Oh my god, how did that happen? So she dropped 6.31 miles, and she broke pretty much everything she had. Where did she land? She landed on a snowy hill with lots of woods forests, trees. Yeah. But she went into the hospital for six months and came out and she had no memory of anything happening well, which is certainly best. Yeah. And six months she came out shipshape, she had no problems. And guess what she wanted to do when she got out what she wanted to go back to being a flight attendant, oh my god. But the airline said well, that probably attract a lot of bad publicity. So they gave her a desk job. Wow. And she died in 2016. Just four years ago at the age of 66. She was a national hero in Serbia, where she was from,
Bob Smith 24:43
okay, and we’ll top things off with famous last words. Okay, this is from the book by Ray Robinson. We ran through a few of these a while back, and I have three writers, writers and theatre people. And I want to see if you can guess who these people were all right. Okay, I am dying. I haven’t drunk champagne for a long time were the last words of this writer. Obviously this person was taking care of themselves because they haven’t drunk champagne for a long time. F Scott Fitzgerald No, no, he didn’t take care of himself. This is Anton Chekhov. He was suffering from tuberculosis in 1904. And his last request was simple and poignant. I am dying. I haven’t drank champagne for a long time. All right now, let me ask you what do you think Dylan Thomas said he was a famous writer. But he was quite a rounder wasn’t he? Yeah. What
Marcia Smith 25:33
do you say one more time or similar to that? He
Bob Smith 25:35
said I’ve just had 18 whiskies in a row God 18 whiskies that a row I do believe that’s a record I do believe shortly after saying that he died at the age of 39 alcohol poisoning,
Marcia Smith 25:47
right? Yeah, that’s probably what he died of. Holy. Come on.
Bob Smith 25:50
All right now a play rice. I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room, and God dammit died in a hotel room who said that? Ah, he won four Pulitzer Prizes. He was the Nobel Prize winner for literature very famous at the turn of the century. At the end of the 19th, early 20th century, his daughter Mary Charlie Chaplin. Oh, her name was una una. Oh, Neil. Oona O’Neill. So who is her dad? Eugene O’Neill, Eugene O’Neill. That’s who it was Eugene O’Neill, famous playwright in the early 20th century. And why he said that he spent the first several years of his life in hotels because his father was in theaters followed him on tour. And O’Neil himself was never satisfied with his life and not satisfied with his death either. hotel room, I knew it. I knew it. That was the end of Eugene O’Neill.
Marcia Smith 26:45
This is out of Reader’s Digest. Because out of the blue here, now we’re getting copies of Reader’s Digest. I think you signed up for 10 years for $1, something like that, right? That was a good deal. Anyway, it’s fun to get it again. And they have this section life in these United States and people right in in this woman wrote in about her fourth grader, broke his leg and was on crutches and couldn’t carry his birthday cupcakes to school. So she asked her sixth grader son to help him carry the cupcakes because he was on crutches. And he said I could, but I’d prefer not to spotting a teaching moment her husband said to the Son, Noah, what would Jesus do? And Noah answered, Jesus would heal him so he could carry his own cup.
Bob Smith 27:35
Well, that’s true. And that is a good way to end it here. This has been infectious trivia. Thank you so much for listening. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith, and this has been the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio and the Cedarbrook Public Library. Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
