How much was the broken laser pointer sold for? Why did the original owner even bother to sell it? I’m also thinking of Alfred Yankovic’s Backstreet Boys parody.
On iconic film roles that might have gone wackazoid….
Lucille Ball was actually screen-tested for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Not as weird as you might think, because at that point in her career she was regarded as a glamour girl / bombshell. Photos from those years are fascinating.
Stranger still was Margaret Mitchell’s casting suggestion. Because she had written the novel Gone with the Wind, the film producers kept asking her for casting suggestions. She kept saying she was a novelist, not a film maker and that she had no ideas. Finally she said, that, well, she did have one suggestion: Rhett Butler should be played by Groucho Marx. Now I personally think she just said that to get the producers to leave her alone. If so, it worked. They quit asking her.
But if there are parallel universes… I’d love to visit the one where Lucy and Groucho starred in that film.
Domestic cats can not purr and roar. But the depicted cat is a lion. I know from personal experience that lions and tigers can do both within seconds of each act. In fact all the big cats except the cheetah can. The Ocelot can not, but it can yowl and it is loud as hades. Also it can sound like a human baby crying.
“Die Hard” was an adaptation of a book written in 1979 by Roderick Thorp called “Nothing Lasts Forever,” which was a sequel to a book written in 1966 called “The Detective.” “The Detective” had been turned into a movie starring Frank Sinatra in 1968. Apparently, the studio was contractually obligated to offer the lead to any movie made off the sequel to that work to Sinatra. When Sinatra turned down the offer (he was in his seventies at the time), the movie was reworked to remove any connections to “The Detective,” and the result was the movie we all know today.
In fact, only four species of cats can actually roar. These are lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars. The most widely accepted explanation for the mechanism of a roar vs. a purr comes down to a bone called the hyoid, situated near the larynx.
The snow leopard has a flexible hyoid, but it can neither truly purr nor truly roar. They make a semi-roaring sound that’s softer and sometimes referred to as chuffing.
‘Contented lions might if they could, but they can’t. Only the smaller cats- – not just house cats, but also bobcats, ocelots, lynxes, cougars and others- – have what it takes to purr. The relevant apparatus is a tightly connected linkage of delicate bones running from the back of the feline tongue up to the base of the skull. When in a purring frame of mind, a cat vibrates its larynx, which in turn sets the twiglike hyoid bones to resonating. No one is sure why cats evolved this ability, but one possibility is that a mother’s purr helps camouflage the mewling of her vulnerable nursing kittens, a sound that might otherwise alert and attract predators. All purring cats can make the distinctive sound continuously, both breathing in and breathing out.
In big cats- – lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars- – a length of tough cartilage runs up the hyoid bones to the skull. This feature prevents purring but also gives the larynx enough flexibility to produce a full- throated roar- – 114 decibels’ worth in the case of one lion tested. The sound can be loud enough to be near a human’s pain threshold. Purring ability, rather than size or behavior, is one of two chief distinctions between the two main genera of cat, Felis and Panthera. (The other difference is that the eyes of the former have pupils that narrow to vertical slits.) These genera are sometimes called “the purring cats” and “the roaring cats,” respectively, although among the latter only the lion roars habitually. Other large cats are more apt to snarl, yowl, hiss, spit, grunt or cough.’https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1995/Questions-and-Answers-About-Wildlife
Sinatra was also offered the role of Dirty Harry, but he had suffered an injury during the filming of The Manchurian Candidate (the only real version), and couldn’t carry Harry’s signature gun. And that’s why Clint Eastwood got it.
Sky_Shachaq over 5 years ago
Wasn’t Sinatra also offered the role of Dirty Harry?
Templo S.U.D. over 5 years ago
How much was the broken laser pointer sold for? Why did the original owner even bother to sell it? I’m also thinking of Alfred Yankovic’s Backstreet Boys parody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aOyOYhRfqo
Bilan over 5 years ago
Isn’t the cat factoid like saying we can’t whistle and scream?
wjones over 5 years ago
About cat’s. Does that mean at same time because my cat can do both.
Breadboard over 5 years ago
Can they burp and fart at the same time ?
sousamannd over 5 years ago
Man, more and more ‘lame’ stuff. Are they running out of material or what?
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 5 years ago
On iconic film roles that might have gone wackazoid….
Lucille Ball was actually screen-tested for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Not as weird as you might think, because at that point in her career she was regarded as a glamour girl / bombshell. Photos from those years are fascinating.
Stranger still was Margaret Mitchell’s casting suggestion. Because she had written the novel Gone with the Wind, the film producers kept asking her for casting suggestions. She kept saying she was a novelist, not a film maker and that she had no ideas. Finally she said, that, well, she did have one suggestion: Rhett Butler should be played by Groucho Marx. Now I personally think she just said that to get the producers to leave her alone. If so, it worked. They quit asking her.
But if there are parallel universes… I’d love to visit the one where Lucy and Groucho starred in that film.
MarkBush over 5 years ago
Domestic cats can not purr and roar. But the depicted cat is a lion. I know from personal experience that lions and tigers can do both within seconds of each act. In fact all the big cats except the cheetah can. The Ocelot can not, but it can yowl and it is loud as hades. Also it can sound like a human baby crying.
scpandich over 5 years ago
“Die Hard” was an adaptation of a book written in 1979 by Roderick Thorp called “Nothing Lasts Forever,” which was a sequel to a book written in 1966 called “The Detective.” “The Detective” had been turned into a movie starring Frank Sinatra in 1968. Apparently, the studio was contractually obligated to offer the lead to any movie made off the sequel to that work to Sinatra. When Sinatra turned down the offer (he was in his seventies at the time), the movie was reworked to remove any connections to “The Detective,” and the result was the movie we all know today.
Huckleberry Hiroshima over 5 years ago
There’s something right about that big cat roaring at a broken laser pointer.
jasonsnakelover over 5 years ago
Do they mean cats can’t do both at the same time?
Take care and may God bless.
pearlsbs over 5 years ago
I don’t think all cats can roar. Not even all big cats. Cheetahs come to mind.
Radish the wordsmith over 5 years ago
Meow.
Crandlemire over 5 years ago
In fact, only four species of cats can actually roar. These are lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars. The most widely accepted explanation for the mechanism of a roar vs. a purr comes down to a bone called the hyoid, situated near the larynx.
Crandlemire over 5 years ago
The snow leopard has a flexible hyoid, but it can neither truly purr nor truly roar. They make a semi-roaring sound that’s softer and sometimes referred to as chuffing.
WCraft Premium Member over 5 years ago
I never could get that laser pointer fixed!
paranormal over 5 years ago
And Sinatra would have done Die Hard ‘My Way’…
dtegtmeier51 over 5 years ago
From the National Wildlife Federation:
‘Contented lions might if they could, but they can’t. Only the smaller cats- – not just house cats, but also bobcats, ocelots, lynxes, cougars and others- – have what it takes to purr. The relevant apparatus is a tightly connected linkage of delicate bones running from the back of the feline tongue up to the base of the skull. When in a purring frame of mind, a cat vibrates its larynx, which in turn sets the twiglike hyoid bones to resonating. No one is sure why cats evolved this ability, but one possibility is that a mother’s purr helps camouflage the mewling of her vulnerable nursing kittens, a sound that might otherwise alert and attract predators. All purring cats can make the distinctive sound continuously, both breathing in and breathing out.
In big cats- – lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars- – a length of tough cartilage runs up the hyoid bones to the skull. This feature prevents purring but also gives the larynx enough flexibility to produce a full- throated roar- – 114 decibels’ worth in the case of one lion tested. The sound can be loud enough to be near a human’s pain threshold. Purring ability, rather than size or behavior, is one of two chief distinctions between the two main genera of cat, Felis and Panthera. (The other difference is that the eyes of the former have pupils that narrow to vertical slits.) These genera are sometimes called “the purring cats” and “the roaring cats,” respectively, although among the latter only the lion roars habitually. Other large cats are more apt to snarl, yowl, hiss, spit, grunt or cough.’https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1995/Questions-and-Answers-About-Wildlife
Luanaphile over 5 years ago
The last item sold on eBAY will also be broken.
craigwestlake over 5 years ago
Apparently his method acting was a little too good…
Kali over 5 years ago
Sinatra was also offered the role of Dirty Harry, but he had suffered an injury during the filming of The Manchurian Candidate (the only real version), and couldn’t carry Harry’s signature gun. And that’s why Clint Eastwood got it.