Interesting Facts

According to the Oxford English Dictionary the use of "la la" as an adjective (as in La La Land), dates back to 1800s, and means so so. (Los Angeles (LA) was given the nickname La La Land around 1979, to express how out of touch with reality the whole Hollywood scene was (is).  I think the latest Oscar winner is a great example of this, but that's just me. "La la" is also the sound you can make when you don't know the words in a song, and the Online Etymology Dictionary says la-la is imitative of babbling speech in many languages: Greek lalage "babble, prattle," Sanskrit lalalla as an imitation of stammering, Latin lallare "to sing to sleep, lull," German lallen "to stammer," Lithuanian laluoti "to stammer.") Have you ever sung along to a song with la la la la? This is the ultimate la la la la la song:-

According to the Economist the mysteriously popular music video “ Gangnam Style ” is  the most watched music clip of all time. ( PSY, the South Korean pop star who released the song in July 2012,  recently surpassed two billion views on YouTube.   At 4:12 minutes long, that equates to more than 140 million man-hours, or a cumulative 16,000 years of human life spent watching a strange Korean man prancing around.  The Economist worked out what else could have been achieved in this time:- It took 50 million man-hours to complete the “supercarrier”  USS Gerald Ford, so  3 such ships could have been constructed. We could have built more than 4 Great Pyramids of Giza. Created another Wikipedia. Built 6 Burj Khalifas (the world’s tallest building in Dubai). Maybe it's best not to add up how much time we spend on the net.) Thanks to  +april sis .

26th July 2013 - Today is International Lumberjack Day.

46% of the UK population are optimists. (Where did I get this factoid from? Well, according to a poll run by the Guardian, 46% believe that Welsh songstress Bonnie Tyler can win Eurovision with her song "Believe in Me". How do you rate our chances? )

Mice can sing. (Well, the male mouse can, and naturally they do it to impress the women. The results of several experiments on mice were published in the Journal, Plos One, and it seems that mice share some of the brain mechanisms that humans and songbirds use when learning songs. This ability, which is known as local learning, had been limited to humans, sea lions, seals, birds, dolphins, whales, bats and elephants. This story has caused a great deal of silliness on the Interwebby thingy, with lots of suggestions for songs they might sing, such as, We're Caught In A Trap. Here are some of my favourite even sillier suggestions:- Cheese Release Me Cat's Entertainment Mouse of The Rising Sun Mouse of Love 8 days a squeak My own contribution was:- Our Mouse In The Middle Of Our Squeak If you want to find more, search for #mousesongs on Twitter.)

According to the karaoke website "Lucky Voice", one in four karaoke singers chose an Adele song when they picked up a mic in 2011. (Her hit 'Someone Like You' was the most popular. Her cover version of 'Make You Feel My Love' came in second place. The X Factor finalists' version of David Bowie's 'Heroes' was number three. One Direction's debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' trailed at four. And finally, Jessie J's 'Price Tag' finished up at number five.)

A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase, typically a standardized phrase such as a line in a poem or a lyric in a song. (The word was first used in an essay by American writer Sylvia Wright , "The Death of Lady Mondegreen," published in Harper's Magazine in November 1954.[ In the essay, Wright described how, as a young girl, she misheard the last line of the first stanza from the 17th-century ballad "The Bonny Earl O'Moray". She wrote: "When I was a child, my mother used to read aloud to me from Percy's Reliques, and one of my favorite poems began, as I remember: Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands, Oh, where hae ye been? They hae slain the Earl O' Moray, And Lady Mondegreen. The actual fourth line is "And laid him on the green". Wright explained the need for a new term: "The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word fo...

According to the Institute of Education, more than a third of parents in the UK have never sung a nursery rhyme to their children. (Instead many parents prefer to sing pop songs to get their little ones off to sleep. I'm really glad my mother preferred "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", to "Like a bat out of hell".)

Singer Tony Christie is to release a World Cup version of his song, (Is This the Way to) Amarillo? It is to be called (Is This the Way to) the World Cup? (Yeah mate. Two roads down, second on the left.)

The robin is one of the birds that starts the dawn chorus and one of the last to stop singing at night. (Scientists from the University of Sheffield think that robins in urban areas are now singing during the night because it is just too noisy during the day. When the red, red robin comes bob bob bobbin' along.)

George Formby's song "When I'm Cleaning Windows" was originally banned by the BBC for its suggestive lyrics. (They were sensitive souls in those days.) So what was all the fuss about? When I'm Cleaning Windows lyrics George Formby - written by George Formby, Harry Gifford and Frederick E. Cliffe - as recorded September 27, 1936 by George Formby (1904-1961) Now I go cleanin' windows to earn an honest bob For a nosy parker it's an interestin' job Now it's a job that just suits me A window cleaner you would be If you can see what I can see When I'm cleanin' windows Honeymoonin' couples too You should see them bill 'n coo You'd be surprised at things they do When I'm cleanin' windows In my profession I'll work hard But I'll never stop I'll climb this blinkin' ladder Till I get right to the top The blushin' bride, she looks divine The bridegroom he is doin' fine I'd ...