What is that catchy song in Splash Mountain?

Search: splash mountain

Why: We went on it twice yesterday because it is my favorite. That song has been in my head ever since. It's from Song of the South, which I have only watched once.

Answer: It is called "How Do You Do?" Here is a video from Disney World, not Disneyland. Everything appears to be completely backwards. Br'er Bear's giant ass should for sure be on the other side:

How do you do?
Mighty pleasant greetin'
How do you do?
Say it when you're meetin'
How do you do?
With everyone repeatin'
Pretty good sure as you're born

Source: Disney Themes

The More You Know: Eeeeeeee!!!

What is the definition of "Cosa Nostra"?

Search: cosi nostra

Why: Tonight on "Gossip Girl," GG said:

Just like the mob, New York prep schools have their own Five Families. You may be the John Gotti of Constance, Little J, but that doesn't mean you'll ever be part of this Cosa Nostra.

Answer: In many Italian publications the term "Cosa Nostra" is used to distinguish the Sicilian Mafia from other criminal networks that are also sometimes referred to as "mafias."

According to Google Translate:

nostra - our
cosca - clan

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Do you know all the Five Families? They are:

1. Bonanno: Vincent Basciano (Salvatore Montagna is the acting boss)
2. Gambino: Peter Gotti (Ruling Committee/Panel - Daniel "Danny" Marino, John Gambino, Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace)
3. Colombo: Carmine "Junior" Persico (Thomas Gioeli is the acting boss)
4. Genovese: Daniel Leo
5. Lucchese: Vittorio "Vic" Amuso (Ruling Committee/Panel - Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna)

Some of the images for these people are pure dynamite.

What happened to Viktor Yushchenko's face?

Search: victor ushenko; victor yushchenko

Why: On the Newsweek video of top news stories of the 2000s "One Dazing Decade":

Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is poisoned in the Ukraine, changing his appearance overnight.

Answer: In September 2004, during the campaign for Presidency of Ukraine, Yushchenko became seriously ill. He was flown to a Vienna clinic for treatment and diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, accompanied by interstitial edematous changes, due to a serious viral infection and chemical substances that are not normally found in food products. Yushchenko claimed that he had been poisoned by government agents. After the illness, his face was greatly disfigured: jaundiced, bloated, and pockmarked.

A British toxologist declared the changes in Yushchenko's face were due to chloracne, which results from dioxin poisoning. Another Dutch toxologist said the same and found dioxin levels in Yushchenko's blood 6,000 times above normal.

On December 11, a doctor at the Vienna clinic determined that Yushchenko had ingested TCDD dioxin and had 1,000 times the usual concentration in his body. Not all in the medical community agreed with this diagnosis, including the clinic's own chief medical director, Dr. Lothar Wicke, who stated there was no evidence of poisoning. He claimed to have been forced to resign because of his disagreement, and that he threatened by Yushchenko's associates.

Many have linked Yushchenko's poisoning to a dinner with a group of senior Ukrainian officials (including Volodymyr Satsyuk) that took place on September 5th.

Yuschenko won, either way. He is the 3rd and current president of Ukraine.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: I just realized I may have never heard this news because I was away during this time, out of contact with the world. Anyway, hot or not?

Who is Edith Massey?

Search: Edith Massey

Why: On the fourfour weekly recap of "America's Next Top Model":

Such an effective death scene, too. In fact, it's impressively effective for a show that's so broadly displayed, and becoming so in on its joke, it seems like John Waters could be on the other end of the camera, driving Laura into an Edith Massey-sized frenzy to convey something as simple as the word "ocean"...

Answer: A portly snaggletoothed actress best known for her roles in John Waters's movies, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977), and Polyester (1981).

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Massey capitalized on the infamy of Waters's films by touring as the lead singer of a punk band called Edie and the Eggs. She died in 1984 of cancer-related illness and complications from diabetes.

In 1975, director Robert Maier made a documentary short about her called Love Letter to Edie. There is also a director's authorized version re-mastered from his original 16mm color film footage.

What will the new mermaid ride be like at California Adventure?

Search: mermaid california adventure

Why: Yesterday, I spent 10 1/2 hours at Disneyland and California Adventure. The construction inside Paradise Pier is blocked off from some angles, but entirely visible from others. We can't tell if it's a ride like the Nemo thing at Disneyland or a light show like Fantasmic.

Answer: Here is what AC has to say (from June 09):

If the footage from the special edition is any clue to what the ride will contain, then the ride will feature transport vehicles shaped like giant seashells similar to the clamshells featured at EPCOT's, "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". There has also been speculation based on the CG rendering that the ride vehicles will be similar to the flying type featured on Peter Pan's Flight versus the old people movers featured at rides like the Haunted Mansion.

And even less helpful, from Theme Park Insider:

A dark new ride that will debut in the former Golden Dreams building in April or May of 2011. It is themed to the 1989 movie, The Little Mermaid.They are also tearing down the Dinosaur Jack Store, Route 66 Souvenirs, and the Corn Dog Castle for construction of the ride. Route 66 souvenirs and Corn Dog Castle will be rethemed to match the Little Mermaid nautical theme but the Dinosaur Jack store will be torn down permanently.

Source: Associated Content, Theme Park Insider

The More You Know: Here is a terrible video from I don't know where. Maybe the D23 Expo?

Who sings that song "I Just Haven't Met You Yet"?

Search: just haven't met you yet

Why: It was on the radio this morning. It is cute. It kind of reminds me of James Taylor.

Answer: Michael Bublé! He is Canadian, btw. Here is a video!

Source: PopEater

The More You Know: I mix him up with Josh Groban sometimes. Anyway, here are the lyrics to the chorus. Does he have any other good songs? I don't hate him:

And I know that we can be so amazin',
And baby your love is gonna change me,
And now I can see every possibility, mmmmmm....

Somehow I know that it’ll all turn out,
You'll make me work so we can work to work it out,
And promise you kid, I'll give so much more than I get, mmmm....
I just haven't met you yet.

What is the "Pioneers O Pioneers" thing in the Levi's commercials?

Search: pioneers

Why: It sounds familiar.

Answer: It's by Walt Whitman omg! "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" is 26 verses long! Here are the parts in the commercial:

COME my tan-faced children,

Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,

Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?

Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,

We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,

We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,

So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,

Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,

We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,

Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Source: American Poems

The More You Know: The poem was first published in Leaves of Grass in 1855. It is a tribute to Whitman's fervor for the great Westward expansion in the United States that led to things like the California Gold Rush and exploration of the far west. There is another commercial in this ad campaign with the poem "America" (also from Leaves of Grass), read by Whitman himself:

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time.

What is calico?

Search: calico

Why: In the song "School Days," which I think I learned in 1st grade (with these lyrics, which are apparently not all correct):

School days, school days
Dear old Golden Rule days
Reading and writing and 'rithmetic
Talk to the tune of the hick'ry stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate
"I love you so"
When we were a couple of kids

Answer: a. A coarse, brightly printed cloth. b. Chiefly British. A plain white cotton cloth, heavier than muslin.

It has different meanings according to which country the word is used in. Originally calico was a plain-woven textile which originated in the city of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, which was known by Europeans as Calicut, in the 11th century. The fabric was made by the traditional weavers called chaliyans.

In North America, the word "calico" refers to inexpensive printed cotton fabrics with a small, allover pattern, often floral.

(The purple one is from a site called The King's Daughters that sells handmade "modesty clothing," including bonnets and pantaloons. Ctm.)

The fabric that is called calico in the UK is called muslin in the USA.

Source: Answers.com, Wikipedia

The More You Know: The colorful, small-patterned printed fabrics are what gave rise to the use of the word calico in the name of the calico cat and the calico crab.

Almost all calico cats are female, btw, and most ginger / orange cats are male.

What is the name of that worm thing by Richard Scarry?

Search: richard scarry characters

Why: "The Busy World of Richard Scarry" was on when I woke up. You know - the one with the Peter Pan hat and the one shoe.

Answer: Lowly Worm!

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Lowly Worm is Huckle Cat's best friend. Huckle's best friend. He often stays with the Cats as a house guest. Although he attends school with the Cat children, Lowly can also be seen in more adult situations, like driving a car or a street sweeper. Scarry created these characters in 1949 for Little Golden Books. He died in 1994.

His son Richard Scarry Jr. is an illustrator who goes by the nickname "Huck" - you know, like Huckle Cat.

What is the origin of the word "moxie"?

Search: moxy; moxie origin

Why: Kat wants to send someone this comic from A Softer World:

Answer: It comes from the drink!

n. Slang

1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.
2. Aggressive energy; initiative: "His prose has moxie, though it rushes and stumbles from a pent-up surge" (Patricia Hampl).
3. Skill; know-how.

[From Moxie, trademark for a soft drink.]

Source: Answers.com

The More You Know: Moxie (the drink) was invented in 1876, even though this poster says 1884. Now it makes an energy drink.

Who played Jayden Michael Tyler tonight on "30 Rock"?

Search: jaden michael tyler; jayden michael tyler

Why: Who?

Answer: I couldn't find it anywhere! Thanks for nothing, Internet!!

But lucky for everyone, I did rewatch on my DVR and discover that it was Nick Fondulis! This information is so new, it's not even on his IMDb page yet!

Source: none! bah!

The More You Know: I think he mostly does plays. Check out these sweet headshots:

What are all the US military ranks?

Search: military ranks

Why: I don't understand some of the "Off Base" jokes in Reader's Digest (or I do and they're just not funny).

Answer: For each branch:

Army - General of the Army, General, Lieutenant General, Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, Chief Warrant Officer 5-2, Warrant Officer, Sergeant Major of the Army, Command Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major, First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal, Specialist, Private First Class, Private 2, Private

Navy / Coast Guard - Fleet Admiral, Admiral Chief of Naval Operations / Commandant of the Coast Guard, Vice Admiral, Rear Admiral (upper half), Rear Admiral (lower half), Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Ensign, Chief Warrant Officer 5-2, Warrant Officer, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy / Coast Guard, Force Master Chief Petty Officer, Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer, Command Master Chief Petty Officer, Master Chief Petty Officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer 1st-3rd class, Seaman, Seaman Apprentice, Seaman Recruit

Air Force - General of the Air Force, General Air Force Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General, Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Command Chief Master Sergeant, Chief Master Sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Technical Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Senior Airman or Sergeant, Airman First Class, Airman, Airman Basic

Marine Corps - General, Lieutenant General, Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, Chief Warrant Officer 5-2, Warrant Officer 1, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Sergeant Major, Master Gunnery Sergeant, First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal, Lance Corporal, Private First Class, Private

Source: Military Factory

The More You Know: Rather than mention that horrible shooting, here's some etymology

• corporal - from It. caporale "a corporal," from capo "chief, head," from L. caput "head." So called because he was in charge of a body of troops.
• lieutenant - lieu tenant, lit. "placeholder," from lieu "place" + tenant, prp. of tenir "to hold."
• sergeant - "servant," from O.Fr. sergent, from M.L. servientum (nom. serviens) "servant, vassal, soldier" (in L.L. "public official"). Specific sense of "military servant" is attested from late 13c.

Are there any Hitlers in America?

Search: white pages

Why: I don't remember. Sometimes things just come to me.

Answer: Yes, at least 26 of them! In fact, there's an Andrea Hitler working at the Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Memphis!

Source: White Pages

The More You Know: John Hitler works at Baskin Robbins in Carthage, IL. Stop in and say hi!