Fascinating Facts and Trivia

An episode of the original series of MacGyver Season 1 Episode 3 to be precise 'Thief of Budapest' sees Mac(Richard Dean Anderson), a kid and her family escape from captors in the British Mini Coopers. As I watched this episode I realised something looked strangely familiar-the whole sequence, apart from filmed scenes with Anderson and the kid etc had been such a blatant rip off of the 1969 comedy-drama-heist movie 'The Italian Job' and also included several memorable scenes from the film added - including the covered shopping area bit where one of Michael Caine's cronies steals a chicken off a plate. Of course being a Paramount Studios production, and the fact that MacGyver was also produced by Paramount, they could 'borrow' segments of the film. Not one of the best episodes.

When you used to get computer games on a cassette tape sometimes you got novelty ideas. One of them was on a cassette album of Shakin' Stevens 'The Bop Won't Stop' and it included a computer game to play via your machine(Spectrum, BBC Micro etc) where you guided a car I think it was around a maze. ITV's late night computer programme DATABASE, hosted by Tony Bastable used to have something to download via the television. In those days you would hear that god-awful screeching sound and all you did was either record it via a video tape OR hold a tape recorder to the speaker of your tele and record it like that.

Now this fascinating. We all know pelican and puffin crossings for roads but did you know that they stand for something. PELICAN= Pedestrian Light Controlled (an?) and PUFFIN=Pedestrian User Friendly Intelligent Crossing. TOUCAN crossings are designed for pedestrians and cyclists to use at the same time. That's not to say that cyclists can't use zebra, pelican and puffin crossings, but they should get off their bikes and wheel them across.

With a toucan crossing, the area is wider, leaving plenty of room for cyclists to ride across. A PEGUSUS crossing (also equestrian crossing) is a type of signalised pedestrian crossing, with special consideration for horse riders. This type of crossing is named after the mythical winged horse, Pegasus. They are primarily used in the United Kingdom and Peru. Belisha beacon is a flashing light in an orange globe mounted on a post, indicating a pedestrian crossing on a road: named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893–1957), a British politician.

Longest female legs.
Russia's Ekaterina Lisina has legs that measure 132.8cm (4ft 4.2in) and 132.2cm (4ft 4in) for the left and right leg respectively, take from heel to the top of the hip. That's more than twice the height of the world's shortest living woman - That would be Jyoti Amge measuring at 2ft 1in (0.64m).
Ekaterina is also the record holder for the tallest professional model, she sports a height at 205.16cm (6ft 8.77in). The 29 year old heralds from a family of tall people - with her brother measuring 6ft 6in, her father at 6ft 5in and her mother at 6ft 1in.

On 1st August 2015 the worlds largest curry was created weighing 15.34 tonnes (33,838.9lb) and was achieved by The Indian Chefs And Culinary Association in Singapore. The attempt took place in a marquee set up in a public park as part of The Suvai Event, which is a yearly four day long culinary event with chefs all across Asia.

Obscure BOND facts pt1
Blockbusters legendary quiz master Bob Holness once played James Bond...on radio in South Africa.

US actor Barry Nelson played a version of James Bond for a US series in the 1950's.

The messy film of the original Casino Royale had 6 directors and David Niven, Peter Sellers and Woody Allen each playing a version of James Bond(thank god they remade it years later) Le Chiffre was played by legendary actor/director Orson Welles who performs magic tricks-in reality Orson was a very good magician.

Sean Connery got the part of James Bond because Cubby Broccoli was watching him and he said he "moved like a panther."

Roger Moore played James Bond 7 times yet he revealed that he hated guns in his autobiography and later became a UNICEF Children's ambassador. He was always joked that he might be worried that in one scene in 'The Man With the Golden Gun' he shoves a kid into a river off a boat - wouldn't do for an Ambassador to do that to children. He could do a very good impression of Sean Connery and Connery did an impression of him.

TBC

More amazing facts-'borrowed' from elsewhere.

3/4 of the women he’s slept with have tried to kill him! Funnily enough, James Bond’s favorite drink, the Martini (shaken, not stirred) contains about 130 calories, which is about how much he burns when having sex!

Q’s real name, Major Boothroyd, is only mentioned in Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and The Spy Who Loved Me.

M’s house in Skyfall is the former home of John Barry, Bond composer.

From Dr. No to Quantum of Solace, James Bond has killed 352 people and slept with 52 women.

Daniel Craig was given 85 copies of Bond’s Tom Ford suit for the opening sequence of Skyfall. Skyfall’s cast went through 200,000 rounds of ammunition while undergoing weapons training.

Ian Fleming wrote the Bond novels on a gold-plated Royal typewriter.

While Bond producer Cubby Broccoli was impressed with Sean Connery after seeing him in Darby O’Gill and the Little People, he wanted verify his attractiveness to women – so he took his wife to another screening of the film. Mrs. Broccoli was impressed.

Goldfinger was the first Bond film to feature Bond driving an Aston-Martin and using gadgets – it was also the first film in history to feature a laser beam.

George Lucas found inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones by watching Sean Connery’s portrayal of Bond. When Connery was cast in The Last Crusade, Lucas said: “Who else but Bond could have been worthy enough to play Indiana Jones’ dad!”

President JFK is partly responsible for Bond’s success in the US. In a 1961 interview with Life Magazine, he listed From Russia, With Love as one of his favourite novels of all time. Sales boomed, and the next Bond film made was From Russia, With Love due to the president’s influence. Incidentally, this is the last movie JFK ever saw – he watched it one day before his trip to Texas in 1963. JFK also included Fleming in conversations about how to defeat Fidel Castro in Cuba – perhaps why some of the plans sound like something out of a James Bond novel!

Stuntman Bill Cumming was paid a $450 bonus to jump into Largo’s shark infested pool in Thunderball.

Sean Connery wore a toupee in each of his Bond films. While filming Diamonds Are Forever, actor Joe Robinson accidentally pulled off the toupee during a fight scene.

Ian Fleming wrote Bond an obituary for You Only Live Twice. From it, we learn that Bond’s parents were Andrew Bond, a Scottish man, and Monique Delacroix, a Swiss woman. Mr. Bond worked for a weapons company and traveled often with his family. Both parents died when Bond was 11. He lived with an aunt in England, studied at Eton and Fettes College in Edinburgh, graduated from high school at 17 and was recruited into the Royal Navy. “The world is not enough” is the Bond family motto.

Source: https://www.uselessdaily.com/movies/60-f...z5hJs7SqPW

More Bond facts.
Judi Dench’s ringtone is the James Bond theme song. Dench, who has played M since Goldeneye in 1995, was filming for Skyfall when her phone went off.

One of the Bond Girls, Caroline Cossey, was actually born as Barry Kenneth Cossey. She is now an English model and perhaps most popular for being the first transsexual person to pose for Playboy.

Stuntman Bob Simmons is the figure who appears in the opening gun barrel sequence for the first three James Bond movies.

The five pilots flying the planes in Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus in Goldfinger were actually men wearing blonde wigs.

Ursula Andress’s voice was dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl due to her heavy accent. Van der Zyl dubbed many women’s voices from Dr. No in 1962 to Moonraker in 1979. Her song Underneath the Mango Tree was sung by Diana Coupland who would go on to play Sid James's wife in 'Bless This House'.

Richard Kiel, who played Jaws, could only keep his metal teeth in his mouth for about half a minute at a time, and the chain that he bit through at the Pyramids in The Spy Who Loved Me was made of liquorice.

Actors once up for the role of Bond: David Niven, Cary Grant, Patrick McGoohan, Christopher Lee, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Adam West, Tom Jones, Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson, Sam Neill, Hugh Grant, Gerard Butler, Sean Bean, and Will Smith.

Many claim the Bond character was based on Ian Fleming: both preferred coffee to tea, smoked the same kind of cigarettes, were commanders in the British Navy, loved women, and preferred their martinis shaken – not stirred. Fleming was also a spy. Once he was recruited into naval intelligence, he became the personal assistant to Admiral John Godfrey – who may have served as inspiration for M.

Casino Royale’s car barrel roll stunt with the Aston Martin DBS broke the world record for the most barrel rolls assisted by a cannon – the car completed seven full rolls.

Even more Bond facts that I know you love

Each scene that shows Roger Moore running in his seven Bond films was performed by a body double – Moore felt he looked awkward when running. Despite handling and being around many firearms on set, Moore suffers from Hoplophobia – a fear of firearms which dates back to a childhood accident where he was shot in the leg with an air rifle by his brother.

Sammy Davis Jr. filmed a deleted cameo scene for Diamonds Are Forever — he was at the casino playing roulette.

The Beretta 418 pistol was James Bond’s gun of choice until a fan wrote Ian Fleming a letter saying it was a lady’s gun. The Beretta M418 is a 6.35 mm Italian ‘pocket pistol,’ which was first introduced between 1919 and 1922. It’s so small you can fit it in the palm of your hand. While the fan said it was a lady’s gun, it was actually pretty popular among high ranking Italian officers during World War II. However, due to the size, it’s really underpowered for real combat.

Fleming chose the name “James Bond” because he wanted to find a name “as mundane as possible.” Bond’s namesake is actually the ornithologist Dr. James Bond – lifted from a birdwatching book that Fleming had handy.

If you type \”James Bond\” into Google Translate and have it translated to Standard Chinese, it will translate to \”007\”.

Liam Neeson was reportedly offered the role of James Bond in 1995s Goldeneye. He reportedly turned it down because he wasn’t interested in starring in action movies! Of course, he would revert that decision only 4 years later when he starred in Star Wars, Episode I. He must have really regretted it because he also showed a particular set of skills in his 2008 movie Taken that would have made him a great 007. It’s interesting to think, though, what could have been if Liam Neeson had been James Bond, instead of Pierce Brosnan. Interestingly enough, on the list of rejected actors for the role of Bond is Robert Pattison “because his image of being dirty and possibly his age.”

A visit to Jamaica during World War II inspired Ian Fleming to buy an estate there, which he called Goldeneye. Fleming wrote many of his 14 novels there and, long after Fleming’s death, it became the namesake of the 17th Bond film – Pierce Brosnan’s Bond debut.

The Man With The Golden Gun’s corkscrew car jump over a canal was performed in one take and was captured by 8 cameras. It was the first stunt ever to be calculated by computer modeling.
Source: https://www.uselessdaily.com/movies/60-f...z5hVgTyhdZ

Here's an interesting cartoon fact (and yes I know I've been saying the thread is coming but it IS and it WILL appear shortly) and a taster for the thread. Why in the spin off of Wacky Races does Dick Dastardly in Dick Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, when answering the candlestick telephone he keeps secreted in his pocket(cartoons eh?) does he always answer "Hello? Oh, its you General" when the General is the only person that ever rings him? I don't think it's ever been explained.