you may not have known

11 THINGS: You May Not Have Known

Thursday, April 26, 2007

1. Nathanael West died on the way to F. Scott Fitzgerald's funeral: In the ever-changing hierarchy of tragic tragedies, this has to be right up there with this current decade of ours.

2. Homer Simpson was a character in "Day of the Locust": Nathanael West also wrote "Miss Lonelyhearts" and "A Cool Million." I'd give anything to read what he would say about now.

3. I met Matt Groening once: At the Wesleyan University Bookstore back in the 1980s. "Life in Hell" was heaven. "The Simpsons" weren't even on TV yet.

4. "Tampopo" director Juzo Itami's sister is married to Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe: Itami was well known for openly ridiculing the yakuza in his films. Because of this, many people still speculate that his suicide in 1997 wasn't really a suicide. Things aren't always what they seem.

5. "April is the cruelest month: breeding/ Lilacs out the dead land, mixing/ Memory and desire, stirring/ Dull roots with spring rain./ Winter kept us warm, covering/ Earth in forgetful snow, feeding/ A little life with dried tubers."

6. Ireland's national symbol is a musical instrument: No other country can say that. We're still not entirely convinced any other country wants to.

7. The lyrics after these lyrics: "The new groups are not concerned/ With what there is to be learned/ They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny/ Turning rebellion into money ..."

8. Pinky and thumbnails grow the slowest: Middle fingernails grow the fastest. Sounds about right.

9. Most things in life aren't fair: With the recent exception of that game-winning three-run HR that Scutaro hit off Rivera. That wasn't just fair, it was beautiful.

10. "The Meaning of Life": It's the film that Will Ferrell's character is watching in "Stranger Than Fiction." Also poignant is the fact that when he's on the bus with Maggie Gyllenhaal's character, he's surrounded by 11 empty seats.

11. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Ken Kesey refused to watch the movie because it wasn't being told from Chief's perspective. Years later, he settled on a late-night movie that looked sort of interesting. He later realized what it was and switched channels.

Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/26/NSG3DPDTMT1.DTL