Useless Knoweledge Part 2: LOST

• John Locke was named after a 17th century philosopher who described individuals as "tabula rasa" or "blank sheet."
• The average pilot of a tv show costs $4 million, but LOST's premiere episode cost somewhere between $10 million and $14 million.
• In France, the show is called "Lost: Les Desparus" which has two connotations--the missing people or the dead people.
• Parts of the plane were used as percussion instruments in the soundtrack.
• The pilot attracted 18.65 viewers.
• The actors who play Charlie, Jack, and Hurley all auditioned for the part of Sawyer.
• Kate was originally supposed to be an elderly woman who was separated from her husband, but they ended up using that idea for Rose.
• Charlie's band was originally going to be called "The Petting Zoo."
• The symbol on Boone's shirt is Chinese for the number 84, which, when switched around is 48, the number of survivors on the island.
• The number 42 is taken from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, where it is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
• Evangeline Lily almost didn't get to be in LOST, because the creators thought that her Canadian citizenship might be an issue.
• In the original script for LOST, Jack was supposed to be killed by the monster when they arrived at the cockpit.
• Ethan Rom is an anagram for "other man."
• Ranked #5 on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time
• Anthony Cooper, Locke's dad, was named after an 18th century philosopher who studied under John Locke.
• It won 55 awards, including a Golden Globe, and was nominated for 256 other awards.
• Danielle Rousseau was named after Jean Jacques Rousseau an 18th century Enlightenment philosopher who believed that civilization corrupts people.
• Season 1 has some similarities to William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies.
• The name Richard Alpert is a reference to the real life ex-Harvard psychologist Dr. Richard Alpert (aka Ram Dass).
• Of the six mysterious numbers, 23 is used the most. Kate gets turned in for $23,000; 23 people die when Hurley stepped on a platform/dock and it collapsed; flight 815's gate number is 23; Jack's seat number is 23; and the room number where the Dharma group do experiments is #23. 
• Charlotte's full name is Charlotte Staples Lewis, which is after C.S. Lewis, and shows the unpredictable nature of time on the island.
• Jeremy Bentham, Locke's pseudonym, also alludes to an English philosopher.
• Rose and Bernard are the only survivors who don't die or leave the island.
• The amount of money Hurley says he won in the jackpot changes, at least twice.

Please feel free to share your newly accumulated useless knowledge with every neighbor, coworker, and great aunt that you know.

Useless Knowlede Part 1: Dr. Seuss

                   
Dr. Seuss is, and always has been, one of my heroes. Never in the history of man has there been a writer with so much creativity, and so much influence on the world. Below I have listed every ounce of pointless knowledge about him that my brain holds.

• His Real name is Theodore Seuss Geisel.
• Seuss is pronounced "Zoice."
• He never had any kids, but dedicated one of his books to imaginary daughter Chrysanthemum-Pearl.
• His first book, And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street was rejected by 27 publishing companies before finally being accepted.
• The first recorded instance of the word "nerd" was in If I Ran the Zoo.
• He wrote The Cat In the Hat because children thought Dick and Jane were too boring.
• It took 9 months to write.
• The cat is portrayed as the Christ figure. He arrived suddenly, performed miraculous tricks, and couldn't win over everyone. 
• Mack, from Yertle the Turle, was the first character to burp in a children's book.
• Yertle symbolizes Hitler
• Dr. Seuss' editor, Bennet Cerf, bet that he couldn't write a book with 50 words or less, which produced Green Eggs and Ham.
• He wrote The Lorax in 45 minutes.
• It used to contain the line, "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie." But the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote and said conditions were better and begged to have that line removed. Now later editions don't have that line anymore.
• Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now is thought to be about Richard Nixon.
• The Butter Battle Book is about the cold war and arms race.
• It was on the New York Times' bestseller list for 6 months...for adults.
• Oh The Places You'll Go, Dr. Seuss' final book, sells 300,000 copies a year, due to the fact that it is an ideal graduation gift.

Please feel free to share your newly accumulated useless knowledge with every relative and friend within the vicinity, or not.