What's the song that goes "I wished for you, my wish came true"?

Search: i wish for you my wish came true

Why: It was in "Ugly Betty" tonight.

Answer: Can't find it anymore! Somebody help!

UPDATE!! It's "I Wished for You" by Jasmine Ash! Thanks, commenter!! Here's what she looks like (kinda like Stephanie):

Source: My own comments!!

The More You Know: I can't find a video for that damn song anywhere, but you can listen to it here on her MySpace. Here is another song, "Fall":

Who sings the song in the Radioshack laptop commercial?

Search: "i've got a laptop" "i make music with my friends" radio shack commercial

Why: The one with the nutcracker. It sounds kinda like James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, but would he do a jingle?

Answer: Undetermined. Someone plz solve this for me in the comments; thx.

UPDATE!! According the Radioshack YouTube channel, the song is called "Lap Top" by the band OH SNAP!!

Thanks for your help, anonymous gumshoe!!

Source: My own comments!

The More You Know: Here is Kermit the Frog singing the LCD Soundsystem song "New York I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down":

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:

UPDATE 3/19/11!! - I just saw him on a Chevy Cruze commercial about real-time Facebook status updates!

Who is Roxana Castillo?

Search: roxana castillo lost; roxana castillo ajira; roxana castillo "ajira airways;" lostpedia castillo; lostpedia roxana

Why: Kat took this picture yesterday at the LOST exhibit of the Disney D23 Expo:


Answer: UNSOLVED MYSTERY. Except there are a couple of real-life ladies with that name on Facebook. Sorry in advance.

You can read about Ajira Airways here.

Source: Nothing!

The More You Know: It was with all this stuff. Maybe Nadia used that name...?

What is the origin of the word "shenanigans"?

Search: shenanigans etymology

Why: I recently called shenanigans on a website who claimed that Petrarch died on his birthday.

Answer: Nobody knows!

In looking through an extremely long entry on the roots mentioned above in Walther von Wartburg’s French etymological dictionary, I stumbled upon the form sikanadenn, a Breton word for “a kind of whip or rod” (Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany, France). It was borrowed from French. “Whip” comes from “a crack (of a whip).” Even if French chicaner does not refer to smallness, we are confronted by several homonymous sound imitative roots.

The Breton word resembles shenanigan, which surfaced in American English in the middle of the 19th century. The resemblance is not striking but sufficient to whet a stranded etymologist’s curiosity. (When in trouble, even the Devil eats flies, as they say in German.)

A hundred years ago, dictionaries cited only the singular (shenanigan, not shenanigans). I wonder whether it is possible that some word like Breton sikanadenn, Celtic or not, an alteration of chicane, turned into shenanigan. Chicanery was first defined as “nonsense; humbug,” rather than “the use of trickery.” Today shenanigans means “dishonest maneuvering; mischief.” The two words are near synonyms.

Source: Anatoly Liberman

The More You Know: There are actual restaurants named Shenanigans? Looks like Memphis may get a Shenanigans.

...Shenanigans.

Not a Google

But fascinating nonetheless:

My blog and my car hit 20,000 on the same day!

Why do people say "Heavens to Betsy"?

Search: heavens to betsy

Why: I just said it to Joel. Last night I said it to Zack. I say it all the time... but who is Betsy?

Answer: "This American phrase has been in circulation since the latter part of the 19th century, although its use faded throughout the 20th century and it is now something of an anachronism." The first example is from Rose Terry Cooke's book of short stories Huckleberries Gathered from New England Hills, 1891:

"Heavens to Betsy!" gasped Josiah.

But who was Betsy? Various theories have been put forth, but it is unlikely that she will be identified, if she was even a real person at all.

Etymologist Charles Earle Funk published Heavens to Betsy!: & Other Curious Sayings in 1955 and ventured that the origin of Heavens to Betsy! were "completely unsolvable."

Source: Phrases.org.uk

The More You Know: "Heavens to murgatroid!" came from the anthropomorphic mountain lion/cougar/puma/panther Snagglepuss, but no one seems to know the true origin of that, either. Harumph.

What is meconium?

Search: meconium

Why: Butterflies expel it as waste from the pupal stage.

Answer: Oh my god, gross. I accidentally clicked the Wikipedia page and now I'm going gag until I throw up and/or die.

Post over.

What is the K in Special K?

Search: special k stand for, special k history

Why: Special K Chocolatey Delight is delicious. K = potassium?

Answer: Can't find it anywhere! But it's probably K for Kellogg. A serving of the cereal only has 2% of your daily potassium.

Source: Kelloggs.com

The More You Know: The chemical symbol for potassium K because the Latin name is kalium. Others:

• Copper (Cu) = cuprum
• Gold (Au) = aurum
  
• Iron (Fe) = ferrum
• Lead (Pb) = plumbum
  
• Mercury (Hg) = hydrargyrum
• Silver (Ag) = argentum
• Sodium (Na) = natrium
• Tin (Sn) = stannum
  
• Tungsten (W) = wolfrum
  

What is the origin of "the whole nine yards"?

Search: whole nine yards

Why: Norma said it last night at dinner. She is just full of idioms.

Answer: Nobody knows! In lieu of an answer, here are a bunch of unlikely/debunked theories:

• A square-rigged sailing ship had 3 masts with 3 "yards," or horizontal poles that held up the sails. 3x3=9 yards.
• In WWII, a length of ammunition for a machine gun was 9 yards long.
  
• Coal trucks in New England originally had 3 sections that each held 3 cubic yards of coal.
• Ready-mix concrete trucks hold 9 cubic yards when fully loaded.
• It takes exactly 9 square yards of material to make a man's 3-piece suit.
• It took 9 yards of material to make a dress for a colonial lady.
  
• Brides in the olden days had veils that were 9 yards long.
• An undertaker used 9 yards of material to make a funeral shroud.
• A dead rich person could afford to have 9 yards of dirt removed for his grave, while a dead pauper couldn't have such a large plot.
• It was a sarcastic description about a football player's failure to reach the 10th yard.
  

Source: The Straight Dope

The More You Know: The earliest known instances of the phrase in print are both from 1962. One was in a short story in the literary magazine Michigan's Voices, and the other was in a letter in the magazine Car Life.

Have the "Sifl & Olly" guys made anything else?

Search: sifl and olly

Why: That show was crescent fresh.

Answer: One is! Liam Lynch (Olly) released a solo album/DVD called Fake Songs in 2003. Now he hosts a popular podcast called Lynchland that features songs, video animations (including Sifl and Olly), and guests like Ringo Starr, Tim Robbins, and Jack Black.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: I used to make my freshman year roommate Kyle listen to "I Like to Spit Because" at least once a week. She grew to like it, but I can't play it for you now, because it's not on the Internet. Instead, this is Precious Roy, and you guys are suckers:

I want to see that SNL sketch with "Rap Song"

Search: hulu blizzard man

Why: We sing it a lot. It's hilarious.

Answer: Crap, I can't find the one I want (with Jeremy Piven and Common) but here is another:


Source: Hulu

The More You Know: Common's real name is Lonnie Lynn.

Did Meat Loaf really have a friend named Kenny?

Search: objects in rear view

Why: In the song "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are," Meat Loaf sings (beautifully):

When I grew up with my best friend Kenny
We were close as any brothers that you ever knew
It was always summer and the future called
We were ready for adventures and we wanted them all
And there was so much left to dream and so much time to make it real

But I can still recall the sting of all the tears when he was gone
They said he crashed and burned
I know Ill never learn why any boy should die so young

Answer: Undetermined. The song was written by composer, lyricist, and producer Jim Steinman, who wrote both Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. Information is vague:

The song draws "its inspiration from the singer’s often-tragic childhood. The lyrics portray a man who has overcome tragedies in his life yet still feels haunted by their memory."

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: The song may refer to an experience Meat Loaf (b. Marvin Lee Aday) had as a child, with "Kenny" serving as a reference to JFK:

He, a friend, and his friend's father drove out to Love Field to watch John F. Kennedy land. After watching him leave the airport, they went to Market Hall, which was on Kennedy's parade route. On the way they heard that Kennedy had been shot, so they headed to Parkland Hospital, where they saw Jackie Kennedy get out of the car and Governor John Connally get pulled out, although they never saw the president taken out.

What is Muck Sticky's real name?

Search: muck sticky real name

Why: Because no one is really named Muck Sticky. He was at the premiere of "Five Dollar Cover" tonight, wearing pajama pants and a big weird hat. Weirdo.

Answer: Hmm... I don't think I believe this:

murvous thrifty his mom is sheri thrifty

Source: WikiAnswers

The More You Know: Here is a video of Muck Sticky singing "The Icky Muck" at The New Daisy. Another douchebag who has achieve minor celebrity status around Memphis is Robert "Prince Mongo" Hodges (of the planet Zambodia). Doooouche chiiiiill.

Is Jonathan Taylor Thomas gay?

Search: jonathan taylor thomas who dated who, jonathan taylor thomas gay

Why: A classmate has been having a "Home Improvement" / "Tom and Huck" / "Wild America" marathon.

Answer: According to Who's Dated Who, he has never dated anyone. JTT was featured on the cover of The Advocate in February of 2000, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's gay. In fact, the article said something to this effect: "Thomas is not gay."


Source: Former Child Star Central

The More You Know: I forgot until now that Brad Renfro died in January 08. That's too bad. Don't do heroine, you guys.

Who played Michael Scott's Nana?

Search: the office dream team, the office nana, michael scott nana

Why: She looks familiar. I think she might be the little old lady in "Dumb & Dumber" who stole all of Lloyd's stuff.

Answer: I could not find the answer anywhere online. Every website on the Internet is completely useless. I had to watch the whole episode again just to see the credits. Harumph.

Anyway, I was right. The actress is Connie Sawyer.

Source: my own blood, sweat, tears, and DVR

The More You Know: Connie Sawyer is 96 years old.

Where has the Shakespeare Bridge appeared in film?

Search: shakespeare bridge movies

Why: The main characters of "I Love You, Man" live right next to it. It's also in this Carl's Jr commercial (0:14). Anyway, the Shakespeare Bridge is in my hood and filming there often inconveniences me.

Answer: The only one I can find is "Dead Again" (1991) starring Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh (when they were still married).

Source: IMDb

The More You Know: Kenneth Branagh thinks Shakespeare is the bee's knees.