Usually I'm pretty dense about noticing things that are very obvious to most everyone else. Even when I do notice something, I usually forget within a few minutes.
So, I was watching Smallville the other evening and Clark Kent's daddy, Johnathon Kent, played by John Schneider was driving in his pickup truck while listening to the theme song from Dukes of Hazzard on the radio. Interestingly (to me anyways), Schneider also played Bo Duke on the Dukes of Hazzard.
(I learned to read from comics, and I'm thrilled to be able to watch superman with my kids.)
I remember a few years back when Kasparov was playing Karpov for the world title, things were getting really tense. The competition had dragged on for weeks and these guys were getting frazzled. So they decide to have a break. Kasparov is boarding a plane and is asked whether he and Anatoly Karpov are doing as bad as all that. Without a pause he quips, "As the great Russian writer once said, 'The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.'"
I puzzled over this for some while, since I believed this was a quote from Mark Twain. After a little reflection, it occurred to me that the average Russian has probably read as much or more Mark Twain than the average American, and that a well-read Russian (as I presume GK to be) probably knows a lot more about Twain. Further, it was pretty clear that he would have to know that we would know this. My vague recollection is that Karpov was the Soviets' golden boy, and Kasparov was a pain for not doing the decent thing and letting him win. And I reckon this was Kasparov's way of tweaking authorities without being too obvious about it.
Makes me wonder how many things just go sailing past unnoticed.
k
