Entertainment & The Arts

Think you know about “Robbie Burns”? Er, who’s that?

The famous Scottish bard, the Ayrshire ploughman, the people’s poet – Robert Burns was called many things – but was not known by the contraction, “Robbie” in his lifetime. Nor Rabbie. He was known as Robert, or Rob; and he refers to himself as Rantin’ Robin in a poem, but Robbie was a later, sentimental invention.

The great Romantic poet died aged just 37 from a complication of dental surgery resulting in blood poisoning and aggravation of his long-standing rheumatic heart condition. The image of the alcoholic philanderer was wide of the mark. Like many a man of the time, and since, Rob enjoyed life’s pleasures, but was no brute. The Edinburgh literati worked to sentimentalise Burns during his life and after his death, dismissing his education by calling him a “heaven-taught ploughman”. The truth is that Burns, while not of aristocratic birth, was certainly schooled and had a firm grasp of literature and classics.

Despite his tragically short life, Burns has had arguably more worldwide influence than any other poet. His themes of freedom, fraternity and love, being masterfully presented, have won him admirers in every country. When asked to say which lyric or verse was the greatest influence on his own work, Bob Dylan chose “My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose,” by Burns.

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Posted by majordomo@incrediblefacts.com on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 12:41 pm in Countries & Customs, Famous People, Featured, Literature & Books, Music | No Comments »

Like a complete unknown…

Maybe we here at IF are getting on a bit, but we find the following account reported in The Telegraph to be nothing short of incredible.

After reports of a scruffy looking old man wandering the neighbourhood acting suspiciously were made to police, Bob Dylan, the veteran rock star and global icon, was picked up by a rookie policewoman in the town of Long Branch, New Jersey. He and had to be driven from the Latino area which he’d wandered into back to his hotel to confirm his identity – because neither the police officer nor her partner knew who he was!
Seems like, in Long Branch

If you’re not black you might as well not show up on the street ‘less you wanna draw the heat.

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Posted by majordomo@incrediblefacts.com on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 10:56 pm in Entertainment & The Arts, Famous People, Humorous, Music | No Comments »

UFOs in classical art

The ‘net abounds with claims of UFOs appearing in antiquity, evidenced by artworks from centuries ago that depict unidentified flying objects. Art historians claim these objects are unidentified only to our modern eyes. See what you think.

More here

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Posted by majordomo@incrediblefacts.com on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 1:38 pm in Art World, Religion & Beliefs | No Comments »

Incredible photo of 18,000 troops in formation

It took 18,000 troops from Camp Dodge, DesMoines to stand in perfect formation to make this picture of a human Statue of Liberty.

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Tags: liberty, picture, statue, troops
Posted by majordomo@incrediblefacts.com on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am in Anatomy & Physiology, Bizarre, Cool Stuff, Current Affairs, Entertainment & The Arts, Human Endeavours, Military, Science | No Comments »

Disney’s famous character – Mortimer Mouse!

Walt Disney originally planned to name his famous cartoon mouse “Mortimer” not Mickey!
It was his wife who persuaded him to name the mouse Mickey, although Mickey Rooney claimed that he was the inspiration of the name.
Another Mortimer Mouse featured in later cartoons as Mickey’s love rival for Minnie.

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Tags: cartoon, disney, mickey, mouse
Posted by majordomo@incrediblefacts.com on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 6:15 pm in Entertainment & The Arts, Famous People, Film, animals & pets | No Comments »