Did an actor’s mustache cost a movie studio $25 million?

When I am wrong, I freely admit it … and this time, I think I’m wrong all the way around.

A couple of weeks ago, I had an item in the column that said Captain Thomas Ward Custer won two Medals of Honor during the Civil War.  I was quickly taken to task by several veterans who reminded me that one does not “win” the Medal of Honor, one earns it.

You win on a game show.

I’d like to thank all of them, especially the retired Army master sergeant who wrote me most respectfully, for correcting me on something I should have already known.

Many thanks, my friends – for the correction, and for your service.

Now, let’s get to the trivia, which is the real reason we’re all here, right?

Did you know …

… the Big Bang really wasn’t a big bang?  One of the most popular theories for the creation of the universe, scientists say it shouldn’t be considered a conventional explosion.  Rather, it should be viewed as a “vast sudden expansion.”  (Uh, isn’t that what an explosion is?)

… polar bears are very athletic animals?  For instance, a polar bear swimming can jump up to eight feet out of the water to surprise a seal.  (And you can rest assured the seal is surprised.)

… gladiator contests had referees?  Even in the days of the Roman Empire, games involving gladiators had officials who could stop fights, or just pause them to let the fighters rest and freshen up.  (You could always tell the referee at a gladiator contest.  They were wearing the black-and-white striped toga.)

… no one can adequately explain the scoring system used in tennis?  Why the point system used in tennis goes 15-30-40, or even why 0 is called “love,” is not known.  (Nor does it make sense.)

… residents of a part of India at one time had to have passports to leave their neighborhood?  The enclave of Dahala Khagrabari, India, was surrounded by the enclave of Upanchowki Bhanji, which is in Bangladesh.  But that ain’t all, folks … that enclave was surrounded by an Indian enclave called Balapara Khagrabari, which itself was inside the border of Bangladesh.  The entire confusing thing was solved in 2011 when the governments of both nations agreed to iron out the problem by ceding the Indian parts to Bangladesh.  (Diplomacy be hanged!)

… the most toxic substance known is routinely used in cosmetic injections?  Botulinum toxin is so poisonous, two pounds of it in pure form would be enough to wipe out the entire human race.  The poison is secreted by a bacterium, and causes muscle paralysis by cutting off proteins which normally enable function at neuromuscular junctions.  But under the trade name Botox™, people willingly have that stuff injected into their faces each year.  The injection is a very, very diluted form, of course, but still – it’s poison.  (In its favor, I should point out, it is completely natural, organic, and gluten free to boot.)

… an actor’s mustache cost a movie studio $25 million?  Henry Cavill (born 1983) was working on two movies – Justice League for Warner Brothers and Mission: Impossible – Fallout for Paramount – back to back in 2016.  Cavill’s character had a mustache in the Mission: Impossible film, but he played a clean-shaven Superman in Justice League.  Reshoots for Justice League were scheduled during the filming of Mission, and Paramount refused to allow Cavill to shave the mustache for the reshoots.  Warner Brothers had to digitally remove the actor’s mustache from the Justice League scenes that were reshot, and the special effects bill for doing so came to $25 million.  Additional trivia note:  The effect didn’t work nearly as well as Warner Brothers hoped; people were clearly able to see where Cavill’s mustache had been digitally eliminated.  (Your mission, should you choose to accept it – shave Superman.  Good luck.)

… things in space move very fast?  Let me give you an example:  clap your hands once.  Wait one second, and clap them again.  During the time between claps, the Earth moved 18 miles in its orbit around the Sun.  To a casual observer, however, things seem to move very slowly in space, but that’s because the distances between things in space are very, very vast.  (Not just half vast, mind you, but very vast.)

… the guitarist for a popular band was allowed to join because of his age?  The Offspring, formed in California in 1984, has a guitarist who goes by the stage name of Noodles.  Kevin John Wasserman (born 1963), the fellow behind the name, was allowed to join the band because he was old enough to buy alcohol for the other members.  (That’s one way to do it.)

… one of the most iconic characters in science fiction was initially conceived very differently from how he was portrayed?  When Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) wrote the original treatments and character sketches for Star Trek in 1964, he included a character called Mister Spock, who became a cultural icon of the late 20th Century.  Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015), is known to the world as a half-human, half-Vulcan hybrid with pointed ears and green blood.  But in the first treatments, Spock was described as a red-skinned being with a plate in the middle of his stomach.  The original Spock would not eat or drink, but would be sustained with any form of energy that hit the plate.  When it became obvious that the effect would be almost impossible to believably show with 1960s television technology (and Roddenberry would never get a serious actor to take on a role like that), changes were made to make Spock more presentable to television audiences.  (Live long and don’t crowd the energy plate.)

Now … you know!