Was a sequel planned to the popular comedy movie “Beetlejuice?”

I must be slipping.

For the second week in a row, I have to amend an item from a previous column because one of you wonderful readers “fact-checked” me (I’m delighted to see how many of you do that) and discovered I was mistaken.

Two weeks ago, I said that the shortest on-screen performance that was nominated for an Academy Award™ was by Sylvia Miles in “Midnight Cowboy,” in which she was on screen a total of almost six minutes. It turns out that there were six nominations for times even shorter than that.

What was the shortest? Hermione Baddeley (1906-1986) received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her two minutes and 19 seconds in “Room at the Top” in 1959. Which trumps Ms. Miles by more than half.

Mea culpa. Thank you, David at valorguardians.com for keeping me straight! (Someone has to.)

Did you know …

… you or someone you know may have a condition called troposmia? It’s a condition in which your nose perceives very pleasant aromas as terrible stenches. A fresh flower, for instance, could smell like a musty clothes hamper, or freshly-baked bread can smell like a portable toilet. That’s bad enough, but sometimes troposmia can affect the way food tastes too. (The flip side is, the kitty box probably smells nice.)

… your scarf could get you killed? It’s statistically unlikely, of course, but it can happen. Dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) had it happen to her. Duncan was a passenger in an open-top roadster automobile, and she was wearing a long, flowing scarf – which, caught by the wind, became wrapped around the rear tire of the car, strangling her and pulling her from the vehicle. (And ruining a nice ride in the country in the process.)

… the albatross can sleep while it flies? Scientists have noted that the huge birds sometimes appear to doze while cruising along at about 25 miles per hour. (Heck, that’s nothing. I can sleep while I write.)

… the U.S. government once set beer next to a nuclear blast? The idea of “Operation Teapot” was to determine if the beer was still drinkable. You’ll be happy to know – or maybe you won’t be – that in the event of nuclear war, beer that is about a mile from the blast or more will still be safe to drink. (I know some people who will derive great comfort from that fact.)

… the world’s first motel was in California? Opened in 1925 in San Luis Obispo, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Milestone Mo-Tel lasted until 1991, taking its name from the two words “motor” and “hotel.” The Mo-Tel featured private two-room bungalows with kitchen and an adjoining garage for $1.25 a night when it opened. The Milestone was the first hotel designed and built for people traveling by automobile. (And generations of travelers since have been very happy!)

… New York’s Times Square hasn’t always been called that? Before 1904, the top spot in the Big Apple was known as Longacre Square, renamed when The New York Times moved its headquarters to a new building there.

… a popular 1988 comedy film had a sequel planned and written, but never produced? “Beetlejuice,” which starred Michael Keaton (born 1951), was a critical and commercial success, pulling in almost $74 million during its initial release. The producers saw dollar signs and crafted a sequel, “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” The script would have seen the “living” family featured in the first film move to Hawaii, build a resort on an ancient burial ground – causing spirits to be perturbed – and Beetlejuice become the hero. The sequel went unmade after Keaton and director Tim Burton (born 1958) became involved in another sequel – “Batman Returns.” Additional trivia note: Hollywood is still interested in a sequel to “Beetlejuice,” even more than 30 years after the original movie. (Go figure.)

… the smallest owl in the world is the elf owl? Found along the U.S./Mexico border, this little guy stands about five inches tall – about the height of a soda can – and weighs around one and a half ounces, or the weight of a golf ball. (Whooooo?)

…you may have globophobia? If you do, you won’t want to take a hot air balloon ride – those suffering from globophobia have a fear of balloons. (I thought it would be a fear of globes. What do I know?)

… geese are used as “watchdogs” in China? Some police stations in China use geese instead of dogs. Geese are very territorial and have better vision than humans. (And you can’t fool a goose with that old “fetch the stick” routine, either.)

… only one letter does not appear in the Periodic Table of the Elements? The letter “J” is never used in an English table. (You could make the case for “Q” as well, but it does appear in some temporary element names – none of which I can pronounce, I’m afraid.)

… linguists estimate that between 50 and 90 percent of the languages spoken in the world today will be extinct by the year 2100? Most are dialects from tribes that are little-used anyway. (Not that I’ll be around to notice.)

… Major League Baseball has far more attendance than the National Football League? The average attendance at an NFL game is higher – 66,957 compared to 30,135 for baseball – but each NFL team only plays 16 games in a season. MLB teams play 162 games. (Baseball is just more fun, at least as far as I’m concerned.)

Now … you know!

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