It's all relative

Yes, I was that kid who read the almanac and the encyclopedia and the dictionary all the time, because I love facts.  Odd facts, please. I mean, the average 7th grader knows more than I about the planets, the dinosaurs, how Medicare works, and why -7 x -7 =49. No one will ever convince me that if you're 7 dollars down, and things get 7 times worse, you're suddenly 49 bucks up.

The Vargases 

But different facts interest me.  I mean, it's fun to be able to point out that Lana Clarkson, the woman who played weird science teacher Mr Vargas's wife in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," was the woman who was allegedly killed by record producer Phil Spector in a shooting incident in Spector's mansion in 2003.

Curtis and Pee Wee

I also love to see actors in other roles, although I am not capable of realizing that Lawrence Fishburne is no longer Cowboy Curtis on Pee Wee's Playhouse.  Every time I see Meryl Streep in another movie, it's like she is a whole different person.  That really interests me, that someone could become someone else just by acting.

Hank Patterson and Barbara Pepper
as Fred and Doris Ziffel

So we're watching some old show the other day, and an actress looked familiar.  "She looks like Fred Ziffel's wife!" I pointed out, referencing the farm family from "Green Acres."  So I grabbed my phone, and said, "OK, Google! Who played Fred Ziffel's wife?"

(I have plenty of free time.)

Google didn't know, but it told me that the part of Fred Ziffel, father of Arnold the Pig, was played by one Elmer Calvin "Hank" Patterson (1888 - 1975), a crusty old guy who played crusty old guys in hundreds of movies and TV shows.  

I read the Wikipedia entry on ol' Hank, and the very last line knocked me off my kitchen stool. 

               The stunning Ms Leoni

It said, "Patterson's great-niece is actress Téa Leoni."

Téa Leoni, star of "Madam Secretary," whom I regard as one of the most beautiful women alive!  Téa Leoni, about whom I could always mention, in connection with all those years we trick-or-treated for UNICEF, that her paternal grandmother, Helenka Pantaleoni, was the president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for 25 years! Téa Leoni, forced to divorce her former husband David Duchovny because Duchovny revealed to the world that he is some sort of sex pervert! 

Arnold loved TV

My fair Téa, great niece of Arnold Ziffel! How about that!

I still don't know all the names of all the planets.