Happy Birthday, Sir Thomas Sean Connery!

Did you know Sir Connery is 80 today? For 80 great facts on our favorite knight, check out this article from The Independent.


Here are my personal top fifteen:

1. His first bed was the bottom drawer of the family wardrobe.
2. He writes poetry (but won't let anyone see it).
3. He left school at the age of 12 – three years after taking up smoking.
4. He once worked as a nude model for art students.
5. In 1953 he entered Mr Universe, coming third in the tall men category.
6. His first acting role was in the male chorus of South Pacific at the Drury Lane Theatre in London.
7. He passed on the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings allegedly because he had difficulty understanding the novels.
8. He turned down $5.5 M to play 007 in Live and Let Die.
9. After the Navy he trained as a French polisher, working on the finishes for pianos and coffins.
10. In 1993 he appeared on US TV to deny news agency reports that he was dead.
11. He grew up in a tenement in Edinburgh with no hot water or electricity.
12. As 007, his hair was always a wig.
13. Steven Seagal once broke Sean's wrist during a martial arts lesson.
14. Of the six actors to play the role of Bond, he is the only one to serve in the Navy like Bond himself.
15. He was considered for the part of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965).

5 Obscure Facts About the Declaration of Independence

From a full article by Alex at Neatorama:

- There was no "United States" in the Declaration of Independence
- Jefferson was upset that slavery was edited out
- The youngest signer was 26-year-old Edward Rutledge and the oldest was 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin.
- Richard Stockton was the only one that ever recanted his oath (after he was captured by the British)
- Bargain hunter bought an old copy of the Declaration of Independence at a flea market for $4, and sold it for more than $8 millions.

The Ig Nobel Prize

Betcha never heard of the Ig Nobel Prize before...

The Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think". The awards are organized by a scientific humor magazine called the Annals of Improbable Research or AIR. The group that selects the recipients are presented by a group that includes genuine Nobel Laureates.

The first Ig Nobels were awarded in 1991, at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. With the exception of three prizes in the first year (Administratium, Josiah Carberry, and Paul DeFanti), the Ig Nobel Prizes are for genuine achievements.

The prizes are awarded most often given to draw attention to scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ostriches, to the statement that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell, to research on the "five-second rule," a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor won't become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.

Via Wikipedia.

Let Me Make It Up To You

My apologies, we'v been falling down on the job a little bit posting the all important Question of the Week. Please accept this trivia extra with our love:

Tonight's trivia mentioned Darkwing Duck, the best known of the two Duck Tales spin off. The other?


Quack Pack! This animated series debuted in September 1996 and, unlike other Disney Afternoon shows, was aimed at teens aged 13 to 18. This did not work and the show only lasted for one season that comprised 39 episodes.

Quack Pack centers on Donald Duck and his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The boys are shown as teenagers who speak in conventional (aka non duck) voices and participate in typical teenage activities.



Thanks, as always, to wikipedia.

The Miracle on Ice

In honor of my hometown and the 30th anniversary of The Game, here are some little know facts about the Miracle on Ice:

- The game was not broadcast live except on Canadian TV. Most of the USA saw it on tape delay. According to polls, most of the people who watched the game on television did not know the outcome.

- There was one celebrity in the crowd: Jamie Farr (AKA Klinger on M*A*S*H). He was so famous at the time that the ABC cameras focused on him 10-20 seconds, but never said who he was or why the cameras were locked in on him.

- Many people assume that the US won the gold medal by beating the USSR. However, the medal round was a round-robin, not a single elimination format like it is today. Under those rules, it was mathematically possible for the US to finish anywhere from 1st to 4th.


- Of the 20 players on the US team, 13 eventually played in the NHL.[38] Five of them went on to play over 500 NHL games, and three would play over 1,000 NHL games:

- Eric Heiden won five gold medals at the 1980 Olympics but could not get a ticket for the U.S.-Soviet hockey game. ABC had him sit behind Michaels and Dryden on a little platform.

- People have said the US crowd went wild and it was one of the loudest buildings in the history of American sports, which it may have been at the end. Since the USSR was greatly favored, for most of the game the crowd was very quiet. There's a moment in the third period where the announcer says: "Tinally, the crowd comes alive." The second period was dominated by the Soviets and the score could easily have been 4-2 or 5-2 by the end of that period.

- In the 2004 move "Miracle", Michaels redid the hockey commentary for the game but when it came to that final, memorable line "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!!" they used the original recording. Michaels insisted he could never repeat that line.

Bonus:
The game was played in Lake Placid, NY in the Adirondack Mountains.

Melvil Dewey, who invented the Dewey Decimal System, designed what was then called "Placid Park Club" in 1895 and kept it open through the winter. By 1921, the area could boast a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association, and in 1929, and was able to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the nation.

Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Innsbruck, Austria, Lake Placid is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games. Lake Placid was the first location in North America to host two Olympic games. Los Angeles became the other when it hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time in 1984.

More at Sports Illustrated and Wikipedia.

Unusual Traditions for Celebrating the New Year

Romania
In Romania, some believe that tossing coins into the river, brings good luck. Some even use December 31st to predict the coming year’s weather by systematically peeling, salting and reading the skins of 12 onions.

Spain
In Spain, people eat twelve grapes as the clock strikes 1; one for each month of the year. The tradition, believed to bring good luck, can be traced back to the year 1909 when there was a bountiful harvest in the town of Alicante and Alfonso XIII, the Spanish King, gave grapes to his peeps on New Year’s Eve.

Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico, they blast car horns and boat whistles, ring church bells and beat drums to make enough noise to drive away evil spirits and demons. In some parts of the country they also throw pails of water from their windows at midnight to chase away the evil eye.


Belgium
In Belgium, farmers wish their livestock happy new year to ensure 365 days of good health and well-being. Belgians are also known to exchange gifts on New Year’s, which they celebrate as Sint Sylvester Vooranvond (St. Sylvester Eve).

France
The French mix health and wealth and usher in the new beginning with a stack of pancakes. Another unique custom in France is kissing under the mistletoe as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, sorta like Christmas traditions elsewhere.

Armenia
In Armenia, a special kind of bread is baked with good luck and best wishes stamped on it. Traditionally, people conduct a ‘Ritual of Fire’ on New Year’s Eve where all troubles pertaining to the old year are symbolically burnt.

Read the full article by David K. Israel and found on MentalFloss.

Why is 13 unlucky?

Here are a few possible reason:

- There were 13 people at the Last Supper. It’s said that Judas Iscariot – the one who betrayed Jesus – was the 13th man to take his place at the table.

- There’s a Norse legend that has 12 gods sitting down to a banquet when the 13th (uninvited) god, Loki, showed up. Loki killed one of the other gods, which led to events that eventually resulted in the death of many gods, a slew of natural disasters, and the eradication of everything on earth save for two human survivors.

- Traditionally there were 13 steps leading up the gallows.

- There is also a legend that a hangman’s noose traditionally contained 13 turns, but it’s actually more like eight.

- There was a mass arrest and execution of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.

- It was once believed that a coven was made up of exactly 13 members.

- In the late 1800s there was a group known a The Thirteen Club. Their purpose was to debunk the legend that 13 people at a table would result in the death of one of them within a year. They met on the 13th of the month and had dinner 13 people to a table. Members of the 13 Club included five U.S. presidents – Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur. Two of these presidents were shot, one fatally.

No, This Cannot Be Unseen

Oh, Yellow Brick Road...

It was 70 years ago today that The Wizard of Oz premiered at The Strand Theatre in the little lakeside town of Oconomowoc, Wis.

In honor, here is some trivia:

- The title role was written with W.C. Fields in mind. MGM executive Arthur Freed wanted Fields, and offered him $75,000. Fields supposedly wanted $100,000.

- Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Woodsman. However, he insisted that he would rather play the Scarecrow as his childhood idol, Fred Stone, had originated that role on stage in 1902.

- Buddy Ebsen had been cast as the Scarecrow but switched roles with Bolger. The aluminum powder makeup for the Tin Woodsman was toxic and Ebsen apparently had an allergic reaction to it as well. He left the picture, but his voice can still be heard in "Off to see the Wizard".

- Producer Mervyn LeRoy had originally intended to use MGM's Leo the Lion in the role of the Cowardly Lion and dub an actors voice in for the dialogue. However, that idea was dropped when Bert Lahr came up for consideration for the part.

- MGM had originally planned to incorporate a "stencil printing" process when Dorothy runs to open the farmhouse door before the film switches to Technicolor; each frame was to be hand-tinted to keep the inside of the door in sepia tone. This process-cumbersome, expensive, and ineffective-was abandoned in favor of a simpler and more clever alternative. The inside of the farmhouse was painted sepia, and the Dorothy who opens the door from the inside is not Judy Garland but her stand-in wearing a sepia-rinsed version of the famous gingham dress.

- Judy Garland's dress and blouse were in reality not white but pale pink. True white did not photograph properly in Technicolor and made the blue of her checked dress seem too bright.

- The movie's line "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." was voted as the #62 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

- To compensate for the extreme make-up demands on this film, MGM recruited extra help from the studio mail room and courier service. As most of the Oz extras required prosthetic devices and application of prosthetics requires extensive training, make-up artists were each instructed in one area of prosthetic application and then formed an assembly line.

More at IMDB.

Isn't It awful?

Offal (pronounced the same as "awful" by many speakers) is a culinary term used to refer to the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones. Depending on the culture, some people shy away from offal as food, while others may make it everyday food or even delicacies.

Offal not used directly for human or animal food is often processed in a rendering plant, producing material that is used for animal feed, fertilizer, or fuel.

Need recipes? See Cook It Simply or Offal Good.

Enjoy!

Pangram-azing

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a pangram or a phrase that contains all of the letters of the English alphabe). It has been used to test typewriters and computer keyboards, not to mention handwriting back when we did that sort of thing.

Due to its shortness and coherence, it has become widely known and is often used in visual arts.

See:

But Arbor Day is in the Fall...

The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan.

Today all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. At the federal level, in 1970, President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day. Arbor Day is also now celebrated in other countries including Australia.

To see a list of when all 50 states celebrate the day, visit Arbor-Day.net

For example, Florida celebrates on the third Friday in January and Hawaii on the first Friday in November.

Why Are Aspirin Bottles So Hard To Open?

Medications come in an array of shapes and sizes. This variety helps visually impaired folks distinguish one prescription from another, and also aids caregivers who regularly administer handfuls of the same pills to patients. However, that same rainbow of colors is also a tantalizing temptation to toddlers, and emergency rooms of the 1950s and 60s had a steady influx of tiny patients who thought they were eating candy.

Any parent knows that no matter how high out of reach you store medications, any child with even the most limited mobility can some how manage to find whatever you least want them to. Canadian pediatrician Henri Breault experimented with several types of child-resistant caps and in 1967 he patented what he felt was the best design, the “palm and turn.” The province of Ontario was the first to adapt the new cap on all medications, and just one year later pediatric poisoning cases had dropped an amazing 91 percent. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act was adopted in the United States in 1970, and took effect in 1972; the first aspirin bottles with the new caps debuted in August that year.

Thanks to MentalFloss

Happy 4th - GI Joe

In 1963, noting the commercial success of the Barbie doll for girls, Stan Weston, a toy creator and licensing agent, came up with the idea of a line of Barbie-sized dolls with a military theme that would be marketed to boys.

Weston presented his idea to Don Levine, the creative director of toy manufacturer Hasbro, who saw the potential of the idea and approved development.

The prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (army soldier), "Skip" (the sailor), and "Ace" (the pilot), before Don Levine, inspired by the popular 1945 film The Story of G.I. Joe, decided on the generic name "G.I. Joe."

GI Joe was launched on February 2, 1964, with a World War II theme (although some of the clothes and other items were actually of Korean-war vintage). The G.I. Joe figures were approximately the same physical scale as Barbie dolls — 12 inches, or 305 mm, tall.

Highlights
* In 1965, a black G.I. Joe figure was introduced in select markets.
* In 1966, soldiers from other countries (France, Germany and the UK) joined the G.I. Joe line up. A Project Mercury-like space capsule and silver-suited astronaut figure was also added to the series.
* In 1967, Talking figures were introduced.
* The first female G.I. Joe, the Action Nurse, was produced in 1967. It was a commercial failure, and another 12" female would not be released for 30 years.

More at Wikipedia.

In Honor of the Reopening

Eastern Market was designed by Adolf Cluss and was in continuous operation as a public market from 1873 until April 30, 2007 when it was damaged in a fire. It was the first in a larger city-owned public market system. The Market was expanded in 1908 with the addition of the Center and North Halls designed by Snowden Ashford. At the start of the 20th century, the Eastern Market was recognized as the unofficial "town center" of Capitol Hill. It is the last of the city's public markets still in operation.

The market nearly closed because of competition from grocery store chains and a decline in neighborhood investment. Local residents fought to keep it open, and the area has since been revitalized. Eastern Market continues to host a thriving farmers' market including fresh cuts of meats, baked goods and cheeses. Artisans and antiques dealers also sell their goods outside the market on weekends, making Eastern Market.

Eastern Market was badly damaged by an early-morning 3-alarm fire on April 30, 2007. The heaviest damage was in the South Hall of the market, the portion occupied by vendors' stalls, where the roof suffered a partial collapse. Following the fire, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty promised to rebuild the market. The outdoor weekend market was disrupted but never closed. Many of the food vendors re-opened for business within weeks of the fire, selling their products outside of the building. In August 2007, the city completed a temporary market annex, known as the "East Hall," on the opposite side of 7th Street, on the grounds of Hine Junior High School. This housed the vendors until the reopening of the market building, with a ribbon-cutting on June 26, 2009.

This weekend Eastern Market will be hosting a celebration of the reopening this Saturday from 10am to 5pm with live music and other events.

As always, thanks to Wikipedia.

Radar Love

Big Bird has a teddy bear named Radar, which is a nod to Walter "Radar" O'Reilly of M*A*S*H, who brought a teddy bear with him to war and was also lovably naive and innocent. Radar was given to Big Bird by Gary Burghoff (who played Radar on M*A*S*H) when he guest starred on the show. Later on, however, it was said that Big Bird got the bear as a gift from Mr. Hooper.

Need more? Enjoy the Muppet Wikipedia.

5 Father Facts

1. Halsey Taylor invented the drinking fountain as a tribute to his father, who died of typhoid fever after drinking from a contaminated public water supply in 1896.

2. George Washington, the celebrated “Father of Our Country,” had no children of his own. Researchers believe a childhood illnesses may have rendered him sterile.

3. A.A. Milne created Winnie the Pooh for his son, Christopher Robin. Pooh was based on the boy's teddy bear named Edward which Christopher had received as a gift for his first birthday, and on their father/son visits to the London Zoo, where the bear named Winnie was Christopher’s favorite.

4. The voice of Papa Smurf, Don Messick, also provided the voice of Scooby-Doo, Ranger Smith on Yogi Bear, and Astro and RUDI on The Jetsons.

5. The only father-daughter collaboration to hit the top spot on the Billboard pop music chart was the 1967 hit single “Something Stupid” by Frank & Nancy Sinatra.

From Mental Floss

Delicious Facts About Girl Scout Cookies

- Girl Scout Cookies were originally baked at home by troop members.
- The first Girl Scout cookie sale that we know of took place in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in a high school cafeteria in 1917.
- The cookies first started being commercially baked in 1934; the Girl Scouts of Greater Philadelphia were the first to sell cookies that were not home made.
- During WWII when there were shortages of sugar, butter and flour in the U.S., the Girl Scouts sold calendars instead.
- Girl Scout cookies are kosher.
- Only two bakers in America are licensed to make the cookies: ABC/Interbake Foods and Little Brownie Bakes.
- Thin Mints are the current best sellers, at 25 % of all sales. Samoas trail behind at 19 %, Tagalongs come in at 13%, Do-si-dos at 11% and Trefoils at 9%. The other 23% is made up of all of the other varieties.

For more, see MentalFloss

The Checkers Speech

- The Checkers speech was an address made by then United States Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon on television and radio on September 23, 1952.
- Senator Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses.
- His place on the Republican ticket now doubt, the senator flew to LA and delivered a half hour television address in which he defended himself, attacked his opponents, and urged the audience to contact the Republican National Committee (RNC) to tell it whether or not he should remain on the ticket.
- During the speech, he stated that regardless of what anyone said, he intended to keep one of his gifts - a black-and-white dog named Checkers - thus giving the address its popular name.
- Nixon's speech was heard by about 60 million Americans, and led to an outpouring of public support for him.
- Nixon was of course retained by the ticket, which swept to victory in November 1952, and Nixon would be elected President 16 years later.
- The Checkers speech was an early example of a politician using television to appeal directly to the electorate, but has since sometimes been mocked or denigrated.
- "Checkers Speech" has come more generally to mean any emotional speech by a politician.

More on Tricky Dick at Wikipedia.

Dotcha Wish Your Grama...

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar). The band's current drummer is Matt Cameron, formerly of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.

At one point the band was neamed Mookie Blaylock, in reference to the then-active All-Star basketball player. However, concerns about trademark issues necessitated a name change. In an early promotional interview, Vedder said that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl, who was married to a Native American and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam. In a 2006 Rolling Stone cover story however, Vedder admitted that this story was "total bullshit" although he did have a great-grandma named Pearl. Ament and McCready explained that Ament came up with "pearl", and that the band later settled on "Pearl Jam" after attending a concert by Neil Young, in which he stretched up his songs as improvisations of 15-20 minutes in length, a practice known as jamming.

More on Wiki.