100 Things We Didn't Know Last Year

From BBC News -

Here's the top 20

1. Pele has always hated his nickname, which he says sounds like "baby-talk in Portuguese".

2. There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts.

3. Urban birds have developed a short, fast "rap style" of singing, different from their rural counterparts.

4. Bristol is the least anti-social place in England, says the National Audit Office.

5. Standard-sized condoms are too big for most Indian men.

6. The late Alan "Fluff" Freeman, famous as a DJ, had trained as an opera singer.

7. The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions.

8. There are 6.5 million sets of fingerprints on file in the UK.

9. Fathers tend to determine the height of their child, mothers their weight.

10. Panspermia is the idea that life on Earth originated on another planet.

11. An infestation of head lice is called pediculosis.

12. The Pope's been known to wear red Prada shoes.

13. The fastest supercomputer in the UK can make 15.4 trillion calculations per second.

14. Online shoppers will only wait an average of four seconds for an internet page to load before giving up.

15. Donald Rumsfeld was both the youngest and the oldest defence secretary in US history.

16. Spending on Halloween has risen 10-fold - from £12m to £120m in the UK, in five years.

17. Coco Chanel started the trend for sun tans in 1923 when she got accidentally burnt on a cruise.

18. Up to 25% of hospital keyboards carry the MRSA infection.

19. The UK population grew at a rate of 500 per day last year as immigration out-stripped emigration.

20. Sex workers in Roman times charged the equivalent price of eight glasses of red wine.

I feel bad for the Indian men (#5). Talk about something that you REALLY didn't want anybody to know. That's gonna hang above their head for years (no pun intended).

Oh, and #7 about the Cowardly Lion costume is just disturbing.

Scary Mary Poppins

As much as I loved the original, I really want to see this version (if it actually existed).

My first thought was, "this is awesome, somebody needs to do this with 'Alice in Wonderland'," but then I realized that would just be too easy.

If Only It Was That Simple

Hank: "Remember when you fell in love with that speed skater on the Wheaties box? Turns out she was real too but that didn't make her your girlfriend."

Holiday Hangover:Christmas by the Numbers

Found on Gizmodo -

$457.4 billion - 2006 holiday sales
$435.6 billion - 2005 holiday sales
$93.2 billion - donations given to religious organizations, the top recipient of aid
$38.6 billion - donated to education, the second largest sector
$1.2 billion - value of Christmas ornaments imported from China
$485 million - US farmers' Christmas tree sales revenue in 2005.
51.7 million - people who shopped online from work for holiday gifts in 2005
46 million - households with an artificial Christmas tree this year
36 million- estimated number of real Christmas trees sold in 2006
22 million - households without a Christmas tree this year

$791 - amount each consumer is expected to spend this year
$451.34 - will be spent on family
$99.22 - spent on himself or herself
87% - Americans who believe holidays should be more about family and caring for others, not giving and receiving gifts
$85.60 - spent on friends
79% - do not believe it's necessary to spend a lot of money in order to have a fulfilling and enjoyable holiday
47% - people who say they'd toss a holiday fruitcake in the trash without delay
47% - consumers predicted to shop online this holiday season
$44.52 - spent on people like clergy, teachers, and baby sitters
$30.57 - spent on greeting cards and postage
25 - number of years that fruitcakes can age and still be enjoyed, as long as they have the right preservatives and are stored in tightly closed tins
$22.40 - spent on co-workers
17 - number of decorated trees in the White House
12 - number of drinks required to create a hangover like this one
11% - people who say they would make time to re-gift a fruitcake
4% - Americans who don't celebrate Christmas at all
1:1 - ratio of the density of the average fruitcake to the density of mahogany


$791 - amount each consumer is expected to spend this year

Yeah right, not if you're a cheapskate like me. Of course, there are other reasons why Xmas was cheap for me this year, but dammit, 2006 was an expensive year, and 2007 isn't looking to be much cheaper.

Notorious said it best--"Mo money, mo problems."

Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek, Lovers?!

From Mas Macho -

But the rumours spread when Cruz groped Hayek's behind at a press conference while they were promoting the movie "Banditas".

Cruz says, "I grabbed Salma's ass just to keep things moving, because everyone was a little slow. And of course, the energy changed when I did that, we both got wet."

Oh, please let this rumor be true.

Dear Baby Jesus, this is all I want for Christmas. I've been a good boy all year and I think I really deserve the fantasy of these two luscious latinas getting it on it the most unbliblical fashion. I really believe this can carry me all the way through the 2007 year. I deserve it.

Breaking News!

This must be the most important thing going on in this country at the moment, because this is all I've been seeing on "news" for the past week. Looks like the rags found themselves the next Paris Hilton.

You've Got Mail, and Your Period

From Wired News-

Women hoping to become pregnant are transforming themselves into busy data machines, tracking everything from waking temperature to moods and various bodily fluids. A cottage industry of websites feeds the obsession by offering online charts and e-mail services to alert women on their fertile days.

Her reason? "My whole thing is empowering women with something so fundamental and at the tip of their fingers, literally," she says. "I felt like if you had to go out and get software it would betray the very essence of what fertility awareness was about."

Welcome to the 21st, century. The Uterus is the new iPod.

Hair > Plasma TVs

Straight from Engadget:

...according to a study sponsored by Merck and conducted by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, over half of more than 2,000 balding men surveyed said that they would trade something from their collection of consumer electronics for more hair on their head. Of those surveyed, 26 percent said they'd trade a stereo system for a more beefy coiffure -- ok, that seems pretty fair. However, 17 percent said they'd trade their laptop (huh?), while another 17 percent said they'd give up an "expensive car" (wha?) for more follicles on the ol' chrome dome. But what we were most surprised about is that 13 percent of men surveyed said they'd trade their prized plasma TVs (have you guys seen the stuff on Engadget HD lately?), and a final six percent would trade a boat (are you guys nuts?) for some of the hairy stuff.

I'm sorry, Michael J. Fox, but Parkinson's is going to have to wait. We need a cure, people. Show your Christmas spirit this year by donating to your favorite Hair Loss Research organization. Time is running out.

N.Y. or L.A.: Which Is Better For Dating?

A question that must be on a lot of minds on opposite sides of the country. Here is an interesting article I found that answers that question from the perspective of one woman who has lived the single life on both coasts.

Folks will disagree with me, they will get passionate about the lack of a "walking culture" here, the surfeit of plastic people with no spiritual core. Over there, over here, everyone has strong opinions on the subject. Having been single in Los Angeles, in San Francisco (where I grew up and lived until age 23) and in New York, I tell you it makes no difference. No difference at all.

My favorite part of the article is a little story I can relate to.

Turns out, the guy had recently put on about 30 pounds and was sensitive about his appearance. He mentioned to me, as we were sitting at dinner, that he didn't mind his recent weight gain. He patted his belly, if I recall, in a jovial sort of way.

"Really? That doesn't bother you?" I asked, apparently with some disdain I hardly recall.

I don't mind a big guy, so it never dawned on me that he was offended, which, according to his sister, he most certainly was. If you want a guy to lose your number, lose your decorum and hurt his ego. Just a little something I've learned along the way.

Most people have traits they're not proud of. Does it really help to point them out and dump on them? Maybe the guy did need a kick in the pants, but he probably didn't need it on the first date.

I can see your coin slot

From this NYTimes article -

"The United States Mint, concerned that rising metal prices could lead to widespread recycling of pennies and nickels, has banned melting or exporting them.

The Mint is also testing dozens of cheaper alternative metal compositions in the expectation that Congress will mandate a change when it meets in the new year.

According to calculations by the Mint, the metal value of pennies, which are made of copper-coated zinc, is now more than one cent. The metal value of 5-cent coins, made from a copper-nickel blend, is up to 7 cents. Adding in the costs of manufacturing means the Mint now spends 1.73 cents for every penny and 8.74 cents for every nickel it makes."

Wow, I may not be an economist, but this doesn't sound good. Of course, this is the 21st century for chrissake. We're supposed to be eating pills and Taco Bell while listening to some groovin' commercials on the radio (reference). What kind of cavemen are we that we have to use hunks of natural resources in order to execute monetary transactions?

President?!?! WTF?

The Last Thing America Needs Is Another President

For as long as I can remember, this country has gotten itself all worked up every four years or so trying to pick just the right person to be in...

Haha, it's all tongue-in-cheek but it's definitely funny how much respect people have lost for the American Presidency.

Happiness, the Economic Model

It's a great Slate.com story I heard on their daily podcast. It talks about how Economists measure whether or not we are actually happy.

Audio Version
Text Version

Good Singles Podcast

For those of you that are into listening to podcasts, here is a great podcast about being a single person in America. It's mostly an interview show where the host interviews tons of different authors on different topics involving dating and relationships to overcoming breakups. It's a really ugly website, mind you, but the shows are very well done.

Why Not Start with a Bang (read: "Slap")

His actions might be despicable, but you can not deny the pure "machismo" coming out of this man's pores. And ladies, don't act like you haven't found this man attractive at one point in your life.



Found via Mas Macho