Grabbed a wildlife calendar,for a dollar,the other day.When I got around to opening it,I was rather annoyed.I discovered that there was writing on each day of the year. I wanted to write my stuff there.Like,where to be,when.So,I was was not pleased.Until I read more.It is filled with most interesting trivia facts. Did you know: Hoover Dam was built to last 2000 years.The concrete in it will not be cured,for another 500 years. An armadillo crosses a river by holding its breath and walking across the bottom. In 1875,the director of the US Patent Office resigned,advidsed that his dept should close,and claimed that there was nothing more to invent. Napolean Bonaparte was afraid of cats. On some Carribean islands,the oysters can climb trees. The average adult has about 18 square feet of skin. People in Western China,Mongolia and Tibet put salt in their tea. It takes 12 bees their entire lifetime to make a tablespoon of honey. Sigumund Freud had an intense fear of ferns. In 1955,a book was returned to the Cambridge University library that was 288 years overdue. "Aglet" is the plastic or metal tip of a shoelace. George Washingtons false teeth were made hippopotamus ivory. In Tibet,it is considered polite to stick your tongue out at guests. Got my moneys worth,eh?

interesting. there are people in america who put salt in their coffee. i am one. i am drinking it right now. sigmund freud was a nut. they all are.

President Warren G. Harding had 5 nervous breakdowns before he became president. Ketchup was sold in the US as a patent medicine in the early 19th century......Dr. Miles' Compound Extract of Tomato. The Roman Emperor Nero never wore the same clothes twice. Its illegal to hunt camels in Arizona.[this one's for you,J!] While Australia is the worlds smallest continent,its also the largest island in the world.[this one's for you,Cat!] In the 10th century,the Grand Vizier of Persia took his 117,000 volume library with him everwhere.Camels trained to walk in alphabetical order carried it.[this one's for you,Antigone!] Winston Churchill,FDR and Mussolini all wrote at least one screenplay.[this one's for you,Mark!] Researchers say that when a waitress draws a happy face on on a check,tips go up 18%.[this one's for you Kali!] The first beer can was introduced in 1933 by Kreuger Beer.[this one's for you,Sem!] An expert fly fisherman may have as many as 10,00 flies in his collection.[this one's for you,Dougie!] In 1939,Pacific Grove,Ca passed an ordinence making it a misdemeanor to molest a butterfly.[this one's for you,Patrick!] The Eiffel Tower is painted approx once every seven years,and requires 50 tons of paint each time.[this one's for you,Heather!] The Pilgrims dismantled the Mayflower,and used its lumbar to build a barn because they did not intend to return to England.[this one's for you,Nate!] In Albania,nodding your head means "no" and shaking your head means "yes".[this one's for you,Hal!] Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep him cool..He changed it every 2 innings.[this one's for you,Dani!] During the middle ages,you could be accused of witchcraft if your pets disobyed you.[this one's for you,Moonit!] According to the Bible,there were 2 windows in Noah's Ark.[this one's for you,Spider!] Its against the law to stare at the Mayor of Paris.[this one's for Cat,too.Just so she'll know,should she ever need this info.] In ancient Egypt,only Pharoahs were allowed to eat mushrooms.[this one's for you,Daniel ssss!] Donald Duck comics were banned from libraries in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.[this one's for you,Sarah!] 58% percent of Americans believe they have above average IQ"s.[this one's for all of us,of er,higher intellect!] The glue on Isralei postage stamps is certified kosher.[this one's for you,Dinner Lady!] Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping people awake in the morning.[this one's for all of us AM lag-asses!] 19 year old Pablo Picasso was given his first exhibition in Paris in 1900.[this one's for you,Wisper!] Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.[this one's for you,Pez!] When viewed from above,rainbows are doughnut shaped.[this one's for you,TBone!] Florence Nightengale carried a pet owl in her pocket.[this one's for you,Fetidbeaver!] A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot child inside.[this one's for you Platypus,now you know you'll be safe in Africa!] Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.[this one's for me,cause I can fall asleep anytime,anywhere!] George washington had to borrow money to travel to his inaugeration. Humans and elephants are the only animals that can stand on their heads. All polar bears are left handed. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave. A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete. Thomas Edison,the inventor of the light bulb,was afraid of the dark. Bamboo can grow 4 feet in 24 hours. Actress Joan Crawford had her back teeth removed to make her cheekbones more prominent. The White House had a telephone before it had an indoor bathroom. Ulysses S. Grant was once fined $20.00 for speeding on his horse. The Bactrian camel is the only land animal that can survive on saltwater. The linen bandages that were used to wrap Egyptian mummies averaged 1,000 feet in lenght. The Pony Express only lasted about 18 months,from 1860 to 1861. The original Lassie starred in his first film only months after being abandoned by his owners for chasing motorcycles. The first US Marines wore high leather collars to protect their necks from sabers,hence the name "leather-necks". A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night. The onlu surviver of Custers Last Stand was his horse,Commanche. There are 450 different types of cheese in the world,and 240 come from France. Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only freshwater lake in the world that has sharks. Lucille Ball was kicked out of drama school in New York City when she was 15 because she was too quiet and shy. Well,I think I got my dollars worth.

Droop,not mentioning your name was not an oversight,I was merely saving the best for last! The human brain can hold 500 times the information in a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica.[this one's for you,Droop!,as we have already benefitted from your vast knowledge,on more than one occasion!]

MINE WAS AN OVERSIGHT, TOO, RIGHT?

No!No! Not an oversight!Just had to find exactly the right trivia fact to impress your already vast publishing knowledge!How's this? The Boston Nation,a newspaper published during the mid 19th centery,had pages 7 feet long and 5 feet wide.It required 2 people to hold it.[this one's for you,Agatha!] And,because this smacks of Dave...........how about this for you? Professor Herman Snellen,a Dutch professor of opthamology,put the "E" on the top of the eye chart in 1862.[this one's for you,Dave!In reference to your "publicity photo]

MINE TOO RIGHT!!!!?????

You're up there Patrick!Right near the top! It starts out "In 1939.........." :)

Hmph. What about Oswald, Crimson, Pug and myself? Can you be coaxed into unearthing a few insane factoids for us? We (that's the royal "we") are absolutely on pins and needles, anxiously awaiting a well deserved dose of pointless trivia.

OHHH SORRY!!!!!

I feel so ashamed,and negligent.I love all of you dearly,I truely do. Yes,yes,of course I have something for each of you..........let me just step behind the curtain,and see what I can find.............

Ah,yes,here we go........ Oswald first,cause I know he's the most impatient! Generally,right-handed archers shoot arrows that turn clockwise.Left-handers arrows turn counter clockwise.[this one's for you,Oswald!I'm thinking this theory might be applied to other things that "shoot" :) ] In China,the dark shadows forming a face on the moon are seen as "the toad in the moon",not the man in the moon.[this one's for you,Crimson,cause I know of your love of the "dark side :) ] Dueling in Paraguay is legal as long as both parties are registered blood donors.[this one's for you,Pug,cause I know of your fondness for foreign literature :) ]

This one's for Lone Stranger: A recent study conducted by The Shyness Clinic in Menlo Park,Ca,revealed that almost 90% of Americans label themselves as shy.[this one's for you,LS,because you used wise judgement in hesitating to email me.There are many here,who can warn you of my heinous nature!]

Hey, you forgot Pilate! (but you did remember me....thanks!)

i started a rebellion. those are some good facts.

Thank you Agatha.It kinda hurt my feelings that no one commented on how interesting they were.It took me a long time to post all that :) [at least,I thought they were pretty interesting] And Pilate,my deepest apologies.As soon as I finish here,I will engage in some self flagellation.Perhaps that will whip me into shape. In 4th century Sparta,men over 20 years old,were required to eat 2 pounds of meat a day to give them courage.[this is for you,Pilate!I think my reference needs no explanation!] Akebono,the Sumo wrestler superstar from Hawaii,weighs 516 pounds.[thats for you,Eri!cause you're so little.] And Spider,no one could EVER forget you.You are quite memorable and remarkable.I always enjoy your posts :)Please never stop.

pilate and patrick can share an insane factoid. the spanish for butterfly (mariposa) also means homosexual. en la ciudad Pacific Grove, es ilegal molestar una mariposa.

And that folks,is why the gods gifted us with Droopy.

i am god's sticks and coal. there is some cosmic force that is constantly sucking my knowledge of spanish grammar and vocabulary out of my brain. the only way to stay ahead of it is to say something in quasi-spanish every so often.

Note to self,stop looking for camels.Sounds like a wonderful calendar Czarina.

I think I feel left out. Or I missed it in my reading.

Cz, I"m impressed by the fact that you went to all that time and effor finding one for each one of us, and I could see the relevance of each and every one... Except one of them... Is the one for me meant to imply that I happen to be extreamly confusing all the time, if so then I understand if there was nother implicaion I lost it somewhere.... Help me out... But the reading was fun, I enjoyed it a lot, I love things like that.

Thank you Czarina, for that tad of knowledge. Now, if I could only find a way to use it for evil... I mean... for advancement of the world. Or something like that. LS

i can't see that big "e" without aid. i'd be so dead by now if this were 1500 a.d.

if i try and type without the aid of glasses and contactsi have to have my face within 10" of the screen. but that's a personal factoid, not one of common interest. in iceland, if a child is born with their caul over their head (s)he is supposed to have a faerie "familiar" that will stay with them and protect them for his/her entire life, invisible. the familiar will only be seen my its person as a death warning and assists the dead human to valhalla. how's that?

Czarina, I shall not leave home without your tip for Paris. Did you know too that in Thailand it's illegal to say nasty things about the Thai royal family.

Those were cool Cz, although I've only got about 25 ratty, beat-up flies. Got a ways to go for 10,000. This one's for Cat: A Russian cosmonaut crash lands in the outback of Australia. He is taken unconcious to an Australian hospital. When he wakes up and sees the Australian nurse coming toward his bed he realizes his condition must be serious so he asks her "did I come here to die?" To which she replies, "No, you came here yesterday." Har-die har har. That deserves a Foster's, mate.

I just don't try to compute without aid. My roomie does often (since he can't wear glasses) and I always warn him that his eyeballs are going to stick to the screen if he doesn't back off a little. He has unusually bad eyes though. He's going to need corneal transplants.

Oh, and thanks, Cz. So now do we get to analyze your choices or will you explain them (complete with appropriate posting links)? :) I always knew sorabji had educational value. I figured if the land wasn't in the way, rainbows would be donut-ular, but I didn't know they could be viewed from above.

Donut-ular. Ha!

toroid?

i had a donut, orange juice, and coffee for breakfast. a donut is a rare thing in my diet. Its such a beautiful morning in LA. Its crisp, 50F and bright bright sunny. Clear as can be. You can see Long BEach harbor from my office and the tiny planes landing at LAX. The skyline is a ner perfect black silouette against the easten rising sun. i had to turn on the heat for the first time last night. Coldy!

i learned something interesting about iceland a while back. most icelanders still follow the old viking tradition of using the father's name as a basis for your last name. you just tack a "son" or "dottir" on the end of it. for example, if sigurd has a boy and a girl, their respective last names would be sigurdsson and sigurdsdottir. and since last names are individual property, they don't change after marriage. in the phonebook, people are often identified by their profession. a while ago a i saw a picture of bjork and her mother in a magazine. her mother was something someone'sdottir. so bjork isn't pretentious for not using her last name. there's no such thing as a family name in iceland, and last names are virtually meaningless. (imagine introducing yourself to people as "paul donald's son." donald fucking who?) anyway, that's the way i heard it.

Gudmundsdottir is Bjork's surname.

in more rock and roll news: today is jimi hendrix's birthday.

the human head weighs nine pounds.

mariposa is the name of the restaurant in neiman marcus in honolulu. it's adjacent to the area where they sell wine and chocolate truffles.

Lana Turner shaved her eyebrows for an historical movie,and they never did grow back.

The Bjork episode of Spaceghost is fucking hilarious. I have the video on the computer, so I can watch it at any time. Maybe I will do that after Calc 3, for which I am going to be late. Damn message boards. LS

Obsidian from Idaho was used to make ceremonial grave goods at Mound City in Ross County, Ohio, over two thousand years ago.

Hey, I saw the Bjork episode! My brother kindly burned me a CD with lots of Space Ghost episodes. I have to say, my favorite so far is the one in which Space Ghost is cursed with cannibalistic appetites, eats guests Moby and Emo Phillips, denies it, and then turns his attention to Zorak and Moltar. "Moltar, you're looking rather **bbbeeellllchhh** plump today..." Damn near killed me! You can download that episode here -- scroll down to the bottom (it's episode 66). It's worth the wait.

Spider,Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And,Lone Stranger,would you mind sending me the Bjork episide,if it wouldn't be too much trouble? And Watcher,my apologies,I'm at work right now,but as soon as I get home in the Am,I will return to my trusty calander,and find something special,just for you!

Funny that you mixed cabbage and my name in your post CZ! My favorite thing to eat is fried cabbge, fried sliced radishes, fried onions in olive oil, fresh chopped garlic, and some wide egg noodles under it. Fresh parmesan cheese on top with some garlic bead and a beer. Thats my idea of a slammin' meal. Wow, I'm loving my Christmas lights on my computer screen. It's my favorite time of the year.

damn. that's my idea of a slammin' meal, too. i first discovered that dish as a polish recipe called kluski z kapusta po polski. it's basically the same thing except you fry everything in butter and add caraway seeds and sour cream rather than garlic and parmesan. after years of making it, i started substituting parmesan and garlic. and beer. never tried radishes, though. that sounds good. the polish version is good with vodka, though.

Everything is good with vodka

puking out the nose is fantastic with vodka.

i can't remember where i saw this guy, but i think it was on a pbs railway journey show - the trans-siberian railway. it was an old guy who lived in a cabin in siberia, somewhere out in the fucking tundra. he'd been sent there by the communists decades ago. he was an artist, a woodcarver; there were large wooden statues all over the place his entire diet consisted of frozen fish and vodka, because "everything tasted better with vodka." i respected that. and it's true. everything does. even, if not especially, dave's nasal puke.

jelly. vodka. shots. I vaguely remember doing these on the weekend.

Scientists say that sex can relieve arthritis pain for up to six hours.[Watcher,this one's for you!cause I know you and your wife have been having your health problems lately,so maybe this can help "ease your pain" :)] The longest Oscar acceptance speech was made by Greer Garson for 1942"s Mrs. Miniver.It lasted one hour.[this one's for you,RC,cause you're known for long posts :)]

Ringworm is neither a ring nor a work. It is a fungus. George Bush is neither a george or a bush. it is a fungus.

There are 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter.

Thanks Czarina. I'll try and remember that.

Thanx Czarina! Now here is a fact for you. The lake with the longest name in the world is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, which is in New England. Let's go to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and build a camp fire and roast some weenies.

Thanks to Zach, Patrick, and now Oswald a vission just past my mind. I can't stop laughing.

I'm sorry Oswald, but I thought that was a town in Wales.

Nope. It is a lake in Massachusetts. Which is another damn hard place to spell.

I have another interesting fact to share.Its not from my dandy calander,which all of the above trivial facts are.And actually,I've posted it here before,but this one just trips me out,so I want to mention it again. There is a tiny,almost microscopic catfish,that lives in some rivers in South America,that can and does,swim up the urethra's of males penis',and then gets stuck in their bladders,and can't get back out,cause of their whiskers[?],and just keeps stinging the poopr guys innards.I think it is called "urinophelous",but I'm drunk,so am not sure.I just keep picturing some poor guy,trying to hol a conversation,and getting stung,and I know it's not right,but i'm snickering.

ack. how horrible. poor tiny catfish.

ack. how horrible. poor tiny catfish.

Silly me, Oswald, I was thinking of LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH, a town in Wales. I apologize for doubting you.

Holy shit. They need to move the lake to Wales. Then Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg would be near Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. How the hell would you say those names. Even God doesnt have a name that long. So whats the place with the shortest name? I have been to D'Lo, Miss. Thats a pretty short town name but maybe theres one even shorter.

Blackadder: Have you ever been to Wales, Baldrick? Baldrick: No, but I've often thought I'd like to. Blackadder: Well don't, it's a ghastly place. Huge gangs of tough sinewy men roam the valleys terrifying people with their close harmony singing. You need half a pint of phlegm in your throat just to pronounce the placenames. Never ask for directions in Wales Baldrick, you'll be washing spit out of your hair for a fortnight. lake chare a gag of manchurian gag blah-blah t-shirt

don't follow that link, follow this one

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is some indain name that means "you fish on your side, i fish on my side, and nobody fishes in the middle" or something like that. make mine seitanic or soy. bah.

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!!!!! NOW I KNOW ITS A TEENIES SITE. BLACKADDER FANS - GEEK HUMOUR FOR THE UNEDUCATED. (did you know that Rowan (hilarious, not!) Atkinson abandoned his two year old twins to an ailing wife and wont provide child support payments? How funny is that?)

are you english? i know that show mostly from a tape a relative of mine brought back from england. from which i took those lines. it comes on here late at night on the weekends, but i'm always doing something more fun when it comes on.

The name of the fish is a KUNDU.

We've had Blackadder and Mr. Bean on PBS here in Maryland. The Blackadder series is much better. You probaly got the child support story from one of the tabloids. I doubt that very much.

Praytell, how does an oyster climb a tree? It's got no hands/no opposable thumbs/no digits or claws of any kind. I wanna see the pictures!

I don't know either,but I'd pay good money to see it!

Czarina -- who publishes that calendar? I want one! And that dueling blood donors thing -- does it apply to fencing or pistols? Or both?

I got it at the Dollar Store for a dollar! I would be glad to pick one up for you and mail it off. Send me your addy,and I'll send it off for you! And remember,it has 365 fascinating facts,to amaze your friends and loved ones with :)