10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

[Scheherazade]

1. Eddie Irvine is Britain's wealthiest sports star – beating the Beckhams into second place by £30m.

2. Sleeping on the job is tolerated in Japanese work culture, as long as you remain upright and obey certain other rules. It's called inemuri.

3. Voltaire did not say "I disapprove of your views, but would fight to the death for your right to express them". It's a paraphrasing from a 1906 biography.

4. William Blake was not a fan of his poem in the preface to Milton, which became the words to the hymn Jerusalem. He removed it from later editions of the work.

5. The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled over the past 20 years, the aid agency Oxfam says.

6. The first telephone directory, dating from 1880 and reissued this week online, had 248 names and no numbers. Callers were expected to call the operator and say the name of the person they wanted to talk to.

7. MI6 calls its spies "operational officers".

8. The Romans had roadmaps.

9. Pigeon racing is not regarded as a sport while baton twirling is, for taxation purposes, by HM Revenue and Customs, on the advice of the UK's Sports Councils and UK Sport.

10. By the time they are four, children from poor families are likely to have heard 13 million words. For children from better off families, a figure of 45 million is typical.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a020713

[Virgil]

2. Sleeping on the job is tolerated in Japanese work culture, as long as you remain upright and obey certain other rules. It's called inemuri.


:lol: How can one sleep and reman upright?

[Pensive]

1. The word Blighty comes from "bilayti", the Urdu for homeland.

In Urdu, it should be 'vilayti' which instead of meaning homeland means 'foreign'.

[Scheherazade]

1. To be declared dead there is no time limit - the seven-year rule only applies in the High Court on the settlement of a disputed estate.

2. No Briton has been extradited from Panama since an extradition treaty was signed 100 years ago.

3. JE55USS - and other combinations of letters and numbers with strong religious connotations - cannot be used for personalised number plates. Rude words are also banned.

4. There are fewer than 50 wild animals performing in UK-owned circuses.

5. Two-thirds of Ricky Hatton's calorie intake when training for a big fight - and trying to lose excess weight he piles on between bouts - is from meal replacement supplements.

6. India's "hugging saint" has dispensed 26 million cuddles - her helpers count each off with a clicker.

7. Books used to be bound in human skin.

8. Santa Claus, for Dutch and Belgian children, lives in Spain and travels north by steam ship.

9. One in four children don't count their father as immediate family.

10. Tango routes are longer routes flown by some airlines to by-pass the expense of flying through several air traffic zones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a020997

[Scheherazade]

1. Renowned atheist Professor Richard Dawkins likes singing Christmas carols.

2. The White House grounds are a National Park.

3. The Australian town of Eucla has its own time zone.

4. Pentonville prison, when built in 1842, had toilets in all the cells. They were later taken out.

5. Church of England vicars don't have to wear a collar if there's a "justifiable cause".

6. Ike Turner made what's widely considered to be the first rock 'n' roll record - Rocket 88 - in 1951.

7. Iago in Othello is the third longest part in all of Shakespeare's plays.

8. The strength of wine has increased from 11.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) to 13.5% ABV in recent years.

9. Police were banned from striking in 1919, after walk-outs that year by officers in London and Liverpool.

10. Anyone convicted of a criminal offence is bound to pay a £15 "victims' surcharge".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a021276

[Virgil]

8. The strength of wine has increased from 11.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) to 13.5% ABV in recent years.


And that is a wonderful thing. :thumbs_up :) :D Actually it has improved the taste and quality of wine. Now most wines are at least acceptable, when years ago it was hit and miss.

[browneyedbailey]

I have ADD....ooooooooooh....squirel.....

[Scheherazade]

1. Humour comes from testosterone.

2. Wii players use only 2% more energy than players of regular computer games.

3. There were 1,580 cosmetic treatments in the UK on average last year.

4. Blood alcohol concentration does not decrease when you eat as well as drink.

5. Reading in dim light does not harm your eyesight.

6. Only 10% of a horse's lifetime winnings can be attributed to its bloodline.

7. There are 17 surviving versions of the Magna Carta - or 17 Magnae Cartae.

8. The whale is descended from a raccoon-sized land-based mammal called the Indonyus.

9. Only one in a hundred tourists visiting the UK stay for longer than three months.

10. Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems' new leader, once took a road trip across the US with his friend Louis Theroux.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a021276

[Nightshade]

1. Humour comes from testosterone.

Oh really? and who decided this a man?



3. There were 1,580 cosmetic treatments in the UK on average last year.
Thats becaus ethey all go and do it abroad.. where its cheaper and you get a holiday thrown in.


5. Reading in dim light does not harm your eyesight.
I have been saying this for years!! Its brightlight that hurts.

[crazefest456]

2. Wii players use only 2% more energy than players of regular computer games.

That is VERY true! I get so worked up when I play first-person shooters on my PS2..It is really intense, but no one understands gamers...

[Pensive]

I have been saying this for years!! Its brightlight that hurts.

Yes. In our area, electricity used to go off a lot. It never cared whether it were my exams the next day or not so sometimes I had to study in candle-light at night (that's what you get by leaving work at the eleventh hour to do :p ). Next day I would wake up worried if it had hurt my eye-sight but to my astonishment, dear eye-sight always seemed to be as fine as it ever was. :p

[Scheherazade]

1. Circumcision does not reduce sexual satisfaction.

2. The UK has only one polar bear, at Edinburgh Zoo. Its name is Mercedes.

3. Window cleaners who work on very tall buildings are trained to lie flat if their platform comes loose - a tactic which appears to have saved the life of Alcides Moreno, who tumbled some 500ft (150m) to the ground in New York.

4. At school, Sir Edmund Hillary was in a gym group for those lacking co-ordination.

5. Siblings who are separated when adopted may be naturally attracted to each other in later life.

6. Etiquette dictates that at dinner parties, a man should always talk to the woman on his left during the first course, and right during the main course.

7. One in three British adults is on a permanent diet.

8. Octopuses need mental stimulation.

9. Liverpool is not Europe's only capital of culture this year.

10. Half of men aged 16-24 haven't read a single book in the past 12 months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a021984

[Scheherazade]

1. The Scottish crossbill is the only bird unique to the UK.

2. Barack Obama attended a stag party in Wokingham.

3. Nicolas Sarkozy never had dinner at home in eight years, according to his ex-wife Cecilia.

4. Christopher Columbus introduced syphilis to Europe.

5. Carrots used to be purple.

6. Both men and women find long legs in the opposite sex attractive, but not too long.

7. Rodents used to weigh a tonne and have skulls half a metre long.

8. MPs can claim up to £250 a month without producing receipts.

9. There is no such thing as pure black.

10. Brazil has more people of African descent than any country outside of Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#Friday018

[Scheherazade]

1. Swedes have a word for a man who visits prostitutes - torsk.

2. Using a mobile before bedtime can delay you getting to sleep.

3. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.

4. Moleskin clothes used to be made of moles' skins.

5. Wealthy people are more likely to drink than those in low-income homes.

6. Ships emit twice as much CO2 as planes.

7. "Plain vanilla" is a term for basic financial instruments such as shares.

8. Only offal-free versions of haggis are available in the United States.

9. Super-fast broadband fibres are laid in the sewers.

10. "Fischer chess" is a game in which the pieces are placed on the board in random order.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a022482

[Anza]

1. the names of all the sirens
2. my latin teacher doesn't care about rules when we're close to regionals!
3. Cough drops really taste like candy if you're sick enough
4. the names of all the muses
5. the cello can go as high as the violin
6. I can't come up with ten things
7. the battle of Marathon occured in 490 BC
8. my sister is nice enough to make tea for me
9. Chiru would spend the weekend with me
10. I would be sick

[Niamh]

3. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.
Fair enough! Learn something new everyday!


4. Moleskin clothes used to be made of moles' skins.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a022482

I always wondered that....

[Scheherazade]

1. Fear of needles is known as belonephobia.

2. Double-income families are not a modern invention - in prehistoric times, they were the norm.

3. Cumbria is the safest county in England and Wales.

4. The D-Day landings were practised on the island of Eigg.

5. Irish singer Joe Dolan sold his hip for charity in an online auction.

6. Some 2.9 million rooms have been lost in British homes over the past five years as owners opt for open-plan designs.

7. Almost 4% of Scotland's phone boxes didn't host a single call in 2007.

8. The age at which we are most vulnerable to depression is 44, while a 70-year-old who is physically fit is, on average, as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old.

9. Chameleons change colour to stand out and attract mates, rather than hide.

10. Harry S Truman, former US president, has no middle name - his advisers insisted he insert an initial between his first and last names if he was to have any credibility with US voters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a022800

[Scheherazade]

1. A white stag lives in the Highlands.

2. Brain tumours can be diagnosed by a handshake.

3. Ian Fleming's contract with the Sunday Times allowed him to spend winter in Jamaica.

4. Kosovo's dialling code is the same as Monaco's.

5. A fire at a landfill site in Guernsey has been smouldering for three years.


6. Staffordshire bull terriers are one of only two breeds that the Kennel Club recommends as suitable with children, the other being a Chesapeake Bay retriever.

7. 99% of beekeepers are hobbyists.

8. The Billy Bunter author, Charles Hamilton, is the world's most prolific, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

9. The UK spends more on cosmetic surgery than Germany, France and Italy put together.

10. Giving birth to a boy may increase the likelihood of severe postnatal depression.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/02/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_43.shtml

[Virgil]

1. A white stag lives in the Highlands.


Yeah, but they also believe in the Loch Ness Monster. :alien:


6. Staffordshire bull terriers are one of only two breeds that the Kennel Club recommends as suitable with children, the other being a Chesapeake Bay retriever.
Rubbish. Most dog breeds are good with children. It's the odd breed that's not.


9. The UK spends more on cosmetic surgery than Germany, France and Italy put together.
:lol: Just keep the breast implants coming. :p


10. Giving birth to a boy may increase the likelihood of severe postnatal depression.
I wonder if this is why my mother is on anti depressants. :D

[Scheherazade]

1. If housewives got salaries at the going rate for doing household chores, they would on average earn £30,000.

2. Pacifist John Lennon was once an air cadet.

3. Women in Ivory Coast buy “bottom enhancing” injections for $2.

4. Whales catnap.

5. Young dinosaurs were prey to a giant frog.

6. John Prescott played in a parliamentary football team in the 1970s with Jonathan Aitken, Robert Kilroy-Silk and Neil Kinnock.

7. The female G-spot can be located by ultrasound.

8. People can have four kidneys.

9. A replica Statue of Liberty exists in Kosovo.

10. The first pop concert Barack Obama attended was as a 10-year-old watching Elton John.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/02/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_44.shtml

[Virgil]

1. If housewives got salaries at the going rate for doing household chores, they would on average earn £30,000.

Is that counting the pay a prostitute makes for bed time sex or is that over time? :D

[Niamh]

Virgil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Shame on you!!!!!:brow:
In Ireland they estimated €40,000.

[Virgil]

Virgil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Shame on you!!!!!:brow:
In Ireland they estimated €40,000.

Well, apparently whoever did the study didn't account for all the services a wife provides ands were actually under estimating her possible net worth. :p ;)

[Scheherazade]

Well, they say certain activities dimish after marriage so it is possible that whatever left of it is not worth taking into account. ;)

[Scheherazade]

1. 23% of plastic bags used in the UK are from Tesco.

2. Someone is deported every eight minutes, according to the Home Office.

3. In 1752, the day after 2 September was 14 September.

4. Ugandan tribes recognise and deal with depression.

5. 70% of mental health inpatients are smokers.

6. For the first time in US history, more than one in every 100 American adults is behind bars.

7. There are 200-300 quakes in the UK every year.

8. Teenagers are having fewer babies.

9. Web browser Netscape Navigator once commanded 90% of internet traffic. Now it is 0.6%.

10. It is possible to donate half a liver.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a023923

[Pensive]

3. In 1752, the day after 2 September was 14 September.

Oh wow.


10. It is possible to donate half a liver.

Another wow!

[Niamh]

Well, they say certain activities dimish after marriage so it is possible that whatever left of it is not worth taking into account. ;)

:brow:

[Scheherazade]

1. The Duchess of Cornwall once watched Bob Marley in concert.

2. Archimedes was murdered over pi.

3. Forty years after colour TV was introduced to the UK there are still 34,700 people with black and white television licences.

4. Late running trains cost the country 14 million minutes last year.

5. A 4cm hole in the heart is not necessarily fatal.

6. Short men are more likely to be jealous.

7. Toasters are banned in Cuba.

8. Yasmin Le Bon is an anti-counterfeit campaigner.

9. Dolphins can communicate with whales.

10. The difference between vines within France's Champagne region and those just outside is 995,000 euros.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a024517

[Virgil]

2. Archimedes was murdered over pi.

Apple pie or peach? :p


3. Forty years after colour TV was introduced to the UK there are still 34,700 people with black and white television licences.
One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here.


5. A 4cm hole in the heart is not necessarily fatal.
Oh my God. I can't believe this woman is alive.


7. Toasters are banned in Cuba.
The marvels of communism. You need permission to buy a toaster.

[Remarkable]

6. Short men are more likely to be jealous.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a024517

This is publicity for women to have relationships with tall men:D .

Actually,this doesn't sound very strange to me.Have you noticed that most of the world's greatest leaders were short?...

[kilted exile]

One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here.


It's all for the BBC, which of course is State Sponsored & not allowed to run commercials (except for BBC materials) over TV or Radio in the UK. Dont know what a licence costs nowadays but it was 125 pounds/year (I think) last time I had one. It gave 2 channels & 6 radio stations then, now it is something like 8 channels & a stackload of radio channels. I would be more than happy to pay that again to avoid constant commercial interruptions.

[Niamh]

One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here.


We have it in Ireland as well. But its to do with RTE here. Pretty much the same reason as Kilted said about the BBC. If you are caught without a licence, you can be brought to court and fined....

[Virgil]

It's all for the BBC, which of course is State Sponsored & not allowed to run commercials (except for BBC materials) over TV or Radio in the UK. Dont know what a licence costs nowadays but it was 125 pounds/year (I think) last time I had one. It gave 2 channels & 6 radio stations then, now it is something like 8 channels & a stackload of radio channels. I would be more than happy to pay that again to avoid constant commercial interruptions.

Hmm. Do you pick those channels out of a bunch? Or is it the same channels for everyone? I guess it's not too bad if you get to choose. Here on cable TV we have th option to go with premium channels which are commercial free for something like $10/month. That's about the same amount as that licence. Well, I realized I haven't been watching these channels for a year, so i decided to end them. What am I paying for if I'm not interrested in their content? Plus I'd rather save the money. It always bugs me when one is forced to pay for something.

[kilted exile]

Well, it's all relative. The licence is a must, as Niamh says, fines are handed out for not having one. However, that is the only fee - all other channels are free - unless of course you choose to subscribe to Sky or a similar satellite service. Just now I think without a Sky subscription you can get around 50 channels for a yearly fee of around 125 pounds, not a bad deal altogether.

[Scheherazade]

1. Up to one quarter of the sand on shorelines can be composed of plastic particles.

2. Snakes can give you salmonella poisoning.

3. Barack Obama was known as "Barry O'Bomber" at school because of his basketball prowess.

4. Lions were kept in the Tower of London in the 14th century.

5. In Brighton and Hove, there are 46 takeaway outlets and sweet shops for every secondary school.

6. Sharks can be used to predict storms.

7. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella each year.

8. Somalia, ranked the third most unstable country in the world in a recent stability index, has eradicated polio.

9. Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and the Duchess of Cornwall are all distantly related.

10. Human beings can detect danger through smell.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/03/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_49.shtml

[Virgil]

7. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella each year.


And I wouldn't mind if it were all sent to my house. :D Yum, I love fresh mozzarella.

[Scheherazade]

I love cheese.

*demands some now*

[Scheherazade]

1. Ian Fleming never met the woman upon whom he based Miss Moneypenny.

2. Each year 40,000 people pay homage at the California garage where the founders of Hewlett Packard started out.

3. White people make up 90% of the UK's population.

4. Most popular musical instrument in schools? The violin.

5. Morgan Tsvangirai's surname is pronounced chang-girr-IGH.

6. Much of the time it takes to fully train as an RAF pilot is taken up with solo flights.

7. Fabio Capello rings his mother every day.

8. Rice was once considered so important in Japan that it was worshipped as a god.

9. 4.4m apples are thrown away daily in the UK.

10. Belugas are the only white whales.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a025462

[Nightshade]

Miss Monneypenny was based on someone? :eek2:

[Scheherazade]

1. About 86% of fathers attend the birth of their children.

2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.

3. Vitamins can be bad for you.

4. To help break the bubbly when a new ship is launched, P&O sometimes scores the bottle with a glass-cutter.

5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.

6. About 42% of hay fever sufferers think they have a cold.

7. Smells can drift across the Channel.

8. Belly fat creates more fat.

9. Scientists can control the brains of flies.More details

10. Bowleggedness is called genuvarum.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/04/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_52.shtml

[Niamh]

2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.
And probably even more than that in Limerick :p

3. Vitamins can be bad for you.
yeah thats why i'm cutting my supplements.

4. To help break the bubbly when a new ship is launched, P&O sometimes scores the bottle with a glass-cutter.
clever

5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.
so technically, one doesnt make spur of the moment decisions, because its already been decided before you even think it?

6. About 42% of hay fever sufferers think they have a cold.
true

7. Smells can drift across the Channel.
thats why we dont like winds from the east here ;)

8. Belly fat creates more fat.
:eek:

[Virgil]

2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.

New York has become the safest big city in America. It is incredible the difference between now and 15 years ago. From the article: "It suggests following a zero tolerance policy like the American city." Credit Rudy Guilliani for have the guts to fight the bleeding hearts. Just like in my discussion in my debate on incest, people in society need boundaries of right and wrong, and boundaries permeate to acceptable socialized behavior. Tolerating grafitti or jumping the subway turnstile or smoking marijuana creates an atmosphere that crimes are acceptable and they lead to further crimes.


3. Vitamins can be bad for you.
Absolutely. I stopped taking a multi vitamin. I was actually overloading on iron. Apparently my system absorbs iron very well, and given the supplement I was consistently over the range in my blood tests, finally to the point where the doctor had to further evaluate a special blood disease (I forget the name). I would only recommend taking specific vitamins if it was determined you were deficient in it. For instance my mother (and this is not unusual for older people) has trouble absorbing vitamin B12. She has to take supplements; some people actually require monthly shots. A broad based diet usually covers all of one's needs. That's why i don't advocate vegetarianism. Meat has the broadest diversity of nutrition and proteins, and unless a vegetarian carefully assesses meal by meal all their nutritional requirements, they are going to come up short. And who has time for that? And the flexibility to find all your foods? Meat pretty much solves most of your nutritional deficiencies. The problem is in today's world we tend to eat too much of it. One does not need a lot to satisfy your nutritional needs.


5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.
I don't understand this one, nor do they explain it. I would like to know more about the mechanics of how this is.


7. Smells can drift across the Channel.
Hehehe, is this the real reason why the British and the Irish and the French never got along? :p :lol:

[Niamh]

Hehehe, is this the real reason why the British and the Irish and the French never got along? :p :lol:

:lol: :lol:

[blp]

When I was in Japan I was told to finish all my rice on the grounds that it was a sacred food. Not a God, maybe, but the sacral element persists.

[Scheherazade]

1. A mother's diet at conception influences the gender of her baby.

2. Elvis visited Britain.

3. Gordon Brown did not send a Christmas card to Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel or Russia's outgoing president, Vladimir Putin.

4. Staff at the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop were only offered six-month contracts when it opened 50 years ago, because the corporation feared the work would drive them mad.

5. There are 109 journeys between London's Tube stations that are quicker to walk.

6. Astronauts at the International Space Station must spend two hours a day exercising their legs.

7. The language of space is English.

8. The UK's most valuable tree is the plane.

9. Children are more likely to injure themselves falling out of bed than out of a tree.

10. A woman's chances of quitting smoking is linked to her hormones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a026447

[Virgil]

1. A mother's diet at conception influences the gender of her baby.


I wonder what mama was eating 9 months before I was born? Perhaps if she had passed on the desert I might have been Virgila. ;)

[Visionary3]

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/224

Microsoft Worldwide Telescope to be working soon. I found this fascinating.

[Scheherazade]

1. An LSD trip led to the invention of the vegeburger.

2. "Unlawfully laying hands on a cow with intent" was a crime in 19th Century Britain.

3. Colossal squid have the biggest eyes of any creature on the planet at a whopping 11 inches.

4. The most popular name for a pub is the Red Lion, with 756 such establishments across the UK.

5. The most common "combination craving" for a pregnant woman is pickles and peanut butter.

6. Inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos are known as Lesbians.

7. Humans can hold their breath for 17 minutes.

8. A severed finger tip can grow back naturally.

9. Residents of Sheffield have the worst tooth decay of people anywhere in Britain.

10. Children who attend daycare or playgroups are less like to develop the most common type of childhood leukaemia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a026786

[Virgil]

1. An LSD trip led to the invention of the vegeburger.

See, I always said it was unnatural to go vegetarian. :p (only kidding;) )


2. "Unlawfully laying hands on a cow with intent" was a crime in 19th Century Britain.
Lord knows what those farm boy were doing to the cows to actually create a law. :D I can only imagine. ;)


4. The most popular name for a pub is the Red Lion, with 756 such establishments across the UK.
Hey I think we have some in the US too.


5. The most common "combination craving" for a pregnant woman is pickles and peanut butter.
:sick: Thank God I'll never be pregnant. Hey wasn't there a guy in the news the other week that was pregnant? I wonder if he had these cravings.


6. Inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos are known as Lesbians.
:brow:


8. A severed finger tip can grow back naturally.
Actually someone was telling me at work about this yesterday. I didn't believe it. I still don't. If you look at the article, the guy is sticking his middle finger at me. :lol: What does it mean to regrow the middle finger? :p

[Niamh]

I wonder what mama was eating 9 months before I was born? Perhaps if she had passed on the desert I might have been Virgila. ;)

Never heard of the old nursery rhyme Virg?

[Virgil]

Never heard of the old nursery rhyme Virg?

I'm not sure which one you're referring to. :confused:

[Niamh]

Slightly irrelivant but it reminded me of this;
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

[Scheherazade]

1. Kosher is not the word to describe the method of slaughtering animals which conforms to Jewish law - it's shechita.

2. Britons throw away 1.3 million unopened pots of yoghurt each day.

3. Punch and Judy puppeteers are called professors.

4. The duck-billed platypus's genetic code contains avian, reptilian and mammalian features.

5 No one knows how many adults there are in England with autism.

6. Foreign workers at British airports don't have to undergo criminal record checks.

7. Only 3% of London street robberies are solved with the help of CCTV evidence.

8. The song Waltzing Matilda was believed to be a socialist anthem.

9. Catherine Tate won the People's Choice Award at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, not Ant and Dec.

10. Flowers wave at passing insects to get their attention.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a027268

[Virgil]

13. Punch and Judy puppeteers are called professors.

I knew a few professors that were no better than a Punch and Judy show. :D


4. The duck-billed platypus's genetic code contains avian, reptilian and mammalian features.
Now that is very interesting. Let's give it an aien smilie: :alien:


5 No one knows how many adults there are in England with autism.
I think I remember seeing something similar for the US as well. It's something that's hard to diagnose.

[Niamh]

6. Foreign workers at British airports don't have to undergo criminal record checks.


:eek:
Anyone who wants a job airside in an Irish airport has to undergo a ten year backround check by the airport police, including police records before being issued with a pass!!
So much for hightened security in british airports!

[sprinks]

10. Flowers wave at passing insects to get their attention.


Aww thats cute :) It made me smile when I read it :p

[Scheherazade]

1. Nice, in the economic terms in which Bank of England governor Mervyn King was speaking, stands for "non-inflationary constant expansion".

2. The rubble from the old Wembley Stadium was turned into man-made hills.

3. Gordon Brown is a Bee Gees fan.

4. Neil Diamond has never had a number one album in the United States... until now.

5. Locusts combine into swarms because they are frightened of being eaten by each other.

6. Knitting patterns of trademarked characters can breach copyright.

7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.

8. The Ministry of Defence has amassed 160 files on UFOs, containing details of 8,000 sightings.

9. A child of three is expected to know about 300 words.

10. Sloths aren't lazy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a027268

[Virgil]

1. Nice, in the economic terms in which Bank of England governor Mervyn King was speaking, stands for "non-inflationary constant expansion".

Ah yes, that is nirvana for economies.


3. Gordon Brown is a Bee Gees fan.
I can't believe he admitted that. Does he actually want to get re-elected? :p :lol:


7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.
Actually in my opinion it might even confirm God. I've said a number of times, given the gazillion to one odds of life intiateing and developing on earth that if it actually developed elsewhere then it couldn't possibly be a fluke. Gazillion to one odds do not happen more than once by chance.


8. The Ministry of Defence has amassed 160 files on UFOs, containing details of 8,000 sightings.
I bet it's Scher calling in most of these. :p :D

[Nightshade]

7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.

eh I didnt know anythought it did.


Actually in my opinion it might even confirm God. I've said a number of times, given the gazillion to one odds of life intiateing and developing on earth that if it actually developed elsewhere then it couldn't possibly be a fluke. Gazillion to one odds do not happen more than once by chance.

quite, why if God create humans soley for the purpose of worshipping him would He just want humans when He could have so many more different things. Like with smarties why have one colour when you can have them all? which reminds me although the blue smartie is back they might as well have left it missing as thenew one is NOT the real blue smartie but some horrid imposter.



9. A child of three is expected to know about 300 words.

only 300? thats doesnt seem very uch in fact I think thats rather disturbingly low. Thats like barley anything...


10. Sloths aren't lazy.


i knew that!

[Scheherazade]

I bet it's Scher calling in most of these. :p :DTrue... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album! ;)

[Niamh]

True... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album! ;)

:lol:

[Virgil]

True... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album! ;)


:lol:

Not I know I'm not pretty, but I'm not exactly an alien. :alien: :alien: ;)

[Scheherazade]

Not I know I'm not pretty, but I'm not exactly an alien. :alien: :alien: ;)Aliens are not necessarily "alien" looking, y'know:

http://www.dailyplanet.ch/Bilder/t_pepsi-superman_gross.jpg http://www.nerdsonsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/skywalker.jpg http://sci-fi.lovetoknow.com/wiki/images/Sci-Fi/thumb/a/ab/Mork.jpg/300px-Mork.jpg

This week's list:

1. "Nice" originally meant foolish or silly.

2. More rural homes have broadband than urban dwellings.

3. 27% of people have opened a bottle with their teeth.

4. Britain has the fifth largest Jewish population in the world.

5. Brain chemical oxytocin makes us trust strangers with money.

6. Women drivers are three times more likely than men to suffer whiplash injuries if their car is hit from behind.

7. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is deaf in one ear.

8. Skunks can be de-scented to make better pets.

9. You can lessen jet lag by not eating.

10. The "$100 laptop" now costs $75.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Virgil]

3. 27% of people have opened a bottle with their teeth.

Yeah, and I've known people who have chipped their teeth doing it. :lol:


4. Britain has the fifth largest Jewish population in the world.
It doesn't give a list of the other countries, but I believe, though not a 100% sure, that the US is number one and has more jewish people than Israel. ;)


5. Brain chemical oxytocin makes us trust strangers with money.
:lol: Article says it's 'Nicknamed the "cuddle chemical"' Let's not let my wife hear about this because she will want me to take it before going to bed.


6. Women drivers are three times more likely than men to suffer whiplash injuries if their car is hit from behind.
Strange. I guess women need to start driving like a cool guy and sit back and drive with one hand on tp of the wheel. :p


8. Skunks can be de-scented to make better pets.
Lions can make good pets too if you take out their teeth. :crash:


9. You can lessen jet lag by not eating.
You can lessen jet lag with a bullet to the temple too but neither of these are practical. I get hungry on an eight hour flight.

[Scheherazade]

1. Kingsley Amis wrote a Bond follow-up.

2. One of the earliest Mars Bars was pineapple-flavoured. It flopped.

3. Charles Lindbergh invented the first pump to keep an organ alive outside the body.

4. San Marino officially has just three British people.

5. Amazonian tribesmen can show aggression by painting themselves red.

6. Within the concept of karma, it's the motive for doing something that is important.

7. Emo, among other things, stands for "emotional hardcore".

8. Women are banned by law from Mount Athos in Greece, home to 20 monasteries.

9. The Stonehenge site was a burial ground for 500 years.

10. The first known science film was a one-minute close-up of cheese mites filmed through a microscope.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Scheherazade]

1. Placa George Orwell in Barcelona is covered by CCTV.

2. Television presenter Fern Britton has a gastric band.

3. Nearly all animals are banned from the grounds of the Houses of Parliament - except dogs and horses.

4. Many businessmen believe biscuits are key to clinching deals.

5. Public drinking is socially acceptable in Denmark.

6. Syria has the world's largest restaurant, seating 6,014 diners.

7. George Lucas's daughter Amanda is a mixed martial arts fighter.

8. London's broadband is the fastest in the UK.

9. T-shirts featuring rude words, bombs or cartoon guns can stop you getting on planes from British airports.

10. Getting caught cheating at a British university does not get you expelled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a028574

[Virgil]

4. Many businessmen believe biscuits are key to clinching deals.

Biscuits???? What kind of biscuits? Those with hundred dollar bills in the middle. ;)


5. Public drinking is socially acceptable in Denmark.
Cool. Is public vomiting accepted too?


6. Syria has the world's largest restaurant, seating 6,014 diners.
Well, at least I hope they have more than one waiter. :lol:

[cipherdecoy]

10. Sloths aren't lazy.



Hahaha, that's a cute one.

[Scheherazade]

Biscuits???? What kind of biscuits? Those with hundred dollar bills in the middle. ;) Nope, probably spiked ones served by Tyra Banks and so on.

[Scheherazade]

1. Sir Jonathan Miller's main recreational activity, according to Who's Who, is deep sleep.

2. Not paying attention as a juror is not an offence in Australia.

3. Gordon Brown's favourite song is Keep Right On To The End Of The Road, written in 1919 by fellow Scot Sir Harry Lauder.

4. A petaflop is a measurement of computing speed equivalent to one thousand trillion calculations a second.

5. Rwanda has its own Archers radio soap - an everyday story of cassava-farming folk.

6. Komodo dragons don't kill their prey outright - instead their bacteria-laden salvia causes septicaemia.

7. Dolphin pods have no leader.

8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.

9. One in 10 people have a piercing other than on the earlobe.

10. Egyptian law says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a028915

[sofia82]

8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.


Really?!

[papayahed]

8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.



i saw that news story recently:

http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2008/06/11/alg_pig_in_boots.jpg

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_baby_pigs_owners_give_her_the_boot_swine.html

[sprinks]

2. Not paying attention as a juror is not an offence in Australia.


Yeah that would be in reference to what happened recently here in Australia. A massive drugs case was dropped because 4 jurors were playing Sudoku during the trial!! :lol:.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7447627.stm

The three-month trial had cost taxpayers more than A$1m (US$945,000) and the two accused men faced possible life sentences.

They got busted when people noticed that the jurors were writing notes vertically as well as horizontally!! :p. Oh I laughed so much when I heard about it on the news!! :lol:

[amanda_isabel]

hmm..

1. stairs going to the human kinetics program is really terrifying!

2. you have to be in school more than ten minutes before your class, or you'll wind up late

3. activism is not defined the way it used to

4. brainwashers are everywhere

5. eating chips can stain teeth!

6. lots of people are actually a lot more clueless than they think, and they presume they aren't

7. some faculty advisers don't care.. or they don't know anything..

8. I have become so accustomed to a dentist working on my mouth

9. none of my windows are suitable for that experiment in physics

10. a smile is priceless!

[Scheherazade]

1. The only DVD rejected by the British Board of Film Classification last year was a boxset of Weeds (broadcast in the UK on Sky One), for promoting drug use - despite more than 1,000 pornographic films being passed.

2. A bespoke garment does not necessarily need to be handmade.

3. There are 14 towns called Springfield in the US.

4. The England rugby team always includes a lawyer in the tour party.

5. John Lewis sold a Wii every five minutes in May.

6. Schools influence the smoking habits of young people.

7. Eating a big breakfast helps weight loss.

8. Bill Gates has not one, not two, but three computer screens at his office desk.

9. The British eat potatoes about 10 billion times a year and pasta 1.4 billion times.

10. Infants that use dummies are more likely to get ear infections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a030905

[Virgil]

1. The only DVD rejected by the British Board of Film Classification last year was a boxset of Weeds (broadcast in the UK on Sky One), for promoting drug use - despite more than 1,000 pornographic films being passed.

Isn't the answer to reject the 1000 porn films as well rather than accept the druggy film?


3. There are 14 towns called Springfield in the US.
That's all? Everytime I turn around it seems like I hit a springfield.


7. Eating a big breakfast helps weight loss.
Counter intuitive but true. A good breakfest with protein and I don't feel hungry for well beyond lunch time. Of course I stll eat lunch. :D


8. Bill Gates has not one, not two, but three computer screens at his office desk.
A lot of the young guys at work have two computer monitors. I barely know what to do with one. :p

[Scheherazade]

1. The Royal Family costs the equivalent of 66p per person in the UK.

2. Benito Mussolini was knighted in 1923 but it was withdrawn in 1940.

3. About 35% of the 13.1 billion plastic bottles used by UK households annually are recycled, up from 3% in 2001.

4. A Volvo can accommodate 13 people.

5. Blue Peter presenters Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves had a fling.

6. Dogs can lawfully mess on roads with a speed limit of 40mph or above.

7. There are 13 podiatrists at the Glastonbury Festival.

8. On average, 1.5m 24-hour ration packs are eaten every year by British forces serving around the globe.

9. Kanye West ices his knees after every performance.

10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a031266

[Virgil]

1. The Royal Family costs the equivalent of 66p per person in the UK.

Well, I guess if you Brits don't mind. Stuff like that would not go off well in the US.


4. A Volvo can accommodate 13 people.
Redicuous. That was a trgedy waiting to happen.


6. Dogs can lawfully mess on roads with a speed limit of 40mph or above.
You guys don't have pooper scooper laws? In NYC you must clean up after your dog. I remember before the pooper scopper laws (around early 1980's) I used to step in dog crap all the time.


10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.
That's great. I believe the same goes for over here. Auto designs have made a difference. Buckling up has made a difference.

[Niamh]

10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a031266

Wish i could say the same about here. think we are already closing in on 300 deaths. thats more than one death a day.

[Scheherazade]

1. In Zimbabwe, millions of dollars are called mollars.

2. .The 9/11 conspiracy theorists in the US include the LIHOPs (the government Let It Happen On Purpose) and MIHOPs (the government Made It Happen On Purpose).

3. Sir Clive Sinclair doesn't use the internet.

4. Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham are among the football clubs that were created from Sunday schools.

5. The City of Glasgow Police is the oldest force in the world, 29 years older than the Metropolitan Police formed under Sir Robert Peel.

6. Nelson Mandela was still on the US terror watch list until this week.

7. An income of £13,400 is required to enjoy a minimum standard of living in the UK.

8. Gordon Brown's favourite Beatle song is All My Loving.

9. Malaria is increasing in the UK.

10. Quarter-finalists at Wimbledon get free tea at the tournament for life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a031612

[Scheherazade]

1. A monsoon is a wind, rather than rain.

2. More than 12,000 laptops a week go missing at US airports.

3. Synod is pronounced SIN-uhd, and Sentamu (as in John) is pronounced with a stress on the first syllable - SENT-uh-moo.

4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.

5. Some slugs are carnivores, and have razor-sharp teeth.

6. The average UK household bins £8-worth of leftovers a week.

7. Pears sink while apples float.

8. One in 20 of Britain's population will attend a summer festival.

9. One in three tickets sold at London theatres are for musicals.

10. Whipping someone until they bleed - even if they encourage it - is a criminal offence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a031941

[Virgil]

2. More than 12,000 laptops a week go missing at US airports.

:eek: :eek: :eek2: :eek2: Oh my God. I better be careful with my laptop next time I go to the airport.


4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.
I'll be glad to chip in. :D :D :D

[Jozanny]

I'll be glad to chip in. :D :D :D

Only if I can buy the jockstraps for the most noteworthy.;) ;) ;)

[lugdunum]

10. Quarter-finalists at Wimbledon get free tea at the tournament for life.



Cool!
Do you think that Quarter-finalists at the Moscow's tournament get free vodka? :idea:

[eyemaker]

4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.

LoL..

[Scheherazade]

I'll be glad to chip in. :D:D:DThat's funny. I thought that you would be against such extravagance and encourage them to do without! ;)



1. Misuse of the Red Cross emblem is a breach of the Geneva Convention.

2. Boys cost £7,000 more to rear than girls during school years.

3. A baobab fruit has six times as much vitamin C, per gram, as an orange.

4. White Americans are 14% more likely than other ethnic groups to survive cancer.

5. The switch from coal gas to non-toxic North Sea gas has contributed to a fall in the number of suicides.

6. There are estimated to be more than 2,000 Esperanto speakers in the UK.

7. Chocolate poisons dogs.

8. Twelve countries, including the US, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia, ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people.

9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.

10. House prices are up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a032375

[Virgil]

2. Boys cost £7,000 more to rear than girls during school years.

Give a girl a doll and she's happy; you got to give a boy a toy that moves or explodes. ;) Plus, wait until the girl grows up and the father has to pay for the wedding. :D


4. White Americans are 14% more likely than other ethnic groups to survive cancer.
Talk about a slant to this story as if they have to add the racial component. (Unfortunately that's a disparity in educational awareness as well as economic.) But the real story is that the average American did as good or better than anyone else in the world. And for some strange reason there are Americans who want to change our health system to be more like the British. *shakes his head and mumbles something political*


7. Chocolate poisons dogs.
Yes, yes, yes!! Be careful to not let dogs get chocolate.


9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.
Fantastic. There is no surer way than to ruin kids lives than to get them involved with drugs.

[lugdunum]

9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.



Spain was certainly NOT part of this study. :( Unfortunately.... (For Spain, not for the study of course!;) )

[Scheherazade]

1. Having fat friends increases your risk of obesity.

2. The temperature of outer space is -270C (-454F).

3. There are about 50 species of ants in the UK.
More details

4. Drumming is as energetic as playing professional football.

5. The average Brit's savings would last 52 days if they found themselves out of work.

6. Scrabble is huge in Senegal.

7. The actress who played Brian's girlfriend in Life of Brian is now the mayor of Aberystwyth (and could end a local ban on showing her own film).

8. Faking one's death is known as pseudocide.

9. Mothers can change the "flavour" of their breast milk by what they eat.

10. The next named number up from a trillion is a quadrillion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a033279

[sprinks]

2. The temperature of outer space is -270C (-454F).



And I thought it was cold here during the winter :lol:

[Virgil]

8. Faking one's death is known as pseudocide.

I've never heard that before. That is interesting.


9. Mothers can change the "flavour" of their breast milk by what they eat.
Can they do chocolate milk? :D :D

[Scheherazade]

1. Bees act in a similar way to serial killers.

2. Liz Taylor has broken her back five times.

3. Lake Baikal in Russia holds about a fifth of the world's fresh water.

4. The blank stickers for visa stamps are called vignettes .

5. Dyslexics can find it particularly difficult to learn the piano.

6. Van Gogh often reused canvasses to save money.

7. Seals can navigate from the position of stars.

8. Mick Jagger's officially a pensioner.

9. Being single in middle age can increase your risk of dementia.

10. In a drinking contest between a pen-tailed tree-shrew and a human, the former would win.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a033717

[Virgil]

1. Bees act in a similar way to serial killers.

I can't believe that anyone actually spent money on this study. What a waste. Here's the first sentence from the article:

Just as bees forage some distance away from their hives, so murderers avoid killing near their homes, says the University of London team.
The analogy is among the most idiotic I have ever seen.


2. Liz Taylor has broken her back five times.
Doesn't she have large breasts? Now we know why. :D :D


3. Lake Baikal in Russia holds about a fifth of the world's fresh water.
I had never heard of Lake Baikal. So I looked it up. It's the 8th largest lake in the world. So how can it hold one fifth of the world's fresh water? There are seven other lakes bigger. Unless it's substantially deeper that the others. Strange. Edit: I looked it up and yes it is very deep.


8. Mick Jagger's officially a pensioner.
Good old Mick. :) Incredible how they keep going.


9. Being single in middle age can increase your risk of dementia.
But being married can increase your risk of going insane. :D


10. In a drinking contest between a pen-tailed tree-shrew and a human, the former would win.
Yeah, but does he drink a good scotch? ;)

[Scheherazade]

1. Olympic swimmers can consume more than 12,000 calories a day while training. And not get fat.

2. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson was once ranked seventh in the UK at fencing (men's foil).

3. There were 1,048 babies named Gertrude in 1907 but none in 2005.

4. Octopuses do not have eight legs. They have six arms and two legs.

5. The number of farmland birds in the UK is about half of what it was in the 1970s.

6. Penguins receive knighthoods.

7. Ear infections can affect the risk of being obese because they influence the nerves governing taste.

8. A rooftop luggage carrier increases fuel consumption by 20%.

9. Mills and Boon still publish at least one sheikh romance a month.

10. Buying oil only requires a 10% deposit of the market price.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/08/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_63.shtml

[manolia]

2. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson was once ranked seventh in the UK at fencing (men's foil).

:lol::lol:
Yeah that's the spirit.



4. Octopuses do not have eight legs. They have six arms and two legs.


Nonsense! Arms, legs..they taste just the same to me :D

[lugdunum]

6. Penguins receive knighthoods.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/08/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_63.shtml

:lol::lol:

[pussnboots]

1 - You can Hypnotize Chickens

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken.

If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds to 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the line.



2 - You can have an erection once dead

A death erection (sometimes referred to as "angel lust") is a post-mortem erection which occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-down – the cadaver remaining in this position. During life, the pumping of blood by the heart ensures a relatively even distribution around the blood vessels of the human body. Once this mechanism has ended, only the force of gravity acts upon the blood. As with any mass, the blood settles at the lowest point of the body and causes edema or swelling to occur; the discoloration caused by this is called lividity.


3 - Your hand can have a life of it's own

Alien hand syndrome (or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a life of its own.

AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections. The HAND is after you!



4 - Don't laugh too much, it can kill you

Fatal hilarity is death as a result of laughter. In the third century B.C. the Greek philosopher Chrysippus died of laughter after seeing a donkey eating figs (hey, it wasn't THAT funny).

On 24 March 1975 Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, England, literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies. According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode "Kung Fu Kapers" in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a psychopathic black pudding in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of "Hoots-Toot-ochaye". After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant.



5 - A weapon could make you Gay

Gay bomb is an informal name for a potential non-lethal chemical weapon, which a U.S. Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing.

In one sentence of the document it was suggested that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behaviour". So that's how they got Saddam!



6 - It's true, Men can breastfeed

The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a human male's mammary glands.

Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. It is also possible for males (and females) to induce lactation through constant massage and simulated 'sucking' of the nipple over a long period of time (months).


7 -Bart Simpson's Tomacco (half tomato, half tobacco) was possible

A tomacco is originally a fictional hybrid fruit that is half tomato and half tobacco, from the 1999 episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" of The Simpsons; the method used to create the tomacco in the episode is fictional.

The tomacco became real when it was allegedly produced in 2003. Inspired by The Simpsons, Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon successfully grafted a tomato plant onto the roots of a tobacco plant, which was possible because both plants come from the same family.


8 - It's OK to have a third nipple

A supernumerary nipple (also known as a third nipple) is an additional nipple occurring in mammals including humans. Often mistaken for moles, supernumerary nipples are diagnosed at a rate of 2% in females, less in males. The nipples appear along the two vertical "milk lines" which start in the armpit on each side, run down through the typical nipples and end at the groin. They are classified into eight levels of completeness from a simple patch of hair to a milk-bearing breast in miniature.


9 - You can die on the Toilet

There are many toilet-related injuries and some toilet-related deaths throughout history and in urban legends.

In young boys, one of the most common causes of genital injury is when the toilet seat falls down while using the toilet.

George II of Great Britain died on the toilet on 25 October 1760 from an aortic dissection. According to Horace Walpole's memoirs, King George "rose as usual at six, and drank his chocolate; for all his actions were invariably methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little closet. His German valet de chambre in waiting heard a noise, and running in, found the King dead on the floor."


10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy

Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking.

Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.

[Poetess]

I`ll make sure I read all, since they seem interesting.

[Virgil]

2 - You can have an erection once dead
:lol: Well, what the heck, one last time before you go. :D


6 - It's true, Men can breastfeed
But what baby is going to want to suck on a hairy nipple? :p


8 - It's OK to have a third nipple
Now lots of men wouldn't mind women having a third breast. :D


9 - You can die on the Toilet
They didn't mention Elvis. I'm pretty sure Elvis died on the toilet.


10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy
Tastey too. :sick:

[Poetess]

^^ lol

[wilbur lim]

Hilarious chat.

[Scheherazade]

1. Misheard song lyrics are known as mondegreens.

2. The Banana Splits theme tune is very similar to reggae classic Buffalo Soldier.

3. Clouds can be breast-shaped.

4. And thunderclouds are so menacingly dark because they are four to five miles (6.4 to 8km) thick.

5. A 72oz steak is about the size of a large telephone directory. And since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings - in under an hour.

6. DNA from 3,000-year-old skeletons can be matched to living descendents.

7. Jerry Springer, the American talkshow host, was born in a London Tube station during World War II.

8. Some chemotherapy drugs are made from yew tree clippings.

9. The Queen no longer sends telegrams to those turning 100.

10. The rock hyrax - a modestly proportioned rodent - is the closest living relative to the elephant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a035484

[Virgil]

1. Misheard song lyrics are known as mondegreens.

Oh that's interesting. It's amazing how wrong one can be with rock lyrics. Until the internet where I can now look up lyrics I had to guess. I defy anyone to try to understand most words when Mick Jagger sings them. :D


3. Clouds can be breast-shaped.
Little do people know that this was first observed on horny teenage boys. :p


5. A 72oz steak is about the size of a large telephone directory. And since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings - in under an hour.
I don't know how one can eat that much meat. Quick story. When i was a young engineer I went on a buisness trip to Minneapolis with this other more senior fellow and he was a big man. Not fat, but very tall and solid. He insisted we go to dinner at this steak place called T. Wrights. It's no longer there, but their big draw was a huge prime rib. I don't know if it was 72 oz but it hung over the side of the plate. The other fellow asked for the largest cut they had, and I being forewarned asked for a smaller one. Well I couldn't finish mine and he finished his, and when he saw I slowed down he asked if I was going to finish it and when I said no he asked to finish it for me. :lol: And he did. :lol::lol:

[Joreads]

1 - You can Hypnotize Chickens

A10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy

Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking.

Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.

That will teach me to read this forum while eatting my lunch:lol:

[cipherdecoy]

1. Earth is not round; it is slightly pear-shaped. The North Pole radius is 44mm longer than the South Pole radius.

2. Picasso could draw before he could walk and his first word was the Spanish word for pencil.

3. 2 billion people still cannot read.

4. Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing.

5. Women make up 49% of the world population.

6. Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres.

7. It is not true that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be viewed from space - many man-made objects, including the Dutch polders, can be viewed from space.

8. Half the world's population is under 25 years of age.

9. A house fly lives only 14 days.
(This is fantastic)

10. A diamond will break if you hit it with a hammer.

[Scheherazade]

1. Twenty-three wedding cakes were made for the nuptials of Charles and Diana.

2. That third brake light, the one in the rear window, is called a chimsil.

3. Aircraft oxygen systems have just about 12 minutes worth of reserves.

4. And when deployed, the oxygen flow can be so light that passengers can be confused into thinking something is wrong, and pulling oxygen masks from the ceiling.

5. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can be even more painful.

6. Most people have an above average number of feet.

7. Shetland is the fattest part of the UK.

8. There are more than 150 books with the "...before you die" premise in their titles.

9. Life really does imitate art.

10. Almost a third of BT payphones have been removed in the past six years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a035800

[Nightshade]

Ok how is number 6 possible ? :confused:
Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you ! :rolleyes: :lol:

[Virgil]

16. Most people have an above average


Ok how is number 6 possible ? :confused:
Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you ! :rolleyes: :lol:

They must be thinking of boys and confusing that little thing they have in between for a foot. :p ;)

[Scheherazade]

Ok how is number 6 possible ? :confused:
Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you ! :rolleyes: :lol:Here is how:
What's the average number of feet?

No, not two. The answer is slightly less. Think about it.

This is because the average can be pulled to one side by the influence of a tiny minority of people, in this case, the small number who have fewer than two feet.

Almost everyone has more than the average number of feet. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7581120.stm


This week's 10:

1. E-mail addresses beginning with with "A", "M" or "S" get more spam than those starting with "Q" or "Z".

2. Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie lived off the proceeds of cocaine while in exile in South America.

3. Ping-pong was originally called ping-pong, not whiff-whaff, as London's mayor, Boris Johnson, publicly claimed at the Beijing Olympics.

4. Urban gulls produce three times as many eggs as their coastal counterparts.

5. One of the scientists involved in developing the £5bn Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland, was the keyboardist with the chart-topping group D-Ream.

6. Water is naturally present in aviation fuel.

7. Former World's Strongest Man, Geoff Capes, is an avid budgerigar keeper - owning more than 300 of the birds.

8. The man who designed the iconic Rolling Stones lips logo, was paid just £50 for the job... although he received a £200 bonus.

9. Indie music fans are not, in general, gentle sorts but heavy metal fans are.

10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a035800

[eyemaker]

10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).


let me try this..:p

[wilbur lim]

I solely can list out these following-
1.We don't know if we can be disparaged.
2.We don't know if there is a tragedy which can be imminent.
3.We don't know if we could suddenly faint in light of grief.

[Virgil]

10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).


Unfortunately by the time you're trained, you're dead. ;)

[Domer121]

1.That Margaret Atwood is a writer from Canada.

2.That Wilhem Wundt is considered the worlds first psychologist.

3.That William James began the study called functionalism.

4.That there is the Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System
and lots more!

[Scheherazade]

1. Baseball was played in Surrey in 1755.

2. There are algae that can bend light.

3. Women are more prone to nightmares.

4. The British Antarctic Survey needs a full-time plumber.

5. While everything else is getting more expensive, broccoli is getting cheaper.

6. Radio adverts can be banned for being too quick.

7. Zoroastrians were the first religious adherents to incorporate the end of the world into their beliefs.

8. Portraits of famous people often look like the painter instead.

9. When the police fire a baton round, they aim for the belt buckle.

10. Goats are a cost effective way of clearing waste ground.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a036653

[Virgil]

1. Baseball was played in Surrey in 1755.

That does not surprise me. As someone quoted in the article says, the game evolved, and I bet something like baseball went back to ancient times.


3. Women are more prone to nightmares.
Well, have you seen some of the husbands they are married too? Of course they have nightmares. :p


4. The British Antarctic Survey needs a full-time plumber.
Plumbing in Antartica? Wouldn't the water be frozen?


5. While everything else is getting more expensive, broccoli is getting cheaper.
That's because no one is eating it. Supply and demand. ;)


10. Goats are a cost effective way of clearing waste ground.
Goats eat everything. But then you got to clean up all the goat crap. :D

[Scheherazade]

1. JK Rowling makes £5 every second.

2. There are two £1m banknotes still in existence. Nine were made after World War II.

3. Television presenter and artist Tony Hart served in the Gurkhas.

4. Paul Newman was prevented from flying on an ill-fated World War II mission by his pilot's ear infection. Everyone on his detail was killed.

5. Egham receives more spam than any other place in the UK.

6. The chief designer at Waterford Crystal was not Irish, but Czech.

7. Human HIV infections could have started as early as the 19th Century.

8. The 1950s was not a golden age for train travel.

9. Bradford and Bingley has registered the raising of the bowler hat as a trademark.

10. The man who designed the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, Eero Saarinen, also designed the Sixties classic, the Tulip chair.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a038287

[Scheherazade]

1. Goats wear condoms.

2. Big Lebowski fanatics call themselves "achievers".

3. And the f-word is used 281 times in the film.

4. Sarah Palin is 10th cousin to Princess Diana.

5. The word "unbepissed" means "not being urinated on".

6. Contrary to myth, the suicide rate in New York in the month following the Wall Street Crash in 1929 was lower than normal.

7. The phrase "dead cat bounce" means a brief rally in the price of falling stock.

8. Scottish poet Robert Burns was Bob Dylan's muse.

9. The annual cost of forest loss is more than the amount being lost in the banking crisis.

10. Two New Testament books were left out of the modern Bible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/10/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_70.shtml

[Virgil]

1. Goats wear condoms.

:lol: I wonder what size is a goat condom. And how would like you to be the one to slip it on the goat? :D


2. Big Lebowski fanatics call themselves "achievers".
Oh my brother loves that movie. i wonder if he considers himself an"achiever?"


3. And the f-word is used 281 times in the film.
That's all?


4. Sarah Palin is 10th cousin to Princess Diana.
Hmm, they are both attractive, but I don't see the resemblance.


5. The word "unbepissed" means "not being urinated on".
:lol: What is the need to create such a word? It's not exactly commonplace to pee on people.


6. Contrary to myth, the suicide rate in New York in the month following the Wall Street Crash in 1929 was lower than normal.
Isn't amazing how urban legends get created. Yeah this doesn't surprise me.


7. The phrase "dead cat bounce" means a brief rally in the price of falling stock.
Yeah and I wonder if today's rally was a dead cat bounce. I suspect it might be. But let's hope not.

[applepie]

Odd one given that I watch entirely too much animal related TV. There are seas within the bottoms of our oceans. No kidding, they are huge pools of water on the sea floor that have their own tides and such. The water is laden with salt and other minerals which makes it more dense than the other water around it.

[Scheherazade]

1. Pets don't like divorces.

2. More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands.

3. The Queen has a gold Blue Peter badge.

4. Val Singleton not only had a fling with Peter Purves, but fancied John Noakes.

5. Prince Charles could have had a cameo in Doctor Who.

6. Men are most romantic aged 53.

7. The world's longest insect is 56cm long.

8. Sugar makes you a nicer person. But artificial sweetener does not have the same effect.

9. A spurtle is a spatula-like tool traditionally used to stir porridge.

10. The brains of obese people find eating less rewarding than brains belonging to other people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a039547

[Virgil]

2. More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands.

:sick::sick: If there was a vomit smilie to choose from that's what I would have chosen. How disgusting.


7. The world's longest insect is 56cm long.
:lol: I can hear all the women screaming right now at just the thought of this. :D


8. Sugar makes you a nicer person. But artificial sweetener does not have the same effect.

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails,
That's whatlittle boys are made of.
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice, and everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of.:D


10. The brains of obese people find eating less rewarding than brains belonging to other people.
How do brains eat? ;) Do they find it defecating any less rewarding? :lol:


6. Men are most romantic aged 53.
I saved this for last on purpose. :D Hey I'm almost there!!! Wait until I tell my wife. She will be thrilled. :banana:

[Granny5]

6. Men are most romantic aged 53.

Poppy is past 53. Not much to look forward to now.

[Scheherazade]

How do brains eat? ;) Do they find it defecating any less rewarding? :lol: Guess this gives the expression "brain fart" a new meaning, eh?

[Equality72521]

I know, I know...so much more than 10....:p Couldn't resist.

1. A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

2. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it
will digest itself.

3. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down
continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate. I know
some people like that!

6. A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why.

7. A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2 by 3-1/2.

8. During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen in the
distance.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily! That
explains it!

10. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear
pants.

11. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were
made of wood.

12. The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves per side in a
game of chess is 318,979,564,000.

13. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and
silver.

14. The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan." There was
never a recorded Wendy before.

15. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed
the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

16. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad
and sting itself to death.

17. Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you
could see his moves.

18. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."


19. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.

20. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which
stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

21. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for
automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the
Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

22. Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

23. By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you cannot sink into
quicksand.

24. Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of
celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

25. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike
contest.

26. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

27. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear Watson."

28. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take
more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

29. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

30. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most
often stolen from Public Libraries.

31. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space
because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them. Not to mention the other
drawback.

32. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave

[Virgil]

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily! That
explains it!
I knew it. I was probably born to rich millionaires and got screwed. :p :D

[Scheherazade]

1. There's a town in Uruguay called Fray Bentos.

2. The final day - or half-day - of World War I produced about 11,000 casualties.

3. Ian Fleming's wife administered a rap over the knuckles with a spoon to a reviewer who didn't like Dr No.

4. About 90% of pumpkins grown worldwide are not eaten - instead they are carved for Halloween and the innards discarded.

5. Men like women in red. And not just red clothing - even those in photos with a red frame are rated as more attractive than any other colour.

6. The word "euthanasia means easeful death.

7. George Osborne wore plus fours at university.

8. There are about 200 earthquakes a year in Britain.

9. The United Arab Emirates, along with the US, has the largest ecological footprint per person.

10. "Charlie's dead" means that someone's slip is showing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a040249

[Scheherazade]

1. Saddam Hussein's yacht had an escape tunnel leading to a submarine.

2. The Dalai Lama boxes.

3. Women's hands have more bugs.

4. Londoners complained about house prices in the 1600s.

5. Antelopes click their knees to demonstrate sexual prowess.

6. Drum-making can be fatal.

7. Barack Obama supports West Ham.

8. The average person can sing three octaves.

9. Snow ploughs are used to clear dead lemmings on Norway's roads.

10. About 20,000 people die globally every year from snake bites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a040582

[Virgil]

1. Saddam Hussein's yacht had an escape tunnel leading to a submarine.

Hey that is really neat. :) Sounds like something from a James Bond movie. In fact Saddam could have made a great Bond villian. ;)


2. The Dalai Lama boxes.
Isn't he supposed to be a pacifist? :lol:


3. Women's hands have more bugs.
:eek2: I guess I won't ever hold my wife's hands again. :D Kind of makes that Beatles song "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" have extra significance. ;)


5. Antelopes click their knees to demonstrate sexual prowess.
I've known a few women that do that too and for the same reason. :p


8. The average person can sing three octaves.
Yeah, and every time I try my life gets threatened. I wonder why. ;)

[librarius_qui]

2. The Dalai Lama boxes.


Isn't he supposed to be a pacifist? :lol:



Well, everyone should have something to punch sometimes! Specially girls! Sometimes I give them my hands, and say "come on, punch!" The one who made it harder was the most honest of them! I'm about to take measure with another one, as soon as I can, only ... She lives in another town! ... Blast! O tempora! O internet! :alien:


a klicky
:crash:

[Scheherazade]

1. The 999 emergency number was chosen over 111 because telegraph wires rubbing together in the wind transmitted the equivalent of a 111 call.

2. In space, an item as small as a toolbag can be seen from Earth.

3. There are only eight mycologists in the UK.

4. US intelligence kept a file on Tony Blair's personal life.

5. Premium chocolate tasters don't swallow the goods.

6. Police use curry to combat alleged drugs possession.

7. A dog's mucus enhances its sense of smell.

8. The speechwriting "tricolon technique" has been used by Julius Caesar and Barack Obama.

9. A French cologne has a scent inspired by the smell of human sperm.

10. Gordon Brown writes to X Factor contestants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a043411

[byquist]

Today's americanthinker.com essay argues that Bill Ayers had a literary hand in President Elect Obama's Dreams From My Father -- assuming you know who, or give a hoot who, Bill Ayers is.

[Virgil]

1. The 999 emergency number was chosen over 111 because telegraph wires rubbing together in the wind transmitted the equivalent of a 111 call.

Either of those are better than the American. Our emergency number is 911. I wonder why we have two separate digits. Oh wait, pehaps I know. Perhaps if someting accidentaly presses up against a single digit then it may automatically dial. Perhaps then the AMerican makes better sense. Hmm.


2. In space, an item as small as a toolbag can be seen from Earth.
Of course. Why do you think the flight paths all go over nudist colonies. :D


5. Premium chocolate tasters don't swallow the goods.
Such a job exists??? And I wasted my time going to college.


6. Police use curry to combat alleged drugs possession.
Some of those curries can knock you out with a whiff. ;)


7. A dog's mucus enhances its sense of smell.
I didn't know mucus smelled. :D


9. A French cologne has a scent inspired by the smell of human sperm.
:sick::sick::sick: Why would I want to put on my body someone else's sperm? :sick:

[Guinivere]

1. New Zealand was the first country that allowed the women's vote.

2. The movie "Fargo" is called "Mysterious murder in snowy cream" in Hong Kong.

3. Every three seconds a shark dies at the hand of a human.

4. The smurfs are called "i puffi" in Italy.

5. Rice has more genes than a human being.

6. Elvis never gave an encore.

7. Gustav Mahler's dying words were "Mozart !"

8. There are pink dolphins in the Amazon river.

9. The books, which are the most read in Guantanamo are J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter novels.

10. George Bush's favourite painting shows a cowboy on horseback.

[TheFifthElement]

Either of those are better than the American. Our emergency number is 911. I wonder why we have two separate digits. Oh wait, pehaps I know. Perhaps if someting accidentaly presses up against a single digit then it may automatically dial. Perhaps then the AMerican makes better sense. Hmm.

In Europe they use 112 (not sure if it's universal) and 112 works in UK too. Don't know how it works with US phones, but in UK the keypad lock on phones doesn't operate for 999 as every parent finds out at some time after their lovely little one has dialled it and had a nice chat with the emergency services. Certainly I have found this out. Twice.

[Scheherazade]

1. The first trunk call made in the UK was by the Queen.

2. Claims worth £40m are made each year to the Bank of England in relation to damaged banknotes.

3. And two serial numbers must be legible for a damaged note to be exchanged at the bank.

4. A street light costs about 15p a night to keep lit.

5. The world's timekeeping is monitored by one man.

6. And December 2008 will last one second longer than December 2007.

7. Motorways are five times safer than single-lane roads, according to the AA.

8. The Sydney Opera House was inspired by a peeled orange.

9. Shakespeare probably lost his sight.

10. Spanish has overtaken German as the second most popular language taught in schools.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/12/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_78.shtml

[Virgil]

1. The first trunk call made in the UK was by the Queen.

What exactly is a trunk call? Sounds like something related to prostitution. :lol:


4. A street light costs about 15p a night to keep lit.
Hmm, where are the environmental whackos trying to save every little bit of energy? I bet they want dark city streets.


5. The world's timekeeping is monitored by one man.
:eek2: So if he has a heart attack and dies one night, does that mean time stops? ;)


6. And December 2008 will last one second longer than December 2007.
What a relief. I thought time was moving too fast. :p


7. Motorways are five times safer than single-lane roads, according to the AA.
I believe this. I'm always afraid that someone coming the other way on single lane roads is going to drift over into my lane.


8. The Sydney Opera House was inspired by a peeled orange.
I guess we should be lucky it wasn't a banana. :D


9. Shakespeare probably lost his sight.
I was curious and went and read about this. What a crock. It's all based on speculation.


10. Spanish has overtaken German as the second most popular language taught in schools.
You should come to the US. We have more Spanish speaking people than English. ;)

[Scheherazade]

1. Emily, of Bagpuss fame, was paid with a bag of sweets.

2. Reindeers are genetically programmed to stop growing in cold weather when food is scare, cutting their calorific needs by 70%.

3. Kissing can damage hearing.

4. Butch Cassidy was a Geordie.

5. Councils are banning number 13 houses on new developments.

6. Potatoes can weigh 24lbs (11kgs).

7. The more brothers a man has, the more likely he is to have sons himself.

8. Dogs get jealous.

9. Secondary school pupils in England are the best in Europe at science.

10. The Moon's distance from the Earth can vary by about 30,000km.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a048531

[Virgil]

1. Emily, of Bagpuss fame, was paid with a bag of sweets.

For what? :brow:


2. Reindeers are genetically programmed to stop growing in cold weather when food is scare, cutting their calorific needs by 70%.
I think that's called dying. ;)


3. Kissing can damage hearing.
What? What's that you say? So that's why I'm going deaf. :D


8. Dogs get jealous.
Oh absolutely.

[Joreads]

5. Councils are banning number 13 houses on new developments.


I can understand that I would not live in a house that was numbered 13 or 666 for that matter, I have enough problems without that:lol:

[Scheherazade]

100 things we didn't know this time last year (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/01/100_things_we_didnt_know_last.shtml)

[papayahed]

Biscuits 'key' to clinching business deals

This is true, my coworkers love them some biscuits. Bring in biscuits and they are content - for at least 2 minutes.:lol:

[djy78usa]

8. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.

The Soviet Union actually used dogs as anti-tank mines. The dogs were trained to look for food under tanks and other armored vehciles. As they crawled under the tank, as small lever would be activated, detonating the 50 lbs. or so of TNT that was strapped on their backs. Once they were trained, the dogs would be let loose upon a field of advancing German tanks. The Soviets overlooked one small detail though; the dogs were trained using Soviet tanks, so they would often do as they were trained and run under the first Soviet tank they spotted.

[Virgil]

The Soviet Union actually used dogs as anti-tank mines. The dogs were trained to look for food under tanks and other armored vehciles. As they crawled under the tank, as small lever would be activated, detonating the 50 lbs. or so of TNT that was strapped on their backs. Once they were trained, the dogs would be let loose upon a field of advancing German tanks. The Soviets overlooked one small detail though; the dogs were trained using Soviet tanks, so they would often do as they were trained and run under the first Soviet tank they spotted.

:lol: Gives the perfect example of military intelligence.

[djy78usa]

:lol: Gives the perfect example of military intelligence.

whoa, whoa, whoa... be careful Virg! :lol:

[BienvenuJDC]

10. Racial prejudice is learnt; and everyone has an in-built inclination towards learning to fear people who appear different, says US research.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4713947.stm#10things

I think that the second part of the research is biased to the first statement. Maybe the second part should read, "everyone has an in-built inclination towards fearing people who appear different." It is our responsibility to learn NOT to fear people who are different.

[Scheherazade]

. The record score in rugby union is 350-0, made when one team was protesting against suspensions.

2. Naked rambling is legal in Switzerland.

3. Members of the House of Lords cannot be expelled or suspended.

4. There is an Apostrophe Protection Society.

5. Cows who are given names produce more milk.

6. Poland pays 94% of the funding for the Auschwitz Museum.

7. Thinking too much makes your golf worse.

8. The brain chemical serotonin causes locusts to swarm.

9. Cricket at altitude is potentially dangerous.

10. Putting nuclear reactors near areas prone to earthquakes was banned in the UK. Now it's not.

[Virgil]

Scher, you forgot the link to the details.


. 2. Naked rambling is legal in Switzerland.

Hmm, I would love to see that. :D But where are they rambling to?


4. There is an Apostrophe Protection Society.
Wh't th' f' for? ;)


5. Cows who are given names produce more milk.
And so do women. :lol:


7. Thinking too much makes your golf worse.
And your sexual performance as well. :)


8. The brain chemical serotonin causes locusts to swarm.
Oh is that why I have some have lice in their hair.

[Scheherazade]

1. King Henry VIII was a soppy romantic.

2. Toddlers from well-off families use more hand gestures.

3. The Neanderthals had the speech gene, FOXP2.

4. You can safely eat more than three eggs a week.

5. Nobody really knows when Titian was born.

6. Some of the smells that emanate from chip shops are comparable to butterscotch, onion and ironing boards.

7. Delhi's sewers are cleaned by workers wearing only shorts and rubber gloves.

8. Vladimir Putin prefers the Beatles to Abba.

9. About 6,000 satellites have been put into orbit so far.

10. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

[Virgil]

1. King Henry VIII was a soppy romantic.

:lol: And then when the romance wore off, it was off with their heads.


2. Toddlers from well-off families use more hand gestures.
Well, the hand gestures we learned in the not so well off neighborhoods can't be shown in decent company. :D


4. You can safely eat more than three eggs a week.
Hmm, I have more than that and my cholesterol is 172 with a 2.9 ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol. :D


5. Nobody really knows when Titian was born.
I bet his mother does. ;)


6. Some of the smells that emanate from chip shops are comparable to butterscotch, onion and ironing boards.
But not potatoes. Doesn't that say something? :)


7. Delhi's sewers are cleaned by workers wearing only shorts and rubber gloves.
I hope at least rubber boots. :sick::sick:


8. Vladimir Putin prefers the Beatles to Abba.
Gives a whole new meaning to "Back in the USSR". :D :D


9. About 6,000 satellites have been put into orbit so far.
One of these days one is going to fall down on us.


10. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.
And if the satellite falls down on us it will undougtedly be on Friday the 13th. ;)

[Scheherazade]

1. Elephants kiss.

2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.

3. The Catholic Church studies confessions.

4. British "superguns" defeated the Spanish Armada.

5. Hitler had bad table manners.

6. Injured turtles can wear artificial flippers.

7. Pills can banish bad memories.

8. Grizzly bears hate getting their ears wet.
More details

9. "Prawo Jadzy" means "driving licence" in Polish and is not a real name.

10. Chimps can log on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

[papayahed]

2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.



That explains all those brutality cases!!


10. Chimps can log on.

Yeah but can they beat my score on geo challenge??

[Virgil]

1. Elephants kiss.

French kiss or pecks on the cheek? Try French kissing an elephant and see what that's like. :lol:


2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.
I've never heard of this. How come they haven't asked me to be a policeman for a day? :D


3. The Catholic Church studies confessions.
Boy there are statistics on everything these days.

Traditionally, the seven deadly sins were considered: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
Goodness gracious, I probably committ them all every week.


4. British "superguns" defeated the Spanish Armada.
Technology is what wins wars. Fascinating video and article.


5. Hitler had bad table manners.
His social skills realting to different people other than himself weren't too good either.


8. Grizzly bears hate getting their ears wet.
Now that was a great video. :)


10. Chimps can log on.
Well that explains some of our lit net members. :D :D

[Scheherazade]

1. Nicolas Sarkozy collects stamps.

2. Doodling aids memory.

3. Peanut allergies have trebled in the past decade.

4. Wendy Richard was in Up Pompeii.

5. The biggest underground machine in the world mines salt in Cheshire.

6. There are two types of intelligence.

7. About 1,000 people in the UK lose their voice box annually.

8. Hitler spared Blackpool because he wanted to use it as his personal playground.

9. Fleeces were part of the acid-house scene in the 1980s.

10. Rio has a Sambadrome.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/02/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_86.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. The Sun promised Graham Taylor they would never call him "turnip" again.

2. Barbie dumped Ken.

3. The average number of friends is 150.

4. Former Booker Prize chairman John Sutherland reads airport novels.

5. The key to climbing Kilimanjaro is walking slowly.

6. Marital stress hits women harder.

7. The record amount paid for a domain name is $14m for sex.com, in 2007.

8. Two people in three have lied about reading a book, to impress someone.

9. Corpus Christi college, Oxford, broke the rules when they won University Challenge 2009.

10. ...and so too did Christ Church college, Oxford, allegedly, when they won in 2008.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a061560

[Virgil]

2. Barbie dumped Ken.

:lol: Well that goes to show that Ken as metro man is not appealing to women. :D
http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/1/3/8/5/ar122373910258317.gif
Get back to being a man Ken. ;) And for God's sake, get rid of that ear ring. :D


3. The average number of friends is 150.
My lit net profile page lists 142. And I know I have way more than eight in real life. So I got the average beat. :)


6. Marital stress hits women harder.
Perhaps but it hits men harder in the wallet after the divorce. :D


7. The record amount paid for a domain name is $14m for sex.com, in 2007.
Why does that sound like prostitution? :lol:


8. Two people in three have lied about reading a book, to impress someone.
I wonder about the people on lit net. :p

[Scheherazade]

1. Holding your hands up on a rollercoaster stretches the torso, enhancing the physical sensations.

2. We got Vikings wrong - new research at Cambridge University concludes they were more traders than raiders, who worked hard to settle into new societies as good immigrants.

3. Monkeys floss.

4. And ducks can be gay.

5. 'YR' was an abbreviation for "your" in the 17th and 18th Century too.

6. On 11 September 2001, WTC workers took an average of five to eight minutes to leave their desks - finishing e-mails, filing papers, and some went to the toilet.

7. And in 1985's Manchester Airport crash, some passengers stopped to take luggage out of the overhead bins as the plane burned on the runway.

8. A "sonic brand trigger" is ad-land's term for aural branding - such as BA's opera music or Intel's short string of beeps - used instead of jingles.

9. Electronic cigarettes exist.

10. Biggest first date faux pas? Clicking your fingers at the waiter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

[Virgil]

1. Holding your hands up on a rollercoaster stretches the torso, enhancing the physical sensations.

So does the rack, but we don't do that for fun. ;)


2. We got Vikings wrong - new research at Cambridge University concludes they were more traders than raiders, who worked hard to settle into new societies as good immigrants.
Tell that to the French who bore the brunt of their "trading". :D


3. Monkeys floss.
:lol: What??? With what, each other's tail? I saw the video by the way and that was disgusting.


4. And ducks can be gay.
Gives a whole new meaning to "quack." :D (sorry only kidding.)


5. 'YR' was an abbreviation for "your" in the 17th and 18th Century too.
Oh, and all this time I thought it was short for "you retard." :p


9. Electronic cigarettes exist.
Bet that first drag is a real shocker. ;)


10. Biggest first date faux pas? Clicking your fingers at the waiter.
And here I thought it was dropping your pants at dinner. :lol:

[Scheherazade]

1. Wuthering Heights is known as Les Hauts de Hurlevents in France.

2. The shoes that take Dorothy back to Kansas were originally silver.

3. Champagne that's 184 years old can still have a few bubbles left in it.

4. Elephants can be pink.

5. False memory is called confabulation.

6. Mining output fell more in the periods before and after Mrs Thatcher, than during her time as prime minister.

7. Kim Jong-il likes pizza. North Korea's first pizzeria has opened.

8. Parts of cremated bodies are recycled.

9. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.

10. You should warm up before gardening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

[papayahed]

19. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.


Where do they keep their tokens? and how do they know when to ring the bell (to stop)? Are they dressed? I remember the buses required shoes and shirts. This is very confusing? Where are they going, to work? a day out in the city?

[Virgil]

2. The shoes that take Dorothy back to Kansas were originally silver.

What were they red? They turned red when she stepped into a bucket of paint. ;)


3. Champagne that's 184 years old can still have a few bubbles left in it.
I bet it tastes like it was a 184 years old. :sick: Actually it reminds me of me, an old fart. :p


4. Elephants can be pink.
After enough martinis anything can be pink. ;)


5. False memory is called confabulation.
Oh then my wife should call me Confabulate for all the erroneous things I've said. :D


7. Kim Jong-il likes pizza. North Korea's first pizzeria has opened.
And if the chef makes it too cheesey, it's fifty years in prison. :)


8. Parts of cremated bodies are recycled.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...let me have a recycled bust.


9. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.


Where do they keep their tokens? and how do they know when to ring the bell (to stop)? Are they dressed? I remember the buses required shoes and shirts. This is very confusing? Where are they going, to work? a day out in the city?
They are shorter than the 4 foot height requirement and pass as ugly children. :D Dressed? Have you ever known a monkey to be modest? Their little ding-a-lings flop around. :lol: Work? Of coure they are off to monkey business. :lol: :lol:

[Scheherazade]

1. Tits are also known as bumbarrels.

2. The Daily Sport website is banned in the House of Commons.

3. Teenagers don't like pink light.

4. Crabs feel pain.

5. Britons spend six months of their lives queueing.

6. A broken heart is known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and it can be cured.

7. Britney Spears's family comes from Tottenham in north London.

8. People like their tea to have a temperature of 56-60C.

9. Hyenas have the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom.

10. Charles Darwin loved eating vegetables.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Virgil]

1. Tits are also known as bumbarrels.

:lol::lol: I'm not even going to touch that. It's funny enough on its own.


3. Teenagers don't like pink light.
And here I thought teens liked everything pink. Guys and gals. ;)


5. Britons spend six months of their lives queueing.
God I hate standing in line. I've no patience for it.


8. People like their tea to have a temperature of 56-60C.
Really? I like mine hotter than that I think, though I've never measured the temperature.


9. Hyenas have the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom.
Unless you've been bitten by your wife. :lol:

[Scheherazade]

1. The song Agadoo by Black Lace is originally French.

2. There are 19 countries in the G20.

3. The American signal to stop is a cross of the forearms.

4. It requires 60 tonnes of paint to paint the Eiffel Tower.

5. Eating custard cakes daily does not prevent a very long life.

6. Chicks count.

7. Michelle Obama does high fives.

8. When photographing a group of heads of state, the host should stand in the centre at the front and next to him should be the longest-serving leaders.

9. Too many grapefruits is bad for you.

10. The police tactic of confining demonstrators in a confined space is called kettling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Virgil]

2. There are 19 countries in the G20.

No wonder we're in this economic mess. They can't even count straight. :p


3. The American signal to stop is a cross of the forearms.
That must be some formal signal. I don't recall ever seeing it in everyday practice. That video was humorous though.


4. It requires 60 tonnes of paint to paint the Eiffel Tower.
Holy smoke, that's a lot. But yeah I believe it.


5. Eating custard cakes daily does not prevent a very long life.
That was interesting. The best one was the woman who recommended donkey milk for longetivity. :lol: Now where am I supposed to get donkey milk?


6. Chicks count.
Can they count to 20? If so, sign them up to head our world economic team. Our human kind can't seem to count that far. :D


8. When photographing a group of heads of state, the host should stand in the centre at the front and next to him should be the longest-serving leaders.
Sounds like a kindergarten picture. Same thing actually. ;)


9. Too many grapefruits is bad for you.
There are certain medications where people are told to not eat grapefruits at all.


10. The police tactic of confining demonstrators in a confined space is called kettling.
Sounds like a border collie and sheep. :)

[Scheherazade]

Hey Virgil,

Your commentary on these entries has become a regular addition to this thread. I am sure people are looking forward to reading them! :p

[Virgil]

Hey Virgil,

Your commentary on these entries has become a regular addition to this thread. I am sure people are looking forward to reading them! :p

Thanks. I get a kick out of turning something witty out of a news item.

[Scheherazade]

1. Breaking wind is a bookable offence in football.

2. Black soldiers fighting for the Free French Forces were removed from the unit which led the liberation of Paris to ensure a "whites only" victory.

3. Many of the mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way.

4. Britain pays an annual sum to Ireland to cover healthcare costs of Irish workers who have returned home.

5. Jellied hoof meat from horses is a delicacy in Siberia.

6. Potholes are aggravated by cold weather.

7. Car ownership in India is about nine per thousand people.

8. Mexico City was once a floating city.

9. Six percent of England's streets are littered with rubber bands.

10. More than 97% of all e-mail traffic is spam.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

[Virgil]

1. Breaking wind is a bookable offence in football.

:lol: What? I guess they have to make sure they don't eat beans the night before. Now how did that rule get into the books? So I take it that silent but deadly is the best type to let out. :p


2. Black soldiers fighting for the Free French Forces were removed from the unit which led the liberation of Paris to ensure a "whites only" victory.
That is disgraceful. Nothing more needs to be said. And though that article refers to European soldiers, Americans were just as disgraceful in their dealing of balck soldiers.


5. Jellied hoof meat from horses is a delicacy in Siberia.
It's quite possible that my wife and I will be going to Kazakhstan, which is close to Siberia, in the near future and it seems that they eat horse meat there too. Must be a regional thing. Poor horsies. :(


6. Potholes are aggravated by cold weather.
Oh God don't I know it. We have potholes all over the place right now. A lot seems to depend on the average winter temperature. If you live in a place that oscillates between above freezing and below freezing (like here in the US northeast) the pot holes are worst. Water gets underneath the surface, freezes, and breaks up the street.


8. Mexico City was once a floating city.
Yeah and now it's sunk. Someone let the air out of the raft. ;)


9. Six percent of England's streets are littered with rubber bands.
Reminds me of my sixth grade class. We (the bad boys like me :D) use to bring rubber bands to class and when the teacher turned her back we used to fling them. We used to have rubber band fights. Now I bet all those rubber bands in the English streets are due to the sixth grade boys. :p


10. More than 97% of all e-mail traffic is spam.
*sigh* I certainly get a lot. But it's not that high.

[kilted exile]

Oh God don't I know it. We have potholes all over the place right now. A lot seems to depend on the average winter temperature. If you live in a place that oscillates between above freezing and below freezing (like here in the US northeast) the pot holes are worst. Water gets underneath the surface, freezes, and breaks up the street.


When I was at college we had part of a course dedicated just to this subject - the problem is they are not properly compacting or not using true Gran A for backfill. The potholes will still occur but the severity can be reduced if you use the correct construction techniques

[Taliesin]

It's quite possible that my wife and I will be going to Kazakhstan, which is close to Siberia, in the near future and it seems that they eat horse meat there too. Must be a regional thing. Poor horsies. :(




Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but what is the difference between eating the meat of a cow and eating the meat of a horse besides the thing that horses are cuter/more noble/can be given human properties more easily/whatever? I vaguely remember that you were quite anti-vegetarian in some topic so why such a change of statement? I might of course be mistaken, in that case, deep apologies.

[Virgil]

Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but what is the difference between eating the meat of a cow and eating the meat of a horse besides the thing that horses are cuter/more noble/can be given human properties more easily/whatever? I vaguely remember that you were quite anti-vegetarian in some topic so why such a change of statement? I might of course be mistaken, in that case, deep apologies.

:lol: Horses are cute. :D I am anti-veg, or to be more accurately I'm carnivorous. ;) I guess the real answer is custom. I am unaccustomed to eating horse meat. Actually if I had a cow for a pet it would be difficult for me to eat beef. I could never slaughter an anmal if I had to do it myself. It's a good thing we have supermarkets. ;)


When I was at college we had part of a course dedicated just to this subject - the problem is they are not properly compacting or not using true Gran A for backfill. The potholes will still occur but the severity can be reduced if you use the correct construction techniques
Thanks.

[Scheherazade]

1. Squatters take over islands, as well as homes.

2. White wine has more calories than red wine.

3. Some ants reproduce without sex.

4. About 15% of the world's wine bottles have screw caps.

5. If you list your religion as Jedi on the census, the Office of National Statistics will class this as atheist.

6. Pandas prefer artificial sweetener to sugar.

7. Pigs are the fourth most intelligent animals.

8. Being sorry originally meant to be distressed and sad.

9. About one in 30 people suffers from agoraphobia.

10. A thrown shoe is considered an insult in India, as well as the Middle East, where George Bush famously dodged a lobbed loafer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Virgil]

1. Squatters take over islands, as well as homes.

ooh, ooh, Can I take over a carribean island by squatting? Please.


2. White wine has more calories than red wine.
That's actually surprising. The common knowledge I was under had it the other way around. Actually this web site has it the other way around:
http://www.davidstuff.com/wine/calories.htm. Now one can't just say red wine versus white. Each individual vintage can be dry or sweeter than another or even its vintage. A dry white most likely has less sugar than a sweet red and vice versa. I guess they are roughly the same and not worth having calorie count as a deciding factor in selecting one. I prefer red. :)


3. Some ants reproduce without sex.
:lol:Takes all the fun out of it.


4. About 15% of the world's wine bottles have screw caps.
And they are not usually a bottle you would want. ;)


5. If you list your religion as Jedi on the census, the Office of National Statistics will class this as atheist.
:lol: Some of those fans really have it as a religion, don't they.


6. Pandas prefer artificial sweetener to sugar.
No wonder they can't reproduce. ;) Maybe they should talk to the ants.


7. Pigs are the fourth most intelligent animals.
Just ahead of man, who is fifth. :D Seriously, I know, and I really do feel guilt in eating pork. They are intelligent animals, unfortuantely very tastey. The article doesn't say what the other three are. Would have liked to know.


8. Being sorry originally meant to be distressed and sad.
Not it's a form of fake apology. :p


9. About one in 30 people suffers from agoraphobia.
Acutally this was sad. The human brain is so mysterious and we have just started to touch the surface of how it works.


10. A thrown shoe is considered an insult in India, as well as the Middle East, where George Bush famously dodged a lobbed loafer.
I don't know, could be a badge of honor in some quarters. :D

[Scheherazade]

1. Five trees make an orchard.

2. Matthew Parris once ran the London Marathon in 2hrs 32m, the fastest by an MP.

3. Paper can be made from wombat excrement.

4. Robin Hood had no Maid Marian in the early days.

5. British consumption of poultry increased 25-fold between 1950 and 2000.

6. Video Killed the Radio Star was inspired by a JG Ballard short story.

7. Wine varies in taste from day to day.

8. French women are the lightest in the EU. British women are the heaviest.

9. The Sun is dimmest it has been for a century .

10. There's a swear word in The Beatles' Hey Jude.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/04/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_91.shtml

[Virgil]

1. Five trees make an orchard.

Why not four or six? Who decided this for everyone?


2. Matthew Parris once ran the London Marathon in 2hrs 32m, the fastest by an MP.
If he's anything like our politicians, he was probably running for his life from his constituants. ;)


3. Paper can be made from wombat excrement.
:lol: I've seen some papers where the writing matches the paper material. :D


4. Robin Hood had no Maid Marian in the early days.
well, he had to steal enough before he could afford a maid. Then later he got a butler.


5. British consumption of poultry increased 25-fold between 1950 and 2000.
I wonder if this has anything to do British being the heaviest in the EU. :P (see below)


7. Wine varies in taste from day to day.
What a crock. I thought this was going to talk about howwine might vary in taste after the bottle's been openned. But it says this: "Her theory is that wine is a living organism that responds to the Moon's rhythms in the same way that some people believe humans do." :alien::alien: What new age nonesense.


8. French women are the lightest in the EU. British women are the heaviest.
I guess they don't have chickens in France. :D Wth all the British women on this forum, I better be very very careful with what I say here. :lol:


10. There's a swear word in The Beatles' Hey Jude.
I can't find it. Here are the lyrics:


Hey jude, dont make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

Hey jude, dont be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey jude, refrain,
Dont carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Hey jude, dont let me down.
You have found her, now go and get her.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

So let it out and let it in, hey jude, begin,
Youre waiting for someone to perform with.
And dont you know that its just you, hey jude, youll do,
The movement you need is on your shoulder.

Hey jude, dont make it bad.
Take a sad song
and make it better.
Remember to let her under your skin,
Then youll begin to make it
Better better better better better better, oh.

Na na na na na ,na na na, hey jude...

[Sapphire]

10) It is there Virgil, in the song that is - not in the lyrics :p Find the song and listen to it around 3 minutes in. Right after "remember to let her under your skin". If you want to hear it, you'll hear it. If you don't, it is just a meaningless little noice and totally non-offensive ;)

[Virgil]

10) It is there Virgil, in the song that is - not in the lyrics :p Find the song and listen to it around 3 minutes in. Right after "remember to let her under your skin". If you want to hear it, you'll hear it. If you don't, it is just a meaningless little noice and totally non-offensive ;)

Why thank you Saphire. Yes I played it. It is totally meaningless. So what makes them think it's swear word? I can't make it out. Can you tell me what it is. Here's the you tube video. You can't even read Paul's lips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXG83p2nkHw

[Sapphire]

It is supposed to be the f-word...a bit of an inside joke I guess... Just to see whether they could do it (and thus making it so unrecognisable) :)

[Virgil]

It is supposed to be the f-word...a bit of an inside joke I guess... Just to see whether they could do it (and thus making it so unrecognisable) :)

Thanks. :)

[Scheherazade]

Why not four or six? Who decided this for everyone? I think what they mean is that there should be at least five tree to consider a group of trees "an orchard".

It is similar to definition of a town or city, I guess.
I can't find it. Here are the lyrics:I think it is only in the original recording. Here is the original story:
I have just been enjoying Here, There and Everywhere by Geoff Emerick, the man who was the engineer on Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road, along with many other Beatles tracks. For aficionados it is an unmissable book, a superb account of their work in the studio.

This morning I read Emerick's account of the recording of Hey Jude.

Emerick wasn't the engineer on the track - the recording didn't begin at Abbey Road - but he was called in to fix problems caused by technical deficiencies at Trident Studios.

He notes that when he listened to the mix, in the third verse:

Right between the lines "The minute you let her under your skin/ Oh, then you begin" you can clearly hear Paul curse off mic saying 'F****** hell!"

Apparently this exclamation was caused by McCartney playing a duff note on the piano.

The Beatles knew it was there, but John Lennon insisted it stay. He wanted it low in the final mix so that while most people wouldn't realise it was there, the Beatles could enjoy it.

And so it stayed. And when I put down Emerick's book I realise that the expletive can be heard, really quite clearly. You can hear it from minute 2:56 of the song.http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2009/04/having-read-a-huge-amount-about-the-beatles-i-thought-i-pretty-much-knew-all-the-quirks-in-their-recordings-how-wrong-i-was.html

[Scheherazade]

1. Diamonds can be blue.

2. Birds can dance.

3. You can get a driving licence and credit card in the name of Pudsey Bear, but not a passport.

4. The annual salary for the Poet Laureate is £5,750.

5. Many mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.

6. Flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs.

7. An outbreak of swine flu in 1976 killed one person but a vaccine to combat it killed 25.

8. Adults who are sexually attracted to teenagers are called hebophiles.

9. David Attenborough doesn't own any pets.

10. Prince was born with epilepsy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/05/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_92.shtml

[Stargazer86]

I find number 7 to be particularly interesting in light of recent events. I'll have to share that one with the nurses where I work :P

3. What?! seriously? Is that someone's actual name? How on earth did that one even show up on the list O_o

[Scheherazade]

Pudsey Bear is the mascot for "Children in Need" in the UK:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/CiNbbc.png

At university, I had a Prof whose surname was Bear so it might be possible to get away with it but for passport they want to see the Birth Certificate, of course.

[Stargazer86]

Pudsey Bear is the mascot for "Children in Need" in the UK:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/CiNbbc.png

At university, I had a Prof whose surname was Bear so it might be possible to get away with it but for passport they want to see the Birth Certificate, of course.


Ohhh okay that makes more sense. It seemed so random when I first read it!

These are some pretty interesting lists

[Virgil]

1. Diamonds can be blue.

And so can old lady's hair coloring, but does that make it natural? ;)


2. Birds can dance.
I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree. :p


3. You can get a driving licence and credit card in the name of Pudsey Bear, but not a passport.
I would like to see Pudsey driving. :D No wonder those London drivers were so wild. They'll give anyone a licence.


4. The annual salary for the Poet Laureate is £5,750.
That's it? Seems hardly enough to live on.


5. Many mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.
Who says they're really praying? :brow:


6. Flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs.
Gives a whole new meaning to mischief night (day before Halloween) where they throw eggs. :)


7. An outbreak of swine flu in 1976 killed one person but a vaccine to combat it killed 25.
Sounds just like the over reaction we are having now.


8. Adults who are sexually attracted to teenagers are called hebophiles.
If I had my way, I would call them castrati. :flare:


9. David Attenborough doesn't own any pets.
The dirty little secret is that the pets own him. :D


10. Prince was born with epilepsy.
Prince was born with a lot of problems, the least of which is epilepsy. :lol:

[Stargazer86]

:lol: Virgil, you are such a smarta** and I find you quite funny :P

[Scheherazade]

2. Birds can dance.
I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree. :p
Which bird would you be?

;)

[Virgil]

:lol: Virgil, you are such a smarta** and I find you quite funny :P
:lol: Thank you.


Which bird would you be?

;)
The cuckoo bird. :p

[Scheherazade]

1. There is a real place called Hicksville.

2. Britain once sent an envoy with a quadruple-barrelled name to Moscow - Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurley Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

3. Sikhs do not have to wear motorcycle crash helmets.

4. Napoleon wrote chick-lit.

5. John Prescott's toilet seat broke twice.

6. Tom Hanks watches "Loose Women".

7. Youth hostelling was invented in Germany in 1912.

8. The use of the word "rat" as an insult in English goes back at least until the 16th Century.

9. Two main muscles are used for smiling - the zygomatic muscle turns the corner of the lips up and the orbicularis oculi crinkles the corners of the eyes.

10. Birds are actually really rather clever.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/05/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_15.shtml

[PoeticPassions]

10. Birds are actually really rather clever.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/05/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_15.shtml

All birds? I would beg to differ... Chickens are considered birds, but they are really not clever. Would turkeys be birds as well? Because I hear they're some of the dumbest animals....

Crows are really clever though.

[BienvenuJDC]

I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree. :p


That may be directly linked to the intensity of your complexion...:)

[Virgil]

That may be directly linked to the intensity of your complexion...:)
:p


1. There is a real place called Hicksville.

Oooh, I've actually driven by it. But I never ventured to meet the hicks. :D


2. Britain once sent an envoy with a quadruple-barrelled name to Moscow - Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurley Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.
:lol: His mother called him Ernie. ;)


3. Sikhs do not have to wear motorcycle crash helmets.
That is not wise. You crash on a motorcycle there are some serious ramifications.


4. Napoleon wrote chick-lit.
:D Well, he had to do soimething betweeen the pillaging and warfare. This was his sensitive side. :p


5. John Prescott's toilet seat broke twice.
Don't know who Prescott is but I bet he's got a fat a$$. ;)


6. Tom Hanks watches "Loose Women".
Don't all men? Just check out the Bloke thread here on lit net. :D


7. Youth hostelling was invented in Germany in 1912.
A precurser to WWI. That's what happens when you get all these youths together in one place. :)


8. The use of the word "rat" as an insult in English goes back at least until the 16th Century.
And before that they were considered lovable little creatures? :lol:


9. Two main muscles are used for smiling - the zygomatic muscle turns the corner of the lips up and the orbicularis oculi crinkles the corners of the eyes.
:blush: That sounds downright sexy.


10. Birds are actually really rather clever.
Actually very true. They are among the smartest of animals. Yes Poetic, especially crows. Though you're right chickens don't seem too bright.

[Nightshade]

Actually there is at least one documented case of crows being able to imitate human speech. :nod:
Birds from the family Corvis I think it is are supposedly the smartest birds of the lot and probably smarter than most apes ( are chimps apes?) :confused:
I can see the page I read this off in my mind word for word I just can't rember where it was I read it, it will come to me though.

[Taliesin]

Crows imitating human speech?
Impossible!

[JuniperWoolf]

I read about crows imitating human speech in a magazine that I found in a doctor's waiting room when I was like, eleven. It stuck with me because of how cool it is. I think some hikers somewhere discovered them.
I'm pretty sure chimps are classified as apes, and so are their promiscuous cousins the bonobos (which I think are sweet).

[Nightshade]

Crows imitating human speech?
Impossible!

What do you mean its humans who have been imitating crows all these years? :eek2:

[Scheherazade]

1. Sending nude images via a mobile phone is called "sexting".

2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year.

3. The Odeon cinema chains are named after their British founder Oscar Deutsch, and the acronym stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.

4. Use of the word "carbuncle" to describe a building was first made in the 19th Century to describe Buckingham Palace.

5. We are born violent.

6. And a tribe in Bolivia has a festival of violence to settle disputes.

7. Joanna Lumley was sounded out by Labour to run as London Mayor in 2000.

8. Plants can water themselves.

9. Emotionally intelligent women orgasm more.

10. Some petals have velcro-like surfaces.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/05/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_93.shtml

[Virgil]

1. Sending nude images via a mobile phone is called "sexting".

And posting nude photos of your pets is called pexting. :D


2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year.
But she can get pregnant. ;)


3. The Odeon cinema chains are named after their British founder Oscar Deutsch, and the acronym stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.
Well I guess no one could bring themselves in naming them the deutsch chains. :lol: (If you don't get it, look up the slang for deutsche.;))


4. Use of the word "carbuncle" to describe a building was first made in the 19th Century to describe Buckingham Palace.
That sounds like a disease.


5. We are born violent.
Well, if the little angel comes out of the womb wearing a mask, holding a stick up gun, and a note asking for your money, I think you would begin to be suspicious. ;)


6. And a tribe in Bolivia has a festival of violence to settle disputes.
Oh my God, do you realize the ratings that would get on television? It's a gold mine.


7. Joanna Lumley was sounded out by Labour to run as London Mayor in 2000.
Sounded out? Wasn't it more like shouted out? :p (I have no idea who she is, so don't think I'm talking serious politics.)


8. Plants can water themselves.
In humans we call it urination. :D


9. Emotionally intelligent women orgasm more.
:lol: Well, what can I possibly say to that? Don't all women consider themselves emotionally intelligent? If you don't get an orgasm then what does that tell you about yourself? You're emotionally stupid? :lol: And doesn't the quality of the orgasm have something to do with how the man is ********. Sorry that was beeped out. :p

[The Walker]

haha i love this thread!
and enjoy very much of virgil responses to them. lol

Quote:
2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year.

"But she can get pregnant. "

that is so true ha

[Scheherazade]

1. Franco had one testicle.

2. That condition is called monorchism.

3. Only 26 people used Yangyang International airport in South Korea last year.

4. Excessive cola-drinking can cause paralysis.

5. 29% of women have never used the internet, but only 20% of men.

6. Seven Speakers of the House of Commons were beheaded prior to 1560.

7. Britain had animal welfare laws before it had child welfare laws.

8. Child protection used to be enforced by uniformed NSPCC inspectors, known as "cruelty men".

9. Pringles are not potato crisps.

10. The man who was the voice of Mickey Mouse was married to the woman who did Minnie's.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Virgil]

haha i love this thread!
and enjoy very much of virgil responses to them. lol


Thank you very much Walker. That was kind. :)


1. Franco had one testicle.

Is that why he was afraid to join Hitler and Mussolini? No balls. :D


2. That condition is called monorchism.
And I hear it's realated to monocularism, the eye malady affecting one eye where one glass is used. Next time you see someone like this with one eye glass, ask him if he has one testicle. :p
http://www.themoviestarpage.com/5c-244ms.jpg


3. Only 26 people used Yangyang International airport in South Korea last year.
It probably cost a billion dollars to put that airport in, you would think there would be a need. Actually some Congressman in Pensylvania here got an airport put in his district and no one is using it. Ah, politicians. :sick:


4. Excessive cola-drinking can cause paralysis.
That must be because all the fat you put around your waist strangles your spine. ;)


5. 29% of women have never used the internet, but only 20% of men.
Hmm, that's because women are doing real work, like making dinner and cleaning the house. We men are a bunch of loafers.


6. Seven Speakers of the House of Commons were beheaded prior to 1560.
Boy, lose an election and geez, people don't get over it. :lol:


7. Britain had animal welfare laws before it had child welfare laws.
It doesn't surprise me actually. It always surprises me how we have such compassion for animals (and that's a good thing) but have such a disregard for children. Just look at how the unborn are considered in some circles.


8. Child protection used to be enforced by uniformed NSPCC inspectors, known as "cruelty men".
I think they had to change their name during the inquisition. :p


9. Pringles are not potato crisps.
The article says it's less than 50% potato and the other half is snot meal. Snot meal? :sick:


10. The man who was the voice of Mickey Mouse was married to the woman who did Minnie's.
And when they made love together they squeeked in mousey orgasms. :lol:

[BienvenuJDC]

And when they made love together they squeeked in mousey orgasms. :lol:

Virgil...you're just wrong....WRONG, I say!! Now I've got visuals in my head... :lol:

[Virgil]

Virgil...you're just wrong....WRONG, I say!! Now I've got visuals in my head... :lol:

Sorry. :D

[Nightshade]

Maybe the snot meal is the addictive substance in pringles?
:idea:

[Virgil]

Maybe the snot meal is the addictive substance in pringles?
:idea:

Might just be. :D

[Scheherazade]

« Previous | Main | Next »
10 things we didn't know this time last week
15:19 UK time, Friday, 5 June 2009

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Armstrong DID fluff his lines.

2. The Apprentice losers' café featured in Z-Cars.

3. One in three organ transplant patients believe they have taken on some aspects of the donor's personality.

4. Some apes make noises similar to human laughter when being tickled.

5. Australia is not in recession.

6. In the 1970 US Census, the number of people who said they were aged over 100 was about 22 times the true number.

7. Gay couples in the animal kingdom can rear young.

8. You can see penguins droppings from space.

9. David Attenborough's first pet was a salamander.

10. Urban great tits sing louder than their country cousins.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/06/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_16.shtml

[Michael T]

8. You can see penguins droppings from space.



Wow...I shall be out watchings the sky tonight!!! :D

[Nightshade]

8. You can see penguins droppings from space.


What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil!
pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are.
I mean they are birds that cant fly, but worsde they dont even have proper feathers....

[papayahed]

What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil!
pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are.


And they're crybabies!!! Damn crosby.

[Nightshade]

Bing was a penguin?
:eek2:
who knew? *gasps* ...
...Niamh didnt know bing crosby was a penguin either

[papayahed]

hockey. Sid Crosby plays for the pittsburgh penguins.

[Niamh]

:lol:

[Nightshade]

wait so Hockey players have radioactive visable from space Sh*t ?
Coooooooooooooooooool!
Penguins ( the webbed feet beaked have nothing to do wuith christmas and yet randnbopmly seem to have overtake the holiday penguins) are stiill evil though

[The Walker]

What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil!
pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are.


haha :lol: so i guess you dont like penguins :lol:

[Nightshade]

haha :lol: so i guess you dont like penguins :lol:

You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and those things anywhere near each other.
but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
on that score.
They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy! :nod:

[Virgil]

[QUOTE=Scheherazade;73282010. Urban great tits sing louder than their country cousins.
[/QUOTE]

Urban great tits? I think I've heard a few of those singing at some strip clubs. :lol:

[JuniperWoolf]

You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and those things anywhere near each other.
but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
on that score.
They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy! :nod:

lol Then I guess you don't like my avator. But look at his cute little determined eye and his adorable stick! I bet you'd think differently about penguins if you saw one on Sidney Crosby's chest.

[The Walker]

You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and those things anywhere near each other.
but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
on that score.
They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy! :nod:

:lol:
I'll remember that...

[Scheherazade]

1. Gay people in China used to be prosecuted under "hooliganism" laws.

2. Canada used to border Zimbabwe.

3. Carly Simon had a stutter.

4. Sir Alan Sugar donates his salary from The Apprentice to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

5. Setanta started in an Irish dance hall in west London in 1990.

6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.

7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.

8. More than half of all Patels in the UK are married to people born Patel.

9. Only eight Britons who fought in the Spanish Civil War are known to be still alive.

10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[The Walker]

6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.

that means learning never stops



7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.

that is not fear!!


10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.

I bet he does! should I say: poor girl? :lol:

[Virgil]

1. Gay people in China used to be prosecuted under "hooliganism" laws.

Kind of leads to some strange images in my mind of football hooligans. ;)


2. Canada used to border Zimbabwe.
Oh that explains the Canadian lions. :)


3. Carly Simon had a stutter.
Yes, and her big song, "You're So Vain" was first was called "You're Fffor Pppain."


5. Setanta started in an Irish dance hall in west London in 1990.
Did they forget the Scottish dance hall in east London in 1989? That's when the kilt lifted and people noticed he forgot to wear underwear that day. I bet he's trying to forget that one. :D


6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.
Lajehfroieh. There I just created one. Does that count?


7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.
I ain't called either. I've got zero chance. ;)


8. More than half of all Patels in the UK are married to people born Patel.
If you were a millionaire, who else would you marry but another miliionaire. Got to keep it in the family.


9. Only eight Britons who fought in the Spanish Civil War are known to be still alive.
Ah, when men were men. God bless those who faught against fascism. :thumbs_up


10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.
And what the father doesn't know is that she contacts all her boy friends using the house land line. He never suspects a thing. :D

[The Walker]

Lajehfroieh. There I just created one. Does that count?

mmm no really, it has to be used at least 25,oo0 times on the web
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh

there you go...there are the first 10 :D

[Scheherazade]

1. There are 2,500 year old bird nests still in continuous use.

2. The Fred Perry sportswear logo was almost a pipe - Perry was a keen smoker - but his business partner thought this would put off women customers.

3. As a cold-blooded insect, flies are slower in the early morning and evening when the air is cooler, and speed up in the heat of the day.

4. C, the single-letter codename for the head of MI6, dates from when the first boss, Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming, signed himself "C" for Cumming.

5. Streetlights cause problems for bats.

6. The pilot and co-pilot on a passenger plane are not allowed to have the same meal in case they both get food poisoning.

7. The Queen has an allotment.

8. Scotland has the lowest age for criminal responsibility in Europe.

9. Hitachi makes trains.

10. Pak Do-ik, the North Korean footballer, is still known as "the dentist" among Italian football fans for causing them pain by scoring the goal that saw them beaten 1-0 in the 1966 World Cup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/06/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_17.shtml

[kilted exile]

8. Scotland has the lowest age for criminal responsibility in Europe.


This is because we have one of the largest population of useless kids in europe

[Scheherazade]

1. Camels travel by train.

2. Buddhist monks sleep upright.

3. Four-legged animals need to avoid doing "wheelies".

4. Seagulls attack whales.

5. If you use a tool for a while, your brain can mentally incorporate it into your body.

6. The UK has the ability to launch "cyber attacks".

7. British-style black cabs are now driven in China.

8. Every film in which actress Dame Judi Dench swears results in complaints to the BBFC.

9. There is a long tradition of "medals of dishonour".

10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/06/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_18.shtml

[The Walker]

10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/06/10_things_we_didnt_know_this_t_18.shtml

that made me laugh lol

[Virgil]

1. Camels travel by train.

I've seen quite a few people on the NYC subway trains that could be classified as camels. :D


2. Buddhist monks sleep upright.
You know, my wife hates the way I shift around in bed. She would love it if I could learn to sleep this way. :)


3. Four-legged animals need to avoid doing "wheelies".
Not quite sure what that's saying, but I've never seen any four legged animals with wheels on their feet.


4. Seagulls attack whales.
Yeah I've seen a seagull pick up a grey whale, fly it over a hundred feet in the air, drop it on the beach, and then start ravaging it by sinking it's beak into the whale's throat. :alien::alien:


5. If you use a tool for a while, your brain can mentally incorporate it into your body.
So if I maodel a saw in my brain does that mean that my hand will develop a cutting edge? :idea:


6. The UK has the ability to launch "cyber attacks".
I think every geeky thirteen year old has the ability to launch a cyber attack? Is this really something so special? James Bond where have you gone? ;)


7. British-style black cabs are now driven in China.
Well, with all the Chinese restaurants in London they had to trade something. :D


8. Every film in which actress Dame Judi Dench swears results in complaints to the BBFC.
Judi, Judi, Judi. Shame shame. :p Holy smoke. The rules on this in Britain sound more byzantine that those in the US.


9. There is a long tradition of "medals of dishonour".
Yeah and you ought to see the ones I've gotten here on lit net. Just ask Scher. :D :D


10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.
My first thought was how do they get the crowd to eat all those chillis, but then I realized it's the cops that eat the chillis and then let out some flatulance for crowd control. Very inovative. :D

[Scheherazade]

1. Fred Perry was also table tennis world champion.

2. Mrs Slocombe's first name was Betty.

3. The UK is developing a quarter of the world's wave technologies.

4. Press-ups come in many guises, such as the "seal", "frog" and "donkey-kick".

5. The keffiyeh, a chequered scarf worn mostly by Arab men, and made famous by Yasser Arafat, is now mostly made in China.

6. Vegetarians are generally less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer.

7. The Duke of Kent requested that players no longer bow to the royal box at Wimbledon, in 2003.

8. Richard and Judy did not pick the books that featured in their book club.

9. Michael Jackson patented one item - the special shoes he used in the stage version of Smooth Criminal.

10. Saddam Hussein once hired the James Bond director, Terence Young, to make a promotional Iraqi film.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_96.shtml

[Stargazer86]

Did Young take Hussein up on his offer?

[Scheherazade]

1. Heavy metal in Morocco is regarded as devil-worship.

2. Monkeys notice bad grammar.

3. Trousers used to be called unmentionables.

4. Neil Armstrong took Dvorak's New World Symphony and theremin music to the moon.

5. The best place to put a wind turbine is in Orkney Islands.

6. Dinosaurs were couch potatoes.

7. Ice fallen from the sky is due to leaking plane ventilation systems.

8. Clothes could take photos.

9. Ringo Starr's mum wanted him to work in a bank.

10. Sir Jimmy Savile once saved the day by directing traffic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_97.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. Stoke City were huge in Norway in the 80s.

2. A third of England's coastline is inaccessible.

3. Police officers are not required to be able to swim.

4. 10 million people drive to work every day.

5. The dye used in blue M&Ms can help mend spinal injuries.

6. Poverty, as measured by the government, can decline during a recession.

7. Broadband speed is decided before the signal even leaves the exchange.

8. Poet Robert Browning used the T-word while thinking it was an item of clothing for a nun.

9. Chimpanzees are biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.

10. Bees warn other bees about flowers where dangers can be expected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_99.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. Wild orangutans use leaves to make their voices deeper and to scare predators.

2. University degrees in comedy exist.

3. European bison live in just one forest, on the Belarus-Poland border.

4. Men At Work's Down Under was inspired by Dame Edna's nephew.

5. Aesop's fable about a crow using stones to drink out of a pitcher is based on fact.

6. 17 million people in Britain aged over 15 do not use the internet.

7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.

8. Last year Britons sent 80 billion texts.

9. Bristol is the fourth most visited city in England.

10. Director John Hughes sometimes wrote under a pseudonym taken from an Alexandre Dumas novel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_100.shtml

[The Walker]

wow i had forgotten this thread! now i have plenty to read!

[Michael T]

7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.


Now we all want to know which comedy sketch they watch Scher! :)

[Virgil]

Oh, I've missed quite a few weeks worth. I'll just pick a few from each to catch up. ;)


1. Heavy metal in Morocco is regarded as devil-worship.

I think heavy metal is regarded as devil worship everywhere. You mean it's not. :lol:


2. Monkeys notice bad grammar.
They would have a ball reading through lit net. Hey I bet some lit netters are actually monkeys. :D


3. Trousers used to be called unmentionables.
That's when no one wore underwear. Get a hole in your trouser crotch and people started mentioning it. ;)


5. The best place to put a wind turbine is in Orkney Islands.
Why? Do they pass a lot of wind there? :)


6. Dinosaurs were couch potatoes.
And that shoould be a lesson for all of us if we don't want to be extinct. ;)


9. Ringo Starr's mum wanted him to work in a bank.
I thought he lived in a yellow submarine. :p



2. A third of England's coastline is inaccessible..
Hmm, actually other than the romans in the first century and the Normans conquest in the 11th century, I don't believe anyone has actually invaded England through their coast. Hey that's every thousand years and this century makes a thousand years since the last. Is England due for a successful invasion this century? :eek:


3. Police officers are not required to be able to swim.
Looking at their physiques, I don't think many cops can even run, let alone swim. :D


4. 10 million people drive to work every day.
I assume that's not world wide.


5. The dye used in blue M&Ms can help mend spinal injuries.
Oh what a wonderful reason to pop some M&Ms. But it will have to be the whole bag. They don't sell only the blue ones. :idea:


6. Poverty, as measured by the government, can decline during a recession.
You would think then that the measuring technique would be flawed. But who thinks.


8. Poet Robert Browning used the T-word while thinking it was an item of clothing for a nun.
The "T" word? :blush: You'll have to read that one yourself. Modesty prevents me from commenting. But it's pretty funny. :lol:


9. Chimpanzees are biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.
Which puts them on a higher level of evolution than most people in Brooklyn. :lol:


1. Wild orangutans use leaves to make their voices deeper and to scare predators.
And here I thought they were looking for toilet paper. :p


2. University degrees in comedy exist.
Surprise, when you get your dioploma it trurns out to be a joke.


3. European bison live in just one forest, on the Belarus-Poland border.
I didn't know Europe had bison. And they look fairly similar to the American bison. Here's the European:
http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/animals/388.jpg


5. Aesop's fable about a crow using stones to drink out of a pitcher is based on fact.
Quote the raven, never more. :)


7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.
Here it is:
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31364&highlight=year

[Scheherazade]

1. You're as likely to be hit by lightning as be killed by a mentally ill person.

2. It's illegal for British people to play the UK Lottery while on holiday in Spain and the US.

3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.

4. Only about one or two in 200 people with autism have a savant talent, or exceptional ability.

5. There's a 40-year wait for an allotment in one part of London.

6. A freak wave is one that measures roughly three times higher than other swells on the sea at any one time.

7. They tend to occur at an incidence of about three waves in every 10,000.

8. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a water slide in his garden.

9. Young men in their early 20s are the worst at keeping their NHS appointments.

10. Les Paul, whose name is synonymous with the electric guitar, also invented the eight-track tape recorder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/snippets_from_the_weeks_news.shtml

[AmericanEagle]

3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.

After Suri was born, people seemed to forget that he already has two children with Nicole Kidman.

[Scheherazade]

1. PowerPoint was originally called Presentation.

2. The average length of a PowerPoint presentation is 250 mins.

3. Emoticons in the East are the right way up (^_^).

4. The British Board of Film Classification has denied only three titles seeking an 18 rating during the last four years.

5. Surnames can have question marks.

6. You can write using squid ink.

7. Cricketer Andrew Flintoff played chess for Lancashire as a schoolboy.

8. The number of people reporting UFO sightings leapt up in the year when Independence Day was released in the UK.

9. London Ashford Airport and London Southend Airport are not officially recognised as London airports.

10. Four people died after being stung by a wasp, bee or hornet, in England and Wales in 2007.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_101.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. iPhones are not yet sold in China.

2. Margaret Thatcher suffered one parliamentary defeat as prime minister - on Sunday trading laws.

3. English holidaymakers drink an average of eight alcoholic drinks a day.

4. The UK population grew more in 2008 than at any time since 1962.

5. And Germany's population is shrinking.

6. West Ham's stadium is really called the Boleyn Ground, not Upton Park.

7. The smell of cut grass makes people happy.

8. A pint glass lasts an average of only three months.

9. An Englishman sailed to the "New World" only two years after the first European is thought to have landed in Newfoundland.

10. Men in China cannot marry until aged 22.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_102.shtml

[Virgil]

goodness, I miss three again. Has it been three weeks already since I participated in this? Where does time go? Ok, let's see if I can get my funny bone working this morning. It might be a little early for my wit, but i am currently drinking my second cup of coffee. :)



1. You're as likely to be hit by lightning as be killed by a mentally ill person.

You mean Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is an exaggersatin? Whew, now I can relax every time I go into the shower. ;)


2. It's illegal for British people to play the UK Lottery while on holiday in Spain and the US.
But it's legal to play it in France. Amazing. Your laws aree really convoluted. :p


3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.
With a higher intelligence than his dad I'm sure. :D


4. Only about one or two in 200 people with autism have a savant talent, or exceptional ability.
Of course, and everyone here knows I'm an idiot savant. Or at least an idiot. :lol:


5. There's a 40-year wait for an allotment in one part of London.
Oh Fifth just explained to me the other week what an allotment is. I would imagine it's hard to get in London. Do they even have green spaces in London?


6. A freak wave is one that measures roughly three times higher than other swells on the sea at any one time.
And a freak person is one with three time higher quantity of fluid in his head. ;)


7. They tend to occur at an incidence of about three waves in every 10,000.
Unfortunately the same ratio does not apply for a freaky person. Just count the weirdos on lit net and divide by the total number of active members and you'll find it's one out of three. There are way more freaky people than freaky waves. :)


8. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a water slide in his garden.
Do I need say more about freaky people? :lol: Some say that he slides down in the nude and when he's through the nurses put diapers on him and give him a baby bottle to suck on. :p


9. Young men in their early 20s are the worst at keeping their NHS appointments.
Young men in their 20s are only concerned about keeping the appointments with their female interests. and that's the truth. ;)



1. PowerPoint was originally called Presentation.
As one who makes PowerPoint presentations almost weekly these days, I think Presentation would have been a better name. But what a wonderful product. I don't know how we did without it in the past.


2. The average length of a PowerPoint presentation is 250 mins.
Three hours??? No way. Who can sit through a three hour brief, and that's just the average. I don't believe that. I would guess mine average an hour.


3. Emoticons in the East are the right way up (^_^).
Ironic isn't it? We have slanty eyes on the emoticons in the west. -_- -;- -!-


5. Surnames can have question marks.
That's because they're not sure what their surname is. John Smith? or is it Jones? :lol:


6. You can write using squid ink.
:sick: Does the page smell of sea food afterwards?


8. The number of people reporting UFO sightings leapt up in the year when Independence Day was released in the UK.
Isn't that the same year aliens from space landed on the cliffs of Dover? :eek2:


9. London Ashford Airport and London Southend Airport are not officially recognised as London airports.
They are just parking lots that airplanes decided to use as a landing. ;)



1. iPhones are not yet sold in China.
They are probalbly made in China and people pocket them off the assembly line. :)


2. Margaret Thatcher suffered one parliamentary defeat as prime minister - on Sunday trading laws.
All I can say is that love Margret Thatcher. :)


3. English holidaymakers drink an average of eight alcoholic drinks a day.
I don't know what a holidaymaker is or does, but what an appropriate name. :D


4. The UK population grew more in 2008 than at any time since 1962.
Have you noticed many Germans entrering. Isn't SleepyWitch immigrating to England?


5. And Germany's population is shrinking.
All because of SleepyWitch. :D


7. The smell of cut grass makes people happy.
That's because the work is done. I groan every time I see my grass needing to be cut.


8. A pint glass lasts an average of only three months.
Boy, I've heard of nursing a drink but that's ridiculous. The bartender should throw him out at closing time. ;)


9. An Englishman sailed to the "New World" only two years after the first European is thought to have landed in Newfoundland.
Well, to the English Ireland counted as the New World. :p


10. Men in China cannot marry until aged 22.
Oooh, and some fail the marriage license test and have to wait until 25. :p

[Scheherazade]

Virgil> Please take your time to have your coffee before posting your comments! :D


1. The village of Cambourne, in Cambridgeshire, has a higher birth rate than India and China.

2. Block capitals are used to signify formality.

3. Only half of seven-year-olds with an August birthday reach expected educational level.

4. WalMart is the biggest employer in the world.

5. It is not against the law to be naked in public in the UK.

6. Michael Aspel was a wartime evacuee.

7. Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA.

8. Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, first ran in 1951.

9. The crease under your buttocks is called the gluteal fold.

10. Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in the 1970s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/09/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_103.shtml

[papayahed]

10. Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in the 1970s.


uh, don't you mean fake moon rocks since we all know the moon landing never happened:alien:

[Scheherazade]

Of course! There are three conspiracy theories that are out there to confuse you:

1. Moon landing has never happened.

2. Elvis is still alife.

3. British cuisine is actually tasty and very rich.

:D

[Virgil]

Virgil> Please take your time to have your coffee before posting your comments! :D

Hopefully that's a compliment. ;)


1. The village of Cambourne, in Cambridgeshire, has a higher birth rate than India and China.
So the reason for the low birth rates in Europe is because they have houses that are not new? New houses spark births, which I assume sparks lots of sex. I think I need a new house. :)


2. Block capitals are used to signify formality.
BUT ON THE INTERNET THEY IMPLY RAISING YOUR VOICE. CAN YOU HEAR ME. :p


3. Only half of seven-year-olds with an August birthday reach expected educational level.
Hah! Both my sistern and brother were born in August. I will have to send them this to explain why their older brother is so much smarter. :D


4. WalMart is the biggest employer in the world.
Wow. Where's Granny? She's our official lit net WalMart employee.


5. It is not against the law to be naked in public in the UK.
And thank God they don't because I'm not sure there are many English one would want to see naked. *shudders* (Only kidding. :p)


7. Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA.
And if lit ent is a cross section of the population, by the looks of it there are quite a few mutants here. :D


8. Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, first ran in 1951.
Oh, just this morning I came across a quote from one of the original inventors of the computer back in 1943 that he estimated that there would only be a maximum need of five computers worldwide. Boy, given that almost all educated people these days have on on their desk at work and at least one at home, was he wrong. You can be a genius in one field, but short sighted in another.


9. The crease under your buttocks is called the gluteal fold.
Is that for both men and women? I've got a different name for that fold on women. :lol:

[Scheherazade]

1. Married couples used to always sleep apart.

2. Criminal trials in Japan have a 99% conviction rate.

3. The world's oldest circle of church bells is in Ipswich.

4. Both parties file for divorce in only one in 300 cases, on average.

5. Peter Andre's surname is actually Andrea.

6. The subject with the most GCSE passes this year was chemistry.

7. Everyone once used the left-hand side of the road.

8. There are so few redheads in Mexico that they often greet each other in the street.

9. Silvio Berlusconi is the same height as Nicolas Sarkozy.

10. "Posh" tea company Twinings is owned by Associated British Foods, which also own budget clothes chain Primark.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

[Scheherazade]

1. The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown's three previous books are the UK's top four bestselling adult paperback novels of all time.

2. If you buy an item worth more than £100 with a credit card and it breaks because of a fault, the credit card provider is liable.

3. In Freemasonry, there is a death ritual in which a mock murder is performed.

4. A typical human has enough body fat to sustain about 40 marathons.

5. Tyrannosaurus Rex developed from a near-identical but much smaller predecessor.

6. Sportswear firms Adidas and Puma have had a 60-year feud.

7. Monkeys suffer colour blindness.

8. Pregnancy may help athletes to be more flexible.

9. All British industrial action ballots must be by post, except for workers at sea.

10. Vera Lynn had three songs in the first ever Top 12 in 1952, when Britain first introduced official sales charts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/09/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_105.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. Banana skins can take two years to biodegrade.

2. The longest speech at the United Nations lasted almost eight hours.

3. Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly, according to long-standing protocol, and is followed by the host country.

4. Jay-Z has Barack Obama's mobile phone number.

5. Swine flu gel can get you drunk.

6. British heroin comes from Hampshire.

7. Michael Gambon, star of the Harry Potter films, has never read any of the books.

8. The only woman ever in the French Foreign Legion is British.

9. Ceefax was created by accident.

10. Fifteen Billy bookcases are made every minute.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/09/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_106.shtml

[Virgil]

Goodness three weeks have gone by again. Where does the time go? Let me do my best. ;)


1. Married couples used to always sleep apart.

No wonder the population exploded after they invented large beds. :D Actually divorce also exploded? Coincindence? I leave it up to you good reader. :lol:


2. Criminal trials in Japan have a 99% conviction rate.
Whoa! No bleeding heart liberals there. :D Brings a smile to a conservative's face. :D :D


4. Both parties file for divorce in only one in 300 cases, on average.
And they are usually signed in blood. The mate's blood. ;)


6. The subject with the most GCSE passes this year was chemistry.
that's because they were teaching how to brew a good beer. That's how you get college students to learn. :D


7. Everyone once used the left-hand side of the road.
We still do over here!!!


8. There are so few redheads in Mexico that they often greet each other in the street.
That's to compare whose dye job is better. :p


9. Silvio Berlusconi is the same height as Nicolas Sarkozy.
I guess when you're a womanizing president you think about these things. Bill Clinton was taller than both of them. :lol:


1. The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown's three previous books are the UK's top four bestselling adult paperback novels of all time.
Of all the great literature the english have produced, this is what sells? Sad, isn't it.


2. If you buy an item worth more than £100 with a credit card and it breaks because of a fault, the credit card provider is liable.
What kind of law is that? So if I buy a bottle of wine with a credit card and it's spoiled, does the credit card drink it for me? ;)


3. In Freemasonry, there is a death ritual in which a mock murder is performed.
I thought that was supposed to be a secret. :eek2:


4. A typical human has enough body fat to sustain about 40 marathons.
Yeah, but I've seen a few that can sustain about 140 marathons. ;)


5. Tyrannosaurus Rex developed from a near-identical but much smaller predecessor.
Tyrannosaurus minor? :)


6. Sportswear firms Adidas and Puma have had a 60-year feud.
A couple of beatrings and murders I bet. :p


7. Monkeys suffer colour blindness.
They should have waited to evolve to humans. :D


8. Pregnancy may help athletes to be more flexible.
Oh yeah, that bubble below the chest allows a woman to do all sorts of stretches. :)


9. All British industrial action ballots must be by post, except for workers at sea.
Workers at sea must put them in a bottle and let them float to shore. No wonder those votes don't amount to much. ;)


1. Banana skins can take two years to biodegrade.

I believe it. My mother gave up trying to compost them.


2. The longest speech at the United Nations lasted almost eight hours.
Some blowhards just don't stop. :D


3. Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly, according to long-standing protocol, and is followed by the host country.
That's because they have the coffee and are the most wide awake. ;)


4. Jay-Z has Barack Obama's mobile phone number.
Good Lord. That explains a lot.


5. Swine flu gel can get you drunk.
:lol: Some addicts will do anything for a high.


7. Michael Gambon, star of the Harry Potter films, has never read any of the books.
Well, that makes two of us. :D


8. The only woman ever in the French Foreign Legion is British.
Those French men sure do have a sense of humor. :D

[Scheherazade]

1. The UK produces 8% of the world's scientific papers, the third most behind the US and China.

2. Ken Livingstone was twice rejected for a cameo in EastEnders.

3. Colin Powell speaks Yiddish.

4. Tesco sells two sewing machines every minute.

5. Homes are 4C warmer, on average, than they were 50 years ago.

6. Turtles can swim 900km (559 miles) in a month.

7. Coffins can be made out of banana leaves. Keith Floyd was buried in one.

8. Michael Jackson had tattooed eyebrows and lips.

9. The most common names for swingers are Paul and Catherine.

10. There are about 100 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/10/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_107.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. Male life expectancy in the UK goes up by about three months every year.

2. Fidel Castro stopped smoking cigars in 1985.

3. In the early days of barcodes there was a plan for round ones.

4. In the UK, 26 million addresses get post.

5. Japan has a theme park where children pretend to be fast food workers.

6. Only two serving US presidents won the Nobel peace prize before Barack Obama - Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

7. The flash on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover was inspired by the logo from a rice cooker.

8. Wild animals in zoos in Gaza have to be smuggled in tunnels under the border.

9. There was a royal blood disorder.

10. Low-quality females prefer low-quality males. In the world of zebra finches at least.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/10/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_108.shtml