10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

[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/magazinem...st_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/magazinem...st_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. Actually divorce also exploded? Coincindence? I leave it up to you good reader.

2. Criminal trials in Japan have a 99% conviction rate.

Whoa! No bleeding heart liberals there. Brings a smile to a conservative's face.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

7. Monkeys suffer colour blindness.

They should have waited to evolve to humans.

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.

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.

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.

8. The only woman ever in the French Foreign Legion is British.

Those French men sure do have a sense of humor.

[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/magazinem...st_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/magazinem...st_w_108.shtml

[Virgil]

3. Colin Powell speaks Yiddish.

Well, he's from New york and we all know some Yiddish, schmuck and putz

5. Homes are 4C warmer, on average, than they were 50 years ago.

I guess we want to be more comfortable. Without even looking at the article, it must be from some environmental whacko.

6. Turtles can swim 900km (559 miles) in a month.

Oh what those sexual urges can do.

7. Coffins can be made out of banana leaves. Keith Floyd was buried in one.

Just don't let the monkeys think there are bananas in them or you you're going to have quite a mess at the funeral.

8. Michael Jackson had tattooed eyebrows and lips.

One of these days they are going to figure out that Michael Jackson was a manikin and never actually lived.

9. The most common names for swingers are Paul and Catherine.

Hey those are my neighbors. I should knock on their door.

10. There are about 100 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne.

And tell me, has anyone actually counted to verify.

1. Male life expectancy in the UK goes up by about three months every year.

That's because female life expectancy keeps going down every three months every year.

2. Fidel Castro stopped smoking cigars in 1985.

Hopefully one day they'll shove them up his butt.

3. In the early days of barcodes there was a plan for round ones.

They were persuaded not to do that because they would look like the back end of a zebra. Everyone woould then think they were looking up a zebra's ***.

5. Japan has a theme park where children pretend to be fast food workers.

What??? Must be inspired by a bunch of philosophy majors after graduating and getting jobs: "Do you want fries with that?"

6. Only two serving US presidents won the Nobel peace prize before Barack Obama - Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

At least they actually did something to accomplish it. Apparently they give out these things on affirmative action these days. I heard President Obama will now get a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, and an Olympic gold medal. What the hell, one doesn't have to achieve anything anymore.

7. The flash on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover was inspired by the logo from a rice cooker.

And a lot of scotch!

8. Wild animals in zoos in Gaza have to be smuggled in tunnels under the border.

Just like the terrorists.

9. There was a royal blood disorder.

It gave the vampires a stomach ache.

10. Low-quality females prefer low-quality males. In the world of zebra finches at least.

Looking at all the low class trash couples out there, I would say that's true in the human world as well.

[Scheherazade]

1. Earth's warmest year was 1998.

2. Morecambe and Wise nearly split up, before they had even got on television.

3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags.

4. Some spiders are vegetarian.

5. Each person has 1.5kg of probiotic bacteria in their digestive system, on average.

6. The placebo effect is real.

7. Boyzone sold more singles than Take That in the 1990s.

8. Culled rabbits are used to heat homes in Sweden.

9. William Pitt's dying words were about House of Commons catering.

10. Jeremy Clarkson's father was friends with the Monty Python team.


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

[papayahed]

3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags.

I've always suspected men secretly long to carry murses.

[Scheherazade]

1. Humpback whales' mating rituals can be deadly.

2. Galaxies that are 10.2 billion light-years away can be seen through telescopes.

3. Wine gums have the names of alcoholic drinks on them.

4. People spent £37m on cup cakes in the UK last year.

5. The spread of cupcake shops has been used to map urban gentrification in the US.

6. Bagged salad is photographed 4,000 times a second.

7. The most available time of week for a meeting is Tuesday at 3pm.

8. GPS locates the Prime Meridian 100m to the east of Greenwich Observatory.

9. Sales of Asterix books number 325 million.

10. The first watches appeared shortly after 1500 in Germany.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_110.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. The city of Bath, in Somerset, was referred to as "The Bath" until the 19th Century.

2. Bears don't like honey, and aren't even very keen on berries and nuts.

3. Scouts can deliver post.

4. Barbara Windsor was the second actress the play Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders.

5. Tattoos can be done with a person's ashes.

6. The average American spends $66.45 (£40) on Halloween.

7. When a shark pup is born its liver makes up 20% of its body mass

8. The world's oldest dog is 20.

9. The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger.

10. A man has been sent to jail for driving the motorised chair while drunk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_111.shtml

[Virgil]

1. Earth's warmest year was 1998.

And we've continued to dump ever more CO2 into the atmosphere and it has actually cooled down. Is there something wrong with the man made global warming theory? I would say so.

2. Morecambe and Wise nearly split up, before they had even got on television.

And would anyone really have cared? :P

3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags.

Oh I bet they looked sexy.

4. Some spiders are vegetarian.

Then why do they need to make a web, to catch falling grapes?

5. Each person has 1.5kg of probiotic bacteria in their digestive system, on average.

Isn't that commonly known as sh*t, or crap, or feces?

6. The placebo effect is real.

Now that you've let the cat out of the bag, it's effect has just been eliminated. Hey if it's real, why don't we all pretend to take medicine?

7. Boyzone sold more singles than Take That in the 1990s.

That's because Girlzone was whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

8. Culled rabbits are used to heat homes in Sweden.

Ah how cruel. Can't they use logs or coal like other places? Those poor bunnies.

9. William Pitt's dying words were about House of Commons catering.

Yeah, the chef sucked.

1. Humpback whales' mating rituals can be deadly.

Isn't that why they are called hump-back?

2. Galaxies that are 10.2 billion light-years away can be seen through telescopes.

Wow. I can't even imagine how far that is.

3. Wine gums have the names of alcoholic drinks on them.

Cool, gum now comes in wine flavors!

4. People spent £37m on cup cakes in the UK last year.

Part of the reason for the weight problem I would guess.

5. The spread of cupcake shops has been used to map urban gentrification in the US.

I've never seen a cupcake shop. I guess I'm just not part of the gentry.

6. Bagged salad is photographed 4,000 times a second.

Boy some of the things that people find photogenic surprises me.

7. The most available time of week for a meeting is Tuesday at 3pm.

Hey I am free at that time. Who wants to meet with me?

8. GPS locates the Prime Meridian 100m to the east of Greenwich Observatory.

I thought it was supposed to go right through the Observatory. Did they make a 100m mistake?

9. Sales of Asterix books number 325 million.

What? I've never even heard of Asterix books.

10. The first watches appeared shortly after 1500 in Germany.

That is actually interesting.

1. The city of Bath, in Somerset, was referred to as "The Bath" until the 19th Century.

Is that when people started switching over to showers?

2. Bears don't like honey, and aren't even very keen on berries and nuts.

They like good old human flesh.

3. Scouts can deliver post.

What and the unions don't complain?

5. Tattoos can be done with a person's ashes.

OK. Is that better than snorting someone's ashes?

6. The average American spends $66.45 (£40) on Halloween.

I'm not average. I didn't spend anything.

7. When a shark pup is born its liver makes up 20% of its body mass

And the other 80% are teeth.

8. The world's oldest dog is 20.

That was a great video. he looks pretty darn good for 140 years old. (20 x 7)

9. The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger.

Now that's where I screwed up. (Lord I hope sh doesn't see that. )

10. A man has been sent to jail for driving the motorised chair while drunk.

I saw that on TV here. What a cool chair!

[Scheherazade]

1. Gordon Brown gave up a £2m pension on his first day in office

2. At peak times, 32,000 pedestrians cross Oxford Circus junction in one hour.

3. Lyrics from Jon Bon Jovi's new album are framed and hanging up in the White House.

4. Journalists visiting Sesame Street are banned from asking Bert and Ernie if they are gay.

5. The BBC rejected Sesame Street in 1971 because it was "too authoritarian".

6. Elmo's favourite food is wasabi .

7. Tall men can have small parents.

8. Part-time veggies are called flexitarians.

9. A missing child must usually have been missing for at least two years to warrant an age progression image.

10. French babies cry with an accent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_112.shtml

[Scheherazade]

1. Reading lamps can run off the electricity that comes down a defunct landline socket.

2. Men's urine is less acidic than women's.

3. Coral can eat jellyfish.

4. The first sell-by dates were on milk and cream in the 1950s.

5. Early flights to India stopped to refuel in Basra.

6. Porn for the furry community is known as "yiff".

7. Russia has 11 time zones.

8. Travelling in a "road train" can cut fuel consumption by 20%.

9. Canadian Transport Minister John Baird called his cat Thatcher.

10. Pigtails used to be known as queues.

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

[Virgil]

1. Gordon Brown gave up a £2m pension on his first day in office

Of course no one knows he made 3m under the table. [Actually that sounds quite admirable.]

2. At peak times, 32,000 pedestrians cross Oxford Circus junction in one hour.

I didn't realize that circus clowns went to Oxford.

3. Lyrics from Jon Bon Jovi's new album are framed and hanging up in the White House.

What? Of all the great quotes from past presidents and world leaders and dignataries, and this administration frames quotes from Bon Jovi? We are in bigger trouble than I thought.

4. Journalists visiting Sesame Street are banned from asking Bert and Ernie if they are gay.

Now why would puppets be gay? Or perhaps why would puppets not be gay?

5. The BBC rejected Sesame Street in 1971 because it was "too authoritarian".

Yeah, that big bird really has a lot in common with Adolph Hitler.

6. Elmo's favourite food is wasabi .

Goes great with chocolate milk.

7. Tall men can have small parents.

Tall men can have small other things. Size is not linked to height.

8. Part-time veggies are called flexitarians.

Part-time veggies? Couldn't they get a full time paying job?

9. A missing child must usually have been missing for at least two years to warrant an age progression image.

I don't have the heart to make a joke out of this one. God be with those missing children.

10. French babies cry with an accent.

Well, they want to be fed and so they are trying to say, "bon appétit."

1. Reading lamps can run off the electricity that comes down a defunct landline socket.

Don't stick your finger in there. It will be shocking.

2. Men's urine is less acidic than women's.

Don't I know it. Women's always seems to give me heartburn.

3. Coral can eat jellyfish.

And Carol put her's on toast.

4. The first sell-by dates were on milk and cream in the 1950s.

And by all accounts, they are still on the supermarket shelf.

5. Early flights to India stopped to refuel in Basra.

So where did late flights stop?

6. Porn for the furry community is known as "yiff".

Well, there's a lot of furryness on display in porn, isn't there?

7. Russia has 11 time zones.

Do they even have clocks there?

8. Travelling in a "road train" can cut fuel consumption by 20%.

I went over to read this one. Sounds cool. But yikes if there is an accident. Could be deadly.

9. Canadian Transport Minister John Baird called his cat Thatcher.

A conservative I take it.

10. Pigtails used to be known as queues.

And people in queue are regarded as pigs?

[bloomdido]

I may never sleep again.