10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

[Scheherazade]

1. Three of the world's supercomputers are in the US.

2. Humans are more likely to be killed by a hippo than a lion.

3. Teeth grinding is known as bruxism.

4. Spin doctors were used in the Iron Age.

5. School phobia is a condition recognised by doctors since the 1960s.

6. Whisky should be stored upright, unlike wine.

7. "Wrap rage" is a term coined to describe the anger felt by people trying to get into bonded plastic "clamshell" packaging.

8. Male and female candidates to be officers in the British Army have to do different amounts of press-ups, but the same number of sit-ups in a physical test.

9. For three decades, the BBC took a very dim view of Enid Blyton's work.

10. Swindon has the UK's highest broadband use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_114.shtml

[Virgil]

Geez, I need a laugh this evening. This came just in time.

1. Three of the world's supercomputers are in the US.

Doesn't one belong to Admin to run lit net? All my super thoughts require at least one supercomputer to handle them.

2. Humans are more likely to be killed by a hippo than a lion.

How true. I've know several run over by a hippo but only my ex-best-friend who was killed by a lion. I bet we've all known a few people killed by your next door neighbor's hippo.

3. Teeth grinding is known as bruxism.

I used to do that. Or maybe I still do. My wife has other noises I make in bed to complain about.

4. Spin doctors were used in the Iron Age.

Politicians go way back, don't they?

5. School phobia is a condition recognised by doctors since the 1960s.

Are you kidding? School phobia must go back to Plato's Symposium.

6. Whisky should be stored upright, unlike wine.

Hmm, two of my favorite beverages. I guess i do it correctly.

7. "Wrap rage" is a term coined to describe the anger felt by people trying to get into bonded plastic "clamshell" packaging.

I know the feeling!! Why do they make those things so hard to open?

8. Male and female candidates to be officers in the British Army have to do different amounts of press-ups, but the same number of sit-ups in a physical test.

I just checked for the US Army and it's the same for them. Interesting. I wonder why women can do the same situp requirements. By the way, I can still meet a 100% score for my age group in both the pushups and situps.

9. For three decades, the BBC took a very dim view of Enid Blyton's work.

And if that is the case, why did it take 30 years to fire him.

10. Swindon has the UK's highest broadband use.

And what a selfish person he is. Didn't his parents teach him to share.


Out of curiosity, does anyone read my retorts here?

[Scheherazade]

Politicians go way back, don't they?

Maybe that is the world's oldest profession...

And if that is the case, why did it take 30 years to fire him.

You don't know who Enid Blyton is, d'ya?

Out of curiosity, does anyone read my retorts here?

Oh, I read your every single post, Virgil!

[Virgil]

Maybe that is the world's oldest profession

Yeah, actually they do share a lot in common, don't they.

...You don't know who Enid Blyton is, d'ya?

No, I never have. Thanks. She seems noteworthy to know.

Oh, I read your every single post, Virgil!

Ah, yes, I know too well. Big brother, or should I say Big Sister.

[Scheherazade]

1. Michael Jackson's iconic white glove is a modified golf glove.

2. To be a Beefeater you have to have done 22 years military service.

3. Seemingly vegetative patients are asked to think of playing tennis while being scanned for evidence of consciousness.

4. The UK had its first curry restaurant in 1809.

5. The hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale is, on average, the wettest inhabited place in England.

6. All British infrastructure, including bridges, is designed to at least withstand the kind of flooding that would happen on average once every 200 years.

7. Hammerhead sharks can actually see rather well.

8. And humans use their skin to "hear".

9. Google will only remove images from its image search facility if legally ordered to do so.

10. Christmas trees can be dangerous.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_20.shtml

[Taliesin]

10. Christmas trees can be dangerous.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_20.shtml

That's news? I thought that anyone who has hunted, or, at least, been taken as a little child to the forest to hunt a Christmas tree, knows how dangerous those cunning bastards are. I've known plenty of good men who have perished hunting those magnificient beasts. It is not a show for the weak-hearted not for those who cannot stand the sight of blood, since a Christmas tree, when cornered, can be fierce - and deadly.

[Basil]

That's news? I thought that anyone who has hunted, or, at least, been taken as a little child to the forest to hunt a Christmas tree, knows how dangerous those cunning bastards are. I've known plenty of good men who have perished hunting those magnificient beasts. It is not a show for the weak-hearted not for those who cannot stand the sight of blood, since a Christmas tree, when cornered, can be fierce - and deadly.

Christmas trees can be dangerous in other ways, as well. Their shiny ornaments, their shimmery tinsel, their suggestive poses...anyone who has succumbed to the cheap and tawdry allure that Christmas trees possess will tell you: Christmas trees have been the ruin of many a poor boy.


And God, I know I'm one.

[papayahed]

Christmas trees can be dangerous in other ways, as well. Their shiny ornaments, their shimmery tinsel, their suggestive poses...anyone who has succumbed to the cheap and tawdry allure that Christmas trees possess will tell you: Christmas trees have been the ruin of many a poor boy.


And God, I know I'm one.

Kinda gives new meaning to the term "Trimming the tree", no?

[Basil]

Kinda gives new meaning to the term "Trimming the tree", no?

Don't taunt me, Papaya.

[Basil]

papayahed : O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

basil : Shut up! SHUT UP!!

[Basil]

papayahed :

...Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Much pleasure thou can'st give me...

basil : *buries his face in his hands*

[papayahed]

Check out the bulbs on that thing:

[Niamh]

[Basil]

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music
Reminding me on Christmas Day
To think of you and then be gay
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music

[Scheherazade]

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music
Reminding me on Christmas Day
To think of you and then be gay
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music

Oh, don't let all those tinsel and baubles dazzle you; the beauty is only skin deep, after all.

The real question is whether you will still care for the Christmas tree when it it has passed its prime and looks like this: