August 30: Cursing
‘Steven Pinker, whose most recent book is The Stuff of Thought, believes that cursing is a primordial part of our brains.’
August 29: Saggy Pants
‘Atlanta's city council is debating a measure that would ban saggy pants that show underwear.’
August 28: Dames
‘Brooke Astor and Leona Helmsley, grandes dames of New York, died on August 13th and 20th respectively, aged 105 and 87 ... Both gave millions of dollars away. And their similarities ended there.’
August 27: Centaurs
‘In Greek mythology, the Centaurs (Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse.’
August 26: Redheads
‘True redheads will be extinct by 2100, since carriers of the carrot-top gene are less and less likely to pair up in an age of global intermingling (a child usually needs a copy from each parent to get the red result).’
August 25: Unitards
The very funny Unitards are performing the second Wednesday of every month at Revival for Sketch Comedy Wednesdays.
August 24: Delusional
Delusional disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis denoting a mental illness that involves holding one or more non-bizarre delusions in the absence of any other significant signs or symptoms.
August 23: Herbal
India, with its long tradition of herbal medicine, is spending $40 million on what is known as the Golden Triangle Partnership, to assess the country’s herbs scientifically.
August 22: Chicago
I learned a lot reading these Two Chicago Stories. If you can, take five minutes to read them. Amazing!
August 21: Prada
LG has launched a Prada cell phone. (Back in January, actually - see how current I am?) They call it ‘a real breakthrough in the industry.’
August 20: D.H. Lawrence
This just in: ‘Manuscripts, letters and legal documents belonging to writer D.H. Lawrence have been donated to Nottingham University in England and will be put on public display for the first time.’
August 19: Decibels
‘The Royal National Institute for Deaf People regards 80 decibels as the level at which hearing is threatened - 20 less than a pneumatic drill. Some MP3 players can reach 105 decibels.’ Smoking doubles the risk of noise-induced hearing loss.
August 18: Heder
American actor Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Japan, where he learned to speak Japanese fluently (as showcased in Blades of Glory).
August 17: Déficit
Mexican actor Gael García Bernal is making his directorial debut, Déficit, at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
August 16: Radar
Advertising agency DDB Canada has launched a unique social media arm. Radar DDB is ‘a hybrid resource that reinvents the agency model by combining the skill sets of a news-gathering organization, a Hollywood publicity agent, an ad agency, a guerrilla event company and a digital programming expert.’
August 15: Fish
Most fish spend time in an energy-saving state that can be called ‘rest’. Being ‘asleep’ means different things to different fish. Some fish are motionless in the water during the night. Others don't appear to sleep at all (they rest against rocks, bracing themselves with their fins). Some freshwater fish swim up under a log or river bank for shelter during the day. Fish can't close their eyes; none of them have eyelids.
August 14: Mayer
American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Mayer is not only an avid collector of watches, he also has an extensive collection of sneakers, estimated (in 2006) at over 200 pairs.
August 13: Assholes
Assholes have devastating cumulative effects on our commitment to our bosses, peers and organizations, partly because nasty interactions have a far bigger impact on our moods than positive interactions - five times the punch, according to recent research.
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. Robert I. Sutton, PhD.
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. Robert I. Sutton, PhD.
August 12: Needles
Twin-needle stitching is the way to go with knit fabrics. Go ahead, look at your t-shirt edges and hems: double-seamed! Why? Greater elasticity. ‘If the fabric stretches, the seams must stretch, too, so that the stitching won't pop as you bend and move in the garment.’
August 11: Ikea
Product developers (not designers) pick Ikea product names according to an established system. Among the criteria: names have to be non-offensive in 50 different languages and names have to be Swedish.
August 10: Salt
‘In ancient times, salt was a precious commodity that could drastically affect entire nations. So much so that early Roman soldiers were partly paid in special salt rations called ‘Salarium Argentum’ – salt money in Latin.’ Forerunner of the English word ‘salary.’
August 9: Churchill
‘A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’
I did not know that these were Winston Churchill's words about Russia in 1939. Now I know.
I did not know that these were Winston Churchill's words about Russia in 1939. Now I know.
August 8: Ashtrays
The City of Montreal is targeting littering smokers by handing out pocket ashtrays. Video here.
August 7: Nail-biters
It's official. The world's first treatment centre for nail-biters is set to open in the Netherlands.
August 6: Regret
A study in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that ‘regret over indulgence and gluttony diminishes with time, but regret over missing out - doing the responsible thing and deferring gratification - only increases ... This conclusion contradicts the traditional assumption that short-term thinking leads to long-term regret ... it suggests that longer-term thinking is worst in the long term - that it will minimize your guilt in the here-and-now, but over the long haul will lead to chronic, throbbing remorse.’
August 5: Stadium
91,000 seats. 36 kilometres of steel wrapping. Land surface of 258,000 square metres. Beijing's Olympic National Stadium is touted as the world's largest enclosed space.
August 4: McQueen
1960s icon of pop culture and King of Cool Steve McQueen rose from a troubled youth spent in reform schools to being the world's most popular actor and one of the top film stars of all time.
August 3: Volta
Submerged beneath Ghana's Lake Volta is the world's largest underwater forest of tropical hardwood. The enormous man-made African lake is home to a vast amount of mahogany and ebony trees that may be worth up to $2 billion.
August 2: Liz
Liz Claiborne’s fashion company was the first business founded by a woman to reach the Fortune 500.
August 1: Españolos
Spain is now paying 2500 euros per new child to raise its birth rate. ¡Hola, Españolos!
Hello, New Blog
Are you curious? I am.
So I had this idea, and in the space of about one second, Blogger generated a new home for it. I'll keep this family of blogs at Three, the Magic Number.
I'll start posting soon.
So I had this idea, and in the space of about one second, Blogger generated a new home for it. I'll keep this family of blogs at Three, the Magic Number.
I'll start posting soon.
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