High Anxiety
We’ve all had those moments—when something completely unexpected scares the c**p out of us. It gives us something to laugh about…later.
Weird, Wonderful World
5 Really Weird Wines
Wine is usually just some fermented grape juice, but it could be just about anything. Wines are made out of sunflowers, strawberries…and this stuff, too, if you’re feeling adventurous. Asparagus Wine Oceana County, Michigan, is the “Asparagus Capital of the World.” That means they’ve got a lot of the stalky green vegetable that makes urine […]
DUDE, Your Pants are Falling Down
As a fad, baggy hip-hop jeans have lasted longer than bell-bottoms and parachute pants…combined
Impact of Colors
Colors have a lot more impact on our daily lives than you might think. Here are some things researchers have found out about people and their perceptions and responses to colors.
Why We Say “Bless You!” When Someone Sneezes
As with many common phrases that have been around for seemingly forever, there are a lot of possible stories about its origin. The Plague of Justinian The Plague of Justinian was a particularly nasty plague that hit Europe hard during the late 6th century. Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church at the time, […]
Science of Processed Foods
The science of how processed foods and consumer products are made is absolutely fascinating…and a little stomach-turning, too. Raisin the Steaks A number of tangy, Worcestershire sauce-like steak sauces, such as A1, contain raisin paste. That’s just dried grapes—raisins—mushed into a paste and mixed up with the other herbs, spices, and flavorings. It’s traditionally been […]
R.I.P. Hugh Hefner
The man who founded Playboy in 1953 has passed away at age 91. Even aside from creating a media empire, Hef lived a pretty interesting life. He Was Fascinated With Marilyn Monroe Part of the reason why Playboy the magazine took off right away is because of its marketing hook: issue no. 1 featured racy […]
Origins of Cappuchinos, Corn Dogs, and More
When Uncle John was a kid, the basic food groups were meat, bread, vegetables, and dairy products. Uncle John always wondered why they left out the other basic food groups: coffee, candy, cold soup, fish sticks, corn dogs, and salad dressing.
It’s National Chocolate Milk Day
Myth: It doesn’t come from chocolate milk-giving cows. Truth: Everything else in this article. Columbus brought cocoa back to Europe from the Americas in the early 1500s, but it didn’t catch on. After Spanish explorer Cortez overran the Aztecs a few decades later, he brought cocoa to Europe again, although he added sugar and cinnamon […]
The Origins of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Or rather the words breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast That’s easy—it’s an English word that developed to connote the first bit of food taken after a person wakes up. They’ve been sleeping, and so not eating, which means any food is “breaking the fast” they’ve been engaged in. Dinner As late as the mid-20th century, […]
Box-Office Bloopers
Everyone loves bleepers…er, bloppers…er, we mean bloopers. Here are a few great ones from the silver screen.
Happy Birthday, Spam!
Love it or leave it, the most famous canned meat in the world turns 80 years old this year. Here are some facts about Spam:, that pink loaf of salty, porky goodness. The Beginning While Spam has routinely and endlessly joked about as a mystery meat, it’s really just pork and ham. In the ‘20s, […]
Happy (Awesome) Grandparents Day
The holiday honoring your parents’ parents falls on September 10. Here’s a look at some older folks who’ve made the news in some very quirky ways. Model Grandpa The fashion designer known professionally as Ms. Lv is a top up-and-comer in Chinese haute couture. But sales and attention really started growing after Ms. Lv’s fashion […]
Animal Houses
College: home of higher education, world-class research…and fraternities
Snow Cones vs. Shaved Ice
As summer winds down, here’s a look at the subtleties that separate two favorite treats of the season. Pretty much everywhere you go in the United States in the summer, it’s going to be hot. Fortunately, there are some coping mechanisms. Some are more appetizing than others: such as the wide variety of cold, sugary […]
You Can Still Make It a Blockbuster Night
These products were once household names, until they slowly faded from public consciousness…except that they still exist. Encyclopedias For a kid writing a school report, their research options were limited: encyclopedias were the best bet. These attractively bound, multiple-volume sets of world knowledge were a fixture of libraries, schools, and the homes of families who […]
Wide World of Weird Sports
Tired of baseball, basketball, and football? Your worries are over—we’ve found some unusual alternatives for you.
Lebowski 9:29
Lots of movies have inspired their own fan conventions. Let’s see, there’s Star Trek and Star Wars and…The Big Lebowski?
