Total Trivia

[misturbond]

Human sperm comes in three varieties, mixed. Some drive toward the egg, another exists only to kill, and a third to obstruct, other men's sperm. The relative proportions found in semen depends on the man's belief at the time of ejaculation about whether his are the only sperm there. This says a lot about our evolutionary past.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Human sperm comes in three varieties, mixed. Some drive toward the egg, another exists only to kill, and a third to obstruct, other men's sperm. The relative proportions found in semen depends on the man's belief at the time of ejaculation about whether his are the only sperm there. This says a lot about our evolutionary past.

Aggressive little buggers aren't they?

Seminal fluid consists of the following 'ingredients' which vary in proportion according to the 'manufacturer' ...
ascorbic acid, blood-group antigens, calcium, chlorine, cholesterol,
choline, citric acid, creatine, deoxyribonucleic acid, fructose,
glutathione, hyaluronidase, inositol, lactic acid, magnesium,
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, purine, pyrimidine, pyruvic acid,
sodium, sorbitol, spermidine, spermine, urea, uric acid, vitamin B12,
and zinc.
None are found in sufficient quantity to be considered 'nutritious'.

 

[misturbond]

Aggressive little buggers aren't they?

Seminal fluid consists of the following 'ingredients' which vary in proportion according to the 'manufacturer' ...
ascorbic acid, blood-group antigens, calcium, chlorine, cholesterol,
choline, citric acid, creatine, deoxyribonucleic acid, fructose,
glutathione, hyaluronidase, inositol, lactic acid, magnesium,
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, purine, pyrimidine, pyruvic acid,
sodium, sorbitol, spermidine, spermine, urea, uric acid, vitamin B12,
and zinc.
None are found in sufficient quantity to be considered 'nutritious'.

Quite a cocktail.

 

[misturbond]

In his first year of college at age 17, Edgar Allen Poe gambled away all of his scholarship aid, and often showed up in class drunk-even during examinations. In spite of his slovenly behavior, Edgar had the highest
grades in his class.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym used by the writer Charles Dodgson.

 

[misturbond]

The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions, tsk, tsk.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Some other famous pseudonyms.

Woody Allen - Allen Stewart Konigsberg
Julie Andrews - Julia Elizabeth Wells
Jennifer Aniston - Jennifer Anistonapoulos
Fred Astaire - Frederick Austerlitz
Charles Aznavour - Shahnour Varenagh Aznavourian
Lucille Ball - Dianne Belmont
Anne Bancroft - Anna Maria Luisa Italiano
Brigitte Bardot - Camille Javal
Tom Berenger - Thomas Michael Moore
Irving Berlin - Israel Isidore Baline
Charles Bronson - Charles Buchinsky
Elkie Brooks - Elaine Bookbinder
Mel Brooks - Melvin Kaminsky
Yul Brynner Taidje Kahn Actor
George Burns - Nathan Birnbaum
Richard Burton - Richard Walter Jenkins, Jr.

 

[_Misty_]

More Wizard of Oz Trivia....

A second-hand coat selected as part of the costume for Professor Marvel in the film vesion of The Wizard of Oz was later discovered to have been owned by Oz author L. Frank Baum.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The Duchess and Alice: Quotes: Alice in Wonderland

The Duchess: Be what you would seem to be -- or, if you'd like it put more simply -- Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.

Alice: I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Yesterday in the UK the construction of wind turbines was halted due to high winds.

Touches!

 

[fire_breeze]

Every person has a unique tongue print.

 

[fire_breeze]

The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

People usually gossip spontaneously and in private, so it's almost impossible to study gossip in a laboratory setting. In fact, many researchers study gossip by eavesdropping on gossipers.

 

[fire_breeze]

People usually gossip spontaneously and in private, so it's almost impossible to study gossip in a laboratory setting. In fact, many researchers study gossip by eavesdropping on gossipers.

So where do I apply to become a researcher?

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

So where do I apply to become a researcher?

You and I already are my love, we just don't get paid for it

When researchers study gossip, they don't all use the same definition. Most start with the same basic idea: Gossip is a conversation between two people that concerns a third person who is not present. Different researchers then add a range of stipulations

 

[fire_breeze]

You and I already are my love, we just don't get paid for it

When researchers study gossip, they don't all use the same definition. Most start with the same basic idea: Gossip is a conversation between two people that concerns a third person who is not present. Different researchers then add a range of stipulations

I guess it's time to hand in our 'research'...

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

I guess it's time to hand in our 'research'...

Looks at your thesis... agrees with you

Gossip is full of contradictions. People do it even though they think they shouldn't. Gossip can bolster one person's reputation while destroying another's, and it can establish a trusting bond between two people while betraying the trust of a third. People who gossip too much can develop a reputation for being untrustworthy or too talkative. But people who don't gossip can develop a reputation for being distant, uptight or snobbish.

 

[fire_breeze]

Looks at your thesis... agrees with you

Gossip is full of contradictions. People do it even though they think they shouldn't. Gossip can bolster one person's reputation while destroying another's, and it can establish a trusting bond between two people while betraying the trust of a third. People who gossip too much can develop a reputation for being untrustworthy or too talkative. But people who don't gossip can develop a reputation for being distant, uptight or snobbish.

So, the trick is to find the middle ground!

How's that for thesis?

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

So, the trick is to find the middle ground!

How's that for thesis?

On balance it's good to gossip about others and be one of the 'gang', equally so it is good to be talked about and be noticed.

 

[fire_breeze]

On balance it's good to gossip about others and be one of the 'gang', equally so it is good to be talked about and be noticed.

Et voila! Thesis completed!

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Every October, Yellville, Arkansas, gets ready for Thanksgiving with two days worth of turkey-related fun and games, culminating with the selection of Miss Drumsticks. Contestants are judged on their legs only, with their faces and bodies hidden behind a picture of a turkey, so as not to influence the judges.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Beam me down, Scotty, there's a Miss Klingon Empire beauty pageant held every year in September at the Star Trek Convention at Dragon*Con in Atlanta. Contestants assume the persona of a female Klingon character from any Star Trek TV series or movie. The Klingon babes are judged on beauty, personality, and talent, which includes singing and dancing but no planetary destruction allowed. Winners receive a trophy, a tiara, and a satin sash outlined in blue and green -- the official colors of the Klingon Empire.

 

[_Misty_]

Every year since 1954 the Cosby Ruritan Club of Cocke County, Tennessee, has a two-day weekend festival honoring the potent mountain ramp, "the sweetest tasting and vilest smelling vegetable in Mother Nature's bounty." An edible member of the onion family, the ramp is alternately called the wild leek, taking its name from a similar plant, the rampion, which also has a fleshy tap-root. Believing the ramp to possess the revitalizing power of a spring tonic, the mountain folks looked forward to the return of the ramp after a winter of eating mostly dried foods. The ramp's flavor, though sweet with a hint of garlic, is accompanied by a potent odor so objectionable school children with "ramp odor" were known to have been excused from school for a few days. In 1955, the Festival was attended by ex-President Harry Truman. In 1959, at the sixth annual Ramp Festival, attendance approached a never-again-topped 30,000 due to the featured guest, "Tennessee Ernie Ford," a popular television celebrity, and native of nearby Bristol. Other festivals have featured entertainment notables such as Eddie Arnold, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, songstress Dorothy Collins of "Hit Parade" fame, Minnie Pearl, Brenda Lee, and Dinah Shore.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

n Battle Mountain, Nevada, nobody raises a stink about the Armpit Beauty Pageant. After humorist Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post dubbed Battle Mountain "the armpit of America" for its "lack of character and charm," the small town's residents turned the joke into an annual celebration of all things smelly every August. Sweaty T-shirt contests, deodorant throws, and a "quick-draw" antiperspirant contest lead up to the selection of the Armpit Queen. The pageant and festival are sponsored by Old Spice deodorant and draw an estimated 3,500 visitors with signs along the highway proclaiming: "Make Battle Mountain Your Next Pit Stop."

 

[_Misty_]

Fireworks Trivia

In the US we will be celebrating our independence from...ahem ....Great Britain on the 4th of July.....so, appropriately:

Cherry bombs, M-80s and other heavily charged explosive devices were deemed illegal by federal law in 1966.


The first multi shot repeater imported into the United States was the Flying Dragon & Jumping Tiger.


Red smoke balls are prohibited in California.


In Mexico, the tall towers decorated with fireworks and built for fiestas are called castillos.


In 1996, a string of firecrackers were lit that lasted 22 hours for the Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.


The singing group Alabama has a song on their 1985 album, 40 HR WEEK, called "Fireworks."


An aerial shell has 2 fuses. The user lights the external fuse, and a second, internal fuse burns as the shell flies up igniting the burst or break.


New Castle, Pennsylvania, home to the nationally recognized display companies, Zambelli Internationale and Pyrotechnico, proclaims itself to be the "Fireworks capital of America." Rozzi's Famous Fireworks of Loveland, Ohio, also began operations in New Castle, before moving its headquarters to the Cincinnati area.


The first fireworks were actually green bamboo that were thrown into fires to scare spirits away in ancient China, called "pas chuk."


It is believed that gunpowder was discovered accidentally by a Chinese alchemist who mixed sulphur and salt peter (potassium nitrate) over a fire. The Chinese name for gunpowder is "huo yao" (fire chemical).


Placing gun powder into bamboo stalks and then throwing them onto a fire to be ignited produced a louder and more powerful bang; hence the firecracker was born.


Fireworks were soon applied to warfare by attaching them to arrows. The first such use, circa 1200 A.D., involved placing powder into paper tubes with a fuse or a trail of gunpowder wrapped in tissue paper that was attached to the arrows.


The "ground rat" was a tube open on one end where gas would shoot out of the open end propelling it around randomly. This random trajectory led to placing guidance fins on the tube to straighten the flight path. These were the first rockets.


Settlers brought fireworks to the U.S. during 1600s.


The first Independence Day fireworks celebration was in 1776, and was memorialized by then future President John Adams as follows:
"The day (Independence Day) will be the most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival...it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade...bonfires and illuminations (fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this day forward forevermore."


Static electricity in synthetic clothing can ignite fireworks. Those who make fireworks wear cotton all the way down to their underwear.


In today's public display shows, computers are used to control the launching of the fireworks and the synchronization of the aerial bursts with music.


30 years ago professional fireworks shows lasted on average over an hour, in comparison to today's shows which last approximately 20 minutes.


Fireworks use in the United States increased 2½ time since 1992 going from 87,100,000 pounds in 1992 to 220,800,000 in 2003. During the same period, actual injuries decreased over 70% going from 14.3 injuries per 100,000 pounds of fireworks used in 1992 to only 4.2 injuries per 100,000 pounds of fireworks used in 2003.


The most dangerous fireworks-related tragedy in the world occurred on May 16, 1770, during the marriage of King Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette. After the celebratory fireworks show, there was a stampede where approximately 800 people where killed.


In Arabic countries, rockets were called Chinese arrows.


The earliest recorded use of gunpowder in England, and probably the western world, is by the Franciscan monk Roger Bacon.


Legend has it that Marco Polo brought this new accidental invention to the West from one of his many trips to China and other Eastern countries.


Fireworks became very popular in Great Britain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. William Shakespeare mentions fireworks in his works, and fireworks were so much enjoyed by the Queen herself that she created a "Fire Master of England." King James II was so pleased with the fireworks display that celebrated his coronation that he knighted his Fire Master.


Italians were the first to manufacture fireworks in Europe.