January 31, 2009

Weird vocab

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , at 4:12 am by davidmanning

A few more words for you to uglate (learn):

  • Marinomase – A new type of sugar created in an Italian laboratory in 1939.
  • Filfil – A colourful fish found in the central area of Florida in the U.S.
  • Rustmouth – Another fish, this time one from Algeria.

January 28, 2009

Obama-rama

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , , at 7:11 pm by davidmanning

Here are some facts (loosely) connected with the new American president, Barack Obama.

  • While ‘Change You Can Believe In’ was an inspiring slogan, it had coincidentally been used twice before. It had been used before by presidents James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding. When questioned by members of the German media, Obama speechwriters said they were unaware of the previous usages but this did not change Obama’s message.
  • There is a red dwarf star in the Peony nebula called Obama 7-A. It was named this 14 YEARS BEFORE OBAMA WAS BORN!!!
  • The strangely similar Irish surname O’Bama means ‘Son of Bramaugh’.

January 26, 2009

More loony laws

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , at 2:03 pm by davidmanning

  • In London, it’s still technically legal to marry your pet, although the marrying (and consent) age is still 16. So if you want to marry an ancient dog …
  • It’s illegal to take fishing tackle across Canadian provincial borders without a permit.
  • In the Czech Republic, a married man cannot be in a single woman’s bedchambers after 1 a.m.
  • In Australia, drinking in public before 9 a.m. is a civil offense.

January 22, 2009

The Denbigh Castle Rat

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , at 7:19 pm by davidmanning

Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and the Chupacabra aren’t the only ‘cryptids’ known to ‘cryptozoologists’. One of the lesser-known such monsters is the Denbigh Castle Rat.

Since 1975, the rat has been intermittently spotted around Denbigh Castle near the town of Denbighshire in northeast Wales. Described as between one and one-and-a-half metres long, with ‘glowing green eyes’, the rat has been spotted seven documented times since then, the most recent in 2006, by an American backpacker named Hallie Marteen.

From Marteen’s blog, hallieoverseas.blogspot.com:

‘Carol and I went to this cute castle in Wales. While she was talking to this German couple, I wandered off and saw the nastiest, grossest rat I have ever seen. It was about three feet long and when it saw me, it hissed and ran off down this big hole. It had the greenest eyes. I told the ticket lady about the rat when we left and she got all freaked out. Said the “Castle Rat” is a local legend. I just thought it was a gross rat.’

Spooky, huh?

January 20, 2009

Presidential firsts

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , , at 8:35 am by davidmanning

With the Americans set to inaugurate their first Black president, here are a few more firsts for heads of the USA.

Franklin Roosevelt — First president to have attended uni on both American coasts.

Calvin Coolidge — First president to have been a professional basketball player.

Zachary Taylor — First president not to have written his own epitaph.

William Taft — First president born on a Tuesday.