Guess what time it is? Time to learn ten new things! (I’m so excited. C’mon, let’s go!)
- Scooby Doo turned 40 years old on 9/13/2009! (And I’d have been invited to his party too if not for those meddling kids!)
- I learned this from Milli Thornton at Fear of Writing. In Australia, zebra is pronounced the way it’s spelled, like Jeb, versus the way we say it – zeebra. (Throw in a couple of “mates” and a “crikey” or two and you’ll be all set for National Talk Like An Aussie Day.)
- Web surfing makes you more productive. According to a new study from University of Melbourne, “People who do surf the Internet for fun at work – within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office – are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t.” (Seriously. I have nothing to add.)
- Answer: A sushi-making robot. (Question: What do you get for the foodie-geek who has everything?)
- Billy Jean is the most popular karaoke song. (And it is one of only five songs I recognized in the top ten. How sad for me!)
- Discovered: A new species of ghostshark that has sexual appendages on its forehead. (I mostly just like the headline on this story. The linked article has one line about the sexual appendages amidst a whole lot of other interesting facts. But hey, even in nature, sex sells, baby.)
- But wait there is more nature news! A new giant rat species has been discovered in a remote rainforest in Papua New Guinea. (First, I think he’s a little bit cute, though he’s big enough to pick a fight with Lexi, and win. Second… will someone please make the ROUS joke that I can’t quite come up with now?)
- What would a Ten Things list be without a kissing fact? Here you go. Humans are not the only kissers. Chimpanzees kiss, foxes and dogs lick each other’s faces, some birds tap their bills together, and elephants put their trunks in each other’s mouths. (Awww?)
- The real life Lucy from the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” has died after a long fight against lupus. (That’s sad, but I never knew there was a real Lucy. For some reason, I like that.)
- In honor of the fact that October is National Pizza Month in the U.S., here are some fun pizza facts: pepperoni is the most popular topping in America, most people prefer thin crust (61%), and you can buy a $1000 pizza in New York city. It’s topped with caviar, lobster, creme fraiche and chives. (Really. You had me at caviar.)
And there you have it, ten more amazing facts from j! Use them responsibly.
26 responses so far ↓
jb // September 30, 2009 at 6:52 am |
i am now 10 things smarter and it’s not even 7am yet. somewhere there’s a list i need to be checking this accomplishment off of. ;-)
i’m not sure which is scarier – that ROUS’ exist or that scooby doo is 40 or that someone created a pizza with all those non-standard toppings and charged $1K for it. (i’m kinda a pizza topping purist.)
Estrella Azul // September 30, 2009 at 7:09 am |
Great info, I love this category so much!
Oh, and I want a National Pizza Month too! … Now I’m hungry…
Funny story:
last week we wanted to order a medium pizza and a shaorma sandwich.
They told us they didn’t have shaorma sandwich, and we said we’ll pick another large pizza instead of the two. So we did.
Pizza arrived -> two large pizzas :)
They were sooo god though, no complaints!
karen from mentor // September 30, 2009 at 7:30 am |
*Zoinks!*
Lake // September 30, 2009 at 7:53 am |
So Scooby is, like, 280 in doggy years, right? Yikes…
judy // September 30, 2009 at 7:59 am |
jb, Honestly, I’ve never had caviar and that pizza doesn’t sound… well… like pizza, but I would definitely taste it!
Estrella, I had to look up a shamora sandwich. I don’t feel I got the real scoop. What was your shamora sandwich going to be like?
Karen, Yep!
Lake, That’s why he’s so wise.
Tim // September 30, 2009 at 8:04 am |
Wow, a whole day’s worth of productivity boosts.
I wonder if that sushi-making robot obeys Isaac Asimov’s “three laws of sushi”:
“Sushi may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”
“Sushi must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.”
“Sushi must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”
But most importantly, I hope that robot is smart enough to clean up after itself.
…and I can tell that you were up late, because you missed this link to these cool German eyeglasses with built-in chopsticks!
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2004/09/07/sushi-specs/
Estrella Azul // September 30, 2009 at 8:09 am |
Oh, I didn’t think to send links too :)
So, shaorma sandwich is this one http://www.pericos.ro/admin/upload/200319shaorma%202.png
And a simple shaorma is this one in a plate http://www.pericos.ro/admin/upload/200310shaorma%20la%20farfurie.png
Searching for it I can now see that it is also called Shawarma and I think the usual name for it in English is Kebab (maybe shaorma is only in romanian and I didn’t even know…)
judy // September 30, 2009 at 9:12 am |
Tim, Your comment could be titled 2 things j might not know (or four if we count each of Asimov’s sushi laws). It’s like we’re blogging a Things You Might Not Know duet.
Wait, a trio, because Esltrella posted links to shaorma sandwich (which I misspelled the first time, mia culpa). They look delicious! (Maybe not pizza-delicious, but pretty darned good!)
Tim // September 30, 2009 at 9:29 am |
Judy, I don’t know why, but “trio” makes me hungry, well, actually I do, I was primed by Estrella’s pictures. I will be going on a lunchtime quest for shawarma (or “shaorma” if I can find a Romanian restaurant in Palo Alto today).
cmw // September 30, 2009 at 9:38 am |
As one that likes to do math (even if I’m not influenced by people’s unpredictability), If one spends 20% of the average workday surfing and the remaining 6.4 hours working 9% faster, the non surfing worker still get’s more “work” done. The break even point is 7.5%.
Not that I care, I’m just driven to the math. :)
Good list! Continuing with the math theme, my “New vs Knew” ratio today was a whopping 80%! (Now I have to get back to work, because I used up most of my 45 surfing minutes right here on ZS!)
cmw
Estrella Azul // September 30, 2009 at 9:40 am |
It’s actually a Middle Eastern sandwich-like food, here’s the link to the description. It’s very similar to Kebabs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma
Of course it comes in various combinations of filling.
I wrote the name in Romanian the first time because I never looked it up in other languages and even for Romanian it’s a pretty unusual name, definitely wanting to be close to the original Shawarma accents.
This specific Things you might not know post provided me with learning an extra 5 things, love it!
judy // September 30, 2009 at 9:41 am |
Tim, Good plan! Maybe I’ll do that too. (Estrella, you are broadening our horizons!)
CMW, you crack me up. And extra points for quoting j-tweets. (Surfing the net in a j-oriented way not only makes you more productive, it burns fat and makes you smarter. I’m all-in-one shopping.)
BOBBY // September 30, 2009 at 9:54 am |
With regards to item #3, I have a new “study”:
People that share their insights on a friend’s blog are vastly more intelligent than those that don’t.
(This study is in raw form. Taken from a narrow demographic of those who play basketball, that had a Trojan as a high school mascot, that had a Wave as a college mascot, staring at a stack of phone messages, sitting with a cup of coffee and a soon to be consumed item from the sweets display that will be taking a nap around 2:00 pm)
I have another study:
In a poll of office workers it was noted that their typing skills increased, due to the time away from actual “office/organizational” work and more time submitting posts to their favorite blogs. In direct correlation to their increased motor skills, company reports were able to be produced much quicker. — It should also be noted this is still in theoretical form as no one has actually gotten back to working on reports!
I have another study:
People who take a 2 hour lunch, with cocktails, are far more likely to display jovial behavior in the office upon their return. —- This case study will be put into effect, again, this afternoon for further practical applications!
YEP, always love a good “study”!
cmw // September 30, 2009 at 9:57 am |
Estrella’s shaorma reminds me of a the Greek gyros: http://bit.ly/gyros also made from kabob fixings. That made me go search for the tasty roadside snack I discovered when stationed in Greece called Suflaki http://bit.ly/suflaki (which was charbroiled pork on a stick.) I used to get them when waiting for the automobile ferry. They were delicious!
Doh! Got to go. That was the last of my 45 minutes!
cmw
judy // September 30, 2009 at 10:18 am |
I wonder if it’s okay for me to gleefully express that we are in the midst of a fun fact orgy!
Bobby, All your studies sound like absolutely authentic examples of j-science to me. (And clearly, your reading preferences are beyond reproach.) Your 2-hour lunch with cocktails… Sounds like a movement to me! I’m in.
CMW, Mmmmmmmmmmmmm… gyros. And suflaki! (Please excuse the j-drool. It’s so embarrassing when that happens.)
Linda // September 30, 2009 at 10:31 am |
Oh, no! Not National Pizza month. Well, in the interest of support our nation, I guess I’ll have to eat lots of pizza. Diet be damned.
BOBBY // September 30, 2009 at 10:36 am |
Oh gosh, I can’t help myself. Have to toss a Scooby-Doo fun fact (well, it being an orgy and all)
Did you ever wonder why Scooby-Doo and Astro, from the Jetsons, sounded exactly alike? “hey Shagggggy” / “hey Geoorggge” ? —- Yep, you guessed it, same actor voiced both characters!
Oh, and don’t forget loveable top 40 disc jockey Casey Kasam as the voice of Shaggy! “Scooooby-Doo, where are youuuuuu”
(Hmmm, close to a new record for me. Losing all focus and rational thought by 10:30 am!)
terrepruitt // September 30, 2009 at 1:36 pm |
Did you think of John as you were typing #4? And me when you typed #10? Because I know that we are all you think about when you are writing your blog. Well, actually when you write these lists you could be thinking about me because I learn so much!
Thanks, J!
Darren King // September 30, 2009 at 4:17 pm |
…practicing my Scooby Doo laugh…can’t spell it though…but J, I remember you could spell a scary laugh…don’t know how we would get the crescendo in there though….aahHEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-Hee-heee…
judy // September 30, 2009 at 7:24 pm |
Linda, Me too! Diet be damned!
Bobby, I had no idea that Scooby and Astro were the same voice. I am so going to tell someone that the next chance I get! Likely over cocktails.
Terre, Ha! I wasn’t thinking of John, but should have been. He is a champion nosher!
Darren, That was a spot-on Scooby imitation. I am in awe and more than a little delighted!
Tracy Lucas // September 30, 2009 at 10:58 pm |
Oh, how I love weird and useless trivia.
It makes the world go ’round. :)
Pimped you on my hobby blog at http://the-wandering-brain.blogspot.com/
Great post, keep ‘em coming!
Carey Jones // October 1, 2009 at 12:05 am |
Thanks for the cool list . . . I had to check the giant rat, as I am actually a lover of rats (domestic, not sewer). Have you heard of and/or seen the Capybara? It is the world’s largest ‘rodent’ and is in the same family as the Guinea Pig (looks like a giant one). I saw them in Venezuela, just walking around.
Do you really like caviar?
Tina // October 1, 2009 at 5:08 am |
Talk about overkill on that 1000.00 pizza-jeesh…(heck, I would even go for a bad Domino’s pizza right now–I am in the mood for some left-over pizza for breakfast, and all I have is a granola bar and coffee here)
I am going to say Zebra the Aussie way from now on–oh the strange looks I’ll get.
judy // October 1, 2009 at 9:36 am |
Tracy, Your “hobby blog” is cool. Just wasted (er, spent) way more time than I had wandering aimlessly. Happy to be included!
Carey, Capybara = cute (in a strange, giant rodent sort of way). I, sadly, have never had caviar. Truthfully, it looks sort of yucky, but still. I should have tried it by now. There’s no excuse for this lapse in my culinary education.
Tina, Me too! Let’s see if we can get everyone saying it!
Frank // October 1, 2009 at 2:07 pm |
So, Tracy sent me over here to have a look. Personally, I just think she wanted to see me shiver at the idea of real life ROUSes… Now that I am no longer allowed to think that they don’t exist I think I will just go back over here and wallow in my own personal pits of despair.
::wanders away continuing to shiver::
PS, I hope you dont mind if I send a few more people your way, I got a kick out of this post.
judy // October 1, 2009 at 9:21 pm |
Frank, Don’t worry. Unless you are, in fact, in Papua New Guinea, in which case, I’ll start putting together a rescue mission immediately!
And thank you for spelling out the plural form of ROUS… I ultimately reworded my sentence to avoid it altogether!