Archive for the ‘Bitch & Complain’ Category
INTERESTING TOILET FACTS
- The most impossible item to flush is a ping-pong ball.
- The first toilet air freshener was a pomegranate stuffed with cloves.
- Psycho was the first Hollywood film that showed a toilet flushing – thereby generating many complaints.
- The idea of separate cubicles for toilets is a relatively modern invention; Romans, for example, sat down together in large groups.
- The town Council of Cheltenham Spa once voted to replace the words Men and Women on their public toilets with Ladies and Gentlemen in order to” attract a better class of person.”
- Before the invention of toilet paper, people use shells or stones, bunches of herbs or, at best, a bit of sponge attached to a stick, which they rinsed with cold water.
- Hermann Goring refused to use regulation toilet paper and used to bulk-buy soft white handkerchiefs instead.
- In 1986, Nathan Hicks of St. Louis, Missouri, shot his brother Herbert dead because he used six toilet rolls in two days.
- The world’s oldest piece of toilet paper – thought to be 1200 years old – was found buried under an Israeli garage.
- And last but not least, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, and Lenny Bruce all died on the toilet.
TOILET QUOTE
“You know that it is by the state of the lavatory that a family is judged.” (Pope John XXIII)
This completes my first Trivia Week. I hope everyone enjoyed this bizarre collection of facts as much as I did collecting them. I may have to do this again in the future because I have many more of these tidbits to share.
TRIVIA RULES
VARIOUS ODD FACTS
- In 1679, Messrs. Green, Barry and Hill were hanged at Tyburn for a murder they committed at Greenberry Hill.
- Melanie Griffith has a tattoo of a pear on her butt.
- And not to be outdone, Anna Kournikova has the tattoo of the sun on her butt.
- Andrew Jackson (1829-37) once killed a man in a duel because he insulted his wife.
- John Quincy Adams (1825-29) used to take a swim in the Potomac River every morning naked.
- Jimi Hendrix lost his virginity at age 12.
- Mark Twain lost his virginity at age 34.
MARK TWAIN WISDOM
- “There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.”
- “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
- “Education is what you must acquire without any interference from your schooling.”
- “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18.”
- “Familiarity breeds contempt . . . and children.”
INSURANCE
- Dolly Parton insured her breasts for $3 million.
- Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance, insured his legs for $40 million.
- Tina Turner insured her lips for $1 million and her breasts for $750,000.
- Bruce Springsteen insured his voice for $5 million.
- Jennifer Lopez insured her entire body for 1 billion dollars.
FYI: I’M INSURING MY RIGHT HAND FOR $10 BILLION
I know a lot of you celebrity lovers will be interested in the Oscar section, These trivia facts are laced with the names of so-called celebrities just for your enjoyment. Here we go . . .
FIRST, SOME FIRSTS
- Harry Houdini was the first man to fly a plane in Australia – in 1918.
- Barbra Streisand’s first performance was as a chocolate chip cookie.
- Groucho Marx ate his first bagel at the age of 81.
- The first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal was Shredded Wheat in 1893.
- Steven Spielberg directed the very first episode of Columbo.
- Courtney Cox was the first person on U.S. TV ever to use the word period – in an ad for Tampax.
OSCAR INFO
- The only actress to win an Oscar for less than 10 min. work: Judi Dench, who was on screen for only 8 min. in Shakespeare in Love (1998)
- The only actress to win a Best Actress Oscar in a foreign language: Sophia Loren for Two Women (1961)
- The only posthumous acting Oscar was won by: Peter Finch for Network (1976)
- The only actors to get seven acting nominations without ever winning a single Oscar: Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton
DEATHS
- Orson Welles and Yule Brenner both died on 10/10/85.
- The only mother and daughter to be nominated for Oscars in the same year: Diane Ladd and her daughter, Laura Dern, for Rambling Rose (1991)
- Sammy Davis Junior and Jim Henson both died on 05/16/90.
- Freddie Mercury and Klaus Kinski both died on 11/24/91.
SO ENDS DAY THREE
Are you the superstitious type? If I’m being truthful, I may upon occasion have paid some attention to one or two of the sillier superstitions. I hate to admit that but it’s ingrained into our consciousness about certain things and it can be hard to shake regardless of how stupid it sounds. I’ve never been one to fear the number “13” or Friday the 13th” but I know many people who are. So here is some additional information concerning that mystical number and the day Friday. Enjoy!
- The fear the number 13 – or ” triskaidekaphobia” as it’s technically known, goes back a long way. Accordingly to Scandinavian mythology, there was a banquet in Valhalla into which Loki (the God of Strife) intruded, thereby making it 13 guests, and where Balder (The God of Light) was murdered. In Christian countries the superstition was confirmed by thirteen people attending the Last Supper.
- Meanwhile, “Friday the 13th” is considered unlucky because it was the day of the crucifixion and because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday and also died on Friday.
- Some Buddhists and Brahmins also consider Friday to be unlucky. In combining superstitions about both Friday and the number 13, Friday the 13th is feared as being twice as frightful.
- Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister, never traveled on a Friday the 13th unless it was absolutely essential.
- Graham Chapman, the late member of the Monty Python team, actually like Friday the 13th. Indeed, he arranged to be buried on the 13th hour of Friday, October 13, 1989.
- Good things that have happened on a Friday the 13th include these: The Third Man premiered (January 1950), the Allies recaptured Tobruk (November 1942), and Alfred Dreyfus was restored to the French army and promoted to major (July 1906).
- Bad things that have happened on a Friday the 13th included these: a violent earthquake in Turkey that killed more than 1000 people (March 1992), a hurricane in Britain left 9 people dead (January 1984), and a plane crash left survivors stranded in the Andes without food and compelled them to turn to cannibalism to stay alive (October 1972).
- Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th.
- People who were born on a Friday the 13th include Steve Buscemi, Zoe Wanamaker, Howard Keel and Christopher Plummer.
- People who have died on Friday the 13th include Benny Goodman and former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
Day 2 of Trivia Week is complete. Be grateful that this weeks Friday falls on the 15th. Your safe until May 13, 2022, then watch out!
HAVE A SAFE UNSUPERSTITIOUS DAY
It’s time for another giant pile of flaming and utterly useless information. As you already know I’ve always been a huge fan of trivia thats unusual, odd, or strange. I’ve collected this information from books, e-mails, notes from friends, and anywhere else I could find it. I hope you enjoy them and find them as interesting and fun as I did.
- New foreskins discarded after circumcision are sold to biomedical companies for use in artificial skin manufacture. They are also used as the secret ingredient in some popular anti-wrinkle gels.
- Lettuce contains 2 to 10 parts of morphine per billion.
- To see a rainbow you must have your back to the sun.
- You can tell the temperature by listening to the chirp of a cricket. For the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37.
- A calorie is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1°C. A gallon of gasoline contains 31,000 K calories, or the equivalent of 46.3 happy meals.
- Bubblegum is pink because it’s creator Walter Diemer, a Fleer employee, had only pink coloring left when he mixed up his first successful batch.
- The fly of your jeans is the flap of cloth over the zipper, not the zipper itself.
- The term cop most likely derives from the British police acronym for Constable On Patrol.
- There are more Subway sandwich shops in Manhattan than there are actual subway stations.
- Henry Ford, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, and Paul Revere were all clock makers at one point in their lives.
- When Thomas Edison died in 1941, Henry Ford captured his last breath in a bottle.
- The first item sold on eBay (then called the auction web) was a broken laser pointer that sold for $14 at the time, more than the cost of a new one.
- The term “the whole 9 yards” dates from World War II. When fighter pilots armed airplanes, the 50 caliber machine gun ammunition belts loaded into the fuselage measured exactly 27 feet. If a pilot fired all his ammo at one target, it got “the whole 9 yards”.
- On average, women utter 7000 words a day; men manage just over 2000.
NOW WASN’T DAY 1 FUN?
There was a young man from Siam,
Who said:” I go in with a wham!
But I soon lose my starch, like the mad month of March,
And the lion comes out like a lamb.”
As I promised, here is part two of the “Famous Last Words” list. They don’t need any more of an introduction than that.
“No! I didn’t come here to make a speech. I came here to die.” Crawford Goldsby, a.k.a. Cherokee Bill, when asked if he had anything to say before he was hanged.
“I know you’ve come to kill me. Shoot, you are only going to kill a man.” Che Guevera
“Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.” Francisco (Pancho) Villa
“I’ll be in hell before you start breakfast!” “Black Jack” Ketchum, notorious train robber
“Don’t worry… It’s not loaded…” Terry Kath, rock musician in the band Chicago Transit Authority as he put the gun he was cleaning to his head and pulled the trigger.
“Is someone hurt?” Robert F Kennedy, to his wife directly after he was shot and seconds before he fell into a coma.
“Die, my dear? Why that’s the last thing I’ll do!” Groucho Marx
“Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!” Karl Marx, asked by his housekeeper when his last words were to be
“I have a terrific headache.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage
“Drink to me!” Pablo Picasso
“I have not told half of what I saw.” Marco Polo, Venetian traveler and writer
“Dammit… Don’t you dare ask God to help me.” Joan Crawford. This comment was directed towards her housekeeper who began to pray aloud.
“Lord help my poor soul.” Edgar Allen Poe
Now that we’ve laid all these so-called celebrities to rest we can move on with our lives. If any of you come up with any epithets or last-words to celebrate your own death, let me know. I have a another post on this subject coming in the near future and I could add yours to the list.
* * * * TRIVIA WEEK COMING SOON * * * *
10/12 – 10/16
All Trivia – All Week
Anyone newly elected and working in Washington DC becomes a cynic within minutes of their arrival and a power-grabbing beltway politico within days. Between the lobbyist’s kissing their asses and the ever-growing groups of citizens who want something from them, they become overwhelmed very quickly. If they’re strong of character and have an equally strong stomach they may be able to work through all the nonsense and actually accomplish something meaningful. Even if they’re successful in doing so, the powers-that-be will keep dragging them back. They just keep repeating to these rookies all of the rationales they used to excuse their own bad or illegal behavior. Your ability to remain a decent individual under the worst possible circumstances isn’t helped when you read these kind of statements made by well known Washington insiders:
- “You will be measured in this town by the enemies you destroyed. The bigger they are, the bigger you will be.” John B Connally – Texas Gov. 1979
- “Don’t write anything down, but save everything that anyone else writes down.” Maureen Dowd – Columnist, 1995
- “I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport.” Vince Foster – Suicide Note – 1993
- “If you can’t deal every day with having people trying to destroy you, you shouldn’t even think of coming down here.” Alan Greenspan – 1994
After reading these statements even I’m becoming depressed again. The question for me is why anyone would willingly choose to work under these kind of conditions. They all say they’re going to fix the system from the inside and I’m sorry to say but that’s a lot of hogwash. We been hearing that same mantra for decades from really good people who were elected with the best of intentions. They are immediately eaten alive by the veterans and unable to make any meaningful changes whatsoever.
I spend a lot of my time looking at government and criticizing everything that needs to be criticized. It really bothers me that even I can’t find a solution to this problem after years of watching so many good people fail in their attempt for change. I’d much rather criticize and then offer a workable solution, but I cannot because I don’t have one. Maybe it’s just my apathy with the entire political system as it currently exists. The “Founding Fathers” must be spinning in their graves.
THE MONSTER HAS BEEN CREATED, NOW WHAT?
A notorious harlot named Hearst
In the pleasures of men is well-versed;
Reads the sign at the head
Of her well-rumpled bed:
“The customer always comes first”.
As a person ages and begins to deal with their own mortality they sometimes think about the final moments of their life. I’ve observed that death can also be a final moment of embarrassment for some. People who are celebrities of a sort must think that their final words may be released to the public and repeated forever. The last thing you want people to think is that you were frightened or stupid at the end. Unfortunately many times these final words do seem stupid, some humorous, and others make no sense at all. This collection of final words has been in my files for years and has always made me think a little and occasionally smile a lot. What will I say at the end? I’m not a famous person so it will only mean something to me and possibly the last person I talked to. No one else will care.
Let’s now take a few minutes and review some of these last utterances of some allegedly famous people:
“I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. Peace, Love, Empathy. Kurt Cobain.” Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note). Lead singer for American grunge band Nirvana, referencing a song by Neil Young.
“In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts and in living color, you’re going to see another first – attempted suicide.” 30-year-old anchorwoman Christine Chubbuck, who, on July 15, 1974, during technical difficulties during a broadcast, said these words on-air before producing a revolver and shooting yourself in the head. She was pronounced dead in the hospital 14 hours later.
“It’s very beautiful over there.” Thomas Edison
“Now why did I do that?” Gen. William Erskine, after he jumped from a window in Lisbon, Portugal in 1813.
“Don’t worry, relax.” Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, told his security staff minutes before being killed by a suicide bomber attack.
“Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” George Bernard Shaw
“I’m losing.” Frank Sinatra
“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.” Oscar Wilde
“I’m tired of fighting.” Harry Houdini
“I see black light.” Victor Hugo
“LSD, 100 micrograms I. M.” Aldus Huxley to his wife. She obliged and he was injected twice before his death.
“I’m bored with it all.” Winston Churchill, before slipping into a coma and dying nine days later.
“Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool – good luck.” (suicide note) George Sanders, actor
“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” Gen. John Sedgwick, Union commander in the US Civil War, who was hit by a sniper fire a few minutes after saying it.
After reading these final words I know I can do better. I just hope I have the opportunity to say something meaningful or humorous before I go. Not to be too morbid but you should really take some time to think about and write your own epitaph. Stand by for Part II of Famous Last Words . . . coming soon.
P.S. Here’s what I’ve decided should be my last words: “veni, vedi, cessi”. If Latin was good enough for Julius Caesar, it’s good enough for me. It translates to, “I came, I saw, I left”
WHAT WILL YOUR’S BE?
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