Are You For Real?
Friday, September 30, 2016
Known as South America’s most adorable and most endangered primate, the Cotton-Top Tamarin is a monkey that must be seen to be believed. And even then you’re pushing it.
History Schmistory: September 30. Too soon?
Friday, September 30, 2016
1955: After starring in only 3 movies, legendary actor James Dean dies in an auto collision, forever distinguishing him as the rebel without a seatbelt.
Barcelona’s last bullfight
Thursday, September 29, 2016
GO THERE!
Thursday, September 29, 2016
The Kremlin, you say? Well you could say that but you would be flat wrong. St Basil’s Cathedral, which lies just to the east of the Moscow Kremlin, is often incorrectly referred to as “the Kremlin” by most people who have never been to Russia. Kremlin is actually a term for the fortified government bases found at the heart of numerous historic Russian cities. The Moscow Kremlin, with it’s opulent palaces, is also where the President of the Russian Federation lives. To us though, in Moscow, St. Basil’s takes the cake. And we owe it all to Ivan the Terrible! That’s right. Not quite so terrible now, is he?
Deadword of the Day: Offscum
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Offscum: That which is rejected as vile or worthless.
As In: The boss treats us like offscum.
Whales vs Sharks
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Okay, so we know you can tell which is which, but can you name 5 major differences between sharks and whales?
Basics: Sharks are fish, whales are mammals; sharks lay eggs and have gills, whales give birth and breathe air from above the surface. Whales move their horizontal tail-fins up and down, while sharks move their vertical tail-fins side to side. Bla bla bla! More here 🙂
Here’s one you might not know: Whales communicate through sound, which travels four times faster in water, and they orient themselves through a sort of internal sonar. Though we are not certain how sharks communicate, we do know that they have a remarkable sense that no human has ever experienced, called electroreception. Sharks have a number of tiny receptors freckled across the head and nose which can detect even the tiniest electromagnetic pulse in the water surrounding them. So, in other words, the shark knows your every move.
History Schmistory: September 4. La La Land!
Sunday, September 4, 2016
1781: Los Angeles, California is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula, (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola), which seems like a silly name for a city, until you see this…
Photo by Eyreland (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Here are some more ridiculously long city names. Shouldn’t there be a limit? How irritating would it be to have to send a package to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu?
History Schmistory: September 3. “Sooooo… what side where you on?”
Saturday, September 3, 2016
1994: Russia and China formally agree to stop pointing nukes at each other. All eyes turn to the Montagues and Capulets.
GO THERE!
Friday, September 2, 2016
The Katoomba Scenic Railway, built in the late 1800s at the Blue Mountains of Australia, is still the steepest incline railway in the world, transporting passengers down through a canyon cliffside, into a lush ancient rainforest and back up before dinnertime.