Despite the common belief to the contrary, Napoleon Bonaparte was not unusually short in stature. There is no reason to believe that his lust for power arose from "little man syndrome." He actually was five feet six inches tall, which was typical for a Frenchman 200 years ago. Until around 1840, units of measurement in France were chaotic, inconsistent, changed every few years, and varied from region to region. It is believed that rumors of Napoleon's shortness stemmed from a mistranslation into English measurements of his height in French units.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
CHOLESTEROL AND TAILS
Scientists have discovered that dogs who chase their tails often have much higher levels of cholesterol (both the "good" and "bad" varieties) than canines who do not.
For further information on tail-chasing in general as well as the particular relationship to cholesterol, please visit the The Dog Daily webpage. For a video of what appears to be cholesterol-cursed canines compulsively chasing their tails, click here.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
THE ROAD ROAD
LaRue Road (which translates as "The Road Road") is located in southwestern Illinois in the Shawnee National Forest and separates rocky cliffs from a swamp adjoining the Mississippi River. Since 1972, a 2.5 mile stretch of the road has been closed to vehicular traffic for two months in the spring and two months in the fall to allow numerous species of amphibians and reptiles (including rattlers, copperheads, and cottonmouths) an opportunity to migrate safely between their summer homes in the swamp and their winter hibernation dens in the cliffs.
Legend would suggest that during the migration season, there is a writhing carpet of snakes and that you could not toss a dead cat onto the road without hitting at least three herptiles with it. However, I, who have on more than one occasion taken the long pilgrimage to the road during the prime migration period and who have even been provided with a learned guide to the alleged hot spots, gainsay this image. I saw nothing. Nada. Not even a common American toad (Bufo americanus).
The guide did report that a team of photographers from a major and highly-regarded media organization (whose name shall be shielded to protect the guilty) did get some good footage of venomous snakes on the road. However, he also revealed that the photographers had brought their own serpents with them in cages, released them on the road for their cameo appearances, and then recaptured them.
Monday, June 8, 2015
THE ASCENSION OF MS. BROWN
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| By Evan-Amos (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Anyone who has not lived on a desert island for the past two decades is well aware that Mars, Inc. has a series of marsvelous commercials featuring various color spokescandies for their M&M's product line--each color with a different personality. For years, however, Mars thought that one hue to eschew was brown. The company was concerned that the color was too scatological and would become the butt of too much prurient humor. However, Mars eventually relented, and now Ms. Brown, a sexy and sophisticated intellectual (voiced by Vanessa Williams), is a regular in many delightful productions such as this one.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
A HAMBURGER SO DISGUSTING THAT IT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE
In the 2008 film Iron Man, there is a scene where gazillionaire Tony Stark a/k/a "Iron Man" has just escaped from three months of captivity in the Middle East. The first item he demands is "an American cheeseburger." The next scene shows one of his myrmidons presenting him, in response to the order, a burger in a sack clearly emblazoned with the Burger King logo.
Iron Man, like many modern films, is saturated with product placements for different companies. In the case of Burger King, however, Robert Downey, Jr., the star of the production, had a special reason why he wanted to pay tribute to this particular fast-food company in the movie.
According to Downey, in 2003, he had a nasty narcotics habit and was driving one day in a automobile piled with "tons of (expletive deleted) dope." He purchased a meal from Burger King and had an epiphany about how his life was going down the toilet when he realized that he was preparing to eat "such a disgusting burger." Downey decided then and there to straighten out his existence and threw all of the drugs into the ocean.
Although Burger King probably appreciated the public praise heaped on it by Downey for his Road to Damascus moment, it no doubt would have preferred that it be for something other than producing a meal so nauseating that it would induce a major character shift in someone contemplating eating it. Nonetheless, the subsequent Burger King commercials featuring Iron Man characters and the use of Iron Man action figures in Burger King kid's meals suggest that all participants were (and probably still are) happy in their relationship.
Monday, June 1, 2015
A MAN WHO APPARENTLY COULD NOT HOLD ONTO A JOB
At various points in his career, Sam Houston was:
1. The Governor of the State of Tennessee.
2. The Governor of the State of Texas.
3. A Senator from the State of Texas.
4. The chief military commander of the Republic of Texas.
5. The President of the Republic of Texas.
Houston was thrown out of office as the Governor of Texas when Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861 and Houston refused to renounce the United States. He died two years later.
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