Who are some celebrities with red hair?

Search: redheaded actors; celebrity redheads

Why: I hate Eric Stoltz, but Kat said it is because I just don't like redheads.

Answer: Eh. More or less, or occasionally:

• Alyson Hannigan
  
• Amy Adams
• Anthony Michael Hall
• Beck
• Bryce Dallas Howard
• Carrot Top
• Cynthia Nixon
  
• David Caruso
• Debra Messing
• Dina Meyer
  
• Eric Stoltz
• Geena Davis
• Gillian Anderson
  
• Heather Graham
• Isla Fisher
• Julia Roberts
• Julianne Moore
  
• Kate Winslet
• Katherine O'Hare
  
• Kathy Griffin
• Laura Ambrose
• Lauren Ambrose
  
• Lauren Holly
• Lindsay Lohan
• Marcia Cross
  
• Molly Ringwald
• Nicole Kidman
• Prince Harry
• Rene Russo
• Rita Hayworth
• Rupert Grint
• Seth Green
• Susan Sarandon
• Tiffany
  
• Tilda Swinton
• Willie Nelson
  

Source: Listal.com, AOL Teens, Right Celebrity

The More You Know: Did you know Rita Hayworth had red hair? I didn't. I don't think I'd ever seen her in color before, except I guess on the poster in The Shawshank Redemption. Was that color? I don't remember. Did you ever read that novella? It's pretty good.

Also, here is a picture of the "Red Headed Stranger," I guess, and a baby deer, and some of the best feathering I've seen today:

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What is the origin of the name Lucas?

Search: lucas name

Why: Aunt Michele told Andrew that "Luke isn't a good name for Jewish people." I guess I always thought Lucas was Biblical, like the Jewish Bible-cal.

Answer: Hmm, I was wrong. Lucas is a variant of Luke, not the other way around. It comes from Greek Latin origin meaning "man from Lucania" - a region of southern Italy thought to have been named in ancient times with a word meaning "bright and shining" (like lucid, Lucius, Lucy, etc.).

The Christian name owed its enormous popularity throughout Europe in the Middle Ages to St. Luke the Evangelist, hence the development of this surname and many vernacular derivatives in most of the languages of Europe.

Source: BlurtIt, Ancestry.com

The More You Know: It's Lucy's birthday. Happy birthday, Lucy!

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How did Where's Waldo? get started?

Search: where's waldo

Why: I have been playing it on my phone a lot lately. I also keep the blue one in my bathroom.

Answer: Taking inspiration from toy soldiers, creator Martin Handford grew up drawing "what were always busy and militarily correct battle scenes." After art school, he worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in drawing crowd scenes for numerous clients.

The turning point came when he was asked to create a book showcasing his singular talent, and the character Waldo was born to provide a link between each scene. "That’s who Waldo is - an afterthought," he says. "As it turns out, the fans were more interested in the character than in the crowd scenes."

Source: Waldo.wikia.com

The More You Know: Waldo has different names in different countries:

• Where's Waldo? (United States)
• Where's Waldo? (Canada)
• ¿Dónde está Waldo? (Spanish)
• Where's Wally? (United Kingdom)
• ¿Dónde está Wally? (Spanish)
• Where's Wally? (Australia)
• On és Wally? (Catalan)
• Waar is Wally? (Dutch)
• Gdzie jest Wally? (Polish)
• Onde está Wally? (Portuguese)
• Où est Charlie? (French)
• Wo ist Walter? (German)
• ウォーリーをさがせ! (Japanese)
• 尋找威利 (Chinese)
• איפה אפי? (Eifo Effy) (Hebrew)
• Hvar er Valli? (Icelandic)
• Ubaldo dove sei? (Italian)
• Hvor er Holger? (Danish)
• Hvor er Willy? (Norwegian)
• 월리를 찾아라 (Korean)
• Missä Vallu? (Finland)
• Ble mae Wali? (Wales)

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I want to watch the video for "Idiot Boyfriend" by Jimmy Fallon

Search: idiot boyfriend

Why: I just saw this "12 Days of Christmas" by Jimmy Fallon and the Muppets:

Answer: Lol, look who plays the girlfriend! Goodness, I haven't seen this in a long time:

Jimmy Fallon - Idiot Boyfriend

Source: Daily Motion

The More You Know: Yes yes, you "hate Jimmy Fallon." Yawn. Who I hate is Jay Leno. Please get him off my goddamn TV already before he ruins another 30 Rock.

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When did people start using the Gregorian calendar?

Search: gregorian calendar

Why: The New Year is nigh.

Answer: 1582! Before that, everyone used the Julian calendar, which had been in place since 45 B.C. Though pretty accurate, it erred from the real solar calendar by 11½ minutes a year, which added up over time. By the 16th century, the Julian calender was behind the solar one by 10 days.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the advancement of the calendar by 10 days. He also and introduced a new corrective device to curb further error: century years such as 1700 or 1800 would no longer be counted as leap years, unless they were (like 1600 or 2000) divisible by 400. Now, the Gregorian calendar year differs from the solar year by only 26 seconds, which adds up to only one day's difference every 3,323 years.

Source: infoplease

The More You Know: Despite the accuracy of Pope Gregory's correction, many Protestant countries ignored the papal bull (lol). Germany and the Netherlands adopt the Gregorian calendar in 1698, Russia after the revolution of 1918, and Greece in 1923.

And there was the British Calendar Act of 1751:

In England, the year 1751 was a short year of 282 days, running from 25 March to 31 December. 1752 began on 1 January.

To align the calendar in use in England to that in use on the continent, the changes introduced in 1582 by the Gregorian calendar were adopted with effect in 1752. To this end, the calendar was advanced by 11 days: 2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752.

Many Orthodox churches still follow the Julian calendar, which now lags 13 days behind the Gregorian. And the Hebrew calendar (it is now the year 5770) started with the creation of Adam.

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What does "tessellate" mean?

Search: tessellate

Why: In this "Dear Subway" thing from Left-Handed Toons:

Answer: The word "tessellate" means to form or arrange small squares in a checkered or mosaic pattern. It is derived from the Greek word tesseres, "four." The first tilings were made from square tiles.

A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again covering a plane without any gaps or overlaps. Another word for a tessellation is a tiling. A honeycomb is an example of a natural tessellation.

Here is some Interactivate: Tessellate! game-type thing that I don't really get. Maybe you will like it.

Source: Math Forum

The More You Know: I haven't been inside a Subway since I was like 14. Some smell in there gives me instant migraines. It's NBD - I don't really eat sandwiches anyway.

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I want to see a picture of the Hopi sun god

Search: Hopi sun god

Why: On "Strong Sad's Lament" (/Homestar Runner):

current mood: the frig?
current tunes: Neil Young - Trans - Transformer Man

Now, I don't get a lot of email. That is to say, I don't get a lot of worth while email. Lotta death threats, hate mail, and joke invitations to online singles sites (which, of course, I don't discover are 'joke' invitations until after waiting around the proposed meeting location for 4-8 hours. but hey! you never know when one might turn out to be legit!).

But today, I got this:



It clearly depicted me, looking the way I look when I'm thinking too hard about dairy. So I looked it up and it appears that I bear a striking resemblance to the Hopi sun god. I'm not sure how he or she felt about dairy but I hope I don't start getting accidentally worshipped. I've been 'worshed' before. Like, out back with the hose. You know, worshed off after I got all muddy. Never worshipped though. If nothing else, this has taught me that I should start wearing more red and yellow, as that border around my head really accentuates the pallor. Pallor if ya hear meh!

Sorry. It sounded funnier than it reads.

Answer: It looks like this:

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Hopi people mainly live in northeastern Arizona.

A Hopi Legend of Creation

In the beginning there were only two: Tawa, the Sun God, and Spider Woman, the Earth Goddess. All the mysteries and power in the Above belonged to Tawa, while Spider Woman controlled the magic of the Below. In the Underworld, abode of the Gods, they dwelt and they were All. There was neither man nor woman, bird nor beast, no living thing until these Two willed it to be.

In time it came to them that there should be other Gods to share their labors. So Tawa divided himself and there came Muiyinwuh, God of All Life Germs; Spider Woman also divide herself so that there was Huzruiwuhti, Woman of the Hard Substances, the Goddess of all hard ornaments of wealth such as coral, turquoise, silver and shell. Huzruiwuhti became the always-bride of Tawa. They were the First Lovers and of their union there came into being those marvelous ones the Magic Twins -- Puukonhoya, the Youth, and Palunhoya, the Echo. As time unrolled there followed Hicanavaiya, Ancient of Six (the Four World Quarters, the Above and Below), Man-Eagle, the Great Plumed Serpent and many others. But Masauwhu, the Death God, did not come of these Two but was bad magic, who appeared only after the making of creatures.

And then it came about that these Two had one Thought and it was a might Thought -- that they would make the Earth to be between the Above and the Below where now lay shimmering only the Endless Waters. So they sat them side by side, swaying their beautiful bronze bodies to the pulsing music of their own great voices, making the First Magic Song, a song of rushing winds and flowing waters, a song of light and sound and life.

"I am Tawa," sang the Sun God. "I am Light. I am Life. I am Father of all that shall ever come."

"I am Kokyanwuhti," the Spider Woman crooned. "I receive Light and nourish Life. I am Mother of all that shall ever come."

"Many strange thoughts are forming in my mind -- beautiful forms of birds to float in the Above, of beasts to move upon the Earth and fish to swim in the Waters," intoned Tawa.

"Now let these things that move in the Though of Tawa appear," chanted Spider Woman, while with her slender fingers she caught up clay from beside her and made the Thoughts of Tawa take form. One by one she shaped them and laid them aside -- but they breathed not nor moved.

Cliffhanger!! Read the rest here.

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Are there more Starbucks or McDonald's in the world?

Search: starbucks; mcdonalds

Why: It's the hot topic today in the office. It seems pretty obvi.

Answer: McDonald's!

• Starbucks has 16,635 stores in 49 countries, including 11,068 in the US, nearly 1,000 in Canada, and more than 800 in Japan!
  
• McDonald's has over 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries!
  

Source: Wikipedia, Wikipedia

The More You Know: McDonald's began in 1940 when brothers Dick and Maurice "Mac" McDonald (originally from New Hampshire) opened a restaurant in San Bernardino, CA. The introduced the "Speedy Service System" in 1948, and then franchised the system in 1953. When they went to check on a new store in Arizona, they were shocked to see an exact replica of his San Bernardino store, right down to the name "McDonald's." The owner said, "Why change it? It's great as it is," and from then on the brothers started franchising the entire concept.

The McDonald's Museum in Des Moine looks like the original style:

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How do frogs reproduce?

Search: frog

Why: I pointed out that this poster from The Princess and the Frog is lewd because the frog isn't wearing pants, and also where is his dingle?

But Kat said frogs don't have dingles because they reproduce asexually, a la Jurassic Park:

The film said they used frog DNA to fill the gene sequence gaps. They mutated the dinosaur's genetic code and blended it with that of frogs. Now, some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female, in a single sex environment. Malcolm was right! Look, life found a way!

Lol, frogs are amphibians.

Answer: The male gets on top - he is smaller than the female - and grabs her around the trunk in a position called amplexus. The female discharges eggs into the water, and the male shoots sperm all over them. Frogs and toads do not have dingles.

As far as frogs changing gender:

It all boils down to the level of which genes are activated.
Studies have shown that the sex chromosomes are not necessarily the
determining factor.  The traditional display of a female is when
an individual has two X chromosomes present.  When one of these
genes is a Y, it is a male.  This tends to be the case for most
organisms that sport individuals that are different sexes.

However, the Y chromosome has been almost always a male determining
chromosome, but with molecular biology and genetic engineering
techniques, a male can be made from a XX combination and females
have developed from XY combinations.  These are extremely rare, but
they have given insight to the fact that there are other factors
beside X and Y chromosomes that determine sex, probably a gene
found in both chromosomes.

As far as frogs are concerned (and other organisms that display this
Phenomenon), apparently there are chemical triggers that respond to the
number of members in a population that will activate the gene(s)
that will allow for the disintegration of one set of sex organs and
the development of the other.  This is an advantage to a species
whereby they have evolved the ability to assure their reproductive
success.

Source: Backyard Nature, U.S. Department of Energy: Ask a Scientist

The More You Know:

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What is an Aarne-Thompson classification?

Search: Aarne Thompson

Why: In the SurLaLune Fairy Tales article about the History of Cinderella:

The tale has its own Aarne Thompson classification which is 510A.

Answer: The Aarne-Thompson classification system is a system for classifying folktales! Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne first published his historic-geographic method of comparitive folkloristics in 1910, and American Stith (Stith?) Stith Thompson translated it in 1928 and expanded it in 1961.

The Aarne-Thompson system catalogues some 2500 basic plots from which, for countless generations, European and Near Eastern storytellers have built their tales. As Europeans and Near-Easterners travelled to the New World, the Far East, Africa, and other distant places, their tales migrated as well, often flourishing in their new environments. Hence, the Aarne-Thompson system encompasses tales found around the world.

Some include:

• The Clever Fox 1–69
• Supernatural Helpers 500–559
• The Obstinate Wife Learns to Obey 900–909
• Contest between Man and Ogre 1060–1114
• Jokes about Clergymen and Religious Figures 1725–1849

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Stith? Rachem? Bort?

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When was Cinderella first written?

Search: history cinderella

Why: My mom called someone "Cinderella's Jewish stepsister."

Answer: A long time ago!

• 1st century BC, Ancient Greece - "Rhodopis" (the "rosy-cheeked") is a Greek slave in Egypt. Though her master is nice, the other servants are mean to her for being pale and foreign. Long story short, the Pharaoh (in Memphis!!) marries her because the falcon Horus dropped her gilded slipper in his lap.
• 850 AD, China - In the earliest recorded version (written down by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih), the girl Yeh-shen befriends a fish instead of a fairy godmother. The fish is a reincarnation of her mother, who was killed by her stepmother. The mother's bones are magic...
  
• 1697, France - Charles Perrault (who also recorded Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and others) adds the bits about the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, the animal servants, and the glass slippers. In the end of this version, Cinderella finds husbands for her stepsisters.
• 1812, Germany - In the version by the Brothers Grimm (Aschenputtel or "Ash Girl"), the heroine plants a tree on her mother's grave, and magical help appears in the form of a white dove. At the end, the stepsisters' eyes are pecked by birds from the tree.
  

Source: SurLaLune Fairy Tales, Wikipedia

The More You Know: Sadie went to Disney World a few weeks ago. Scenes:

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What is Christopher Guest's title of nobility?

Search: christopher guest

Why: Last night, Wade watched The Princess Bride and Kat and I watched Best in Show. Christopher Guest is in both.

Answer: He is a baron - the 5th Baron Haden-Guest! His grandfather Leslie (1877-1960) was a Labour MP and founded the Labour Party Commonwealth Group. He was created a peer in 1950 and was a Lord-in-Waiting to the King in 1951. He was also the first Jew to stand for Parliament as a Labour candidate. Some notes:

• Christopher's older half-brother Anthony was born out of wedlock and was therefore ineligible to inherit the barony.
  
• Christopher has 2 children with wife Jamie Lee Curtis, but since they were adopted, they don't get to inherit it either. They only get "courtesy titles."
• The current heir presumptive is his youngest brother Nicholas.
• The ranks of the peerage in the UK go Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Ha - I was wondering what he really sounds like when he talks (since he does so many accents) and I saw this gem. There's a whole section about his "off-stage demeanor":

Guest is sometimes off-putting in interviews and promotional appearances (having been described by reviewer Warren Etheredge as, "rude, condescending and intolerable"), as well as with people who have met him outside of the work environment because contrary to expectations of him as a comedian he often seems deadpan, even dour.

That's funny, right?, because his movies are usually shot documentary-style with confessionals and interviews (which directly inspired "The Office"). Here he is on that "Ricky Gervais Meets..." program (oh - btw - he mostly grew up in New York):

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What does an adz look like?

Search: adz

Why: In the In Touch Weekly crossword, #71 down: "Cutting tool"

ADZ

Answer: Like this:

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Also called an adze, it's used for woodworking! You stand astride the log and chip it like this!

Brawny!

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Where is Bob Hoskins from?

Search: bob hoskins

Why: A letter from Dan:

Dear Carly Googles,
Is Bob Hoskins British? Just watched The Long Goodbye. It's British and he's British in it. Why not? Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

(at 2:04)

Answer: He was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, and is "known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters." Lol. Some of his charming quotations:

• My own mum wouldn't call me pretty.
• You don't end up with a face like this if you're hard, do ya? This comes from having too much mouth and nothing to back it up with.
• [On director Francis Ford Coppola] Coppola couldn't piss in a pot.

Source: Wikipedia, IMDb

The More You Know: Hoskins is 5'6" (like me!!). In 1967, he lived for a while at Kibbutz Zikim in Israel. Also, I wonder what Hook would have been like if he had played Captain Hook and Dustin Hoffman had been Smee.

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What's the origin of the phrase "trip the light fantastic"?

Search: trip the light fantastic

Why:

It kind of reminds me of a 311 song, but I'm not sure which one.

Answer: It has evolved over centuries!

• From Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611):

Before you can say come, and goe,

And breathe twice; and cry, so, so:

Each one tripping on his Toe,

Will be here with mop, and mowe.

Here, mop, and mowe means "a grimace."

• From John Milton's poem L'Allegro (1645):

Come, and trip it as ye go,

On the light fantastick toe.

And in thy right hand lead with thee,

The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty;

Here, trip means "to step lightly or nimbly," and light and fantastick refer to the movement of the feet or dance steps.

• After the 1832 Beaumaris Eisteddfod (literature & music festival), Secretary William Jones, Esq. wrote:

The ball room in evening at the Royal Victoria, was crowded as before by fashion, youth, and beauty; and many tripped it on the light fantastic toe, "till bright Aurora tinged the morn."

• In the popular song "Sidewalks of New York" (1894):
  

Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke

Tripped the light fantastic

on the sidewalks of New York

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: The 311 song I was thinking of is "Loco," but the line is:

We trip the shrooms fantastic
And shit gets drastic, elbow pull and kick
We trip the shrooms fantastic
And shit gets drastic, check it out (check it out)

Fun fact: I've seen 311 in concert 3 times.

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Who governs Lajes do Pico?

Search: Lajes do Pico Azores

Why: On the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) Santa Tracker:

Answer: They are Portuguese, but the government is autonomous! It's one of 19 municipalities on the archipelago of the Azores, which I don't mind saying I had no idea existed. The islands are about 930 miles west of Lisbon and about 2,400 miles from the east coast of North America. There are 5 cities on the Azores - which is made up of 9 major islands - and about 243,000 people. You want to be one of them.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Because these once uninhabited, remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of centuries, their culture, dialect, cuisine and traditions vary considerably from island to island.

The Monchique Islet on Flores Island, located at 31° 16' 24" W is regarded as the westernmost point in Europe, even though from a geographical standpoint, the two westernmost Azorean islands (Flores and Corvo) actually lie on the North American plate. Ask me later about what I learned about continents last week.

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What's that song that goes "and dance by the light of the moon"?

Search: dance by the light of the moon "come out tonight"

Why: I am watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time. Jimmy and Donna sing it a lot. It is also the theme of some production company, like after a show is over.

Answer: It's called "Buffalo Gals," originally written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as Cool White. Because it was so popular throughout the United States, minstrels altered the lyrics to suit the local audience, so it might be performed as "New York Gals" or "Boston Gals."

Here's a version by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney:

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: I can't figure out what show that production company did. It's going to bother me for the rest of my life.

UPDATE!!!!! It's the Bedford Falls Company who did "My So-Called Life." Thanks, commenter!

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What does Josh Waitzkin look like?

Search: josh waitzkin

Why: In this guy's list of moments that you're "Got" (like when the movie sucks you in):

Searching for Bobby Fischer

An amazing film that no one knows about, yet it's one of my favourite films of all times and it blows me away whenever I watch it.

(which kind of bums me out because my brother and I used to say "You've lotht" and "trick or treat" on a regular basis.)

In that film (1993), he was played by Max Pomeranc:

Answer: Like this:

c. 1986 (with Bruce Pandolfini)

Todayish:

Source: Google Images, JoshWaitzkin.com

The More You Know: Bobby Fischer (1943-2008), an illegitimate child whose mother was Jewish, was an outspoken anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. As an émigré fugitive from the American legal system (for a 1992 match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, which was against UN sanctions), he once called the US "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards." After the Sept. 11th attacks, he proclaimed on a radio interview, "This is all wonderful news." He died seeking asylum in Iceland, where - I guess - Americans and Russian couldn't expose him to harmful radiation through his molars.

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What's the origin of "oops"?

Search: oops

Why: I corrected a flagrant spelling error in Joel's review of Avatar (11 biscuits, hell right), and he texted back:

Whups.

Answer: Firstly, upsy-daisy or ups-a-daisy was first recorded in Leeds in 1862 as "a common ejaculation [lol] when a child, in play, is assisted in a spring-leap from the ground." The phrase was probably based on an older expression up-a-daisy or up-a-day. The "daisy" part might come from:

• The flower name, which comes from the Old English daegesege or maybe "day's eye"
• (lack)aday + the adjectival suffix –sy tacked on (like lackadaisical? maybs?)
  

Some peeps use "upsadaisy" or "oopsy-daisy" when hoisting someone up. Others just use them (or "whoopsy-daisies") as variants of oops or whoops - like Hugh Grant in Notting Hill when they are climbing that fence.

This meaning has existed since 1925 when a New Yorker caption read "Whoopsie Daisy!" Oops and whoops have been exclamations of dismay since the early 1920s.

So, upsy-daisy means 'up' to almost everyone, and whoopsy-daisy means 'down' (falling or dropping), but there is a gray area surrounding oopsy-daisy.

But that isn't even what I asked. We are just learning here.

In the end, "Oops!" and "Whoops!" (but not "Whups," Joel, spelling error #2) are what the Oxford English Dictionary calls "natural exclamations" - the sort of noises that a human being naturally makes when she slices her palm with the Night Cheese knife.

Source: The Mavens' Word of the Day, Word Detective

The More You Know: My favorite flower is the daisy. I have these Andy Warhol prints in my hoos:

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Who is Justin of shitmydadsays?

Search: shitmydadsays

Why: On Twitter, his bio just says "I'm 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down shit that he says." Some highlights:

• We're out of Grape Nuts... No, what's left is for me. Sorry, I should have said "You're out of Grape Nuts."
• Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that.
• You're like a tornado of bullshit right now. We'll talk again after your bullshit dies out over someone else's house.
• The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain't like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain't spitting it out.
• Jesus it's hot in here? Right? No? It's fucking hot, you people looking at me like i'm crazy. You're crazy.
• Who is this woman?....Kate Beckinsale? Well, you can tell Kate Beckinsale she sucks.

Answer: Justin Halpern! His father is Sam. They live in San Diego. Some notes:

Before retiring, Sam worked in nuclear medicine for the University of California, San Diego.

Growing up, Justin and his two brothers were pretty scared of Sam. Heck, they're still scared of him. After telling Justin's brother, Dan, about Stuff My Dad Says, Justin remembered Dan laughing hysterically to the point of tears. Then, Dan's tone changed. "Dude, you can't tell Dad."

When he finally confessed:

"I told him, 'OK, there's this site called Twitter.' And he was like, 'I know Twitter.' And then he was like, 'Now, do you have to go onto the Internet to access Twitter?' "After providing a basic overview of the project, Justin prepared for the fallout. "I should have seen it coming," Justin said. "He gave the most perfect response. He laughed for, like, 10 seconds, and then he goes, 'I can't find my cellphone. Can you call it?'"

Funny stories:

There was the time Sam coached Justin's little league team and got so frustrated with the players that he quit the gig on the spot, leaving a 9-year-old Justin to walk a few miles home.
"Even at 9, I knew this was going to end terribly," Justin said. "It was just me walking home, and I saw him driving. And he pulls up next to me and says, 'Aw, I forgot to pick you up, didn't I?' ... 'I'm not coaching that [expletive deleted] team anymore.' "

And then there was the time Justin filled Sam's Alfa Romeo Spider convertible with water. Or the time Sam had a bad day and declared, "I'll wear clothes if I want to wear clothes, and I won't wear clothes if I don't want to wear clothes," Justin recited. "And the fact that your friends are coming over soon is inconsequential."

Contrary to the "28-year-old guy living with his parents" stereotype, Justin is, in fact, employed. (He says he moved back to San Diego to get away from the big city life in L.A.) He recently left his job writing for the humor website he founded, called Holy Taco, to write for "Maxim."

(He's in the middle.)

Source: LA Times blogs

The More You Know: From Mashable.com:

The author of the account, Justin Halpern, simply tweets the quips and funny off-the-cuffs from his live-in 73-year-old dad. The results are hysterical enough to have already landed him a book deal, and now with a CBS option deal the concept will be finding its way to the other small screen, the television.

The creators of "Will & Grace," David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, are already on board to executive produce the show, planned as a family comedy. Halpern will co-write the script with Patrick Schumacker.

The show will join “Texts from Last Night” as the second internet meme to get picked up by a broadcast network this season, both intended as half-hour series.

I dunno about that.

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What's a serum?

Search: serum

Why: In the commercial for Softsoap Nutri-Serums:

You know serums can make your face soft and healthy. Now get serums in a bodywash!

Answer: Hmm. From the Latin word for "whey":

1 : the watery portion of an animal fluid remaining after coagulation: a (1) : blood serum (2) : antiserum b : whey c : a normal or pathological serous fluid (as in a blister)
2 : the watery part of a plant fluid

Source: Merriam-Webster

The More You Know: The Truth about Truth Serums

Popular culture makes gratuitous use of powerful lie-repelling agents known as Truth Serums. They are usually depicted as injected drugs which strongly inhibit a subject’s ability to lie, causing him or her to mechanically recite the truth to an interviewer upon questioning.

Such drugs have been utilized by some of the three-letter government agencies in the not-so-distant past (CIA, FBI, DOD, KGB, etc.), particularly during the rampant paranoia of the Cold War. And in the aftermath of 9/11, there was some discussion on the idea of bringing them back into use for interrogation. But are these truth serums effective? Do they produce any useful results?

The short answer is, no. The long answer is “Noooooooooooo!” while running in slow-motion.

Many barbiturates fall under the “truth serum” category, including scopolamine, sodium amytal, and Sodium Pentothal. Scopolamine was tested in the 1950s as a truth serum in Project MKULTRA, and is now infamous as a date-rape drug due to its tendency to cause retrograde amnesia (the inability to recall events prior to its administration). Sodium Pentothal is a drug which is commonly used in operating rooms as general anesthesia, though in recent years it has been largely replaced by better alternatives.

Another of the most common truth serums is ethyl alcohol, the same agent that is found in alcoholic beverages. As a truth serum, it is usually injected in a nearly pure form, but its effects are indistinguishable from those caused by consuming large amounts of alcohol orally. If you’ve ever been intoxicated, then you are personally familiar with the effects that truth serum has on the mind and body.

While a drunk person may be more likely to confess their secrets, they are not incapable of lying, nor will they necessarily share any information that is asked of them. All of these truth serums work in the same manner: They depress the central nervous system and interfere with judgment and higher cognitive function. A person in such a state tends to regurgitate a cocktail of information which is a blend of facts and fantasy, with many details exaggerated or omitted. In a word, unreliable.

In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that a confession produced under the influence of truth serum was unconstitutionally coerced, and therefore inadmissible. After that, the use of such drugs fell rapidly from popularity in the U.S. But truth serums may not be gone for good, as the Supreme Court asserted shortly after 9/11 that terrorism may require “heightened deference to the judgments of the political branches with respect to matters of national security.”

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What's the origin of the word cummerbund?

Search: cummerbund

Why: I don't know. I was just thinking about funny things to wear, like Rollerblades and a scuba mask.

Answer: It comes from the Hindi word kamarband, which comes from Persian kamar, "waist or loins" (hubba) + band, "band" (duh).

Source: Word-Detective.com

The More You Know: The tuxedo was first introduced in 1886 in the resort town of Tuxedo Park, NY, on Tuxedo Lake. The town's name is an Anglicized form of the Delaware Indian word p'tuksit, "wolf" - the totem of that particular Delaware group.

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