April 2010
39 posts
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“Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.”
– Francois de La Rochefoucauld
(not sure I agree with this one…)
WatchFYI
Eyjafjallajokull is pronounced EYE-a-fyat-la-jo-kutl or AYA-feeyapla-yurkul
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Is Banksy’s Mr. Brainwash an Art-World Borat? →
“…..it was as if they were taunting hipster collectors into buying the worst possible art to prove their hideous, herd-following taste.”…..
“Look, if you’re playing a joke on the art market, it’s a pretty fun joke. Playing a joke on the art market? But the art market, is it a joke? When you think of white on a white canvas and sell it for millions of dollars, is...
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How many words did Shakespeare know?
In his collected writings, Shakespeare used 31,534 different words. 14,376 words appeared only once and 846 were used more than 100 times. Using statistical techniques, it’s possible to estimate how many words he knew but didn’t use.
This means that in addition the 31,534 words that Shakespeare knew and used, there were approximately 35,000 words that he knew but didn’t...
I’m Older Than You. Here’s Some Advice.
Lovely list from theFrisky
Families are weird.
Just say no to college loans.
Your experiences are the only thing you will remember with any clarity.
What doesn’t kill you scares the crap out of you.
If you are trying to get somewhere, you never will.
Girlfriends last longer than boyfriends.
Stop watching so much TV.
Sexually, try and stay in the single to double digits.
Regret is...
What??!? →
According to Harvard Medical School researchers, 11 large companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance owned about $1.9 billion in stock in the five largest fast-food companies as of June 2009.
”Last year, a study found they invested $4.5 billion in tobacco. Why don’t they just pay cabbies to run people over, too?” (via)
JK Rowling: The Single Mother's Manifesto →
In January that year, I was a single parent with a four-year-old daughter, teaching part-time but living mainly on benefits, in a rented flat. Eleven months later, I was a published author who had secured a lucrative publishing deal in the US, and bought my first ever property: a three-bedroom house with a garden.
…..
I had become a single mother when my first marriage split up in...
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Word of the Day: Pelf
pelf \PELF\ , noun
Money; riches; gain; — generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten.
Example:
…a master manipulator who will twist and dodge around the clock to keep the privileges of power and pelf. — Nick Cohen, “Without prejudice”, The Observer, February 20, 2000 Origin: Pelf comes from Old French pelfre, ...
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The Best Banksy Controversies… So Far →
The Value of a Queen Currency notes are just a government-issued IOU — replete with patriotic political figures, monarchs, symbols, and token glorified landscapes — but Banksy gave the British pound a whole new meaning when he replaced the picture of the Queen on several £10 notes with an image of the late Princess Diana. The altered bills were distributed at a London carnival in 2004 and...
Women have an inbuilt fear of being fat which is... →
Dr Allen said when anorexic and bulimic women view an overweight stranger, the brain’s self-reflection centre known as the medial prefrontal cortex lights up in ways that suggest extreme unhappiness and in some cases, self-loathing.
………
Surprisingly, even this control group exhibited what Dr Allen calls “sub-clinical” issues with body image.
...
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Word of the Day: Bloviate
bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\ verb:
To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.
Example:
After five years as president and thirty years as a political figure, this colossal oaf is still unable to discipline his urge to … bloviate. — R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., American Spectator, December 19, 1997
Origin: Bloviate is from blow + a ...
“The multitude of books is making us ignorant”
– Voltaire
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”
– Will Durant (1885 - 1981)
Colleges get failing grades on civics →
Bottom 10 schools?
ouch. What does this say about higher education??
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“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about...”
– Stephen Hawking
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10 Acclaimed Authors Who Only Wrote One Book
For many authors, a great novel is simply one part of a larger lifetime of creative work. For others, however, a great novel is a once in a lifetime blessing, one that was never followed up with another due to creative stagnation or circumstances out of his or her control. The authors listed here wrote books that have been read in high school and college courses for years, many of which won...
10 Fattest Countries in the World →
Kind of surprising, actually.
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Rejoice, Muffy and Biff: A Preppy Primer Revisited... →
A sequel to “The Official Preppy Handbook” will teach a new generation the importance of nicknames and loafers.
Happy April Fool's Day! →