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Miscellaneous Trivia 4 (More?!)

Increases in council rates can be cause many local residents heartache and anger. In January 2004, a US couple in Texas were rather stunned by their water rates bill. When Stella Richison opened the account, she apparently gave it to her husband Chuck and said, “Honey, you’ve got a bill.” The water account, which is usually around the $60 level, was a staggering $7,714.510! Stella and Chuck contacted the water department and told them about the remarkable bill. There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone for several seconds, “Then, they all chuckled and they freaked out,” Mr Richison said. It was eventually determined that a computer glitch had caused the problem. The couple decided that they would frame the outrageous water bill and hang it, perhaps in the kitchen over the sink.

Is it better to have book smarts or street smarts? An analysis undertaken by the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois in 2004, of over 20,000 people found that the mental ability to do well in school is often a good indicator for future success. This is in contrast to the long-held belief that street smarts are better in the real world. The results were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and suggest that while street smarts are important, book-learning is equally if not more important to future success.

The Great Wall of China is not so great anymore. As tourists swamp the famous monument and there are developments in the area, it is having a detrimental affect on the wall. During the Qin Dynasty in 221BC, the Great Wall was begun, and was created to keep invaders out. Most of the heavy stonework and parapets were undertaken later during the Ming Dynasty. By Chinese law the Great Wall is protected against damage, and is listed as a World Heritage Site. Unfortunately, ignorant developers and uneducated farmers use its bricks or allow development to impinge upon the wall causing continuing damage to the great construction. The ten million or so annual visitors each year, also contribute to wear and tear.

In January 2004, Kimani Murage from Kenya joined primary school for the first time. Arriving at school in uniform, Kimani surprised the school headmistress. What was so surprising was the that Kimani Murage was 84 years old at the time. The average age of his classmates is seven and two of his thirty grandchildren are actually in higher classes than he is. Mr Murage’s purpose in attending school was that he wanted to learn to read. “I do not want any young man... trying to rob me of my money due to illiteracy," Murage said.

It took a long time for man to break the sound barrier in a plane, but has the sound barrier ever been broken in a car? The answer is yes. On October 15 1997, British Thrust SSC set the first ever supersonic land-speed record when it travelled across the Nevada desert at an average speed of 1227.7kph or Mach 1.020. In fact, it broke the sound barrier twice on the same day! Richard Noble was the team leader and the driver was Andy Green, an RAF fighter pilot who had both worked for years to achieve their goal of breaking the sound barrier with a land vehicle.

Has your bank ever made a mistake on your account? How about giving you a cheque with an incorrect amount? In August 2003, Letha Schmitt of Florida, received a certified cheque from her bank which was supposed to be for $85, but the bank teller had put the woman’s cheque number where the amount was supposed to be. The resulting cheque was made out for over $48.7 million! Later, when the bank advised Ms Schmitt about the error, she thought it was a hoot! And in case you were wondering, Ms Schmitt did not try to cash the huge cheque.

Now we all know how dangerous it is to be on mobile phones while trying to drive, but apparently drivers are more likely to be distracted by things like eating, combing their hair or even listening to their radio. A three-hour driving study in 2003 showed that all drivers were distracted 16% of the time. And considering that approximately 25% of all traffic accidents are caused by distractions, this is a pretty frightening statistic. One positive thing for the older drivers showed that they tended to engage in less distracting behaviour than younger drivers, but were not completely immune to diversions. Safety Authorities suggest doing things like presetting the radio, or reading the map, when you get into the car, rather than waiting until the vehicle is moving, will cut down on distractions and therefore, reduce the possibility of accidents.

There is an annual festival held in August in Bunol, a small town in Spain where the streets end up running with streams of red liquid, which fortunately is not blood. At midday, a huge firework is exploded which signals the commencement of “Tomatina”. Tens of thousands of people help themselves to over 100 tonnes of tomatoes and then start throwing them at each other! People, streets, buildings, walls, and anything in People’s Square are saturated with tomato juice. The people squash the juice and pulp into each others clothing, skin and hair and generally have a juicy, good time. It all started in the mid 1940s when some local children threw tomatoes at balloons during a balloon-show. And from there, Tomatina has become a well known event, with participants even travelling from other countries to join in.

Church-goers can often get very attached to their Priest or Minister, but in September 2003, the parishioners in a small Franciscan church in Trasacco, took things a little bit far. When they heard that that monastery was about to close because there was a shortage of priests, the parishioners showed how much they loved their priest by imprisoning him. They bricked up the entrance to the monastery and barricaded another doorway to show the authorities how much they wanted to keep Father Emilio Cucciella and to keep the monastery open. "I consider myself a prisoner of love," Father Cucciella said. “I have to obey orders but I can understand why they are upset." Whilst imprisoned, Father Cucciella spent time reading and praying. Although he had several days worth of food, he said that he was considering going on a hunger strike to support his people.

Have you ever lost money? Perhaps you dropped it somewhere. In Bochum, Germany in September 2003, a businessman was getting into his car when his mobile phone rang. He put his suitcase onto the roof of his car, and then answered the phone. Distracted by the phone call, he jumped into his vehicle, completely forgetting the briefcase and then sped off down the highway. The leather case fell off the car and hit the road and all of its contents went flying across the highway. Drivers behind him were stunned to see banknotes flying through the air and many must have helped themselves to the windfall. When the businessman realised what had happened, he contacted the police who temporarily closed the roadway in an attempt to recover the notes. Only about 3% were found at the time although a driver returned some of the banknotes a few days later which accounted for about 30% of the total. All in all, the businessman lost over 65% of the money he’d had in his briefcase which totalled 67,500 euros or about US$74,000. Ouch!

In Sepember 2003, officials for taxi companies in Cyprus decided that their cabbies did not project the right sort of image to tourists. It was decided that flashy rings and gold medallions were no longer acceptable and unkempt and uncouth appearances are definitely out. Surveys undertaken amongst tourists suggested that grooming and etiquette classes would not go astray. Another no-no is gross tattoos, exposed hairy legs and thongs. As approximately 2½ million tourists visit Cyprus each year, taxi officials decided to listen to their gripes.

In September 2003, a German man had his luggage returned to him after it went missing in Senegal 24 years earlier. The beige and brown case was found by police in the city of Duesseldorf and they tracked down the 61 year old owner. Although it was unclear where the case and its contents had been since 1979, the contents appeared to be in good condition. Although the owner was amused about the find, he at first did not want the clothes returned as he felt the clothing from the disco era, would no longer be suitable. The man’s wife though was curious to see the contents and convinced her husband to claim the case back. The owner may have to wait another 20 years or so before the fads return back into fashion again.

Anastasia Volochkova was one of Russia’s best known ballerinas when in September 2003 she was told not to turn up to perform Swan Lake. Although not officially sacked, Ms Volochkova was advised that she would be offered a new contract when they could find someone strong enough to lift her. Being taller than average and partial to ice-cream, Anastasia was heavier than the average ballerina although still very light by our standards. Ms Volochkova usually chose the lower-fat frozen yoghurts over ice-cream, but said “I love ice cream so much that I can't imagine life without it.”

On 1 July 1974, Argentine president Juan Perón died and was succeeded by his wife and vice president, Isabel. Isabel Perón became the first woman president in the Western Hemisphere.

When most people think of men living in the Alpines in Germany, they imagine them dressed in the old-fashioned lederhosen outfits. Dating back to the 17th century, the lederhosen symbolised strength and masculinity. But for some modern men with skinny legs, the thought of wearing lederhosen in public was quite daunting. When they wore the outfits, the locals would call them “spatzenbein” which means sparrow legs in German. To overcome this embarrassment, in 2003 a lederhosen store owner thought up the idea of sewing silicon leg implants into the legs of the outfits. The idea was so successful, the lederhosen enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in Germany.

Aah! The light-hearted days of childhood and the silly games we played. How would you like to relive that all over again by engaging in a pillow fight? All you have to do is get together with lots of your friends, as a group in New York did in September 2003. Seven hundred people met in New York’s Central Park and engaged in the world’s largest pillow fight, and broke the previous record set in Kansas. They even put together an enormous bed measuring 24m x 12m and had a headboard that stood over 3.6m in height. The seven hundred people were no strangers though – they were all employees of Sheraton Hotels. The whole stunt, to gain the world record and to draw attention to the luxurious beds in Sheraton Hotels across the USA, cost them a mere $75 million.

In what position do you sleep? On your side or your back? Professor Chris Idzikowski, a sleep expert in the UK did some research and found some rather interesting parallels between sleeping positions and people’s personalities. For example, those who sleep with their arms outstretched tend to more suspicious types, while those who sleep on their sides with their arms and legs out are generally easy-going, and sociable people. People who sleep in the foetal position, are usually reserved and quite shy, while those who sleep on their stomach with the hands down by their sides, are often extroverted people.

When I was about 14 I had my bicycle stolen from school. Eventually I found out who stole it and confronted the girl – which made her cry. But can you imagine having your bicycle stolen and returned 24 years later? That’s just what happened to a Dutch woman in 1979. She had only had it for two weeks and never thought she’d see it again. Oddly enough, the bicycle was found when somebody else decided to steal it yet again, and he was caught by the police. An identification tag on the bike enabled it to be reunited with its original owner. Cycling is very common in the Netherlands as it is very flat, and bicycle theft is rife. Apparently after all those years, the bike was still in fairly good condition when it was returned.

Have you ever thought about writing to God but didn’t know where to address it? Any letters addressed to “God, Jerusalem, Israel” or to “God, the Wailing Wall” or even to “The Angels in Heaven” eventually make their way to the Israeli post office’s Dead Letters Department. From there the letters are placed in a velvet bag and placed into cracks in the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall. Every year, people write about anything including their problems or prayer requests and wishes. Letters come from all over the world including India, France, Nigeria, USA and Australia.

Ecuadorians were notorious for being late – it was always an accepted part of their culture. In October 2003 though, a national punctuality drive was launched to encourage its citizens to change its habits. President Lucio Gutierrez who admitted to being especially tardy himself, strongly supported the drive and hoped that he could achieve an improvement in his own ways. At midday on October 2, 2003, the small nation of Ecuador synchronised its clocks and the official ceremony was commenced to launched the endeavour. Civic groups estimated that tardiness cost the poor nation up to $724 million each year. But even though everyone was on time for the official launching ceremony, apparently several businessmen were late to functions later on the same day.

There are different orders of nuns throughout the world. Some interact with the world, and on the other hand, there are groups who are quite reclusive. Such a groups of nuns, called the Poor Clare nuns, exists in Ireland. Communicating with visitors only through iron bars at their closed monastery in Galway, the Poor Clare nuns have found a rather unusual and modern way of communicating with the world. They have set up their own website called www.poorclares.ie. On the web there are photos of the nuns working in the bakery and of the monastery itself. There are many prayers listed with the aim of bringing comfort to those in need of spiritual guidance. A spokesman for Ireland’s religious orders said, “This is another way in which they can engage with the world through prayer and contemplation.” The website coincided with the 750th anniversary of the death of St Clare, the founder of the order, who is also the patron saint of television. Their website again is www.poorclares.ie.

There’s something in human nature that just likes to smash things! Taking advantage of this fact, is an annual competition held in October/November in Sussex Country, Delaware in the USA, called World Championship Punkin Chunkin. The purpose of the contest is to try and throw pumpkins the furthest distance, and hopefully smash them to smithereens at the same time. A real crowd pleaser, the World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest has competitors bringing their homemade gadgets such as slingshots, engine-powered contraptions and catapults. Seventeen years ago, the locals started the event, which is now enjoyed by competitors from across the world.

An old age custom in Europe was that of the groaning cheese. While his wife was in labour, the father-to-be would nibble away on a large chunk of cheese. Somehow the Europeans must have thought this would take his mind of what his wife was going through. The tradition was that the father would eat from the centre of the cheese, until there was a large hole in it. Once the baby was born, the tradition was that child was then passed through the hole in the cheese.

Now I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase “domestic blindness” which seems mainly to affect the human male. This is when men or boys can’t see things right in front of their eyes, for example, if they’re looking for something in the refrigerator. The idea has been bandied around for some years now, but according to the author Michael Gurian who wrote the book “What Could He Be Thinking? How A Man's Mind Really Works,’ the reason men don't see dust is biology. A woman’s mind is able to take in much more sensory detail than a man’s, so she is more likely to see dust and mess than a male is. In addition, because men’s hormones play a part in how they think and act, this also affects their ability to see clutter. Simply put, testosterone causes the male brain to think and feel differently to women, and their focus is more on proving their manliness and seeking competition. Science has proven yet again, that men and women, really are very different to each other – not better or worse, just different, which is obviously the way God intended.

If you’re near Banner Elk in North Carolina in October, perhaps you might like to drop in and see the Woolly Worm Festival. The festival attracts around 20,000 people each year for the annual racing of the worms. That’s right, they have a woolly worm race. Race heats are held throughout the day until the grand final at around 4pm, where the champion worm racer is crowned and it’s owner receives a prize. Apparently the woolly worm is also known for its ability to predict the weather. According to the locals, the worms display thirteen bands of colour on their body which correspond to the thirteen weeks of winter, and somehow they can make predictions based on the colour bands.

There is an unusual festival held each November in Victoria in Texas. The Victorians celebrate the railroad that came to the township in 1880, funded by Count Telfener. The Count paid Italian workers to relocate to Texas so that they could build the rail-line. The staple food of the Italians was macaroni, and because so many shanties along the rail-line were constructed using macaroni shipping boxes, the railway line became known as Macaroni Railroad. In honour of their heritage, the Victorians hold an annual Macaroni Festival to celebrate. There are arts and crafts, an antique car show, heritage displays, a macaroni cook-off and much more.

In 2003, the British Broadcasting Corporation decided to undertake a daring venture. They asked the British public to submit home recordings of BBC broadcasts. This was undertaken because BBC had lost quite a number of its own original recordings. Britain was thrilled to help out, and there was a huge response. The BBC received some real treasures from the public including a comedy sketch starring Monty Python actor Eric Idle, a piano recital by actor Gregory Peck and an original broadcast of the Beatles, only ever heard once. Many of the old reel-to-reel recordings were transferred to CD and these were rebroadcast on the BBC over the following year.

Because of climbing health-care costs, and as so many companies are contributing on behalf of their employees, some companies are now investing in ways to make their employees healthier. At some organisations this has included, banning car-parking at the headquarters, to force their employees to walk further. Snack machines have been placed further away from the main areas, and escalators and elevators have been deliberately slowed down, all in an endeavour to encourage their employees to do more exercise. They call it a “Forced Wellness Program”, and many new buildings are now being designed with these concepts in mind.

A survey was conducted in Britain in 2003, and found that women were worse offenders than men. It even determined that three out of five women failed the sulphur emissions test given to them. So what was it that was being tested? They were testing how good or bad theirs breaths were. The tests determined that more than half of the Britons had breath which could be even smellier than their pets. It was determined that the lack of tongue cleaning was the main contributor to the nasty breath odour. One of the interesting results was that Secretaries were the freshest profession, achieving a 100% fresh breath rate, while retail staff fared the worst. Maybe calling somebody “dog-breath” would not be far wrong in England.

Do you know someone that’s visually impaired or has a disability? In October 2003, Guido Corona, a blind researcher working for IBM, helped to develop software that can read Websites to people, in ten languages. The IBM Home Page Reader program can read newspapers, e-shop and work with others on the Internet. The technology will help transform the home and workplace for millions of disabled people.

Cecil B DeMille was a famous movie director and producer from the early twentieth century. DeMille directed and/or produced the well-known movies “The Ten Commandments”, “War of the Worlds”, “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “King of Kings” as well as numerous others. The sumptuous epic “King of Kings” was about Jesus Christ and its two stars were HB Warner as Jesus and Dorothy Cummings as Mary. The two leads were required to sign agreements which bound them for five years, and banned them from appearing in any unsavoury roles that might compromise their “holy” screen images. DeMille also required that while filming the movie, they were not allowed to be seen doing anything considered “un-biblical” including playing cards, attending ball games, going to night clubs, swimming, and riding in convertible automobiles.

Are you a shorty? Do you whinge about how difficult it is to reach things on shelves or to get things to fit you? New research has found something else for you to complain about. A management professor with the University of Florida, Timothy Judge and Daniel Cable a business professor with the University of North Carolina, completed four extensive studies in the US and Britain. The studies examined the details of the work and personal lives of thousands of participants from childhood through to their adulthood. One of the surprising results was that height affects how much you are paid. The taller you are, the more likely you are to be paid at a higher rate than your vertically challenged workmates. "These findings are troubling in that, with a few exceptions such as professional basketball, no one could argue that height is an essential ability required for job performance nor a bona fide occupational qualification,” Timothy Judge said. The relationship between earnings and height varied from one profession to another, but was present in many different vocations.

If you suffer from Mysophobia, or the fear of germs, then you will be pleased to hear about the anti-germ house created near Los Angeles in 2003. All of the appliances are stainless steel and coated with Aglon, an antimicrobial compound. The compound contains small pieces of silver which interact with the moisture in the air and suppress the growth of mould, mildew, fungi, bacteria and other germs. The roof, steel framing and other major components of the house contain a further 15.9kg of the Aglon compound. Although the idea is revolutionary, there is no evidence to suggest that the effect is long-term or whether there might be unanticipated problems with the anti-germ compound, such as creating super-bugs or germs resistant to the compound. Perhaps with more long-term study, the concept may be used in future hospitals and hotels, to reduce the impact of germs and other nasties.

Methane may be the reason, so many ships have sunk in the Bermuda Triangle. Found in mines and swamps, methane is an odourless gas and becomes solid under the huge pressures found on the floor of deep oceans. Scientists now suggest that the solid methane can break away in chunks, and as they rise, they become gaseous, causing bubbles to form as they reach the surface. If the methane chunks are large enough, and the resulting bubble mass big enough, it can disrupt the natural flotation of a ship, causing it to sink. "Sonar surveys of the ocean floor in the North Sea (between continental Europe and Britain) have revealed large quantities of methane hydrates and eruption sites," David May and Joseph Monaghan of Australia’s Monash University wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Physics. "A recent survey revealed the presence of a sunken vessel within the centre of one particularly large eruption site.” Monaghan and May videoed a demonstration of their theory, causing a miniature boat hull in a tank to sink from erupting methane bubbles. Although no-one has ever seen a methane eruption at sea, it would certainly explain the sudden disappearance of so many ships over the years, where there was nothing to indicate why they had sunk.

When was the last time you found a bomb at work? Yes, I said a bomb! In October 2003, workers in a potato chip factory in Oregon in the USA, found two cylindrical, 1.3kg bombs in the shipment of potatoes which arrived at their factory. It was determined by the bomb squad, who were called in on discovery of the explosives, that they were fairly harmless, and were the kind used by the military for training. The charges had been dug up in the field, along with the potatoes. Apparently the farm where the spuds were grown, had formerly been a practice range for bombers. That certainly would have made an interesting method for creating mashed potatoes.

Have you ever lost something valuable like your wallet, or your glasses? How about your false teeth? In October 2003, Don Masey, a British holidayer was swimming near Crete when he lost his teeth in the water while swimming back to shore. Although his children went snorkelling in the area the dentures had disappeared, they found no trace of them. Two weeks later, some Greek fisherman were out casting nets in the same area when they found an unusual fish in with their usual catch. It was a pair of dentures. Upon returning to shore, the fisherman asked around if they knew of anybody who had lost them. Eventually they sent the teeth onto the tour operator, who forwarded them to the travel agency in Britain, who then sent returned them to Mr Masey. It was a rather unexpected, and pleasant reunion. "I got them back on Saturday and Sunday dinner was the best meal of my life," he said.

Next time you happen to be in Canada in October, you could head along to the special athletics competition held in Toronto. These are not normal run-of-the-mill athletics though, as you probably guessed. Calling themselves professional athletes, several hundred competitors get together each year, some from other parts of the world. Occasionally there may even be a team doctor brought along to ensure their particular team is fit and healthy. So far, this sounds all quite normal doesn’t it? This annual competition of which I speak though, is the World Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships. Some competitors are quite serious about their “sport”, although many love to dress up in outrageous and sometimes downright silly costumes. The competition in the World Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships is quite fierce with prizes over $3,000 up for grabs.

Do you get bored while you’re at the hairdressers? Rather than chatting with your hair-stylist, how would you like to watch a movie to keep you entertained? An experiment in a London salon in 2003, did just that, and the concept proved very popular. Placing a screen from an airline on one wall, the salon played a number of short films for its clients. Many young film-makers do not get a chance to show their films to the public, so this was a great opportunity for them and they competed fiercely to get their short films shown in the salon. While this is great for the client if the film is interesting, I would hate to get stuck watching something tasteless or tacky, unless they could provide me with a remote control and an “off” switch.

“Warning! Warning! You are falling asleep!” No it’s not the robot from Lost in Space, but rather the latest in car designs from Scotland. Taking the concept from the popular “Knight Rider” television series, researchers in 2003, developed a talking car which could warn drivers if they were about to fall asleep, run out of petrol or were driving badly. They also took into consideration that during an emergency, eg if the driver is applying his brake sharply, the car would need to be programmed to remain silent until the emergency was over. So what are they going to come up with next? Subliminal advertising in our own vehicles? Maybe they could program the voice to sound like your nagging mother.

In October 2003, French policemen didn’t know what to do with a roomful of short men they had in their station. The men did not seem to have a home to return to, despite ongoing news reports about their being rescued after they were abducted. Nobody seemed to even want to claim ownership of the little men. The little men of which I speak were gnomes, who were kidnapped from gardens in the area around Strasbourg. A silly group of people calling themselves the Garden Gnome Liberation Front abducted a large number of gnomes in the region, and after 75 were rescued, only 43 were reunited with their owners. The rest remained unclaimed. The gnomes with no name are gnomes with no home.

Do you have a bit of a temper? Would you like to help a local charity while teaching yourself some restraint? That’s what Austria’s tennis player Stefan Koubek did in 2004. Having a bit of an occasional temper tantrum, the player managed to smash three racquets in one game alone in 2003. Koubek made a commitment to a children’s home in Austria, that for each tennis racquet he smashed in games in 2004, he would donate 1,000 euros.

Police sniffer dogs have been used for years now in many areas of crime prevention. One of their best known specialties has been sniffing out drugs. At Georgia Institute of Technology, scientists created something that may soon replace sniffer dogs completely, and it doesn’t require grooming, feeding or training. The new technology is a hand-held device capable of sensing drugs. In fact, the drug-sniffing gadget can also provide positive identification of the drug in question. The device could also be readily used at airports and other locations and be designed to sniff out specific items like explosives or chemical weapons.

One of the important scientists of the 1700s was Henry Cavendish. Cavendish was an extremely shy and timid man who could barely speak to another person, and certainly not to two people at once. He was so tongue-tied around women that he could not even speak his female servants and communicated with them only by note. It was a rule in his home, that if a female servant ever crossed Mr Cavendish’s path, she was immediately fired. To avoid contact with anyone, he built a completely separate entrance to his home that only he used. Henry Cavendish was so afraid of people, that he even insisted on dying alone.

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