Everything And Nothing

Henson Muppet collection donated to Atlanta museum

The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta will be the definitive Jim Henson museum - with everything from original puppets to sketches from his personal collection. The Center will house between 500 and 700 Henson pieces in a wing named for him and set to open in 2012.

Kermit the Frog is already on display at the center, and a series of smaller exhibits from the larger collection will rotate through the center until the new space opens. In September, the center will get Rowlf, Swedish Chef and Dr. Teeth puppets as part of an exhibit focusing on the characters that Henson operated himself.

The center also will display characters from the popular television show Fraggle Rock and from cult classic movies The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

Fundraising will begin soon for the new puppetry museum. The gift from the Henson family stipulates that the center must open a new facility with ample space for the historic collection before it gets the pieces.

[ via Dorie Turner/The Associated Press ]

Weird Things You Would Never Know (But do now)

Courtesy of my Aunt Ann (so complain to her, not me, if the weird things are just weird and not true!) ;) ...

• A shrimp's heart is in its head.
• The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
• Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
• Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. 
• If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14,Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?
• In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
• A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
• 23% of all photocopier faults world-wide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.
• Most lipstick contains fish scales.
• Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
• If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
• If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out.
• In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.
• It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
• A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
• More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
• Horses can't vomit.
• Butterflies taste with their feet.
• In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.
• On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
• On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
• Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
• Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
• Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
• Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
• It's possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
• Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
• It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.
• The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• No word in the English language rhymes with "MONTH."
• Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. 
• The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
• All polar bears are left handed.
• In ancient Egypt , priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
• "Go," is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
• If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall.
• A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
• The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
• Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
• Almost everyone who reads this email will try to lick their elbow.

(Yes, I tried to lick my elbow. No, I could not do it.)

Friday the 13th Facts

* What's the maximum number of Friday the 13ths that can occur in any given calendar year?

Three. Every calendar year has at least one Friday the 13th, but no more than three of them can occur in any year.

* Is the fear of Friday the 13th based on the fear of the number thirteen itself?

It is, yes. And when you think about it, 13 is when numbers reach a new level when it comes to common items. There are 12 months in a year, 12 inches in a foot, 12 items in a dozen, 12 signs of the zodiac, and when we learn our multiplication tables in school, they go all the way up to 12 times 12. While some think that Christianity deems the number unlucky, researchers have determined that the modern-day fear of 13 is based on Norse mythology. According to the story, 12 gods were dining at Valhalla when a 13th guest named Loki joined the party. Loki ended up causing the death of Balder, the Norse god of light and joy. From that day forward, the legend goes, the number 13 has been unlucky.

* Does Friday the 13th really have an impact on the U.S. economy?

More than you might expect, in fact. According to an ABC News report from 2005, businesses lose nearly one billion dollars every Friday the 13th, owing to everything from people who stay home from work to those who won't travel on the unlucky day. Some of this loss is due to lower volume on the stock market, but investors shouldn't be frightened of Friday the 13th. A study looking at stock prices over the last 50 years proved that the Dow performs better on Friday the 13th than on other Fridays.

* Is there anyplace in the world where Friday the 13th is considered lucky?

There are a few places, in fact. In China and much of Asia, the date is considered fortunate, or at the very least not unlucky. You'd have to go down under to find the people who really think Friday the 13th is lucky, however. In Australia, lottery agents report a brisk business every Friday the 13th, selling 50 percent more tickets than average on that day.

* NASA tells us that a Friday the 13th coming up several years from now might be exciting.

That's what they say, yes. In 2004, the organization's Near Earth Object Program reported that a sizeable asteroid had a one-in-60 chance of colliding with Earth on Friday, April the 13th, 2029. The thousand-foot-wide asteroid would cause major damage wherever it hit. They predicted massive tsunamis if it hit the ocean, or destruction of an area the size of Texas if it hit land. Luckily, further calculations determined that the asteroid will miss the Earth by about 20,000 miles, but that will still be close enough for it to put on quite a visual show in the sky. As it turns out, an asteroid that size gets that close to Earth only about once every 1,000 years.

* Who were the three scariest guys to be born on Friday the 13th?

Well, our researchers chose three for us. First is Christopher Plummer, the long-serving Canadian actor who has appeared in dozens of films over the past fifty years, including many horror pictures. The second is Steve Buscemi, whose gaunt appearance has served him well in roles in films like "Fargo" and "Con Air," in which he portrayed a serial killer. But the spookiest person born on Friday the 13th has to be Alfred Hitchcock. He was born on Friday, August 13, 1899. The Master of Suspense died back in 1980, but had he lived to be 100, Hitchcock would have hit the century mark in August of 1999, again on Friday the 13th.

[ courtesy of Mental Floss magazine ]

And some others I found from How Stuff Works...

Paraskevidekatriaphobia - n., the fear of Friday the 13th. A morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Therapist Dr. Donald Dossey, whose specialty is treating people with irrational fears, coined the term. He claims that when you can pronounce the word you are cured.

Triskaidekaphobia - n., Irrational fear of things or events associated with the number 13.

The fear of Friday the 13th stems from two separate fears - the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Fridays. Both fears have deep roots in Western culture, most notably in Christian theology. Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive. Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Sailors were particularly superstitious in this regard, often refusing to ship out on a Friday. According to unverified legend (very likely untrue), the British Navy commissioned a ship in the 1800s called H.M.S. Friday, in order to quell the superstition. The navy selected the crew on a Friday, launched the ship on a Friday and even selected a man named James Friday as the ship's captain. Then, one Friday morning, the ship set off on its maiden voyage... and disappeared forever. A similar, entirely factual story is the harrowing flight of Apollo 13.

In Norse mythology, the beloved hero Balder was killed at a banquet by the mischievous god Loki, who crashed the party of twelve, bringing the group to 13. This story, as well as the story of the Last Supper, led to one of the most entrenched 13-related beliefs: You should never sit down to a meal in a group of 13.

On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

Chalk it up

Ever wonder how Starbucks makes those cool chalkboard signs? They don't use chalk! They use markers that look like chalk.

Chalk Ink Markers are blendable and easy to wash off with water without leaving a haze like regular chalk. The markers work on most nonporous surfaces, including countertops, concrete, mirrors and glass.

4-pack, $18.99

Groovy, man

Just because you know you've always wanted one. Follow your heart (and your feet).

$97.85

Things to do if you are bored...

• Apply for a Unicorn Hunting License.
• Boil ice cream.
• Build a pyramid.
• Bury your father's Nissan.
• Call strangers and ask for advice.
• Call strangers and give advice.
• Carve your initials in a marshmallow.
• Change your name...daily.
• Collect dust.
• Count ants.
• Give your cat a mohawk.
• Have your car painted plaid.
• Learn to type...with your toes.
• Mow your carpet.
• Pay off the national debt...with a bad check.
• Pinstripe your driveway.
• Put legwarmers on all your furniture.
• Rearrange all the produce at the salad bar.
• Take your sofa for a walk.

OK, so maybe you shouldn't really do the items above if you're bored. However, just thinking about them should give you a good laugh - and that's the best medicine when you're bored, right?!

[ via Clint Maun's Solutions Newsletter ]

On a roll

Make a political statement every time you gotta go. Adorned with the initials of the lawsuit-happy recording industry group, this two-ply tissue sends a message every time you flush! ;)

$5.95

Beware of...

Well...Just beware. Cool sign.

$12.95

Spring Bouquet

Spring doesn't officially begin until March 20th, but you can color your world unti then with this cute flower-dyeing project from Family Fun magazine.

Four-Leaf Clover 101

Universally regarded as a symbol of good fortune, the four-leaf clover is often thought to represent "the luck of the Irish." But the national plant of Ireland is the shamrock (which has only three leaves). A four-leaf clover is a horticultural anomaly, and even the ancient Celtic druids viewed it as a sign of good luck.

According to legend, during the fifth century, Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Celts about the Holy Trinity. The three leaves attached to a single stem represented the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in one God. If Saint Patrick came across a four-leaf clover, he used the extra leaf to represent "God's grace."

In 2002, in Hanamaki, Japan, Shigeo Obara discovered a clover with 18 leaves, a Guinness World Record. Even luckier, in 2006, on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, Ed Martin, Sr., of Cooper Landing found more than a thousand four-leaf clovers in a single day.

One superstition holds that if an unmarried woman finds a four-leaf clover and eats it, she will soon meet her husband.

[ via Real Simple magazine, March 2007 ]