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I believe I mentioned previously that the World Of Weird Things is one of my favorite websites. One reason for this is that the owner, Greg Fish, is a writer I greatly admire. He is smart, uses common sense, and he writes clear and succinct text.
About himself and his site, he writes:
Greg Fish is an IT consultant with an M.S in computer science, and science blogger whose work appears on Business Week, Discovery News and The Panda’s Thumb, and has been featured on Bad Astronomy, SEED, and io9. He specializes in writing about unusual cutting edge science and promoting skepticism and sound scientific education while writing about robots, aliens, and alien robots.
Weird Things isn’t about debunking saints on cheese sandwiches, claims of telekinesis or simply re- posting whatever science news come off the wires. It’s about researching big things and looking for the amazing, the unexpected and illuminating facts in a new light. Did an astronomer at SETI catch a brief signal from an alien civilization more than 30 years ago? What does a tabloid writer with a grudge have to do with the New World Order conspiracy theory? What are the odds that creatures from the stars will come to Earth, would they come in peace and what could we do if they didn’t? Is there a hypersonic jet stored in an Area 51 hangar because the USAF doesn’t know what to do with it? These are the questions Weird Things wants to answer.
I visit the World Of Weird Things often and I am never sorry, never bored, and I am always thankful to Greg Fish for increasing my understanding of things I had thought I was familiar with but discovered I was not as familiar with as I had thought.
Weird Things
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Thanks to Erica Dreifus I discovered a website titled Brevity. The folks at Brevity are holding a contest that is open until February 14, 2013. The contest is to write a flash nonfiction essay (500 words or less) and submit it via email.
Details of the contest are HERE
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WORD FOR TODAY
weird
adjective
1.
involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny.
2.
fantastic; bizarre.
From Wiktionary --
Connected with fate or destiny; able to influence fate; Of or pertaining to witches or witchcraft; supernatural; unearthly; suggestive of witches, witchcraft, or unearthliness; wild; uncanny.
Having supernatural or preternatural power.
Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.
Deviating from the normal.
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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Born Jan 17, 1922
Age: 90 years old
Age: 90 years old
Betty Marion White Ludden, better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedian, singer, author, and television personality. With a career spanning over nine separate decades, she is best known to contemporary audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Since the death of co-star Rue McClanahan in 2010, she is now the only living Golden Girl. She currently stars as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland for which she has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also currently hosts the practical-joke show Betty White's Off Their Rockers.
Born Jan 17, 1962
Age: 50 years old
Age: 50 years old
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian American actor, comedian, and producer. Carrey has received four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning two. Known for his highly energetic slapstick performances, he has been described as one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood.
Carrey first gained recognition in 1990 after landing a recurring role in the sketch comedy In Living Color. His first leading roles in major productions came with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), The Mask (1994), and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). In 1997, he gave a critically acclaimed performance in Liar Liar, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. He then starred in the critically acclaimed hits The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999), with each garnering him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
In 2000, he gained further recognition for his portrayal of the The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Three years later, Carrey starred in the major blockbuster film Bruce Almighty (2003). The following year he starred in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he received another Golden Globe nomination in addition to a BAFTA Award nomination. He then starred in popular productions Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), A Christmas Carol (2009), and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011).
Born Jan 17, 1964
Age: 48 years old
Age: 48 years old
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States.
Born Jan. 17, 1899
Died Jan. 25, 1947
Died Jan. 25, 1947
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones," was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early 1920s to 1931.
Born Jan. 17, 1949
Died: May 16, 1984
Died: May 16, 1984
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself to be one. Elaborate hoaxes and pranks were major elements of his career. His body of work maintains a cult following and he continues to be respected among comedians for his original material, performance style, and unflinching commitment to character.
Kaufman first used his Foreign Man character in nightclubs in the early 1970's, often to tell jokes incorrectly and do weak imitations of famous people before bursting into his expert Elvis Presley imitation. The character was then changed into Latka Gravas for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)'s Taxi sitcom, appearing in 79 of 114 episodes from 1978 to 1983.
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I think I could drink my own blood. Is that weird?
--Jessica Biel
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