1. The Nautical Roots of 9 Common Phrases, by Mark Longo
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2. 9 Tasty Foods Named After People, by Ethan Trex
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3. Run Your Life With Flowcharts! by Miss Cellania
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4. 7 False Acronyms, by David K. Israel
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5. Why Are Barns Usually Red? by Matt Soniak
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6. 6 Multi-Purpose Wonder Bras, by Linda Rodriguez
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7. Strange Geographies: Village Life in Vanuatu, by Ransom Riggs
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8. The Quick 10: 10 Lesser-Known Celebrity Couples, by Stacy Conradt
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9. 7 More Examples of Owners Behaving Badly, by Ethan Trex
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10. 11 Very Important Things to Know About Cider, by Erika Janik

See Also: October’s Most Popular Stories

1. Earlier this decade, I had an interview with a big PR firm. The first person I met with asked me where I got my news—I think her exact question was, “What newspapers do you subscribe to?” I told her I read the New York Times and New York Post online. This immediately put me on her “no” list. “You can’t trust what you read online,” she told me. I stressed again that I was reading the same articles she was reading in the printed paper, but she wasn’t buying it. “People can fake those web addresses, you know,” she said. “You don’t know what you’re reading.” What’s the most irrational thing you’ve ever encountered in a job interview?

2. A couple years ago, David Israel asked you to share your favorite punny store names. (His entry: “The Merchant of Tennis.”) I think it’s time to ask again: what great/terrible punny store names have you seen or been to?

3. A couple months ago, for several long days, I had the Perfect Strangers theme song stuck in my head. Usually when that happens, if I listen to the offending song in its entirety, it goes away. But not that time. You know how I got it out of my head? I had to sing along. If someone had hidden a camera in my office, they’d have a YouTube sensation on their hands. The weird thing was, I haven’t seen an episode of Perfect Strangers in many years. What’s the strangest song you couldn’t get out of your head?
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Last week, after asking you to dream up a new theme restaurant chain, I offered a free mental_floss t-shirt to the most creative budding restaurateur. We have a tie. First, Curt Peinhardt’s “Pros & Cons,” featuring the memorabilia of sports stars who’ve run afoul of the law (with bonus points for his second suggestion—a steakhouse called Belmont Steaks). Second, “S*** My Girlfriend Won’t Eat,” which comes from picky eater Danielle and her boyfriend. Here’s her pitch: “Serving only the most inventive and disgusting dishes made from pure unadulterated necessity – notably the “spaghetti burrito,” or the “peanut butter and jelly on a hot dog.” The decorum would be a scale model of our living room, and guests would be seated awkwardly around the coffee table as my boyfriend shoves colorful combinations of leftovers under their noses.” This was a hard decision; thanks to everyone for playing along! Curt & Danielle, I’ll be in touch about your shirts.
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And finally, I need to thank one of our readers for helping me out of a jam last summer. I keep a personal blog where I post pictures of my daughter (and, on occasion, random NBA predictions). In June, it was hacked, which infected the PCs of many relatives. I posted a plea for technical assistance in that week’s Friday Happy Hour, and Jim Hegarty answered the call.

On a Saturday, he took a look, isolated the problem, fixed it, and gave me some tips to make sure it didn’t happen again. He wouldn’t accept payment, so I told him if he ever had something to promote, I’d be happy to mention it here. Jim emailed the other day to say his company had launched something called KlikSpy, which is a pretty cool visual behavior tracking tool for your website. If you’ve got a site of your own and want to see how people are actually using it, give it a look!

Thanks again, Jim!

[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]

If the problem with your hot beverage transportation device is that it lacks our logo, you’re in luck! This holiday season, we’ve added the mental_floss travel mug to our store. And if you order between now and 11:59pm ET Monday and use the code EARLYBIRD,* you get free shipping.

Whether you’re looking to replace your shoddy old mug or need a Secret Santa present, now’s the time to buy.

To thank you for reading this little commercial interruption, here are five fun facts from the mental_floss Twitter account:

At Fatburger, you can order a ‘Hypocrite’—a veggie burger topped with crispy strips of bacon.
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“Uncle Sam” was based on Samuel Wilson, who worked as a meat inspector during the War of 1812.
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Did the voice in the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse theme song sound familiar? That was Cyndi Lauper (though she was credited as ‘Ellen Shaw’).
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The last time the French government used the guillotine to execute a convicted criminal wasn’t in the 1700s or 1800s—it was 1977.
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Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, who played Elise and Steven Keaton on Family Ties, were born on the same day (June 22, 1947).

Now go stock up on travel mugs!

* And you live in the United States or Canada.

I was poking around the Reagan Library’s online archives (just for kicks) when I found this photo, captioned “Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta in the entrance hall at the White House. 11/9/85.” You can see the President and First Lady in the background. I found this image roughly 33 seconds into my visit, which leads me to believe there’s gold in them thar hills. If you’re just sitting around waiting for a research project, this one’s for you—and you might win a t-shirt for your troubles.

Let’s compile the coolest, weirdest, most impressive and most embarrassing photos put online by presidential libraries. Here are some links to get you started:

The Reagan Library
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation
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Ford Library & Museum
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Carter Library & Museum
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George H.W. Bush Library & Museum
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George W. Bush Presidential Center
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LBJ Library & Museum
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JFK Library
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Eisenhower Library & Museum
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Truman Presidential Museum

We’ll award free mental_floss t-shirts to the (three) readers who find the most bizarre photos. Just leave a comment with the link to the photo and a caption—an original caption or quote from the library’s site. And I’ll post a round-up of the best of the bunch next week. Happy hunting.

Earlier this month, we tested your knowledge of the world’s strangest flags. Now let’s see how you do with some of the striped ones.

Take the Quiz: Flags of the World (The Striped Ones)

Here’s a quiz that would have been more appropriate on November 5th (the day Doc Brown invented time travel). The Back to the Future trilogy made a generation of kids crave hoverboards, roof-hinged car doors, and Huey Lewis cassette tapes. Turn the time circuits on and see how well you remember Hill Valley, circa 1985. (And 1955. And 2015. And 1885.) Perhaps you’ll pick up a few fun facts about the franchise along the way.

Take the Quiz: Back to the Future

The 1-7 Browns are making a prime-time appearance against the Baltimore Ravens tonight. If you turn on ESPN, you’ll see an angry Mangini stalking the sidelines. But he’s not always so bitter. Here’s a look back at one of his finest moments from his tenure with the Jets—the time he visited Elmo on Sesame Street:

If you believe the rumors, Coach Dorothy has as good a shot at being the Browns coach next year as Mangini does.

See Also: R2-D2, GOB Bluth & Other Fictional Folks Who Stopped by Sesame Street

1. The Late Movies: Dogs Welcoming Home Soldiers, by Jason English
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2. 9 Muppets Kicked Off Sesame Street, by Joe Hennes
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3. 5 (Happy Little) Things You Didn’t Know About Bob Ross, by Ethan Trex
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4. Extremophiles: Life on the Edge, by Miss Cellania
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5. 11 Body Parts Named After People, by Ethan Trex
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6. The Fans Strike Back: 10 Sports Protests, by Scott Allen
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7. Toilet Paper History: How America Convinced the World to Wipe, by Linda Rodriguez
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8. The Quick 10: 10 Great Things That Originally Got Bad Reviews, by Stacy Conradt
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9. 7 Historic Hollywood Landmarks, by David K. Israel
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10. Why Are Flags Flown at Half-Staff in Times of Mourning? by Ethan Trex
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11. 8 Not-So-Famous Firsts, by Kara Kovalchik
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12. The Quick 10: 10 Famous Color Blind People, by Stacy Conradt

See Also: October’s Most Popular Stories