The now-famous Keep Calm and Carry On poster was produced by the British Ministry of Information in 1939, as a quintessentially British statement of what to do in the event of German invasion. The poster actually wasn’t circulated at the time, and only became popular after its rediscovery at a bookstore. Among my friends, it’s something of a mantra — I know one woman who has the phrase sewn into the lining of her coat.

But enough with boring history. Let’s look at some wacky variations on the poster that have appeared online. Tip for nerds: a lot of these are available as prints (and notebooks, phone covers, mouse pads, you name it) from various online vendors. Google it.

1. Keep Calm and Call Batman

I first saw this on a whiteboard at a software company. Get Commissioner Gordon on the phone!

2. Don’t Panic and Carry a Towel

For all the hoopy froods in the house.

3. Keep Calm and Kill It With Fire

Everyone knows The Thing can only be killed with fire. Also: winter is coming.

(more…)

Would you inject 50 hookworms under your skin for your job? Or steam in a vomit sauna for a few hours? Hopefully we non-scientists will never have to answer questions like these. But for the 11 brave souls on this list, experimenting on themselves was all in a day’s work.

1. Benjamin Franklin

The man on the hundred-dollar bill is infamous for his extracurricular science experiments. To prove his hypothesis that lightning is static electricity on a large scale, Franklin flew a kite with a metal key attached to the base in the middle of a thunderstorm. The kite was struck by lightning, and Franklin was struck by a spark of electricity while moving his hand towards the key. He escaped relatively unscathed and very much vindicated.

2. Jonas Salk

During his research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Dr. Jonas Salk discovered a potential vaccine for polio. When they needed healthy human test subjects, Salk volunteered himself and his entire family for a vaccine trial. The filial gamble paid off. Everyone tested positive for anti-polio antibodies. He refused to patent the vaccine, and never received financial compensation for his discovery. (When Edward R. Murrow asked Salk who owned the patent on the vaccine, Salk responded with one of his most famous quotes: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”)

3. David Pritchard

In 2004, after years of research in Papau New Guinea, immunologist-biologist David Pritchard wanted to test his findings, specifically that certain parasites can improve the immune system’s defense against allergies, and possibly more serious autoimmune illnesses. Circumnavigating more years of red tape, Pritchard used himself as the first test subject, injecting 50 hookworms under his skin. He was able to deduce that only 10 hookworms were necessary for future test subjects.

4. John Paul Stapp

(more…)

It’s November, of course, and while that means turkey, football and marathon shopping for some, it’s a month of being hunched over at a laptop slurping cup after cup of caffeine for others.

Yep – it’s NaNoWriMo, AKA National Novel Writing Month. People who are crazy ambitious enough to accept the challenge aim to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November, which is about 1,667 words every day. While no one expects masterpieces to be written in such a short time span – the goal is to force writers to get some words down on paper without overthinking it – sometimes it happens. Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants is a particularly successful example. But she’s not the only author to see buckling down and hammering out 50,000 words in a month pay off. Here are 11 other NaNo books that can be found on the shelves at a bookstore near you.

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Might this be another Water for Elephants-style success? It’s currently on the Barnes and Noble Top 100 List and the New York Times Bestseller list. She cheated a little and wrote it during two NaNos, but we’re not holding it against her. Has anyone read this? I’ve got a sample of it on my Nook right now but haven’t gotten to it yet.

2. Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Published just last year, this YA effort is about a teen who suffers from an alter ego. That alter ego might actually be a vampire who is thousands of years old (the vampire craze is still going strong obviously).

3. BreakupBabe by Rebecca Agiewich.

4. Take the Reins by Jessica Burkhart. This was actually the first book in what has become a very successful pre-teen series for Burkhart. The Canterwood Crest novels began with a draft of Take the Reins in 2006’s NaNo.

(more…)

Not only have the men and women of the United States Armed Forces served their country, they have also served as inspiration for the Great White Way.

1. Carmelina (1979)

This was the story of a single mother who told everyone in her small Italian town that the father of her teenage daughter was an American soldier who died heroically in battle during WWII. In reality, she had affairs with three different GI’s, all of whom were still very much alive and one of whom was the real father. She’s forced to face the truth when the entire American battalion returns to her village for a reunion. If that story sounds familiar, that’s because it was based on the same story that would later inspire international musical phenomenon Mamma Mia.

2. Let’s Face It! (1941 – 1943)

Despite the escalation of WWII, Cole Porter’s forgettable Let’s Face It! asked its men in uniform to serve as gigolos. Three wives are convinced their husbands go on so-called “camping trips” to commit adultery. In attempt to make their men jealous, they invite a trio of young GI’s for a weekend at one of their Hamptons summer homes. While the young privates are willing, their girlfriends are not so pleased. So, the girlfriends decide to get their own revenge and seduce the husbands – who are actually just camping.

3. Bye Bye Birdie (1960 – 1961, first run)

In 1958, Elvis Presley was drafted. Bye Bye Birdie was a tongue-in-cheek response to the hysteria that ensued. After learning fictional crooner Conrad Birdie has been drafted, his handlers decide to capitalize on the situation. They bang out a new single for him entitled “One Last Kiss,” and select a random small town teenager to be his “one last kiss” before he goes off to the army.

4. The Lieutenant (1975)

(more…)

There’s a sale going on in the Home & Office aisle of the mental_floss store this weekend. Here are some of the great gift ideas that are 20% off — just use the coupon code HOMESALE.

(No, this does not count as one of the 24 ’11 lists’ you were promised. Now do some browsing! Click on any item for all the details.)

1. Salt and Pepper Bots

2. Pop Quiz Clock

3. Chemistry Cocktail Set

4. Freudian Slippers

(more…)

Becoming a comedic icon doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years and years of hard work. In some cases, this means paying your dues as the low-level member of a sitcom writing staff – a rite of passage for many successful comics, actors and directors. Here are 11 notable examples.

1. Norm Macdonald: Roseanne
The deadpan comic best known for Dirty Work and a controversial stint behind the SNL Weekend Update anchor desk only stayed on staff of the blue collar comedy long enough to write two episodes – including one about DJ turning into a pee-wee hockey thug.

2. Larry David: Saturday Night Live
The hilariously abrasive co-creator of Seinfeld and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm previously worked as a writer for SNL. Frustrated his sketches weren’t making it onto the show, he quit and walked out on the gig one day, only to return shortly afterward pretending that it never happened. If that sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because the character George did the very same thing years later on an episode of Seinfeld.

3. Judd Apatow: The Critic
Before creating Freaks and Geeks, The 40-Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, Apatow penned a handful of episodes of the the Jon Lovitz show The Critic – and even stepped in when the show needed a good impression of Jay Leno. (more…)

Lakers star Ron Artest made waves this summer when he announce he was changing his name to Metta World Peace. Although it’s one of the more extreme moves, it’s far from the first time an athlete has adopted a strange name. Here are 11 great (and not-so-great) reasons athletes make the switch.

1. To get more credit

Midway through his career, boxer Marvin Hagler felt that he wasn’t getting enough attention and praise from the media. In 1982 –- after he had already won a world championship –- he finally decided that he would force announcers to start giving him his due. He legally added the nickname “Marvelous” to his name so that nobody could mention him without using the full name “Marvelous Marvin Hagler.”

2. To join the Japanese national team

Although he was drafted to the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1998, Milton “J.R.” Henderson never really caught on and eventually left to play overseas. In 2001, he found his way to Japan and became a key player for the Aisin Seahorses. Wanting to play for the Japanese national team and become more integrated in his new home, Henderson eventually applied to become a Japanese citizen in 2008. On top of the standard naturalization process, Henderson thought things might go faster if he took a Japanese name, so he legally adopted “J.R. Sakuragi.” The last name translates to “cherry blossom tree,” but also happens to be the name of the hero in the basketball-themed manga “Slam Dunk.”

3. To (try to) win a Heisman

(more…)

For more than a decade, cities all over the world have been regularly invaded during the height of the tourist season by colorfully painted statues of animals or objects, all in an effort to raise money for local charities. The subjects for these projects range from the mundane to the bizarre, but they’re always a big hit with the community, as shown by the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are spent when the art pieces are auctioned off after the exhibit has ended. Unless you’re a connoisseur of cows, here are a few of these public art projects that you might have missed.

1. CowParade – 50+ cities worldwide

When? 1998 – today

What? Most of America first heard about CowParade when the brightly painted bovines visited Chicago in 1999. However, the cows actually appeared first in Zurich, Switzerland, as the Land in Sicht (“Countryside in view”) exhibit in 1998. Since then, CowParade has become a worldwide phenomenon, raising millions for non-profit groups in more than 50 cities throughout the world, including New York, London, Tokyo, Boston, Paris, Milan, and Buenos Aires. There have been over 2,500 cows created by more than 5,000 artists, each putting their unique, local spin on the design. Aside from well-known names from the modern art field, celebrities like fashion designer Michael Graves, filmmaker David Lynch, and the band Radiohead have contributed their own designs. And first-name acts like Oprah, Ringo, and Elton have all purchased cows from the benefit auction that marks the end of each parade.

How Much? $20+ million to date. The highest price paid for a cow at auction was $146,000 for Waga-Moo-Moo (at left), a cow covered in a mosaic of thousands of pieces of Waterford Crystal, created by fashion designer John Rocha during Dublin’s CowParade in 2003.

Who? Many local children’s charities for each city, including Special Olympics, children’s hospitals, and after-school organizations.

2. Go Superlambananas! – Liverpool, England

When? June – August 2008

What? Liverpool was selected as the “European Capital of Culture” for 2008 and used the event to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the city’s landmark statue, Taro Chiezo’s Superlambanana. This strange art piece is a combination of two of Liverpool’s most popular historic imports – sheep and bananas. The original statue is 17 feet tall and weighs nearly eight tons, but for the art project, 125 6-foot fiberglass replicas were used instead.
(Image via Flickr user Haversack.)

How Much? £550,000 for the first 69, auctioned at a large gala celebration (75% went to charity). About £134,000 for another 30 that were auctioned online (25% went to charity). The rest were purchased individually. The highest bid went for ‘Mandy’ Mandala Superlambanana (at left), which sold for £25,000 and now resides at the World Museum in Liverpool.

Who? Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, University Hospital’s Centre for Oncology, the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Liverpool also hosted the “Go Penguins!” event from 2009 to 2010, in which 142 5-foot-tall penguins were painted and sold at auction, raising £40,000 for Liverpool charities.
(more…)

This past summer, Gallery1988 held a collaborative art show called “I Know You Art, But What Am I?”, a tribute to Pee-wee Herman. Here are 11 of the best Pee-wee tributes from the show, prints of which can be purchased through Gallery1988.

1. “Friends with Pee-Wee Herman” by James Flames

Available for purchase here.

2. “What a Doll” by Jason Edmiston

Available for purchase here.
(more…)

An hour ago, we discussed 11 Natural Disasters That Led to Wars. Let’s switch that around.

1. Flooding of Babylon, 689 BCE

The Assyrians still rank as one of history’s meanest groups of people: skinning captives alive, throwing babies on spears — all in a day’s work for these brutal empire-builders in the ancient Near East. So when the great city of Babylon rebelled against their rule in the 7th century BCE, there was only one way for it to end: with the total destruction of the city.

The Assyrian King Sennacherib, who stands out even among his peers for cruelty, first burned the city and then had his soldiers level anything that was left standing, including the city’s ancient temples. Finally, to finish the job the Assyrians dammed the Euphrates River and then diverted the water to cover the ruins, flooding the area and turning it into a marshland. Although Babylon was subsequently rebuilt, the flooding trick proved to be popular: in 612 BCE an alliance of Persian, Egyptian, and Babylonian forces destroyed the great city of Nineveh by diverting the Khosr River to flow over it.

2. Mongols vs. Irrigation, 13th century CE

(more…)