I know the mental_floss mission is to make learning a lifelong endeavor, but this guy just puts us to shame. In his undergraduate career, Johnny Lechner has racked up 234 credits, five majors (education, communications, theater, health and women’s studies), and 12 years of study. This makes him, I guess, a 12th-year senior, and he’s still going. Apparently, five days before graduation this semester, he decided that nah, he really wanted stay another year and study abroad – because he hasn’t gotten around to that yet. Johnny predictably has become a demi-celebrity, appearing on Letterman and inspiring his home state of Wisconsin to pass a “slacker tax” that doubles tuition for those who dilly-dally too long on campus. He also has a blog full of Deep Thoughts, such as “Why does it feel so empowering to have a bowl of cereal for lunch or dinner?” Clearly, he is shooting for a sixth major in philosophy.

I know that this is essentially what would have happened had Spicoli had enough spare cash in the non-weed portion of his budget to fund 12 years of college. This guy is a dingbat. And yet… and yet… a teeny tiny part of me is fiercely jealous of him. How many times have I thought, “man, if I were only still in college, I’d appreciate the privileges of it so much more, knowing what I know now?” I’m thinking that Johnny should stick around as long as he can until the slacker tax threatens to bankrupt him, then go enroll at the Sakya College in India, which requires 13 years of study for its highest degree. He ought to be able to stretch that out until at least retirement age.

Abe Rosenthal, the former executive editor of the New York Times who completely transformed the paper during his tenure, died last night. This may not seem like a big deal, but to we ink-stained wretches in the business of quick-turnaround journalism – to repurpose an old joke – the only difference between God and the e.e. of the Times is that God takes the seventh day off. I’m not going to repeat all the laurels and crusty old anecdotes heaped on him in the obituaries; I’m sure, as an editor, he’d find the redundancy annoying. (Obviously, the Times has the best obit, and its charming staff bio is also worth reading). But, by way of illustrating how ridiculously long this man’s career was – and all of it, by the way, was at the Times – I’ll point out that in 1944, the year he started as a cub reporter:

- The Times was short-staffed because many of its would-be writers were off fighting World War II.

- Dewey, of “Dewey Defeats Truman” fame, failed to defeat FDR’s unprecedented bid for a fourth term.

- Iceland was still a colony of Denmark. (It declared independence on June 17, 1944.)

- The hot new cultural icons were Smokey the Bear and two crazy kids named Ozzie and Harriet.

- IBM introduced a fancy new computing device: the “Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.”

The times (not to mention the Times), they are a changin’. RIP, Abe.

  What a strange coincidence that there seems to be a strong correlation between days when big soccer games are scheduled and an increase in sick days for soccer fans. There’s actually a Dutch insurance company offering a policy to employers because they’re predicting a huge number of “sick” days used by employees during this year’s World Cup. Check this out. I looked into it and we at mental_floss LLC are not covered by this policy.

I was trying to find some numbers on how many people watch the World Cup and some estimates put the viewership for the 2002 championship match at over 1 billion! It’s hard for me to believe that more than 10% of the earth’s population tuned in (and will be tuning in again next month) but even if that number is inflated, it’s still by far the biggest sporting event in the world, with possibly 10 times the viewership of the Super Bowl.

Pop Quiz: What does FIFA, as in FIFA World Cup, stand for? Answer:  Fédération Internationale de Football Association