Three years ago, Kara and I ran a “Twelve Days of Christmas” quiz series on mentalfloss.com from December 25 until January 5. And while we’re taking this week off, we realized that some of you might have forgotten those quizzes (and others never taken them at all), so we thought we’d bring them back to entertain you a bit while you’re waiting for 2007 to come around and put an end to all this holiday madness.

Day 1: In a Pear Tree
Day 2: Turtle Doves
Day 3: French Hens
Day 4: Calling Birds
Day 5: Golden Rings
Day 6: Geese A-Laying
Day 7: Swans A-Swimming
Day 8: Maids A-Milking
Day 9: Ladies Dancing
Day 10: Lords A-Leaping
Day 11: Pipers Piping
Day 12: Drummers Drumming

I don’t know what book these bada** photos of African monarchs come from (I found them through ettf), but they looked so amazing I figured they needed to be posted immediately. Check ‘em out:

The monarchs are listed as kings of Benin, South Africa, Nigeria, Nigeria and Ghana respectively. Amazing, right? In fact, I keep telling Will we need to take more PR photos just like this (or at least wear this type of garb on casual Fridays). Anyway, you can see tons more great photos here.

PopCandy linked to this collection of The 50 Greatest Cartoons. The list was created by voters in the animation industry in 1994. There are actually clips from 44 of the 50 cartoons listed.

Today’s second archival tidbit comes from our current issue, on stands now. Shame on you if you don’t already have a copy.

The Original Ocean’s 11: The 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist

If you think George Clooney’s “Ocean’s 11” character was smooth, check out the velvet finish on criminal mastermind Antonino Finotto. In February 2003, Finotto and his gang of thieves, known as the School of Turin, pulled off one of the stealthiest heists in history. Daring to break into the famous Antwerp Diamond Center—a building that holds 80 percent of the world’s diamonds—the group made out with $120 million in jewels.

How They Did It: Not ones to rush into something this big, the Turin boys began laying the groundwork for the project three years prior. Posing as a company owner, gang member Leonardo Notarbartolo rented an office in the Diamond Center in 2000 and proceeded to obtain copies of master keys and learn how the alarm system worked. Then, the group waited for the perfect distraction—the Diamond Games tennis tournament on February 16, 2003. As Venus Williams wowed throngs of spectators (many of them Diamond Center employees and security guards), Finotto’s crew used their duplicate keys to sneak into 123 of the building’s underground vaults. Simply riding the elevator down to the basement, they deactivated a motion sensor and taped over light detectors. Then, instead of just covering the lens of the CCTV (closed circuit television) security cameras, they avoided suspicion by replacing the tapes with previously recorded footage.

Of course, the biggest hurdle was getting past the vault’s 12-inch thick doors. Knowing the doors were equipped with internal magnets that would set off alarms if they detached, the robbers drilled holes into them, carefully taped the magnets together, and moved them out of the way so that they wouldn’t separate. After that, all they had to do was break the locks to the safety deposit boxes, rake in the diamonds, and then quietly flee the scene. To escape undetected, they memorized the surveillance patterns of the 24-hour police patrols outside the building. (Hey, they didn’t have nicknames like King of Thieves and The Magician with the Keys for nothing.) Amazingly, even though the heist took place on a Saturday night, authorities didn’t discover anything suspicious until Monday morning.

How They Got Caught: Here’s a tip for would-be thieves: If you leave the crime scene with a bag full of diamonds and dispose of the bags on the road leading out of the city, make sure you don’t leave your half-eaten sandwich in one of them. Inspectors used the DNA evidence on the food to nab Notarbartolo, who currently awaits prosecution. Investigators also found DNA evidence in one of the vaults that linked Finotto to the Belgian heist, but he was already back in Turin, Italy, safe from extradition. Meanwhile, none of the diamonds have been recovered. Some have microscopic inscriptions on them that would reveal their identity, but only if the thieves ever decide to sell them legally.

And with that, we’re going dark for the next week. Hey, give us a break! We’ll be back bright and early on January 1. Okay, January 2.

Today’s first archival tidbit comes from Scatterbrained:

Diamonds are forever, the saying goes—and now you can be a diamond forever, too. Chicago’s LifeGem company will turn the cremated remains of your favorite pet or loved one into a reasonably high-quality “memorial diamond” suitable for mounting in a ring or necklace. The process replicates the awesome heat and pressure needed to create a natural diamond, but instead of millions of years, it takes about six months. One caveat: The diamonds tend to be a rather unappetizing yellow.

Here’s what the data from the NYSE looks like as 3-D art. And in case you were wondering how to make sense of this:

The sphere size corresponds to the stock price, color to change, vibration to relative change, sphere position on spiral to volume, & sound to total percentage change. According to the artist, “The point is not to transmit a particular meaning but rather to express the power of energy concentrated in space information”.

Somehow I doubt this is what Warren Buffett sees when he’s analyzing the market.

Link via Neatorama

… except instead of making friends and scoring dates, Westerners with a little extra cash (and a philanthropic bent) meet needy third-worlders looking for low-interest microloans. Inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning efforts of microfinance guru Mummamad Yunus, San Francisco-based nonprofit Kiva.org lists the profiles of small business owners in the developing world (or those who’d like to start a small business), and the profiles of donors who’ve lent money to them. It’s a bit like child sponsorship, except there’s comparatively little overhead, and according to Kiva, a greater than 95% chance you’ll get your money back.

Here’s an except from one borrower’s profile. After you read enough of these, I find it hard not to start clicking “LOAN NOW!”

Born on 11th October 1978 at Tsévié, Madame Dzogbényuié AGBEZIA has got the chance to attend school up to the upper low class. Since her father’s death, things became more difficult as her mother hasn’t any income-generating activity to assure her school fees. Adopted by an uncle, she has served as house girl and babies keeper. Five years ago, she married a tailor with whom she has got two children. A woman of good character, she has succeeded to develop customers who trust her entirely. But, her financial means are very limited to respond to her customers’ numerous demands and requirements. She requests a credit of $900 to buy haberdashery items to strengthen her business. This will allow her to grow her income and consequently contribute to her living conditions and that of her family.

To celebrate the holidays, here are six “holiday” droodles for you to decipher. Answers appear below the break.

Happy holidays, everyone!

(more…)

I’m currently traveling in Japan, and since I’ve subjected you to seven Armchair Field Trips in the last two weeks, I think instead I’ll let you see for yourselves what I’ve been seeing, via pictures (mine) and links (from elsewhere).

We’ve already talked about wasabi and namako-kabe; now let’s check out the ginormous early-morning Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, the biggest fish and seafood wholesaler in the world. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to transfer my pictures yet, so here are other people’s:

A few links that will give you more of the flavor (pun intended):

• The official website
• A photographic tour
• A book review with loads of information
• Another photo tour of sorts

And here’s a restaurant in the market where I had a delicious fishy breakfast this morning!

I’ve posted about clichés and hackneyed phrases before, but never seriously. A cliché-oriented posting over at Gakwer this week slid some oil to the old wheels and made me think it was time to devote a Word Wrap to ‘em. According to Gawker, there are many words that are more than ubiquitous out there in the blogosphere, a medium which has obviously given rise to its own trite phrases. Check out the post for all of them, but I thought I’d note my favorites, some of which, we here at the _floss might be guilty of on occasion:

1) I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.
2) What’s next? [outlandish scenario]?
3) [Argument], wait for it, [rhetorical flourish]
4) [x] is the new [y].

The word cliché is, of course, French, and comes from the past participle of their word clicher, which means to stereotype.

So what are some clichés that ruffle your feathers, that get your goat? We’d love to know which ones piss you off due to their overuse and abuse.