People will do the strangest things to get into the Guinness Book. In the town of Bismarck, North Dakota’s case, it’s getting everyone in town and their kids and cousins to lie on their backs at the state capitol grounds and flap their arms and legs frantically, all at the same time. Bismarck held the world record in 2002, when 1,791 people assembled to make snow angels, but a few years later students at Michigan Technological University snatched it away with a 3,784-person angel. The hyper-competitive Bismarckans refused to back down, however, and last Saturday they reclaimed their Guinness crown.

  Sometimes when I’m gaming I can turn my nemeses into kelp, or gel, or basalt–but never yarn. Here are some of Christine Domanic’s crocheted tributes to old school gamers’ icons, via SFist

(And she’s taking stitching orders for customized Atari games! I’m requesting my first crush, Paperboy)

This is not a leap year. The following people will have to wait until 2008 to celebrate their actual birthdays:

• Ja Rule, rapper (February 29, 1976)
• Dennis Farina, Law & Order actor (February 29, 1944)
• Bryce Paup, former Bills & Packers linebacker (February 29, 1968)
• Anthony Robbins, motivational speaker (February 29, 1960)
• Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, America’s first African-American weather reporter (February 29, 1952)
• Henrik Sundstorm, Swedish tennis star (February 29, 1964)

And a Happy (it’s-not-really-your) Birthday to Pedro Zamora, cast member of the third Real World and AIDS activist born February 29, 1972. Zamora passed away in 1994.

But the most interesting leap year birthday story was that of the Henriksen children. On February 29, 1960, Heidi was born. Four years later to the (leap) day, out popped Olav. And on February 29, 1968, the Henriksens achieved the trifecta with Leif-Martin.

Anyone born on February 29? When do you celebrate in non-leap years?

… Virginia is sorry. On the eve of the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Jamestown settlement (in May of 1607), the Virginia state legislature is doing some soul-searching. Last week their General Assembly issued the following statement:

Resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, that the General Assembly hereby acknowledge with profound regret the involuntary servitude of Africans and the exploitation of Native Americans and call for reconciliation among all Virginians. The moral standards of liberty and equality have been transgressed during much of Virginia’s and America’s history. [Slavery is] the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation’s history. The most abject apology for past wrongs cannot right them; yet the spirit of true repentance on behalf of a government, and, through it, a people, can promote reconciliation and healing.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, three weeks after the first representative body of government in the western hemisphere assembled — in Virginia, 1619 — a Dutch warship sold the Virginia colonists 20 Africans stolen from their homes near present-day Angola. States like Mississippi, Maryland and Missouri are also expressing interest in making similar apologies (though it doesn’t sound like they’re planning on paying the descendants of slaves back wages or returning any land to Native Americans).

Apparently, though, Virginia is just jumping on the bandwagon; this year is the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain, and to mark it Tony Blair delivered a similar apology last September, in which he expressed his “deep sorrow that it could ever have happened and rejoice at the better times we live in today.”

Need something to divert you in the bathroom, after you’ve finished this month’s mental_floss magazine? Try this Brain Training Toilet Paper, with puzzles and games printed on each square. If you’re a Sudoku fan, the company makes Sudoku Toilet Paper too.

Links via Gizmodo.

I’ve never seen one episode of 24.

This is not the result of an aversion to violence, or a protest of terror-related plots. No, I’m just holding out for the right time. Like that one present you hide Christmas morning, waiting patiently to open when everyone else is done. If ever I find myself hopelessly unemployed or battling mono, I’ll be prepared entertainment-wise. Other programs in this category include The Wire and seasons nine through seventeen of The Simpsons.

But let’s get back to 24. In particular, the recent New Yorker story by Jane Mayer about the U.S. Army linking Jack Bauer to Abu Ghraib.

This past November, U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean of the United States Military Academy at West Point, flew to Southern California to meet with the creative team behind 24. Finnegan, who was accompanied by three of the most experienced military and F.B.I. interrogators in the country, arrived on the set as the crew was filming.

Finnegan and the others had come to voice their concern that the show’s central political premise – that the letter of American law must be sacrificed for the country’s security – was having a toxic effect. In their view, the show promoted unethical and illegal behavior and had adversely affected the training and performance of real American soldiers. “I’d like them to stop,” Finnegan said of the show’s producers. “They should do a show where torture backfires.”

It had become increasingly hard [for Finnegan] to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by 24, which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about 24?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”

The creative team was not convinced. Now feels like the time I should weigh in with commentary. But like I said, I’ve never seen the show.

[Thanks to Justin for saying, “Hey, did you read that New Yorker article about torture and 24?”]

Listen, life is short and if you, like me, work next to a skyscraper being put up by drunkards it could be shorter. That’s why we have to relish in a little light-hearted fun from time to time, eg. going to the beach or eating popcorn with our toes or seeing a Dave Barry column in your paper, refusing to read it, and then ritualistically burning it using your mother’s nail polish remover as igniter fluid. There’s really no limit to what we can do if we try, and this clip, reinforcing the week’s theme of bonhomie and good cheer, is evidence [beware: bad language]:

And so is this video, created by the unlikely—and largely unfunny–internet sensation Liam Sullivan:

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To quote the late, great king of schizophrenic rock, Wesley Willis: “McDonald’s will make you fat!” He was onto something, of course, but now watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest is saying that lots of American restaurants will make you fat — and moreso than ever before — despite recent alarm bells that obesity in our fair nation is reaching epidemic proportions. “Rather than compete to make their products healthier, restaurant chains are competing with each other to make their appetizers, main courses, and desserts bigger, badder, and cheesier than ever before,” a CPSI report said.

If this isn’t exactly surprising, then we here at the floss thought that some of the stats they quoted were. The Cheesecake Factory’s super-indulgent Chris’ Outrageous Chocolate Cake, for instance, is a 1,380-calorie feast-ival which is the equivalent of “two Quarter Pounders plus a large fries - for dessert.” (Wesley Willis, eat your heart out!) The Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake? 610 calories and 29 grams of saturated fat — that’s like eating an 8 oz. prime rib … for dessert.

More fun stats (from the watchdog group’s “10 foods you should NEVER eat” list) after the jump!
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What do Owen Wilson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Chevy Chase all have in common? That’s right, they were all expelled from their high schools! But can you figure out why? Click here to match the celebrities to the ridiculous reasons they were thrown out of school.

I stumbled onto this site yesterday and it just blew the fingers right off my keyboard. I won’t say much other than you’ve got to spend some time scrolling through this thing! Trust me, it’s that good.
1,735,097 hectares of forest lost this year and it’s only the end of Feb? I wonder if that has something to do with the 145,000 books published in the last two months! Now I’m starting to feel guilty I’m one of the authors contributing to this madness.