My wife just showed me this clip, which she’d watched earlier tonight on Ellen (via TiVo). I’m working on a list of the most elaborate weddings in history, which should be ready by the weekend. But had the list been “weddings I most regret missing,” this one would crack the top three. If you’re offended by pelvic thrusting or any of Sir Mix-a-lot’s work, you might want to take a pass.

Wow, I had no idea there was a Samantha Stevens–”Bewitched”–statue in Salem, MA. But there is, and she was part of a campaign TV Land launched in 2000, commemorating shows they planned on continuing in re-runs; other statues included Opie & Andy in Raleigh, NC, MTM’s Mary Richards in Minneapolis, and Bob Newhart’s Dr. Robert Hartley in Chicago. The 8-ft bronze Samantha was erected in June of ‘05, to the delight of some TV Land die-hards and the chagrin of some who didn’t embrace the irony. Most recently, the statue has inspired photographer Jennifer Layzer’s new series, “The Salem Project,” as elucidated in her statement:

I am concerned with the collective misremembering of history. My reading of first-hand accounts of the Salem witchcraft crisis informs these photographic reenactments, in which I use contemporary plastic dolls to comment on the commercialization and trivialization of horrific events. The anachronism of these scenes brings past events closer to the present, makes history more immediate.

If you’re in Boston, you can catch her photos this Thursday at a Brattle Theatre silent auction. And speaking of film-and-TV reified via statues, those publicly displayed tablets of The Ten Commandments (the ones that have been the locus of separation of church & state issues)? Well, most of them were installed in 1956 to help promote Charlton Heston & co. in The Ten Commandments. Director Cecile B. DeMille was really just piggybacking on a program to implement the tablets that was spearheaded by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. That’s some really formidable publicity!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the fun and the fascinating events of November 28 throughout history.

-In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan (===>) and his crews became the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean after they navigated their three ships through the South American strait to reach the Pacific.

-William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway paid £40 in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1582 for their marriage license.

-An organization that later became known as the Royal Society was formed by 12 men at Gresham College in 1660. The society, which serves as the academy of sciences for the United Kingdom, is supposedly the oldest such society still in existence today.

-Jean de Thévenot died in 1667. Born in France, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and the East and was a polyglot skilled in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian.
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Forbes has a terrific gallery of billionaires who live (somewhat) modestly. My favorites on the list are Ikea’s Ingvar Kamprad (pictured here, and worth an astounding $33 billion) who flies coach, drives a ‘93 Volvo, and furnishes his home with Ikea stuff; and Wipro’s Azim Premji (worth $17.1 billion) who drives a Corolla, walks to work, wears non-branded suits and stays in budget hotels when traveling. Click here to view it. And if you like info on billionaires, you might enjoy Jason English’s great post on billionaire sports owners and how they made their money.

We have a copy of Joseph Cummins’ new book to give away. Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns. Sounds fun. Here are a few excerpts:

1836: Congressman Davy Crockett accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women’s clothing: “He is laced up in corsets!”

1912: Theodore Roosevelt is shot in the chest while preparing to give a campaign speech, then proceeds to deliver it anyway: “I don t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!”

1960: President Harry Truman advises voters that “if you vote for Richard Nixon, you might go to hell!”

When my friend Derek Lo was in high school, he ran a successful campaign for class president under the killer slogan “Aim High. Vote Lo.” It’s a shame he gave up politics for a career as an advertising executive – a field where having a personal slogan is considered very strange.

I’m mentioning DLo because a good slogan is your ticket to winning this book (plus we’ll throw in a free mental_floss t-shirt.) If you were running for office, what would you put on your bumper stickers? The person whose slogan gets our vote wins the book.

See also: Six Memorable Moments from Presidential–and VP–Debates

With the holiday shopping season upon us, it’s time for me to think about giving gifts to friends and family. In the past I’ve tried some different strategies, but I’m wondering if the mental_floss audience can help me figure out what to do this year! Here’s a roundup of past strategies:

Wish lists – these days it’s typically the Amazon wish list, but generally this strategy involves asking each person what he or she wants, then buying something. Pro: people get stuff they want, and I get to pick how much I spend. Con: not everybody has a wish list, and sometimes it’s spendy. Also: Mom and Dad sometimes just ask for “a hug,” which is hard to mail.

Here, enjoy my taste in music – I’ve given out a couple of favorite albums to pretty much everyone in my family — notably Bob Dylan concerts from the mid 60’s and anything by Vince Guaraldi. These are recordings I love, and love to listen to with family, but you never know if they’re going to mean much to someone else. Pro: might be a big hit, and makes you look like you know stuff about music. Con: might end up collecting dust, and/or your family may feel obligated to play it when you’re around.

Gift cards – I was going to buy my brother some new music for his birthday this year, but I realized that he probably had most of what I was going to buy him. After a few probing questions (like “Do you have the new Feist?”) I realized that, indeed, he was way ahead of me and had already bought everything I could think of. So I just gave him an iTunes Gift Card. Pro: broad choice for the giftee. Con: picking a dollar value can be dicey.

Make something – I’m worst at this, but it may actually be the best strategy. I haven’t really made gifts for people since I was a kid, as I’m not sure what to make. But this year I’m looking at making MOO Cards from digital photos. Pro: giftee says “awww,” and it’s cheap. Con: time spent to make stuff.

Gift of the Magi – only applicable if you’re in a relationship where one of you has long hair and the other a prized watch. Pro: touching/heartfelt. Con: tragic.

So let’s hear it. What gift-giving strategy works best for you? Also: bonus points if you have a story of a horribly failed gift.

You’ve probably heard a lot about nanotechnology by now — mostly about how it’s the (potentially very dangerous) miracle technology of the future, which could cure cancer, help clean up the environment or, depending on how it’s used or misused, wipe out civilization (check out the “Gray Goo” scenario, which we’ll be addressing in an upcoming original video).

As of now, though, the nano-enhanced products on the market are very basic, like this nanotech carwash soap and nano sunblock. But very cool and real advances are being made in the arena of cancer-fighting nanotech. The possibilities are exciting: rather than blasting entire areas of the human body with radiation, killing good cells along with the bad to get rid of tumors, nanotech promises a “surgical strike” (no pun intended) that could target malignant cells alone. From Scientific American’s article on the Harvard-MIT team that’s spearheading the technology:

The researchers have developed and tested injectable multifunctional nanoparticles—particles billionths of a meter in size—that they expect to become a new, potent weapon against cancer. (To provide some perspective, the width of a human hair is about 80,000 nanometers, or 0.003 inches.) They could be introduced into the bloodstream to locate and map tumors so that physicians would know what they were up against. Nanoparticles could also be designed to carry a payload of drugs that could be released near or even inside tumors to shrink or eliminate them.

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[There's still time to get the vote out! Contest closes Friday.]

Thanks to all those who came up with captions for our third Caption Contest. We had a record number of entries this time.

Many fantastic captions had to be ruled out ultimately because the wrong turtle was talking, or the brilliant dialogue didn’t really fit with the second turtle’s expression. Because we’re getting so many entries now, we can afford to be a little pickier. And, as stated in the rules, those who drop a little trivia along the way always get special consideration.

Now the fun really begins: it’s up to YOU to pick the winner. As with last time, each finalist is labeled with a letter. All you have to do is decide which is the best (whatever your definition of “best” is), and drop your ballot in the comments below. As always, one vote per person.

And the 10 finalists are…

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As Jason mentioned yesterday in his new feature, The Projectionist, tonight is the YouTube/CNN Republican debate.

Sure, debates are useful in helping us select candidates, but let’s face it, the big players commandeer the mics while the Tancredos, Gravels and Richardsons are lucky if they get to mouth “hi mom” to the camera.

Fortunately, Minnesota Public Radio came up with this cool quiz that matches your thinking on today’s hot topics with the candidates who’re most likely to get your drift. I took it earlier this week and was shocked to learn that the candidate I was planning to vote for in the primary wasn’t the one I should be voting for. Even more interesting was discovering a candidate with whom I had nothing whatsoever in common. I’m not talking “She’s a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock’n’roll” here folks. I’m talking ZERO, zilch, nada, niente, rein, neechyvou, klum, nichts, nil, nula! And that’s sorta scary, isn’t it?

So watch the debates, ‘cause they only happen once every four years, but I’m not sure they’ll help you as much as this sort of quiz. Who agrees? Disagrees? Or has two cents worth on how best to pick a candidate?

We tallied the votes (ours and yours) for this past weekend’s Genius Challenge and couldn’t narrow it down to fewer than four. So, we’ve got four winners, and we’ll send each of them a T-shirt!

Here are the four winning entries in a sentence:

The Starbucks lunatics were accosted by a cranky pimp, whose main moneymaker – a punctual hostess – began to lose customers due to her unflattering toenails. 

And, as we promised, our winners’ phrases are now google-able, thanks to their placement on this blog. Congratulations to our winners; we’ll contact you via email. This Saturday morning, look for another edition of the Weekend Genius Challenge.