Looking through the wintery archives at the always-terrific Cellar, I stumbled into this great photo. The shot is of more than 8,900 people setting a snow angel record in North Dakota a little over 10 months ago. What’s most stunning about it though isn’t that so many folks gathered for the event, but that the people of Bismarck hope this will change public perception of the place. According to a USA Today piece:

Edna Arvidson, 84, of Bismarck, said she participated in the city’s [previous] record setting event in 2002. “It’s fun and puts us on the map,” Arvidson said. “People think there’s nothing going on up here.”

Edna makes a good point. I guess most people just don’t know about Bismarck’s legendary Super Slide Amusement Park.

To celebrate Christmas, let’s revisit Jan Steen’s “The Feast of St. Nicholas.” In the Netherlands, children set their shoes out on December 5, the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas, and wake up on December 6 to shoes filled with toys and goodies. Jan Steen’s painting depicts the morning of St. Nicholas’ feast in a traditional Dutch household.

1. “The Feast of St. Nicholas” is only one of at least six scenes that Jan Steen painted of St. Nicholas’ feast day. This one is almost 3 feet high and just over 2 feet wide.

2. Steen was born into a strong Catholic family that ran a tavern, The Red Halbert. When Steen was about 28, he ran his own brewery, De Roscam (The Curry Comb), but with little success.

3. After moving into the household of landscape painter Jan van Goyen, Steen married van Goyen’s daughter, Margriet. The two had 8 children together. Steen later had a ninth child with a second wife, Maria van Egmont, after Margriet died.

4. Steen was quite prolific, creating approximately 800 paintings during his lifetime. Roughly 350 of those paintings survive today.

5. Unlike some artists, Steen was reasonably well-paid and his work was valued by his contemporaries, yet he never had any official students.

‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.

Wherever there is money, there will be castles built. I found 300 castles in the United States alone! But it’s the older castles with a rich history that I want to visit. You know about Buckingham Palace, the Vatican Palace, and the Forbidden City, and here are some other fascinating castles you may not be familiar with.

1. Predjamski

Predjamski Castle in Slovenia is built into the entrance of a cave system that runs through the mountain, making it a seige-proof fortress. It was first constructed in the 13th century, and expanded several times. Predjamski Castle has its own railway and concert hall! You can see panoramic photos of the castle interior, the cave under the castle, and more pictures here.

2. Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel was built on a tiny tidal island just off the French coast in the 8th century as a monastery. It was greatly expanded in the 11th and 12th centuries, then converted to a prison after the French Revolution. The prison closed in 1963. Mont Saint-Michel has been featured in numerous movies, cartoons, and even videogames. See more photos here.

3. Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo lies at the intersection of religion and science. Actually, it is located on a ridge outside Rome. Built in the 17th century over the ruins of a Roman palace, it is the Pope’s summer residence, but also the home of the Vatican Observatory. Of the three domes you see, one is a church, the other two are mobile telescope domes!

More fascinating castles, after the jump.

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It’s time for another whimsical Tuesday Turnip Google search wherein I type a random phrase and we see what kind of interesting factoids “turn-up.”

Many moons ago, I typed in “six out of every ten,” unearthing the following (yes, this is a Turnip oldie… but a goodie!):

In the US, six out of every ten couples buy a diamond ring for their engagement.

Six out of every ten Americans are overweight.

Six out of every ten apples you eat are grown in Washington

Six out of every ten new jobs are computer-related.

Nearly six out of every ten Protestant churches now have a website. That is up from just one-third of all Protestant churches in 2000, an increase of 68%.

Six out of every ten commonly-used English words are derived, directly or indirectly, from Latin.

About six out of every ten US smokers started smoking before age 14. Nine of every ten smokers became addicted before reaching age 19.

Six out of every ten children killed in crashes are unbelted.

Six out of every ten Americans live in areas that violate federal air quality standards.

Only six out of every ten… children will graduate from high school in New York – the third highest dropout rate in America.

Any my personal fav, only ’cause it’s so darn controversial (drum roll…):
According to a survey conducted by Barna, about six out of every ten adults (59%) favor teaching creationism while less than four out of ten (38%) do not want it added to the public school curriculum content.

What do you make of that? (”Why, I could make a hat, or a brooch, a pterodactyl…”) Bragging rights to the first person who can name that quote, WITHOUT GOOGLING IT! Honestly, people, what would you do without Google?

Browse through more past Tuesday Turnips here

The Griswold post seemed to be a big hit, so we’ll continue the “obscure facts about my favorite Christmas movies” series with A Christmas Story. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I don’t own this one on DVD; but I guess I don’t need to when TBS runs it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve. Here’s a few tidbits to tide you over until you can catch Monday’s marathon.

1. Jack Nicholson was very interested in playing Ralphie’s dad. But casting (and paying) Jack would have meant doubling the budget, so he was removed from consideration. Director Bob Clark – who didn’t know Nicholson was interested at the time – says Darrin McGavin was the perfect choice, and I’d have to agree. I think Jack would have been too much of a scene-stealer.

2. What does Porky’s, the raunchy 80s teen sex movie, have to do with a wholesome film like A Christmas Story? Bob Clark directed both – Porky’s in 1982 and A Christmas Story in 1983. If Porky’s hadn’t given him the professional and financial success he needed, he wouldn’t have been able to bring A Christmas Story to the big screen.

3. For anyone keeping count, Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times throughout the course of the movie. That’s approximately once every three minutes and 20 seconds.

4. Peter Billingsley, AKA Ralphie, has been good friends with Vince Vaughn since they both appeared in the CBS Schoolbreak Special (their version of the after-school special) in the early ’90s. He made a surprise appearance on the “Vince Vaughn Wild West Comedy Show” in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005.
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Gingerbread houses are not a Hattikudur-family forte. Every year my mom (a pre-school teacher) insists that my sister and I build a gingerbread house for her classroom. And every year, what should look like a cookie-cutter house ends up looking like a Frank Gehry/Ray Charles collaboration. Perhaps that’s why I’m so astounded by the work below. It’s all pulled from a Seattle gingerbread show last year, and there’s more here. Link via the excellent Notmartha.org.

Tomorrow, we’ll announce a new book giveaway. First, let’s tie up our loose ends.

We have a winner from yesterday: Joe successfully guessed Joe Biden’s bid for the 1988 Democratic nomination, which was derailed by accusations of plagiarism before the first caucus or primary. Congratulations! I’ll be in touch about getting you your prize.

As for Sunday’s contest, 975 guesses and still no winner. So let me give two hints.

Hint #1: The number is between 1 and 1,503.

Hint #2: The number has something to do with the new issue of mental_floss magazine.

Keep those guesses coming on the original post.

Merry Christmas!

By Christa Weil

When making soup requires scaling a cliff, and grabbing a few olives involves avoiding gunfire, it’s time to find some comfort food that’s a little more comfortable.

1. Iwatake

The annals of Arctic exploration are filled with accounts of frostbitten limbs and near starvation. In fact, many adventurers have reported being so hungry that they’ve scraped papery-crisp lichen off rocks and boiled it into passably edible food. One outdoorsman even claimed that if braised shoe leather was in a taste-test with lichen, the shoe leather would come out on top. And yet, this very same survival food is considered a delicacy in Japan. There, iwatake (iwa meaning rock, and take meaning mushroom) is so highly sought-after that harvesters are willing to rappel down cliff faces for the precious growths. (It takes about a century for the lichen to get to a worthwhile size.) Needless to say, this is specialty work. As if the rappelling isn’t tricky enough, iwatake is best harvested in wet weather, because the moisture reduces the chance that the lichen will crumble as it’s pried off with a sharp knife. In its preferred preparation, the black and slimy raw material is transformed into a delicate tempura. And while iwatake in any form doesn’t taste like much, it’s esteemed for its associations with longevity. As for the harvesters? Their longevity’s more questionable. “Never give lodging to an iwatake hunter,” goes an old Japanese adage, “for he doesn’t always survive to pay rent.”

2. Bird’s Nest Soup

Cantilevered high off cave walls and cliffs along the seas of Southeast Asia are the nests of the white-nest swiftlet—a bird that’s managed to turn an embarrassing drool problem into a useful D.I.Y. project. The nests, sturdy constructions no bigger than the palm of your hand, are made from the birds’ spit. Yup, these swiftlets have specialized saliva glands powerful enough to turn their tongues into avian glue guns.You’d think being stuck in caves high above the ground, and the fact that they’re birds’ nests, would protect them against humans—but no. Ever since sailors first brought the nests home for the Chinese emperor and his family in the first century CE, bird’s nest soup has been a favorite among the country’s elite. Never mind that it’s virtually tasteless; the dish is revered for health reasons. Of course, acquiring the main ingredient is less healthy. Nest harvesters must stand on rickety bamboo scaffolding hundreds of feet off the ground in pitch darkness. They must also endure unbelievable heat and humidity as they try to avoid all the insects, birds, and bats that live in the caves. In addition, the extraordinary value of the nests means the zones are patrolled by machine-gun toting guards. Harvesting rights are multiyear, multimillion-dollar deals arranged with national governments, and poaching is ruthlessly prohibited. Unarmed fishermen have been shot dead after accidentally beaching in swiftlet territory, and local tour group operators pay exorbitant fees to avoid rifle-assisted leaks springing in their kayaks. It all underscores the fact that being a nest harvester is less of a career choice and more of a life sentence—especially considering that the skill is almost exclusively passed on from father to son.

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The guys at National Instruments rigged up the office Christmas lights so as to be controlled by a Guitar Hero player. As nerdy as it is, wouldn’t you like to work at a place you could do this?

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Kids tipped over a portable toilet in a park while Pedro Toala was inside, leaving him permanently paralyzed. In response, area small businesses banded together to remodel Toala’s split-level home into an accessible dream house. See a slideshow of the finished project.

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The Aptera Electric Typ-1e. 300 miles to the gallon, sticker price starts at $27,000 and looks like a car of the future. Set for release in 2008.

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Archaeological evidence shows that ice skates are the oldest human powered means of transport, dating back to 3000 BC. We’ve been falling for them (and from them) ever since.

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Why is that song stuck in your head? The short course on earworms, musical memory aids, and reprogramming your inner music.

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On Christmas Eve, 1968, during the Apollo-8 mission, Astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders, beamed home a holiday message as they orbited the moon.

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How To Get A New Word In the Dictionary. These folks did it, maybe you can, too!
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P.S. Merry Christmas!

Over the many Mental moons I’ve spent blogging here, one of two things has happened: either my neighbors have gone crazy at an alarmingly rapid rate, or I’ve just begun to notice their quirks more, in a way that only having to write about something interesting every single day will do to a person. Luckily, my phone takes relatively decent pictures, so I’m usually ready when weirdness strikes. In case you’ve missed the saga, here’s a little bit of what it’s like to live in Venice, California:

Child labor laws aren’t so strict
That is, at least, according to flyers like this one found on a telephone pole down the street. Still not sure how many parents took the bait on this one, and if so whether or not they ever got their kids back. Hope so!
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