Once kids learn how to count, the next logical step is learning how to add. Youngsters have a built-in knack for this, quite often, as they (like the rest of us) want to accumulate as much as possible. “It’s all about the toys,” eh?

HERE is the answer.

Writing for Neatorama, our own Stacy Conradt explores a few unexpected places on the National Historic Landmark list.
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If you’re not planning a Labor Day Weekend getaway, here’s the next best thing: pretty pictures of 20 picturesque roads.
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Sure, you know all about Flower Power and John and Yoko’s Bed In, but do you know where the Peace Corps started or what country the peace symbol is actually from? Be sure to give our peace quiz a chance!

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The Ten Worst Non-Automotive Product Tie-Ins With Automotive Brands.
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On Tuesday, we discussed why the drinking age was 21. Slate’s Darshak Sanghavi weighs in on whether we should lower it.
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It’s 3:30am, and I know where my child is—screaming her six-week-old head off, like she has been since 7pm. My wife and I decided to pack up the family at midnight and head down to her parents’ Jersey Shore house. A tire blowout on the Garden State Parkway made it a memorable trip. So now I’m going to read up on the effects of sleep deprivation.
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Did I mention how much I miss Miss Cellania? Here’s an update on her moving adventures.
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How well do you know your salt? Read up on nine salts that will spice up your life.
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And here’s a look at completely inappropriate coloring books.

When you think of 7-Eleven, the Chrysler Building, and Budweiser, what country comes to mind? If you said Japan, Abu Dhabi, and Belgium, then no need to read on. But if such news comes as a shock, keep reading to learn about ten un-American Icons this country holds dear.

1. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
You’ve likely seen the Anheuser-Busch commercials that were shown during the Olympics. You know, the ones that are oozing with everything American – football, tailgating, the Statue of Liberty, riding motorcycles, playing in a garage band, and, of course, a fat slice of apple pie. In case you didn’t get the hint, they’re reminding you that their All American Ale is still All American. But it’s not American at all! Earlier this year, Anheuser Busch Inc was bought by InBev, the Belgian brewer. The deal, soon to close, will make the new combined company “Anheuser Busch InBev” the largest beer company in the world.

2. The Chrysler Building
In July, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council’s sovereign wealth fund bought a 90% stake in the Chrysler building for an estimated $800 million. The building management will remain under Tishman Speyer Properties, who owns the remaining 10%. Prior to Abu Dhabi’s purchase, the majority (75%) of the building was owned by TMW, a German real estate fund.

3. The Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel, near Central Park, is co-owned by Prince bin Alwaleed bin Talal and Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva’s El-Ad Group. The hotel’s ownership passed through the hands of the Hiltons and the Trumps until Trump sold to the partnership for $325 million in 1995.
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I used to adore Pee-wee’s Playhouse as a child. But when Adult Swim began showing old episodes of it on the Cartoon Network a couple of years ago, I was kind of stunned. How insane was this show?! They bounced around from random topic to random topic with all kinds of inanimate objects talking and bright colors and loud noises – I can see why it might drive an adult nuts. However, it’s still a pretty fascinating show – and apparently still relevant, since Paul Reubens says Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Movie is in the works for 2009. Here’s a few Pee-wee tidbits I thought you guys might appreciate.

1. Pee-wee was largely inspired by Pinky Lee, who was the host of his eponymous children’s show in the early ‘50s. He wore a distinctive plaid suit and displayed childish behavior similar to that of Pee-wee’s.

2. Does the voice behind the theme song sound familiar to you? It should, especially if you grew up in the ‘80s: it’s Cyndi Lauper. But she was credited as Ellen Shaw on the show.

3. There were plenty of up-and-coming celebrities on the show. Most of us know about Phil Hartman as Captain Carl and Laurence Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis, but there was also S. Epatha Merkerson as Mailman Reba and Natasha Lyonne as a neighborhood kid named Opal. Behind the scenes we had Sally Hershberger as the hair stylist; Rob Zombie and John Singleton as production assistants and Dweezil Zappa, Todd Rundgren, George Clinton and Danny Elfman as composers. OK, the weirdness of the show is starting to make more sense.

4. Pee-wee first showed up in the comedy group the Groundlings when Paul Reubens was a member. (more…)

I think most cooks would assume that they know how to cook an egg: put it in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. But French cook (and molecular gastronomist) Hervé This disagrees:

“Cooking eggs is really a question of temperature, not time,” says This. To make the point, he switches on a small oven, sets the thermostat at 65°C, or 149°F, takes four eggs straight from the box, and unceremoniously places them inside. “I use an oven in the lab; it’s easier. But if the oven in your kitchen is not accurate, cook eggs in plenty of water, using a good thermometer.” About an hour later—timing isn’t critical, and the eggs can stay in the oven for hours or even overnight—he retrieves the first egg and carefully shells it. “The 65-degree egg!” he announces. The egg is unlike any I’ve eaten. The white is as delicately set and smooth as custard, and the yolk is still orange and soft. It’s not hard to see why l’oeuf à soixante-cinq degrés is becoming the rage with chefs in France. (Salmonella can’t survive more than a few minutes at 60°C, or 140°F, so a 65-degree egg cooked for an hour should be quite safe.)

But why does it work this way? Well, let This hit you with a little molecular gastronomy:

…[W]hen an egg cooks, its proteins first unwind and then link to form a rigidifying mesh. But not all its proteins solidify at the same temperature. Ovotransferrin, the first of the egg-white proteins to uncoil, begins to set at around 61 degrees Celsius, or 142°F. Ovalbumin, the most abundant egg-white protein, coagulates at 184°F. Yolk proteins generally fall in between, with most starting to solidify when they approach 158°F. Thus, cooking an egg at 158°F or so should achieve both a firmed-up yolk and still-tender whites, since at that low temperature only some of the egg-white proteins will have coagulated.

This proceeds to demonstrate the differences between eggs cooked at 65°C, 67°C, and 70°C — they’re surprisingly distinct, and he can tell the difference just by sight.

Read the rest for an interesting introduction to molecular gastronomy as it relates to eggs. (Be sure to visit the second page for the specifics on eggs.)

(Via Kottke.org.)

Lyndon Johnson was born 100 years ago today. Here’s a piece from mental_floss magazine on some of LBJ’s favorite things, including his Amphicar—the only amphibious passenger automobile ever mass-produced for civilians.

Lyndon Baines Johnson wanted to be remembered as the greatest president who ever lived. With that grand ambition in mind (and an ego to match), he launched such sweeping social programs as Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, public radio, public television, and food stamps. Regardless, Johnson will probably be best remembered for his blinding arrogance, and what many would point to as the result of it—the Vietnam War. But here, we’re choosing to remember Johnson not by the many political wheels he set into motion, but by the stuff he kept by his side—and close to his heart.

1. His Toilet

Johnson lived to dominate, and he used crass behavior to bend people to his will. At 6-ft., 3-in. tall and 210 lbs., he liked to lean over people, spitting, swearing, belching, or laughing in their faces. Once, he even relieved himself on a Secret Serviceman who was shielding him from public view. When the man looked horrified, Johnson simply said, “That’s all right, son. It’s my prerogative.” His favorite power ploy, however, seemed to be dragging people into the bathroom with him—forcing them to continue their conversations with the president as he used the toilet. [Image: LBJ and Senator Richard Russell, courtesy of the National Archives.]

2. His Amphicar

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My wife Kara is from Michigan, but I’m a transplanted Georgia boy. And yes, sometimes, “I wish I was in Dixie.” Hooray.

If you’re wondering what in tarnation I’m talking about, then wonder no more, cousin. It’s a Dixie Quiz. Fifteen questions about people, places, and things named Dixie. And each question has only two possible answers instead of the usual four, so it’s suitable for border-state folks and ill-tempered Yankees as well. Yes sir, and I’m not just whistling… er… I’m not blowing smoke. Good luck!

Take the Quiz: Dixie!

We’re back with another 5-day trivia hunt!

To remind you of the rules: Every day this week, I’ll be presenting a specific challenge. Your job: come up with the answers and hold onto them! Why? Because on Friday, you’ll need them to solve a short puzzle. The first person to email in the correct answers and successfully show how you arrived at them (thus the title: How Did You Know?) wins a choice of any t-shirt and book from our store.

As with last month, we’re also adding some special prizes this time around for those who come really close, but don’t get all the answers in time. We’ve previously awarded some shirts and books to a couple contestants who impressed us with charts, diagrams, and other complex methods of recording and organizing the clues/answers. So we’ll be on the lookout for the creative among you, as well. This is all to say: it pays to play whether you nab the grand prize or not. And remember, we’re also giving away a really big, sa-weeet prize to any winning contestant who can defend the title three months in a row. Details on that as they develop, if they develop. (Katie Wnuk is our current champion. You can read about her here.)

As with previous How Did You Know? posts, comments have been turned off, but I definitely encourage you to work in teams. Write your friends, send around each daily challenge, conspire, work together, whatever it takes to make sure you’re armed with the right answers going into Friday’s puzzle.

If you missed Day 1, check that out here. Meanwhile, Day 2 is right over here.

Today we’re playing Name That Movie. On each of the following pages there is a short movie clip – an excerpt from a film, or a mini-composite. Your job: name the movies they’re pulled from!

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In case you’re new around here, let me point out two parts of our site that might get overlooked. The first is Sandy + Kara’s daily quiz—5 Questions. A good way to warm up your brain each morning.

The second is The Amazing Fact Generator, where you’ll learn stuff like this: “Using an orange-handled coffee pot to denote decaffeinated brew dates back to 1923, when General Foods first introduced Sanka. As a promotional gimmick, they provided restaurants and diners with orange-y pots that matched the orange packaging of their decaf coffee.” (Now you know.)

I was a free-range child. In fact, I think most kids growing up in the 70s, and to a lesser degree the 80s, were. Which is to say that except for school and occasional scheduled activities like Karate lessons (I can still break a board!) and swimming (I’m no Phelps) my time was more or less my own, and how I spent it — within my own limited means — was up to me. I could walk, or bike, or even boat as far from my house as I wanted to (there was a creek behind the house) as long as I made it back home by dinner time. Nowadays, that sort of thing is becoming nigh unthinkable; a recent LA Times article makes the point that kids aren’t allowed to just “go out and play” like they used to:

Today, for most middle-class American children, “going out to play” has gone the way of the dodo, the typewriter and the eight-track tape. From 1981 to 1997, for instance, University of Michigan time-use studies show that 3- to 5-year-olds lost an average of 501 minutes of unstructured playtime each week; 6- to 8-year-olds lost an average of 228 minutes. (On the other hand, kids now do more organized activities and have more homework, the lucky devils!) And forget about walking to school alone. Today’s kids don’t walk much at all (adding to the childhood obesity problem).

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