If your college was anything like mine, a day didn’t go by without some company giving out free samples in wacky cars. The Red Bull car even had its own parking space down the street from the dorms. (Trying to resist the temptation when walking past a giant can of Red Bull before an early class is absolute torture.) Here are seven examples of even weirder promotional vehicles.

1. The Zippo Car

Built in 1947 for $25,000, the Zippo Car was a Chrysler Saratoga with two gigantic lighters sporting neon flames. The Zippo Car was used for fairs, expos and parades between 1948 and 1949, but mysteriously disappeared sometime in the 1950’s when it was left at a Pittsburgh dealership for reconstruction and never returned. In 1996, Zippo commissioned a replica of the original Zippo car, and in 1998 the second Chrysler Saratoga—New Yorker was unveiled at the Zippo/Case Visitors Center.

2. Chock Full o’ Nuts Truck

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Opening a new restaurant is risky. 60% of new restaurants close or change ownership within three years. One way to make a restaurant stand out from the crowd is to have a theme, and the wackier the better. It may be as simple as putting costumes on the waiters and decorating the walls, or it may be an entirely new concept, but it probably won’t make the food any better. However, strange themes will get valuable publicity.

1. Dinner in the Sky

Dinner in the Sky is a Brussels based restaurant that serves dinner for up to 22 people… 150 feet in the air! The specially-designed table and chairs are lifted by a crane. Dinner anywhere in Belgium will set you back almost 8 thousand euros; other locations are also available. Remember, you must wear your seat belt, and don’t drop your fork!

2. In the Toilet

The food at Marton Theme Restaurant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is in the toilet. Patrons sit on toilets while eating, there are more toilets on the walls, and the food is served in dishes shaped like both eastern and western toilets and urinals. And business couldn’t be better. See more pictures here.

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At 4pm (ish) each day this month, we’ll be posting one of the year’s most popular quizzes. (And by “most popular,” we mean “ranked somewhere between #21 and #100,” since the actual Top 20 is listed beside every quiz.)

Coming in at #23 is our quiz on the American version of The Office. We’ve been promising a UK sequel for some time, so you can look forward to that in the new year – David Brent deserves a quiz of his own. He is refreshingly laid back for a man of such responsibility.

Take the Quiz: The Office

Earlier this year, we ran a whole week’s worth of quizzes celebrating the 1980s. More theme weeks are in the works for 2009: ’70s Week, Sequel Week, and other themes so secret we haven’t even thought them up yet. Click on any of the banners above to take that quiz, or relive all the ’80s Week festivities.

Here’s one for all you fans of college football and corporate sponsorship.

In addition to the FedEx BCS National Championship Game, there are 33 college bowl games this year. How many can you name in 8 minutes? You can either give the full name, with the sponsor (”San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl”) or just the game (”Poinsettia Bowl”). Though in some cases, the sponsor’s name is the bowl’s name (”Champs Sports Bowl”). Good luck!

Take the Quiz: How Many Bowl Games Can You Name?

At the end of each year, the media reflects on the famous people who died over the past 12 months. This year’s notable losses include Paul Newman, Edmund Hillary, Tim Russert and Arthur C. Clarke. But many others have been ignored by most news outlets. Here are ten more people who passed away in 2008 who are certainly worth remembering, including a Civil War widow, the world’s oldest blogger and the man behind the McMuffin.

1. Irena Sandler: Cunning War Hero

During World War II, Catholic social worker Irena Sandler saved some 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto. Disguised as a nurse, she would smuggle them out through the sewer, or in sacks, coffins, suitcases and – for one baby – a mechanic’s toolbox. In 1943, she was captured by the Gestapo and tortured. Her legs and feet were broken, and her body suffered permanent scars, but she refused to identify the children (now living new lives) or her accomplices. She escaped after a guard was bribed, returning to work under a different identity.

Though she later won Poland’s highest honor, and was nominated last year for a Nobel Peace Prize (she lost to Al Gore), she still suffered from Oscar Schindler-like feelings of guilt. “We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes,” she said in 2005. “That term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death.”

2. Maudie Hopkins: The Last Civil War Widow

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After I left for college, my parents and younger sister filled the void with a Jack Russell Terrier. If you’re at all familiar with Jack Russell Terriers, you know that they’re high-energy, high-maintenance and highly intelligent. On days Sinatra doesn’t get to the dog park, she finds more destructive ways to exercise – namely, chewing drywall. Leaving her home alone for more than a few hours is a risky proposition and leaving her alone overnight is out of the question. Enter the dog spa.

We’re not exactly sure how Sinatra spends her time at Dogtopia – my sister suggests that the proprietors make all the dogs cobble shoes – but it always leaves the pup so tired that she sleeps the whole ride home. Let’s take a look at some of the other more, uh, unique, doggie daycare and boarding services available:

1. Stay: A Modern Dog Hotel – Chicago

Is your pup packing a few extra pounds after the holiday season? Then Chicago’s Stay might be the perfect remedy. The 30,000 square foot facility features an aquatic fitness center with a custom designed lap pool, which uses paddle-in-place currents to “effectively increase muscle strength and endurance.” All dogs wear life vests and receive a one-on-one workout, with a 25-minute session setting you back $20. You can also keep an eye on your dog while you’re away via one of Stay’s two Web cams.

2. Yankee Dog Retreat – Boston

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Sean Connery wasn’t supposed to be James Bond. Keanu wasn’t supposed to be “the One.” So, who were the original choices? Here are 5 actors and the legendary roles they turned down.

THE ROLE: James Bond in Dr. No

WHO LET IT GET AWAY: Cary Grant. Despite being Bond producer Albert Broccoli’s best man, Grant said “I don’t” to the offer, and Sean Connery got the role instead. Of course, many studio executives objected to the decision, and even Bond creator Ian Fleming said Connery “wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
REGRETTABILITY METER: Low. By the 1960s, Cary Grant already had a spectacular film career. If he’d accepted the role (as Broccoli later revealed), it would’ve been just a one-movie deal. (more…)

Loyal readers of this blog will recall my post on default songs, a term I coined that refers to the song you default to when either there’s no song in your head, or you want to get a lousy song OUT of your head. Default songs can change as you change, and since my original default song post was a year ago, I’m sure many of you have new default songs by now – tunes you’re just itching to share with us.

For instance, when last I posted on the subject, my default song was AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” (apologies to those who now have it stuck in your head). Thankfully, sometime around Thanksgiving, my default song changed over to the wonderfully benign folk tune, “Coming ‘Round the Mountain.” This is because I sing a variation of it every night to my son Jack when it’s time for his bath.

As I wrote before, most of the time a default song isn’t something you have much control over. It’s just there, sawing away in the background.

You hear it? Stop. Be quiet. Listen. What song is playing in your head right now? Whatever it is, it may be your default song. It might also be the last song you heard at the local supermarket while standing in line to buy groceries as you thumbed mindlessly through People magazine.

So I ask you again: What’s your default song these days and, just as importantly: are you happy about it or annoyed?

Check out past On Music posts here >>

Factors are the integers that can be evenly divided into a given number. The factors of the number 4, for instance, are 1, 2, and 4, because each of those numbers can be divided into 4 without leaving a remainder. The factors for 5 are 1 and 5, since no other integers can be evenly divided into 5. The factors for 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6. With that in mind, and ignoring negative numbers…

What is the smallest number
that has EIGHT different factors?

Here’s the SOLUTION.