You know the giant piano at FAO Schwarz? It was featured in the Tom Hanks classic* Big, in which Hanks and Robert Loggia play “Heart and Soul” by dancing around. Well, the employees at FAO Schwarz are shockingly good at playing that piano. Here’s a clip of two Schwarz staffers playing, no kidding, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor on the Big Piano:

After the jump, a few more impressive performances.

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I have to run out for a couple hours to take care of some very important business (OK, my wife and I are bringing Charlotte to have a family portrait taken.) I haven’t gotten a chance to put together any good questions for today’s Friday Happy Hour, so I’m begging you guys for help. Leave your suggestions for questions in the comments and I’ll use five of them later this afternoon when I return. If I choose your question, we’ll send you a free back issue of mental_floss magazine, which was mentioned on The Today Show this morning (and therefore special).

If you’re new and don’t know what kinds of questions we’re looking for, here are a couple examples from past Happy Hours:

“What’s the creepiest thing you’ve found while snooping on someone?”

“What’s the crappiest car you’ve ever owned? Was it a clunker from the start, or did you simply drive it into the ground?”

“What’s the most intriguing VHS tape you still own?”

“What’s the most embarrassing poster to ever adorn your bedroom wall?”

Back in a bit!

[See all previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]

Each photo in this quiz contains two famous actors from one movie. You don’t have to ID the actors, or the characters they played, but you do have to name the movie.

Once you think you’ve got it, type the full name of the movie into the blank box under the photo. And, yes, we know a lot of these look pretty funny, lo-tech, and all that. It’s part of the fun of it! I hope you get as many laughs out of it as I did making it. Truly the most giggles I’ve had putting together one of these quizzes!

Take the quiz now.

“Death comes in threes” is a popular maxim. In the world of fame and celebrity, however, it seems that death usually comes in twos. Some unusual duos have died on the same day: Mahatma Gandhi and Orville Wright, Jayne Mansfield and Primo Carnera, Luis Bunuel and David Niven. A few months ago, I looked at some uncanny celebrity birth twins. Here are some of those who were linked by death.

1. John Adams & Thomas Jefferson (July 4, 1826)

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, of course, were among the greatest of America’s founding fathers. They worked together on the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and would become the second and third Presidents of the United States. Over the next few decades they would have a changing relationship, in which they frequently switched between close friendship and bitter political rivalry, before keeping an affable correspondence in their final years. In 1826, as he lay dying, 90-year-old Adams’ final words were: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” In fact, Jefferson had died, aged 83, only hours earlier. Significantly, it was July 4 – exactly 50 years since the Declaration of Independence was approved. (Another former president, Jefferson protégé James Monroe, would died on the same date in 1831 – suggesting that “died on the fourth of the July” might be a more fitting motto for patriots.)

2. Aldous Huxley, President John Kennedy & CS Lewis (November 22, 1963)

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The fine folks at CNN had me back yesterday. Here’s the segment, and here are the stories I referenced:

• The Stories Behind 10 Famous Product Placements, by Stacy Conradt

• The Strange Early Jobs of 23 Famous People, by Ethan Trex

And if you’d like to watch a young Brad Pitt playing Ben Seaver’s idol on Growing Pains, that episode is available in full on Joost.

No More Butt Hole Road

The residents of Butt Hole Road in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, England are tired of the jokes, the tourists, and the constant questions. At least one family moved out over the embarrassment of their address. So the neighbors collected £300 and had the name of the street changed to the innocuous Archers Way, named after a nearby castle. Already an internet petition has sprung up to change the name back to Butt Hole Road.

Bullet Removed After 42 Years

65-year-old Hou Guoying recently had a bullet removed that had been lodged in her face for 42 years! She was shot accidentally during the Cultural Revolution in China in 1967. Doctors told her at the time that her wound was superficial. Eleven years later, an x-ray revealed the bullet in her face. She refused surgery because of the poor medical facilities available at the time in Chongqing, China. Hou suffered from headaches for years. This year, the pain began to spread to the rest of her body, so the bullet finally came out. Hou is recovering from the surgery.

Man Uses Swan to Beat Victim

A man identified as Sebastian P. has been convicted of animal cruelty in Munich, Germany. Sebastian and a friend were drinking heavily on the bank of the river Isar when they spotted a tourist and began to make fun of his accent. As the altercation elevated, Sebastian grabbed a live swan and used it to beat the tourist. They they threw bottles and a hot barbecue at the man, who escaped with minor injuries. The swan survived and flew off. A court gave Sebastian a two-year suspended sentence.

Anchorage Man in World Beard Champion

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You may remember a 2005 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film called Downfall, about the last days of Hitler. It was almost universally lauded by critics — especially the performance of Bruno Ganz as the Great Dictator himself. You may not realize, however, that some three years later, the film became — and still remains — an internet meme, in which one scene in particular (where Hitler, shaking with impotent rage over battlefield maps, is told by his generals that all hope for the German cause is lost) has had its subtitles changed dozens of times now, making Ganz-as-Hitler seem to explode with fury not over the loss of his once-formidable empire, but being banned from Xbox Live, J.J. Abrams’ controversial adherence to Trekkie canon in the new Star Trek, or that his subtitles are wrong.

Let’s take a look at one of the most popular versions, “Real Estate Downfall.”

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A local accounting office employs four men whose names are often confused becaused of their similar sound. Their first names (in no particular order) are Lon, Ron, Jon, and Don, and their last names (again, in no particular order) are Karley, Barley, Parley, and Harley.

Based on the information above, and the sole clue that follows, can you determine the matching first-and-last names for each of the four men? Good luck! [NOTE: This puzzle was revised after a typo was discovered early A.M.]

Only ONE man’s first initial
comes AFTER his last initial alphabetically.

Play for your chance to WIN a $100 shopping spree in our store!

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

First let’s meet our current champions, and big $100 winners, Hoang-Kim Vu, Rosalyn Lorgus and Cara Vu, the mighty trio who’ve been on a roll lately. You can read all about them and see the answers to last month’s final puzzle here.

As comments have been turned off for the length of the 5-day hunt, be sure to hit us up via e-mail with questions if you find something in the instructions unclear.

As always, it pays to play whether you’re the first in with all the correct answers or not. In addition to the $100 shopping spree first-prize, we’re also giving away a $50 shopping spree in our store to one random winner who has all the right answers but isn’t the first to e-mail them in. Random winners sometimes submit all the correct answers/logic a full 48 hours after the closing bell, so don’t worry if you’re late or can’t submit your final answers at 8 pm ET next Monday.

Have fun with it, and, as always, don’t hesitate to work in teams and e-mail all your friends for help. Many, if not most of our past HDYK winners have been teams, not individuals.

If you’re new to the 5-day trivia hunt, be sure to see the rules and regulations page here. Also, we’ve now got a Facebook page which we’re going to use to drop cryptic hints and clues now and then. Don’t worry, even if you’re not a Fan of our Facebook page, you can still view it, and the clues. So go check it out over here.

Day 1 can be found right here Day 2, this-a-way, and Day 3 down yonder. And don’t forget that the final puzzle goes up Monday at 8pm ET.

Today we’ve got another two-part challenge for you. Set to play? Click on through to begin.

The 9 Most Outrageous Outlaw Heroes. I love these types of stories that you don’t read in history class, but would have made those classes so much more interesting. (via Gorilla Mask)
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Whack-a-Kitties. Videos of the five best whack-a-mole games involving cats, either as player or as the mole.
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McAllen, Texas has the lowest average household income in the nation, but the seond-highest per capita health care costs. The New Yorker takes a look at why costs are so high and why the residents aren’t any healthier than in other towns.
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The 10 Most Powerful Political Daughters. That’s five who have already made a mark and five who have the potential to do so.
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The Kindle 3 makes reading easier than ever. Even illiterates can use it!
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Baby Asian sea otters will make you go “Awwww.” But it’s Friday, so say it out loud!
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Eight Strikes that Turned Ugly (or Inspired Keanu Reeves Movies). Some would say those are the same thing.