The 136th annual Kentucky Derby is tomorrow. To get into the mood, here are some classic races from all over featuring creatively-named horses. The first four feature sportscaster Tom Durkin lending his abilities to the silliness.

Yakahickamickadola

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I have a special place in my heart for Pippi Longstocking – when I was in about first grade, my mom brought a ball of white fluff home that been abandoned at her workplace and told me I could name our new cat, I promptly called her Pippi. So, for the last book in our children’s lit Quick 10 series, I had to go with Astrid Lindgren’s freckle-faced redhaired girl (I’m quoting the theme song in hopes that all of you join me in having it stuck in your head).

1. According to Pippi herself, her full name is Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking (in Swedish, it’s Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter LÃ¥ngstrump).
2. Like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, the character of Pippi was originally just a bedtime story. Astrid Lindgren made up the precocious redhead to entertain her daughter, Karin, who was very ill with pneumonia and was totally bedridden. In fact, it was Karin who named the character Pippi.
3. It was when Astrid was laid up a few years later, though, that Pippi was actually recorded on paper. Astrid fell on some ice and hurt her ankle, which left her relatively immobile. This time, it was herself she needed to entertain. She remembered the stories she made up for Karin and decided to write them down and see if they would go anywhere. They certainly did – later that year, she submitted the story in a writing contest where it took second place. She sent it in to another contest the following year, where it won the first place prize of a publishing contract. It was an immediate hit with kids and has been in print ever since.

4. When you were a kid, did you desperately want to visit Pippi’s house, Villa Villekulla? You can fulfill that dream… if you’re still harboring it, that is. The house that was used for the 1969 T.V. series still stands in the town of Vibble, Gotland Municipality, Sweden. Or you can visit The World of Astrid Lindgren, an amusement park in Vimmerby, Sweden, Lindgren’s hometown. You can meet all of the characters she created there, including Miss Longstocking and her crazy house with the tree that grows sockerdricka (lemonade, in the U.S. version).

5. Astrid Lindgren didn’t just write for children – she truly believed in children’s rights and campaigned for them. In 1994, she was honored for her “lifelong dedication to the rights of children.”

6. Lindgren wrote all of her first drafts in stenographer’s shorthand.

7. Even after she became wealthy from her books – one estimate puts her sales in the vicinity of 145 million copies – Lindgren continued to live in the apartment in Stockholm where she first told Pippi stories to her daughter.

8. We love Lego creations here on the _floss, of course, so I couldn’t pass up a Lego representation of Pippi and her house. It’s insanely detailed.
9. No other Swedish author has had their stories translated into as many languages as Lindgren. As of 2010, her works have been translated into 95 languages, from Afrikaans to Zulu.

10. Herr Nilsson, Pippi’s pet monkey and accomplice, seems to have a fan base all of his own. There’s even a Norwegian pop group named after him. They actually just released a new album called “Long Live Herr Nilsson.”

This children’s lit book series has been really fun! I hope you’ve all enjoyed it. We’ll definitely have to do it again – I know there are a lot of suggestions floating around out there that I didn’t get to.

I took this afternoon off to take care of some pressing business at Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA—mainly, getting a photo of myself with Snuffleupagus. So we’ll resume ‘Reader-Submitted Quiz Week’ on Monday and Tuesday.

People seemed to enjoy our series of Sesame Street stories, and our “Faces of NPR” quiz was also quite popular. So we decided to blend the two. Can you pick the picture of the person who voices each character?

Take the Quiz: Voices of Sesame Street

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, creates a streak-free shine wherever he goes.”

For some reason, this song just isn’t as catchy as the actual Spider-Man theme. But if you happen to live in France, Qatar or the UAE, you could be singing this tune as Spider-Man actually uses his Spidey Sense to detect and eradicate bird droppings and smudges that are threatening to blur your vision from high-rise building windows.

“We believe in finding the passion and fun in everything we do. If we can have Spider-Man clean our exterior, then why not? It puts a smile on people’s faces,” commented Peter O’Connor, a happy customer who manages the Mövenpick Hotel.

Spider Style, the company that offers the service, claims that their rope-based cleaning system allows older, more delicate buildings to be cleaned easier, faster and with less damage than the standard machine-based window cleaning systems.

The fact that superheroes are doing the washing is only an added bonus.

It’s an all-new 5-day trivia hunt!

Co-puzzle Master Josh Halbur and I are happy to bring you the next How Did You Know? sponsored by the extraordinary video sharing site motionbox.com, Roku, and our friends over at neatorama.com.

>> Prizes! We’ve got all-new prizes this month! Motionbox has teamed up with Roku to give away one amazing package: the Roku wireless movie player! Watch almost any movie at any time, including all your netflix flicks and all your own motionbox vids you uploaded, right on your TV. We’ve also teamed up with our friends over at neatorama.com, who will be giving away a daily, yes daily prize from their store! The Roku player goes to one random winner, as usual. And the daily neatorama prize, any item valued at $25 or less (must be in stock and cannot be traded for cash value), goes to one daily, random winner who leaves the correct comment on the correct post from their archives (details found as you play the hunt!).

>> So what’s in it for the person/team who finishes first with all the correct answers? Bragging rights, as always, with your photo/bio posted on our site. But also the chance to win the motionbox.com prize, and, as has been tradition here for the last 26 months of HDYK?, your pick of any one of the amazing t-shirts from our store.

As always, if you’re not a Fan of our Facebook page, be sure to add us so we can keep you updated, and you can get in on some additional nifty clues throughout the week. If you’re new to our five-day hunt, you can read up on our new Rules page here. If you missed Day 1, that can be found right this way, Day 2 is here and Day 3 is right here. Okay! Ready to get your Hunt on? Click on through.

Sure, you know your Water Lilies and Haystacks from your Lunch on the Grass. But what about some more obscure works from both artists? See how well you can tell Manet from Monet with these 10 paintings. Only one letter difference, but sometimes a big difference in style.

Give the quiz a whirl now.

Just a reminder that we’re always in the market for new Twitter friends. That is all.

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. Very casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. I can’t remember ever walking out of a movie theater before the closing credits. Maybe I’ve blocked those bad movies out of my mind. Maybe I’m just cheap. What movies have you marched out of?

2. My dog’s name is Bailey. Growing up, our dog was Jake and our cat was Rosie. What I’m trying to tell you is I’m not a very adventurous pet-namer. (Though I should add that Rosie was a dude, information we didn’t have during the naming process.) Have you ever had a pet with an interesting name, or a good story behind the moniker?

3. You might have read about one of the questions Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland asked wide receiver Dez Bryant in an interview before the NFL Draft. It was something to the effect of, “Hey, was your mom a prostitute?” It’s hard to argue that any answer to that question would help determine how Bryant would fit in the Wildcat offense, and Ireland has since apologized. We’ve discussed bizarre interviews before, so I’ll ask a different question—what’s the most inappropriate question you’ve ever been asked in a work setting? But if you missed the earlier discussion, feel free to weigh in about your best (worst) interview story.

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“Thelma Lou” is Victim of Robbery

Betty Lou Lynn is the actress who played Thelma Lou, deputy Barney Fife’s girlfriend on the TV series The Andy Griffith Show. The 82-year-old retired actress moved from Los Angeles to Mt. Airy, North Carolina in 2007 in order to escape the crime of the big city. Mt. Airy is Andy Griffith’s hometown, and was the model for Mayberry in the show. Last Sunday, Lynn became a crime victim after all when a man grabbed her wallet containing $130 in a shopping center. Police investigated and arrested Shirley Walter Guynn of Virginia. Guynn was lodged in the Surry County Jail. Only $43 of the money was recovered.

A Rare Fly-and-Run Accident

Ken and Carol Marcoux of Boulder, Colorado were parked on the side of a road to watch planes take off from the local airport. They saw a small plane approach, buffeted by the wind.

To the couple’s horror, the plane — whose pilot was later identified as Joe Curtis, 67, of Commerce City — was pointed right at their car and approaching at what Marcoux estimated was 100 mph. Carol Marcoux screamed “Ken!” and her husband stepped on the gas, moving the Prius forward just enough to spare them a potentially fatal hit.

Carol Marcoux said she heard “a big sound of glass breaking” as the right wingtip of the plane slammed into the back of the car — shattering the rear passenger window and denting the rear quarter panel — just inches behind her head.

The plane stopped in a field. Pilot Joe Curtis jumped out, grabbed a mysterious bag, and ran away toward the airport! Curtis contacted the FAA about the accident hours later.

Roadside Assistance from an Elephant

Lawrence Bates, a zookeeper at West Midlands Safari Park in England, was set to leave an animal enclosure, but his jeep wouldn’t start. As he began pushing, an elephant named Five gave the jeep a good shove to get it started again. For an encore, the elephant spray washed the vehicle with its trunk! Director Of Wildlife Bob Lawrence believes that Five may come in handy if a vehicle breakdown ever happens again at the park.

Runaway Boy Lived at Retail Store

A 15-year-old boy from Roseville, Michigan ran away from home and went to live at a Bed, Bath, & Beyond store. He managed to stay in the store four nights as employees locked up each day. The boy left the store in the morning and would return before closing time at night, hiding from employees so that they never knew he was there. When discovered, he was charged with larceny and truancy, and is undergoing a psychiatric examination at a juvenile facility.

Goose Picked the Right Garden

A Canada goose landed in a garden in Toms River, New Jersey with an illegal hunting arrow stuck through its chest. The garden happened to belong to retired veterinarian Bernard Levine. Dr. Levine captured the goose and removed the 26-inch arrow, including the six inches that was embedded in the bird’s flesh. Levine also removed several air-rifle pellets from the goose. Then he took the goose to a bird rehabilitation center, where it recovered and was released on the grounds.

How NOT to Mail a Ferret

The package was en route from Appomattox, Virginia to Puerto Rico. At the post office in Lynchburg, Virginia, postal workers noticed the box was moving. They had to get a search warrant, and when they finally opened the package, postal inspectors found a ferret inside. Postal workers promptly named its Stamps.

Photos from the Postal Inspector’s office show someone stuffed Stamps into a makeshift cage, doped him up on Benedryl, and tried to mail the ferret to the U.S. Territory.

The Postal Inspector handling the case, David McKinney, believes whoever tried to mail Stamps knew they were up to no good.  The return address on the package is an abandoned house, and the sender doesn’t exist.

A local family with 15 other ferrets has adopted Stamps, who is healthy and estimated to be about two years old.

Driver Backs Through 6th Floor Garage Wall

An unnamed driver in Tulsa, Oklahoma was backing out of a parking space when his foot became stuck in the pedals. The car backed across the building and struck a wall, punching a hole through it. The back end of the car was sticking through to the outside of the 6th floor of the parking garage! Several cars on the ground below were damaged by falling bricks. The driver was not injured. With video.

Watching the post parade at this weekend’s Kentucky Derby will surely fill some of our heads with dreams of horse ownership. How did the julep-sipping folks acquire their prized horses? How much is buying a racehorse going to set you back? Are they sound investments?

These are all tricky questions, but let’s take a look at a few stories of horse sales that turned out to be winning lottery tickets…and a few that were more dud than stud.

Mr. Prospector Becomes a Daddy Again and Again

In 1971, Mr. Prospector was a yearling that fetched $200,000 at auction. When he took to the track, he was good but not great; he won seven of 14 starts but only brought home $112,170 during his career. Still, in 1980 he sold for $20 million.

What happened? It turns out “Mr. P.” was a stud in every sense of the word. While his racing career might not have been the most distinguished, it’s tough to argue with his results as a stud. He sired a winner of each of the Triple Crown races, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been similarly speedy. His sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons have combined to win over 30 Triple Crown races and pull in around $100 million in earnings. Mr. P.’s Derby-winning son Fusaichi Pegasus fetched $60 million in 2000, and 18 years earlier, another son—Belmont winner Conquistador Cielo—sold for $36.4 million.

John Henry Drives Steel, Wins Cash

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