One of my favorite new features on the NYTimes website are videos by film critic A.O. Scott in which he discusses and dissects some of his (and my) favorite films. Not new releases, but classics and oldies-but-goodies that folks who aren’t cinema geeks may not have seen. They’re quick, fascinating peeks that make me want to run out and rent whatever’s being discussed every time. Here are some of the best.

Rushmore
I love Rushmore, and I love hearing people who love Rushmore talk about Rushmore. Take it away, A.O.

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In case you weren’t obsessively refreshing mentalfloss.com all week, here’s what you missed:

1. The Origins of 10 Nicknames, by David K. Israel
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2. The Quick 10: How 10 Iconic Movies Almost Ended, by Stacy Conradt
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3. 9 Copyrights That Were Donated to Charity, by Ethan Trex
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4. Getting Rich by Singing Badly, by Miss Cellania
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5. Strange Geographies: The First Ghetto, by Ransom Riggs
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6. The Quick 10: How 10 Celebrities Were Discovered, by Stacy Conradt
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7. 10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day, by David Holzel
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8. The Quick 10: 10 Tales From the Brooklyn Bridge, by Stacy Conradt
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9. Do Fish Really Have a Three-Second Memory?, by Matt Soniak
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10. The Late Movies: Batman Window Cameos, by Mario Marsicano

Callin’ out around the world: are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer’s here and the time is right for duelin’ in the streets.

The tradition of dueling first appeared among the Germanic tribes and was, in its early form, a mostly judicial matter. Conflict between to parties was settled and right and wrong were established under the belief that a higher power would protect the party in the right by allowing them to win and survive. These duels of justice would evolve into duels of chivalry in the Middle Ages and then duels of honor – private affairs being settled in an “honorable” manner – around the mid 16th century.

During the middle of the 18^th century, just as dueling was falling out of favor in Europe and being outlawed in many places*, it also made its way to colonial North America. After the Revolutionary War, dueling would find a strong enough foothold in the United States that it would stay alive and well, mostly in the southeastern states, well into the 19^th century and count numerous congressmen, senators, two presidents and a signer of the Declaration of Independence (the forgettable Button Gwinnett) among its practitioners.

Two hundred and four years ago yesterday, the seventh president of the United States shot and killed a horse breeder over an insult. In remembrance of this duel and the heady days of early America when you could kill a man in a heavily codified shootout if he called you a chicken, here’s the highlight reel (subjective selections, not an exhaustive list) of some of the more notable duels (and near-duels) in American history.

Jackson vs. Dickinson

Before he became president, Jackson was a horse breeder in Tennessee. When Charles Dickinson, a rival breeder, called Jackson a “coward” and an “equivocator” and referred to Jackson’s wife Rachel as a “bigamist” (her earlier divorce wasn’t complete when she married Jackson), Jackson challenged him to a duel. (more…)

The nine white squares inside the main red grid should be filled with the digits 1 through 9. Each digit should appear only once in this main grid. Two of these numbers are already provided for you. Place the other digits in the correct spots so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. IMPORTANT: Remember algebraic rules when solving the problems… multiplication and division should be performed in the first step, then addition and subtraction in the second. Good luck!

The bugle call “Taps” is used at military funerals and memorial services as well as for lights out. Where did this song originate, and why does it affect us so?
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How The U.S. Government Killed The Safest Car Ever Built. Was it an idea that was destined to fail, just hard to sell, or a a case of destroying “the evidence that you could do much better”? (via Metafilter)
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Can you match Nicholas Cage’s hair to the movie it (and he) appeared in? Here are the answers. (via The Daily What)
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Adam Savage explains the myth that Mystbusters busted, but the real experiment will never be aired on TV. The results might give sponsors and children nightmares.
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The best class of 2010 senior portraits. I hopes these graduates remember the stories behind these weirdly-posed pictures when their grandchildren ask. (via Everlasting Blort)
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11 Brain-Twisting Paradoxes. I could give you an answer for all of these if I had enough aspirin. (via Gorilla Mask)
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The modern version of The Ugly Duckling. You guessed it, computers are involved.
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Peter Sagal of NPR talks about his way cool job and researching people who don’t want to be normal. Also find out how a political story he wrote became the Dirty Dancing sequel.

One thing that surprised me about Venice was that graffiti was everywhere. There’s almost as much art on the streets as there was in churches and museums, which might be because Venice is a city of blind alleys and dark corridors, a warren of hiding places that are perfect spots for taggers and street artists to do their thing. Initially it was a little shocking to see so much spray-paint applied to the exterior of twelfth-century cathedrals and otherwise beautiful crumbling walls and even on people’s front doors — but once I stopped being offended I started being fascinated. While the oil-and-canvas masterworks hanging in the city’s galleries may reflect of Venice the Renaissance era, it’s what’s painted on the outside of the museum wall that reflects what Venetians — at least the ones wielding cans of spray-paint — are thinking now.

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It’s unlikely that most of us live with any danger of major natural disaster from day to day, but the people who live near these 9 Active Volcanoes cannot say the same!
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Kenya get Djibouti over to this list of Geographical Puns from Facebook, Belize?
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Hyper-realist sculptors (warning: some mildly NSFW sculpture content) both scare and amaze. Even though the Uncanny Valley relates to robotics, I think it can apply very appropriately some of these sculptures!
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Another instance of art overlapping with reality.
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Tomorrow is Memorial Day and a holiday for many of us (rejoice!) But if you’re unsure exactly who or what we are memorializing as we take to our grills and decks, educate yourself on its history! (Thanks Jan!)
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As Flossy-contributor Sarah puts it, “Dogs surfing for charity, how much cuter could you get?” I have no answer, because this is pretty darn cute!
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I posted a link last week to a site that maps satellite flybys, and got this informative response with a reader I thought I’d share: “For satellite flybys, I prefer http://www.heavens-above.com … not as simple to use, but it has much more information, including star charts.  Recommendation: Select your viewing location by following the “from database” hyperlink; when finished, then bookmark the page.  Use the “ISS”, “HST”, or “3.5″ hyperlinks for satellite flybys, or the “Whole sky chart” hyperlink further down.”
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Thanks, as ever, to all who sent in links this week! Send all submissions to FlossyLinks@gmail.com, and enjoy your long weekend if you have one!

Super-Powers, like anything, fall into some familiar categories. If you’re having trouble keeping track of, say, powers or origin stories, look no further than the Periodic Table of Super-Powers to help you out.
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Amazing treasure may be found just underneath your floorboards … or maybe not, but in these 9 fortunate instances, some lucky folks found that to be true!
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Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Weird Fake Louvre in Rural Japan Is Now Just a Ghost Town
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The size of the Deepwater Horizon spill (what a great movie name, huh? Hey, just looking for some bright side!) may be difficult to fathom. But don’t fret – Asylum.com presents a few “fun” ways to measure the size of the spill, including in terms of Vaseline.
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As Simon Cowell bids farewell and Elena Kagan says hello, it’s a good time for you to be the judge on who said what: American Idol or Supreme Court? (some may surprise you!)
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I’ve never ridden a tandem bike, but they seem like fun and a great way to share some cycling time … unless you’re riding one of these 5 Unromantic Tricky Tandem Bikes, that is (or in one case, a tandem unicycle! Perish the thought)
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We all know it’s tough to find a job in this economy, so you don’t want to lose the one you have by committing any of these 7 dumb employee mistakes (but I know you Flossers are smarter than this!)
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More links tomorrow – keep sending your fantastic finds to Flossylinks@gmail.com!

Jerry Lewis was the first guest star to pay Batman and Robin a quick visit. (more…)