Here’s a new entry in our Not-Quite-The-World’s-Smallest-Crossword series. Three clues across, another three down, and you’re done. Unlike most other crosswords, you can probably do this one in your head:

ACROSS:
1. see _____
4. long _____
5. mountain _____
 
DOWN:
1. _____ sack
2. old _____
3. gee!

Click here for the answer.

Year Montreal Hosted the Summer Olympics: 1976

Year Canadian Citizens Finished Paying for Those Games: 2006

The 1976 Summer Games were expected to cost $300 million Canadian. Not to worry, however; city officials assured Montreal’s residents that revenue from the Games would cover costs. “The Olympic Games can no more lose money than a man can have a baby,” announced then-mayor Jean Drapeau. You Mister Moms out there (and there are apparently plenty of you) would be interested to know that the final bill for the 1976 Olympics came to nearly $2 billion Canadian. Much of that was public debt paid off by average Canadians, and the final payment wasn’t processed until November 2006. (more…)

The opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are today. The fireworks designed by Cai Guo-Qiang and Phil Grucci are bound to be spectacular.
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5 Scientific Theories That Will Make Your Head Explode. I’ve picked the pieces up several times.
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Origins of Familiar Phrases. Do you wanna lay an egg, bury the hatchet, chew the fat, beat around the bush, or read between the lines?
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Watch lightning strike in super slow motion. Freaky cool, but still scary.
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If plagiarism doesn’t catch up with you in college, it certainly will on the internet. Even if it takes years.
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DNA tests on the mummy of King Tut and two fetuses found in his tomb may indicate whether he fathered them. If ancient Pharoahs weren’t always marrying their sisters, we could chart the genealogies of all the Egyptian mummies.
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Most people find things that look almost but not quite human to be incredibly creepy. That’s what we call the uncanny valley.

As the Olympic Games get set to kick off in Beijing with the opening ceremony on Friday night, we know that the next couple of weeks will feature some fantastic athletic stories to inspire us, amaze us, and occasionally make us laugh.  However, don’t discount the opening ceremony itself as a chance for some memorable Olympic moments. Past ceremonies have been known to include their own little quirks, disasters, and political flaps. Here are a few of the best.

1. The Olympic Torch Becomes a Korean BBQ

The 1988 Seoul Olympics opening ceremonies started out smoothly, with South Korea’s President Roh Tae Woo officially opening the Games, the raising of the Olympic flag, and the playing of the Olympic hymn. The customary release of doves went off without a hitch, and the crowd’s excitement grew as former Korean Olympians ran into the stadium to finish the torch relay.

Things got less picturesque, though, when the final members of the relay team ascended the hundred-foot torch cauldron by riding an elevating platform. When they reached the top, it became clear that several of the doves had acted like doves when they’d been released: they flew around for a bit before a nice high place to perch. Instead of being frightened by the cauldron lighting team, the birds seemed to just eye them curiously. Bad move. When the relay torches hit the cauldron, it went up in flames, taking a fair number of doves with it. Organizers discontinued the dove release following this incident. You can see the cringe-inducing debacle take place below (jump to about the 4:35 mark).
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Last week I mentioned The Long Now Foundation, the progenitor of a series of interesting experiments in long-term thinking (such as The Clock of the Long Now and The 10,000 Year Photograph). Stewart Brand was a Long Now founder, and still co-chairs its board. He’s an interesting guy — a former Merry Prankster, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, and much more.

In 1994, Brand wrote How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built. The book is an extended argument about architecture and construction, trying to single out what factors make great buildings great, and what makes failed buildings so bad. Why do some buildings seem to improve with time and adapt to change, while others seem doomed from the beginning? In 1997, the BBC produced a three-hour documentary based on Brand’s book, traveling around the world to examine various buildings and interview stakeholders about how they work. Brand has now posted the BBC documentary in its entirety online (in six parts) via Google Video. If you’re interested in architecture, history, or sustainable design, this will be an interesting way to spend your afternoon. Here’s the first segment:

See the whole thing: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, and part six. Keep in mind that because this is Google Video, you can download the videos in standard MPEG-4 format, playable on iPods or other video players — just click the “download video” link on the right side of the links listed above.

(Via Kottke.org.)

The budgets at big magazines make our heads spin. Case in point: Esquire just spent six-figures to pay a company to brainstorm how to create their new e-ink cover. And it must be worth it. Ford pitched in to defray the exorbitant cost, and tech-heads across the ‘net have been licking their chops, waiting to hack the thing and turn it into a microwave, or whatever it is you do with an electronic cover. The idea that the battery will only power the thing for 90 days, that there’s already a bid to get it into the Smithsonian, and that it’s going to be shipped by refrigerated trucks have added to the lore.

Of course, our magazine, which hits stands next week, is getting a little less buzz. But as the title of this post indicates, I really like it! Instead of venturing into the upper six (or dare I say seven?) figure range, ours cost closer to a thousand big ones. That said, it’s one of the most playful covers I think we’ve done in a while, and I just wanted to give credit to our fabulous designers Terri and Winslow. I also wanted to give you an excerpt from the cover story, because it’s really fun. And because if you haven’t seen our magazine yet, this might nudge you into going to the bookstore and skimming a copy. And maybe even purchasing it too!

The Prankster who outfoxed Richard Nixon

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This includes Gold, Silver and Bronze winners for both Summer and Winter Games. You’ll also notice that it includes East Germany and the Soviet Union which no longer exist. For comparison, Russia has 327 medals, West Germany has 243 medals and the United Team of Germany (which is different than Germany) has 137. These are also approximate totals since records of the games before 1896 are rough at best.

Top 10 Olympic Medal-winning Countries

1. The United States: 2404
2. Soviet Union: 1204
3. Great Britain: 689
4. France: 679
5. Germany: 648
6. Italy: 595
7. Sweden: 588
8. East Germany: 519
9. Hungary: 454
10. Finland: 446

You can find a full list of winners here.

In the late 1800s, costume paintings were quite the rage. One popular painter in the genre was Auguste Toulmouche (1829-1890), a Frenchman from a modest background. While all his paintings contain sumptuous costumes and intricate details, his 1866 painting “La Fiancée Hésitante” (The Hesitant Fiancée) is one of his most interesting paintings.

1. As the title indicates, “La Fiancée Hésitante” is meant to depict a woman, unsure about her upcoming marriage, being comforted by her friends. Yet if you look closely at the fiancée’s face, she seems more evil and determined than hesitant.

2. Auguste Toulmouche had fans in high places. In 1852, Emperor Napoleon III purchased Toulmouche’s “La Fille.” The following year, Empress Eugénie bought “The First Step,” while Princess Mathilde bought “After Lunch.”

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A few weeks ago, we asked if you could name the second most populous city in 15 states. Now we’re taking this game overseas. How well do you know your European demographics?

Take the Quiz: Pick the Second Most Populous City

Blogger Cassie is a self-proclaimed nerd and an obsessive knitter, and has made her latest big project the subject of its very own blog: MarioScarf. If you’re not geek enough to guess what the Mario Scarf is just from its title, allow a former 8-bit addict to lay it out for you: Cassie has taken it upon herself to knit “the entire first-level map of Super Mario Brothers. SMB levels are linear maps and the Mario and Luigi characters move from left to right from start to the castle at the end. Also, the images in these games are designed in the 8-bit fashion and look like they were drawn using graph paper. Each knitting stitch can replicate a square in the image making knitted 8-bit images look like they’re supposed to.” (Above, Cassie’s awesome knitnerd tattoo.)

But why take on such a daunting project? There have been Nintendo-inspired knitting projects before, but certainly none of this magnitude. Cassie explains:

Jason and I were talking about our future. We both know that we want to get married, but as Jason will be attending law school in fall 2008, I’m still looking for a teaching job, and Jason just bought a house, having a wedding seems a little bit out of our budget for the time being; however, we’re open to the possibility of getting engaged soon. Jason decided to to offer me a deal- when the Mario Scarf is finished then he will propose. Motivation at last!

Good luck, Cassie!