Remember those WWF Superstars action figures from the mid-to-late 1980s? Unless your answer is an unequivocal YES!, you should probably just move on.

Take the Quiz: WWF Superstars

Last week, we looked at the jobs held by various celebrities before they hit the big time. Today, we’ll explore what some notable politicians did for cash before they ran for office. Are great leaders born, or are they made through offbeat jobs? Let’s have a look.

1. Harry Truman

The man who succeeded FDR held a number of jobs in his youth, including working as a timekeeper on the Santa Fe railroad after he graduated from high school and a brief stint in the mailroom of a newspaper. After serving in World War I, he opened a men’s clothing store with an army buddy, but the venture went belly-up during the recession that rocked the country in 1921.

2. Warren G. Harding

Harding’s famously corrupt administration was paydirt for critics in his former profession: journalism. Harding’s father had owned a weekly newspaper in Caledonia, Ohio, and after studying journalism in college, the future president purchased the failing Marion Daily Star in Marion, Ohio, and turned it into a circulation juggernaut.

3. Herbert Hoover

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On Sunday, everyone’s favorite British Bell celebrated its sesquicentennial – yup, Big Ben turned 150. We’re a little late in wishing it happy anniversary, but better late than never, right? Here are a few birthday facts about Big Ben and her Clock Tower.

1. As inferred above, “Big Ben” doesn’t refer to the clock or the tower, but to the bell itself. Ol’ Ben weighs 13.7 tons (tonnes, to you Brits) and rings an “E” note when it’s struck; the quarter bells strike G#, F#, E and B.
2. We’re pretty sure we know whom the bell is named after, but not totally sure. Most likely its named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the First Chief Commissioner for Works who oversaw part if the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament – including Big Ben – in the 1850s. His name is inscribed on the bell. The story goes that Parliament was having a long session to name the bell when tall Ben Hall stood up and expounded on the matter for a ridiculously long time. When he was done, someone yelled, “Why not call it Big Ben and have done with it?” and the whole House started laughing. But this is just a story – there’s no documentation to verify it. The other theory is that it’s named after Benjamin Caunt, a champion heavyweight boxer of the same era who went by the name “Big Ben of Westminster.”

3. There’s a Latin inscription under each clock dial. They all say the same thing: “Domine Salvam fac Reginam nostrum Victoriam primam” which means “O Lord, save our Queen Victoria the First.”

4. Big Ben and the Liberty Bell are cousins! The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London made both of them. Interestingly enough, they both cracked pretty quickly. The first Big Ben cracked upon the first use, so Whitechapel used her as scrap metal to make Big Ben #2… which also cracked. But it wasn’t Whitechapel’s fault – the bell wasn’t being used as the Foundry had prescribed. A barrister named Edmund Beckett Denison had ordered and used a hammer more than twice the size of the one that the Foundry told him to use, which resulted in the crack. After this second crack, Big Ben was out of commission for four years; the hour was struck on one of the quarter bells instead of on the Great Bell. The Great Bell was moved about an eighth of a turn so the hammer could hit a piece of the bell with no crack in it; it’s the bell we hear today. If you’ve ever noted that the bell chimes with a not-quite-right tone, the crack is the reason. (more…)

Millvina Dean, the last surviving Titanic passenger, has passed away at age 97. Dean was only nine weeks old and headed to the United States with her family when the legendary ship went down. Of course, she remembered nothing of the voyage, but had the Titanic not sank, she would’ve been an American (her mother returned the family to England after the tragedy). Let’s look back at the maiden voyage of a vessel that took three thousand laborers two years to complete, and which was, at the time, the largest man-made moving object in the world.

The Lifeboats

She weighed 66,000 tons and was approximately four city blocks long. Titanic had 20 lifeboats on board, which was four more than were required by law at that time. Since the ship was considered to be unsinkable, White Star executives didn’t worry that there was lifeboat space available for only half of the ship’s passengers.

The Last Supper

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Steve Wiebe, the hapless hero of the video game documentary King of Kong, is trying once again to beat Billy Mitchell’s record on Donkey Kong. Why is this news? (After all, he’s been going back and forth with Mitchell for years.) Well, it’s news because Wiebe is doing it right now (mid-day Tuesday, June 2, 2009). You can watch Wiebe play Donkey Kong live right now! This morning, his first attempt ended at a respectable (but not record-breaking) 923,400 points. Reports suggest that we will make two more attempts today.

Update (1pm Pacific): Steve concluded his second attempt at only 653,700 points. I hear there’s a third attempt happening later, but it’s possible Wiebe is all Konged-out for today.

Update 2 (3pm Pacific): Steve’s back! He’s conferring with officials, and looks like he’s about to start his third attempt.

Update 3 (3:30pm Pacific): In a dramatic twist, the machine failed in the middle of Steve’s third attempt — the screen turned green, and the live web feed was disconnected after an apparent power outage. After some fiddling (and invoking Billy Mitchell’s name more than once), it appears that technicians are going to try to repair the machine. Some spectators are speculating that Wiebe may return for another attempt tomorrow. For what it’s worth, Wiebe was in good form at the time, but was only thirty minutes into his game (around 150,000 points).

Update 4 (3:45pm Pacific): …And he’s back. For some reason lacking sound. But anyway, the fourth attempt is in progress.

Update 5 (5:50pm Pacific): Steve did not make the record. At 989,400 points he hit the kill screen.

More background information on Steve Wiebe and his quest to be the recognized Donkey Kong master comes from Slashfilm:

Wiebe lived a quiet life in Washington until he lost his job at Boeing and found solace in his video game obsession, “Donkey Kong.” At the time, Billy Mitchell, a hot sauce mogul and an icon in the world of competitive gaming, held the record for the highest “Donkey Kong” score, and Wiebe made it his mission to break that record. He not only perfected his game but surpassed Mitchell’s record and ended up with a thought-to-be-impossible 1,000,000 points. A wave of media coverage followed and Wiebe quickly became a celebrity in his hometown of Seattle. Meanwhile, Mitchell hatched a plan to reclaim his fallen “Donkey Kong” record and, in the months that followed, Wiebe and Mitchell engaged in a cross-country duel to see who could set the high score and become the real “King of Kong.”

… Since the documentary and the loss of his title to Mitchell in 2007, Wiebe has attempted to break the record four other times but to no avail. With his latest attempt in October 2008, he scored 1,000,200, which is only the second time that a million point score has been achieved in public but it was still not enough to knock off Mitchell. Now, as he gears up for his fifth effort, fans can witness live what Wiebe hopes will be his sweet revenge and gaming history.

This could be it, folks. Tune in! If you get bored, read up on the history of this classic videogaming struggle.

Earlier this week, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. What exactly does that mean? And what’s the difference between Chapter 11 and Chapter 7? For the answers, we cracked open our MBA Degree in a Box – America’s #1 boxed business school.

Empty Pockets, Heavy Hearts: Coping with Bankruptcy

Here is a hard and difficult truth that many MBA programs are unlikely to share: Many of you, perhaps most of you, will at some point be involved with a business that runs out of money and can’t pay its debts. (This is probably a good time to mention that your $14.95 tuition is non-refundable.) But fear not, young capitalist. If you can’t pay your bills on time, you may feel bankrupt but you’re merely insolvent. You’re not actually bankrupt until you legally declare you can’t pay your creditors, or until your creditors file a bankruptcy petition against you. At this point, a court’s going to start helping you figure out how to pay your debts.

There are six types of bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, but the kinds most often associated with businesses are Chapter 7 and Chapter 11. (They are lengthy chapters in a very sad book.) Pick which sentence best describes your situation:

“Ack! This business was a horrendous idea!”

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Remember memorizing the names of continents and capitols for seventh-grade geography tests? Here’s a version for map-savvy adults who have moved on to other hoppies, er, hobbies—namely, beer. Tell us where the following brews are made, and we’ll tell you a fascinating fact about each one.

Take the Quiz: Beer Geography

Over the weekend, one of my favorite high school teachers passed away. She was Linda Janoff — Mrs. Janoff to her students — and anyone who took AP Literature and Composition at my school had a whole year with Mrs. J. She was brilliant, funny, sarcastic and uncompromising — and she taught us how to write. (The fact that I got my undergrad degree in literature and now make my living writing is at least partly due to her.) Here’s a little window into her technique, written by Mrs. Janoff herself:

When I started teaching writing in high school, my challenge was to overcome students’ tendencies–whether innate or programmed–to strive merely to meet the expectations of their teachers. For students, writing was an exercise in figuring out “what the teacher wants.” I wanted my students to get in touch with themselves, to write for themselves. I believe that a teenager who is aware of his/her inner voice, gains self-respect, and that an awareness of his/her own dignity leads a student to respect others. My ultimate goal, you might have perceived, is world peace. [Ed. note: I told you she was funny!]

I’m certainly not the only person to have been inspired by a teacher. We’d love to hear from you — who was your favorite teacher, and why? While you’re thinking it over, here are two videos of people talking about their favorite teachers, both involving the President of the United States.

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Libraries are wonderful places for people who love books, and wonderful places for cats to meet book lovers. There are an estimated 808 documented library cats, including 301 cats who currently reside in libraries around the world. Here are just a few.

1. Dewey

Dewey Readmore Books became the official cat of the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa in 1988. Someone had left him in the book return bin. Dewey faithfully executed the duties of a library cat: attending meetings, greeting patrons, and inspecting every box delivered, until his death in 2006, just after his 19th birthday. He proved to be such a popular addition to the library that people drove hundreds of miles to meet him. Library director Vicki Myron wrote a book about him, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. The book is going to be made into a movie, which will star Meryl Streep. Watch Dewey in action in this series of videos. Dewey’s story has inspired other libraries to adopt cats, but while he may be the most famous, there are many other library cats.

2. Squeakers

The Willet Memorial Library on the campus of Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia was the home of Squeakers for nine years. Before becoming the library cat-in-residence, Squeakers roamed the campus for a decade. It is believed that Squeakers was 23 years old when she died in 2008. Squeakers would spend most of her time in her later years sitting in a comfy chair near the library entrance, so she could see everyone who came through the doors.

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If you’re a fan of word play, you probably already know how much fun Nabokov had penning Lolita. There’s hardly a page in the novel that doesn’t make good use of a pun, play on words, or other cool lit-device. There are also dozens upon dozens of allusions to Poe, Joyce, Flaubert, Shakespeare, Keats, Melville, and on and on. It is, by this writer’s way of thinking, one of the busiest novels written in recent history, if you’re into reading between the lines. Here are some of my favorite examples.

1. Vivian Darkbloom

Let’s start with perhaps the most famous, Vivian Darkbloom, the mistress of antagonist Clare Quilty. Ms. Darkbloom’s name is a simple anagram of Vladimir Nabokov.

2. Edgar

There are a lot of references to Edgar Allan Poe throughout the novel. This is partly due to the fact that Poe was the master of word play, and partly to the fact that Poe married his 13-year-old cousin. One of the more obvious references is when H.H. checks into his first motel with Lolita (who, don’t forget, is only 12 in the novel), and signs in as Dr. Edgar H. Humbert.

3. Blanche Schwarzmann

In the novel’s foreword, penned by the fictitious John Ray, Jr., Ph.D., (to give ‘authenticity’ to the confessional style of the novel), a certain psychologist named Dr. Blanche Schwarzmann is quoted (to give even more ‘validity’ to that which is already clearly fake). Blanche is, of course, white in French. And schwarz is black in German, so her name is actually Dr. White Blackman. Nabokov believed that Freudian psychologists, like Dr. Schwarzmann, see everything in black and white.

4. Double Ds

Nabokov loves to have fun with phonetics and double consonants throughout the novel. Humbert Humbert is just one in a long succession, including Gaston Godin, Mesmer Mesmer and Harold D. Doublename. This word play applies to the names of the places and towns Lolita and H.H. visit along the road, too. Places like Hazy Hills, Kumfy Kabins, Hobby House, Raspberry Room, Pierre Point, and many more.

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