From the Annals of Too Much Time: An incredible movie mashup that creates a song (that rhymes! with a beat!) from bits of dialogue spanning TV and movies from the ’20s onward. (Also try playing the game of “which movie is that from?” while you watch)
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Will the Duggars inherit the earth? Is Jim Bob the new Genghis Khan? Scary!
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Bored at work? Try getting inspiration from some of these Best Office Pranks of All Time. As the site aptly says, “Nothing says happy birthday like being an obsessive compulsive prick.”
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Just another reason to stay out of the water (ok ok, so these creatures are typically REALLY far down in the ocean … but still!): the 12 Most Bizarre and Frightening Deep Sea Creatures.
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Still, we shouldn’t pick on deep sea dwellers just because they aren’t stupidly cute. After all, some very gorgeous things can be quite deadly, such as these 13 unassuming poisonous plants.
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From Jan: If you think you know your car facts (or at least can recognize cars based on several arcane-to-obvious clues), try your hand at this car quiz. (er … I made a D)
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Sure, the writer-director or actor-singer is nothing new. But a singer-wrestler? When certain celebrity’s careers tank, they might turn to wrestling to get a small second wind going (See: K-Fed, Steve-O), but unfortunately fame rarely goes the other way. Here is a list of 7 professional wrestlers who unsuccessfully tried to become musicians.
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Sure, most of you will have seen the majority of these Eye-Popping Illusions, but I always find them fun. Someone in the comments posted a link to one in particular which I hadn’t seen before, and I couldn’t get over it. Too cool!
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We’ve tested your knowledge of state quarters, license plates and state nicknames. And earlier this week, you wowed us with your mastery of flags of the world. Now let’s see how well you know your state flags.

Even if you don’t ace this one, you’ll be a better person for knowing some of these peculiar designs are flying over statehouses throughout the country.

Take the Quiz: State Flags

I hate the end of Daylight Saving Time. It means it’s dark by the time I get home at the end of the day, which makes it feel like the day is already over, which means I go home and get nothing done for the rest of the night. But there is a silver lining to this cloud: lots of loafing = lots more reading. For some reason I don’t feel as guilty about sitting on the couch with a book as I do when there’s daylight to burn. Luckily for me, Publishers Weekly just came out with their Top Books of 2009 list. Since I’m more apt to read fiction when I’m reading for fun, I’m going to list those – but if you want the whole list (including non-fiction, poetry and comics) you can check it out here. In no particular order, here are 10 of their favorite novels of 2009 thus far (their descriptions, not mine).

1. The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters. A finalist for the Man Booker Prize, this subtle, creepy haunted house story chronicles the decline of an aristocratic county family after WWII as seen through the less than reliable eyes of a bachelor doctor, whose mother once served as a maid at the family’s manor.

2. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer. Dyer creates an aging hipster grinding it out as a freelance journalist who pursues the girl instead of the story: covering the Biennale. Then, depending on your point of view, he either loses or finds himself when he’s sent to Varanasi. Dyer has many books to recommend him, but all you need is angst-ridden Jeff: funny, frank and utterly charming, and if you haven’t walked in his shoes, you’ll wish you had.

3. The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. Reporter Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, after he’s laid off from the L.A. Times, in a nail-biting thriller that charts the demise of print journalism and shows why Connelly is one of today’s top crime authors.

4. The Fate of Katherine Carr by Thomas H. Cook. Edgar-winner Cook eloquently explores the often cathartic act of storytelling as George Gates, a former travel writer who after seven years still broods over his eight-year-old son’s murder, looks into the unsolved disappearance of reclusive poet Katherine Carr 20 years earlier. (more…)

He’ll sell you a vowel or sympathize when you go bankrupt, but how well do you know Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak? Here are a few things you might not have known about the veteran game show man.

1. He Got to Say “Good Morning, Vietnam”

Sajak joined the U.S. Army in 1968 with the hope that he could avoid being sent to Vietnam. Of course, since it was 1968, that plan didn’t work out so well; Sajak ended up working as a finance clerk in Long Binh, Vietnam. Desperate to switch jobs, he kept applying for radio duty, but nothing happened.

Eventually, Sajak hit on an idea. He wrote a letter to one of his old radio employers who had been elected to Congress. A few calls to the right people later, and Sajak became an Army disc jockey, a job he held for 18 months. Sajak didn’t love a lot of the military’s radio rules, so he circumvented them. He later told the New York Times, “If you said your name, you were supposed to say your rank – specialist fifth class, which kind of ruins your patter. So on the radio I would just not say my name at all. I went for a year on radio without ever identifying myself.”

2. His Career Had a Rough Start

Sajak’s first steady radio gig was in Chicago on a tiny 250-watt Spanish language station. (more…)

Over 400 celebrities have guest starred on Sesame Street, including actors, musicians, writers, politicians and athletes. The upcoming 40th season will feature appearances by Adam Sandler, Matthew Fox, Ricky Gervais, Judah Friedlander, both Gyllenhaals, Paul Rudd and Michelle Obama. Here are a few memorable guest spots from the first 39 years.

1. James Earl Jones Scares Your Children

In Sesame Street’s second episode, James Earl Jones became the first celebrity guest (which was no surprise, since he was a student of Will Lee, Sesame’s Mr. Hooper). Although having a big star like Jones is no shocker, what’s strange is how he appeared. In a close-up of Jones’ shiny, bald head, he counted to 10 and recited the alphabet in an intense, booming voice. The appeal, of course, was that a big star was participating in some basic preschool education, but the result was something truly terrifying to the toddlers in the audience (or at least to me, right now).

That didn’t stop Sesame Street from bringing Jones back to host their 10th anniversary special, which featured less terror and more hair.

2. Ralph Nader: Consumer Advocate/Grammar Snob

Perhaps my favorite strange celebrity appearance is from a Sesame Street PBS pledge drive special from 1988 featuring Ralph Nader. (more…)

“Probably the most important trivia night that week.”
—Mangesh Hattikudur

If you’re the kind of person who likes doing things and you live within commuting distance of New York, get this on your calendar: the first Mental Floss Trivia Show will be held on Sunday, December 6th at 7pm. This (extra) special event will take place at the Galapagos Arts Space in Brooklyn.

Come show off your trivia prowess, win moderately-sized prizes, and meet some of the mental_floss gang.

We’ll share more details as the big day approaches. You just go ahead and clear your schedule.

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. A few years ago, we replaced our old radiators with baseboards. The guy we hired to do the work was a friend of a friend, and he was very nice and chatty. He told me all about his son—a wide receiver for Texas A&M. The details were impressive and crazy specific: “Last week he set the school record for receiving yards by a sophomore.” “He’s a bit undersized, but with the success of guys like Wes Welker”—then with the Dolphins and not very well known—”he might have a better chance of getting drafted in a couple years.” “He’s on the track team, too—Big 12 champion sprinter as a freshman!” He was such a proud dad.

Of course, he made the whole thing up. I Googled the man’s son—not because I didn’t believe him, but because I absolutely believed him, and I wanted to root for his kid, too. There was nobody by that name on the Texas A&M football team. Or at Texas A&M. Perplexed by the lie, I kept searching and found out the kid was an athlete. On his high school track team. Junior Varsity. Couldn’t find anyone else comparing him to Wes Welker, though.

People lie about stuff all the time. “I didn’t get your email!” “I’m not cheating on you with your brother!” “I did not eat your sandwich!” You can (probably) understand those. But what’s the most bizarre, completely unnecessary lie you’ve ever been told?

2. Did your college or high school have any non-traditional graduation requirements, either official or unofficial? (more…)

It seems that both politics and politicians rarely change. America is blessed, however, to have a heritage of colorful political figures who have uttered many memorable saying throughout our history. Your job is to match the quote to the person who said it.

Take the Quiz: Who Said It? (Political Edition)