q10

List

10 Times Jesus Appeared in Junk Food

On December 12, 1531, the Virgin Mary, the story goes, appeared on the cloak of a peasant named Juan Diego. Today, the image that appeared on the cloak is popularly known as the Virgin of Guadalupe. That may have been one of the earliest stories of a vision of Jesus or Mary appearing in a rather unconventional place, but mother and son have been popping up all over the place ever since then - especially, it seems, on food that's not particularly good for you. It should be noted that the Cloak appearance... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: The Non-Football Careers of 10 Heisman Winners

Amid controversy on Saturday, Auburn's Cam Newton was the 74th person to win the Heisman Trophy. Whether he'll make it in the NFL remains to be seen - some of the most promising Heisman winners failed to get drafted, played a season or two before getting the axe, or eschewed a bone-crunching professional football career for something a little less, um, painful. Here are 10 career options for Cam Newton if a career in the NFL doesn't work out. 1. Pro basketball player. Charlie Ward was the '93 Heisman... READ ON

List

The Quick 8: Eight Cool Salvation Army Donations

It’s not just pennies and dimes that people dump into those iconic red Salvation Army kettles at the holidays – some people see it as a chance to unload unlucky wedding jewelry, cumbersome stacks of $100 bills and even gold teeth. These are just eight of the most unusual items discovered in the donation pots. 1. Rare gold coins. Gold coins seem to turn up every year, with the latest being the recent discovery of a 1922 gold Swiss franc coin in a Kansas City kettle. It should bring in somewhere... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: 10 Archaic Christmas Carol Words Explained

Many of us – me included – sing Christmas songs without giving a second thought to the lyrics. If you’re paying attention, though, there are some pretty ancient terms mixed in with all of the Fa-La-La-La-La-ing. Here’s the meaning of 10 of them – feel free to impress your friends and family with trivia as you gather ‘round the piano to sing this year (do people really do that?). 1. “Bells on bobtail,” from “Jingle Bells.” This is sometimes misheard as “Bells on Bob’s tail”... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: 10 Strange Christmas Songs

It won’t be long before you’re totally sick of jingling bells, angels on high and drummer boys. But how about Wookiees? There’s a bunch of Christmas songs out there that don't get ridiculously overplayed at the holidays - here are a few of the stranger ones. I’m sure you have your own favorite weirdo holiday tunes, so be sure to share (recommend?) them in the comments. 1. "What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)" May I suggest conditioner? Christmas in the... READ ON

List

The Quick 8: Eight Monetary Misprints

You may have heard that a batch of new $100 bills was recently misprinted (and if you haven’t, check out #1). It may be the latest monetary mishap, but it’s certainly not the only one - here are a pocketful of other misprints that may be lurking in your wallet, including a couple of stamps. 1. More than a billion of the new $100 bill are being recalled because the new security features tripped up the printing presses a bit, causing some of the bills to be creased and print incorrectly. 2. The... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: Facts About 10 Christmas Hits

I’ve finally decided it’s OK to listen to Christmas songs. Stores have been playing them since Halloween (I so don’t miss that about working retail), but I’ve banned them in my car until recently. I think that goes for Quick 10 posts too - it’s finally late enough in the season that I feel OK about sharing a few Christmas song facts. Pour yourself a cup of eggnog and enjoy! 1. “Santa Baby” was co-written by Joan Javits, the niece of Jacob Javits, a Republican Senator from New York. 2.... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: 10 Things Mark Twain Didn't Say (and 10 he did)

The man who has provided us with some of the best quips of all time is also one of the most misquoted men of all time. I guess that’s the problem with being as clever as Mark Twain – when someone hears a great witticism and has no one to attribute it to, they just assume it was Mr. Clemens. On what would have been his 175th birthday, here are 10 quotes Mark Twain likely never uttered, despite popular belief. 1. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” It has also been attributed to... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: Bullets? We Don’t Need No Stinking Bullets.

I went to the Nebraska/Colorado game this weekend and had an experience that others only dream of – I got to shoot the hot dog gun. As a society, we’ve apparently become obsessed with shooting things out of guns – from spices to condoms, here are 10 things available in speeding-bullet format (or pseudo speeding-bullet format, in some cases). 1. Hot Dogs. They’re becoming fairly common at ballparks across America, but Der Wiener Schlinger at Memorial Stadium is pretty famous. From... READ ON

List

The Quick 10: 10 Mascots That Don't Seem to Make Any Sense

I went to a university with a seemingly perplexing mascot. How do you get a small red bird from a large, destructive force of nature? It turns out there’s a perfectly good explanation – for Iowa State and for these nine other schools. 1. The College: Iowa State University The Team: The Cyclones The Mascot: a cardinal bird What Gives: It’s kind of difficult to depict a weather phenomenon (see #7 below) in loveable mascot form, so Iowa State decided to use their cardinal and gold colors to... READ ON