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Things You Can Buy At Christie's Pop Culture Auction

Tomorrow, Christie's will be selling used clothing, an old stapler and a cookie recipe. The renowned auction house hasn't turned into your neighborhood garage sale, though—unless your neighbor is selling Tony Sopranos' clothing, Jack Kerouac's stapler, and a NASA cookie recipe. Here's what else your money can buy at Christie's Pop Culture auction. Celebrity... READ ON

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Weird Wedding Laws Still on the Books

Yesterday, we took a long, hard look at the bizarre origins of wedding traditions. For today's follow-up, we traveled state to state in search of the most curious courtship regulations that are still on the books. As for the question of whether or not these laws of love should actually be enforced—well, we leave that up to you and your "better half" to decide. "¢ In South Carolina, if a man over 16 proposes marriage to an unwed woman without actually intending to marry her,... READ ON

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The Bizarre Origins of 8 Wedding Traditions

If the throngs of crazed customers clutching registry printouts at Crate & Barrel are any indication, wedding season is once again upon us. Before you head off to the next joyous union on your jam-packed calendar, let's take a moment to reflect on the rich history of marriage celebrations and revel in the realization that weddings are, at their core, incredibly... READ ON

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The Quick 10: 10 Foods Named After People

I must be hungry, because this seemed like a great idea for a Quick 10 today. Have you ever been eating or drinking something and wondered where the name came from? Some items are pretty well known "“ a Shirley Temple was named after the actress, obviously, and an Arnold Palmer was named after the golfer. But how about that T.V. dinner staple, the Salisbury steak? We'll fill you in. 10 Foods Named After People 1. The Oh Henry! candy bar has at least three stories behind the name. I'll let... READ ON

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6 "Ghosts" Caught on Film

I love ghost stories -- and judging from the way they dominate certain aspects of our popular culture, it seems safe to assume that a lot of other people do, too. That doesn't mean I expect to find ghosts lurking in dark corners or popping out of closets, but when "evidence" of ghosts crops up, be it in the form of photographs, videos, recordings or what-have-you, I'm a sucker; I have to check it out. YouTube has become a place where such video "evidence" of ghosts tends to aggregate, and the videos run... READ ON

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The mental_floss Summer Reading List

There is no shortage of summer reading lists, but none of those lists include the personal recommendations of Chris Higgins, Ethan Trex and your other _floss favorites. Here's what we think you should be reading this summer. We hope that you'll use the comments section to provide suggestions of your own. Adrift by Steven... READ ON

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The Weekend Links

"¢ The following fantastically cool art links are from Angie—first, pictures made by burying film in the ground and letting bacteria do its thing. Secondly, Astro Boy made out of train tickets, and finally, long exposure shots of crowds going in and out of buildings (above), creating a "city of shadows." "¢ I've been considering changing my hair, but I think this may be a little drastic. Besides, I'm a cat person. (Thanks, Kevin.) "¢ New Lego Fun Snacks look exactly like the... READ ON

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The Quick 10: 10 Interesting Runestones

To me, runestones sound like something you find in the World of Warcraft or Harry Potter or something. Indiana Jones, maybe. But that shows how little I know about history, because runestones are real artifacts- stones with runic inscriptions. Forgive me if you guys already know this, but I didn't, so here's the definition of "runic": "A set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes... READ ON

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5 Reasons Jamie Lynn's Kid might have a Chance

Yesterday, a tabloid addicted world oohed and aahed as Britney's kid sister, the 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Well, there was more oohing than aahing. And while some are using the opportunity to point out the scary statistics and difficulties that accompany teen motherhood (and/or being born into the Spears family), we're trying to look at the bright side. Here are five people, born to teenage moms, who did just fine. 1. Jackie Joyner-Kersee Regarded by many as the... READ ON

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7 Simple Rules For How to Take A Nap

Birds do it, bees do it (we think), even educated monkeys do it. So let's do it, people. Let's fall asleep. (The musical portion of this blog is over; thanks for indulging.) But seriously: we've talked about the whys of taking naps on the blog before -- they improve mood, creativity, memory function, heart health, and so much else -- but never, to my knowledge, have we discussed how to take a nap. In fact, whenever we write about naps, we always get a few comments from people claiming they're unable to... READ ON