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Mental Floss
Much ado is being made about the fact that the movie musical version of Les Miserables, out December 25, did not use pre-recorded vocals. Instead, the actors sang live to a piano track played through earpieces; the full orchestra was added in post-product
Erin McCarthy|
Here are some eye-popping holiday beverages you can whip up.
Miss Cellania|
Tis the season to be getting the cold and flu. But is it possible for the bacteria and viruses that infect us so easily to get sick themselves?In 1917, a microbiologist working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris discovered what he described as an invisible
Matt Soniak|
Only in the movies...
Kara Kovalchik|
Yes. And our pets sometimes need transfusions, too, so it’s always handy to know what type of blood Spot or Fluffy has (if he or she has had any blood work done, the vet will have this
Kara Kovalchik|
Installment #50: In mid-December 1912, as Europe seemed to teeter on the edge of war, diplomats representing the Great Powers, the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire hurried to an international conference in London organized by British foreign secretary
Erik Sass|
In a place where no one shows his face and no one plays by the rules, how do you tell where the game ends and reality begins?
the mag|
Whether you end a letter or e-mail with it—or you recognize it from the end of each Gossip Girl episode—“Xoxo” is commonly known to refer to the phrase “Kisses and hugs.” But how did these two inconspicuous letters come to represent that well-known
Sean Hutchinson|
On June 12, 1987, President Reagan stood by the Berlin Wall and implored: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" It is one of Reagan's most famous speeches and most memorable lines—but it almost never made it past Reagan's lips.
Matt Soniak|
Throughout the centuries, the patronage system has allowed for the redistribution of wealth from the business class to the creative class—the members of which were often assumed to be starving and in need of such redistribution. The basic conceit is that
Jo Piazza|
1. Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) / Ed Wood (1994) By any standard, Edward Wood, Jr. was not a particularly good filmmaker. His films had highly noticeable continuity errors, backgrounds that wouldn't stay still, and flying saucers that were clearly mad
Orrin Konheim|
For everyone who’s ever been unhappy with the way they look in a picture or on video, there’s almost always someone there to try and comfort them by pointing out that the camera “adds ten pounds” to its subjects.Sometimes this just excuses actual flabbine
Matt Soniak|
In the 1980s, U.S. and Canadian media were up in arms over Dungeons & Dragons and the problem of teen suicide.
Chris Higgins|
You know Tim Curry as the deliciously devious Doctor Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. You might recall him as Wadsworth, the freakishly fast-talking butler in Clue. And you no doubt remember him from Stephen King's miniseries It as the r
Stacy Conradt|
1. Daniel Auber, La Muette de Portici Auber’s five-act opera (the title translates as The Mute Girl of Portici), regarded as the earliest French grand opera, was a revolutionary work in the most literal sense. It debuted in Paris in 1828, but it was its
Bill DeMain|
Remember that kid in elementary school who would eat anything for a quarter? It turns out he wasn’t just trying to make up for a lack of personality to make friends or get attention. He was preparing himself for a career in show business. Thanks to the ri
Danny Gallagher|
When characters are gay or lesbian - or have had some significant same-sex experiences - screenwriters sometimes sidestep those facets of their stories entirely when it comes to the big screen.
Brian Abrams|
Fancy yourself a logophile ... and didn't have to look up "logophile"? See if you know these 12 words for common things.
Amanda Green|
American cartooning began well before 1937, the year Walt Disney’s full-length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted to astonished audiences. In fact, American animation started as an offshoot of vaudeville, and moved into the theater t
Dave Gonzales|
From cloaks banned by Augustus Caesar to dog-toting hand muffs, here are some of the more interesting moments in the history of winter wear.
Melissa Berlant|
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