From The Archive

14 Literary Settings Inspired by Real Places

At the end of a good book, do you ever close the back cover, sigh, and think, “I wish I could be there”? Good news: in some cases, you can. While you’re probably never going to make it to Narnia or Hogwarts (I know - I’m disappointed, too), here are a han

Deep Fried on a Stick: Innovations in Fair Food

The competition in selling food at fairs and carnivals is tremendous. Vendors seek publicity for the newest and most outrageous recipes to draw crowds. And since the fair is a once-a-year event for most people, they don't mind trying something new, even i

Dietribes: Magnificent Macarons

• Let's hash this out right off the bat: how do you spell macaroon/macaron? To me the most definitive argument references Ladurée, the French house who first popularized these delectable treats. On their English website they spelled it "macaroon" (and who

A Town of Storybook Houses and How They Came to Be

In 1924, a man named Hugh Comstock took a little trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California to see his sister and her husband. The town was becoming well known as a haven for artists and other creative types, so it’s not surprising that he met a doll maker nam

Mark Twain Invented a Board Game Called Memory-Builder

Mark Twain: writer, philosopher, riverboat pilot... board game designer? Indeed. During the summer of 1883—which also happens to be when he was working on Huckleberry Finn—Twain was trying to create an easy way for his daughters to remember the English m

7 Groundbreaking Specialty Acts

Imagine that you had one very specific talent -something unusual, that people would normally never encounter in their everyday lives. Could you make a living doing it? Maybe, if you were willing to put the necessary time, effort, and imagination into your

Hitler's Nephew, Stalin's Daughter and Other Famous Defectors

Here are four defectors whose stories you won't soon forget. 1. Hitler's

7 Hilarious Garfield Variants

The comic strip Garfield has endured since 1978, when Jim Davis invented the lovable triad of Garfield, Odie, and their owner Jon Arbuckle. As a seven-year-old kid, I was a big fan -- Garfield loved lasagna, and so did I. Odie (the dumb dog) was Garfiel

Why Does Muammar Qaddafi Own a Mansion in New Jersey?

Image credit: NorthJersey.com As General Muammar Qaddafi continues to evade the Libyan rebels who chased him out of Tripoli last week, there has been some tongue-in-cheek speculation about the possibility of him fleeing all the way to his five-acre estat

The Personal Items 6 Famous Dictators Left Behind

The recent Libyan uprising has resulted in many serious consequences for Muammar Qaddafi — including the revelation of the various tchotchkes found stashed away in his private compound. There’s a lesson to be had here – if you have some sort of keepsake(s

The Origins of Weird State Park Names (Part Four)

In part one of this series on the origin of state park names, we had park names with stories behind them. In part two, we found out why some names are scary or depressing. In part three, we looked behind names that were double entendres. In this edition,

Walt Disney's Secret Tragedy

Disneyland may be the happiest place on earth, but the man behind it wasn’t. Behind the popular movies, the theme park empire and the Mouse, Walt Disney carried a tragedy with him that he refused to speak about even with his family members. When Walt was

22 Fascinating and Bizarre Classes Offered This Semester

From the Sociology of Lady Gaga to the Joy of Garbage, here are some of the coolest and weirdest college courses being taught this fall. 1. Sociology of Fame and Lady Gaga University of South

Infinite Jest's Eschaton in Video Form

Attention, fellow David Foster Wallace nerds! Fellow DFW nerd band The Decemberists have released a new music video reenacting a game of Eschaton from DFW's novel Infinite Jest. For those not in the know, Eschaton is a fictional game of thermonuclear wa

The Origins of Weird State Park Names (Part Three)

When you see these names, you tend to say to yourself, "Does that mean what it sounds like?" In most cases, no.

Dietribes: Eggplant

• Few foods have gone through the kind of transformation the eggplant has. From being considered "the mad apple" on the presumption it caused insanity, to having a complete overhaul as the aphrodisiatic "apple of love" in sixteenth century Spain to being

6 Magicians Who Died While Performing The Bullet Catch

Is it possible for a human being to catch a speeding bullet in his mouth? For centuries, magicians have been convincing audiences that it is. Whether the bullet catch is an illusion or the result of lightning-fast reflexes, it definitely comes with a fata

10 Unusual Restaurants Found Around the World

When I was growing up in suburban New Jersey, the most unusual thing about any of the restaurants within a 10-mile radius of my neighborhood was that one of them had a free gumball machine in the entry vestibule. Actually, it wasn't technically free. It w

10 Mind-Blowing Art Quilts

The art of quilting grew out of the very practical activity of making warm bed covers, often out of recycled fabrics. Even hundreds of years ago, creative quilters took the opportunity to make something beautiful as well as useful. Clever patterns were pa

Massive Box Office Draws Whose Names You Don't Know

In Hollywood, big box office returns typically give an actor immense power. By that token, Frank Welker should have more sway than Will Smith, Nicholas Cage or Harrison Ford. After all, he’s outgrossed all of them - and everyone else in Tinseltown for tha

D23 Day Two: Disney Studios Steals the Show

So, remember when I told you yesterday that I had a trio of things on tap for today? Yeah, not so much. Because of the crazy lines - you pretty much need to be at an event a good two hours before it starts if you even want a shot at getting in - we only m

The Origins of Weird State Park Names (Part Two)

State Parks in the US have a delicious variety of names. Many are named after a famous citizen, or a prominent feature of the terrain. Other titles, mostly local place names, are puzzling. In this post, we'll look at some state parks with names that are s

The Hotel that Takes Money Laundering Seriously

Money is dirty. You’ve been hearing that since you were knee-high to a grasshopper and your mom had to stop you from putting coins in your mouth and up your nose. Turns out, mama didn’t know how right she was: the flu virus can actually survive on money f

Dr Varga József via Wiki Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0, Unknown via Wiki Commons

This Song's a Killer: The Strange Tale of "Gloomy Sunday"

In Vienna, a teenage girl drowned herself while clutching a piece of sheet music. In Budapest, a shopkeeper killed himself and left a note that quoted from the lyrics of the same song. In London, a woman overdosed while listening to a record of the song o

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