Friday, December 26, 2008

Trivia and odd names of 2008


Two articles in the Daily Mail had me chuckling this evening.

The first looks at trivia questions put to a British company, Any Question Answered, during the past year. For your entertainment, here are a few examples.


Who got more fan mail than The Beatles? - Hitler received more during the Thirties and Forties than The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Madonna combined.

How many chickens do we eat in our lifetime? - In the UK we eat, on average, 1,200 chickens each during our lifetime. That's 1,800 kilos of chicken meat, the same as eating a four-year-old elephant.

Can you fit an egg into a milk bottle without breaking it? - Yes. Soak a raw egg in vinegar for two days (this softens the shell). Heat the bottle in boiling water. Place egg on top of bottle: as the bottle cools, the air inside it contracts and the egg will be sucked in.

How many iPods would I need to store the estimated number of original released songs in the world? - With 4billion original released songs, you'd need 4 million 4GB iPod nanos, or 100,000 16GB iPod classics to store them.

How many ants could you fit in a jumbo jet and it could still take off? - The average ant weighs 3mg. Taking account of aerodynamics, a jet containing 46.5 trillion of them would still be able to take off (assuming one of them knew how to fly the plane).

If an ant were the same size as a human, how fast would it be able to run? - It would travel twice as fast as a Lamborghini. An ant-sized human, however, would travel at a measly 0.5cm per second.

Why are Apple computers called 'Apple'? - The founders chose the name so that it would come before rivals Atari in the phone directory.

Where is the longest bench in the world? - There is one 460.9 metres (1,498 feet) long in Masuhogaura, Japan. It's made of wood, and offers sunset views for you and 1,349 others.


There are lots more at the link.

The second article looks at some of the weirder choices of those who legally changed their names in Britain during the past year. Some examples:


Aron Mufasa Columbo Fonzerelli Ball In A Cup Boogie Woogie Brown: Formerly Aron William James Brown, 25, a cinema projectionist from Derby. He chose Mufasa from the Lion King, Columbo after the TV detective and Fonzerelli from The Fonz character in Happy Days. He picked Ball In A Cup because he is obsessed with the game and Boogie Woogie as he 'felt I needed to inject a bit of humour into my name'.

N'Tom The Hayemaker Haywardyouliketocomebacktomine: Formerly Tom Hayward. The 19-year-old computer games design student from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, changed his name after a night out clubbing and forgot about it. He was shell-shocked to receive a letter confirming his new name. Since then he has grown used to it.

General Ninja Ant: Formerly Anthony Richard Giles Bailey, a 42-year-old environmental campaigner from Southend-on-Sea. Picked General because he didn't want to be plain old Mr any more and Ninja because he is a martial arts expert. Ant is an abbreviation of his first name.

Tintin Captain Haddock Confused Brewer: Formerly Chris Brewer, 25, a stockbroker from Leeds. Tintin is his nickname because of his receding hairline. Captain Haddock is another Tintin reference and also because he is a keen Grimsby Town fan and their mascot is a haddock. Confused is a private joke. He says: "I got in trouble with the police on a lads' night out recently and they wouldn't believe me when I told them my name."

Happy Adjustable Spanners: Formerly Daniel Westfallen, 27, from Hornchurch, Essex. Decided to change his name for a bet on a drunken night out. All of his friends put names into a hat and Happy Spanners came out. His boss then picked Adjustable as a middle name.


Hint to US readers: what we call a 'monkey wrench', the English call an 'adjustable spanner'. There are more weird and wonderful names at the link.

Peter

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