Quote
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.”
Robert Frost
Joke
Did you hear about the Italian chef who died? He pasta way!
Fun Fact
Fact: Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds
The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. By the time the fungi been in the insect bodies for nine days, they have complete control over the host’s movements. They force the ants to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and kill it. Don’t miss these 12 animal “facts” that are actually false.
Reading Fact
In the Harvard Library, there are three books suspected to be bound in human skin.
One of Harvard Library’s books, Des destinées de l’ame, is 99.9% certain to have been bound in human skin. It has been sitting in Harvard’s Houghton Library since the 1930s.
The practice of binding books in human skin was not at all uncommon in the 15th century, and was done to commemorate the dead, among other reasons.
History Fact
Sweet Dreams
After a long day working on the Great Pyramids, Ancient Egyptians liked to get into bed, unwind, and lay their heads on a nice comfy rock. That’s right, they used rock slabs for their pillows.
Movie/TV Trivia
The main characters initials in The Prestige spell ABRA (as in Abracadabra). The main character’s first initials in Inception spell DREAMS.
Movie/TV Quote
"Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else."
X-Men (2000)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator and Avengers director Joss Whedon worked on a draft of the first X-Men script that was almost entirely scrapped, but in interviews over the years, the writer has taken credit for two distinct comedic lines that made it into the movie. First, there's the Wolverine "You're a dick" quip to Cyclops, which is a perfectly fine piece of comic-book banter. The other one, which Halle Berry's Storm delivers right as she electrocutes the villain Toad in front of the Statue of Liberty, is more controversial. In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Whedon called it "terrible" and criticized Berry's delivery, saying, "she did it like she was King Lear." (He also told the A.V. Club in 2001 that she "said it like she was Desdemona," proving the guy really does love his Shakespeare references.) I'd argue that Berry's performance -- in a series that rarely gave her much to do -- is actually what makes it so memorable. She goes for it! Despite the box office and critical success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you won't find many quotes from those movies on this list because the sitcom-like sheen to the dialogue and the slightly irreverent house style renders much of it completely disposable. Unafraid to play with cheesiness, Berry elevated a corny gag to camp poetry.
Conversation Starter
How do you feel if you accidentally leave your phone at home?
Writing Prompt