Quote
“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”
Joke
Can February March? No, but April May!
Fun Fact
Fact: Scotland has 421 words for “snow”
Yes—421! That’s too many fun facts about snow. Some examples: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl); flinkdrinkin (a light snow). Don’t miss these other 11 random interesting facts about snow.
Reading Fact
Warsaw is the city with the biggest number of libraries per capita – with a whopping 11.5 libraries per 100,000 citizens.
Poland’s capital Warsaw is the ultimate heaven for book lovers. Seoul and Brussels follow close behind, with 11 and 10 libraries per 100,000 inhabitants on average, accordingly. The city that loaned the most books on average was Tokyo, with 111.9 million book loans in just one year.
History Fact
I Come in Peace
Much like Hitler, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is not much known for his kindness and mercy; this is after all, a man who ordered the Purges on his own people, resulting in around 20 million deaths. But guess what? Dude was nominated for a Nobel Peace Price in 1945. And then again in 1948. That’s right, I don’t have a single Peace Price nomination, and Joseph freaking Stalin has two. I’m just saying, I didn’t kill millions of people.
Movie/TV Trivia
Those who own the DVD of Dodgeball will be aware that the happy-go-lucky finale full of lesbians and treasure may well have ended on more of a bleak note, simply cutting as Ben Stiller’s White Goodman connects a ball right in Vince Vaughn’s oversized face.
Movie/TV Quote
"I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy."
The Departed (2006)
The Departed, Martin Scorsese's Boston crime saga adapted from the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, is a movie obsessed with the corrosive myth of professionalism. Cops and gangsters, the two feuding sides in the film's heightened moral universe, each like to think of themselves as fundamentally men of honor, guys who have tough jobs but go about them with dignity. They've all got a code, right? It's unsurprising that Sgt. Sean Dignam, the foul-mouthed authority figure played by a fired-up Mark Wahlberg, believes that saying he "does his job" is the most brutal insult imaginable. Like the macho put-down's found in a David Mamet play or an episode of Billions, it's an attempt at total emasculation built around the idea that you are what you do and you must do it well. Results matter. Efficiency is the goal. Put numbers on the board. There's a reason Dignam is the lone survivor in the movie's twist-filled climax: He's the guy who does his job, the cop who keeps his head down long enough to make his move, and those dead bodies are the other guys.
Conversation Starter
Which sport is the most exciting to watch? Which is the most boring to watch?
Writing Prompt