Patti Smith Really, Really Loves ‘The Killing’
The acclaimed drama is back, and nobody is more excited than the punk legend.
Daily Dispatch
Ask Uncle John Anything: Cats Off!
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he heads his massive research library, or puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead: In the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!)
Will fire departments still come out to rescue a cat stuck in a tree?
The Real Iron Man: How the Army Is Building Robotic Exoskeletons
The U.S. military has contracted companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics to build a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (or TALOS), a militarized robotic exoskeleton, not unlike Tony Stark’s Iron Man Suit. The Department of Defense is hoping for something that will “provide bullet protection, monitor vital, and give its wearer superhuman strength and perception.”
Fake-or-Fact Friday: You’ve Been Stonestreeted
Here are three news items involving Emmy-winning comic actor Eric Stonestreet. Two of them really happened…and one of them only happened in our minds. Can you guess which one is a fabrication? Answer at the end of the post.
The Fart Machine That Farted on France
Over the weekend of July 27, 2014, the latest in a long string of calamities struck France. An eccentric British inventor named Colin Furze traveled to the White Cliffs of Dover, and got his latest gadget all set up. And then he unleashed it across the Strait of Dover, aiming it at the coast of France, a mere 21 miles away. His weapon: a gigantic flatulence gun.
We Are (Also) the World
It was about 30 years ago that “We Are the World” took the country by storm to raise awareness of—and funds to help combat—African famine. It was among many all-star charity singles at the time. Here are a couple others that time forgot.
The World’s Weirdest Candles
Because why would you want your house to smell like lilacs or fresh basked cookies?
I Want My Slow TV: The Strange World of Norwegian Television
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) might be responsible for the weirdest TV shows in the world. What’s even weirder: people are watching. Lots of people. Here are some shows that have aired on Norwegian television.
The 7 Cities With the Longest Sports Championship Droughts
When you think “decades without a championship,” you probably think of the Chicago Cubs, who haven’t won a World Series in more than 100 years. That got us thinking: what city has gone the longest without a championship in all of the Big 4 sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL) put together? (Note: We only considered cities with teams in at least two leagues.)
The Giant Duck Has Gone Belly Up
Unfortunate news from the world of gigantic rubber duckies.
Occasionally over the past year, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has been your “number one news source” (see what we did there?) for updates on the five-story-high rubber duck that’s been traveling the world’s waterways and showing up in the harbors of major cities unexpectedly.
Cloning Around: A Comeback of Mammoth-Sized Proportions
As the last major Ice Age ended, the mighty herds of woolly mammoths that roamed the plains of eastern Asia began to dwindle. But they could be making a comeback.
The World’s 3 Newest and Weirdest Amusement Parks
We’re going to Diggerland! Here are three of the newest and most unusual amusement parks in the world.
Fact-or-Fake Friday: Cell Phone Struggles
Here are three weird news items involving lost or misplaced cell phones. Well, kind of—two of them are honest-to-goodness true, and the third one we made up. Can you guess which one is the impostor? (The answer is at the end of the post.)
Fart Your Way to a Healthier You
The next time someone near you cuts the cheese, remember: They might be doing you a favor.
Cloning Around: A Dentist’s Quest to Make a New John Lennon
This story was not “imagined” by a “paperback writer.” It’s the honest tooth. It is about a dentist’s quest to clone John Lennon.
Bill Cosby’s Fabulous Flops
NBC recently announced that Bill Cosby will return to TV in 2015 with a new sitcom. Will it be closer to a classic like The Cosby Show, or will it be largely forgotten…like these Bill Cosby flops?
How the Little League Gender Barrier Was Broken
In 1950, 11-year-old Tommy Johnston tried out for Little League in Corning, New York. His sister, Kathryn, wanted to try out, too—but girls were barred from Little League at the time. Undeterred, Kathryn had her mother cut off her long braids, wore some of her brother’s clothes, and told coaches her name was Tubby (taking the name from a character in Little Lulu comics).
“Weird” Numerology: “Weird Al” Yankovic and the Number 27
It started off as a coincidence—perhaps it just has a good rhythm—but the number 27 makes many, many appearances in the works and life of so-hot-right-now parody rock star “Weird Al” Yankovic.
