When a TV screen is filmed, why does it look like it has lines bouncing up and down and all around it? It’s a common scene in home movies, or movies made in the ‘70s or ‘80s: a turned-on TV (or computer monitor) sits in the background, flickering weirdly.
Since the closing of huge video rental superstores over the last couple of years, there are thousands of empty buildings all across the country. Here’s how those Blockbuster Videos, Hollywood Videos, and more are being converted.
Two of these news items really happened. One of them only happened…in our minds. Can you tell which is the fake? The answer is below.
Not only is airplane food notoriously not very good, as well as expensive, and poorly portioned, eating it puts you at an increase risk of contracting a food-borne illness. LSG Sky Chefs is the largest provider of airplane food, preparing 405 million meals annually for 300 separate airlines
One of comics’ most famous characters is going to die. Archie Andrews, star of his own comic books for more than 60 years, will reportedly die a heroic death in an upcoming issue of Life With Archie…and he never even got to pick between Betty or Veronica.
Back in the early 2000s, a French man named Dynn Eadel toured parts of Egypt’s immense Sinai Peninsula. He fell in love with the desert’s rugged beauty but felt it was missing something: an outdoor movie theater.
It was 20 years ago this week that frontman Kurt Cobain took his own life. Here are some Nirvana facts you might not have known about the one of the most influential bands of their generation.
It’s champing at the bit, not chomping at the bit. This phrase (or idiom) comes from the sport of kings: horse racing. A bit is part of the apparatus that goes in the horse’s mouth and connects to the bridle and reins so the horse can be controlled and directed by the jockey on its back. The bit fits into a toothless ridge of the horse’s mouth, so the horse never really bites the bit.
When NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon in 1969, it was the biggest news story of the year – if not the biggest ever – and the public wanted to know as much as possible about Apollo 11, the moon, and the men who went there. A fun part of that were the nitty-gritty financials: How much did it really cost to go to the moon, and where did the money go?
In 2011, a Utah woman named Jennifer Swalberg went in for two fairly routine plastic surgery procedures at the clinic of Dr. Joseph Berg: liposuction and an abdominalplasty (also known as a “tummy tuck”). Most of the details of what allegedly happened next were reported in a lawsuit filing, so, to say the least, things didn’t go well.
Two of these news items really happened. One of them only happened…in our minds. Can you tell which is the fake?
Since its inception in 1987, the Blue Man Group performance art/music collective has entertained millions with its shows in New York, Las Vegas, cruise ships, and touring throughout the U.S. and Europe. Dozens have (mostly anonymously) put on head-to-toe blue makeup to perform with the group, but how did they get there?
Breaking into One World Trade Center is a bad idea. Sneaking all the way up to the roof is an even worse idea. Nevertheless, several daredevils recently engaged in both of these activities (and managed to evade the skyscraper’s round-the-clock security team in the process).
Some quick facts about the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Some people love April Fool’s Day, others hate. Who definitely loves it? Big companies and their ad geniuses. Here’s what they came up with this year.
We recently ran a piece about several kinds of shows you just don’t see on TV anymore. The recent release of the Veronica Mars movie—eight years after the TV show was cancelled—reminded us of one we forgot: made-for-TV movies that served as reunions for beloved old TV shows.
We’ve got a brand new book out this week: Uncle John’s Germophobia. It’s all about hospital horrors, bad doctors, botched surgeries, nightmare nurses, weird diseases, and all the things that can and will go wrong when it comes to your health. Here’s a taste of the kind of thing you’ll find inside.
Last week, Amazon issued millions of dollars in credits to customers who bought e-books between 2010 and 2012. It’s the payout of a class action lawsuit that alleged some publishers overcharged for e-books during that time. What should you get with all that free book money? We have some suggestions.
