Daily Dispatch

impossible to answer questions

Guess the Answers to These Impossible Questions (Answers)

Impossible QuestionsGot your answers all figured out? Let’s see how you did.

1. What distinction is shared by Suzette Charles, Alberto Contador, and President Gerald Ford?

All attained a noteworthy title when the previous titleholder resigned or had the honor taken away due to scandal. Suzette Charles was named Miss America 1984, when the crowned winner, Vanessa Williams, resigned due to a nude photo scandal. (Charles reigned for only seven weeks.) Alberto Contador was declared the winner of the 2006 Tour De France…in 2007, after “winner” Floyd Landis was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Ford was appointed Vice President when previous office holder Spiro Agnew resigned, and when President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal, Ford stepped into that position.

Life Imitates Art: ‘Breaking Bad’ Edition

Breaking Bad ended its critically-acclaimed run in September, but it keeps making the news…in some very unlikely ways.

Walter_White2In September, Breaking Bad costar Aaron Paul (he portrayed Jesse Pinkman) held an online raffle to raise money for his wife’s anti-bullying charity The Kind Campaign. The prize: the chance to watch the highly anticipated series finale of Breaking Bad with Paul and cast member Bryan Cranston (Walter White) at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The lucky winner: 28-year-old Breaking Bad superfan Ryan Carroll of Fort Myers, Florida, who was informed personally by Paul. Carroll and his friend flew to Los Angeles, and were picked up at the airport by Paul in an RV just like the one used by drug kingpin Walter White on the show. End of the story? Nope. Carroll was apparently a bigger Breaking Bad enthusiast than anyone imagined. On New Year’s Eve, Fort Myers police raided three homes they believed were linked to a massive synthetic marijuana distribution ring. One of those homes belonged to Carroll—he was in possession of over $1 million worth of drugs, and is believed to be the operation’s “kingpin.”

Happy Birthday, Elvis (From Some Other People Named Elvis)

other people named elvisElvis Presley is probably the most iconic rock star of all time and certainly the most famous person ever named Elvis. On what would have been his 79th birthday, here are some other notable “Elvi.”

The Funny Elvis

Ylvis are a Norwegian comedy duo. Pronounced “ill-vis,” it’s an abbreviation of the duo’s last name, brothers Bard Yylvisaker and Vegard Ylvisaker. Ylvis hosts I kveld meld Ylvis, or Tonight with Ylvis, a popular sketch comedy show in Norway. Their best-known work is a silly music video called “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say)” which spread around the world via YouTube and has racked up more than 320 million views. The song, about how nobody seemingly knows what kind of animal sound a fox makes, hit #1 in Norway and #6 in the U.S.—the highest-charting novelty song in more than 20 years.

Happy 160th Birthday, Sherlock Holmes

Okay, we know he’s not real. But according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, Sherlock Holmes was born on January 6, 1854. Celebrate the day (and look forward to season 3 of Sherlock) with these not-so-elementary Sherlock Holmes facts.

• Have you ever come across anyone, real or fictional, named Sherlock? It’s an obscure, Old English name that means “bright hair.”

• A common theme in all Sherlock Holmes books, movies, and other media is the great detective’s use of “deduction” to solve mysteries. Except that he doesn’t really use deduction. Sherlock uses a technique called abductive reasoning. Deduction eliminates possibilities until only one, hopefully correct theory, remains. Abductive reasoning, however, involves careful observation and consideration of evidence and any outside data to create an educated guess.

5 Headscratching Golden Globe Nominations

Since the 1960s, the Golden Globes have honored the finest in television…usually.

Once seen as a second-rate version of the Oscars, combined with a second-rate version of the Emmys, the stature of the Golden Globes has risen in recent years, with highly rated TV telecasts hosted by Ricky Gervais, and Tina Fey with Amy Poehler. It’s still a strange awards ceremony – attendees can drink alcohol throughout the ceremony, and the awards themselves are voted by entertainment journalists from outside of the United States. Result: some headscratching nominations (and even wins).

• In 1978, the long-running TV news magazine 60 Minutes actually won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series, beating out scripted dramas like Lou Grant and the miniseries Holocaust. 60 Minutes producer Don Hewitt had actually refused the nomination, but the show remained on the ballot anyway.

There’s A Small Chance This Article May Kill You

But it’s a very small chance. Behold the morbid mathematical weirdness of micromorts.

In the middle of the 20th century, “risk assessment” became a field of interest for statisticians and actuaries alike. The idea was to create a mathematical model to determine exactly how risky an activity might be—riding a motorcycle or living in a house with a radon gas leak, for example.

But here’s the thing—everything carries with it some kind of risk. You could die by choking on a banana, or from spontaneous combustion. Both are extremely rare possibilities, but they’re possibilities nevertheless.

It’s Time for ‘Time’ Person of the Year!

Once again, Uncle John came in at #2.

• Entertainment Weekly publishes a list of the year’s top movie’s each December. Rolling Stone prints a list of the year’s best albums. The year-end superlatives started in 1927, with Time’s “Man of the Year.” It came about as an idea to fill space during a slow news week (as December often is), and also as a way for Time editors to make good on a mistake from earlier in the year. When Charles Lindbergh made his solo transatlantic flight…Time failed to put him on the cover. To make up for it, editors made Lindbergh Time’s “Man of the Year,” recognizing him as the year’s most dynamic newsmaker.

Boxing Day 101

In the United States, the day after Christmas is simply the day after Christmas. In the UK, however, it is Boxing Day: a holiday in its own right.

Tip Till You Flip Boxing Day is December 26. Traditionally this is when all the haves distributed gifts and money to the have-nots—the poor or people who provided services throughout the year.

Street sweepers, waiters, lamplighters, milkmen, newsboys— you name it. Think of it as a Victorian orgy of tipping— though it actually goes back much further than Victoria’s reign. A 16th-century abbess, for instance, wrote about giving money to her kitchen clerk, servants, the gardener, and the “Baily of the Husbandry,” whatever that was.

Impossible Questions: The Name Game

Impossible QuestionsThink you know everything there is to know? See if you can answer these brain-benders…and come back tomorrow to see if you’re right.

 

1. For what works are the 19th century authors A.M. Barnard, Currer Bell, and Ellis Bell best known?

 

2. Why are writers Nathan E. Douglas, Ian McLellan Hunter, and Robert Rich most famous?

 

3. What do Roderick Jaynes, Donald Kaufman, and P.H. Vazak have in common?

 

Want more impossible questions? Check out Uncle John’s Impossible Questions.

Netflix Mailers

How Netflix Works

The long, strange journey of a Netflix DVD.

How Netflix WorksWhen you place a disc into the Netflix-provided return envelope, it’s addressed to a simple post office box number. So does Netflix have a gigantic P.O. box at every post office in North America? Nope—that box number written on the envelope doesn’t really exist.

Fact or Fake Friday

FactOrFake Logo 1It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for your weekly fake-out. Here’s how it works: Two of the three following stories are true. And one of them we made up. Can you guess which one is the fake? Pick your answer at the end of the article and see if you’re right.

Famous TV Sign-Offs

To mark the release of Anchorman 2, here is a look back at famous anchormen and their signature “sign-off.” You stay classy, BRI Fans.

hi-anchorman-ap-Sign Offs“Good night, and good luck.” Possibly the most famous sign-off in TV history, this phrase was coined by 1950s CBS News personality Edward R. Murrow (Person to Person, See It Now). He had gotten his start on CBS Radio during World War II, broadcasting from the rooftops of London buildings during the German blitz. With the line, Murrow was earnestly reaching out to the audience in an attempt to provide comfort. He kept the line after the war.

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