Here’s a BRI salute to all our veterans out there, those gone and those still with us. Thank you, from all of us.
And here’s an appropriate excerpt from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Salutes the Armed Forces, called, “Old Soldiers.” (Click on images to enlarge; click a second time to sharpen image.)
There’s a story on NPR today about the actor Eli Wallach, whom you probably know from several films, primarily Westerns, including Sergio Leone’s 1966 classic, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, with Clint Eastwood. Here’s an image of him from that film:
Mr. Wallach is receiving an honorary Oscar this Saturday, the story says, and congratulations to him. But now to the point of this post: In doing a little research on Wallach this morning, I found a photo of him on Wikimedia Commons, from the 1956 film Baby Doll.
Does he look like Gary Oldman in this photo, or what?
A story to prove that it truly is a small, small world – spacewise and timewise:
• In 2007 we released Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into National Parks.
• On page 107, in an article about Ellis Island, now known as Ellis Island National Monument, we mentioned that the very first person to pass through the then brand new federal immigration station, on January 1, 1892, was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland named Annie Moore.
• Yesterday we received an email from BRI fan Nicole H, who said:
You’re probably aware that our brand new bathroom-reading masterpiece—Uncle John’s HEAVY DUTY Bathroom Reader—is now available, and at a really low special holiday price. In this volume you will find hundreds of easy to digest articles on the art of safe-cracking, the Arab world’s Homer Simpson, the Japanese spy who made the Pearl Harbor attack possible, 185 uses for a pig, seven deadly SpongeBobs, and even instructions on how to hypnotize a chicken. And so much more.
But now, in a special BRI event that will shake the world, here is “Step 4,” abbreviated, from the HEAVY DUTY article that will leave you mesmerized and possibly a little moist, “How To Tickle a Trout”:
For reasons only the mind-faeries know I just thought of the old drive-in theater that I grew up a short walk through a yard and a field from in Western New York. And lo and behold—I found it on the internet. In several places. There’s even an aeriel photo of the site (at the first link) from 1978. And my house is even in there—who knows, I may have even been standing in the yard at the time! (Click pix to enlarge.)
Hey, BRI fans, here’s a special shout out from Uncle John and Mrs. Uncle John to those of you who haven’t gotten around to voting yet today: Go on, vote—you’ll like it! It makes your breath smell better, aids digestion, takes the aches and pains out of your feet and legs, and makes people think you’re a bit more handsome and pretty than usual. It really, really does.
File this story under “amazing”:
When the ball hits the bat, the radio announcer exclaims that it’s sailing far. Dean Du Plessis’ acute sense of hearing and his eavesdropping on other commentators helps him overcome the fact that he is blind, producing a delivery so polished that most listeners are unaware that he can’t see.
Mr Du Plessis hears the power and direction of the hit. He listens to the speed and spin of the ball, along with the players’ exertions and their cries of elation or frustration. He senses the excitement – or otherwise – of the play on the cricket field and collates the scores with a computer-like memory.
No matter which side of the roll you pull from, BRI fans, I think every one of us can agree that THIS sign from the Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear is the perfect sign for all of us:
The technology you thought would never come is finally here. Yes, it’s the tubeless roll of TP:
On Monday, Kimberly-Clark, one of the world’s biggest makers of household paper products, will begin testing Scott Naturals Tube-Free toilet paper at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores throughout the Northeast. If sales take off, it may introduce the line nationally and globally — and even consider adapting the technology into its paper towel brands.
No, the holes in the rolls aren’t perfectly round. But they do fit over TP spindles and come with this promise: Even the last piece of toilet paper will be usable — without glue stuck on it.
Why, you might ask, are they doing this?
The 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the USA account for 160 million pounds of trash, according to Kimberly-Clark estimates, and could stretch more than a million miles placed end-to-end.
Not bad, eh?
Hey Northeast BRI fans:
It is time for another giveaway and since Halloween is around the corner, we want to hear about your costume choices. Tell us on the Blog/Facebook/Twitter what you are dressing up as this weekend and be entered in a random drawing to win a copy of the brand new Uncle John’s Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader. If you are not dressing up, tell us your kid’s or pet’s costume.
You have till Sunday, midnight PST. We will announce the winner on Monday.
You have till Sunday, midnight PST. We will announce the winner on Monday.
In our little forested enclave here in Southern Oregon it’s been a day and more of vicious gusts of October winds. The skies are filled with rivers of colorful leaves. Beautiful. Made us think of a song by Yusuf—Cat Stevens—Islam. This video is from 2007, from a Paris concert, and he sounds just like he did back in the day:
And we here at the Bathroom Readers Institute know that you, dear readers, could not live without mind-blowing bits of information like this fed to you on a nearly constant basis. You would literally shrivel into dessicated, knowledgeless scraps of uninteresting and possibly foul-smelling human detrius…
When you’re done—you can use it to wipe! (Ew. Sorry.)
BRI fan Geoff Moulton sends us this story from the “Dumb Crook With Really Bad Luck” file:
The woman who owned the flat had left for the south of France before the Second World War and never returned.
But when she died recently aged 91, experts were tasked with drawing up an inventory of her possessions […]
Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris’ 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900.
A couple weeks ago we did a post titled “Community Colleges Rule!”
Today, President Obama held a White House Summit on Community Colleges:
How many of these bad listening habits do YOU have? (We asked Uncle John and, in between moments of plucking his nose hairs, he said, “I knew you were going to say that, and I knew the worst listener of all time when I lived in New York. I had a house in New York once, it was really something. Had doors and windows and everything.” Then he walked into the bathroom and locked the door.)
Please list your own bad listening habits in the comments.
Most people know that one of the keys to success in relationships is good listening.
Experts tell us to use “active” listening, “I messages,” and open-ended questions. Articles urge us to stop talking when someone speaks, to use our body language effectively to encourage the other guy, and to work to understand what is meant as well as what is said. We’ve been told that men are from Mars and women are from Venus and we’ve been taught how to translate the gender languages. Yet despite all that, developing good listening skills continues to be a challenge for some people.
1. Lousy listeners are attending to other things when you are speaking. Proud of their ability to multitask, they continue to scan the newspaper, pick up the living room, text, or clean their desk while being addressed. An occasional ‘uh-huh’ is supposed to cue you that, really, they are with you. They’re not — or at least not totally. Their mind is distracted. Chances are they miss important pieces of your message — even if they protest that they don’t.
The Americans made a heck of a comeback today, and it came down to the final holes of the finals singles match—but the European team held on for the win – 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. Congrats, Europe, and well played, Americans. What a tournament.
If you’re wondering who Ryder is and why everyone seems to want his cup—we did the history in Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Tee’s Off on Golf (page 223).
Here’s an excerpt:
Brits and Yanks
The Ryder Cup is the biennial competition between the best professional American and European golfers. They play for no prize money, but simply for the chance to win the cup, which they then get to keep for two years. Its popularity has gone up and down through the decades, but reached a new high in the 1990s, thanks to some excellent play—and a growing rivalry between the two teams.
