Mental Meanderings

Libra Odd Spots - It's been a long time.

Well it's been a long time since I regaled you all with useless tidbits of semi-reliable information but I figured you're all long overdue for an intriguing update. So, without further ado I present another captivating Libra Odd Spots episode, brought to you by Rebecca Laffar-Smith:

# 295 - A lobster's kidneys are in its forehead and its teeth are in its stomach.
Ok, anyone else have trouble with this image? Straight mouth to gut going on here. I guess lobsters must get pretty hungry sometimes. Still, I picture the cute little crayfish with its google eyes and can't picture it's mouth on its stomach. Where do these 'facts' come from? Can anyone verify the anatomy of a lobster?

# 147 - The highest rating that can be given to a top quality diamond is D-Flawless.
Remember this one boys! When you're shopping for diamonds only the best will do. Take note: D-Flawless. Nothing but a D-Flawless diamond, the size of a baseball field will be enough for your woman.

# 346 - Buckingham Palace has 600 rooms.
And I'm suddenly glad I don't live in a palace. Imagine having to keep that monster dust and dirt free? Of course, it has its upsides. It must be easy to avoid the in-laws when they visit for Christmas.

# 4 - Elephants and short-tailed shrews get only two hours of sleep each day.
*sighs* If it's good enough for Elephants and Shrews I wish it were good enough for us. Imagine how much more we could accomplish with six extra hours a day/night. Some people call me a Shrew, maybe I'm sleeping too much. Of course, I'm more of a Shrew when I don't get enough sleep. *ponders* Maybe that's where the name comes from? Shrews act like little Shrews because they never get enough sleep.

# 305 - The initials M.G. on the famous cars stand for Morris Garage.
Ok, no idea what Morris Garage is. Obviously I dance to closely to the poverty line to be knowledgeable about such cars. Would be a nice Christmas present if someone rich is looking to know what's on my list.

# 86 - Xerophargy refers to a diet of bread and water.
ICK! Remind me never to try Xerophargy. Much as I like bread and water (it must make one lose weight fast) it can't be healthy to have such a limited diet and it's sure to be pretty boring.

# 235 - To simply walk you use 200 muscles.
Great exercise! I can also claim massive fatigue if I walk from the bed to the couch! Great fact on all accounts.

# 122 - A cheetah's stride is seven to eight meters in length. It completes four strides per second.
Wow, that's 100k/m's an hour! (assuming I did my maths right). Forget the car I'll drive a cheetah around town. Cheaper to fuel, just let it eat a frail pedestrian.

# 307 - In ancient times, vinegar was the strongest acid known.
And they put it to much better use than spicing onions.

# 83 - Perspiration is odorless. Bacteria on the skin creates the odor.
*ponders* Well I beg to differ. A hot, sweaty man smells pretty good right after a workout. I'll agree he needs to shower before the sweat goes stale but those pheromones could send women wild!

# 368 - Figs have the highest dietary fiber content of any common fruit, nut or vegetable.
So beware, they're more lethal than plums/prunes. Tasty alternative. Perhaps we should all take up fig juice drinking instead of cranberries.

# 290 - A ballet enthusiast is called a "balletomane".
*sighs* Why'd they give it such a weird name. I don't want to be a balletomane so I guess I'll have to stop being enthusiastic about ballet.

# 211 - A Boeing 747 plane holds about 213,846 liters of fuel.
Note to terrorists: They make a pretty big explosion if the gas tanks catch on fire.

# 114 - Flamingos live up to 80 years.
*chuckles* The libra strip has a picture of a decrepit looking flamingo with a walking cane and glasses. It's an image isn't it? I wonder if old pink flamingos go grey...

# 98 - A guinea pig can run three hours after being born.
Poor little guys. Three hours after they're born they can begin to be tortured with the hamster wheel of doom that never goes anywhere. What a miserable life.

# 37 - The Pac Man video arcade game featured colored ghosts named Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.
Hands up if you think Clyde must have been one of the designers? *raises hand* What a cool way to leave a legacy.

# 269 - The average loaf of bread is more than a third water.
Wet bread. It gets even wetter when you soak it in water. It also absorbed a mixture of egg and milk then fries up real nice for French Toast. mmm

# 314 - Artichokes are flower buds.
Does that mean they can't technically be considered a vegetable?

# 187 - 24 frames per second are projected in most animated films.
Another reason I always hated the idea of becoming a cartoonist. Think about it, a feature film is what? An hour and a half long? Again, if I did my maths right that means ONE FILM requires 7,776,000 drawings of minute movements. Did you see that number correctly? Almost 8 million drawings per movie!

# 265 - The largest eggs in the world are laid by sharks.
That's post-dinosaur of course because dinosaur eggs were HUGE! Still, can't be too fun being a female shark. I wonder if their eggs are bigger than human babies. Maybe these egg laying creatures have a good deal.

# 220 - Spider silk is a very strong material and its on-weight bases has proven to be stronger than steel.
I wonder why developers don't take this into consideration. We get silk made from the cocoons of silk worms, why don't we use spider silk to manufacture? I could provide for at least a dozen manufacturers with all the spiders that call my house, home.

# 14 - every living thing on Earth contains carbon.
Yes, earthlings are all carbon based life-forms. I wonder how many carbon based non-earthlings there are.

# 74 - It takes over 20,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of beef.
How does water translate into beef?

# 276 - On an average day, an adult spends 77 minutes eating.
I'm sure obese people spend way more time then that. I know it takes me 30 minutes to eat breakfast, about 30 for lunch and another 30 for dinner. Morning tea, afternoon tea and an evening snack are optional but add to that time. Thus, we prove that the 'fact' should say, "On an average day, an average adult spends 77 minutes eating." I don't mind being special.

# 172 - A person living to 75 years of age will have slept almost 23 years of their life - or about 220,000 hours.
My dream is to be a 75 year old who has slept 40 years of her life.

# 93 - A "buccula" is the name given to a person's double chin.
Ok then...

# 27 - Male monkeys go bald in the same way men do.
It's all that testosterone and sex. If you take estrogen shots boys you'll maintain your hair. Of course you'll also probably develop breasts and mood swings. Probably not a fair trade off.

So, there you go. More useless things you didn't need to know. Do you dispute any of these facts? Have something else to add to my rather lame commentary? Come on, lets lighten the day up with some humor!