Post: #51

I had a basic understanding of how voodoo and shaman religion/magic is practiced in various ways throughout Africa.

But this article gives a great overview of Ghana, and how priests actually call each other out, to meet and prove who has better magic/spiritual power

These rivalries and accusations even go back and forth between the Pentecostal church and traditional priests, they often claim some "unique" abilities

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/nyregi...bronx.html

Post: #52

That voodoo shit is so dumb. Reminds me of the vanishing penis epidemic:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1274235.stm

Post: #53

Put this in the wrong thread earlier. Should be in this one...

Best anagram ever...

Quote:To be or not to be: that is the question; whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

is an anagram of:

Quote:In one of the Bard's best-thought-of tragedies our insistent hero, Hamlet, queries on two fronts about how life turns rotten.

Post: #54

The origins of the word FUCK

The word originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King," "Fornication Under Command of the King,"

In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*. (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it.

The nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosy"is a rhyme about the plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores ("Ring around the rosy..."), these sores would smell very bad, so common folks would put flowers on their bodies somewhere(inconspicuously) so that they would cover the smell of the sores ("...a pocket full of posies..."). People who died from the plague would be burned so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease ("...ashes, ashes, we all fall down!").

A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it starves to death.

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Uses every letter in the alphabet.

Internationally, Baywatch is the most popular TV show in history

Coca-Cola was originally green.

Post: #55

(07-26-2013 08:09 AM)bacon Wrote:  The origins of the word FUCK

The word originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King," "Fornication Under Command of the King,"

In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*. (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it.

This is thought to be an urban legend.

Suprisingly detailed wikipedia article for more info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck

Post: #56

I heard that fuck was the Saxon word for having sex and it became a bad word because the other English looked down on the Saxons. No idea if that's true.

Post: #57

Basically French words such as Fornicate, defecate where seen as proper whilst the old Germanic words such as fuck and shit where seen as Vulgar.

Post: #58

This may be an urban myth - but I heard it somewhere.

Anyway - a thousand years ago - England was regularly invaded by the Danes. And soon after - we started to pay them off with gold to stop them from raping and killing us little Englanders.

This bribe was known as Dane Geld.

And over time - it became the word 'danger'.

Told a Danish couple that once - and they were super impressed.

Post: #59

After the Norman conquest (a thousand years ago) - the French elite took over England. And at that point - the olde anglo saxon words would have being looked down on.

You still see evidence of the Norman conquest today. All the intelligent people - and all the landed rich in England all have big noses. Because they are descended from the Normans.

I honestly believe this - but it is hard to prove. But if you ever go to the House Of Lords you will see evidence for it. All the successful people there are either descended from the aristocracy - or are intlligent people who have done well in life.

And they all have big noses.

Post: #60

PS I have a big nose.

Post: #61

(07-26-2013 10:11 AM)cardguy Wrote:  I honestly believe this - but it is hard to prove. But if you ever go to the House Of Lords you will see evidence for it....they all have big noses.

So Lancaster and York were actually battling it out in the Wars of the Noses?

Post: #62

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buf...lo_buffalo

Post: #63

A lot of people have seen this, but it's worth posting for those who haven't, tower workers have some serious stones:

Post: #64

Cardguy can you explain to us the setup and techniques behind the quick changes in this video?





I've watched it multiple times over the years, it's still:

Post: #65

That is an excellent quick-change act.

Now magic - has a number of different fields. And I am very knowledgable about 99% of them (eg cards, coins, mentalism, illusions). But quick-change acts are very rare in magic. And I have never read or studied anything to do with them. Indeed - I only ever heard of one quick-change act growing up in magic (Arturo Brachetti).

So - sorry I can't be of more help.

Let me make it up for you by showing you a card trick!

Quote:This is a mystical trick that I learnt in Australia – the continent ‘down under’…

Go grab a deck of cards – it doesn’t need to be complete.

Shuffle the deck and freely divide it into 4 packets. So – just cut the deck into 4 piles.

Pick up any packet and shuffle it. Look at the top card and remember it.

Now spell “Australian Shuffle” – transferring one card from top to bottom for each letter. This helps lose the card in the packet.

Once you have done that. We will now use the mysterious ‘Australian Shuffle’ to find your card.

First – I should explain what an ‘Australian’ Shuffle is – it is a DOWN/UNDER deal. So place the top card down on the table, and the next card under the packet – and so on…

Do this until you have one card remaining in your hand.

It is your selected card!

Post: #66

You can find the video of this online - it is pretty gruesome.

But it is a fascinating story - rare shit like this happens in real life. Like something from a movie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer

Post: #67

In a lot of developing countries, you can see overcrowded trains where people will ride on the outside.

These guys in Mumbai have just stepped that up into a new game (or possible Darwin award):

Post: #68

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbre_du_T%...%A9r%C3%A9

The tree of the Teneré. A lonely tree that was the only one growing for 250 round.

Post: #69

(07-26-2013 09:05 AM)j r Wrote:  I heard that fuck was the Saxon word for having sex and it became a bad word because the other English looked down on the Saxons. No idea if that's true.

I suspect that's apocryphal, but there are indeed attested instances of the Norman French/Anglo-Saxon duality in legacy English, especially when it comes to foodstuffs:

Quote:This List of English words with dual French and Anglo-Saxon variations describes various English words generally describing the same person, place or thing with two or more different words. After the Norman invasion of England in 1066 many of the more refined English (Anglo-Saxon) words describing finished products were replaced by words imported from Anglo-Norman (such as "beef," a prepared food). In contrast, common unfinished equivalents continued to use the native English term (such as "cow," a living animal).This replacement can be explained by the fact that meat was an expensive product at the time and that the lord and nobleman of Norman origin were eating it more often than the commoners, which were raising the livestock. This duality is also mirrored in French, where "beef" is boeuf, but "cow" is vache. These dual version words later formed the basis of the Middle English wordstock, and were eventually passed into the modern language.[1]

Post: #70

The New York Times Magaine does an interesting piece at the end of each year. It is called 'The Year In Ideas' and is a look back at the interesting ideas/inventions from that year:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/feature...index.html

Here is the one for 2010:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/...s2010.html

I can't find the ones for 2011 and 2012. So - perhaps after a ten year run - they stopped doing it. Still - it is a mine of interesting information.

Post: #71

Pointing a super powerful magnet at somebody's head - stops them from being able to speak.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article...-abilities

Post: #72

The 'Football' - the suitcase containing the codes to launch nuclear weapons.

Quote:At any given time, five people hold the title of White House military aide, a not particularly revealing description for the men and women who take turns carrying "the football," the leather briefcase stocked with the classified nuclear war plan.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/wash...ball_x.htm

Quote:For several months during Bill Clinton's administration, a former top military officer says the White House lost the card with a set of numbers for opening the briefcase containing the codes for a nuclear attack.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...codes.html

Post: #73

lets see if i remember these correctly.
if someone has 2 puppies and tells you one is a male, the odds of the other one being male is 1/3, not 1/2.

nothing moves faster than the speed of light. even if youre in a car going 80 mph and you turn on your highbeams, the light is moving as fast as if you were.standing still with a flashlight.

im really not sure about this one, but if i recall correctly a 3 ton truck and a 40 pound bicycle with tires made of identical rubber travelling 60 mph both take equal distances to stop if the tires lock (that was worded funny)

Post: #74

Best heckler put down ever.

Post: #75

This is the most amazing photograph I have seen.

Adolf Hitler celebrating the announcement of World War One.