Bathroom Readers' Institute's Blog, page 178
January 25, 2013
James Bond Exposed?
From Flickr | By brava_67
Skyfall hit theaters in November so it should be safe to finally talk about a popular (but strange) fan theory regarding James Bond. (If you still haven’t seen the latest—and best-reviewed and highest-grossing—Bond movie ever, there’s spoilers ahead.)
Theory: There is no one real James Bond. “James Bond” and “007” are just code names used by multiple spies over the years. One spy uses the alias for a while before it’s handed off to a successor (sort of like “the Dalai Llama” or “the Pope”). Fans have tossed this theory around for years on the Internet and fan conventions, citing “evidence” from more than 20 of the different James Bond movies.
Details: Going all the way back to Sean Connery’s portrayal of Bond in the ‘60s, this explains how we can have a virtually ageless Agent 007 for 50 years. Further, events in the movies explain why one actor left and another came in. For example, why did Geoge Lazenby only play Bond for one film? Because he quit the spy life at the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service when his wife died. Lazenby’s predecessor, Sean Connery, returned for one more film before handing “James Bond” over to Roger Moore. And why did Timothy Dalton’s tenure end with 1987’s License to Kill? In that movie, Bond becomes a rogue agent…and gets fired.
Lending more credence: in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Lazenby’s Bond may or may not make a reference to “the other fellow”:
This Never Happened to the Other Fellow
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
— MOVIECLIPS.com
But wait: It’s as if the filmmakers behind the James Bond movies were aware of this bizarre theory, so much so that in Skyfall, they seemingly address the rumors…and completely refute them. Toward the end of the movie, Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) seek refuge at the Bond family’s crumbling mansion in Scotland. There’s even a shot of Bond’s parents’ gravestones.
This proves that James Bond is “real” and one of a kind. He just never ages because of movie magic.
January 23, 2013
6 People Who Rejected Awards
By itupictures on Flickr
We’re right in the middle of Awards Season. Last month Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes were awarded, followed by the Golden Globes, and in the next few weeks, we’ll see the Emmys and Oscars. And while most artists and performers would be thrilled to get any one of these awards, there’s always the occasional grump who gets a prize from his/her peers and says “no thanks.” Here are a few prize examples of people who rejected awards.
Ving Rhames. In 1998, the actor won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a made for TV movie or miniseries for his title role in HBO’s Don King: Only in America. When he went on stage to receive his award, he turned it down, and, in the spirit of “giving,” gave the trophy to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon, nominated for 12 Angry Men. Lemmon said it was “one of the sweetest moments of his life.” Rhames insisted Lemmon keep the award; the Globes’ governing body later quietly had a second trophy sent to Rhames.
George C. Scott. The actor has won two Oscars, one for Best Supporting Actor in 1962 for The Hustler and in 1971 for Best Actor for Patton. By then, he felt that actors shouldn’t be in competition with each other. He sent Patton producer Frank McCarthy to accept the award on his behalf…which he then tried to donate to a Patton museum (which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wouldn’t allow).
Sinead O’Connor. The Irish pop singer was as famous for starting controversy in the early ‘90s as she was for her hits like “Nothing Compares 2 U.” One of those controversies: she refused to attend the 1991 Grammys, where she won (and later rejected) an award for Best Alternative Album because she thought the ceremony was “too commercial.”
Jean Paul Sartre. The French author and philosopher was best known for existentialist works such a No Exit, Nausea, and The Flies. In 1964, the Swedish Academy awarded him a writer’s highest honor: the Nobel Prize for literature. Always the downer, Sartre declined, saying that “no writer should allow himself to be turned into an institution.”
Boris Pasternak. Another writer turned down his Nobel, but it wasn’t his idea. The Soviet government forced Pasternak to reject his prize in 1958, because of intense Cold War politics. He died two years later; his family was given his medal in 1989.
Marlon Brando. The star won and accepted an Oscar for his 1954 performance in On the Waterfront, but he won again in 1973 for his starring role in The Godfather. Instead of taking the podium, he sent an actress and civil rights activist named Sacheen Littlefeather to the stage. Littlefeather rejected the award on Brando’s behalf as a statement against poor treatment of Native Americans.
January 22, 2013
Dolphin Approaches Divers – Lets Guy Try to Remove Hook and Line From It
Wow. Really seems like this dolphin wanted some help, doesn’t it?
KITV:
As it approached, diver Keller Laros saw it had a fishing line wrapped around its pectoral fin.
The amazing part of this video — to watch as this dolphin simply rolls over and patiently lets Laros get to work.
“i was trying to unwrap it, I got the line fishing hook out of the pectoral fin. There was a line coming out of his mouth. But, the line wrapped around his pectoral fin. Was so tight and he had cuts both front and aft,” said Laros. “I was worried if I tugged on it, it might hurt him more. I was able to cut the fishing line and unwrap it.”
January 21, 2013
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Update (minutes after posting): And because it’s our job to inform, it appears that Martin Luther King, Jr. popularized the apple tree quote, but it may have actually come from someone else.
[image]
January 20, 2013
Cheeky Wikipedia Writer Already Has Ravens Losers of Super Bowl XLVII
It’ll be changed soon, for sure – so here’s a screen grab of the Wikipedia list of Super Bowl winners – up to 2015 (click to enlarge):
If you look down at the bottom you see “Baltimore Ravens” in the right hand column of Super Bowl XLVII.
That’s the “losing team” column. In case you’re not a football fan…that game won’t be played until February 3. (The Ravens just clinched a spot in the game minutes ago.)
Naughty 49ers fan Wikipedia writer!
Update: It’s already gone!
January 19, 2013
Video: Assassination Attempt
This happened today. (And thank God something went wrongwith the guy’s gun.)
SOFIA, BULGARIA — Bulgarian police detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader as he was delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital Saturday. No shots were fired.
The video from the Saturday event in Sofia shows the man climbing the podium where Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, was speaking, and pointing the gun to his face.
Dogan struck the man before he could pull the trigger, while other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground. TV footage showed several people punching, kicking and stomping on the man when he was on the ground.
January 18, 2013
Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum
No, silly, this story’s not from the Wall Street Urinal – it’s from the Wall Street Journal!
Barney Smith, 91 years old, a retired master plumber turned artist, recently put the finishing touches on his 1,035th toilet seat lid, which will be displayed with his others in his oversize garage.
He began his collection about 50 years ago, when he bagged a small deer and was looking for a way to display the antlers and discovered that a lid worked perfectly. Since then, he has painted, engraved and adorned lids to mark earthquakes and Super Bowls and to honor entertainers, mayors and his wife, Velma Louise.
“If it’s not a lid, I won’t paint on it,” says Mr. Smith…
Best part: Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum – has a FaceBook page. You should “like” it right now, shouldn’t you?
January 17, 2013
January 16, 2013
Lamb Says “Yeah”; Dog Confused
There’s a whole lot of funny in this video – but the German Shepherd in the background takes the cake:
Why is there a sheep in a room with…
Oh never mind.
Bonus: A screaming sheep. (And is it just us – or does that sheep look like Sheldon Cooper?)
January 15, 2013
Introducing BLOX: A Word Puzzle Game
The innovative wordsmiths at the BRI have once again taken a popular puzzle form to a whole new level. The results: a word puzzle game, called BLOX. The concept of Uncle John’s Bathroom Puzzler: BLOX is easy. We’ll provide you with a configuration of letters and tell you hoe many words we found. Your job is to find those words and scribble them down in the blanks.
How to play:
Find as many words as you can by linking adjacent letters, moving horizontally, vertically, and/or diagonally.
Use each letter only once to form each word. In other words, if there is just one O in a puzzle, you can’t go back to that O to form MOJO or BOZO or OBOE.
You can count both singular and plural forms of the same word—for example, PIT and PITS. Ditto for verb forms: BEG, BEGS, BEGGED, BEGGING are all ok.
You can’t count proper nouns unless the puzzle specifically calls for them. The same goes for abbreviations, acronyms, contractions, hyphenated words, and foreign words that don’t appear in an English dictionary.
The minimum number of letters in the words you’re looking for will vary from section to section.
Here is a sample of this fun word puzzle game with the answers. You are looking for 42 common words and 23 uncommon words of four letters or more.
Answers Common Words:
CHEMIST, CHEMISTRY, CHEST, COYER, COYEST, CREST, ECHO, HEIST, HEMS, HERS, MERCY, MISER, MISERY, MIST, MISTER, OCHER, OCHERS, OHMS, OTHER, OTHERS, OUCH, OUCHES, RECTO, REST, RYES, SECT, SEMI, STEM, TECH, THEISM, THEIST, THEM, THEY, THOU, TOUCH, TOUCHE, TOUCHER, TOUCHERS, TOYER, TOYERS, TREY
Answers Uncommon Words:
CHERT, CHERTS, ECHT, ERST, HEST, HETS, MERC, MERCH, MISE, OCHERY, OYER, OYERS, OYES, REIS, REMS, RETS, RYOT, STEY, TOCHER, TOCHERS, TRES, YECH, YUCH
Now that we’ve covered the basics, how about you take a crack at this word puzzle game. There are 66 common words and 17 uncommon words of four letters or more.
Answers available HERE. Looking for more? Check out Uncle John’s Bathroom Puzzler: BLOX.
