The youngest confirmed mother in medical history is Lina Medina of Paurange, Peru, who gave birth to a 5.9-pound boy at age 5. The delivery was done through caesarian section; it’s not known how she conceived the child. Her son, Gerardo, was raised believing that Lina was his sister.
I Am Not An Animal!
Are the X-Men human? Purists might like to debate that for a while, but the U.S. Court of International Trade went ahead and decided on Jan. 3, 2003: They’re not.
Why force a decision? Because there are two kinds of action figures: human figures are “dolls,” and nonhuman creatures are “toys.” And dolls carry a higher tariff, for some reason. Toy Biz, Marvel’s gaily named subsidiary, argued that its action figures were toys, and after examining more than 60 action figures, Judge Judith Barzilay agreed.
That saved Marvel some money, but it sent a thunderclap through the comics world, where the doughty mutants had been struggling for years to prove their humanity. After an awkward silence, Marvel grinned nervously, tugged at its collar, and said, “Our heroes are living, breathing human beings — but humans who have extraordinary abilities. … A decision that the X-Men figures indeed do have ‘nonhuman’ characteristics further proves our characters have special, out-of-this world powers.” Spun like a pro.
In a Word
drollic
adj. of or pertaining to puppet shows
Warning
Tom Swifties
Bad Tom Swifties:
- “These propulsion systems were used by NASA on moon rockets,” said Tom apologetically.
- “I’ve only enough carpet for the hall and landing,” said Tom with a blank stare.
- “We’re off to Scotland,” said Tom clandestinely.
- “The prisoner escaped down a rope,” said Tom condescendingly.
- “I dropped the toothpaste,” said Tom, crestfallen.
- “Aha! Here’s someone who can’t speak!” exclaimed Tom dumbfoundedly.
- “There’s nothing wrong with demons,” Tom said implicitly.
- “I’ve borrowed my sister’s camping gear,” said Tom insistently.
- “I want a motorized bicycle,” Tom moped.
- “Crosby is my favourite singer. Who is yours?” asked Tom probingly.
- “It’s time for the second funeral,” Tom rehearsed.
- “So only one person arrived at the party before I did?” Tom second-guessed.
- “I was adopted,” said Tom transparently.
- “It’s homemade soup,” said Tom uncannily.
- “Henry the Eighth!” said Tom unthinkingly.
Are there any good ones?
Unquote
“No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.” — Mikhail Baryshnikov
Wheels Within Wheels
An optical illusion. Move your nose toward the dot in the center.
Platinum Plus
All-time best-selling music artists:
- The Beatles (about 1 billion albums sold)
- Elvis Presley (500 million)
- ABBA (350 million)
- Led Zeppelin (320 million)
- Alla Pugacheva (250 million)
- Cliff Richard (260 million)
- Julio Iglesias (250 million)
- Nana Mouskouri (250 million)
- Madonna (250 million)
- Michael Jackson (250 million)
Alla Pugacheva is a Russian popular singer active since 1965. Greece’s Nana Mouskouri has been singing even longer — since 1961. Her French record company recently released a box set of 34 CDs.
Please RSVP
“ATM machine” is an example of a redundant acronym — the M already stands for machine, so this phrase means “automatic teller machine machine.” Other examples:
- PIN number = personal identification number number
- GUI interface = graphical user interface interface
- ISBN number = International Standard Book Number number
- SAM missile = surface-to-air missile missile
- LCD display = liquid crystal display display
- CRT tube = cathode-ray tube tube
- HIV virus = human immunodeficiency virus virus
- SCSI interface = Small Computer System Interface interface
- AC current = alternating current current
- RPG games = role-playing games games
This goes for people, too. Jeb Bush’s nickname derives from his initials (J.E.B., for John Ellis Bush). So “J.E.B. Bush” stands for “John Ellis Bush Bush”.
Great Wall From Space
The Great Wall of China, as seen from the space shuttle. Contrary to popular belief, an unaided viewer cannot see it from the moon. One shuttle astronaut said, “We can see things as small as airport runways, [but] the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up.” An Apollo astronaut said no human structures were visible at a distance of a few thousand miles. And — most tellingly — Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei couldn’t see it at all.