Happy Halloween

Here's your chance to carve a pumpkin without all the mess:

http://www.toilette-humor.com/flash/carve_pumpkin.swf

"It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare.

Trivia for Squiggle #XXV

Welcome to the Halloween edition of Trivia for Squiggle. Today's issue deals with folklore and useless facts about monsters, vampire bats, ghosts, werewolves, and (as promised) even one serial killer bit. In lieu of zombie trivia (and in the event you should get attacked by zombies tonight), as a bonus to today's Trivia for Squiggle, I am including the "Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack" from The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks:

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don't need reloading
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Now on to the trivia:
601. A child who is born between midnight and one in the morning is said to possess the ability to see ghosts.

602. Wearing silk every day is excellent for warding off potential ghostly visitations.

603. The ancient Egyptians believed that the spirit left the body when it died. These ghosts, known as khu, were considered responsible for illnesses and misfortune of the deceased person's family.

604. Salt is a classic defense against evil spirits.

605. Long ago, Iceland's law provided judicial protection against evil spirits. Victims of ghostly persecution were allowed to summon the poltergeist before the court in order to place a restraining order on the offending party.

606. The Irish would bury the corpse of a person suspected of being the victim of a vampire face down. It was theorized that if the individual did indeed become a vampire then he/she, upon awakening in the grave, would dig him/herself right down into hell rather than up and out of the grave.

607. In Argentina, the werewolf is known as a 'lobisón.' As late into modern times as the 20th century, the seventh male child was always thought to become a werewolf. For this reason, dozens of newborn children were murdered and their bodies disposed of. In the 1920's, to prevent this belief from festering further, the Argentine President gave a reward to parents who preserved the life of their seventh born male child. The reward was a gold medal and a scholarship that lasted until the child’s 21st birthday.

608. A griffin is an ancient mythical winged monster that had the head of an eagle and the body of a lion.

609. In folklore, a lycanthrope (werewolf) was able to alter its appearance from a human being into a vicious murdering wolf.

610. In Jewish folklore, a golem is an artificially created human being (like a statue) that was given life by supernatural means.

611. A cockatrice was mythical monster hatched by a reptile from a chicken's egg and was able to kill with only a glance.

612. A manticore is a mythical monster having the head of man (with devil-like horns), the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion.

613. Of Arabian lore, an afrit is the demon spirit of a murdered man who seeks to avenge his death. The creature rises up like smoke from the blood of the slain victim. It can only be stopped by driving a nail through the blood stained ground from whence it came.

614. A pisaca is a flesh eating Indian demon vampire that finds its victims at: cremation grounds, under doorways, and in deserted houses. Seeing one will result in the observer's death within nine months. These creatures become invisible and enter the bodies of the living through their mouths, feeding on the host's intestines and feces.

615. A vukodlak, meaning 'wolf's hair,' is a southern Slavic vampire-werewolf is created 40 days after its mortal death by the entry into its corpse by a demonic spirit. It leaves its grave to drink human blood and have sexual relations with its former wife or girlfriend.

616. A brahmaparusha is an Indian vampire that looks like a male demon wearing a wreath of human intestines around its head. It likes to gnaw the flesh off of a decapitated human head and drink blood from the skull.

617. A mullo is a savage Gypsy vampire whose name means 'living dead.' They are restless spirits who rise from the grave to avenge their deaths. They look human, with hair that drapes all the way down to the ground. They like to feast on the blood of both, humans and animals.

618. Hindu folklore describes the vetala, a vampiric creature, as one who lurks about cemeteries to reanimate the dead. They have human bodies, but their hands and feet are turned backwards. They live in stones, and their eerie singing can sometimes be heard in the dead of night.

619. A nachzehrer is a ruthless creature said to have originated in Silesia (Poland). It likes to prey on its own relatives. While in the grave, it eats its own clothing and flesh, which causes its nearest relatives to sicken and die. It leaves its tomb at midnight each night to search for and convert its remaining family members into vampires.

620. An Aswang Manananggal is a shape-shifting creature found in Philippine mythology. They fly about in the form of disembodied heads with stringy trailing entrails. They feed on the blood and flesh of humans, and are particularly fond of internal organs. By day, they are men or women who are likely to be respected members of their communities. They are often accompanied by birds, searching for prey.

621. To begin feeding on a bird or other large mammal (like a cow or a horse), the vampire bat must first locate a vein in their prey and then make an incision in the skin with their razor-sharp teeth. The bat knows finds the vein under the skin by using a heat sensor on its nose to sniff it out.

622. A vampire bat can live for about 2 days without nourishing themselves with blood. They only need about 2 tablespoons of blood to stay healthy.

623. The wound made by the bat doesn't clot or scab up while the bat is feeding because of a strong anticoagulant contained in the bat's saliva, which is 20 times stronger than any other anti-clotting agent known to man.

624. Werewolf hunters believe that you can obtain sanctuary from a predatory werewolf by climbing into an ash tree.

625. Ed Gein was the ‘serial killer’ known as 'The Plainfield Ghoul' and 'The Butcher of Plainfield.' He shot and killed at least 2 people in the 1950's in the city of Plainfield, Wisconsin. He also robbed graves and made lampshades from human skin and bowls from human skulls. He is technically not a serial killer as he didn’t kill a mass amount of people, but it is what he did with the bodies of whom he killed and the corpses he dug up that make him a remarkable figure in serial killer history.

"It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again."

Axl Rose...Cool Old Guy

That picture above scares me... Yeah, I know what you're thinking..."Axl Rose? You mean he's not dead yet???"...sadly, no. One of rock music's most notorious assholes (often cited by other musicians on Metal Sludge as being the rock star who most deserves a punch in the mouth) is still alive and kicking AND was just voted by today's youth for Ellegirl magazine as being the coolest old person. Here's the story from MTV.com.

And for more reasons to laugh at Axl, check out these two pages from Awful Plastic Surgery: Axl's Facelift and Axl's Hair Implants. There's no picture on the second link, but when you look at the pic I posted and the one that's on the facelift page, you can totally tell.

"Hi. I'm, uh, I'm a pet psychiatrist. I sell couch insurance. Mm-hmm, and I - and I test-market positive thinking. I lead a weekend men's group, we specialize in ritual killings. Yeah, you look great! God, yeah! Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Hi, I'm Martin Blank, you remember me? I'm not married, I don't have any kids, and I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough."

Trivia for Squiggle #XXIV

Today's issue of Trivia for Squiggle contains our last installment of Lord of the Rings trivia, focusing primarily on the third film of the series, The Return of the King.

576. SDDS 8 channel decoders list the title of the film that it is decoding on its display. For this film, certain reels were labeled "Till Death for Glory" whereas others were labeled "Bejing Chicken".

577. When Gandalf rides out, using the light of his staff to ward off the fell beasts so Faramir's team can get back to Minas Tirith, you see that Pippin is on the horse with him, even though there would have been no reason to bring him along. The reason is that this scene was originally filmed to coincide with Gandalf and Pippin's arrival at Minas Tirith, but was pushed further back as the story evolved.

578. The battle scenes, which reportedly contain over 200,000 digital participants, are so huge that an extra room had to be built onto Weta Digital's effects facility to house all the computer equipment needed to render the scenes.

579. A normal major motion picture averages about 200 effects shots. This film had 1488.

580. Each of the cast members were given a gift on their last day of shooting, usually a prop that was significant to their roles. Miranda Otto received one of Eowyn's dresses and her sword, Liv Tyler received Arwen's "dying dress", Orlando Bloom got one of Legolas' bows.

581. The dead oliphant carcass used in this film is reportedly the largest prop ever built for a motion picture.

582. The Grey Havens scene had to be shot three times, much to the dismay of the actors, who had to be crying for most of the scene. On the first try, it was discovered in viewing the dailies that Sean Astin was wearing the wrong shirt under his cloak. After shooting the scene a second time, the negatives were inadvertently exposed to light during processing, causing a white haze over the entire day's footage. It was finally captured successfully on the third try.

583. For the scene where Merry and Pippin are smoking their pipes at Isengard, Dominic Monaghan (Merry) had to drink a glass of milk beforehand to keep himself from throwing up while smoking the pipe.

584. Facts and numbers about the trilogy: Over 6 million feet of film shot during production; 48,000 swords, axes, shields, and makeup prosthetics; 20,602 background actors cast; 19,000 costumes made by the wardrobe department; 10,000 crowd participants at New Zealand cricket game who made orc army grunts; 2,400 behind-the-scenes crew members at height of production; 1,600 pairs or prosthetic hobbit feet created; 250 horses used in one scene; 180 computer special-effects artists employed; 114 total speaking roles; 100 real locations in New Zealand used for backdrops; 50 tailors, cobblers, designers and others in wardrobe department; 30 actors trained to speak fictional dialects and languages; 7 total years of development for all three movies.

585. Gollum is missing his left ear lobe. This is due to an air trap in the casting that was made for Peter Jackson's approval of the figure. When looking at the casting, the design team concluded that it should stay that way since it looked like a battle wound that might have occurred during Gollum's past adventures.

586. The Minas Tirith set was built on the same site as Helm's Deep, after the Helm's Deep scenes had been shot and pieces of Helm's Deep were altered and built on top and around the existing pieces for the Minas Tirith set.

587. Even though Saruman's demise appears in the Special Extended Edition of Return of the King (2003), Christopher Lee was (and still is) "not amused" that his character was cut from the theatrical release. In an interview done after the release of the Extended Edition, he acknowledged that the makers gave him several arguments for trimming the scene (pacing and time constraints), but in his opinion, none of them justified omitting such an important narrative element.

588. While filming Saruman's death scene (now on the extended DVD), Peter Jackson tried to tell Christopher Lee how to react and breathe after he was stabbed in the back. Lee, a WWII veteran with British special forces, assured the director that he knew what a man sounded like when stabbed in the back.

589. Andy Serkis's last day of filming was only a few weeks before the theatrical release. On the carpet of the floor of Peter Jackson's house, they filmed the facial reaction of Smeagol/Gollum when he realizes Frodo intends to destroy the ring. The resulting video was e-mailed to Weta Digital so the animators could replicate the shot with the CGI character.

590. The "fall of Smeagol" scene had to be digitally touched-up in two ways. First, Thomas Robins (Deagol) accidentally blinked after being strangled. However, Peter Jackson liked that particular shot so much better than others that he decided to have the Weta Digital crew "freeze" the eyes. Second, in the shot where Smeagol falls on the rocks (just before Gollum begins to narrate), Andy Serkis' legs were considered to be too muscular and athletic, and so they were digitally thinned-down.

591. The opening scene, where Deagol finds the ring and is killed by Smeagol, was directed by Andy Serkis himself.

592. In the scene where Faramir is leaving Minas Tirith, he and his soldiers are riding their horses downhill. Because the streets were paved with smooth bricks, the usual steel horseshoes proved to be too "slick" and the horses were all re-shot with rubber horseshoes.

593. In the scene when Denethor burns Faramir on the pyre, the pyre could not truly be on fire because Gandalf's horse would not go near it. To solve this, the crew reflected a real fire onto a pane of glass in front of the camera so that it looks as though the pyre is burning.

594. To create realistic galloping horses for the largely CGI horseback army, they took some footage of a horse in a motion-capture suit.

595. The movie marks the second time in history that the third movie in a trilogy was nominated for Best Picture, by the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, after The Godfather: Part III (1990) and the only time that a third movie has won the Best Picture Oscar.

596. At 35 letters "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" has the longest title of any Best Picture Oscar winner in history. It surpasses the record previously held by "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956) which has 26.

597. Peter Jackson purposely avoided filming Frodo's left hand after the Mordor scenes to avoid conflicts as to the positioning of the wound on the index finger. It is only seen twice: when the Fellowship is re-united (the hand is bandaged) and when Frodo is writing his final pages in the Red Book (before he turns back to add the title).

598. The runes on the helmet worn by the Mouth of Sauron, when transliterated, say "Lammen Gorthaur". Lammen means voice, and Gorthaur, which is mentioned in the Silmarillion, means Dread Abomination, another title by which Sauron was known. The complete phrase, "Voice of the Dread Abomination", identifies the speaker as the Mouth of Sauron.

599. The final day of filming on the trilogy actually happened over a month after this movie was theatrically released, and three weeks after the 2004 Academy Awards. Peter Jackson arranged to film one final shot of skulls on the floor in the tunnel of the Paths of the Dead, which was included in the Extended Edition of ROTK. He thought it was funny to be doing filming on a movie that had already won the Best Picture Oscar.

600. In every installment of the trilogy, one character says the subtitle of the film. In Fellowship during the council scene Elrond refers to the nine as the "Fellowship of the Ring"; in the Two Towers it's Saruman who says "The Two Towers" during a voiceover; and finally in this film, Gandalf tells the steward of Gondor and he can't refuse the Return of the King.

“Not at the towers! Aim for the trolls! Kill the trolls! Bring them down!”

Trivia for Squiggle #XXIII

In a continuation from the last Trivia for Squiggle, here is some The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trivia:

551. Bernard Hill would spend up to nine hours in make-up to become the aged Theoden. He wore contact lenses to give his eyes the milky look that very old people can have, but it wasn't sufficiently successful so his eyes were later tinkered with digitally.

552. As the Orcs have black blood, it was only natural that the inside of their mouths should not be pink but black as well. To achieve this, the Ork actors had to swill a liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.

553. The animatronic puppet of Treebeard was 14 feet high.

554. Peter Jackson and producer Barrie M. Osbourne actively campaigned for Andy Serkis to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Gollum. Academy regulations however forbid an actor to be nominated when he is not physically to be seen on screen, despite Serkis' active input into the role.

555. The Helms Deep battle took four months to shoot, all of it at night.

556. When Gollum eats a whole fish, it's actually Andy Serkis chewing on a fish-shaped lolly.

557. The scene where Gandalf calls for his horse and Shadowfax comes galloping across the fields and straight up his master was achieved in the very first take.

558. Andy Serkis was pitched the role of Gollum by his agent who rang him up and asked him if he wanted to do three weeks' voiceover work in New Zealand.

559. Miniature photography for the trilogy took up a total of 500 days.

560. When Merry and Pippin are being carried off on the back of the Uruk'hai, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan are in reality being carried on the backs of two stuntmen wearing oversized costumes and a false enormous head to give the impression of height disparity.

561. Viggo Mortenson now owns the horse that his character Aragorn rides in the film. To build up the level of trust between man and beast, Mortenson would occasionally sleep in the stables with his horse.

562. There were never more than 100 Uruk'hai at any time; the rest were all computer generated.

563. They couldn't recruit enough men in the 6 foot height area to play Uruk'hai so men from 5 foot high were cast as well. They were affectionately nicknamed the Uruk'Low.

564. The Battle of Helms Deep features hundreds of spears made of cardboard tubes so that none of the charging horses would be injured.

565. The swooping camera that pulls back over the thousands of Orc and Uruk'hai soldiers is inspired by Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will".

566. Forced perspective was just one of the tricks used on the Helms Deep "bigiature" to make it look like the real thing. This also involved filling parts of the model with Action Man dolls to make it look like it was filled with humans.

567. The Dead Marshes were actually a water-filled parking lot, the same one that had doubled up for outside the mines of Moria in "The Fellowship of the Ring". Passengers in passing trains on the adjacent railway line were able to see Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and Andy Serkis performing onset.

568. When Gollum spits in disgust at Sam's cooking of rabbits, that is Andy Serkis' very own spittle flying through the air.

569. The Orc battle cries for the Helm's Deep battle sequence were provided by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans, who screamed the war chants, spelled out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Jackson himself leading the crowd.

570. The battle at Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three month period with the rain machine battering down on the cast.

571. Viggo Mortensen broke two toes while kicking the steel helmet by the orc pyre, and that take is the one that actually appears in the movie. Peter Jackson said that was really impressed with the shout of pain Aragorn cried out for the fate of the two hobbits, realizing only later that it was pain already, but for his two toes instead. He was also impressed by the fact that Mortensen continued acting even if so seriously injured.

572. To make the many sparkling lights in Galadriel's eyes, the crew put white Christmas lights behind the camera.

573. Movie theater prints of The Two Towers were labeled "Grand Tour" on the film can and the actual reels. (NOTE: This is a common occurrence in the industry with major, highly anticipated films where the title is disguised to prevent theft and piracy. For example, "Star Wars: Episode III" was secretly known as "Sand Dog.")

574. Andy Serkis said that he based Gollum's voice on the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball.

575. In each film in the trilogy, the subtitle of the film is incorporated as dialogue. In this instance- Saruman: "Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor, and the union of the two towers?"

“He was twitching because he's got MY AXE BURIED IN HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM!”

Trivia for Squiggle #XXII

Sorry this is arriving later than usual today. I've been busy testing out a build of Brady Bunch Kung Fu all morning because I have to do a write up on it by the end of the day. Today's issue of Trivia for Squiggle involves trivia that mainly applies to the first of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, The Fellowship of the Ring. I chose a Lord of the Rings theme because I realize that not everybody would really get a kick out of yesterday's post...expect more LOTR movie trivia in the near future. I came across a shitload of it in my quest for related trivia.

526. Stuart Townsend (Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting because Peter Jackson realized that an older actor was needed.

527. Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo Baggins, was the voice of Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.

528. Although David Bowie was said to be keen on playing Elf Lord Elrond, the part went instead to Hugo Weaving.

529. The two most renowned Tolkien artists are Alan Lee and John Howe, and so it was important to Peter Jackson to have those two on board. Lee was tracked down to a tiny little village in Dartmoor, England and was FedExed a package of Jackson's Heavenly Creatures and a letter outlining his intentions. They monitored the progress of the FedEx package every step of the way, but were somewhat surprised when Lee rang them only 3 hours after delivery to say he'd love to work with them. Howe meanwhile was living in Switzerland, and because someone hadn't worked out the time differences between Europe and New Zealand correctly, was rung about 2am. He says that the biggest frustration with that phone call was waiting for Jackson to finish his pitch before he could say yes.

530. Originally the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by Elijah Wood, but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of Frodo. Ian McKellen also recorded a narration but once again it was felt that Gandalf wasn't the right character to speak it. They eventually settled on Cate Blanchett as Galadriel as it emphasizes the timelessness of the elves.

531. The bridge in Hobbiton was built by the New Zealand army out of polystyrene.

532. The Tolkien estate was never in favor of Peter Jackson's film adaptation but seeing as J.R.R. Tolkien signed the rights away in 1968 for $15,000, there was nothing they could do about it. Tolkien's grandson Simon came out in support of the production and was disowned by his relatives. Tolkien's son Christopher later retracted any opposition.

533. When Frodo falls on the snow and loses the ring, a close-up of the ring with Frodo in the background is shown. In order to keep both the subjects focused, a giant ring (6 inches of diameter) was used.

534. Fans were offered the chance to have their names in the special edition's hugely lengthy closing credits for $39.95.

535. Although the film received a PG rating in the UK, it was with a disclaimer that some scenes might be unsuitable for young children. After Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, it was only the third film to receive such a disclaimer.

536. Hobbiton was made a year before production began to make it look like it was a natural, lived-in place, complete with real vegetable patches. The greens department regulated the length of the grass by having sheep eat it.

537. The large tree that stands above Bag End was built especially by the production department. Every leaf had to be manually attached.

538. The design for the Hobbits's feet took over a year to perfect. Over 1800 feet were produced for the 4 lead Hobbits alone, and each pair would take about an hour and a half to be put on over the actors' real feet.

539. During the Council of Elrond, leaves are continually falling in the background to suggest that this is a meeting that is taking place outside. This meant about half a dozen crew members were positioned above the set, dropping leaves at various intervals. This also meant that the production department had to collect sacks and sacks of leaves during autumn, and of course dead leaves turn brown fairly quickly. Which also meant that every single one of those leaves had to be individually painted.

540. Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script - Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally, not on purpose. But Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and so kept it in.

541. The nocturnal screams of possums were used for the screeches made by the Orks in the mines of Moria.

542. The scream of the Ringwraiths is actually Fran Walsh, the co-writer and co-producer of the film.

543. Christopher Lee was the first person cast in the trilogy because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the makeup department and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters. He reads The Lord of the Rings once a year and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.

544. Over 12.5 million plastic rings were made in order to fabricate simulated chain mail for the movie. Two crew members spent the length of the shoot linking the rings by hand into suits of armor. By the end of production, they had worn the fingerprints off their thumbs and index fingers.

545. When Arwen escapes from the Black Riders through the river by flooding them, the spell she speaks isn't subtitled. According to the Encyclopedy of Arda, she says: "Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer", which means roughly "Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths"

546. During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Among them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day, and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, makeup tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Peter Jackson opted to film Mortenson from one side for the entire scene. In the scene in the Mines of Moria when they find the grave of Gimli's relative, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene.

547. Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, as Legolas.

548. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equaling 274 days, in 16 months - exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of Apocalypse Now (1979).

549. Pregnancy changed Peter Jackson's vision of The Lord of the Rings. Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel, and Uma Thurman as Arwen. Unfortunately, both actresses became pregnant after being asked to read; and the roles were filled in by Cate Blancett and Liv Tyler, respectively.

550. The cast often had to fly to remote shoot locations by helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when absolutely necessary. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains, he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir. The crew being flown up could see him from their helicopters.

"Ash Nazg Durbatuluk, Ash Nazg Gimbatul, Ash Nazg Thrakatuluk, Agh Burzum-ishi Krimpatul."

Lord of the Warcraft

Here's a link my boss sent me the other day:

http://www.expectnothing.com/
pub/posts/attached/0002k1cc.gif

I suppose it's really only going to be funny to you if you play World of Warcraft.

"Your love for the Halflings's leaf has clearly slowed your mind."

Trivia for Squiggle #XXI

Well, in honor of Batman Begins coming out on DVD tomorrow (October 18), I have listed below 25 trivial bits about bats for today's Trivia for Squiggle...I figured actual bat trivia would be more amusing than Batman trivia, as I'm not sure how many of you are comic geeks. Personally, I'm a helluva lot more excited about the DVD releases of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead and Saw (Uncut), but thought that maybe you guys didn't want to start out your week with trivia about zombies or serial killers...

501. The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny.

502. Loss of bats increases demand for chemical pesticides, can jeopardize whole ecosystems of other animal and plant species, and can harm human economies.

503. The common little brown bat of North America is the world's longest lived mammal for its size, with life-spans sometimes exceeding 32 years.

504. Mexican free-tailed bats sometimes fly up to two miles high to feed or to catch tail-winds that carry them over long distances at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour.

505. The pallid bat of western North America is immune to the stings of scorpions and even the seven-inch centipedes upon which it feeds.

506. Fishing bats have echolocation so sophisticated that they can detect a minnow's fin as fine as a human hair, protruding only two millimeters above a pond's surface.

507. African heart-nosed bats can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from a distance of more than six feet.

508. Red bats that live in tree foliage throughout most of North America can withstand body temperatures as low as 23 degrees F. during winter hibernation.

509. Tiny woolly bats in West Africa live in the large webs of colonial spiders.

510. The Honduran white bat is snow white with a yellow nose and ears. It cuts large leaves to make "tents" that protect its small colonies from jungle rains.

511. Disk-winged bats of Latin America have adhesive disks on both wings and feet that enable them to live in unfurling banana leaves (or even walk up a window pane!).

512. Frog-eating bats identify edible from poisonous frogs by listening to the mating calls of male frogs. Frogs counter by hiding and using short, difficult to locate calls.

513. Vampire bats adopt orphans and have been known to risk their lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates.

514. Male epauletted bats have pouches in their shoulders which contain large, showy patches of white fur that they flash during courtship to attract mates.

515. Mother Mexican free-tailed bats find and nurse their own young, even in huge colonies where many millions of babies cluster at up to 500 per square foot.

516. More than 1,100 species of bats account for almost a quarter of all mammal species, and most are highly beneficial.

517. Worldwide, bats are important natural enemies of night-flying insects.

518. A single little brown bat can catch 1,200 mosquito-sized insects in just one hour.

519. A colony of 150 big brown bats can protect local farmers from up to 33 million or more rootworms each summer.

520. The 20 million Mexican free-tails from Bracken Cave, Texas eat approximately 200 tons of insects nightly.

521. Tropical bats are key elements in rain forest ecosystems which rely on them to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds for countless trees and shrubs.

522. In the wild, important agricultural plants, from bananas, breadfruit and mangoes to cashews, dates, and figs rely on bats for pollination and seed dispersal.

523. Tequila is produced from agave plants whose seed production drops to 1/3,000th of normal without bat pollinators.

524. Bat droppings in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms, including bacteria useful in detoxifying wastes, improving detergents, and producing gasohol and antibiotics.

525. An anticoagulant from vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human heart patients.

"If it were 3 of them, I would say yes, but *4*? Their minimum objective must be...THE ENTIRE WORLD."

Trivia for Squiggle #XX

For the twentieth issue of Trivia for Squiggle, I have compiled a special 'double X' collection. After searching the internet for the 'appropriate' content, I came across this batch of strange sex laws from a Netscape men's site.

476. In Oblong, Illinois, it’s punishable by law to make love while hunting or fishing on your wedding day.

477. In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally permitted to kill her husband, but may do so only with her bare hands. She may kill her husband’s lover, on the other hand, in any manner she desires.

478. In Egypt, a couple can legally divorce by writing “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.”

479. An ordinance in Newcastle, Wyoming, specifically bans couples from having sex while standing inside a store’s walk-in meat freezer.

480. A law in Helena, Montana, mandates that a woman can’t dance on a table in a saloon or bar unless she has on at least 3 pounds, 2 ounces of clothing.

481. In Cali, Colombia, a woman may have sex only with her husband, and the first time this happens, her mother must be in the room to witness the act.

482. In Romboch, Virginia, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with the lights on.

483. Can you believe this Kentucky state law?: “No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state unless she be escorted by at least two officers or unless she be armed with a club.”

484. Couer d’Alene, Idaho, police aren’t allowed to walk up and knock on a car window. Any officer who suspects that sex is taking place must drive up from behind, honk his horn three times, and wait approximately two minutes before getting out of his car to investigate.

485. In Oxford, Ohio, it’s illegal for a woman to strip off her clothing while standing in front of a man’s picture.

486. Kentucky and Idaho limit condom sales to medical practitioners and licensed pharmacists, but a license to sell the items may not be hung on a wall where it can be seen by customers.

487. In Hastings, Nebraska, no couple, even if married, may sleep together in the nude.

488. In Fairbanks, Alaska, a moose cannot have sex on city streets.

489. In Carlsbad, New Mexico, it’s legal for couples to have sex in a parked vehicle during their lunch break from work, as long as the car or van has drawn curtains to keep strangers from peeking in.

490. In Detroit, couples are not allowed to make love in an automobile unless the act takes place while the vehicle is parked on the couple’s own property.

491. In California, adultery is punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or a year in prison. But adultery in Arkansas is much cheaper – offenders are fined a mere $20 to $100.

492. In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines, with one exception: Prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only “in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.”

493. Women aren’t allowed to wear patent-leather shows in Cleveland, Ohio, because a man might see the reflection of something “he oughtn’t”!

494. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, female toll collectors can’t engage in sex with a truck driver in the confines of a booth.

495. It is illegal for any of the Nevada legislature to conduct official business wearing a penis costume while the legislature is in session.

496. In the state of Washington, there is a law against having sex with a virgin under any circumstances (including the wedding night).

497. In Ventura County, California, cats and dogs are not allowed to have sex without a permit.

498. Bozeman, Montana, has a law that bans all sexual activity between members of the opposite sex in the front yard of a home after sundown – if they’re nude.

499. In hotels in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, every room is required to have twin beds. And the beds must be a minimum of two feet apart when a couple rents a room for only one night. And it’s illegal to make love on the floor between the beds.

500. A Maryland law explicitly states: “Every person who shall be convicted of taking into his or her mouth the sexual organ of any other person or animal, or who shall be convicted of placing his or her sexual organ in the mouth of any other person or animal, shall be fined.”

"Hm. Yes, so I, I sort of feed him some little special tits-bits. Tits. Tid, tid, sorry, tidbits. I keep making boobs. Anyway, he just...loves his nuts."

More Three Things

I was checking Yvette's blog and a friend of hers had sent her a "Three Things" survey. She posted all of her answers to her friend's list and included her answers to all the Three Things I listed here yesterday. She has some keen answers, so go check out her blog! Posted below are my answers to her list:

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Scott – my name
2. Black hearted troll – because that’s what I am
3. Hey you – because sometimes people can’t remember my name

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. What I might trip over in the dark
2. Whether or not I’m going to get laid off
3. Dating

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. CAFFEINE – to keep me going
2. SLEEP – which I get so little of
3. Work – if I didn’t have my work I’d probably go crazy

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. The same pants I wore yesterday, but clean underwear!
2. A note scribbled on my hand
3. I wear my heart like a red stain

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS:
1. Godhead
2. Dimmu Borgir
3. Cradle of Filth

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS:
1. Sinking - Godhead
2. Cataclysm Children – Dimmu Borgir
3. Nymphetamine (Fix) – Cradle of Filth

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A FRIENDSHIP:
1. Someone to put up with my constant rambling
2. Someone to at least humor my taste in music
3. Someone who won’t take advantage of me

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
1. As of this writing, I have four tattoos
2. I have seen a zombie porn (and it was not arousing, but very amusing)
3. I own a Lindsay Lohan movie on DVD

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Eyes
2. Smile
3. Skin (the softness and feel of it, not the color)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Watching/researching films for artistic inspiration
2. Music – writing it and listening to it
3. Video games – currently World of Warcraft

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO RIGHT NOW:
1. Get some chili
2. Listen to Godhead
3. Sleep

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. England
2. Germany
3. Norway

THREE KID'S NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Boy or girl: Ashley (as in Ash from Evil Dead)
2. Iphigenia
3. Otis

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Shoot a film
2. Relationship? I don’t know...perhaps I’m just not meant to be in one of those things...
3. I’ve been in bands before, but we never had gigs...I’d love to play onstage sometime

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1. I like rock/metal
2. I like scary things
3. I am fascinated with death

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I have long hair
2. I actually like the arts and culture
3. I don’t like sports or cars

"Yeah. I'm onto you. You were going to put that somewhere. You're sick!"

23/5

Hmm...I can't really participate in the 5th sentence of the 23rd post thing that I noticed on Doug's and Squiggle's blogs, which ultimately came from another blog and so on...

In my 23rd post I adopted a fetus from Fetus Mart...so there's only one sentence (two, if 'Hooray fetus!' counts as a sentence) and a picture in the post.

"You spent three days on a beach drinking rum?"

Tre Ting ... Three Things

Ok, so I was at Blogger's log-in page one day and noticed in the "Blogs Updated at XX:XX" space there was "iM the dEvil'S disciple! bOw to Me oR feeL my wraTh!"...my immediate reaction was "Wow, one of my disciples started a blog!"...MWUAHAHAHAHA! It's some Asian guy named Keiki studying in Denmark...although now all the Satanic references are gone and the blog title is something like "Cum Into My Blog"...damn, lost another disciple...I guess some people just don't know how to handle being evil.

Anyways, the most recent post at the time was this "Tre Ting" (or "Three Things") post. It is not unlike my "Tritia's Questions" posts. I finally got around to sitting down and coming up with my "Three Things" answers...

THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MY CLOSET:
I actually have two closets, but only one has interesting contents:
1. I have posted up set lists from every Godhead show I’ve ever been to (except from the Jason & Mike Miller acoustic shows)
2. Mannequin parts
3. My ‘wardrobe department’ for my short films which consists of various men’s and women’s clothing.

THREE ITEMS I'VE NEVER WORN BUT STILL HAVEN'T TOSSED:
I wear everything I buy, but I still have some novelty shirts from my childhood which I cannot physically wear anymore without tearing or stretching them…like my Uff’Da shirt!

THREE THINGS I WILL NEVER GET RID OF NO MATTER HOW UGLY THEY GET:
1. My black and wilted stump of a heart
2. My bitter, foul mouth
3. My DVD collection

THREE ITEMS THAT PEOPLE WOULDN'T EXPECT TO FIND IN MY CLOSET:
1. A shirt with a panda on it
2. A bunch of stuffed animals (my ‘kids’ from a previous relationship)
3. A cricket bat.

THREE ITEMS THAT MADE ME GO, OH LORD WHAT WAS I THINKING?
1. The two Korn albums after ‘Life is Peachy’
2. That twinkie I ate last night.

THREE THINGS THAT I HAVE A SURPRISING NUMBER OF:
1. Doubts
2. Insecurities
3. DVDs

THREE DOMINANT COLORS IN MY CLOSET:
1. Black
2. Black
3. Black

THREE PEOPLE I WILL TAG:
I’m not sure what the Hell this is supposed to mean...so I’ll just assign a meaning and assume "tag" means "someone to ‘play pong’ with" (see my answers to MJ’s questions to Doug):
Now, in this fantasy everyone is single...I would never actually "tag" anyone who was in a relationship:
1. Sheri Moon Zombie
2. Lucy Lawless
3. Gina Torres

"You know nothing of Hell."

Trivia for Squiggle #19

Today's issue of Trivia for Squiggle contains useless bits of information about words/language.

451. Ballistics is the science that deals with the motion of projectiles.

452. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleicacid.

453. In 1945 a computer at Harvard malfunctioned and Grace Hopper, who was working on the computer, investigated, found a moth in one of the circuits and removed it. Ever since, when something goes wrong with a computer, it is said to have a bug in it.

454. In the 19th century, craftsmen who made hats were known to be excitable and irrational, as well as to tremble with palsy and mix up their words. Such behavior gave rise to the familiar expression "mad as a hatter". The disorder, called hatter's shakes, was caused by chronic mercury poisoning from the solution used to treat the felt. Attacking the central nervous system, the toxin led to behavioral symptoms.

455. "Long in the tooth," meaning "old," was originally used to describe horses. As horses age, their gums recede, giving the impression that their teeth are growing. The longer the teeth look, the older the horse.

456. Poor whites in Florida and Georgia are called "crackers." They got the name from their principal staple food, cracked corn. Another theory states that the name comes from the days when they would drive cattle southward using the "crack" of their bullwhips to keep the animals in line and moving.

457. "Second string," meaning "replacement or backup," comes from the middle ages. An archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke.

458. The "y" in signs reading "ye olde.." is properly pronounced with a "th" sound, not "y". The "th" sound does not exist in Latin, so ancient Roman occupied (present day) England used the rune "thorn" to represent "th" sounds. With the advent of the printing press the character from the Roman alphabet which closest resembled thorn was the lower case "y".

459. The ancient Romans built such an excellent system of roads that the saying arose "all roads lead to Rome," that is, no matter which road one starts a journey on, he will finally reach Rome if he keeps on traveling. The popular saying came to mean that all ways or methods of doing something end in the same result, no method being better than another.

460. The phrase "sleep tight" originated when mattresses were set upon ropes woven through the bed frame. To remedy sagging ropes, one would use a bed key to tighten the rope.

461. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. Actually, that's a piece of folk etymology. The phrase refers to the use of rough and ready practical experience rather than formal procedures in getting something done. It's most likely that the saying comes from carpenters using the length of the first joint of the thumb, which is about an inch long, to measure things. So "rule" refers to a ruler in the sense of measurement, not of despotism or male chauvinism. Other parts of the body were used as a ruler, too. A foot was determined by a pace, the distance from the tip of the nose to the outstretched fingers is roughly a yard, and horse heights are still measured by hands—the width of the palm and closed thumb is about four inches.

462. The ridges on the sides of coins are called reeding or milling.

463. The right side of a boat was called the starboard side due to the fact that the astronavigators used to stand out on the plank (which was on the right side) to get an unobstructed view of the stars. The left side was called the port side because that was the side that you put in on at the port.

464. The side of a hammer is a cheek.

465. The study of insects is called entomology.

466. The study of word origins is called etymology.

467. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

468. The term "dog days" has nothing to do with dogs. It dates back to Roman times, when it was believed that Sirius, the Dog Star, added its heat to that of the sun from July3 to August 11, creating exceptionally high temperatures. The Romans called the period dies caniculares, or "days of the dog."

469. The term "honeymoon" is derived from the Babylonians who declared mead, a honey-flavored wine, the official wedding drink, stipulating that the bride's parents be required to keep the groom supplied with the drink for the month following the wedding.

470. The term "throw one's hat in the ring" comes from boxing, where throwing a hat into the ring once signified a challenge. Today it nearly always signifies political candidacy.

471. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."

472. The term, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, "No eye gouging." Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified is to poke someone's eye out.

473. The two lines that connect your top lip to the bottom of your nose are known as the philtrum.

474. The word gargoyle comes down from the Old French: gargouille, meaning throat or gullet. This is also the origin of the word gargle. The word describes the sound produced as water passes the throat and mixes with air. In early architecture, gargoyles were decorative creatures on the drains of cathedrals.

475. The word 'news' did not come about because it was the plural of 'new.' It came from the first letters of the words North, East, West and South. This was because information was being gathered from all different directions.

"I do, I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment, and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you, or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future."

Trivia for Squiggle #18

Today's issue of Trivia for Squiggle contains bits and pieces about books/plays and language.

426. "The Mouse Trap," by Agatha Christie is the longest running play in history.

427. All of the roles in Shakespeare's plays were originally acted by men and boys. In England at that time, it wasn't proper for females to appear on stage.

428. All the proceeds earned from James M. Barrie's book "Peter Pan" were bequeathed to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for the Sick Children in London.

429. Barbara Bush's book about her English Springer Spaniel, Millie's book, was on the bestseller list for 29 weeks. Millie was the most popular "First Dog" in history.

430. Bilbo Baggins was born on September 22 1290.

431. Barbara Cartland is the world's top-selling author with over 500 million copies sold.

432. Ghosts appear in 4 Shakespearian plays; Julius Caesar, Richard III, Hamlet and Macbeth.

433. Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind between 1926 and 1929. In her early drafts, the main character was named "Pansy O'Hara" and the O'Hara plantation we know as Tara was called "Fountenoy Hall."

434. Of the 2200 persons quoted in the current edition of "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations," only 164 are women.

435. Professor Moriarity was Sherlock Holmes' archenemy.

436. Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brilliant detective, arrived on the mystery scene in the late nineteenth century in "A Study in Scarlet" (1887).

437. The occupations of the three men in a tub were butcher, baker, and candlestick maker.

438. The Three Musketeers names are Porthos, Athos, and Aramis (D'Artagnan joins them later.)

439. A bibliophile is a collector of rare books. A bibliopole is a seller of rare books.

440. A magic potion or charm thought to arouse sexual love, especially toward a specific person, is known as a "philter."

441. A poem written to celebrate a wedding is called an epithalamium.

442. A speleologist studies caves.

443. Anagrams amused the ancient Greeks, Romans and Hebrews, and were popular during the Middle Ages.

444. "Aromatherapy" is a term coined by French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé in the 1920's to describe the practice of using essential oils taken from plants, flowers, roots, seeds, etc., in healing.

445. Cannibalism, eating human flesh, is also called anthropophagy.

446. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

447. "Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.

448. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.

449. No term existed for "homosexuality" in ancient Greece - there were only a variety of expressions referring to specific “homosexual” roles. Greek culture in antiquity regarded male/male love in the highest regard. According to several linguists, the word "homosexual" was not coined until 1869 by the Hungarian physician Karoly Maria Benkert.

450. "Ough" can be pronounced in eight different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully.

"He was deranged he was... lunatic. He didnt seem to like me very much...he had threatened to kill me in public."
"Why would he want to kill you in public?"
"I think she meant, he threatened in public to kill her."

Trivia for Squiggle #17

This week's issue of Trivia for Squiggle contains useless bits of information about household brands/products type stuff...and other consumer-related...stuff...it's basically a general crap day...=)

401. Doctors in Canada use an adhesive similar to Krazy Glue instead of stitches, lowering the possibility of bacterial infection and minimizing scarring.

402. France is known as the perfume capital of the world.

403. 93% of all greeting cards are purchased by women.

404. 98% of houses in the United States have at least one television set.

405. A common name for pincurls is also spitcurls because woman sometimes wet their hair with their saliva before curling it.

406. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

407. A washroom that was built by Lam Sai-wing is the world's most expensive washroom. He built it for his shop and everything in the washroom is made out of gold and jewels. It cost $3.5 million to build.

408. About 26 per cent of all indoor water used by households in Sydney, Australia are for laundry.

409. About 85% or product warning labels on household products are inadequate.

410. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis invented a special diaper for babies that has a pocket.

411. America's favorite Crayola crayon color is blue.

412. Americans did not commonly use forks until after the Civil War.

413. Americans on average use about 580 pounds of paper per year per person.

414. An average home creates more pollution than does the average car.

415. An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.

416. Ancient Egyptian women used to wear perfume cones made of wax that would melt in the heat letting out a nice fragrance.

417. Approximately 10.5 gallons of water is used in a dishwasher. Washing the dishes by hand can use up to 20 gallons of water.

418. Approximately 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year. These diapers can takes as long as 500 years to finally decompose.

419. Approximately 60% of the water used by households during the summer is used for watering flowers, and lawns.

420. Austria was the very first country to use postcards starting in 1869.

421. Babies who wear disposable diapers are five times more likely to develop diaper rash than those that wear cotton diapers.

422. Barbie's boyfriend Ken was not sold in India until recently because it clashed with the traditional arranged marriage.

423. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

424. BluBlocker sunglasses were developed with lenses that were used in the NASA space program for American astronauts.

425. By partially filling saucers with vinegar and distributing the saucers around a room, you can eliminate odors.

"Evil will always triumph because good is dumb."