This thread is for random facts and stories that aren't important to warrant their own thread, but that are interesting enough that you think other people might find them worth reading. I often find short things on the web that I don't want to write up into a full length post, and that don't really seem to fit the idea of a "lounge" thread, and I would imagine that other posters here do as well.
Here's a couple to get us started.
According to one estimate, 20% of American college students are "Book Virgins", that is, they have never read an adult-level book in their lives. Colleges are attempting to find easy to read books for their students for freshman reading week, because entrants can no longer even handle moderately complex works such as "The Old Man and the Sea" on their own.
The University of Arizona has been forced to disavow a visiting gender studies professor from France, who identifies as a Hippopotamus. Quotes the professor in his published journal article: "“I do strongly love when my friends call me ‘hippo,’ refer to my ‘paws’ and pretend that they see no difference between me and one of my stuffed hippopotamuses, except that I’m a little bigger than most of them."
Some ancient Zen Buddhist monasteries were located on mountains where cats were not allowed. It was thought that seeing cute cats would interfere with the soul's entry into paradise, because entering paradise requires a monk to be rid of all earthly attachments, and the monk might see the cat and think, "Hey, a world with cute cats isn't so bad after all. Maybe I'll just stay here instead of going to paradise."
Feel free to comment on any of this, or post your own random trivia or small, strange stories you've encountered in your web-browsing.
Here's a couple to get us started.
According to one estimate, 20% of American college students are "Book Virgins", that is, they have never read an adult-level book in their lives. Colleges are attempting to find easy to read books for their students for freshman reading week, because entrants can no longer even handle moderately complex works such as "The Old Man and the Sea" on their own.
The University of Arizona has been forced to disavow a visiting gender studies professor from France, who identifies as a Hippopotamus. Quotes the professor in his published journal article: "“I do strongly love when my friends call me ‘hippo,’ refer to my ‘paws’ and pretend that they see no difference between me and one of my stuffed hippopotamuses, except that I’m a little bigger than most of them."
Some ancient Zen Buddhist monasteries were located on mountains where cats were not allowed. It was thought that seeing cute cats would interfere with the soul's entry into paradise, because entering paradise requires a monk to be rid of all earthly attachments, and the monk might see the cat and think, "Hey, a world with cute cats isn't so bad after all. Maybe I'll just stay here instead of going to paradise."
Feel free to comment on any of this, or post your own random trivia or small, strange stories you've encountered in your web-browsing.