King Ludwig II, ruler of Bavaria from 1864 until 1886, is one of Germany’s more colorful characters. His reign coincided with huge political changes in Germany, including the push for unification of the German territories led by Prussia. However, Ludwig preferred designing and building elaborate castles to political maneuvering, and had a special fondness for […]

Like most people, I always assume people are telling the truth and have my best interests at heart. So naturally, I have been delighted at the large number of highly enticing offers that appear in my inbox every day. People sometimes call these spam, which must mean they enjoy them as much as that delicious, […]

To the best of my recollection, I’ve never been lost in the woods (or elsewhere away from civilization)—or at least not sufficiently lost that I didn’t have a general sense of which direction I needed to go. But if I were, I’d have many options for getting my bearings. I recall learning, as a kid, […]

According to popular mythology, male celebrities (and especially leading men on the big screen) are supposed to be tall, dark, and handsome. But many a successful actor, filmmaker, and singer has risen to great heights in the industry without having his head in the clouds—including some larger-than-life action heroes. Speaking as someone who can see […]

Taking as a starting point my short list in Museums of Interesting Things at Interesting Thing of the Day, I set out to discover other small museums that specialize in just one specific (and typically rather odd) subject matter. I thought I’d find a few more; it turns out there are dozens. Here’s a mere […]

For some reason, hair salons, more than most other kinds of businesses, tend to come up with names involving bad puns. There’s the ever-popular Curl Up and Dye, which appears in numerous cities, and many other names involving plays on words like cut, snip, shear, and head. Here for your amusement are some actual salons […]

Before we had precise, standardized units of measure such as meters and feet, lengths (and even, ocasionally volumes) were reckoned based on the average dimensions of human body parts. In Body-Based Units of Measurement at Interesting Thing of the Day, I listed a few such historical units of measure, which can still come in handy […]

Fans of Inside the Actor’s Studio are familiar with James Lipton’s list of questions, which he poses to each of his guests at the end of an interview. Lipton always gives credit for this list to French talk show host Bernard Pivot, who hosted Apostrophes from 1975–1990 and Bouillon de Culture from 1990–2001; he often […]

For some reason, the seemingly simple task of hard-boiling an egg appears to be very confusing, and numerous techniques have sprung up to demystify it. Of course, you’re looking for a yolk that’s firm but not dry (or green!), a shell that remains intact during boiling, and, preferably, an egg that’s easy to peel. What […]

Ah, the martini. This simple and elegant pairing of gin and dry vermouth is always classy, but impossible to get right, because everyone has a different idea of the proper way to make one. There’s the whole shaken-or-stirred issue, of course, and the question of whether a martini made with vodka instead of gin is […]

The SPCA and most responsible veterinarians will tell you that you should never, ever declaw a cat. This is comparable to cutting off your finger at the first knuckle; it’s inhumane and can have seriously negative long-term effects. But there are other ways to keep your cat from scratching up the furniture. For example: Trim […]

Alanis Morissette takes the cake with no fewer than three list songs her album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie [Buy from Amazon.com]: Thank U (Thank you India/Thank you terror/Thank you disillusionment…) Are You Still Mad? (Are you still mad i kicked you out of bed?/Are you still mad i gave you ultimatums?/Are you still mad i […]

When I go to Las Vegas, I always enjoy taking in a show or two. You can always find magic shows, comedians, and musical acts of all sorts, as well as burlesque and family-oriented production shows and a few hard-to-categorize acts like Blue Man Group. And then there’s Cirque du Soleil, the artsy Montréal-based circus […]

One day I glanced at the ingredients on a bottle of Chinese Five Spice in my spice rack and was confused to see that it contained not five, but six spices. When I tried to figure out which was the rogue sixth spice, I ran into some trouble, because in fact there are several different […]

As I described in Rise of the Bagel at Interesting Thing of the Day, I’m a big bagel fan from way back, but I can’t get over the way some people insist on treating a bagel like a piece of bread or a dinner roll. It’s a wonderful, unique food with a distinctively crunchewy texture, […]

The idea that there are dozens of Eskimo words for snow is (mostly) an urban myth, but in English, we have at least eight different terms for a snow crust. These are from the Glossary of Meteorology at the American Meteorological Society by way of Interesting Thing of the Day: snow crust: the general term […]

When you think of The B-52’s, the songs that first come to mind may be Rock Lobster and Love Shack. But as you review the band’s entire oeuvre, stretching back to 1979, the biggest theme that emerges is songs making some reference to outer space. Vocalist Fred Schneider is not only a major Star Trek […]

Quick, name something that was invented in San Francisco! You probably thought of Rice-a-Roni, and you’d be right. You’d also be right if you said the television, fortune cookies, the slot machine, bay windows, or any of these famous beverages: The Martini (maybe) The Cosmopolitan (probably) Irish Coffee (sort of) The Mai Tai The Mimosa […]

Because a significant portion of my livelihood depends on Apple’s computers and software, I have more than a passing interest in every new product announcement. But I have never entirely understood the infamous Mac rumor mill. In the days and weeks leading up to any conference or press event, especially if Steve Jobs is delivering […]

Where else but Las Vegas can you see a different magic show every day of the week (and then some)? In fact, even with the unfortunate disappearance of Siegfried and Roy from the stage, no fewer than ten major magic shows, most of which run year-round, are playing in Las Vegas during 2006. Lance Burton: […]