 | by Jason - Wednesday, April 29, 2009
| | I'm writing this week's newsletter alone, huddled close to the wall in a relative's house. My stockpile of food - a day-old bagel, a perfectly ripe banana, an Arizona Iced-T and a pack of Orbit gum - should last me several hours. To the outside observer, I'd appear to have a case of swine flu mania. But really I'm just waiting out the pest control company drilling hazardous chemicals into the foundation of our house (we're at war with a termite colony). And since I forgot my extension cord - and because my laptop battery is suddenly worthless - I'm stranded near the outlet.
Because I'm in seclusion and watched a wee bit too much cable news this morning, I could use some happier thoughts. So here are two stories from Miss Cellania's recent 'Weird Week in Review':
Saved by the Bra! Who knew undergarments could offer this much support? An unnamed 57-year-old Detroit woman has her life today, and it's all thanks to her bra. Last Tuesday morning, she witnessed a group of burglars breaking into a neighbor's house. When they saw her, one of the men fired a shot. Thankfully, our witness was wearing protection, and the bullet miraculously deflected off of her bra's underwire. She was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspects fled and were not apprehended at the time.
84-year-old Beats Up Muggers
84-year old Ted Mazetier of Tacoma, Washington, stopped to help what appeared to be stranded motorists Wednesday, April 22. But apparently, the scene was just a ruse. The two men jumped Mazetier and punched him in the face. Amazingly, Mazetier, a World War II veteran and former prison guard, fought back. He kicked both men, getting one in belly and the other in the groin, and managed to slow down their escape. The two fled as quickly as they could, but were arrested soon after.
If an old man can beat up muggers, and a bra can save your life, I'm guessing we all stand a pretty good chance against this flu-thing.
| | Happy thoughts,
Jason
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| | | THIS WEEK's THEME:
ORIGINAL NAMES
Our insanely interesting fact:
Marketers changed the name of rapeseed oil to canola oil to boost sales.  Can you out-trivia us? | Last Issue's Theme was "HIGHER LEARNING". The winners (and their facts) are:
| 1) Dooley Wilson, who played Sam (of "Play it again Sam" fame) in Casablanca, could not play the piano.
-Bernie Olejniczak | 2) College of the Ozarks ranks in the top five for "Stone-Cold Sober" colleges in the U.S. Meanwhile, the majority of their students graduate completely debt free. -Kristy Stiber | 3) It is believed that collegiate fraternities and sororities arose from an organization called The Flat Hat Society, which was founded by Thomas Jefferson.
-Michael Hans | Congratulations to all of you... you should be receiving your T-shirts by Pony Express any day now!
| | Oh, and even if your fact doesn't win you some swag, it could win you some fame! The best user-submitted facts will go into our Amazing Fact Generator.
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| Miss Cellania
Miss Cellania is a mother, full-time blogger, former radio announcer, and Baby Boomer. In addition to mental_floss, she contributes to Neatorama, YesButNoButYes, and Geeks Are Sexy. She also maintains her own site, MissCellania.com. Miss C considers herself an expert on no particular subject at all.
Miss Cellania's Archive: | | From the mental_floss Twitter account...
Carolyn Davidson, a student at Portland State, designed the Nike swoosh for $35 in 1971. She later received Nike stock and a "swoosh" diamond ring.
Items prohibited for sale on eBay include tobacco, coin-operated slot machines, used underwear, and teacher's editions of textbooks.
Before you cook up a scheme to sell blueprints of transit facilities or flight attendant uniforms, know those are banned, too.
M&M's actually stands for "Mars & Murrie's," the last names of the candy's founders.
Hair-loss treatment Propecia was originally developed to treat prostate enlargement.
The company that manufactures and sells Ginsu knives is actually owned by Warren Buffett.
Betty Rubble's maiden name was McBricker.
The Beatles were assaulted by a Filipino mob after accidentally snubbing Imelda Marcos in 1966.
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