"Our Oscar Debut":: Issue 277 Mon., Feb 27, 2012

Issue 277:: Monday, February 27, 2012 by Jason English  MOST POPULAR POSTS  1  14 Movie Cameos by the Authors of the Original Books  2  Thomas Edison's Eccentric Job Interview Questions  3  10 Amazing Letters Sent by Presidents  4  Challenge Accepted: 8 Inspiring Stories  5  Who's the One on the Left? 22 Famous Pairs Explained Last night we made our Oscar debut. No, we weren't nominated, or in the gift bags. But Moby brought some reading material to the red carpet, and Marie Joelle Parent posted the photo above on Instagram. Moby even tweeted about it: "In the car headed to Kodak theater. Stopped at a newsstand to get 'mental floss', too. So now I can read about kangaroos and their shame." That's usually all the excitement we can take for one Sunday. But if there were an Oscar for Best Use of Twitter during an Awards Show - which might be more of an Emmy thing, or a Webby, or just some BS award we'd present ourselves in a staff meeting - we might have gotten nominated. Here are just a few of the fun facts Stacy, Colin, Bill, Meg and Josh came up with: * According to the Los Angeles Times, Oscar voters are 94% white and 77% male. Only 14% of voters are under 50. * In 1979, Oscar host Johnny Carson joked, "I see a lot of new faces here. Especially on the old faces." * Billy Crystal passed on voicing Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. He said it's the only role he regrets not taking. * Melissa McCarthy and Jenny McCarthy are cousins. * In 1998 Miss Piggy released her own perfume, "Moi." Kermit had previously debuted a cologne called "Amphibia." * Jonah Hill's dad was the accountant for Guns N' Roses. He went on tour with the band. * "When you see who wins those things-or who doesn't win them-you can see how meaningless this Oscar thing is." - Woody Allen * In 1972, Nick Nolte was the cover model on the packaging of Clairol's 'Summer Blonde' hair lightener. * One of the ingredients for tonight's post-Oscar banquet: 25 pounds of edible gold dust. I missed the part where the accountants wander onto the stage - maybe they did away with that entirely. So I didn't get to use this accounting tidbit: * After the IRS seized Willie Nelson's assets in 1990, he sued Price Waterhouse for $45 million, claiming the accounting firm had his money in ill-advised tax shelters. They later settled. Let's do this again for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. If you know any great facts about tiny nations, send them over. Cheers! Jason flossyjason@gmail.com   Featured Quiz Jeremy Lin is on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the second straight week. Can you name the other athletes who've done that? And now...a sneak preview of our new Fun Issue! It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses a Car Giant SuperBalls: The Toy Industry's Most Potent Weapon The SuperBall's super dense, rubbery construction makes it undeniably bouncy ... and hilarious! At the height of the fad, Wham-O produced more than 170,000 SuperBalls a day just to keep up with demand. Of course, what the toy company didn't tell people was that too much SuperBall could be dangerous-and there was at least one Australian car owner who can attest to the toy's amazing destructive capabilities. In the late 1960s, manufacturer Wham-O made a giant ball as a promotional item. The super-SuperBall was roughly the size of a bowling ball; according to our math, that means it contained roughly 300 times as much fun. We know what you're thinking: What could possibly go wrong? Disaster struck when the mega-sphere slipped out of a 23rd-floor window during a promotional trip to Melbourne. The orb hit the ground, shot all the way back up to the 15th floor, and then crashed into a parked convertible on its path back down. Amazingly, the ball wasn't worse for wear, but the car was totaled. Good luck explaining that one to your insurance company. The new issue hits stands this week! Be sure to check it out. Disclaimer: All submissions made to mental_floss become the property of Mental Floss Inc and may be used without further permission by the submitter and without compensation to the submitter. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not submit anything to mental_floss. Contents of this newsletter are copyright © 2012 Mental Floss Inc. All rights reserved. Mental Floss is a registered trademark owned by Felix Dennis. mentalfloss.com is a trademark owned by Felix Dennis. Free email newsletter subscriptions are for personal, non-commercial use only. Reprint and redistribution rights may be subject to licensing fees. Please contact trivia@mentalfloss.com for more information. Privacy Policy

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