Random musings from a "rabid" reader. The title comes from my admiration of John Updike and his Rabbit Angstrom series.When I read a review of a book I have not read, I only read enough to get a general idea of the content. If it sounds interesting, I make a note of the review, read the book, and only then do I go back and read the review completely. I intend these short musings to convey that spirit and idea to the readers of "RabbitReader." --Chiron
Monday, October 05, 2009
Bla Bla: 600 Incredibly Useless Facts by Fredrik Colting & Carl-Johan Gadd
Sometimes, the weather, the mood, the moment require an otherwise discriminating reader to pick up a piece of shear fluff. I felt like this yesterday after grading some really depressingly awful essays. This book was fun, and here are some of my favorites:
“In 1970, Soviet scientists tried to train cats to control robots. The attempt failed.”
No kidding.
“All polar bears are left handed.”
How did they determine this fact?
“The earth weighs about 5,924,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons.
Ditto, and why metric? Don’t they know the US is the last stubborn hold out for the English system? Time for a diet, no?
“There are over 500 recognized phobias. One of the most rare is sciophobia – the fear of shadows.”
Who knew? Is this how shadow boxing came to be invented? Does The Shadow know this?
“If a squid is extremely hungry, it can eat its own arms.”
I don’t even know what to say about this one.
“Kangaroos are lactose intolerant.”
Soy what? (So what?) Pun. Intended.
--Chiron, 10/4/09
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