Thursday Thirteen #27
Posted in Thursday Thirteen and tagged with meme, Thursday Thirteen on 01/17/2008 12:42 am by Grace 
13 FACTS THAT AMUSED ME
1. There are square watermelons in Japan - they stack better. I have seen this!
2. A ten year old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new, because of the -ahem- debris which is absorbed through the years. That debris includes dust mites (their droppings and their decaying bodies), mold, millions of dead skin cells, dandruff, animal and human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil, sand and a lot of perspiration, of which the average person loses a quart per day. Good night! Yuck The mattress we are using now is just 11 months old.
3. Former keyboard player for Jethro Tull David Palmer is now a woman named Dee Palmer. He waited until his wife died before going through with his longtime desire for a sex change. Don’t believe this? Google!
4. It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is “shake” and the 46th word from the last word is “spear”. Coincidence?
5. The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel fuel that it burns. What a waste!
6. If you were to spell out numbers, you would you have to go until 1,000 until you would find the letter “A”. I nearly attempted to do this one. I stopped at fifty.
7. In all three Godfather films, when you see oranges, there is a death (or a very close call) coming up soon. Gotta check the movie!
8. When George Lucas was mixing the American Graffiti soundtrack, he numbered the reels of film starting with an R and numbered the dialog starting with a D. Sound designer Walter Murch asked George for Reel 2, Dialog 2 by saying “R2D2″. George liked the way that sounded so much he integrated that into another project he was working on. Great to know R2D2’s history!
9. Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again: 80
Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same man: 50
Would you?
10. The Nike swoosh was designed by a Portland State University student, and purchased by Nike for $35. I don’t want to ask how he feels after Nike became popular!
11. The day after President George W. Bush was reelected, Canada’s main immigration website had 115,000 visitors. Before Bush’s re-election, this site averaged about 20,000 visitors each day. Go figure.
12. Mark Twain was born on a day in 1835 when Halley’s Comet came into view. When he died in 1910, Halley’s Comet was in view again. Maybe he came and left with it?
13. The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid. Amazing they even got photos!!
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January 17th, 2008 at 1:59 am
I should totally save the stuff I see on the web like the square watermelons. Great job!
witchypoo’s last blog post..Meme on Good Household Tips
January 17th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Re #9, yes, I would remarry the same man.
Happy TT.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:50 am
darn .. niagara falls did freeze.. that must have been really really reallly realllllllllllllllly cold
ideru’s last blog post..Japanese Thursday: Lawsuit
January 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I’m still in awe over the square watermelons… now I’m picturing square tomatoes and apples and oranges. Weird!
January 17th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Fun trivia!
I’m going to try and Google the square watermelons. 
Candy’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen # 13
January 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Square watermelons are a fantastic idea. But why doesn’t it surprise me that they were actually invented in Japan? LOL
I loved the discrepancy between what men and women said in #9. Men are probably just easier to satisfy.
And I really would have loved to see the frozen Niagara Falls. The photos look awesome.
And the amount of obscure facts you dug up is quite impressive.
samulli’s last blog post..I Am Legend
January 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I don’t know about square watermelons, but here in Israel we developed seedless ones years a number of years ago. My kids can’t eat watermelon in the States, they have no idea what to do with all the seeds LOL.
I’m REALLY wishing I hadn’t read that about the mattress though. Yuck!
Robin’s last blog post..TT - What the Heck Is Tu B’Shvat?
January 17th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Love your list! But I’m going to have to see the square watermelons to believe that!!!
beth’s last blog post..You Should Probably Log Off Now
January 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
#9..my first husband…i would never, ever remarry!!! although, got a couple of extremely gorgeous kids from that marriage. #2…for sure i would remarry!!
that was a terrific list!!
happy tt
January 17th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Those were fun reading facts, minus the mattress funk
Starrlight’s last blog post..Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - Thursday Thirteen #35
January 17th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Yes, I would marry the same man. I wouldn’t marry anyone else, though. #2…ick!
Congratulations on being selected as a featured blogger today!
Lori’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen # 73
January 17th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
#12 is a lovely thought.
Intriguing and informative list!
Nancy Bond’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #51
January 17th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
That’s a fun list, Grace! Thanks for sharing it. I would marry the same man again - would you? The mattress thing is just gross - so I could have lived another day without knowing that….
On a Limb with Claudia’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen - Start a revolution
January 17th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
And here I thought it was getting harder to turn the mattresses every season because I was getting weaker…. eeeuuww.
And re #9: absolutely.
Darla’s last blog post..Contest!
January 17th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Superb list, especially when you are the featured T13 for the week.
I learned something new about Jethro Tull, love the group.
My list is up.
Penelope Anne’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #16 - In the Kitchen
January 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
#2 COMPLETELY grossed me out!!! But to answer #9, I would absolutely marry my husband again. I’d just never, ever again have a wedding. Waste of money AND sanity!
Tiffany’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #11
January 17th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I love these lists of trivia. I have a way of remembering unimportant facts better than those which have some real meaning in my life. Thanks for sharing. Yes, I would definitely remarry my husband! I’m getting either a water bed or an air mattress - something plastic that can be hosed down!
Eve’s last blog post..Good Things
January 17th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
That is a fantastic TT. I thought I knew a bunch of trivia, but I did not know a single one of those. Great, great job. Congrats on being the featured TT this week, you deserve it with this post!
Vixen’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #27
January 17th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
*gags* I think I need a new mattress!!!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Square watermelons? Really?
Wow! How do they do that?!
Tiffany’s last blog post..My New Blog Design is Beautiful!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Most of these are new for me especially the square watermelons!!!! #2 kinda grossed me out. My mattresses are 6 years old. ICK.
The Land of Rozz’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen - Edition #1 - Guilty Pleasures
January 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Wow! Great list! The only fact I knew was #2. Those are neat..
Happy TT!
January 17th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Congratulations on being the featured blog this week, Grace!
I’m off to google images of square watermelons, to find if anyone has taken a photo of one.
You have just given me a reason to buy a new mattress.
Happy TT!
Christine’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen~Thirteen of my Dream Vacations
January 18th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Fun stuff. Yes I would marry the same man and I’ve had 33 years to change my mind.
ellen b’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #11 ~ Moisiisms
January 18th, 2008 at 2:49 am
I’ve seen the photos of Niagara Falls frozen. Pretty cool to think that much water, flowing so strongly could freeze.
Laura’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #10: Beat the Creative Blahs
January 18th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Congrats on the featured blogger award! Go you!
Loved the list by the way. I learned a lot of trivia from it…I adore trivia.
Have a great day.
~Harris.
Harris Channing’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen Edition #3
January 18th, 2008 at 5:12 am
I love trivia! Useless knowledge is power.
Thanks for stopping by my Reverse Psychology Edition!
cajunvegan’s last blog post..Reverse Psychology Works for Me (TT 29)
January 18th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I think #4 probably is a coincidence. Life is full of coincidences you’d never get away with in fiction. I totally believe #11 because the day after that election friends of ours made enquiries about moving to Australia!
January 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Those square watermelons are funny, aren’t they? It does make sense though.
#2 just grosses me out. I’m going to try to forget I read that!
tanabata’s last blog post..an afternoon with Jane
January 18th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Congrats on being featured on TT. I liked the list of facts. Here is a little more about the nike swoosh - It was actually a female (Carolyn Davidson) who designed it and in 1983 she got lots of stock for further compensation.
violetkey’s last blog post..Goals 2008
January 20th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Great trivia Grace! You inspire me to start doing Thursday Thirteen - but I’m not sure I have 13 things to list every Thursday!
sd-b’s last blog post..A Deer Runs the Dubai 10k
January 21st, 2008 at 5:54 am
It’s my first time to see these square melons. I hope I could see these in the supermarket here.
shiera’s last blog post..For now, Sayonara