Chocolate And Burnt Wine Are On The Fact Menu Today.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes chocolate and ‘burnt wine’ are just two of the delicious facts on today’s menu.

So time to tuck in and….

Enjoy.

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facts 04

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About 40 percent of almonds

and 20 percent of peanuts

produced in the world are

made for chocolate products.

chocolate covered almonds

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The word “brandy“ derives

from the Dutch word “brandewijn“,

which means “burnt wine“.

brandewijn

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On May 2, 2011,

a well-trained Malinois dog named Cairo

accompanied the US Navy SEALs

who killed Osama Bin Laden.

Even though there aren’t many details

about this secret but successful operation,

every member of the team guarantees that

the outcome might not have been as

successful if Cairo wasn’t present to help.

Malinois SEAL dog Cairo

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After alcohol, marijuana is

the second most popular recreational

or mood-altering substance in the world.

marijuana plant

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The first human space fatality was

Vladimir Komarov (a close friend of Yuri Gagarin)

who commanded the Soyuz 1 mission on April 2, 1967.

After a successful stay in space,

Soyuz 1 re-entered the atmosphere,

but when its parachutes failed to deploy,

the impact led to his death.

Vladimir Komarov

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J.K. Rowling,

author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series,

is the first person to become a

billionaire (U.S. dollars)

by writing books.

J.K. Rowling

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The term “First Lady” was used first in 1849

when President Zachary Taylor called

Dolley Madison “First Lady” at her state funeral.

It gained popularity in 1877 when used

in reference to Lucy Ware Webb Hayes.

Most First Ladies, including Jackie Kennedy,

are said to have hated the label.

dolley_madison_stamp

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There is a popular myth that the

Great Wall of China is visible from the Moon,

however, since it would be like viewing a

human hair from a distance of about 2 miles,

this myth is not true.

earth great wall from the moon

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In Australia

the town Coober Pedy is underground,

made from old abandoned mines.

In the extremely hot, sunny days

of the Australian summer it provides

a cool environment or its inhabitants.

coober_pedy_house

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A muscular person has a higher alcohol tolerance

than someone with more body fat.

Water-rich muscle tissues absorb alcohol more effectively,

preventing it from reaching the brain.

So if you plan to get Arnold Schwarzenegger drunk it’ll cost you!

arnold-schwarzenegger-movies__span

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At 4:05 P.M. Moscow Time on

Wednesday, September 7, 2011,

Yak-Service Flight 9633,

carrying the players and coaching staff

of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team,

crashed near the Russian city of Yaroslavl.

The aircraft ran off the runway before lifting off,

struck a tower mast, caught fire and crashed

2 km (1.2 mi) from Tunoshna Airport

at the Volga River bank.

Of the 45 on board, 43 died at the crash site,

one of the two rescued from the wreck, Alexander Galimov,

died five days later in hospital,

and only the avionics flight engineer,

Alexander Sizov, survived.

Alexander-Sizov-44-fatalities

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Ants can “enslave“ individual ants

from other ant species,

keeping them captive and making

them do work for the colony.

ant-slavery

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Once a month, Clothing Optional Dinners,

a dining club in Manhattan, New York,

founded by nudist activist John J. Ordover,

hosts a naked dinning party.

Diners must bring something to sit on

(for example a towel),

the staff, however, must always stay clothed.

Clothing-Optional-Dinners-Manhattan

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In 1841 Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story now

considered to be the first modern detective story.

It was called “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”

and the key character was a detective named Mr. Dupin.

The story, has served as a model for

many subsequent fictional detectives

including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.

Edgar ALlan Poe - The Murders in the Rue Morgue

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The ‘High heel race’, held in cities such as

Sydney, Paris, Moscow or Amsterdam,

is a running event in which the participants

must overcome a distance of 80 meters (around 260 feet)

running on high heels

that have to be at least 7 cm (2.8 inches)high.

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And here are a few more high heel disasters to enjoy….

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aFrankAngle’s A-to-Z Challenge On Fasab

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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My blog friend Frank over at A Frank Angle came up with the idea of doing a post based on an alphabetical listing of a selection of his previous posts. An interesting idea and a good way to introduce more recent readers to some of the things they might otherwise have missed.

Of course, Frank couldn’t leave it at that, so he threw out a challenge for others to try to do the same for their blogs. And guess who couldn’t resist the challenge!

So here you are, for new and long term readers of this blog, a alphabetical journey through some of the files of Fasab!

Enjoy.

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afaa2zbadge

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A is for….

Awkward Moments, (Part One, Part Two and Part Three), a short series of amusing anecdotes of times when things didn’t go quite right.

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B is for….

Banksters, one of my perpetual hate figures and the subject of numerous rants such as this one

Are The Banksters Guilty Of Treason Against The Nation?

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C is for….

Classifieds, a long running series of funny classified ads that turned out rather differently to the original intent, for example Part Three and Part Fourteen

And also for factoids about Chocolate and Coffee which people seemed to enjoy

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D is for….

Dogs. I make no secret of the fact that I am very fond of dogs, and German Shepherds in particular. You won’t get a better or more loyal companion and friend. I’ve done several doggie posts, this one has been the most popular,

Sometimes Dogs Know More Than We Give Them Credit For

And for Dear Abbey, no blog like this would be complete without a few letters from Joe Public seeking advice for some of their most disturbing problems.

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E is for….

Education, the lack of, as evidenced by these student exam answers, Part One and Part Two

And also for Emergency Room, some amusing anecdotes from the medical world.

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F is for….

Facebook, in particular the disastrous launch of the company on to the stock market which inspired the longest alliterated blog post title so far

Furious Flabbergasted Facebook Fools Face Frightening Falls From Fanciful Flagging Financial Flotation Farce

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G is for….

The Great Escape, a short story aout an intrepid group of construction workers held hostage by Saddam Hussein before the outbreak of the first war with Iraq

And also for a Glass Of Milk being raised in tribute to Samuel J Porcello, the man who made Oreos what they are today.

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H is for….

Has to be for The Late Great Mr Harry Meadows, an old fellow whose efforts to spice up life in an English nursing home didn’t quite work out as intended.

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I is for….

I Miss Him, and I Miss Him Two, a nostalgic look back at some of the wonderful statements of President George W Bush.

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J is for….

The Journey, an eight part story of an eventful and amusing journey from Dublin, Ireland to the Caribbean, by way of Miami, Florida. This was one of the first things I wrote for this blog and published before there was much viewing traffic

Dublin Airport,  –   Reconfigured And Stuck,  –   The Three Hour Stopover,  –   What Color Was It?   –  Just A Trip To The Mall,   –  Miami Twice, Lost In That Is,   –  Bags And Bags And Bags Of Bother,  and  Finally, I Made It!

K is for….

Korea, my take on the current posturing and politics concerning North and South Korea,

Is Obama Making A Bad Korea Move?

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L is for….

A Long Love Affair, a short story about my own geeky love affair with computers during the past few decades.

And for Lost In The Fog, a short story about Tommy who managed to get completely lost in the field beside his house.

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M is for….

The MilPost Blog Award, another thing inspired by Frank who was the first blogger to receive this prestigious award only given to those few bloggers who have posted 1,000 times or more on their blog. If you know of anyone who is eligible to receive it please let me know.

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N is for….

Numbers, an on going series of factoids about numbers and their meanings and associations, that has surprised me in the numbers of people viewing them. So far the most popular number is Twenty-Three 23.

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O is for….

One Small Step For Man, a tribute on hearing of the death of Neil Armstrong the first man to set foot on the Moon. There are differing views on how Mr Gorsky fared, but I hope he did okay!

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P is for….

No, you’re all wrong. P is for my loving tribute to the wonderful invention knows as Peanut Butter.

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Q is for….

Quiz Show Answers, a very funny and long running series about the dumb answers given by contestants on various TV and radio quizzes over the years. Like this for example,

It’s Monday And That Means Some More Quiz Show Answers

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R is for….

Revenge Of The First Graders, part of a short series of guess the logo quizzes, apparently kids can recognize about 200 of these by the time they are ready for the first grade!

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S is for….

Stupidity, one of the foundation stones of this blog. No one is immune, especially not politicians and lawyers.

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T is for….

Tarzan and Travel Agents, both of whom made an appearance on the fasab blog.

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U is for….

US Politics And Foreign Policy For Dummies, sometimes it takes a kid to show us how absurd the world of adults really is!

And ‘U’ is for Up, as in People Hardly Ever Look Up, Sometimes They Should!

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V is for….

Versatile Blogger Award. Actually that should be ‘awards’ the first nomination from Alex way back when this blog was barely two months old, and subsequently from Sunny and Wendy. The Fasab blog has also been nominated for the Illuminating Blogger Award (Kenton), Sunshine Award (Wendy again) and the Kreative Blogger Award (Nabdip). My sincere thanks to everyone who though this blog worthy of nomination and I will get round to doing a proper awards page I promise.

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W is for….

Word Play. Yes, you were right, just in the wrong place. I like puns and they feature almost every week somewhere in my blog. So like them, or hate them, or like to hate them, or even hate to like them, you’re sure to find some here.

Why Are Puns So Popular?

Word Play, Bad Jokes, Whatever You Call Them They’re Still Pun To Me

It’s Thursday And That Means Another Excuse For A Few More Bad Jokes

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X is for….

X-rated, a steamy tension filled post about My Morning In Bed With Derek. Read it if you dare!

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Y is for….

Your Country Needs You, a story about a friend’s unusual introduction to the military world.

And You’re Too Stupid To Own A Computer, about pc owners and technical helplines!

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Z is for….

Zero, there are no ‘Z’ posts on this blog, unless the ones that put you to sleep reading them!

I suppose I could have used some of the quiz or puzzle posts, but that’s a bit of a cop out.

I hope this means that Fasab has yet to reach its zenith.

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So that’s it, the Fasab A – Z. Feel free to click any or all of the links that take your fancy, and, as always, enjoy!

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Frank has asked me to remind everyone that no nominations are required to take part in the A2Z challenge, so why not have a go. It’s a bit of work, but fun too, and it gives you the excuse to look over some of your old posts.
The details are on Frank’s blog. To go there, click here!

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One For The Rod

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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How about a short story of love, betrayal, and revenge to end the week?

Enjoy.

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The divorce had just become final and she was preparing to remove all her remaining belongings from what had been “their” house.

On the first day, she sadly packed her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.

On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things.

On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining-room table, by candle-light. She put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of spring-water.

When she had finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into the hollow centre of the curtain rods.

Then she cleaned up the kitchen and left.

On the fourth day, her ex-husband came back to the house with his new girlfriend, and at first all was bliss.

Then, slowly, the house began to smell.

They tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and airing-out the place.

smellyhouse2

Vents were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned.

Air fresheners were hung everywhere.

Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which time the two had to move out for a few days.

In the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.

Nothing worked!

People stopped coming over to visit.

Repairmen refused to work in the house.

The maid quit.

smellyhouse1

Finally, the ex and his new girl couldn’t take the stench any longer, and decided they had to move.

But a month later – even though they’d cut their price in half – they couldn’t find a buyer for such a stinky house.

Word got out, and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls.

Finally, unable to wait any longer for a purchaser, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to buy a new place.

It was then that she called her ex-husband and asked how things were going.

He told her the saga of the rotting house.

She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for having the house.

He was so desperate to get rid of the unsaleable house, that he agreed on a price that was only 1/10 th of what the house had been worth.

And because he knew she could have no idea how bad the smell really was, he wasn’t going to give her any time to visit the place again.

The deal was good only if she would sign the papers that very day!

She agreed.

Within two hours his lawyers delivered the completed paperwork which she duly signed.

A week later her ex-husband and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home…….

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……and to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain rods too!

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Aren’t happy endings just great?

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