RSS Feed | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader

Toilet Paper News

Thom — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:45:16 +0000

Because you can't get good toilet paper news just anywhere.

• Interesting toilet paper holders.

• The toilet paper wedding dress. (I do. Eww.)

• Newark, New Jersey mayor: No toilet paper for city offices. (Read it and wipe weep.)

• One more thing to do at work that's not work!

• Say hello to my two-ply friend!

• Toilet papers of the rich and stupid.

• And finally: What your toilet paper does during a tornado:

HUGO, Minnesota – As residents in Hugo begin to move on from last week's tornado, some say they noticed a few bizarre things amid all the damage. Jason Akins said the twister unwound a roll of toilet paper in his bathroom — draped it across the countertop, then rewound it in the sink. The toilet paper didn't even rip.

"All I could say was, 'You have got to be kidding me,'" Akins recalled.

Porter Says: Happy National Dog Day! (and random drawing)

BRI — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:02:08 +0000

Our favorite dog, Porter is celebrating today. It is National Dog Day! To help celebrate with him, comment below (or on our Facebook page) with your favorite dog breed and be entered in a random drawing to win Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Dog Lover's Companion!

Can't wait till April 25 – Don't Step In The Dog Poop Day!

You have till Sunday (Aug 29) midnight PST to enter.

Cat-Trashing Lady: "It Was a Joke"

Thom — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:02:06 +0000

If you haven't seen this story, get a wallet or something to bite on first:

Mary Bale, 45, was caught on CCTV petting four-year-old tabby cat Lola before picking her up, tossing her into a trash can and closing the lid.

As you can see it wasn't just some flimsy bin, but a heavy-duty official council-issued bin. the cat was in it for fifteen hours. When the media finally got to the woman, she said, "It was a joke." And as you can see at the video at the link, she now says that she never said it was a joke. Uh-huh.

She also apparently said, "I don't know what the fuss is about. It's just a cat."

We here at the BRI say, in unison: "Lady make Hulk angry! HULK SMASH!"

P.S. If I lived anywhere near that cat-hater, I'd check the records to see how many cats had gone missing over the last twenty years. Wouldn't be at all surprised if she turned out to be a serial cat-binner.

200-yard, Lake-skimming, Gong-hitting Golf Shot

Thom — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:41:13 +0000

Just brilliant (from Presurfer):

Bonus.

We're Running Out of Helium

Thom — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:28:12 +0000

This story almost has the feel of a hoax:

"It is the second-lightest element in the Universe, has the lowest boiling-point of any gas and is commonly used through the world to inflate party balloons. But helium is also a non-renewable resource and the world's reserves of the precious gas are about to run out, a shortage that is likely to have far-reaching repercussions.

Scientists have warned that the world's most commonly used inert gas is being depleted at an astonishing rate because of a law passed in the United States in 1996 which has effectively made helium too cheap to recycle.

The law stipulates that the US National Helium Reserve, which is kept in a disused underground gas field near Amarillo, Texas – by far the biggest store of helium in the world – must all be sold off by 2015, irrespective of the market price."

So that's why they talk funny in Amarillo!

Here's more here, and here. (And this might be a good time to invest in helium futures!)

[photo]

"Field Book of Surgery. The Wounded Man."

Thom — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:35:40 +0000

"Uh, little help?"

We're deep on deadline here at BRI headquarters, and I'm just polishing up a page on fascinating brain facts—"Your brain is so soft it can be cut with a butter knife" is a fun one. I just came across this bit of info: The earliest known realistic depiction of a human brain was made just 500 or so years ago. Imagine that. Of all the tens of thousands of years that modern humans have been around, we didn't, at least according to the article linked, get a good drawing of that most vital of organs—the brain—until just a few centuries ago. Almost makes you feel young, doesn't it?

The depiction, a woodcut, was done by early 16th century German artist Hans Wechtlin. He did the wonderful work above, along with other gruesome delights, for pioneering German surgeon Hans von Gersdorff, for his book Feldtbuch der Wundartzney—or "Field-book of the Wound-doctor"—in 1517. You can see more about him, with more images, at "Parallels in Early Human and Horse Medicine." (Nay!)

Our favorite image, by far:

The look on the guy's face is killing me. To say nothing of him!

More here.

Introducing: "Uncle John's Briefs" and giveaway!

BRI — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:51:03 +0000

The winner of the random drawing is: Weston Schnetz.

Thanks everyone for submitting your favorite facts. We had fun reading them.

Inside Uncle John's Briefs are the most entertaining, myth-busting, and thought-provoking brief articles from Uncle John's enormous Bathroom Reader library. So plunge in and see for yourself why the Bathroom Reader series has sold more than 10 million books.

Here is a bit of what awaits you…

Corn Crackos and other cereal flops

Baseball's most bizarre injuries

The timeless wisdom of Mr. T

The origins of the warerbed, tarter sauce, and the polka

How to talk like a mobster

The anatomy of a hiccup

…and much, much more!

Now to the fun part—Giveaway!!!

Simply post your favorite Uncle John's fact below (or on our post on the Facebook page) and be entered in a random drawing to win a copy of Uncle John's Briefs. You have till Sunday at midnight (PST). We will pick a random winner on Monday.

Good luck!

J.D. Salinger's Porcelein "Throne" For Sale

BRI — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:03:04 +0000

If we didn't already have a toilet at the office, we might have all pitched in to buy J.D. Salinger's "Throne."

The description reads: "Here's an item you won't come across everyday! This is the toilet that was personally owned AND used by J.D. Salinger for many years! It sat in his home in Cornish, New Hampshire, and was installed in the 'new wing' of his house. When he died, his wife inherited all of his manuscripts with plans to eventually release some of them! Who knows how many of these stories were thought up and written while Salinger sat on this throne!"

But, we're not sure $1 million is a fair price. What do you think?

Cartoon of the Day!

BRI — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:14:39 +0000

Thank you Greg Wolcott for sending us a great cartoon today. Thanks for making us smile!

Free Range cartoon by Bill Whitehead

Water Striders' Mating Blackmail

Thom — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:46:00 +0000

A creepy yet fascinating insect story from Discover:

"Hyper-violent males can sometimes wear the female down but some opt for a subtler approach – they tap intricate rhythms on the water with their legs. When Han and Jablonski discovered these rituals last year, they suggested that the males might be trying to demonstrate their quality, by tapping out the most consistent rhythms. Now, they have another explanation – the tapping is a form of blackmail, a way of coercing sex from the female with the threat of death.

The duo studied the preferences of the backswimmer – a predatory bug that floats upside-down at the water’s surface and listens out for the vibrations of potential prey. When given a choice between a silent male water strider and a mating pair with a tapping male, the backswimmer always headed towards the vibrating duo. And since these predators attack from below, the female was always the one who was injured while the male strode off to tap another day."

Interestingly enough, here's a story from 2009 about this exact thing—but in this version the males are said to be "singing" with their feet to impress the females. (That's mentioned in the first article, but without much detail.) Which is true? Nobody knows—except perhaps the male water sliders…and the backswimmers.

[photo]