Wednesday, June 30, 2010

macabre \muh-KAH-bruh\, adjective:

1. Gruesome and horrifying.

2. Pertaining to or representing death, esp. its grimmer or uglier aspect.

Macabre relates to the Danse Macabre, a medieval allegory, but the etymology of the word itself is subject to speculation.

Shut up and keep talking

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  An expression that's used when you want information from someone, but that someone keeps telling boring details you don't need to know. Can be emphasised by using 'Shut the fuck up and keep talking'.

Guy 1: So we went to her bedroom, and there were a lot of dolls there. She also had a poster of-

Guy 2: Dude, shut up and keep talking. Did anything happen?

Trivia

Whose portrait appeared on the U.S.’s very first $5 bill?

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  Alexander Hamilton’s. It appeared on the $5 note issued in the early 1860s. Hamilton is now on the $10 bill.

History

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  The Great Blondin: French acrobat crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope; walking from the US to Canada took him eight minutes (1859)
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  Tunguska event: 2,000 sq. km of central Siberia were flattened in an explosion likely caused by a meteor disintegrating above the Earth's surface (1908)
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  Gone With the Wind: classic Civil War-era novel was published (1936)
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  26th Amendment: was ratified, lowering the US voting age to 18 (1971)

Berfdays, yo!

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  Lena Horne (1917-2010): blues singer, "Stormy Weather"; musicians Stanley Clarke (59), Hal Lindes (56) and Fantasia Barrino (26) share this birth date
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  Vincent D'Onofrio (51): actor, Law and Order: Criminal Intent; other actors born on this date include Nancy Dussault and Tony Musante (both 73), David Alan Grier (55), Rupert Graves (47), Brian Bloom (40) and Monica Potter (39)
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  Mike Tyson (44): youngest man to become heavyweight boxing champ