But the parallels are all in place: animals marching 2×2, flood, ongoing rain. Really? Yes, it’s happening now, at the Roosevelt Park Zoo in North Dakota. MINOT, N.D. — As a historic flood threatened to drown this city, the animals from the local zoo were evacuated to a warehouse high above the valley floor. There [...]

“Questo pomodoro avrà più fans di Silvio Berlusconi.” There was no mincing words on 12-13 june 2011 when 95% of Italy said one big “No” to Silvio Berlusconi’s government and four big “Sí’s” to referendums. Illustration on website home page: © 2011 Janet Giampietro. La Bocca della Veritá image is in public domain.

Sunday, 24 april 2011 is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day – an event going into its second decade. Who could make this stuff up? To get a sense of the uniqueness of pinhole-generated images, wander through the archives here. OK, so what is it? An international event to promote and celebrate the art of pinhole photography, [...]

Last year, I dug into the ambiguous history of April Fool’s Day in What fools these mortals be. This year I went for stats, and oh yeah, the jokes as they happen. Mashable points us to stats about the pranks of fools. Check out the full story. Facebook dedicated a page to all pranks as [...]

Little did I know that my curiosity would lead me to not one, but three posts about ducks, rubber or otherwise: If it looks like a duck… If it quacks like a duck… , and now, Moby-Duck: Journalist Donovan Hohn talks on NPR’s Fresh Air about his new book. Hat trick. “In 1992, a cargo [...]

A definite – maybe. If you’ve been following the curious g, you are more than familiar with my fascination on achieving the “state of happiness” and the way in which it is measured. But according to The Wall Street Journal, chasing that elusive emotion may be more harmful than we thought. It’s possible, says the [...]

Forget about apple, cherry or blueberry – bring on the mathematical Pi. Get filled in as NPR’s Morning Edition describes today’s holiday, 3.14.11 (its 22rd anniversary, where have I been?) Pi Day promotes mathematics education, and the multi-cultural interest in Pi. Who knew? Join others in celebrating the events of the day: Complete how-to celebrate [...]

The curious g readers were so tuned in to predicting the winners. Very smart. There were also some very creative Oscar® infographics and stats out there: Measurement for Oscar Chatter in Social Media. James Franco took best actor in this event. Maybe it was the NYU dudes. Best Pre-Oscar buzz, placed Inception for Best Picture [...]

Comedy is funny. It’s hard to define – a gag for one person may not tickle the fancy of another. There are also degrees of comedy. Some films that I enjoy – listed as comedies – produce a smile or a small chuckle, but not a full belly laugh. Make ‘em roar, make ‘em scream [...]

The big one, for all the marbles. What’s your pick? Did you see a film this year that should be here, but isn’t? 2011 Best Picturecustomer surveys