WordHurdle

Mahatma Ghandi never received the Nobel Peace Prize

I didn't realize that Mahatma Ghandi was not awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.  The Nobel Prize website has a very interesting article that goes into his 5 nominations in depth and works through the records still in existence to try to explain to some resolution why he was never granted that award.

Dice Stacking

Here's a completely useless skill that's really cool, and this guy is really good at it.

Man finishes 13-year trek around the world using only human power

Wow -- check out this video.  This 40-year-old Brit, Jason Lewis, just finished a 13-year human-powered trip around the world.  13 years!  Think what you were doing 13 years ago, and that's when this guy started!

He has a pedal-powered boat he used to cross the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the Indian Ocean (capsizing once the entire trip in the North Atlantic).  Can you imagine the monotony of pedaling all the way across the Pacific?  He hiked, kayaked, and mountain biked his way 46,000 miles.  In the US, both legs were broken by a drunk driver while he was rollerblading, and in the interview, he says he was told one of his legs would have to be amputated, but he somehow made it out with both legs.  In Egypt, he was put in jail, charged with spying after he crossed over from Sudan without permission. 

Noah's Ark restaurant elephant statue causing a stir in St. Louis

Growing up as a kid, we loved to go to St. Louis and eat at the Noah's Ark restaurant.  It was a restaurant in the shape of Noah's Ark with animal statues everywhere.  I have no idea how the food was, but the place is emblazoned in my memory.

Last year, while in St. Louis, I ended up driving past the place.  I'd always wondered what happened to it.   It had been converted to a liquor store.

Now, apparently, it's been torn down.  One of the owners decided to move one of the animal statues to his house, and the neighbors aren't too happy.  Watch the video below and you'll understand why.

David Letterman puts Paris Hilton in the hot seat

If you haven't seen the video of David Letterman showing Paris Hilton for the fool she is, here it is.  It's a must see.  In this day and age when celebrities do stupid things but no one calls them on it, this interview is a breath of fresh air.  We live in a media culture where publicists rule the roost by making rules about what the media cannot ask, and celebrities then get to show up and talk about what they want to talk about with no fear of real questions.  Media types are afraid to break the publicists' rules because they fear they will then be blacklisted and won't have access to the celebrity. 

David Letterman threw that conventional wisdom to the wind and made a great show of it.  The crowd is right there with him as he makes Paris sweat.  Word is Paris was scheduled to appear on his show right at the time all her problems started in Los Angeles, and instead of making the trip to appear with Dave and talk about it then, she cancelled her appearance.  Dave gets his point across a couple of times in the interview when he makes vague comments about how she hasn't been on the show for a long tine and he wishes she could be on the show more often and that he would love for her to stop by more often when she's in town.

This interview is David Letterman at his best, doing what no one else will do and sticking to his guns.  I just wish he would have finished it -- he let her off at the end and did what was expected of him in order to keep his access to her.