Uncle John’s Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Book: Uncle John’s Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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happened!
The fake retirement boosted sales in the short run, but in the long run it probably killed the craze. The Ty company still manufactures Beanie Babies, but today they’re what they should have been all along: toys for kids. New ones sell for about $6 in toy stores, but on eBay shell-shocked collectors who hoped to pay for their kids’ educations by hoarding Beanie Babies are now dumping them in bulk. Even when offered for a penny apiece, they don’t always attract bidders.
Moral of the story: Beanbags are great toys. They’re just not good investments.
Trinidad’s paradoxical frog starts as a foot-long tadpole and “grows” into an inch-long frog.
WHAT’S UP, DOC?
Some doctor shows on TV may seem far-fetched, but these stories prove that truth is stranger than fiction .
Y IP/TUCK
In Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Edgard Brito is now offering a wide variety of the latest surgical procedures, such as Botox injections and wrinkle-reductions. Brito’s patients, however, happen to be dogs. For a reasonable price, the vet performs full face-lifts including ear straightening and eyebrow corrections. When asked by reporters about his surgical packages, Brito said, “We all like to talk to someone who looks good. It is the same for dogs.”
WORKS EVERY TIME
In April 2002, doctors told Trizka Litton that she was going to need a hernia operation, but that her condition didn’t require immediate surgery. Finally, after seven months on the hospital waiting list, Litton had had enough. She concocted a cocktail of crumbled biscuits and cranberry juice, microwaved it, and called the paramedics, claiming that she had just vomited blood. An ambulance immediately took her to the hospital (where she promptly disposed of the evidence before docs could test it). Doctors performed emergency surgery and discovered that her stomach was pressing dangerously on her heart. Litton later said, “I carried a heavy burden of guilt and shame at being forced to cheat and lie. But it vanished when doctors told me just how near death I had been.”
HAIRY HEARING
In 2002, 24-year-old Yu Zhenhuan was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Hairiest Man” (thick hair covers 96% of his body). But due to the growth of hair inside his ears, Zhenhuan, star of the film China’s Number One Hairy Child when he was six, was losing his hearing and suffering from pounding headaches. In order to restore the “hairy child’s” hearing, doctors performed a unique operation: a four-hour “hairectomy,” removing hair follicles two to three centimeters long from his inner ear. Yet despite the apparent dangers of a hairy physique, Zhenhuan refuses to shave any part of his body but his beard.
Cosmic question: If you say, “I always lie,” are you telling the truth?
Q & A: BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
Everyone’s got a question they’d like answered—basic stuff, like “Why is the sky blue?” Here are a few questions, with answers from the nation’s top trivia experts .
O PEN WIDE
Q: Why are yawns contagious?
A: “The action of a mouth opening is not what compels others to yawn, according to Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of South Alabama. Studies have demonstrated that showing someone a photo of a wide-open mouth does not induce a yawn. Conversely, holding a hand over the mouth while yawning doesn’t prevent it from being contagious. Contagious yawns appear ‘basically to be a visual response.’ Between 40 and 60% of people who watch videos or hear talk about yawning also end up doing it, too. Researchers from the State University of New York tested people to find out what kind of person is most susceptible to contagious yawning. Their conclusion: people who are self-aware or empathetic are more likely to catch yawns.” (From The Mobile (Alabama) Register )
X MARKS THE SPOT
Q: What causes liver spots?
A: “Liver spots, also called age spots or lentigenes , are the result
The fake retirement boosted sales in the short run, but in the long run it probably killed the craze. The Ty company still manufactures Beanie Babies, but today they’re what they should have been all along: toys for kids. New ones sell for about $6 in toy stores, but on eBay shell-shocked collectors who hoped to pay for their kids’ educations by hoarding Beanie Babies are now dumping them in bulk. Even when offered for a penny apiece, they don’t always attract bidders.
Moral of the story: Beanbags are great toys. They’re just not good investments.
Trinidad’s paradoxical frog starts as a foot-long tadpole and “grows” into an inch-long frog.
WHAT’S UP, DOC?
Some doctor shows on TV may seem far-fetched, but these stories prove that truth is stranger than fiction .
Y IP/TUCK
In Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Edgard Brito is now offering a wide variety of the latest surgical procedures, such as Botox injections and wrinkle-reductions. Brito’s patients, however, happen to be dogs. For a reasonable price, the vet performs full face-lifts including ear straightening and eyebrow corrections. When asked by reporters about his surgical packages, Brito said, “We all like to talk to someone who looks good. It is the same for dogs.”
WORKS EVERY TIME
In April 2002, doctors told Trizka Litton that she was going to need a hernia operation, but that her condition didn’t require immediate surgery. Finally, after seven months on the hospital waiting list, Litton had had enough. She concocted a cocktail of crumbled biscuits and cranberry juice, microwaved it, and called the paramedics, claiming that she had just vomited blood. An ambulance immediately took her to the hospital (where she promptly disposed of the evidence before docs could test it). Doctors performed emergency surgery and discovered that her stomach was pressing dangerously on her heart. Litton later said, “I carried a heavy burden of guilt and shame at being forced to cheat and lie. But it vanished when doctors told me just how near death I had been.”
HAIRY HEARING
In 2002, 24-year-old Yu Zhenhuan was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Hairiest Man” (thick hair covers 96% of his body). But due to the growth of hair inside his ears, Zhenhuan, star of the film China’s Number One Hairy Child when he was six, was losing his hearing and suffering from pounding headaches. In order to restore the “hairy child’s” hearing, doctors performed a unique operation: a four-hour “hairectomy,” removing hair follicles two to three centimeters long from his inner ear. Yet despite the apparent dangers of a hairy physique, Zhenhuan refuses to shave any part of his body but his beard.
Cosmic question: If you say, “I always lie,” are you telling the truth?
Q & A: BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
Everyone’s got a question they’d like answered—basic stuff, like “Why is the sky blue?” Here are a few questions, with answers from the nation’s top trivia experts .
O PEN WIDE
Q: Why are yawns contagious?
A: “The action of a mouth opening is not what compels others to yawn, according to Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of South Alabama. Studies have demonstrated that showing someone a photo of a wide-open mouth does not induce a yawn. Conversely, holding a hand over the mouth while yawning doesn’t prevent it from being contagious. Contagious yawns appear ‘basically to be a visual response.’ Between 40 and 60% of people who watch videos or hear talk about yawning also end up doing it, too. Researchers from the State University of New York tested people to find out what kind of person is most susceptible to contagious yawning. Their conclusion: people who are self-aware or empathetic are more likely to catch yawns.” (From The Mobile (Alabama) Register )
X MARKS THE SPOT
Q: What causes liver spots?
A: “Liver spots, also called age spots or lentigenes , are the result
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