Uncle John’s Unstoppable Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers’ Institute Page A
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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called the Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation (CBDE). In this carefully controlled trial, Coca-Cola and Pepsi each provided specially designed cans to deliver their beverages to thirsty astronauts. (The crew reported that without gravity or refrigeration, neither was very good.)
Antarctica is the only continent that does not have land areas below sea level.
SLINKY SLINKS ONTO SPACE SHUTTLE (1985) Another experiment was conducted on the Challenger to show how a Slinky would behave in low-gravity conditions. Astronauts were filmed playing with the toys for an “educational” video.
GOT MILKSKI? (1997) Space vehicles carry milk in powdered form—they can’t spare the energy for refrigeration. So what better way to show off the long shelf life of Israel’s Tnuva Milk than to deliver it fresh to the space travelers’ door? They spent $450,000 to fly their product to the Mir space station and film cosmonauts gulping it down, and then used the footage for a commercial on Israeli television.
PIE IN THE SKY (1999) Pizza Hut reportedly paid the Russians $1 million to paint a 30-foot version of its logo on the side of a Russian Proton rocket that was carrying a crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Then, piggybacking on a Russian cargo flight, Pizza Hut delivered a 15-inch salami and cheese pizza.
FRAMED! (2000) Radio Shack flew a “talking” picture frame to the ISS as a Father’s Day gift for Commander Yuri Usachev. It held a picture of his 12-year-old daughter, Evgenia, and played this message: “Hey Dad, we are wishing you good fortune and success in your job and good relationships with the crew.” A TV commercial featuring space-suited cosmonauts floating in through a hatch to deliver the gift to Usachev in a Radio Shack shopping bag debuted on American television on May 27, 2001.
BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE (2001) To promote their “Life on Mars” line, the LEGO company had a parcel containing 300 “miniature aliens” shuttled to the ISS and back again as part of a contest, in which the toys would be awarded as prizes. Cosmonauts were photographed playing with the toys before they were packed up for their return trip. According to Jay McGill, publisher of Popular Mechanics (which has also been marketed on the ISS), “Anything can be done for rubles.”
Q: What makes an acupuncturist proud? A: A jab well done.
DUMB CROOKS OF THE OLD WEST
Here’s proof that stupidity is timeless (and sometimes deadly ).
T HE DALTON BROTHERS
In the little town of Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1890, Bob, Emmett, and Gratton Dalton, along with two other men, formed a gang of outlaws. Inspired by the exploits of their cousins the Younger Brothers—who 15 years earlier had stolen nearly half a million dollars from trains and banks with the James Gang—the Daltons pulled a few small-time robberies. But they wanted a big payoff and the fame that goes with it—and that could only come from a bank heist. So they planned it all out…all wrong:
1. The Daltons aimed to rob two banks at once: two men would rob the First National Bank, while the other three hit Condon & Co. across the street. They thought they’d get double the loot, but they only doubled their chances of getting caught.
2. Instead of traveling to another town where no one knew them, they chose Coffeyville—where everyone knew them.
3. The street in front of the banks was being repaired the day of the heist. They could have postponed it, but went ahead anyway. Now they had to hitch their horses a block away, making a clean getaway that much more difficult.
4. Smart: They wore disguises. Dumb: The disguises were wispy stage mustaches and goatees. Locals saw right through them.
The bank robberies were a disaster. The townsfolk saw the Dalton boys coming and armed themselves. The Daltons did get $20,000 from First National, but came up empty at the other bank when a teller said she couldn’t open the safe. When they emerged from the banks, an angry mob was
Antarctica is the only continent that does not have land areas below sea level.
SLINKY SLINKS ONTO SPACE SHUTTLE (1985) Another experiment was conducted on the Challenger to show how a Slinky would behave in low-gravity conditions. Astronauts were filmed playing with the toys for an “educational” video.
GOT MILKSKI? (1997) Space vehicles carry milk in powdered form—they can’t spare the energy for refrigeration. So what better way to show off the long shelf life of Israel’s Tnuva Milk than to deliver it fresh to the space travelers’ door? They spent $450,000 to fly their product to the Mir space station and film cosmonauts gulping it down, and then used the footage for a commercial on Israeli television.
PIE IN THE SKY (1999) Pizza Hut reportedly paid the Russians $1 million to paint a 30-foot version of its logo on the side of a Russian Proton rocket that was carrying a crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Then, piggybacking on a Russian cargo flight, Pizza Hut delivered a 15-inch salami and cheese pizza.
FRAMED! (2000) Radio Shack flew a “talking” picture frame to the ISS as a Father’s Day gift for Commander Yuri Usachev. It held a picture of his 12-year-old daughter, Evgenia, and played this message: “Hey Dad, we are wishing you good fortune and success in your job and good relationships with the crew.” A TV commercial featuring space-suited cosmonauts floating in through a hatch to deliver the gift to Usachev in a Radio Shack shopping bag debuted on American television on May 27, 2001.
BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE (2001) To promote their “Life on Mars” line, the LEGO company had a parcel containing 300 “miniature aliens” shuttled to the ISS and back again as part of a contest, in which the toys would be awarded as prizes. Cosmonauts were photographed playing with the toys before they were packed up for their return trip. According to Jay McGill, publisher of Popular Mechanics (which has also been marketed on the ISS), “Anything can be done for rubles.”
Q: What makes an acupuncturist proud? A: A jab well done.
DUMB CROOKS OF THE OLD WEST
Here’s proof that stupidity is timeless (and sometimes deadly ).
T HE DALTON BROTHERS
In the little town of Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1890, Bob, Emmett, and Gratton Dalton, along with two other men, formed a gang of outlaws. Inspired by the exploits of their cousins the Younger Brothers—who 15 years earlier had stolen nearly half a million dollars from trains and banks with the James Gang—the Daltons pulled a few small-time robberies. But they wanted a big payoff and the fame that goes with it—and that could only come from a bank heist. So they planned it all out…all wrong:
1. The Daltons aimed to rob two banks at once: two men would rob the First National Bank, while the other three hit Condon & Co. across the street. They thought they’d get double the loot, but they only doubled their chances of getting caught.
2. Instead of traveling to another town where no one knew them, they chose Coffeyville—where everyone knew them.
3. The street in front of the banks was being repaired the day of the heist. They could have postponed it, but went ahead anyway. Now they had to hitch their horses a block away, making a clean getaway that much more difficult.
4. Smart: They wore disguises. Dumb: The disguises were wispy stage mustaches and goatees. Locals saw right through them.
The bank robberies were a disaster. The townsfolk saw the Dalton boys coming and armed themselves. The Daltons did get $20,000 from First National, but came up empty at the other bank when a teller said she couldn’t open the safe. When they emerged from the banks, an angry mob was
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