tonyh29 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 FWIW they are, in order, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Pink Floyd and AC/DC). no Stones , that is surprising , thought they would be up there just by how long they have been going .. though I guess they don't have a lot of chart success these days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Day 1 - Battle of The Somme. Around 50,000 British Troops died in the first hour of battle RIP I was taught it was around 60,000...even worse... "Let's send them over the top into the German machine guns. They can walk across in straight lines as there won't be any Germans left because of the artillary bombardment." Well done, Mr Haig. They had concrete bunkers like us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 FWIW they are, in order, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Pink Floyd and AC/DC). no Stones , that is surprising , thought they would be up there just by how long they have been going .. though I guess they don't have a lot of chart success these days The Stones came in at #7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 ^"I've had a rough night and I hate the **** Eagles, man." Anyway, here are a few facts about Captain Bligh of Mutiny-on-the-Bounty fame: He sailed with Captain Cook on the voyage where Captain Cook cashed in his chips on a Hawaiian beach. He captained a ship at the Battle of Copenhagen, where Nelson famously put the telescope to his blind eye. He captained a ship at the Battle of Camperdown, where the RN smashed the Dutch navy, changing the course of history. The Mutiny would have been impossible if the Bounty had had Marines on board, as did the vast majority of RN ships. There is evidence to suggest that discipline on the Bounty was, in fact, less harsh than the contemporary norm. His voyage to Timor in an open boat after the Mutiny is considered one of the great feats of sailing and navigation. He was appointed Governor of New South Wales and removed from the post after conflict with corrupt local officials. Despite him being a notoriously grumpy sod, many colonials in NSW named their sons after him, presumably out of gratitude to him. The Sydney suburb of Camperdown is on land he owned and presumably named. Anna Bligh, the present Premier of Queensland is a direct descendent. Hard to think of anyone who pops up at so many interesting points in history, whether a saint or sinner (or in his case probably a bit of both). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 6, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 6, 2012 One for Mike I think. Courtesy of the QI Elves. The Finnish word for pedant, pilkunnussija, translates as 'comma ****'. How apt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted March 6, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 6, 2012 Pedants rule OK. Or more accurately, pedants exhibit certain of the trappings traditionally associated with leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 6, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 6, 2012 Pedants do rule :nod: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 0°C isn't the freezing point of water. It's actually the melting point of ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 6, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 6, 2012 Is it -0.1°C then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 3 degs C is the freezing point of water, as long as the water is moving slowly/still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted March 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2012 The strange case of the homosexual necrophiliac duck pushed out the boundaries of knowledge in a rather improbable way when it was recorded by Dutch researcher Kees Moeliker. It may have ruffled a few feathers, but it earned him the coveted Ig Nobel prize for biology awarded for improbable research, and next week he will be recounting his findings to UK audiences on the Ig Nobel tour. Ducks behave pretty badly, it seems. It is not so much that up to one in 10 of mallard couples are homosexual - no one would raise an eyebrow in the liberal Netherlands - but they regularly indulge in "attempted rape flights" when they pursue other ducks with a view to forcible mating. "Rape is a normal reproductive strategy in mallards," explains Mr Moeliker. As he recounts in his seminal paper, The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard anas platyrhynchos, he was in his office in the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he was alerted by a bang to the fact a bird had crashed into the glass facade of the building. "I went downstairs immediately to see if the window was damaged, and saw a drake mallard (anas platyrhynchos) lying motionless on its belly in the sand, two metres outside the facade. The unfortunate duck apparently had hit the building in full flight at a height of about three metres from the ground. Next to the obviously dead duck, another male mallard (in full adult plumage without any visible traces of moult) was present. He forcibly picked into the back, the base of the bill and mostly into the back of the head of the dead mallard for about two minutes, then mounted the corpse and started to copulate, with great force, almost continuously picking the side of the head. "Rather startled, I watched this scene from close quarters behind the window until 19.10 hours during which time (75 minutes) I made some photographs and the mallard almost continuously copulated his dead congener. He dismounted only twice, stayed near the dead duck and picked the neck and the side of the head before mounting again. The first break (at 18.29 hours) lasted three minutes and the second break (at 18.45 hours) lasted less than a minute. At 19.12 hours, I disturbed this cruel scene. The necrophilic mallard only reluctantly left his 'mate': when I had approached him to about five metres, he did not fly away but simply walked off a few metres, weakly uttering a series of two-note 'raeb-raeb' calls (the 'conversation-call' of Lorentz 1953). I secured the dead duck and left the museum at 19.25 hours. The mallard was still present at the site, calling 'raeb-raeb' and apparently looking for his victim (who, by then, was in the freezer)." Mr Moeliker suggests the pair were engaged in a rape flight attempt. "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback - well, didn't get any feedback," he said. His findings have provoked a lot of interest - especially in Britain for some reason - but no other recorded cases of duck necrophilia. However, Mr Moeliker was informed of an American case involving a squirrel and a dead partner, although in this case it is not known whether the necrophilia observed was homosexual or not as the victim had been run over by a truck shortly before the incident.Guardian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Mr Moeliker suggests the pair were engaged in a rape flight attempt. "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback - well, didn't get any feedback," he said. Trivial fact: Birds don't have penises. (Even male birds!) When mating, birds align their cloacii, which I believe are just holes in the birds' private areas. No idea what the singular form or cloacii might be, but I wonder if it might be a form of the word "clacker". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2012 Not quite true. I think the only bird with a penis is the Swan. Which is coincidental because it's the only bird who's male isn't called a cock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Not quite true. I think the only bird with a penis is the Swan. Which is coincidental because it's the only bird who's male isn't called a cock. I stand corrected. Didn't realise swans had a cygnet-ure feature. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Man, I thought ducks were these cute, innocent things. Who knew that underneath that sweet, feathery exterior beat the heart of a rapist? In other news, my nickname is Duck. True story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 In which case can we call you Pato?? Portugusese for Duck + a really good footballer who plays for Milan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2012 Mr Moeliker suggests the pair were engaged in a rape flight attempt. "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback - well, didn't get any feedback," he said. Trivial fact: Birds don't have penises. (Even male birds!) When mating, birds align their cloacii, which I believe are just holes in the birds' private areas. No idea what the singular form or cloacii might be, but I wonder if it might be a form of the word "clacker". Cloaca, though various ducks do have penes. In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of certain animal species. All amphibians, birds, reptiles, and monotremes possess this orifice, from which they excrete both urine and feces, unlike placental mammals, which possess two (or three) separate orifices for evacuation. Birds also reproduce with this organ; this is known as a cloacal kiss. Birds that mate using this method touch their cloacae together, in some species for only a few seconds, sufficient time for sperm to be transferred from the male to the female. The reproductive system must be re-engorged prior to the mating season of each species. Such regeneration usually takes about a month. Birds generally produce one batch of eggs per year, but they will produce another if the first is taken away. For some birds, such as ostriches, cassowaries, kiwis, geese, and some species of swans and ducks, the males do not use the cloaca for reproduction but have a phallus. In those, the penis helps ensure that water does not wash away the male's sperm during copulation. So if you're having sex with a duck, there is no wrong 'un: it's all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 In which case can we call you Pato?? Portugusese for Duck + a really good footballer who plays for Milan? You can call me what you like, I actually seem to accumulate nicknames. Duck isn't the only animal related nickname I have. At work I am known as Badger. I don't even do anything to start these names, they just seem to find me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 ok Pato! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 If only I could change my username to Pato right now :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts