Did you know … a movie was so bad it only grossed $30 during its domestic theatrical release?

You might want to take note that July is about to wrap up pretty soon, bringing August.

It usually works that way, anyway.

The thing about August is, it’s usually the hottest month of the year.  So why do the schools insist on starting the new year during August?  Especially when they then bemoan how much money they’re spending on air conditioning?

Hm.  Maybe I have an opinion column in there somewhere.

Meanwhile, how about a trivia column?  Got some freshly mined trivia for you right here, so I hope you enjoy it.

Did you know …

… you may be a practitioner of bruxism?  If you are, you must have a great relationship with your dentist.  Bruxism is the habit of grinding one’s teeth unconsciously, as in sleep or while under stress.  (In the cartoons it usually ends with powdered teeth.)

… a popular brand of beer was created to spite Major League Baseball?  In 1953, the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, August Busch Jr. (1899-1989) wanted to rename the ball park his team played in, Sportsman’s Park, to Budweiser Stadium after the famous beer his company produced.  Baseball officials were not too thrilled with the idea, though, and denied Busch’s request.  Undaunted, Busch then requested permission to name the park after his family, Busch Stadium.  That request was approved – and Busch then instructed his brewery to begin production of Busch Beer.  (I guess he got his way after all.  Besides, aren’t almost all ballparks today named after products?)

… peaches and nectarines are almost identical?  The only genetic difference between the two is the fuzz.  Nectarines are smooth, while peaches have the identifiable fuzz on their skins. Other than that, the two fruits are genetically identical.  (Peaches are nectarines that are old enough to shave?)

… bone is very, very strong?  If you wonder how strong, consider this: a block of bone the size of a match box is capable of supporting nine tons of weight.  Concrete of the same size can only support two and a quarter tons.  (Which is why your skeleton isn’t made of concrete, I suppose.)

… one of the most eccentric scientists of our time had a weird sense of humor?  Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), who created a lot of things we use today such as the remote control and the Tesla coil, had a bit of fun in 1895 when he told a crowd that they could control a boat simply by shouting commands.  He was not taken seriously until the crowd actually shouted at the model boat on a lake, which responded to their words. Some in the crowd thought Tesla had hidden a pet monkey on the boat to turn the wheel. The secret that Tesla hid from them was that he’d invented a radio remote control and was piloting the boat himself in response to what the people were shouting. (But he did get a car line named after him, though, didn’t he?)

… a popular actor stopped performing his best-known role because of his age? Roger Moore (1927-2017) was probably the second-best actor to play British super spy James Bond, and did so over a period of seven films between 1973 and 1985. When he was making his last few Bond movies, however, Moore began to realize that the actresses cast as his leading ladies were young enough to be his daughter – or even his granddaughter. So, the practical Moore gave up the role to younger actors.  (A man’s got to know his limitations, or so they say.)

… a 2006 movie was so bad that it only grossed $30 during its domestic theatrical release?  Made on a budget of $1.2 million, Zyzzyx Road was released to only one theater, in Dallas, Texas, which the producers had to rent for $1,000 under Screen Actors Guild rules for low-budget films. The attempt at a thriller movie was shown once a day for a week. By the end of that week, a total of six people had purchased tickets, and two of them said the movie was so bad they wanted their money back. Additional trivia note: Zyzzyx Road only earned $368,000 in overseas release. And the film’s makeup designer – one of the six who saw it in Dallas – had to buy her own ticket to get in. (Wonder if she was one of the two who wanted their money back?)

… geese can be used as security guards?  In some rural areas of China, police stations use geese as sentries and guards.  Geese can create quite a bit of noise and commotion, and because they are very alert birds, they have caught the attention of some rather creative Chinese law enforcement personnel. And geese can be somewhat confrontational as well, actually attacking people if they see the need.  (They goose you if you approach them.)

… some people in Colombia have very odd New Year’s customs? For instance, some folks in the South American nation spend New Year’s Day walking suitcases around the block. They’re trying to ensure a year filled with travel.  Other customs include wearing yellow underwear, which supposedly helps to bring in a year of happiness and love, and filling the pockets with lentils, to help bring a year of bounty.  (Whatever works, I guess.)

… there is actually a world record for the number of ice cream scoops balanced on one ice cream cone? The Guinness Book of World Records lists that Ashrita Furman (born 1954) has somehow managed to balance 123 scoops of ice cream on one ice cream cone. Furman currently holds 226 world records of one kind or another, and has set more than 600 – some of which, obviously, have been broken. (Why he stacked 123 scoops of ice cream on a cone is another question entirely.)

Now … you know!