BJÖRN BORG / EAU DE DALÍ

I once had these eccentric Swedish perfume bottles 'cause Grandad Lars, bless his soul, worked for Astor... aren't they original?

A LÉGPÁRNÁSOM TELE VAN ANGOLNÁKKAL

A légpárnásom tele van angolnákkal.

(ah LEHG-par-NA-shom TE-le vahn AHN-gol-NAK-kahl)

That is Hungarian for "My hovercraft is full of eels".

I have posted this sentence and its pronunciation only so you, dear readers, get to know how to say it in its original language <3

WIKIPEDIA: CURIOUS ARTICLES

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kuriosaartiklar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Unusual_articles

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Art%C3%ADculos_peculiares

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kuriosit%C3%A4tenkabinett

THE THIRTEENTH SIGN OF THE ZODIAC

There is a forgotten thirteenth sign in the Zodiac, in between Scorpio and Sagittarius. Its time takes up the last week in the fixed water sign and the first one in the mutable fire sign.

This lost thirteenth star sign, Ophiuchus, has recently been rediscovered.
In both German and Swedish, it's called Serpent-Bearer (Schlangenträger, Ormbärare).

Though the addition of a thirteenth item to any traditional dozen breaks its inner harmony and raises suspicions (Judas Iscariot, Mordred, Dionysus...)

Not to rub the triads of elements, Ophiuchus is the only akasha or aether sign in the zodiac so far. It combines the features of Scorpio and Sagittarius, and its guardian planet is the elusive wounded healer Chiron.

The classical old zodiac...

...and the new, with the forgotten sign.

THINGS THAT SURPRISE ME

• Cowards are called "yellow" in English. Why? Because some chickens are yellow? Or Asians (OK, not all Asians are yellow-skinned)?
• Inherently funny words: the English animal names "duck", "frog", and "weasel" make speakers and listeners laugh...
• Some idioms: "brass monkey", "dead as a doornail", "the straw that broke the camel's back".
• Bach: not the flower therapy, but the late cantor of Leipzig. This baroque composer has some extraordinarily dense and evolving cantatas. And I do like such music. Especially when in a good mood.
• Coke: the recipe is secret. So what's in the can? Does Coke dissolve teeth, kill sperm, act as a love potion, or have any other unusual properties?
• Red Bull: the same as for Coke. Besides, at the age of 16, I noticed protrusions on my shoulder blades having drunk this product. Nothing more. But does it qualify as "growing wings"?
• My own state of mind: I am currently researching about the amygdala, the real seat of human emotions (though saying "with all one's amygdala" or "from the bottom of one's amygdala" sounds disastrous). It's an ovoid structure of white matter, the size of an almond or of a quail's egg, located in the human midbrain. And in my case, it doesn't have a secure cortical connection, leading to phobias, philias, manias and other quirks that sometimes prove a thorn in the flesh.
• Sacred texts: why are old-fashioned sacred books displaying male chauvinism, nationalism, and fatalism (the Bible and the Torah, to quote only a few), still so popular nowadays?

CANNED INSPIRATION

I have currently lost my muse.
Luckily, one can buy canned inspiration nowadays.

Exactly what it says on the tin.

And the fad of preserving intangible things doesn't stop at inspiration. A Czech genius has carried it even further:

THAT'S. CANNED. AIR. FROM. PRAGUE.

A LOOOOOOONG BOOK TITLE

A pretty short novel by Gabriel García Márquez is conveniently titled (the original title is in Spanish, this is a translation into English):
The Tale of a Castaway, who spent ten Days adrift on a Raft without eating or drinking, was proclaimed Hero of his Parent Nation, kissed by Beauty Queens, made Wealthy through Public Relations, and then abominated by the Government and forgotten for Eternity.

No surprise that the title is abridged as The Tale of a Castaway (Relato de un náufrago is the original title).