A list of curious facts
One: Did you know that ‘Star Wars’ was an anti-Vietnam War film—where the Evil Empire was the United States? As George Lucas once explained:
It was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships? Because the democracies aren't overthrown; they're given away.
Something everyone living in a democracy should think about. Of course, now it’s just Disney’s money-making machine. Washington Post has more on the politics of the films. Watch George Lucas explain it to James Cameron in the snippet below, or you can check out the extended vid here.
Two: Tampography has very little to do with tampons (yes, yes, we’re sooo obvious!). It is the process of printing a 2D image into a 3D object—also known as pad printing. Think of it as a kind of rubber stamping. Two hundred years ago, this used to be done by hand—and they got those lovely patterns onto quaint sets of china.
Now that tampography has been industrialised—thanks to Swiss watchmakers—it is used to print stuff on almost everything—from control panels to toys, pens and medicine bottles. What’s truly mesmerising: the process of ‘printing’ porcelain. You have to watch it to know why;) FYI: all the gyaan you need about the process is right here and here.
Three: A small New Zealand town is battling an unusual kind of pest: the diva of elevator music, Céline Dion. Porirua is plagued by residents waging “siren battles”—where cars decked out in loudspeakers commonly used in emergency warning systems blare her greatest hits. As one resident put it in a Change.org petition:
I’m sick of the disturbing of the peace that sometimes goes on for hours. Although I enjoy listening to Céline Dion in the comfort of my lounge and at my volume, I do not enjoy listening to fragments of it stopping and starting anytime between 7 pm and 2 am.
Of course, it makes you want to giggle until you hear this…eeks! (The Guardian)
