Monday, December 29, 2008

Please-identify-your-location


31:11. And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob. And I answered: Here I am.

by Anonymous from The Bible, Old Testament

Monday, December 22, 2008

Simon says


The biggest cell in humans is the ovum, or female sex cell, at a full mm in diameter. After that comes the nerve cell. The smallest human cell is the male sperm cell. So who says size matters?

by Jonathan Green from Match Wits with the Kids

Monday, December 15, 2008

Genius knows no facts


The story is told that the great scientist Einstein was once asked how many feet are there in a mile. Einstein's reply was, "I don't know. Why should I fill my brain with facts I can find in two minutes in any standard reference book?'

by David J. Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big

Monday, December 8, 2008

This is not from a book

In order to keep up with you demanding readers (we mean that as a compliment!) and maintain the quality of posts here, we’re moving from daily posts to a weekly one. It will be published on Mondays.

Also, from now on we’re inviting you to send us book extracts that you think are intriguing, boring, amazing, weird, cool or just...WORTH TO BE BLOGGED about. The invitation is open and ongoing so when you discover something...let us know and stay cool.

PRACTICAL INFO
The quote should be in English around 100 words long. We also need the name of the author and a title. If you want to send us a photo, please make sure it's royalty and copyright free or you have the permission to use it (if you don't have one we'll choose it for you!). It should be a jpg, gif, bmp or png image of 8 MB maximum size. Also, send us a link if you want one to be included in the post. The mailing address is bluzica at net.hr.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Surprise!


The person who once enquired of the younger Byron what he would like best in the world got the answer: "To be an incredibly beautiful prostitute with a sharp sting in my bottom."

by D.J. Taylor from Bright Young People

Saturday, December 6, 2008

I thought you said you were satisfied


Just as those receiving blood transfusions run the viral risk of AIDS, so those receiving language transfusions run the viral risk of the contamination of meaning.

by Jean Baudrillard from Fragments

There's another post on language

Friday, December 5, 2008

Reality check


"What a terrifying spectacle is this of human vanity stretched to the verge of dementia. Someone should tell M. Pissarro forcibly that trees are never violet, that the sky is never the color of fresh butter, that nowhere on earth are things to be seen as he paints them." - Art critic in the French periodical Le Figaro critiquing the work of Camille Pissarro and other painters at the impressionist exhibition of 1876

by George Ochoa and Melinda Corey from The timeline book of The Arts

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Now that we agree it's priceless...


"He's engaged to a very rich girl," said Billy's mother.
"That's good," said Rosewater. "Money can be a great comfort sometimes."
"It really can."
"Of course it can."
"It isn't much fun if you have to pinch every penny till it screams."
"It's nice to have a little breathing room."

by Kurt Vonnegut from Slaughterhouse 5

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Knowing your options


You can go down stairs in a number of ways. On one leg, on two, on all fours, backwards, on your backside, and sliding down the banister.
Each method has its own advantages and drawbacks.

by Zvonimir Balog from Nice manners

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

No changes please! Ever!


The new entrance to the Paris Louvre had become almost as famous as the museum itself. The controversial, neomodern glass pyramid designed by Chinese-born American architect I.M. Pei still evoked scorn from traditionalists who felt it destroyed the dignity of the Renaissance courtyard. Goethe had described architecture as frozen music, and Pei's critics described pyramid as fingernails on a chalkboard.

by Dan Brown from The Da Vinci Code

Monday, December 1, 2008

The truth about you being my friend


To be a friend to many people, in the way of the perfect friendship, is not possible; just as you cannot be in love with many at once: it is, so to speak, a state of excess which naturally has but one object; and besides, it is not an easy thing for one man to be very much pleased with many people at the same time, not perhaps to find many really good.

by Aristotle from Nicomachean Ethics