ArcaMax

Internet mythology says the phrase "you snooze, you lose" was first heard in a 1968 TV commercial for an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, mattress store's annual sale. But criticism of folks who are slow to rise and shine has been around far longer than that. English theologian Isaac Watts (born 1674) wrote: "'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him ...Read more

In the 1955 Billy Wilder film "The Seven Year Itch," The Girl (Marilyn Monroe) and her neighbor Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) take a stroll in NYC. As she walks over a subway grate, a train passes below, blowing her skirt up, sparking Sherman's fantasies. He's been married for seven years, and his urge to stray is dubbed "the seven-year itch." The...Read more

Last April, when United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz issued apology after apology for the forcible ejection of Dr. David Dao from a flight he was seated on, the repeated mea culpas did nothing to quiet public reaction to the incident. Social media lit up with outrage at the inadequate responses, and millions viewed various videos of the incident on ...Read more

What do actor Danny Glover, President Theodore Roosevelt and singer Neil Young have in common? All of them have or had epilepsy, disturbances in the brain's electrical activity that lead to recurring seizures.

An estimated 10 percent of Americans will have or have had a seizure at some point in their lifetime. Would you know what to do if you ...Read more

The Lone Ranger rode across the Great Plains during the early days of the Wild West, enforcing law and order. His creed; "I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one" and "all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world."

If those words were heeded today, we bet the term "road rage" ...Read more

In American football, there's a "fake" happening on almost every play. Whether it's a head fake, a running fake or a passing fake, the idea is to trick the defense into going one way while your offense goes another -- and gains yardage.

But if you take in lots of artificial sweetener, you fake your digestive system into believing that you're ...Read more

You might think you've had enough of zinc, but we're not talking about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who flew from Nevada to Montana at your expense ($12,375) on a private plane owned by the executives of a Wyoming oil-and-gas-exploration firm. When it comes to the micronutrient zinc, well, chances are you actually need more of it!

Several ...Read more

President John F. Kennedy's family had several dogs that cuddled with Caroline and John-John (as well as a beer-swilling rabbit that was a gift from a magician) while they were in Washington. Calvin Coolidge had nine canines lodged in the White House's family quarters. And the Obamas' Portuguese water dog, Bo, was allowed to sleep on the bed ...Read more

At the beginning of "The Hangover 2," Stu wakes up with a tattoo on his face that's identical to Mike Tyson's. The film was almost withheld from theaters when Tyson's tattoo artist sued Warner Brothers, citing design ownership. But they inked a deal, and the movie (tattoos and all) hit theaters in April 2011.

If you're thinking about inking, ...Read more

When Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys recorded "409" in 1962 ("My four speed, dual-quad, positraction four-oh-nine"), it referred to Chevrolet's hot-rod, eight-cylinder, 409-cubic-inch engine. Around the same time, the spray cleaner Formula 409 hit the shelves. TV host Art Linkletter and his business partners then purchased it for $30,000, and a ...Read more

In the 2015 movie "Ant-Man," Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) develops an armored suit that can shrink someone to the size of an ant and give that tiny creature superhuman strength. When the technology falls into the wrong hands, the bad guys figure that an army of these ferocious "ants" easily can take over the world.

Well, in many parts of this...Read more

If you think "the big bang theory" is an explanation of how the universe came into being or a nine-time Emmy Award winning comedy starring Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, you'd be right. But there's another big bang that's neither theoretical nor amusing. It's Exploding Head Syndrome, also known as episodic cranial sensory shock, ...Read more

In the 2000 movie "Pay It Forward," the storyline is all about doing good deeds for strangers who, in turn, pass on a good deed to someone they don't know. One example: A stranger gives a journalist a jazzy new Jaguar S-Type when the writer's car is damaged in an accident. When asked why he's doing it, the stranger says that recently he took his...Read more

"High Noon." "Hang 'Em High." "High Sierra." "High Plains Drifter." When it comes to creating a suspenseful Western, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood (twice) and Humphrey Bogart all found that you can get a lot of attention by declaring something too high or not high enough. In movies, that's harmless, but when researchers declare that ditching a ...Read more

Last spring, Australian MP Graham Perrett, was watching an episode of "Veep" while eating sushi. Laughing at a scene in which Congressman Jonah Ryan is caught shaving his head to fake having cancer, he inhaled a clump of rice and began to cough violently. "I kind of stumbled forward and knocked my head on the corner of the kitchen cabinet," he ...Read more

Since he made the jump from soap operas to movies, there's been some debate about which of Brad Pitt's 63 movies are the worst. "Johnny Suede" (1991) and "Cool World" (1992) may be the two least memorable, but a sure-fire throwaway is 2004's "Troy." RobertEbert.com gave it two stars, saying (politely), "Achilles is not a character he [B.P.] ...Read more

In 1977, singer Jackson Browne landed a hit with "Runnin' on Empty." The song is about a musician's life on the road and the toll it takes. But, Browne explained, the idea came from the fact that many days he would drive to the recording studio with his car's gas gauge on almost-empty, since his destination was just a few blocks away.

If you ...Read more

In one episode of "The Simpsons," Principal Skinner calls in Marge and Homer to discuss Bart's disruptive behavior, which he says is fueled by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A pretty accurate diagnosis. In fact, when Matt Groening created Bart, he made his behaviors so textbook ADHD that two University of Central Oklahoma students ...Read more

In "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Toula brings her non-Greek fiance Ian to a family get-together, hoping her tight-knit clan will accept him. When Aunt Voula offers to have Ian over for dinner, Toula intervenes: "Ian is a vegetarian. He doesn't eat meat." Voula is stunned. She turns to Toula. "What do you mean he don't eat no meat!" The room goes ...Read more

When yogis gathered at the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, they might be excused for thinking they needed fireproof yoga mats. Temperatures topped 100 F, and participants were, in the words of one yoga teacher, glowing with energy.

But a new study shows that fireproof yoga mats are not such a good idea. Flame ...Read more