Sunny side ups

Eating sunny-side up eggs for breakfast are a bad idea if you're not absolutely sure that the eggs are good because you may come down with an awful tummy-ache!

Jack the Ripper and black magic.

One explanation for the Jack the Ripper crimes is that whoever Jack was, he was involved in black magic. The theory goes that his killings were linked to the dark arts and that is why the crimes began and ended so suddenly.

The Dalai Lama's health

The Dalai Lama was hospitalised after complaining of stomach pains.

Minnie Driver

Actress Minnie Driver is pregnant but has not revealed who the father is.

Playing host

Hosting a guest in your home is not a hard thing to do - as long you get along with your guest!

Mauritania

Mauritania is a matriarchal society and fat women are considered attractive.

Mojito

Bacardi (white rum) is the main ingredient in a Mojito

Red Colobus Monkeys

Red colobus monkeys, found only in Zanzibar, are also known as poison monkeys on the island.

1st Railway in East Africa

According to locals, the 1st railway ever built in East Africa was located in Zanzibar.

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro directed both Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy II

504 Gateway Timeout

At times the message "504 Gateway Timeout" appears when downloading a webpage. This means that one server did not receive a timely response from another server while attempting to download a webpage or fill another request.

Capitol city of Slovakia

Bratislava is the capitol of Slovakia

The man after Mozart

Mozart's widow, Constanze, married a Danish diplomat whose tombstone reads, "Here Lies Mozart's Widow's Second Spouse."

Pakistani President Resigns

Pakistani President Prevez Musharraf has announced his resignation after 9 years in power.

image from www.welt.de

Michael Phelps

American, Michael Phelps, made Olympic history by winning 8 gold medals in swimming.

image from thinkpop.wordpress.com

Ruins in Libya

There are Roman ruins in Libya

Errant Judges

Some people believe that the gymnastics judges for the 2008 Olympics were partial to Chinese athletes.

Turkey Bird

A fascinating point concerning the naming convention of the Turkey bird is that it is named after a country in, every country.


In France, it's called Dinde which roughly translates to "bird of India". In Malaysia it is called Ayam Belanda which means "Dutch Chicken". In Portuguese, the turkey bird is known as Persia. In German, it is called kalekuttisch hun or "Calcutta hen"

Seafood platter at the Fishmonger

A family size seafood platter at the Fishmonger restaurant in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania consist of 10 King prawns, crab claws fish and lobster. It costs about USD55,000.

Hibiscus Wine

Hibiscus wine can be found in Egypt.

The varying flavour of Pina Coladas

The flavour of Pina Coladas differ greatly at every drinking establishment

Bernie Mac Dies

Comedian Bernie Mac died, at 50, of complications caused by pneumonia

image from photobucket.com

Two Face

One of Batman's many enemies is Two Face

image from sketchplease.com

Anne and Mary Boleyn

Sixteenth century monarch, Anne Boleyn was King Henry VIII's 2nd wife (he had 6 wives throughout his life, two of whom were executed). Anne was beheaded for allegedly committing incestuous adultery with her brother George.

Anne had a sister, Mary, who was one of Henry VIII's mistresses.

Mary Boleyn is said to be the ancestor of a number of world-renowned British citizens such as Diana, Princess of Wales, Sir Winston Churchill and P G Wodehouse.

Undiscovered treasure

Apparently, there's about USD6 billion worth of undiscovered treasure on the world's ocean floor.

Never Let Me Go,

Never Let Me Go, a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro was the runner-up for the 2005 Booker Prize award. He won the award in 1996 for The Remains of the Day.

Never Let Me Go was named the best fiction novel for 2005 by Time magazine and was included in the Time list: 100 Best English Novels from 1923 to 2005

Upper crust

Apple pie used to symbolize wealth because only those who had the money for flour and lard could make the "upper crust" which is where the common term comes from.

McAvoy vs Damon

According to published reports not-so-recognizable actors such as James McAvoy are being favoured over big stars like Matt Damon. This is largely due to the fact that better known stars charge a much higher fee (sometimes 100% more) than talented but lesser known actors.

Stalin

Joseph Stalin's name was not originally Stalin - he chose that name probably because Stalin means man of steel in Russian.

Rachel Allen's Divine Rich Chocolate Cake

At the time of writing, I have not tried out this recipe. I watched an episode of Rachel's cooking show on BBC Food and saw her make this. The cake certainly looked divine and rich so I tried looking for the recipe on the net but (shockingly enough!) could not find it.

So, I waited patiently for the repeat of Rachel's show, pencil and notebook in hand, took down the entire thing from TV

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

150g dark chocolate chips (60-70 %cocoa)

150 caster sugar

125 g butter chopped into pieces

3 eggs

55 g plain flour

Method

Note: Preheat oven to 180C and grease a round baking tin. Line bottom of tin with greased greaseproof paper

1. Place chocolate chips, sugar and butter into a double boiler/bain marie to melt. When water comes to a boil, turn off flame and stir until everything is smoothly mixed.
2. While chocolate mixture is melting, break 3 eggs and whisk.
3. Add whisked eggs to melted chocolate mixture (after it has slightly cooled).
4. Fold in the plain flour.
5. Empty into prepared baking tin.
6. Place in oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes

Chocolate glaze

Ingredients

110g chocolate

45 g butter

2 Tbsp milk

Melt all 3 ingredients in bain marie. Let cool but not cold. While still warm, pour glaze onto completely cooled cake.

Bread, baking and bicarbonate soda

Bread soda, baking soda and bicarbonate soda are all the same thing