March 2017 – Page 8

March 6, 2017

Newsletter Item for (92877): 8 Climatic Facts About Our Abnormally Warm Winter

Headline:

8 Climatic Facts About Our Abnormally Warm Winter

mfna_dek:

Most of the United States just lived through one of the warmest Februarys on record. The city of Chicago, for one, went through both January and February without seeing any snow at all. Here are some statistics that will show you just how unusual the past three months have been.

Image:

mfna_eyebrow:

Weather

mfna_real_node:

8 Climatic Facts About Our Abnormally Warm Winter

March 6, 2017

Newsletter Item for (92710): America’s First Mandatory Education Law Was Inspired by Satan

Headline:

America’s First Mandatory Education Law Was Inspired by Satan

mfna_dek:

America’s first mandatory education law was inspired by Satan.

Image:

mfna_eyebrow:

History

mfna_real_node:

America’s First Mandatory Education Law Was Inspired by Satan

March 6, 2017

Newsletter Item for (86778): The Best Breakfast Spot in All 50 States

Headline:

The Best Breakfast Spot in All 50 States

mfna_dek:

Whether your dream breakfast consists of French toast with a decadent salted caramel and fig jam topping or it’s a simple cup of coffee and bagel, we’ve got you covered. These are the best breakfast spots in all 50 states.

Image:

mfna_eyebrow:

Food

mfna_real_node:

The Best Breakfast Spot in All 50 States

March 6, 2017

How to Score a Free Breakfast at IHOP on National Pancake Day

Kirstin Fawcett

filed under: Food

Image credit:

iStock

On Tuesday, March 7, you can splurge on carbs—and save money—at the International House of Pancakes. In honor of its 12th annual National Pancake Day, IHOP will dish out one free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to customers between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m, with select locations extending their hours until 10 p.m. In turn, patrons are asked to donate to charitable children’s organizations, including Shriners Hospitals for Children, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

But wait, didn’t we just have a Pancake Day? Let’s sort out that holiday confusion: IHOP’s National Pancake Day has nothing to do with International Pancake Day, an annual pancake festival held in Liberal, Kansas, right before the Christian season of Lent. Nor is it related to Shrove Tuesday, which is also called Pancake Day or Mardi Gras—the day before Lent in which cultures around the world savor a hearty pancake supper before commencing 40 days of penance. While IHOP has hosted National Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday before, the delicious fundraiser often takes place on a generic day in late winter, according to TIME.

This year, IHOP’s National Pancake Day doesn’t seem to fall on any particularly special occasion, which is fine with us—we don’t need a specific occasion to chow down on pancakes, especially when it raises money for a good cause. Since launching National Pancake Day in 2006, IHOP says its restaurants have raised $24 million for charity. This year alone, the chain is aiming to raise $3.5 million.

Visit IHOP’s official National Pancake Day website for more information and updates.

March 6, 2017 – 10:30am

March 6, 2017

11 Classic Films in the Public Domain

Matthew Jackson

filed under: law, Lists, Movies, Pop Culture

Image credit:

YouTube

Thousands upon thousands of films have been released in the United States since the dawn of cinema, which means it’s only natural for some to fall through the cracks, even classic ones. Today, movie studios guard their products with armies of copyright lawyers intent on preserving every possible aspect for potential commercialization, but it wasn’t always so regimented, and as a result thousands of films are in the public domain. Some are studio releases with unrenewed copyrights, others are independent productions with errors in the credits, and still more are the impetus behind some interesting legal proceedings. From horror icons to silent classics, here are 11 films and their public domain stories.

1. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)

One of Charlie Chaplin’s most acclaimed works (and a favorite of Chaplin himself), The Gold Rush actually exists in two versions, one of which is entirely public domain. The copyright renewal for the original film was never filed, meaning that version became public domain in 1953. However, in 1942 Chaplin himself reedited and re-released the film with a new score and recorded narration. While the original footage, and therefore the original film in its entirety, are still public domain, Chaplin’s additions were copyrighted, and the copyright was later renewed.

2. THE GENERAL (1926)

Perhaps the greatest of Buster Keaton’s legendary silent comedies, The General shares The Gold Rush’s slightly complex release history. The original Keaton film entered the public domain in 1956, when the original copyright expired, but another version exists. In 1953, film distributor Raymond Rohauer re-released the film with new edits, music, and an introduction. The Rohauer copyright was later renewed, but as with The Gold Rush, only the additional elements are under copyright. Keaton’s original remains public domain.

3. A STAR IS BORN (1937)

There are now three versions of A Star Is Born (with a fourth on the way in 2018), but the original is the only one in the public domain. Originally produced by the legendary David O. Selznick under his Selznick International Pictures banner, the film bounced around quite a bit in years after its release. As Selznick International Pictures dissolved, the rights to the film went to financier John Hay Whitney, who then sold them to Film Classics, Inc. in 1943. When its theatrical rerun potential declined, Film Classics put the film up for sale, and producer Edward L. Alperson bought it, hoping to remake it. Alperson then sold the rights again in 1953 to Warner Bros., which then produced a 1954 remake starring Judy Garland and James Mason. Somewhere in all that hand-changing, the film’s copyright renewal was forgotten.

4. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)

His Girl Friday is one of the most famous films in the public domain—but with an interesting loophole. The play on which the film is based, 1928’s The Front Page, was copyrighted and renewed, which means it’s still protected and therefore so is any work directly based on it. This makes His Girl Friday practically unusable in terms of free exhibition, because you’d need permission from the copyright owners of The Front Page, even though the film is, technically, public domain.

5. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

The Christmas classic might be the most famous public domain movie of all time, but you may have noticed it only airs on one TV network (NBC) every holiday season, which isn’t exactly public domain treatment for such a sought-after seasonal movie. That’s because, while technically still in the public domain, it does enjoy certain copyright protections now that it didn’t in the decades when it became a constantly re-running holiday staple on public television. In 1974, the initial 28-year copyright on the film expired when owner Republic Pictures failed to renew it, and so the film entered the public domain. In 1993, though, Republic used a new Supreme Court ruling to essentially reclaim the film by asserting their copyright to the original story on which the film is based—“The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. Using this and their copyright to the film’s music, Republic was able to reassert a degree of ownership over the film, and in 1994 they granted NBC a long-term deal to broadcast the film each Christmas, which continues today. Technically, the film itself is still public domain, so if you wanted to completely reedit it and change the music, you could … but who wants that?

6. MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (1950)

March of the Wooden Soldiers is a particularly interesting case, because depending on who you ask, it might not actually be in the public domain. The film was originally Babes In Toyland, a 1934 Laurel and Hardy vehicle based on the Victor Herbert operetta of the same name. In 1950, after some financial juggling, the original film was licensed to distributor Lippert Pictures for a re-release. Lippert made some cuts to the original film and retitled it March of the Wooden Soldiers, believing that a title suggesting war would earn more box office bucks. In the process, though, Lippert failed to add a copyright notice for the new title. The copyright for the original Babes release was renewed, but the copyright for March never existed, leading some distributors (and now YouTubers) to continue putting that cut of the film out as a public domain release.

7. THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960)

Like many of cult movie master Roger Corman’s films, The Little Shop of Horrors was made cheap and fast (Corman apparently only shot for two days). It was also made with only the initial theatrical release earnings in mind. Since Corman didn’t see the potential for the film’s market beyond that theatrical run, he apparently didn’t copyright the film. Two decades and countless TV broadcasts later, it inspired the hit musical of the same name, which was in turn made into the hit 1986 film.

8. CHARADE (1963)

Stanley Donen’s classic thriller is still praised today for its screenplay and its Hitchcockian filmmaking, but an early error made it one of the most high-profile films to ever enter the public domain. The final version of the film bears the notice “MCMLXIII BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES COMPANY, INC. AND STANLEY DONEN FILMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.” Somehow, no one working at the print lab or at Universal noticed the lack of the word “Copyright” or the copyright emblem, and so the film fell into the public domain immediately upon release.

9. MCLINTOCK! (1963)

McLintock!, one of five films to feature the iconic partnership of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, is both a public domain film and the subject of an interesting public domain court case. The initial copyright, held by Wayne’s company Batjac Productions, expired in 1991. In 1996, Batjac attempted to register copyrights on two drafts of the McLintock! screenplay, and filed suit that same year against GoodTimes Home Video, a company that began releasing VHS tapes of the film as a result of its public domain status in 1993. Batjac’s argument was that, since it owned the screenplay, the screenplay drafts should be copyrighted and the film should therefore fall under the screenplay copyright. A U.S. District Court ruled that the release of the film itself “effected the publication of the unpublished screenplay to the extent that the screenplay was incorporated into the film,” and denied Batjac’s claim. The decision was later upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court in 1998.

10. MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE (1966)

Manos is famously bad, so much so that almost no one had heard of the film until the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 mercilessly mocked it in a 1993 episode. That episode vaulted the film into the public imagination, and it has since gained considerable fame among bad movie fans. The original film features no copyright notice, placing it in the public domain, but the story’s gotten more complicated in recent years.

In 2011, film school graduate and collector Ben Solovey discovered an unedited work print of the film and began raising funds to restore it. He later copyrighted his restoration, which was released on Blu-ray in 2015. Joe Warren, son of Manos writer and director Harold Warren, disputes that copyright and the film’s public domain status, based on a copyright notice filed on the original screenplay, which Warren discovered in 2013. The dispute still isn’t resolved, and Warren recently filed to trademark the title of the film, putting a number of fan projects in jeopardy. As of February 2017, a fundraising effort was underway to challenge Warren’s trademark claim.

11. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

In order to comply with copyright laws of the 1960s, a film had to display its release year, its copyright owner, and the copyright logo (or the word “Copyright”) somewhere on the final release cut. When The Walter Reade Organization agreed to distribute Night of the Living Dead, it was called Night of the Flesh Eaters. A legal dispute with another similarly named film necessitated a title change, but when the change was made, the distributor failed to include the copyright notice on the print, so the film immediately fell into the public domain.

Additional Sources
The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More, by Stephen Fishman, J.D.

The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors, by Fred Olen Ray

Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever, by Joe Kane

“Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain,” by David Pierce (Film History, Vol. 19, No. 20)

March 6, 2017 – 10:00am

March 6, 2017

Get Monday’s Top Amazon Deals Now

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, our team combs the Web and shares some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. Here’s what caught our eye today, March 6.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers, including Amazon, and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

March 6, 2017 – 12:45pm

March 6, 2017

See What Goes on Inside the Robot Animals That Spy on Wildlife

Michele Debczak

filed under: Animals, robots, technology

The BBC Earth-PBS miniseries Spy in the Wild wouldn’t be possible without its animatronic creatures. Thanks to their realistic movements and designs, the robot spies have allowed filmmakers to capture up-close-and-personal footage of animals in their natural habitats. This clip spotted by Sploid takes a closer look at how these covert operators function. Follow special effects artist John Nolan inside his London studio to see what models of an African wild dog pup and a meerkat look like without their skin. For more Spy in the Wild content, check out this adorable blooper reel highlighting unexpected moments caught on tape.

[h/t Sploid]

Header/banner images courtesy of BBC Earth-PBS Miniseries.

March 6, 2017 – 9:00am

March 6, 2017

12 Words For The Insufferably Vain

Mark Peters

filed under: language, Lists, Words

Image credit:

iStock

Vanity is more visible than ever in these selfie-saturated days, but being a preening peacock or conceited coxcomb has never been out of style. There are many older, out-of-use words for people who can only be pried away from a mirror with the jaws of life. So please use these words next time you have to describe a self-obsessed huff-snuff.

1. HUFF-SNUFF

The Oxford English Dictionary defines this rhyming word as “a conceited fellow who gives himself airs and is quick to take offence; a braggart, hector.” The idea is that the person is huffing and snuffing in an exaggerated fashion with their nose in the air, outraged by any affront to their precious person. Like all reduplicative words—including namby-pamby and higgledy-piggledy—huff-snuff is awesome.

2. GLASS-GAZING

A glass-gazing ninnyhammer is always looking in a mirror. Shakespeare used the term in damning fashion in King Lear, describing: “A whorson glassegazing superfinicall rogue.” Ouch.

3. AIRISH

This word has had several meanings, mostly related to the weather, but in the late 1800s airish joined words such as blowhard and bloviate in the gaseous lexicon of invective. Mark Twain used the term in an 1874 letter, writing “I shall be as uppish & airish as any third-rate actor whose name is not made loud enough in the bills.” That’s about as uppy and airy as it gets.

4. NOSE-WISE

The image of a nose in the air is hard to beat when it comes conceit, but this type of conceit is specific: It has to do with an overestimation of one’s intelligence. But this word has some other meanings that are less insulting. A nose-wise person sometimes simply has a quick wit. Other times they have a superior sense of smell.

5. PAJOCK

No less than Shakespeare used this term—in Hamlet—via the memorable noun phrase “a very very pajock.” This word for a peacock or popinjay isn’t used much, but it’s usually an allusion to Shakespeare. Back in 1954, C. S. Lewis asked a very good question: “Have we no more gravity among us than to be so chafed by the taunt of a pajock?”

6. VAUNTY

A Scottish word, the jaunty term vaunty has been around since the 1700s, describing vain varlets and boastful buffoons. Vaunty springs from an out-of-use sense of vaunt as a verb meaning to brag, and it’s related to vaunted.

7. AND 8. SKIPJACK AND PUPPYISH

Though skipjack sounds like an unreliable lumberjack, it has a slightly less rugged meaning that is worth quoting the OED in full: “A pert shallow-brained fellow; a puppy, a whipper-snapper; a conceited fop or dandy.” (Fun fact: Puppy has sometimes been a word for an attention hog. Novelist Frances Burney used the term in a 1775 letter: “He is conceited, self-sufficient, and puppyish.”)

9. BIGGITY

This is a term from the U.S. south for someone who has gotten not only too big for their britches, but too big for the whole britches store, figuratively. The biggity are big-headed.

10. GET ONE’S SKULL SWELLED

Speaking of major-league melons, Green’s Dictionary of Slang lists this vivid variation of the idiom “have a big head.” This massive slang dictionary includes an 1886 use in The Policeman’s Lantern by James Greenwood: “Strange how some men get their skulls swelled when they get on the force.”

11. SIDEY

This term plays on older meaning of side as referring to arrogance and general full-of-yourself-ness. People would say an arrogant jerk was putting on side. From there, you could say the vain or puffed-up are sidey.

12. SNIPPER-SNAPPER

This sibling of whipper-snapper has a slightly different sense. Both words are dismissive of youths, but snipper-snapper also has a suggestion of conceitedness, as seen in a definition in an 1854 glossary compiled by A.E. Baker: “Snipper-snapper, a small, insignificant, effeminate, self-conceited young man.” This term is apparently a little older than whipper-snapper, but it hasn’t fared as well in the Darwinian lexical race.

March 6, 2017 – 8:00am

March 6, 2017

5 Questions: Day of the Dude

Questions:	5
Available:	Always
Pass rate:	75 %
Backwards navigation:	Forbidden

site_icon:

quizzes

Kara Kovalchik

106 of the Least Popular Baby Names in American History

19 Old-Timey Slang Terms to Bolster Your Vocabulary

John Green Defines Every Acronym Ever*

11 Things We No Longer See in Movie Theaters

quiz_type:

multichoice

Rich Title:

5 Questions: Day of the Dude

CTA Text Quiz End:

Monday, March 6, 2017 – 01:45

Schedule Publish:

March 6, 2017

The Wonderfully Weird Shoes of Anna Vasof

Rebecca OConnell

filed under: art, fashion, video

Here’s something that might make you feel just a bit inadequate about your footwear. Media artist Anna Vasof’s short video “Down to Earth” is a visual collection of quirky and inventive shoes. The work—which feels a bit like the fashion version of Alexander Calder’s circus—shows unusual pairs that move and perform with each step the artist takes. It starts with a pair of seemingly normal boots, which eventually reveal roots hidden beneath the dirt. It only gets crazier from there, with shoes that stamp, open umbrellas, and open books.

Check out the video above to see all 28 pairs in action.

[h/t The Kid Should See This]

March 6, 2017 – 6:30am

1. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)

2. THE GENERAL (1926)

3. A STAR IS BORN (1937)

4. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)

5. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

6. MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (1950)

7. THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960)

8. CHARADE (1963)

9. MCLINTOCK! (1963)

10. MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE (1966)

11. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

GADGETS, TOYS, AND MEDIA

KITCHEN

HOME

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

OFFICE, SCHOOL, AND CRAFTS

OUTDOORS, GARDEN, AND SPORTS

ELECTRONICS

TOOLS

1. HUFF-SNUFF

2. GLASS-GAZING

3. AIRISH

4. NOSE-WISE

5. PAJOCK

6. VAUNTY

7. AND 8. SKIPJACK AND PUPPYISH

9. BIGGITY

10. GET ONE’S SKULL SWELLED

11. SIDEY

12. SNIPPER-SNAPPER