There are two types of people in this world: those who abhor potty mouths, and those who have turned the use of four-letter words into an art form. If you lean toward the latter side, you’re probably not afraid to admit it—and now, thanks to a little help from science, we know why. As Medical Daily reports, a new, two-part study conducted by a team of international researchers from Stanford, University of Cambridge, Maastricht University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology suggests that people who can easily let loose with a string of obscenities are likely more honest as well.
For the first part of the study, the team conducted interviews with 276 subjects from across the U.S., recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk, to get to the bottom of both their swearing habits—namely, their favorite curse words and how often they use them—and just how honest they are by asking them about blame-placing, game-playing, and other activities that help determine trustworthiness.
For the second part, the team analyzed the status updates of nearly 75,000 Facebook users, looking for linguistic indicators of deception, such as the use of third-person pronouns and more negative words, as determined by a 2003 report published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. [PDF]
“The consistent findings across the studies suggest that the positive relation between profanity and honesty is robust, and that the relationship found at the individual level indeed translates to the society level,” the study [PDF] concluded.
While swearing may sound uncouth to some, the researchers see it more as an honest form of expression—not anger or malice—and determined that the more curse words that come out of a person’s mouth, the more truthful he or she is likely to be, as swearing itself is a form of candid talk.
“You might think if someone is swearing a lot, this is a negative social behavior,” study co-author David Stillwell told the Daily Mail. “On the other hand, they are not filtering their language so they are probably also not putting their stories about what is going on through similar filters which might turn them into untruths.”
It’s not the first time researchers have delved into dirty talk: A 2016 study published in Language Sciences [PDF] determined that people who swear a lot may possess a higher verbal intelligence, while a 2014 study showed that swearing can actually provide pain relief.
The Thursday morning front page of The Washington Post Express, featuring the upcoming Women’s March in Washington, D.C., left everyone facepalming. Give it a second, and you’ll figure out why:
Nintendo is having a major moment, which sort of feels like déjà vu. After debuting what was perhaps the hardest gift to find this holiday season with its pint-sized NES Classic console in November, the custom kicks-makers at Freaker Sneaks are now paying tribute to the gaming giant with a pair of Super Nintendo-styled Air Jordan IVs.
It’s hardly the first time video games have inspired a footwear company; last spring, Vans and Nintendo collaborated on a retro sneaker line. And in December, Kotaku reports, a design student crafted a pair of Legend of Zelda Adidas, though that was just a mock-up. Freaker Sneaks’s creation, on the other hand, will go on sale to the general public later this year—albeit in a very limited quantity (which means you’re as likely to get your hands on them as you were to find an NES Classic at Target in December).
While other Nintendo-branded sneakers have been all about the graphics, Freaker Sneaks’s Jordans are actually pretty subtle, and very wearable. Modeled after a game controller, the only indication that they’re Nintendo-themed at all is the logo on the tongue and the pressable buttons on the back of the shoes. Unfortunately, there’s no cheat code that will guarantee you’ll get a pair, but keep checking Freaker Sneaks’s website and Facebook page.
Hayao Miyazaki may be known for his animated films, but his outlook on life is hardly G-rated (neither are most of his films). To celebrate the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s 76th birthday, here are 30 straightforward quotes about life, movies, and beyond.
ON INSPIRATION
“I get inspiration from my everyday life.”
ON CHILDREN
“We get strength and encouragement from watching children.”
“I don’t like games. You’re robbing the precious time of children to be children. They need to be in touch with the real world more.”
ON HUMAN NATURE
“Humans have both the urge to create and destroy.”
“In the past, humans hesitated when they took lives, even non-human lives. But society had changed, and they no longer felt that way. As humans grew stronger, I think that we became quite arrogant, losing the sorrow of ‘we have no other choice.’ I think that in the essence of human civilization, we have the desire to become rich without limit, by taking the lives of other creatures.”
ON DECISION-MAKING
“Sometimes I test myself saying, ‘If I get a death sentence if I don’t make this movie, would I still make this movie?’”
ON RELATIONSHIPS
“I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live—if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.”
“Once you have met someone, you never really forget them.”
ON WOMEN
“Many of my movies have strong female leads—brave, self-sufficient girls that don’t think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart. They’ll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.”
ON MOVIEMAKING
“All my films are all my children.”
“I can’t stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me.”
“I would like to make a film to tell children ‘it’s good to be alive.’”
“In order to grow your audience, you must betray their expectations.”
ON ART
“If [hand-drawn animation] is a dying craft, we can’t do anything about it. Civilization moves on. Where are all the fresco painters now? Where are the landscape artists? What are they doing now? The world is changing. I have been very fortunate to be able to do the same job for 40 years. That’s rare in any era.”
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS
“The creation of a single world comes from a huge number of fragments and chaos.”
“My process is thinking, thinking and thinking—thinking about my stories for a long time.”
“I do believe in the power of story. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze, and inspire their listeners.”
“Animators can only draw from their own experiences of pain and shock and emotions.”
ON BELIEVING IN ONESELF
“Always believe in yourself. Do this and no matter where you are, you will have nothing to fear.”
ON TECHNOLOGY
“It seems like everything that we see perceived in the brain before we actually use our own eyes, that everything we see is coming through computers or machines and then is being input in our brain cells. So that really worries me.”
“Do everything by hand, even when using the computer.”
ON CRITICS
“I never read reviews. I’m not interested. But I value a lot the reactions of the spectators.”
ON LIFE
“Life is a winking light in the darkness.”
“Yet, even amidst the hatred and carnage, life is still worth living. It is possible for wonderful encounters and beautiful things to exist.”
ON GOOD VERSUS EVIL
“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.”
“The concept of portraying evil and then destroying it—I know this is considered mainstream, but I think it is rotten. This idea that whenever something evil happens someone particular can be blamed and punished for it, in life and in politics is hopeless.”
ON RETIREMENT
“If you’re going to retire, retire early.”
ON THE FUTURE
“The future is clear. It’s going to fall apart. What’s the use in worrying? It’s inevitable.”
“You may not like what’s happening, but just accept it, and let’s try to live together. Even if you feel angry, let’s be patient and endure, let’s try to live together. I’ve realized that this is the only way forward.”
ON AGING
“Is someone different at age 18 or 60? I believe one stays the same.”
Hollywood lost two of its most enduring icons last week when actress/author/activist Carrie Fisher and her mother, Singin’ in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds, passed away within 24 hours of each other. Like any mother and daughter, Fisher and Reynolds had their disagreements over the years. Unlike for most other mothers and daughters, those disagreements made for public fodder. There was even a 10-year period where they did not speak—but their bond grew even stronger once they were reunited, and the two eventually became neighbors. It’s that fascinating relationship that is at the center of Bright Lights, Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens’s new documentary, which offers an inside glimpse at the duo’s ups and downs over the years.
While the film, which made its debut at Cannes last year, was originally set to air on HBO in March, the network moved up its premiere date to Saturday, January 7 at 8 p.m. You can get a sneak peek via the trailer below.
It may not have been a huge box office success, but Tim Burton’s Ed Wood did win two Academy Awards and a chorus of rave reviews following its release in 1994. Pretty impressive for a biopic about a man who has largely been labeled “the worst director of all time.” Throw on an angora sweater and let’s take a look.
1. IT’S THE BRAINCHILD OF FORMER COLLEGE ROOMMATES.
In 1981, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski—both freshmen at the USC School of Cinema-Television—met each other in a cafeteria line, hit it off immediately, and arranged to become roommates. During their senior year, the duo began joining forces on an assortment of screenwriting projects, kicking off a partnership that continues to this day. Together, they have co-written Problem Child (1990), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Man on the Moon (1999), and Big Eyes (2014). On the small screen, they also developed the hit FX series American Crime Story, which recently completed its first season with The People v. O. J. Simpson.
Before graduating from USC in 1985, Alexander and Karaszewski briefly considered making a documentary on history’s most enigmatic director, Edward D. Wood, Jr. Although this project went unrealized, they eventually returned to the subject. In 1992, author Rudolph Grey published Ed Wood: Nightmare of Ecstasy (The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.), a thoroughly researched oral biography of Wood and his work. The book inspired Alexander and Karaszewski to pen a 10-page story treatment for a new biopic about the eccentric, cross-dressing auteur.
2. THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS TO BRING ON TIM BURTON AS A PRODUCER.
Karaszewski said that, at the onset, he and Alexander “envisioned Ed Wood as more of an indie style picture.” Obviously, it would need a director, so the scribes presented their treatment to their former USC classmate Michael Lehmann, who’s best known for directing the low-budget cult comedy Heathers (1988). Lehmann loved the concept and agreed to sit in the director’s chair. Then the scriptwriters contacted Tim Burton.
“We weren’t even asking Tim to work on Ed Wood, just to put his name to it,” Alexander recalled. “We said, ‘Would you mind coming on as a producer or a presenter, just to help us raise our financing?’ This was so we could say ‘Tim Burton Presents [Ed Wood].’” Having grown up with Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), Burton was a lifelong Ed Wood fan. Excited by the treatment, he told Alexander and Karaszewski that he’d like to direct the film.
Not only did the material seem tailor-made for Burton’s unique style but, as Karaszewski pointed out, everyone involved knew that, “The film would have a much better chance of being made if Tim agreed to direct.” Even Lehmann was excited about the possibility and agreed to “step aside” should Burton choose to assume directing duty. (Lehmann later became one of Ed Wood’s producers.)
There was just one problem: Tri-Star had already asked Burton to helm Mary Reilly, an upcoming drama about Dr. Jekyll’s housekeeper. In order to secure his services, Alexander and Karaszewski knew they’d need to give him a full-length script—and fast!
“Tim had six weeks to decide whether he was going to make Mary Reilly or not,” Karaszewski explained, “… so Scott and I locked ourselves in a room and quickly did a first draft, which ended up too long at about 140 pages. We got it to Tim on a Friday and then we got a call [that] Sunday saying Tim had dropped out of the other movie and was going our movie. Tim had no notes at all, and his intention was to simply shoot our first draft, which is exactly what he did. We were very lucky. Not much got changed.”
3. COLUMBIA PICTURES DROPPED THE FILM AFTER BURTON INSISTED ON SHOOTING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE.
One month before production began, Ed Wood hit a snag. Burton was fortunate enough to hire his first choice for the role of Bela Lugosi, actor Martin Landau, and makeup artist Rick Baker made Landau look uncannily similar to the Hungarian movie star. Nevertheless, after watching the first color tests, something felt a bit off. That’s when everyone realized that they’d only ever seen black-and-white photographs of Lugosi. Immediately, Burton decided that Ed Woodcouldn’t be filmed in color.
The movie was being developed by Columbia Pictures, whose higher-ups disagreed with Burton’s decision to shoot in black and white. “They were saying, ‘Look, we can’t get our cable money, we can’t get our foreign video money, we won’t be able to exploit the movie in a lot of markets if it’s in black-and-white,” Alexander recalled. Still, Burton held firm. Realizing he wouldn’t budge, Columbia abandoned the picture. Fortunately, Disney was there to pick it up—and allowed Burton to follow his creative instincts.
4. MARTIN LANDAU PREPARED FOR HIS ROLE BY STUDYING HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE TAPES.
In order to imitate Lugosi’s voice and mannerisms, Landau watched some 35 Lugosi movies and purchased Hungarian language tapes. With the latter, he would “literally practice the language and see where the tongue would go.” Doing his homework really paid off, as the performance earned Landau an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1995. When Hungarian-born director Peter Medak saw Ed Wood, he called Landau to praise him; Medak said that Landau’s accent sounded spot-on because, “You are not an actor trying to do a Hungarian accent, you’re a character trying not to do [one].”
5. BURTON HAS LIKENED THE ON-SCREEN BOND BETWEEN WOOD AND LUGOSI TO HIS OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH VINCENT PRICE.
Following the release of his 1953 mega-hit House of Wax, Vincent Price became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. And Tim Burton, who grew up watching and rewatching the actor’s acclaimed Edgar Allan Poe films, was one of Price’s biggest fans.
“There was an energy he had; it was evident in everything.” Burton said. “I liked believing Vincent Price, I believed him.” In 1982, Burton gave Price’s career a boost by casting him as the narrator of Vincent, a short film. The two became friends and worked together again on Edward Scissorhands (1990), as well as a Price-centered documentary called Conversations With Vincent.
When Burton read Alexander and Karaszewski’s script for Ed Wood, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. “There was an aspect of Wood’s relationship with Bela Lugosi that I liked,” Burton said. “He befriended him at the end of his life, and … I connected with it on the level that I did with Vincent Price, in terms of how I felt about him. Meeting Vincent had an incredible impact on me, the same impact Ed must have felt meeting and working with his idol.”
6. JOHNNY DEPP’S ED WOOD VOICE WAS A COMBINATION OF RONALD REAGAN, CASEY KASEM, AND THE TIN MAN FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ.
In interviews, Johnny Depp has said that to capture the voice of Wood, he tried to merge Ronald Reagan’s “blind optimism” with the “vocal attack” of Casey Kasem, the long-serving disc jockey who voiced Shaggy on the original Scooby-Doo cartoon series. Further inspiration was drawn from Jack Haley’s performance as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
7. BUNNY’S ROLE WAS EXPANDED AFTER BILL MURRAY SIGNED ON.
Actor and drag queen John Campbell “Bunny” Breckinridge was a major player in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Despite this, the original Ed Wood script gave the character very little dialogue. But when Bill Murray signed on to play the part, Alexander and Karaszewski decided to beef up the role. “When Bill got cast, it didn’t make sense to just have him standing in the background!” Karaszewski said.
8. THE REAL ED WOOD PROBABLY DIDN’T KIDNAP AN OCTOPUS.
The movie shows Wood stealing a motorized giant octopus from Paramount so that he can shoot the climactic scene for Bride of the Monster (1955). However, the jury’s still out on whether this actually happened or not. Many years after the fact, Wood himself boasted that he illegally lifted the prop and Dolores Fuller later said as much in a conversation with film historian Tom Weaver. Yet Alex Gordon, the movie’s screenwriter, claimed it was rented.
9. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE’S LEADING MAN IS IN IT.
Although he appeared in more than 30 movies and worked with visionaries like Steven Spielberg and John Ford, Gregory Walcott is chiefly remembered for playing the main character in Plan 9 From Outer Space. “It’s enough to drive a puritan to drink!” Walcott vented in 1998. Regardless, when Tim Burton’s Ed Wood came around, he made a quick cameo as a prospective investor in one scene. The film marked Walcott’s final film appearance; the actor passed away in 2015.
10. DEPP DEVELOPED A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH ANGORA SWEATERS.
“I learned too much about women’s clothing,” Depp said of Ed Wood, while promoting the movie in an MTV interview. “The first thing I learned is that angora feels amazing on someone else, [but] not on you.” Alas, the fuzzy material does have an annoying habit of shedding profusely; Depp joked that in certain scenes, he may have “inhaled more angora than oxygen.”
11. IT WAS THE FIRST BURTON-DIRECTED MOVIE THAT DANNY ELFMAN DIDN’T SCORE.
Burton and Danny Elfman first collaborated on Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), which marked Burton’s feature directorial debut and Elfman’s first major movie score. It was a match made in heaven. Following Pee-wee, Elfman provided the music for Burton’s next four pictures: Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Batman Returns (1992). But due to a temporary falling out between the two artists, Elfman did not lend his talents to Ed Wood, which was scored by Howard Shore instead. The dynamic duo would later bury the hatchet after filming began on Mars Attacks! (1996).
12. BELA LUGOSI JR. ISN’T A FAN.
Although Ed Wood was showered with positive reviews after its release, the picture didn’t win everybody over. Bela Lugosi Jr., for one, was outraged by the film’s “distorted” portrayal of his late father’s drug rehabilitation process. “The truth, in this case, is actually more dramatic than fiction, but it doesn’t star Ed Wood,” the younger Lugosi told the Los Angeles Times. “My dad, who had a medically induced addiction to morphine, turned himself in—with no Mr. Wood accompanying him, contrary to what the film shows—to Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.”
Furthermore, Lugosi Jr. says that his father never would have made “certain references to Vampira’s anatomy or … scatological remarks regarding Boris Karloff.” (In fact, Lugosi Sr. greatly respected Karloff, and vice versa.)
13. DOLORES FULLER DIDN’T LIKE SARAH JESSICA PARKER’S PORTRAYAL OF HER.
Overall, Wood’s longtime girlfriend enjoyed the movie. Before her death in 2011, Fuller called Landau’s performance “magnificent” and said that Depp did a “beautiful” job in the lead role. “Eddy wasn’t always that up, he had his heartbreaks too,” Fuller allowed, “… but oh what a great actor [Depp] is and I just loved the portrayal.” But she didn’t feel that the film treated her fairly.
“That was the only thing I didn’t like about the movie,” Fuller said. “Sarah Jessica Parker smoked all the time and I would never smoke. And she didn’t contact me. Here she’s playing my life and she didn’t bother to do any research.” Also, she pointed out that her relationship with Wood was a lot warmer than the movie might have you believe. “They portrayed me as an actress out to get all I can get, but I contributed.” Indeed, she did: Among many other things, Fuller (willingly) provided Wood with a number of costumes that were used in his films. She’d also help her then-boyfriend entertain Bela Lugosi during the Dracula star’s regular visits to their home.
14. PEOPLE WERE MISTAKING GEORGE STEELE FOR TOR JOHNSON LONG BEFORE ED WOOD CAME OUT.
A professional wrestler himself, George Steele looks like Tor Johnson—who appeared in several of Wood’s movies—reincarnated. Noting their physical similarities, Burton asked Steele to submit an audition tape and cast him as Johnson shortly thereafter. In Steele’s autobiography, he reveals that he “knew nothing about” Wood before Burton contacted him. “While I had never seen Plan 9 From Outer Space,” Steele wrote, “people had told me that they’d seen me in this monster movie. I had no clue at the time what they were talking about. Later on, I learned it was an Ed Wood movie featuring Tor Johnson. Apparently, Tim Burton was not the only one who saw some resemblance between me and ol’ Tor.”
Washington won 69 out of 69 available electoral votes in 1788, and 132 out of 132 in 1792. These are the only unanimous electoral college wins in history.
A few things to be aware of:
1. In the 1788 election (which actually extended into 1789) there were two states (North Carolina and Rhode Island) which had not yet ratified the Constitution and therefore were ineligible to cast any votes at all.
2. There was virtually no popular vote at all. The Constitution left it up to the states to determine how to select their electors. Most states at this stage did so by allowing the state legislatures to directly appoint the electors, who then were free to vote however they wanted. In 1788, the New York state legislature deadlocked in the choice of electors, and therefore did not cast an electoral vote in the election. Some states did allow a popular vote to choose a few of the individual electors in the state, with the rest chosen by the legislature. Overall about 1.8 percent of the population voted in the election; about 43,000 votes in total (out of a population of around 3 million). This was partly because many states did not use a popular vote at all, and partly because in those that did, only white males over 21 who owned substantial property were allowed to vote.
3. In those days, the vice president was the candidate who received the second-most electoral votes (this would change as a result of the 12th Amendment in 1803). To ensure that someone was likely to receive a majority of the vote, the electors each cast two votes, but both were votes for President. The idea was that the second-place finisher in the presidential vote would become vice president. This would be true in the elections of 1788, 1792, 1796 and 1800. The 12th Amendment would change the system so that electors cast separate ballots for president and vice president. Washington was elected unanimously because all 69 electors who voted in 1788 voted for him on their first ballot. They divided their votes on the second ballot among 11 different candidates. John Adams received 34 votes, the second most after Washington, and became the first vice president. So Washington was elected unanimously, but his vice president was not.
At this stage, we were still very much figuring this whole thing out, and procedures would change a lot after the deadlocked election of 1800 had to be decided by the House of Representatives (leading to, among other things, the 12th Amendment). Most states would continue to appoint some or all of their electors via the legislature until the 1820s, with one or two (notably, South Carolina) holding out until the 1850s before adopting a popular vote.
One of the inconveniences of living in New York City is losing all cellular and mobile reception as soon as you walk down into a subway station. But that’s a thing of the past, as all 279 underground stations throughout Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx now offer public high-speed Wi-Fi for free, Engadget reports.
Here’s how it works: Once you’re underground, connect to “Transit Wireless Wi-Fi” on your smartphone or tablet to start using the free service provided by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The Wi-Fi connection (along with cell phone service in several stations) is only good for one hour, but works between subway stops while you’re on a train. After the hour is up, just sign in again to surf the web, send emails and texts, or listen to music (with your headphones on, please).
In 2011, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) partnered with telecommunications company Transit Wireless to deliver free Wi-Fi for Internet-starved commuters, beginning with a few stations in Manhattan. Of the now 472 subway stations (with the grand opening of the long-awaited Second Avenue Line) in New York City, 279 are underground and 193 stations are above; the MTA and Transit Wireless are working to deliver free Wi-Fi to the city’s elevated stations within the year.
When it comes to thievery, dental floss isn’t a high-priority item. AirPods, on the other hand, are—and the only way to replace a lost or stolen pair is to fork over $160 for a replacement. Which is why one crafty designer came up with a perfect, and inexpensive, solution to help prevent your AirPods from being pinched: turn them into a container of dental floss.
Over at Etsy, RyanFlosss is selling a translucent sticker that will immediately disguise your AirPod charging case as what looks like an innocuous pack of dental floss. The sticker costs $4.99 and takes just seconds to attach. No flossing required. As for keeping the slippery little pods in your ear? Well, that’s another issue—though this wire should help.
As BoingBoing reports, director Wes Plate made a short film about the museum, which opened in 1992 and showcases more than 1200 toilet seats-turned-pieces of art. The toilet seats serve as the canvas for Smith’s work, which focuses on important historical and sporting events, notable celebrity tributes, general pop culture, and American patriotism. The 95-year-old Texan has been an artist for most of his life, but fell into the family business of plumbing as a full-time career. It was during one fateful trip to a local plumbing supplier that Smith found the inspiration for what would become his artistic obsession.
“I went to a plumbing supply house one time, and they had about 50 toilet seats out on the dock that they were going to throw away,” Smith told Roadside America. “And I said [to the guy] ‘What are you going to do with those toilet seats. I would like to have some of these toilet seats to do some art on.’ I’d been going down to the River Walk and doing a little art on canvas. He said, ‘Well, you can’t have ’em, unless you take the hinge off, and throw away half of ’em while you’re here.’ I threw the rim away and kept the lid.”
Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum is located at 239 Abiso Avenue in San Antonio, Texas. It’s open to the public, and if you donate your own toilet seat, Smith will engrave your name on it as part of his artwork. (Just make sure the toilet seat is clean before you hand it over!)
