Raccoons for tea, and a Fanta for, er, Göring
Hello, you adorable little creature you!
Short intro today, as I’m behind schedule. This week you have some Thanksgiving nonsense, a lot of rabbits, and a shocking revelation about Piers Morgan. Maybe you should sit down.
Let’s dabble!
The White House raccoon!
This is a great story. A raccoon was sent to President Calvin Coolidge for Thanksgiving dinner (no, I’ve no idea why), but ended up as the First family’s pet instead. Any vegetarians out there? Feel free to guilt trip the meat eaters by wheeling out this funny little tale – especially the bit about the raccoon (named Rebecca) bathing regularly with soap.
Fanta’s origin story!
Mmm, a drink made from leftover apple fibres, mash from cider presses, and whey. This, my friend, was the original recipe for Fanta. If that isn’t hard enough a concept to digest, it was also invented in Nazi Germany: as Hitler’s power grew, the USA cut off Germany’s supply of Coca Cola ingredients, leaving them to concoct another beverage. Fanta – short for ‘fantasie’ – was born. The fact Fanta’s current slogan is “Be More Than One Flavor” shows how far the brand has come…
Wednesday Addams!
I started watching Tim Burton’s Wednesday last night. It’s pretty good, plus surprisingly gruesome in parts. Like many people who grew up in the 90s, Wednesday Addams is a bit of an icon to me – this piece explains beautifully how this came to be.
Shopping addictions!
This is me, being all topical (my fave Black Friday email offered to sort my will for me at 15% off): why do we buy things we don’t need? Answer: for the dopamine hits. As for why we’ve developed this link between acquiring things and dopamine, you’ll need to read this piece – which features an (I think) entirely relatable woman who was addicted to buying rabbits.
Personality quiz!
Introvert or extravert? Do you even care?? If you do, or like me, you love doing quizzes, Classic FM has got you covered. By answering a few simple music-themed questions, they reckon they can figure you out. Personally, I’m mainly enjoying the accompanying picture, where a grinning Bach looks like he’d enjoy a packet of pork scratchings and half a mild.
The question on everybody’s lips…
How does it feel to surf the world’s biggest wave?
Apparently no, the answer is not ‘absolutely fucking terrifying’.
Word of the week
vindöga [Swedish, from Old Norse ‘vindauga’]: Window (literally, “wind eye”)
Isn’t that lovely?
And finally…
For those of you already feeling festive:
See you next Friday!