Archive for October, 2010

You must have seen the convening of the 2010 European Rubik’s Cube Championship in Budapest, with skilled competitors solving the puzzle in a matter of seconds. Lets take a look at some of the world’s geekiest competitions. #10 Magic: The Gathering Tournaments Card-wielding national champions from 61 countries, along with assorted professionals and invited players, will convene at the [...]

The use of vuvuzelas — a long plastic horn popular with South African soccer fans — at the World Cup has sparked debate about the level of tolerable noise at a sporting event. Here’s a look at some other sounds that are not music to our ears. #10 Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber “Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?” JimCarrey doesn’t give you, or his hapless [...]

This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans saw automaker Audi finish in first, second, and third place. Lets look at other notable tests of human stamina. #10 Vendee Globe One person, on one yacht, traveling around the world. It’s as simple as that. Founded in 1989, the Vendee Globe, considered one of the most grueling races in sailing, has been run every four years since ’92. Ships depart [...]

You know you saw Toy Story 3 this weekend, and you know you cried. Lets take a look back at some of film history’s other great kid-movie weepies. #10 Fluke, 1995 This movie is sort of like Ghost, if Patrick Swayze had been a Golden Retriever instead of a vaguely effeminate male spirit. A dude who is not a very good family man dies, is reincarnated into a dog and uses his second chance to [...]

Games are full of emotions, laughters, reasons, cries and much more.  Lets look back on the moments that made us (and the players) cry, laugh and look away with embarrassment. #10 When Defeat Becomes Victory Barring a cricket score by Ivory Coast against North Korea on Friday, it looks as if Ghana will be the only African nation, of the six that took part in the World Cup, to make it to the second [...]

Hollywood’s Jackie Chan is China’s go-to pitchman. But his apparent indiscriminate hawking of just about anything has led to endorsements of what some say are faulty products. Lets take a look at other embarrassing celeb product pitchers. #10 Mr. T, FlavorWave Oven Turbo No, no, Mr. T, I pity the fool — the fool you’ve made of yourself in this horrendous infomercial. Never mind [...]

On a recent trip to India, Britain’s Prince Charles danced with local villagers. And it was awkward. Royally awkward. TIME takes a look at other dances that are both captivating and horrifying in perhaps not so equal measure. #10 Katie Couric One can forgive CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric for her overly enthusiastic dancing captured in photos that made the rounds on the Internet last [...]

The Flintstones celebrates its 50th anniversary today. In honor of Fred Flintone’s immortal closing-time dinosaur-slide, Lets look back at other catchy cartoon opening sequences. #10 Spongebob Squarepants Premiering in the summer of 1999, Spongebob Squarepants quickly became one of the highest-rated children’s programs in history. And with a catchy, call-and-answer theme song, it’s [...]

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace on Oct. 8, 2010 — but the outspoken writer and campaigner for Chinese political reform is still under arrest. Lets take a look at other prominent dissidents, some of them Nobel laureates, who were jailed for their beliefs. #10 Ho Chi Minh When Ho Chi Minh visited China in the 1940s, he was trying to gain support from Chiang Kai-shek’s [...]

Google has been testing a self-driving car on the highways of California. But cool ideas such as these have often not panned out. Lets take a look at visions of the future we’ve been endlessly waiting for (and some that we’re happy haven’t yet arrived) #10 A Postapocalyptic Landscape The Mad Max films, Planet of the Apes, The Road, The Terminator, War of the Worlds, WALL-E — [...]