THE BUZZ/ talk, tidbits & trivia

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Feb 17, 2003

Presidential trivia from George W. to just plain W

Since today is Presidents' Day, we offer some interesting facts about the various men elected to the highest office in the United States, courtesy of www.americanpresidents.org:

George Washington never lived in Washington, D.C.

James Madison was 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 100 pounds.

James Monroe left the executive mansion in debt and ended up living with his daughter and her in-laws in New York City.

Andrew Jackson killed a man named Charles Dickinson during a duel he fought to preserve his wife's honor.

John Tyler had 15 children.

James K. Polk's wife, Sarah, banned dancing in the White House.

Franklin Pierce was the first president to memorize his inaugural address and recite it from memory.

Andrew Johnson didn't learn how to read until he was 17 and he had no formal schooling.

Ulysses S. Grant was once fined $20 for speeding on his horse.

James A. Garfield entertained friends by writing Latin with one hand and Greek with the other.

Electric lights were installed in the White House during Benjamin Harrison's term. His wife, Caroline, wouldn't turn them on because she was afraid of the switches.

Woodrow Wilson was the only president to earn a doctorate.

Herbert Hoover was an orphan.

Gerald Ford turned down offers to play football for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.

Top music video list ignores 'Seagulls'

Not surprisingly, Flock of Seagulls' video for "I Ran" didn't make the list. That masterpiece of mirrors, aluminum foil on the floor and hairspray was not deemed one of Slant magazine's top 100 music videos.

The list, available at www.slantmagazine.com/music/features/

greatestmusicvideos.html features a ton of Madonna videos, some other obvious choices - A-Ha's "Take On Me" and Massive Attack's "Teardrop" - and some downright weird choices, like Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty."

That made the list and Flock of Seagulls didn't?

Get right slant on kissing through research

Breaking news on the kissing front last week informs us that two- thirds of kissers tilt their heads to the right when kissing.

The findings, researched by Onur Guentuerkuen of Ruhr-University Bochum in Bochum, Germany, are based on 124 pairs of kissers observed in airports, railroad stations, beaches and parks.

Geunteurken theorized, in a paper published in Nature magazine this month, that the right-tilt preference stems from the womb. In the final weeks of gestation and in their first six months of life, babies tend to tilt their heads to the right most often.

Rachel Sauer writes The Buzz on Mondays. Reach her by mail at The Gazette, P.O. Box 1779, Colorado Springs 80901; fax 636-0202; or e- mail rsauer@gazette.com.