Historical Bloopers

History has been distorted, and misinterpreted to suit the minds of humankind so that a thousand years later, all you get to learn and admire are actually misconceptions. We all believe that Mickey Mouse, our favourite Disney animated character, was drawn by Walt Disney himself, don't we? Yours truly got a nasty shock when, after laborious searching, it was found out that Mickey was actually drawn by Disney's number one animator, Ub Iwerks, who single-handedly animated Mickey's first short film, Plane Crazy (1928), in only two weeks. Displays of historical bloopers like this can be found in many other cases.

The Twifreaks know well how Edward's body was compared to the marble statues of the Greek god Adonis. Recent discoveries, however, have shown that the marble statues were actually brightly painted, very similar to the ones you see on Durga Poojas. Years of being exposed to the sun and dust have peeled the colour away, bringing the original, unpainted marble underneath into focus. Meyer's comparison of Edward's marble white skin was actually based on a common historical misconception.

Sir Winston Churchill, voted as the greatest individual of Britain by BBC in 2002, was actually a racist. Yes, though he might be noted as a great orator and statesman, he also quoted this, “I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes.” while acting as the president of Air Council.

Remember how we all learnt that Thomas Alva Edison invented the electric light bulb? That is a huge mistaken belief. Forty years before Edison's birth, the English scientist Sir Humphry Davy invented arc lighting (using a carbon filament). Edison only improved the model permanently, which is certainly a groundbreaking achievement, but he didn't actually invent the light bulb. Similarly, Marconi didn't invent the radio, he only modernised the older version.

The famous tagline from the movie Sweet Home Alabama, “Lightning never strikes the same place twice” is also based on a common superstition. Lightning strikes the Empire State Building in New York alone about a 100 times per year.

Marie Antoinette's famous quotation, (for which she became famous, actually), used profusely in literature and movies, “If they have no bread, let them eat cake!” was not quoted by her. The original quote comes from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions: "I recalled the make-shift of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread and who replied: 'Let them eat brioche (cake)'." He was referring to an incident ten years before Marie Antoinette was born, and it was not even indicating any particular reigning monarch. Poor Marie, her attribution to that particular quote was one of the major reasons her path to the guillotine was hastened.

Numerous examples of misquotations can be found throughout history: Machiavelli never said “The ends justify the means”; what he actually said, when properly translated, becomes “One must consider the final result”. The original Sherlock Holmes never used to say “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of the 60 Holmes stories written by Doyle. Instead, it first made its appearance in the 1929 film The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Looking more recently, Bill Gates never said “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.” This was actually said by Charles J. Sykes, but this was attributed to Gates to increase the “nerdiness” of his persona.

There are countless other historical misconceptions that could be written about, but unfortunately, there is a word limit. Going through all the misinterpretations and false beliefs, one cannot help but come to this conclusion that ignorance, as long as it can be retained, is indeed pure bliss.

By Kiddin' Kid
Source: Wikipedia

Stand-up Comedians

It's boring living in Dhaka where the only thing you can do is 'hang out' with your friends at 'shisha' lounges. These lounges are filled to the brim with pre-pubescent adolescents and those kinds of teenagers who wear shades indoors and spend an age in front of the mirror making their hair stand up on end. All there is to do here is eat and for someone perpetually on a diet, it's no bed of roses. So how do we, the mature and sophisticated crowd, spend our days? By using fast internet speeds to our advantage and watching stand-up comedians on YouTube of course (amongst other very cool things)! Here's a list of moi's personal favourite comedians in alphabetical order.

1. Aziz Ansari actor/comedian extraordinaire (he also plays Tom Haverford in the NBC comedy Parks & Recreations), Aziz Ansari, who tries to impersonate every other famous Indian guy to get free drinks, has been on David Letterman and Conan O' Brien talking about his thread count sheets, Kanye West and his cousin Harris. He's good looking, south Asian, has a Muslim name AND he's funny! Perfect man to bring home to mom.

2. Chelsea Handler starlet of Chelsea Lately and a recent author too (she's written 'Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea' and 'My Horizontal Life'). Her show, Chelsea Lately, is a talk show where she features celeb-wannabe train-wrecks (e.g. Snookie, Paulie D, Lilo). Catch her and Chuy on YouTube where clips of the show can be viewed.

3. Dara O' Brien He's a self-titled dweeb and math nerd which makes his intellectual insights acutely observant with scientific precision, which makes them all the more hilarious and true. Also he has an Irish accent which just makes him that much better.

4. Gabriel Iglesias He's hot and fluffy and funny to boot!

5. Hugh Laurie We all know him as the sarcastic, cynical Dr. Gregory House we can't get enough of, but before he was House, he was half of British comedy troupe Fry & Laurie. The clips from the award winning skit show can be found on YouTube. He's also acted in other comedy shows as Jeeves and Wooster.

6. Ricky Gervais He made entertainment headlines when he hosted the Golden Globes this year with his questionable remarks but the world needs to cut him some slack! It's not like the man lied. He told it like it is except with a bit of humour.

7. Russel Peters Another funny Indian guy.

8. Russell Brand Mr. Katy Perry is famous for his crazy antics in his laugh-a-minute movies, but before that, he had his very own comedy show in the UK's Channel 4 (clips available on YouTube), where he'd spend the entire time slots going on hilarious rants about the everyday topics.

9. Stephen Fry The second half of Fry & Laurie, Stephen Fry is an actor, comedian and author. For a true taste of his brilliant wit, get your hands on some of his books - The Hippopotamus, The Liar etc.

10. Zack Galifianakis You may know him as the weird guy from The Hangover but he's actually pretty awesome off-screen. He's a bit of a bush-man and scruffy with his beard but his personality makes him irresistible and gorgeous. Check out clips of his show 'Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis' where he conducts strange interviews with celebrities literally between two ferns.

By Musarrat Rahman