Have you ever really taken a good look at US currency? In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you'll be shown the buildings on the backs of US bills. Can you match each to the correct denomination? I scored 60% due to educated guessing, since I don't usually have any cash. You will do better! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25083

This 2004 short story by Vincent Eaton tells of his experience with a tapeworm. This is not for hypochondriacs or those disturbed by bathroom scenes. Guaranteed to make you cook your meat just a little longer.

I headed directly to the pharmacist, purchased the pill, took it home, created an altar, placed it there and worshipped it for forty-five minutes as the answer to all my dreams and prayers. "Oh mighty pill, death to the demon residing within..."

Next morning I popped out of bed, got myself a glass of water, removed the pill from its altar cushion, placed it on my tongue, closed my eyes, and swallowed, declaring, "Take that, monster of the deep! You neverending strand of unspooling spaghetti!" I smacked my lips and thought that was that.

It wasn't.

The story concludes with an invitation to share your stories of parasites. There are dozens of pages of contributions. Link -via reddit

(image credit: Chris Bishop)

Jim Andrews of Chicago is on a mission to open a chain of hot dog stands and hire ex-convicts to give them a new start in life. That's a noble aim, but some neighbors object to the name he chose for the business. Felony Franks uses a hot dog behind bars as its logo.

2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti likes the idea of employing ex-felons but hates the name.

He thinks the name and the sign glorify crime.

"Felony Franks? The home of the misdemeanor wiener? Food so good it's criminal? You are actually in a sense elevating the life of crime here in our city and we cannot tolerate that."

John Hunt, an ex-felon who lives several block away, agrees with the alderman.

"It's a good thing if he's going to hire ex-felons because... that's a beautiful thing. But the name? He should change the name... Felony Franks is still making me feel like a felon."

Andrews plans to open his first stand next month. Link -via Unique Daily

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A big squirrel jumps the wall easily, but baby squirrel is having trouble making it. He needs a little help! -via Bits and Pieces

Bat World has stories of bats in care that are injured, sick, or have been rescued from bad situations. Read about Van Gogh, who is missing an ear; Mr. Kitty, who was brought in by a cat; and Pongo, who became stuck on the wrong side of the ocean. Pictured is Bootsana, a fruit bat rejected by her mother. She loves her pacifier!

For the first 10 weeks of her life Bootsana carried a soft puppy nurser (her pacifier) in her mouth all the time and yelled whenever she dropped it. She continued to yell - almost brat-like - until someone placed it back into her mouth. At around 10 weeks of age she decided banana was better than a nurser, so solid food (which she also yelled for) was slowly introduced. Every day Bootsana was also given flapping exercises, as much as she enjoyed.

You can sponsor the care of these bats through their Adopt-a-Bat program. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Geographers from Kansas State University have plotted the seven deadly sins of the nation. They began with Nevada only, but expanded the project for the entire United States, using statistics for each county on crime, income, STDs, and other data. They call it "a precision party trick — rigorous mapping of ridiculous data." The results show that the area I live in (Southeast Kentucky) is only high in gluttony, which is calculated by the number of fast-food restaurants per capita. At the link, you can pull up a map of each of the seven deadly sins. In this map of the lust "hot spots", red is above average, while blue is below average. Link -via Metafilter

TIME magazine has announced the winner of their World's Most Influential Person poll.

In a stunning result, the winner of the third annual TIME 100 poll, and new owner of the title world's most influential person, is Moot. The 21-year-old college student and founder of the online community 4chan.org, whose real name is Christopher Poole, received 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100) to handily beat the likes of Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Oprah Winfrey. To put the magnitude of the upset in perspective, it's worth noting that everyone Moot beat out actually has a job.

Link

Andrew at Southern Fried Science tell the story of how he made beer with limited resources while at sea.

You’re six days into a 2 month expedition, and if you were lucky enough to not be on a dry ship, it’s de facto dry by now anyway. You’re eying the ethanol stores, the crew is eying each other, and all hell will break loose if y’all don’t get some sweet water soon. This is no time for artistry.

This is not, as a rule, a terribly good beer (though, with a good brewmaster on board, it can be). This is a beer to pass the time. I can guarantee that if you are careful, it will be at least as good as the cheapest commercial alternative.

A complete list of ingredients and instructions are included. Your results may vary. Link -via Terra Sigillata

Eleven years ago today, Koko the gorilla used American Sign Language to communicate with her fans via AOL chat. It was the first known interspecies chat on the internet.

Roughly 8,000 AOL subscribers joined the chat, which featured Koko, who signed her answers; Patterson, who interpreted them; and an AOL chat facilitator.

As the transcript clearly shows, Koko’s responses were a bit vague, but no more inane than some of the drivel littering Facebook pages these days.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/04/dayintech_0427

Also check out Koko's website, which includes a transcript of the AOL chat. (Thank, Gauldar!)

Alfonso De Marco was seven years old when he emigrated from Italy with his family. They settled in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England where they lived in an apartment above the ice cream shop his father ran. That was in 1909, and the family had occupied the building for many years already. De Marco still lives in the same apartment 100 years later. De Marco ran the ice cream shop himself until he retired in 1973. Although he could go live with any of his three daughters, he prefers to stay in his home, even at 107 years old.

'My daughters grew up here, and my father lived here, so I cannot imagine living anywhere else, or anywhere better.'

DeMarco's daughter Pierina said,

'He can still get up and down the stairs on his own, and he still laughs and jokes about.

'His sisters lived to ripe old ages as well, so he must have good genes – either that or all the ice cream he has eaten has done the trick.'

I'll go with that last idea! Link -via J-Walk Blog

This photo from 1956 shows Henry Behrens, the smallest man in the world at the time, dancing with his pet cat. Henry Behrens was only 30 inches tall. Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images)

Victor Gonzalez of Oregon City had a really bad day on Friday. He found out he had lost his job as an emergency department social worker. Then he went home to find his house on fire! Gonzalez's 12-year-old daughter Audriana helped to get her sister and cousin out of the house, then called 911. Firefighters got the blaze under control in 30 minutes. Gonzalez looked at the bright side.

"If I hadn’t gotten fired from work, I wouldn’t have come home, and I don’t know how far the fire would’ve gotten. So I guess that’s a good thing," he said.

http://www.kptv.com/news/19276320/detail.html -via Unique Daily

The fictional TV doctor Doogie Howser Kept short entries in his journal that resemble Twitter updates. In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, can you identify which blurbs are from the show Doogie Howser, MD and which are actual Tweets? I couldn't confidently peg any of them! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/24977

When Christine England married Keith Green of Barnstaple, Devon, England, she took her new name as Mrs. Green seriously -they took their vows dressed as Shrek and Fiona from the Dreamworks movie Shrek! Their 100 wedding guests were also in fantasy costumes.

'It was funny because when we said our vows Keith had these green ears sprouting from the top of his head.'

She tried to get her 18-year-old son to dress up as Donkey, another character from the offbeat cartoon fairytale, but said 'he wasn't having any of it'.

Mr Green, a builder - who doesn't seem to mind being likened to an ogre - added: 'It was a very strange experience to say the least, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. We love the films and my wife tells me I bear a resemblance to Shrek.'

The couple hired a make-up artist to make them look like the characters - voiced by Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz - in the hit films.

Christine's mother Annette England, 66, said: 'It's not necessarily how you imagine seeing your daughter get married but it was great fun.'

Link -via Unique Daily

Howie Woo crochets "creations inspired by life's fun oddities". Like this bundle of dynamite. Then he made a photo essay of the process of blowing it up! Link -via Everlasting Blort