Free Fridays

One of the great things about the Nook (of which there are many) is “Free Fridays.”  Most of the titles offered every Friday by Barnes and Noble interest me not at all, but occasionally one piques my interest.  Last Friday’s offering, Stupid History by Leland Gregory, is a compilation of “Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythoconceptions.”  The truth about Paul Revere’s famous ride;  the trial of Lizzie Borden; the Battle of Bunker Hill; and countless other tidbits.  Ironically, earlier tonight I was playing a game in which one of these tidbits would have come in handily.  In the game “Malarky,” the reader reads the question on the card and either reads the correct answer or makes up a load of malarky.  The other players determine whether or not the reader is giving the correct answer or feeding them a line.

One of the questions had to do with sardines which everyone knows is purchased in a small can.  I cannot remember the actual question but the answer had something to do with the fact that there is no such fish as the sardine.  They are usually pilchard or small herring packed into the can like… well… sardines.  I came home tonight and read that fact and had a good laugh.  Imagine how funny it would have been if I had read that tidbit BEFORE the game.

Perhaps this is in bad form, but did you know that Ahnold had competition for the role of The Terminator?  Apparently, O.J. Simpson is “too nice to be taken seriously as a killer.”

All of these are but a few of the (at times humorous) moments in Stupid History.  I may regret this post as the number of trivia games seems to be dwindling at game nights.  However, how much useless trivia do I actually retain?  Ok… perhaps this Free Friday was an attempt to encourage readers to pay for the humorists other books as this was published in 2007.  But still a fun read.