FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
 |
| SPLICE Web watch · There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms. · In just one acre there can be over a million earthworms. · In just one acre there can be over a million earthworms eating 10 tons of leaves and other plant material and turning over 40 tons of soil. · Many of the earthworms we find in North America are descendents of those which came from Europe. Early settlers brought plants with them and worms came with the soil. · Baby worms are not born, but hatch from cocoons smaller than a grain of rice. · The Australian Gippsland Earthworm grows to 12 feet long and can weigh 1-1/2 pounds. · The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail. · A beef tapeworm can be 30 feet long and have up to 2000 segments to its body. · In 20 minutes a leech can absorb five times its weight in blood. · Virtually every living thing existing in the wild is likely to have one or more parasites living inside of it. Worm World opens our eyes to life below the surface. For the kids (in all of us), the site has cartoon reporter Wendell Worm interviewing other slimy members of the worm family, such as Larry Leech, Tommi Tapeworm and "Bearded" Bobby Worm, about their roles in the cycle of life. There's also a diagram of the inside of a worm (in case you missed that class in biology), an art gallery (?), a profile on the Worm Woman, and a fun arcade of amazing facts and jokes. For the adults, find out about worm recycling and visit the gift shop to get started. Weird & Wonderful Cinema Besides the city's three art film houses - The Globe, The Plaza and the Uptown Screen - most Calgarians' window into the world of foreign films comes by way of those two weedy hosts of the Showcase Revue. (Am I the only one whose skin crawls when these two middle-aged, parental figures get heated up talking about erotica?) Those who want a guide to what else there is out there may want to pick up Pete Tomb's latest book Mondo Macabro: Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World (St. Martin's Griffin). Featuring hundreds of photographs and movie posters as well as Tomb's humorous yet well-informed insight into films from countries such as Brazil, Turkey and Hong Kong, the book is a wonderful window into the twisted artistic visions of filmmaking weirdos. From the Filipino exploitation films like Black Mama, White Mama (starring Jackie Brown's Pam Grier) to the Japanese "pink movies" Rapeman and Go, Go, Second Time Virgin, Mondo Macabro will have you scouring the video shelves for something other than the normal Hollywood fare or a little more exotic than Shall We Dance?. You Oughta Be In Stickers These are better than smellies or puffies or raries. The newest fad in stickers has arrived and they're personalized. Sticker Club is a kiosk that takes your photo and puts it on a sticker with a border of your choice - Godzilla, Hello Kitty, Spice Girls, Romeo and Juliet, Just Married, and many others. Once the image is taken and a border is selected, a printer produces 16 thumbnail-sized stickers on an adhesive backed sheet. The photo sticker kiosk has gained incredible popularity in Japan, where it is known as Puri-Kura. By the end of 1996, 10,000 units were sold in Japan, and less than two years later, 25,000 kiosks are on the market. People put the stickers on personal articles like notebooks and cell phones, or collect them to show friends.The machines started appearing in Japanese tourist spots, such as Honolulu and Los Angeles, and now they've arrived in Calgary. Machines are located in A&B Sound, Southland Leisure Centre, Central Landmark Mall, Northland Village Shoppes, and My Favorite Ice Cream Shoppe in Calgary, and at Koyama in Banff. But It's a Dry Cold! The weather is more than small talk when you live on the prairies - we live in one of the most sensitive and vulnerable weather regions in the world. Subtitled Weathering the Canadian Prairies, But It's a Dry Cold! (Fifth House Publishers) by climatologist Elaine Wheaton is filled with statistics, weather facts, information and anecdotes on all the elements of our unique climate - from tornadoes and hail storms to droughts and floods to cold spells and heat waves. Fatal tornadoes in Alberta (date/nearest settlement/fatalities): · May 1879, Saddle Lake - 1 · August 1907, Wainright - 3 · July 1907, Sibbald - 1 · June 1912, Oyen - 4 · June 1915, Grassy Lake - 1 · July 1918, Tolland - 1 · July 1927, Wetaskiwin - 4 · July 1927, Rocky Mountain House - 3 · August 1950, Morley - 1 · August 1960, Travers Dam - 1 · July 1961, Gooseberry Lake - 1 · July 1972, Bawlf - 1 · June 1984, Richmond Park - 1 · July 1987, Edmonton - 27 Free stuff! Win a trip for two to see Bran Van 3000 play at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Just find the BV3 Bunny on the Fast Forward Web site (www.greatwest.ca/ffwd). It's the BV3 Virtual Bunny Hunt - see the ad in this issue for more details. Win some great music memorabilia! The Roots of Music Show & Sale wants to know your top 10 albums of all time. Highlights of the survey will be published June 18. See the ad in this issue to find out what's up for grabs, but please don't fax your entry because it doesn't show up. Enter to win over $100 in gift certificates from selected 4th Street merchants. See the Lilac Festival ad in this issue for details. By the way, the Fast Forward crew will be down at the 4th Street Lilac Festival this Sunday to give away this prize and more great free stuff - come down and visit us! We start giving away free stuff on Fridays unless otherwise noted. Only people who have not won free stuff (other than movie passes) within the last four issues of Fast Forward are eligible to win. Office hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. |
| |