This week's winner...

...is Lola! This is her winning factoid about hedges:

"In the space of five months in 2003 two men died after arguments involving disputed hedges. One man suffered a heart attack after a fist-fight allegedly erupted, and 66-year-old George Wilson was shot in a quiet Lincoln street following an argument with his neighbour over a hedge. Apparently these conflicts occur as an issue of territory: "Fortress mentality can make people obsessive about territory - to protect your habitat is a basic survival instinct.” Hedgeline has now been set up as the national lobby and support group for the victims of high hedges."

If you are suffering from hedge-related stress, visit the Hedgeline website for support and advice...

HEDGES

In tribute to the London bus that miraculously transformed itself into a...errrr.....hedge during the Olympics closing ceremony, this week's Friday Factoid theme is HEDGES. Full rules on the right, 100 words max s'il vous plait! Be creative!

This week's winner...

....is Holly! Here is her fact:

"It is a well-known fact: if you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Less renowned is that (in the desert, for example), rather than conserving water supplies by just taking sips to 'top up' your fluid intake, you should keep drinking water until you feel sated. In the desert, people are frequently found dead from dehydration with water in their canteens. Mere sipping doesn't get enough to the brain and vital organs. Take a good drink when you need it: ironically, even if you run out of liquid supplies, you'll be allowing your body to continue coping for longer, more effectively!"

Dead on 100 words again! Fingers crossed for more contestants next week :)

THIRST

Since as I have been constantly parched this week, I have selected the theme of 'thirst' for this week's Friday Factoid. Submit your thirst-related fact - no matter how random - as an anonymous comment to this post by 2pm on Friday 22 August to be in with a winning chance! 100 WORDS MAX (full rules over there -->).

This week's winner...

...Is mystery factoider, with this fact about dreams:

"Despite the amount of 'Learn Spanish Overnight!!' tapes available to buy from spurious websites, passive subliminal learning during sleep does not occur. There IS however such a thing as active dream learning. A study in 2002 of training classical pianists found that those who imagined playing immediately before bed had the same areas of the brain active during sleep (and during dreaming) as those that were active when they were awake and playing. These pianists became proficient far more quickly than those who didn’t imagine playing before sleep.

So,
Q: How do you get to Carnegie hall fastest?
A: Sleep."

Excellent stuff. I will be thinking about drumming every night before I go to bed from now on. And bonus points for submitting a factoid which, according to Microsoft Word, is precisely 100 words!

Now identify yourself so we can chant your name in awe!

DREAMS

This week's Friday Factoid theme is DREAMS. Submit your factoid (something about dreams, not a weird dream you've had!) as an anonymous comment to this blog by 2pm on Friday 15th August. Don't forget the new FF word-limit of 100 words! Good luck!

This week's winner...

...is Carl, with the following fact:

Jim Thorpe is remembered for the loss rather than the winning of Olympic Gold medals. In 1913, Thorpe was stripped of both of his gold medals by the Olympic Committee. According to the then prevailing Olympic Rules, no professional was permitted to compete in the strictly amateur Olympic Games. However a newspaper journalist that Thorpe had received $25 per week to play minor league baseball in North Carolina. As well as losing his medals, Thorpe’s name was removed from the record books.

However, the silver medal winners in the 1912 decathlon and pentathlon events refused to claim the medals that Thorpe fairly won. Jim Thorpe died in 1953 of a heart attack. He was 64 years of age, and was buried in the town of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania which subsequently changed it’s name to Jim Thorpe. In 1982 the International Olympic Committee restored Thorpe’s Gold Medals, and on January, 1983 replicas of his medals were presented to his family. All's well that ends well.

Bad luck to the 'Nero' factoiders - this was indeed an excellent fact, but there were two very similar entries!

Next week I will be imposing a new word-limit of 100 words per fact. I think everyone will agree that the first e-factoid has been a resounding success!

OLYMPIC SCANDALS

The theme for the first ever e-factoid is OLYMPIC SCANDALS. To submit your factoid, submit a comment to this blog by 2pm on Friday 8 August. Remember to submit the comment anonymously so I don't know whose factoid is whose, and please try not to look at whatever the other factoids are!

Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who would like to participate.

Fingers crossed this will work...

Friday Factoid goes ELECTRONIC

From Friday 8th August 2008, the legendary Friday Factoid will fully embrace its environmentally-friendly leanings by allowing you to submit your factoids electronically. Each Friday I will upload that week's theme as a new blog post. You will then be able to 'comment' on each week's blog (make sure you comment anonymously!) to submit your factoid!

Story time will continue in the usual fashion, but we will now have a permanent record of all submissions and, more importantly, the glorious winners!

Happy factoiding!!