It's tough being a general knowledge freak. You get loads of ridiculous information amongst the few gems which you can actually use in life.. stuff which has no practical use in life and you just try to work into conversation to act smart ( Why, Yes, honey. I am from Kerala where the main language is Malayalam, umm..just like English is for England... speaking of which DID YOU KNOW that the longest word in the English language is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.. honey ? umm, hon ? Hello ? )

But you know what ? I disagree. Every fact, no matter how insignificant, has some relevance somewhere, right ? I figured I'd try to bring more colour to these dreary facts of life so that you can use 'em .. you know, just to show the rest of the gang who's the 'real smart dude / dudette'. Or the real geek.
N.B. While there a million other irrelevant data waiting to be swallowed up, I've only hunted and added ones I knew before I started this post.

So adopt a nice nasal kiddy voice and whine along with me...

DID YOU KNOW the song - Happy birthday to you - is under copyright & the copyright runs out in 2010. ( Consider that on an average, 9 million people have their birthdays on any given day.. doncha think you should be at that auction bidding for the rights in 2010 now )
DID YOU KNOW the ghosts in Pac-Man are named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. ( God save me, I knew this one. Incidentally, If you can work this into a conversation, you're sure to get the girl. Provided she's punch drunk and doesn't speak English )
DID YOU KNOW Marilyn Monroe had six toes. ( funny, isn't it ? Most of you guys would have stared / ogled / drooled over her pics, yet noone noticed her toes . Just what were you looking at, you horny goats ?? )

DID YOU KNOW that when you break down love, it's all just about dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin ( Ain't you all glad I don't work for Hallmark greetings ? )
DID YOU KNOW If you are "a universal donor" , you have ...( fill in the blanks ) **answer at end of this section
DID YOU KNOW hair, prompted by testosterone, grows faster in men in anticipation of sex. ( which probably explains why most married men are bald, huh ? )
DID YOU KNOW every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die. ( Hahaha.. Now let me see you giggle away the sniffles. )
DID YOU KNOW The two highest IQ's ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women. ( Hmmmph... Well, sure, but could they cook ? )
DID YOU KNOW The vocabulary of the average person consists of 5,000 to 6,000 words. ( of course, when you ask the guy for the first time if he loves you, the average vocabulary is 4 words - "gulp .umm.. uhh...huh ?" / I donta speak engalish / what was the question again / I gotta go " ..thats 16 words divided by the main four options equals...4. Ramanujan, eat my shorts. )
** [ "Blood Group O" is the right answer, "herpes" the most popular ]

DID YOU KNOW a South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I. ( hence the tradition in India where we elect chimps and apes into Parliament. Damn you Gandhi for your South African bred ideas. )
DID YOU KNOW Mexican jumping beans jump because of a moth larva inside the bean. ( Of course, they do the Macarena because they still believe it's cool. )
DID YOU KNOW India has a Bill of Rights for cows. ( Is anyone really surprised at that ? )

DID YOU KNOW that Nagoya tebasaki is an unusual ice cream - Japanese chicken wing ice cream. Of course you can wash it down with 'Calpis water' - that's chilled cow urine. ( Umm... I'm on a diet but you guys go right ahead. )
DID YOU KNOW The world's costliest coffee is made from the droppings of a type of marsupial that eats only the very best coffee beans. Plantation workers track them and scoop their precious poop. ( suddenly that cheap 3 rupee coffee seems so nice..)
DID YOU KNOW the dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle. ( Do not try the "you've got a cute tittle, gal" line.. there is no documented episode of it ending well. )
DID YOU KNOW Squids can commit suicide by eating their own tentacles. ( I said TENTACLES, you nimwit, not TESTI.. aww, what's the point ? Once a perv, always a perv )
DID YOU KNOW that the electric chair was invented by a dentist. ( the electric chair and the dentist's chair - another perfect example of the phrase "between the devil and the deep sea" )

DID YOU KNOW that octopus balls lie in their head ? ( Which means if you see them scratching their head, they're not puzzled, just.. itchy down there. )
DID YOU KNOW Porcupines float in water!. ( Nevertheless, they do not make nice life rafts..how do I know ? shut up and pass me the tweezer )
DID YOU KNOW that sea horses are the only males that become pregnant ? ( They are also exclusively monogamous, but I don't think they do the dishes and squeeze the toothpaste from back to front, so guys, we're safe. For now. )
DID YOU KNOW the male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off. ( cheer them, respect them, adore them, but please - leave the stunts to them. WOMEN, please do not try this at home. )
DID YOU KNOW Snails mate only once in their lifetime, but it can take up to 12 hours. ( It has to be the Xtra Long Lasting condoms they use, right ? )

Hopefully, all these articles will make people look upto you in a crowd once you work it into conversation.. either that or you'll have a lot of free arm space while having your lunch in the cafeteria.. hmmm.

Now that's what I call a win-win situation !!

In hindsight, when you read these stanzas , a lot will seem so obvious. But then, hindsight has always got 20/ 20 vision.

In the year 1999, in the seventh month,
from the sky will come the great King of Terror,
bringing back to life the great King of the Mongols.
Before and after, Mars to reign by good fortune.
Perhaps it was just another example of Nostradamus being off with the date. I say perhaps, because of the alternative - remember how Nostradamus often wrote in anagrams ? Now look at 1999 as a numeric anagram. If we reverse the order of the “1”s and “9”s, we arrive at 9111 or 9-11-1 (the date of the 9-11 attacks). Coincidence ? More astonishingly, consider this. What on Earth was this guy imagining back then when he suggested "from the sky will come the great King of terror" that could possibly be deemed a hoax by skeptics ?
Even more frightening is the following quatrain.

At forty-five degrees, the sky will burn,
Fire approaches the great new city,
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up
When they want to have verification from the Norman (Century 5 Quatrain 97)
Take forty-five degrees as a latitude. Experts agree this could only be New York ( 40 degrees 5 ). Of all the possibilities that this 15th century physician could think of, speaking of the sky burning ( the Twin towers in their final moments ) is uncanny. The verification from the Norman may be a reference to France’s refusal to support the Iraq War.

Earth-shaking fire from the center of the earth.
will cause the towers around the New City to shake,
Two great rocks for a long time will make war,
And then Arethusa (a ship) will color a new river red. (Century 1, Quatrain 87)
TheNew City, which may be New York City and “the towers” which are an obvious reference to the 9/11 attack of the twin towers are easily understood. The second half is more intruiging. Arethusa is thought to be an anagram for an event / ship that we have yet to see. Is it "Are the USA ?", "Earth USA" or something else we have not deciphered yet ?

The king will want to enter the new city,
Through its enemies they will come to subdue it
Captives liberated to speak and act falsely,
King to be outside, he will keep far from the enemy. (Century 10, Quatrain 49)
As is going on presently - even though Iraq and Afghanistan is 'won', the 'King' or President Bush has no alternative but to stay away.

A great number will be condemned
When the monarchs will be reconciled:
But for one of them such a bad impediment will arise
That they will be joined together but loosely. (Century 2, Quatrain 36)
This describes the downfall or unpopularity of on one of the leaders ( Bushy boy ? ) --as the leader with the impediment (lack of support from his people, joined together, but loosely.)
The quatrain below talks of how World War III may be closer than we think. Its arrival is heralded after the fall of the Republican Party in the United States.

One year before the Italian conflict,
Germans, Gauls, Spaniards for the fort:
The republican schoolhouse will fall,
There, except for a few, they will be choked dead. (Century 2, Quatrain 38.)
The Republican schoolhouse is the U.S. government, presently on its way out. After the Republican government in the United States is voted out of a power, things are set to get nasty. It's interesting to note that 450 years ago, Nostradamus would talk of a Republican group at a time when USA had yet to be formed.

In Quatrain Number 62 in Century 2, Nostradamus speaks possibly about the assassination of President Bush, according to most experts.

Mabus then will soon die, there will come
Of people and beasts a horrible rout:
Then suddenly one will see vengeance,
Hundred, hand, thirst, hunger when the comet will run.

Some scholars of Nostradamus interpret Mabus to mean Mr. Bush. Mabus = Mr Bush ? or eerily enough, via anagrams Usam B ( Osama B ).
Other options - Mabus = osaMA,BUSh ?. Or is it ust an anagram for Musab as in Abu Musab al zaraqawi
The comet ? There are several comets flying by in the next few years. One of them is Comet S-W3 73P, which will be closest to the Earth around May 13, 2006. Another significant connection is that this comet was discovered in 1930 during Hitler’s rise to power.
Usually these predictions take place within a year or two of the original date. Only time will tell.

I will not add the future predictions in it's entirity here for many reasons.. mainly so as not to insult certain religions ( if you read the prophecies, you will understand ) but also to avoid the gloom. Sufficed to say, the portrait Nostradamus paints is very dark - with the start of the 3rd World War imminent. He gives great detail not just of which countries will suffer, but also of strategies and alliances that, today, as I write, seem unlikely. But then, I haven't seen the future.

In short, those of you who wish to enjoy Italy, France and Spain, now is the time. Because there may not be a next time. Of course, that's the optimistic part. From then on in, things just get worse with everyone joining in the battle. Somewhere along the line, mass destruction looms for certain nations. I pray, infact, that if it comes to pass, it is a nuke attack. Let it thus be quick and painless. The alternative of the world becoming a battlefield with so many children orphaned in slow progression, so many tortures and slow deaths... dear God, let it be a nuclear attack.

The war promises to be long ( ? 20 years is the general concensus ) and sadly as it ends, we'l have the added bonus of an asteroid hitting the Earth, with horrific results around 2026. This has infact been made more scary by reports from NASA a couple of years ago of a possible asteroid coming a little too close to our orbit in roughly the same year. You can guess what's left after that - 2 of every 3 people will die. We will finally learn to embrace each other. Sadly, the beginning of peace is set to mark the end of the world.

But cheer up - on the bright side, there's talk of ANGELIC OFFSPRINGS ( aliens ? as some suggest, divinity as many hope ) during this end game so yeeeeah!!! We have something to look forward to. I hope I have my camera reel. I can make a fortune on ebay.
So when can we expect the end of the world to begin ? I leave you with his own words -

The year the great seventh number is accomplished,
Appearing at the time of the great games of slaughter:
Not far from the age of the great millennium,
When the dead will come out of their graves. (Century 10, Quatrain 74)
Some say that 7 is 2007, some say its 2070. The third line tends to favour the former though. Thankfully, we have one thing in our favour - Nostradamus has always played around with numbers. Hopefully, its a much later date. Hopefully.

If you want to read up on what Nostradamus saw in the coming years, just go to any search engine and type " Nostradamus ". Be prepared...