22 Nov 05:30
What's worse than being a burglar? According to Monty Python in this classic 1969 sketch, it's an ... Encyclopedia Salesman! Each Saturday, starting today, we'll highlight a humorous and sometimes poignant video sketch, interview, comic, or mash-up concerning different professions, past and present. From W.C. Fields to Chris Farley, classic cartoons to Monty Python, secret tapings of Candid Camera to contemporary videos from CollegeHumor.com---all and everything will be tapped for this light-hearted look at the way popular culture has viewed various careers in recent history. Some of the clips will carry a message, many are plain silly, and while most of them are obvious creatures of their time, all will share a common interest in making us laugh (and occasionally think).

21 Nov 05:15
"Mathlete," "chiefing," and a new sense of vampire just a sampling of the creative new words and expressions recently submitted by the public to Merriam-Websters Open Dictionary. Read on for their definitions

20 Nov 17:00
The Britannica Blog is proud to announce that Videoart.net, the "underground video artists network," will be highlighting here one film each week from its outstanding collection of contemporary short videos by current filmmakers and artists. Some background on today's feature: Actor/Director bio: "Ty Jeffries is an actor/composer/lyricist/writer/singer. His chosen interface is to perform as a woman." Filmmaker's description of film: "In 1949 movie star Greta Garbo was going to make a comeback. She tested out with four cameramen ostensibly to see how they would photograph her. But it was really to see how photogenic she was after eight years away from the screen. The money men pulled out, and she never made another film. This is my interpretation of one of her final screen tests." For full-screen viewing of film: roll mouse over video and click on the small black square to the right of the time counter. Click below for more information on the artist / actor.