Trivia

Nobody knows precisely what sets off a tornado.

The amateur player of pocket billiards, when picking out a cue stick, holds it head high and sights down the shaft. The professional player simply looks at the tip. So said the late pool pro Willie Mosconi.

All I know about the historic Italian adventurer Cagilostro is that Napoleon once drank from a mug made out of his skull.

Red-haired men had it rough in ancient Egypt, where locals paid homage to the god Osiris by burying said redheads alive. Or so ‘tis writ in the archeological anthologies.

One of those poultry farmers who pipe music into their chicken factories to soothe the egg layers says his hens prefer Mozart.

Q. What proportion of today’s cigar smokers are women?

A. About 2 percent is the cigar industry’s estimate.

Q. Is it true that a person can adopt any name so long as there’s no intent to commit fraud?

A. Almost but not quite true. In cases where an individual has sought one name only, such as “Hiawatha” or “Lilypad,” some judges have ruled against the single-name choice on the grounds it might disrupt the records, particularly credit records.