Everybody is somebody else's weirdo: I suspect I may be many people's. Consider this a brain dump, or indeed a Brian dump given the misspelled pseudo-entity who lives in my skull.
Tangential thoughts, comments, ideas, and general Brianisms from the...
Today is the 25th January, a date celebrated by Scots (and anyone else fancying an excuse for a glass of the hard stuff) all over the world as Burn's Night.
Not this guy...
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This guy...
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And to celebrate the man himself, a few bits of oddity for you to peruse as you contemplate smapling a wee dram of a fine malt whisky (don't worry, it's 5 o'clock somewhere...)
- Countless singers, from Mariah Carey to Susan Boyle, have covered Robert's poem, Auld Lang Syne.
- Auld Lang Synehas also made an appearance in to the Guinness Worlds Records, for being one of the most popular songs of all time – alongside Happy Birthday and For He's a Jolly Good Fellow.
- There are more statues of Robert Burns in the world than any other non-religious figure, after Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus.
- When he wasn't busy writing poetry, he got busy in other ways. Burns fathered 12 children from 4 different mothers. His last child, Maxwell, was born on the day of his funeral in 1796
- Despite being widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, Burns died with approximately £1 to his name. Not even enough for a wee dram.
- According to a plaster cast taken of his skull, Robert Burns had a massive heid.
- U.S president, Abraham Lincoln, could recite Burns' poetry by heart and would break out in verse to entertain guests at The White House.
- Burns died at the young age of 37. The cause was speculated to be his boozing, unhealthy way of life in his earlier years (or possibly the thought of 12 children demanding money for a night out)
and my personal favourite...
- British born astronaut, Nick Patrick, took a book of Burns' poetry on a space mission in 2010. That book of poetry travelled 5.7 million miles during 217 orbits of the Earth.
