In this weekly column, filmmaker Danish Aslam will be your purveyor of the finest quality random facts, useless trivia and other esoterica from the world wide web. He lives mostly behind a keyboard and may or may not be a wizened old green man who speaks in grammatically incorrect aphorisms. You can find more on his home page http://pictually.me/dontpanic

The Olympic Orgy

The Olympics: the world's greatest celebration of sports and sex. Wait, what? Well, apparently the athletes living in the Olympic Village take the whole concept of rest and *recreation* a little too seriously. According to this article by Sam Alipour on ESPN, after-hours can get quite risqué at the Village, with bags overflowing with condoms procured from the helpful local clinic and people wearing jockstraps feeding each other on top of tables on the dining hall. A fascinating read that reveals what really goes on after the medals are won. Let the games….begin?

Peter Jackson's Production Diary

If you're among the people who insist that any viewing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is incomplete without an exhaustive companion viewing of the Behind the Scenes footage, then this is for you. Peter Jackson has a Facebook page which he updates regularly with production videos from the sets of The Hobbit. So now you can keep up with the most exciting soon-to-be trilogy coming our way next. At last count there are eight videos up already. So you've got some catching up to do!

Once Upon A Time

The Brothers Grimm, despite being the subject of quite a few movies (including the unfortunate Terry Gilliam project), are famous all over because of their seminal work: Children's & Household Tales. Although the titles of the chapters might sound a little more familiar: Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella to name a few. But who were these two Germans and how did they create what is arguably the most popular form of fiction today? And did they really fight crime and look like Heath Ledger and Matt Damon? All these questions and more (well, not really the last one) are answered in this interesting long read from the New Yorker.

Eight of The Most Unusual Tunnels In The World

So do you really need an introduction to this piece. Really? There are tunnels. They're cool. You should see them.

Dil Ki Doya

Fusion is such an overrated (and overused) word in the world of music. If I hear one Nusrat duet based on some long-forgotten scratch recording just discovered, I'll hurl. But once you set about exploring the genre, you'll discover that there are some true gems stowed away in the dusty corners of the internet. Like this beautifully sublime 1997 collaboration between Paban Das Baul (from the 'Baul' folk singers of Bengal) and Sam Mills (an ex 23-Skidoo guitarist) which was released on Peter Gabriel's Real World records. Put on your best headphones and enjoy. The beautifully shot video helps. Now all I need is a translation from the Bangla. Any takers?

The Best Job In The World

Mr. James Deen (really?) has what most guys around the world would categorise as the best job in the world: he's a porn star. But after reading this in-depth piece by Wells Tower (which sounds suspiciously like a porn star name too) on GQ, you might change your mind. He spent a week with Mr. Deen and came back with an extremely different insight into the industry - one that doesn't really make me want to quit my day job just yet. Warning: the contents of this article are quite NSFW, given the work space the reporter had to inhabit. So read at your own risk. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the sound of thousands of male fingers feverishly clicking on their respective mice. Pun firmly not intended. Ummm, and that one too.

Everything You Could Ever Use With Your iPhone

Seriously, there are about 43 items listed on this page, put up very kindly by Uncrate, and I had no idea some of these things even existed. Do NOT click on this link if you have lots of money and/or are a victim of Steve Jobs' evil master plan to take over the world.

New York A 100 Years Ago

New York, New York. So good they named it twice. It's one of the best cities in the world and this photo-gallery put up by The Daily Mail showcases some beautiful images from its history. If you've ever been and/or lived there, this is quite the interesting collection.

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