The Straight Dope

The brightest spot in my in-box each Friday is my copy of The Straight Dope. This free email consists of three stories from the nationally-known newspaper column (which has been reprinted in six books). There is one new question-and-answer and two "classics". The topics range from the arcane to the insane and are dealt with in a genuinely witty manner. They include urban legends, science, history and general head-scratching queries from "the teeming millions" to Cecil Adams (a pseudonym) who answers with wisecracks and research. His website http://www.straightdope.com/ says "fighting ignorance since 1973 (it's taking longer than we thought)". To subscribe go to that site and scroll down to the large heading "Join the Straight Dope Mailing List" and follow the directions there.