Tuesday, August 2, 2011 An ancestor is a relative who lived in the past, especially one more remote than a grandparent. Ancestor is synonymous with forebear or progenitor. A descendant is the progeny, however remote, of a specific ancestor. Descendant is synonymous with offspring or scion. A great-grandparent is an ancestor; a great-grandchild is a descendant.
Sunday, May 8, 2011 
Aditya ‘Romeo’ Dev, the world’s smallest bodybuilder. A dwarf is an extremely short person, sometimes defined as an individual under 147 cm (4 ft 10 in). Dwarfism has numerous underlying causes, but in general, dwarfs are either disproportionate or proportionate. The majority of cases of disproportionate dwarfism are caused by achondroplasia, a genetic condition affecting cartilage development. Achondroplastic dwarfs are characterized by an average size trunk, short limbs, and a large head. In proportionate dwarfism, often caused by growth hormone deficiency, the body is very small, but all body parts are normally proportioned. In the past, proportionate dwarfs were called midgets, but because of associations with sideshow acts, the word is now considered offensive.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Cousin is a comprehensive term for a relative with whom one shares a common ancestor, but who isn’t a parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. Cousins are collateral relatives, being neither direct ancestors nor descendants.
Degrees and removes are used to specify how two cousins are related. The degree is 1 less than the number of generations separating cousins from their last common ancestor. People who share parents (1 generation away) are brothers and sisters. People with the same grandparent (2 generations away) are first cousins (or simply cousins). People who share a great-grandparent (3 generations) are second cousins. The degree can be easily calculated by adding all of the greats and grands in the last common ancestor. A person with whom you share a great-great-great grandparent (3 greats + 1 grand = 4) is a fourth cousin.
First, second, and third cousins are all members of the same generation (falling into the same horizontal row in a family tree). For people in different rows, removes indicate how many generations separate cousins from one another. For instance, the child of your first cousin is your first cousin once removed. (So, by the way, is your mother’s first cousin.) In these circumstances, the member of the older generation (with fewer steps to the last common ancestor) determines the degree of the relationship. To calculate the remove, for each cousin, add the greats and grands of the last shared ancestor, as above, and take the difference of the two numbers. E.g., if Edna is Trevor’s great-great grandmother (3), and Marjorie’s grandmother (1), the smaller of the two degrees is 1, and the difference between the two degrees (3-1) is 2. This makes Trevor and Marjorie first cousins twice removed.
Family tree relative to self (orange), with cousins in green.
Friday, February 5, 2010 Few actors are fortunate enough to be featured in a successful franchise, much less 2. Sylvester Stallone starred in and wrote the screenplays for the iconic Rocky and Rambo series. Rocky Balboa, aka the Italian Stallion, is the erstwhile boxing heavyweight champion of the world. Despite beating up Dillon from Predator, B. A. Baracus, and He-Man, he’s invariably the underdog. John Rambo is a Vietnam vet and ex-Green Beret who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. With a propensity for ripping out dudes’ throats and taking on entire armies single-handedly, it’s probably best not to tease him about his headband.
| Feature | Rocky | Rambo |
|---|---|---|
| Total movies | 6 | 4 |
| Movie titles |
Rocky (1976)
Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)
Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky V (1990)
Rocky Balboa (2006)
|
First Blood (1982)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo III (1988)
Rambo (2008)
Rambo V [announced]
|
| Worldwide box office revenue | $1.1 billion | $0.7 billion |
| Has driven Hulk Hogan out of the ring | Yes | No |
| Has driven a tank into a helicopter | No | Yes |
| Runs up stairs | Yes | No |
| Runs up a body count | No | Yes |
| Usually works topless | Yes | Yes |
Bonus: Other actors who have appeared in at least 2 popular movie series with at least 3 entries