Kieran Torbuck
Bio
Writer from the UK who lives in Thailand. Regular contributor at Listverse.com who loves uncovering fascinating facts and sharing them. Writing to support my five(!) former street animals (2 dogs, 3 cats) and help more when I can.
Stories (6)
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Teaching Abroad in Thailand Was Delightfully Odd
I taught English in small-town Thailand for two and a half years. These are some of the memories that have stuck with me. I'd love to tell you it was the moments when I saw the lightbulb flicker behind some innocent child's eyes as I helped them grasp some tricky grammar point.
By Kieran Torbuck4 months ago in Humor
Singing in the Spider Rain? 6 Astonishing Animal Downpours
"Raining cats and dogs" is commonly used to describe heavy rain, but did you ever wonder if strong weather could really make animals fall from the sky? This was, after all, the premise of the infamous Sharknado movie franchise. You'll probably be glad to hear that it's never really rained heavy animals like sharks, cats and dogs. But fish, frog, eel and spider rain is very much on the cards. Here are six times such strange events have happened.
By Kieran Torbuck6 months ago in FYI
The Best Pre-Guitar Solo Vocal Line: 7 Powerful Contenders
Like so many good ideas, this one was fleshed out during a semi-inebriated discussion with a friend. The topic, which I had been sitting on for several weeks, was a simple one: songs with epic vocal cues before a blistering guitar solo. It's not quite objective or quirky enough for the places I usually publish, but it's a fun topic for me as a guitarist and music fanatic, so I'm writing about it anyway. Let's go.
By Kieran Torbuck6 months ago in Beat
Space Art: 5 Stunning Works With Genuine Space Connections
The final frontier fascinates artists as much as scientists. How we feel about being a tiny speck inside such a vast expanse is a complex topic that’s ripe for artistic interpretation. But before the 20th century, artists like Van Gogh could only depict space as seen from Earth. Since the Space Race, however, art has been created in space, sent to space and made using materials from space. Here are five of my favorite space art examples.
By Kieran Torbuck6 months ago in Art
The Weird Award Criteria Behind World-Famous Prizes
Sports competitions tend to produce decisive winners, but elsewhere in life things are less clear-cut. Why do films with massive public popularity often flop at the Oscars? Why are art prizes regularly won by things that many people would not consider to be art? Strange outcomes often happen because the award criteria are equally strange. Here are some surprising examples from famous prizes across a range of fields.
By Kieran Torbuck6 months ago in FYI
