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Curious Times No. 262
September 17, 2004
WORLD RECORDS FOR THE SLIGHTLY INSANE
If you’ve come to that point in your life where it’s time to make your mark, you might want to go after one of the weirdest world records tracked by Guinness. Of course, some records can’t be beaten voluntarily, like trying to break the world record for the longest attack of the hiccups (68 years!) or the longest time living with a nail stuck in your head (a man in the UK had a rusty one-inch nail stuck between his ear and eye for 22 years), but there are plenty or world records which can be smashed with just a bit of dedication, perseverance, and a wallop of insanity. Try one of these: hold your breath for more than 13 minutes, 42 seconds; jump on a pogo-stick 177,738 times; do 125 one-finger push ups; make a ballon dog behind your back in under 9.26 seconds; eat five watches in less than 1 hour, 34 minutes; lie in a bathtub full of maggots for more than an hour and a half; or type the words “one” to “one million” in less than 16 years. Good luck! (The Mirror)
YOUR
DIARY IS MAKING YOUR SICK
Here’s an odd one: researchers in the UK have discovered that people
who regularly write in diaries are more likely to suffer from headaches,
sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness. Dr. Elaine Duncan,
of Glasco Caledonian University, says that the study was initially designed
to test the common belief that writing can be cathartic. “We expected
diary keepers to have some benefit,” said Dr. Duncan. Instead, they
found that the diary writers had significantly more health problems than
non-writers, and those who wrote about traumatic events were the affected
most negatively. Duncan speculated that by constantly writing about the
negative events of their lives, diarists may never get over those events,
and so they manifest in various health disorders. “It’s probably
better not to get caught in a ruminative, repetitive cycle,” she
explained, adding that “you’re probably much better off if
you don’t write anything at all.” (New
Scientist)
AT
LEAST WE KNOW HE’LL NEVER BE PRESIDENT OF THE ENTIRE PLANET
There’s a great website at betavote.com which asks: “What
if the whole world could vote in the American election?” It allows
you to choose between Bush and Kerry and enter your country and keeps
a running tabulation of the scores. So far, Kerry is way out in front
with 85 per cent of the popular vote of the entire world. The list also
keeps track of how each country is voting, and shows that the Greeks hate
Bush the most, with 96 per cent of their votes going to Kerry (technically,
Sierra Leone voted 100% against Bush, but there was only one vote last
time I checked). On the other side, the country of Niger has voted 98
per cent in favour of Bush. (www.betavote.com)
PUT
DOWN THAT VIBRATOR AND HAND ME A DUSTER
The latest survey from the highly scientific researchers at Good Housekeeping
magazine either reveals that women have their priorities completely skewed
or is a searing indictment of the capacity of a man to please his wife.
The poll of 1,000 women came to the bizarre conclusion that 25 per cent
of women say that they get more pleasure from cleaning their house than
they do from having sex. The numbers were even higher with the under-35
set, with 40 per cent or women claiming to prefer housecleaning to sex.
Meanwhile, in a survey of myself, 100 per cent of men say that the only
thing which gives them less pleasure than cleaning up the house is reading
Good
Housekeeping magazine.