The deepest I’ve ever been underwater was when I rode on the Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland.
Given my minutes of underwater expertise, I find it an amazing accomplishment that James Cameron managed to dive to the deepest depths of the ocean and return home unscathed.
To put this feat into perspective, the good folks over at xkcd have released a scale drawing of not only the Marianas Trench, but also the depths of various bodies of water around the world. Along with some fascinating facts (check out what James Cameron found in the Challenger Deep), this graphics makes for an entertaining and educational read.
Click on this picture to embiggen:
Please consider this my “teachable moment” for the week…
Geez…this list puts my accumulated knowledge of life hacks to shame. In all of the years that I’ve wandered this planet much like David Carradine in Kung Fu (minus the flute and auto-erotic asphyxiation fetishism), the only useful bit of knowledge that I ever came across and retained is that baby food jars make great nut & bolt holders, you can usually bypass telephone phone trees by says the word “operator” or press the # button multiple times, you can open combination padlocks with a soda can, and Sting’s real name is Gordon Sumner.
After seeing this graphic, I’m wondering what useful bits of esoteric knowledge I don’t know…
Please don’t hold this against me, but I can’t seem to get enough of the TV show Wipeout.
Perhaps it’s that I revel in the misery of others. Or perhaps I secretly loath my own life and require that others suffer along with me. But whatever the reason may be, my love for this show knows no bounds.
Yes, this shows does cater to the lowest common denominator…and apparently I fall smack dab within that unenviable demographic.
If you’re willing to take this a step further, please check out the Japanese television show that inspired Wipeout: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. Trust the Japanese for doing it right the first time. With snappy voiceover dialogue and fiendishly clever “challenges”, Most Extreme set the gold standard for game shows featuring self-destructive idiots. Although this show is tame when compared to Wipeout, this is where it all started.
Today I learned that the word ‘nemo’ is latin for ‘nobody’. Kinda puts a sad, morose twist to the movie Finding Nemo, doesn’t it?
All of these years and this little nugget of knowledge had eluded me. Seems like something I should have known a long time ago. I mean, I know that North and South Dakota became states on the same day, I know Ohm’s Law, I can recite Quint’s monologue in Jaws by heart, I know that pure capsaicin is 15-16,000,000 Scoville Units, but I never knew what ‘nemo’ meant.
