A New World Record! Six-Word Quotes
Friday, May 29th, 2009
I’m a world record setter. I’m better at something than anyone else. I’ve got the video to prove it.
Last week, I participated in a World Record Appreciation Society event in New York City. My record? Most Six-Word Quotes Read in Under One Minute (note: not memoirs, but quotes from lit, flicks, famous folks). That same evening, a packed house in downtown Manhattan witnessed Quickest Time Chugging Six Diet Cokes, Tallest Carrot Cake, and Most Consecutive Arm Wrestling Victories by a Woman in Her Third Trimester. The night was the manifestation of the Universal Record Database (URDB), which is like the Wikipedia of Guinness Book. URDB features thousands of records by regular people—all validated, community reviewed, and, above all, potentially beatable. URDB sounds a little silly, and it is. But it’s also personal media at its best: participatory, inspirational, addictive—and a genius rethink on a classic form that’s been ruled for far too long by those dusty old dogs at Guinness.
Check out this short video on URDB from the documentary shop, RADAR. Then ask yourself: Can I top,
Most Whoopee Cushions Sat On In 30 Seconds Without Smiling Or Laughing? Better yet, set one of your own. Everybody has a record. What’s yours?
there’s a rumor passing through the SMITH grapevine: after breaking the record, you marked the occasion by legally changing your name to Larry Word Smith.