What I’ve Learned from Wikipedia
Prepare for a mini Wikipedia extravaganza.
I don’t know about you, but one website that consumes a lot of my free time is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a user-driven encyclopaedia which is updated by readers, meaning that a lot of information is either a) random or b) culturally relevant (both things that a traditional encyclopaedia is not). Because of this, Wikipedia is host to a large quantity both random and interesting facts, as well as occasionally poor grammar, making for quite an entertaining read at times. The following is a short list of a few of my better finds on the site; if you’ve got any to add, post them in the comments section! Enjoy!
- A script was written for a sequel to the film “Forrest Gump” in 2001. The idea was originally scrapped, but was re-opened by Paramount for another look in 2007.
- Speaking of “Forrest Gump”, both Ice Cube and Dave Chappelle were offered the role of Bubba Blue, and both turned it down. It states that Chappelle “regrets not taking the role.” You think?
- A young echidna is called a puggle.
- Also on the topic of echidnas, ever wondered about the male echidna’s reproductive system? You should have (quoted directly from Wikipedia):
“Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side “shut down” and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female’s two-branched reproductive tract. The heads used are swapped each time the mammal copulates.” Sounds uncomfortable to me.
- The world record for ferret legging, a endurance sport in which contestants see how long they can last with two live ferrets inside their pants, is 5 hours and 30 minutes.
- Steven Seagal has his own brand of energy drink: “Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt.” It currently comes in two flavours: “Cherry Charge,” and “Asian Experience.” Feel free to speculate on what that tastes like.
Nothing gets me pumped like Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt.
- Some of the Yellowknifers with Wikipedia pages include: Godson, Gordon Van Tighem, Dustin Milligan, Kevin Koe, Alex Debogorski, and Max Ward. None for Michael Gilday yet, although I’m sure there’s one coming.
- The Gold Range Bar in Yellowknife has its own Wikipedia page as well. The photo of the bar has both a police car and ambulance visibly parked in front of it. A surprisingly accurate depiction for the internet.
- The characters of the “Monopoly” board game’s names:
The old man with the top hat is “Rich Uncle Pennybags.” You probably knew that, but did you know his first name was Milburn?
The guy in jail is named “Jake the Jailbird,” and the cop on the “Go to Jail” space is “Officer Edgar Mallory.”
- In 2004, a live-action Pac Man movie was announced. To this point, no new news has been reported. Thank god.
- Finally, my own experience with Wikipedia: in 2007, I inserted my name in the credits of the Adam Sandler film “Billy Madison” as Jack (Billy Madison’s fat friend).
Mark Beltzman, the actor who actually plays Jack.
To this day, my name is still there, unchanged. Incredibly, it has also made it onto multiple other websites as well; a quick google search of my name yields “Garrett Hinchey” in the credits of “Billy Madison” on reference.com, bebo.com, Amazon’s Askville, and myproducer.tv. The lesson here: don’t believe everything you read on the internet. The other lesson: editing Wikipedia can yield hilarious results.
Happy Friday! I’ll be back next week.
- Garrett
