Out-Geeking The Geek
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0021
I received a most unusual compliment over the weekend. It happened while I was at Wonderfest, an annual modeling show held here in Louisville.
One of this year's guests was Marta Kristen, the actress who played Judy Robinson on LOST IN SPACE. And I might add, she still looks as gorgeous as she did when she was doing LOST IN SPACE back in the 1960s. Accompanying Ms. Kristen was the guy who runs her website.
The compliment occurred in one of those conversations that starts on one topic, then bounces very rapidly to two or three (or more) wildly divergent topics. In this case, it started with cell phone ringtones. The webmaster was talking about some of the tones he had downloaded on his phone. It was no surprise that one of them was the theme from Season 3 of LOST IN SPACE. When he mentioned that, everyone, especially Ms. Kristen, wanted to hear it, so he took out his phone, and went through the settings to let us hear it. (Some of his other ringtones included tunes from HARRY POTTER and SUPERMAN.)
The conversation drifted slightly, and the webmaster mentioned that he had downloaded the entire phone list from his computer into his phone -- including several phone numbers that were no longer even valid. I joked, "Including a number for Jenny? You know, 867-5309?"
The webmaster caught the reference immediately. Ms. Kristen had an idea of what I was referencing, but wasn't completely certain until I put that (in)famous number to song. I then mentioned that I had learned from someone that it was a great way to memorize the value of pi. I then demonstrated by singing, "Three point one four one five nine, two six five three five eight nine . . . "
I added, "Of course, that's about seven or eight decimal places beyond whatever most people would ever need for the value of pi." I mentioned one of my other favorite mnemonic devices for remembering the value of pi:
"How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics."
This memory aid is one of several that rely on the number of letters in each word. Write down the number of letters in each word of the sentence above. You have the value of pi to 14 decimal places: 3.14159265358979.
After my little recitation, the webmaster looked at me, and said, "I hand my geek crown over to you."
Sometimes, you receive a compliment when you least expect it. It's also amazing to learn just what will impress someone else.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0021
I received a most unusual compliment over the weekend. It happened while I was at Wonderfest, an annual modeling show held here in Louisville.
One of this year's guests was Marta Kristen, the actress who played Judy Robinson on LOST IN SPACE. And I might add, she still looks as gorgeous as she did when she was doing LOST IN SPACE back in the 1960s. Accompanying Ms. Kristen was the guy who runs her website.
The compliment occurred in one of those conversations that starts on one topic, then bounces very rapidly to two or three (or more) wildly divergent topics. In this case, it started with cell phone ringtones. The webmaster was talking about some of the tones he had downloaded on his phone. It was no surprise that one of them was the theme from Season 3 of LOST IN SPACE. When he mentioned that, everyone, especially Ms. Kristen, wanted to hear it, so he took out his phone, and went through the settings to let us hear it. (Some of his other ringtones included tunes from HARRY POTTER and SUPERMAN.)
The conversation drifted slightly, and the webmaster mentioned that he had downloaded the entire phone list from his computer into his phone -- including several phone numbers that were no longer even valid. I joked, "Including a number for Jenny? You know, 867-5309?"
The webmaster caught the reference immediately. Ms. Kristen had an idea of what I was referencing, but wasn't completely certain until I put that (in)famous number to song. I then mentioned that I had learned from someone that it was a great way to memorize the value of pi. I then demonstrated by singing, "Three point one four one five nine, two six five three five eight nine . . . "
I added, "Of course, that's about seven or eight decimal places beyond whatever most people would ever need for the value of pi." I mentioned one of my other favorite mnemonic devices for remembering the value of pi:
"How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics."
This memory aid is one of several that rely on the number of letters in each word. Write down the number of letters in each word of the sentence above. You have the value of pi to 14 decimal places: 3.14159265358979.
After my little recitation, the webmaster looked at me, and said, "I hand my geek crown over to you."
Sometimes, you receive a compliment when you least expect it. It's also amazing to learn just what will impress someone else.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0021