Ok, fine!
The lack of extensive posting on FaceBook (yes, I'm an addict...but I do NOT use Twitter. I have some standards) has me in withdrawal for babbling. Not that my rants are ever read, but they are an excellent release for my high-strung brain. So I'm gonna figure this whole Live Journal thingee out, do some writing, and get these thoughts out of my head.
So! Post DragonCon news. Well, I think the majority of people that might stumble across this knows about the whole Guinness World Record fiasco. If not, then here is your chance to learn about it! It seems that GWR will change their own rules in the middle of the game. Back on August 29, 2009, mucho Mexicans gathered at some-square-with-a-really-long-name-that-I-don't-feel-like-looking-up. They wanted to honor Michael Jackson's birthday after he died of a drug overdose in June.
Why they never wanted to honor him before is a mystery, but I don't claim to be a mind reader.
Anyway, some impersonator gathered a huge group of 13,000 or so to dance to MJ's iconic song "Thriller". If you've been living under a rock for the last 25 years, it's got a nifty dance MJ and his dancers do as zombies. Lots of booty bouncing, shuffle ha-ing, and zombie walking. They learned the 2:40 second dance, the impersonator performed, and they danced. Hurray! Pretty nifty, I think, unless they were trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records (previously and from now on known as "GWR").
Guinness' guidelines for said record are pretty clear. Back on April 16, 2009, Kevin Dua and 241 of his closest friends gathered on a lawn at William and Mary College to dance to "Thriller". All of them danced the zombie moves for 5:58 minutes. Huh. Well, now, that's confusing because the true dance only lasts around 2:40 minutes, right, so why would they dance for almost six minutes? Because GWR told them so! The guidelines that were established by Guinness themselves state that the US version of the single must be used (from the original album released in 1982), all dancers must know the original dance steps from the video, AND they must dance the whole song from beginning to end. Boom, done, Kevin and friends get the record for 242 dancers. Yay! They had broken a record set by Ines Markelle when 62 people gathered in Toronto in 2006. She has since organized Thrill the World (www.thrilltheworld.com) to set an even bigger record this October 24th.
We now have two groups that have followed Guinness' guidelines as stated previously and set world records. Dang, Mexico must have rocked it! Woot! Sorry? What? They didn't dance for almost six minutes? The impersonator performed...ok, now I'm confused.
Yes, Mexico rocked the square with "Thriller". Yes, they did dance the zombie dance. But, and this is a huge BUT, they used the video version of the song, the impersonator performed for the first part, then when MJ's character turns into a zombie and dances with his brethren for 2:40 minutes, the rest of Mexico started dancing. Now we have a new world record of 13,567 people dancing to "Thriller" as per GWR's guidelines...no, that's still wrong.
Am I missing something? How did Mexico get the Guinness World Record for largest group of simultaneous "Thriller" dancers in one location (that's the official name of the record) if they didn't fulfill the guidelines? That's the mystery. I've asked GWR myself that very question, but have yet to hear from them. As organizer for the September 6, 2009 DragonCon attempt (which, btw, was planned BEFORE the untimely death, so we are not poseurs and I'm gonna be honest that it wasn't a tribute but a grab for the record. Hello? Planned before he died, so yea, not intended as a tribute...in the beginning, but we turned it into a D*C tribute in our weird way), I would like to know the answer to this question, as would the 902 people that danced with me.
I wonder if I'll get an answer to my inquiry before Friday at 5:00 pm Eastern time? Might be an interesting weekend if I don't and the nerds are released.
So! Post DragonCon news. Well, I think the majority of people that might stumble across this knows about the whole Guinness World Record fiasco. If not, then here is your chance to learn about it! It seems that GWR will change their own rules in the middle of the game. Back on August 29, 2009, mucho Mexicans gathered at some-square-with-a-really-long-name-that-I-don't-feel-like-looking-up. They wanted to honor Michael Jackson's birthday after he died of a drug overdose in June.
Why they never wanted to honor him before is a mystery, but I don't claim to be a mind reader.
Anyway, some impersonator gathered a huge group of 13,000 or so to dance to MJ's iconic song "Thriller". If you've been living under a rock for the last 25 years, it's got a nifty dance MJ and his dancers do as zombies. Lots of booty bouncing, shuffle ha-ing, and zombie walking. They learned the 2:40 second dance, the impersonator performed, and they danced. Hurray! Pretty nifty, I think, unless they were trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records (previously and from now on known as "GWR").
Guinness' guidelines for said record are pretty clear. Back on April 16, 2009, Kevin Dua and 241 of his closest friends gathered on a lawn at William and Mary College to dance to "Thriller". All of them danced the zombie moves for 5:58 minutes. Huh. Well, now, that's confusing because the true dance only lasts around 2:40 minutes, right, so why would they dance for almost six minutes? Because GWR told them so! The guidelines that were established by Guinness themselves state that the US version of the single must be used (from the original album released in 1982), all dancers must know the original dance steps from the video, AND they must dance the whole song from beginning to end. Boom, done, Kevin and friends get the record for 242 dancers. Yay! They had broken a record set by Ines Markelle when 62 people gathered in Toronto in 2006. She has since organized Thrill the World (www.thrilltheworld.com) to set an even bigger record this October 24th.
We now have two groups that have followed Guinness' guidelines as stated previously and set world records. Dang, Mexico must have rocked it! Woot! Sorry? What? They didn't dance for almost six minutes? The impersonator performed...ok, now I'm confused.
Yes, Mexico rocked the square with "Thriller". Yes, they did dance the zombie dance. But, and this is a huge BUT, they used the video version of the song, the impersonator performed for the first part, then when MJ's character turns into a zombie and dances with his brethren for 2:40 minutes, the rest of Mexico started dancing. Now we have a new world record of 13,567 people dancing to "Thriller" as per GWR's guidelines...no, that's still wrong.
Am I missing something? How did Mexico get the Guinness World Record for largest group of simultaneous "Thriller" dancers in one location (that's the official name of the record) if they didn't fulfill the guidelines? That's the mystery. I've asked GWR myself that very question, but have yet to hear from them. As organizer for the September 6, 2009 DragonCon attempt (which, btw, was planned BEFORE the untimely death, so we are not poseurs and I'm gonna be honest that it wasn't a tribute but a grab for the record. Hello? Planned before he died, so yea, not intended as a tribute...in the beginning, but we turned it into a D*C tribute in our weird way), I would like to know the answer to this question, as would the 902 people that danced with me.
I wonder if I'll get an answer to my inquiry before Friday at 5:00 pm Eastern time? Might be an interesting weekend if I don't and the nerds are released.