How about a site dedicated to people who are able to perform things that would probably not make them household names but make them feel special in their otherwise humdrum lives. To qualify, these things would have to be devoid of all recognised forms of talent, performance, exertion, strength or agility.
Soem examples.... Perhaps whistle all 53 verses of the Polish National Anthem, drop shower gel 36 inches into a sponge, throw the TV remote into the air spinning it in a three and a half turn salco before catching it behind one's back, press all the buttons on a calculator 40 times in 10 seconds, clean the kicthen floor with no streaks, that kinda thing...-- Starmanz, Jan 07 2002 Liar, Liar, Eyes on Fire? http://www.wired.co...,1282,49458,00.htmlThermal imaging may reveal who is truthful, and who ain't. [bristolz, Jan 07 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Monrnington Crescent http://www.halfbake...ive_20web_20fictionI explain this about half way down the discussion [goff, Jan 07 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Towns in North Wales http://www.northwal...o.co.uk/village.htmWow, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch really is a place! [Galileo, Jan 09 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Buran in Cyrillic http://www.buran.ru/for doubting thumbwaxes [madradish, Jan 10 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Very funny. http://cycling.org/...ke.199903/0391.htmland relevant. [stupop, Jan 10 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] 'David Brent' http://www.bbc.co.u...issance/index.shtmlI can dance just like him - modelled on Flashdance / MC Hammer-shit. [Jinbish, Oct 04 2004] I can recite all 66 books of the standard Bible in less than 30 seconds.....a skill I developed many moons ago in church camp just to annoy my teachers.....
However, I refuse to accept that I am otherwise talentless.-- Susen, Jan 07 2002 The official version of the Polish national anthem has four verses. (The original version has seven.)-- angel, Jan 07 2002 [Angel], please tell me you knew that *already* and you didn't actually take the time to look it up just so as you could post the fact! Yes, I was erroneous in my estimation of 53 verses in the official version, although I did personally know a petite lady in Warsaw some years ago (One leg and and a small goat as I recall) who wrote the additional 50 or so verses. Thanks for taking the time to write your comments though.
You neglected to state your entry to the Extraordinary Talents site if, of course, there was one...-- Starmanz, Jan 07 2002 I used to know the alphabet backwards really well, and I can still tell you the letter at any position instantaneously (17? that's Q), and can recite all the powers of 2 up to 65536 really quickly. I can reverse the bit order of hexadecimal numbers in my head, and I know the entire cast of My So-Called Life and Buffy off by heart. I can calculate in my head the day of the week from the date (though not as fast as I used to). Otherwise, I'm completely talented.-- pottedstu, Jan 07 2002 I knew that there existed both an official and an original version (the anthem is based on a traditional folk-song). I regret to say that I *did* look up the number of verses.I know all the factorials up to 12 (12 is 479,001,600), and I have memorised my 19-digit Switch number. I also know all 124 UK postcodes prefixes, and I used to know all of the Local Education Authority identifier codes.-- angel, Jan 07 2002 I know all the rules of Mornington Crescent. (past, present... and future. But I often feign ignorance to avoid reminding you of gambits which I will on some occasion employ). I also know the location of all the UK sector shipping forecast zones. Well, you've got to be able to place your lows and your highs haven't you.-- lewisgirl, Jan 07 2002 My only talent is that I can instantly forget any telephone number that I'm given. I'm OK at remembering other things though.-- DrBob, Jan 07 2002 Alas, I have no talent other than commenting (poorly) on other peoples' talents.-- phoenix, Jan 07 2002 I have my drivers license number memorized. I can remember the combination of the padlock I had in high school (some *mumblety-mumble* years ago). I can remember the address of the house I lived in until I was 5. I have the IP addresses of all the hosts on my company's network memorized (at least the static ones), as well as those of our largest customer. I think the powers of 2 up to 65536 is going to be pretty common among computer geeks. I can juggle three tennis balls for minutes at a time. I can do [pottedstu]'s alphabet position and I can say the alphabet backwards almost as fast as forwards. I give really good back and foot massages (probably my only useful extraordinary talent).-- mwburden, Jan 07 2002 I can say -Llanfairpwllgwyngyll gogerychwyrndrobwll- llantysiliogogogoch [white space inserted by -R-Us, --admin] ;and could at 5 years of age. spelling it, is another matter (N.Wales town on Anglesey for anyone wondering)-- po, Jan 07 2002 I can quote many entirely useless facts from the first 4 Kevin Smith films (I've only seen J&SBSB the once, so I haven't had chance to memorize the cast and crew yet). For example did you know that Smith's best friend from high-school, Vincent Periera, is not only View Askew's archivist, but also played the roller hockey goalie in Clerks, owned the Quick Stop's cat, Lenin's Tomb, and allowed his (I think) 5 year old daughter, Ashleigh, to have porn titles read out at her, before she got to shout the c-word at Randall.
Now if only they'd make this into a degree subject that was really worth something in the real world, I'd be onto a winner...-- CoolerKing, Jan 07 2002 I can write in mirror-image pretty fast. I can read upside down pretty fast, too. I remember phone numbers long, long after their usefulness (or existence) has expired. I have great night vision. I have trouble adding 1+1, alas. Juggling seems to elude me as well.-- bristolz, Jan 07 2002 I understood "Memento" - no I lie-- po, Jan 07 2002 I have 'cat eyes'; I don't see colors as vividly as most people, but I see incredibly well in the dark. I can read in light that most people would be groping blindly for a flashlight. I seem to be able to see into the infrared range slightly, sometimes. <I can see flickery grey outlined shapes in total darkness, once my eyes have had time to adjust.>
I read very quickly, and can read upside down, sideways, backwards or all three. Only English, unfortunately...-- StarChaser, Jan 07 2002 There are people who didn't understand "Memento"?-- CoolerKing, Jan 07 2002 SC read this ****************************************************************************************comprendez?
CK people who understood Memento are people with no short term memories obviously
(sorry bris, bliss)-- po, Jan 07 2002 SC]: How do you know you don't see colors as vividly as others? Also, given you see into IR, you should be able to tell who is lying by the temperature of their face--a useful skill (link). Do you suppose my cat can tell when I am lying to him ? "Oh, this food is really good, Tucker."-- bristolz, Jan 07 2002 I can walk through my living room and den without banging my shins. I can touch my nose with my tongue. I can shave my head very unevenly, but thats another story.
Hey, lg, whats Mornington Crescent?-- barnzenen, Jan 07 2002 Po: Yes, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Bristolz, I can only do it in total darkness. 'Hand in front of your face' type thing...except I can actually see it.
I am not color blind, but the colors aren't as 'bright'. I seem to have more of the rods (black and white/low light) than I do cones (color vision). Given small samples of colors, it's sometimes hard for me to distinguish them.-- StarChaser, Jan 07 2002 SC ,so sorry yes very ashamed please feel free to punish me as you feel fit!-- po, Jan 07 2002 Based on the above, I'd say this idea is baked.-- pottedstu, Jan 07 2002 barnzenen - see my explanation in 'Collaborative Web Fiction' entry (see link).
P.S. Hello again everybody, I've been gone for a while, but now I'm here again. I apologise in advance for any future annotations incorporating bad puns and word play which some people may find a fence sieve.-- goff, Jan 07 2002 Are you off Fence Eve?-- thumbwax, Jan 08 2002 I can follow the separate monologues of two very animated children who are competing for my sole attention with their simultaneous stories. It's not easy, and I often feel like lying down in a dark closet afterward, but I can do it.
I can also see into people's souls; but as an everyday skill, this one is much less useful than the former.-- 1percent, Jan 08 2002 I don't have any extraordinary talents whatsoever, but I do have a couple of strange shekels.-- Guy Fox, Jan 08 2002 I wonder if in Victorian times, girls of pubescent age exclaimed "What-So-Ever!"-- thumbwax, Jan 08 2002 po: There are people who didn't understand "Memento"?
Wait... Where am I?... I don't feel baked... <flicks through photos>... po... po... "Don't believe her lies, she is the one. Claim her next idea is baked"-- CoolerKing, Jan 08 2002 look on the back of the photo, it says she will help you because she feels sorry for you (who gave her the black eye)?-- po, Jan 08 2002 I can speak old dutch:
Het hert eist te sijn verbonden
van doodelijke wonden
opdat het wijselijck wort genezen
Maar of den ruckeloose siel
in spies en swaert van sondenviel
Dat schijnt geen swaarigheid te weesen.
This was on a tile in my bathroom for a lot of years and it's about a surgeon's oath. Isn't that just great?-- BartJan, Jan 08 2002 I learnt French from the back of an HP sauce bottle - "cette sauce HP est un melange de herbes & etc"-- po, Jan 08 2002 Houses of Parliament innit?-- -alx, Jan 08 2002 I can speak sentences in both French and Dutch:
Ou est le loup-garou?
De lieouw zit en de bus.
Can't spell them, right enough.-- Guy Fox, Jan 08 2002 You know what you just said GuyFox? I bet you don't...
Btw, it's 'De leeuw zit in de bus'.-- BartJan, Jan 08 2002 I got 'Where is the were-wolf?', but my Dutch is somewhat limited.-- angel, Jan 08 2002 "The lion sits in the bus", yes?
These phrases have, I must say, proven invaluable to me in my world travels. And thank you kindly, BartJan; I am, I fear, rather more familiar with the spoken form than the written, although I'm sure that my pronunciation is also atrocious.-- Guy Fox, Jan 08 2002 Oh dear. The settings on the University's useless UNIX/Netscape computers mean that the text of the 1/2B tends to appear very small. Without my glasses on, BartJan's first line seemed to be: "I can speak old bitch" For a moment I thought he was abusing po, which would not have made me a happy man. But he wasn't. So it's OK. Just thought I should point that out.
po: Guy Pearce gave her the black eye. She told him it was Dodd. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether Natalie knew who Teddy was or not. I know she knew *about* him, but I couldn't work out if she had seen him before.-- CoolerKing, Jan 08 2002 Can you really be certain about how his wife died? Can either his memory or Teddy's account be trusted?-- -alx, Jan 08 2002 Don't spoil it for me just yet. Not had a chance to see it.-- barnzenen, Jan 08 2002 Hence "bliss"-- thumbwax, Jan 08 2002 Ah, Thumbwax, that was a choice response.-- bristolz, Jan 08 2002 I was talking about po's black eye, CK-- po, Jan 08 2002 yup, that was Guy Pearce too. He may have been Mike Young once, but now he's a big Hollywood actor he thinks he can do anything he likes to the female population of 1/2B.
Wait... let me take the bandage off this tattoo... "Never answer the annotations"? ... Who is this? <click... brrrrrrrr....>-- CoolerKing, Jan 08 2002 After hanging around here for long enough I now posess enough pedantry to correct my friends on most of their errors (although I don't think that I can spell posess, coz that don't look right)-- kaz, Jan 08 2002 go kaz go, annotate but foget the friggin' sp mistakes-- po, Jan 08 2002 I can look at *any* photograph of the Beatles and tell what year it was taken. In fact, I think that knowing things about the Beatles is probably the only thing I'm good at.-- snarfyguy, Jan 09 2002 Ooh that reminds me, I can name any REM song purely from it's intro.-- CoolerKing, Jan 09 2002 Hey, I've just remembered my other completely mundane talent...err...no, sorry! It's gone again.-- DrBob, Jan 09 2002 I can go to the Keeneland Sales and guess the price a horse will bring within $15,000 ..... Yesterday, I guessed one at $83,000 and it sold for $82,500....and another I guessed at $145,000 sold for $143,000. Those were my two closest hits...I averaged about $8,000-$10,000 off the mark. I should be a professional appraiser.
I also have an uncanny knack for predicting what the next trend in horse breeding/showing will be....-- Susen, Jan 09 2002 snarf, as can I. I recognize the clothing they wore on photo shoots or at concerts, and if that doesn't give it away, just estimate it based on hairstyles, length, beard growth, etc. There are only 8 years from which to choose.
I can play the piano part in any Beatles song except Revolution #9. (NB: I can't play both hands of the "In My Life" solo at tempo, but neither did they - it was played by Paul and George Martin, each taking a hand, and recorded at half-speed.)-- waugsqueke, Jan 09 2002 I can "click my ears." That is, I can, at will, cause something inside my ear canal to do something that feels like what happens when your ear "pops" in response to changing air pressure. It makes a clicking sound in my ear, and I found out when I got married that it is audible to someone else whose ear is close to mine when it happens. Turns out, in fact, that my wife can click her ears, too, though neither of us has ever heard of anyone else who possesses this particular talent.-- beauxeault, Jan 09 2002 Well, my list of extraordinary talents is as folllows: When I used to share a house, we used to play guess the shopping bill at the supermarket - the loser always had to pick up the tab (with the others subsequently paying them back later). I never paid for the shopping in 4 years.(useful) I have 'overdistendible skin', which means that I can pull the skin on my elbow down so that it forms a flap about 10 inches deep by a foot width. (extrordinary, nee, disgusting, but completely useless). When I was fourteen, my record for the Rubik's cube was 42 seconds (e but not u). When I was twelve, I could recite the whole 60 seconds of the UK 'Flash' (a household cleaning product) commercial in less than 9 seconds (it was a bit of a silly competition between freinds. Again e but not u) I do a mean impersonation of Frank SInatra. Current record at Karoake events, played 6, won 6. I could probably add most travelled karoake winner - my 6 victories coming from (in no particular order) - Crawley, Port Douglas (Queensland Oz), Antigua, Cape Town, London and Cheam ( a small suburb south west of London).-- goff, Jan 09 2002 [beauxeault] And I thought I was the only one...comes in darn useful on aircraft and in other similar situations.
I can remember what rating any album I own, released in the last 7 years, got in the NME. I don't really think of it so much as a talent, more a waste of a useful resource - especially as most of those reviews are in their internet archive.
Come to think of it, I've got a great memory for all kinds of pointless information. Did you know that over 99% of all fires caused by electric blankets in the UK were caused by blankets over 10 years old?-- -alx, Jan 09 2002 ooooh! I have one more amazing talent: I can estimate the time to within about 5 minutes and often to the minute (actually this isn't a talent, it's a skill that can be improved with practice).-- bristolz, Jan 09 2002 Amazing!
I suck at juggling too, but I do have a knack for unbrella flipping. A full length models, using one hand, I toss into the air, and twirl an exact number of rotations, to the half, which I call beforehand. I've gotten seven and a half so far. A skill I developed while walking to work eons ago.-- waugsqueke, Jan 09 2002 I can move either eye independent of the other. Very handy for roadside sobriety tests.-- quarterbaker, Jan 09 2002 beauxeault, -alx - Wow! I didn't realise being able to that was that abnormal. Thanks to my incredible self-popping ears I've never had to suck those god-awful lime flavoured boiled sweets that they hand out on the plane. Except once when I just fancied a sweet. Ironically on that flight my ear drum burst, very painful indeed.-- CoolerKing, Jan 09 2002 I once tried to learn the poem Jabberwocky in Esperanto... estis brilige kaj la slidaj toroj...
I know many useless bits of information about space travel... e.g. if you write the name of the Russian space shuttle (Buran) in lowercase Cyrillic and turn it upside down, it looks like the word hedgehog in English.-- madradish, Jan 10 2002 Buran > Cyrillic > umop apisdn = hedgehog-- thumbwax, Jan 10 2002 On reflection, it doesn't very much :) See link (word in "")
However, if you get someone to write (rather than type) it and use a little imagination...
...nah, guess I'm truly talentless after all.-- madradish, Jan 10 2002 Tenhut madradish - If there is anything to unlearn - it is everything you were brainwashed into believing before this very moment. So right now - stick out yer gut - scrunch yer nose up - and let me rebrainwash you - The law of averages is as follows, SoldierAverage is down here _Aim +Fire .(Too low)Fire again :That's betterYou are here -Point is, not to lower expectations of or belief in yourself - that's when you lose-- thumbwax, Jan 10 2002 thumbwax: thanks I feel comfortably rebrainwashed and ready to obtain new useless talents.-- madradish, Jan 10 2002 That's goodish, madradlad, that's goodish-- thumbwax, Jan 10 2002 [stupop]'s link sounds like UnaBubba.-- lewisgirl, Jan 10 2002 In the States I believe we called this the Gong Show.
I memorized the spelling and proper pronciation of 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' forwards and backwards at age 7 one evening.-- RayfordSteele, Apr 04 2002 I've been undefeated in thumbwrestling since my mid-teens (almost 20 years), excepting one time 5 years ago when I had a broken finger. I can beat two people simultaneously with my eyes closed. I don't usually brag about this, for obvious reasons. I thank you for this forum.-- raleigh, Jan 16 2003 bet you couldn't beat *our* thumb. thanks for reviving this one. welcome [raleigh] pick your coat up now thanks.-- po, Jan 16 2003 Baked for about 20 years in the US: the "Stupid Human Tricks" segment on David Letterman's show. (WTAGIPBAN)-- krelnik, Jan 16 2003 I can say words and sentances particularly fast. I can say the alphabet forwards and backwards in under 2 seconds. I can beat the first 3 levels in Super Mario Bros. with the TV turned off. I don't 'wiggle' my ears, I literally move them back and forth on my head (but only about 2-3 inches.) I can juggle 5 balls at a time (but only balls). I can write simple, correct, error-free C++ code on a piece of paper backwards. I can make a 6-story house out of cards on carpet. I can do a backflip. Also, I can do a number of utterly useless, well-known card tricks.
*Snaps a picture of [po] before wandering off in a daze*-- Evil_Baron_Moustachio, Jan 16 2003 I know the introduction to the A-Team off-by-heart and I can dance like 'David Brent'.-- Jinbish, Jan 17 2003 I have an uncanny ability to comprehend song lyrics. My dad, who's loved CSNY's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" since it first came out, didn't know any of the lyrics in the bridge until I picked them out on first hearing just a couple years ago.-- Tabbyclaw, Apr 02 2003 I can flit between languages while I'm speaking without thinking about it, providing I'm conversant in the languages (like between english and German), I think it goes hand in hand with being able to think in a foreign language and understand it intuitively i.e. without thinking of what it is in english. I also used to be able to name all the elements of the periodic table from their abbreviations and guess which way up a coin would land with an accuracy of about 60-70%. I can also shout loud enough to hurt poeple's ears if they're stood in front of me and make higher pitched squeeky noises than many lasses (I used to be a bass in the school barber shop group) and sing 'Blue Moon' in the style of the mice off Babe, or I would if I knew the words.-- squigbobble, Jan 29 2004 My talents are as follows
First I Have tremendous leg strenght(i weigh 160 and could squat 800 pounds leg press 1500 lbs and have a leg thrust ratio of about 2800lbs) Bench 350 curl 135lbs I can jump at unto any object up to 8FEET high(with my feet). I Have what is called eidetic imagery which means I can project any images from my thoughts unto objects (walls ,piece of paper etc and only" I" CAN SEE) My senses are heightend(my sense of smell is so strong I was able to pick up meniscule scents in cold still air from up to 50 feet and at times . am able to tell a person what they had for dinner the night before even after they had eaten other things and brushed there teeth that mourning. My sense of sight is heightened to the point that I can see all the normal colors as any other ,but I have extraordinary night/dark vision(in tolal darkness i can see at a range of a 7foot radius) I can also see light shapes movements and depth perception thru objects ( walls small objects etc.-- cyloie1, Feb 21 2004 why dont more people annote on this site?-- cyloie1, Feb 22 2004 'Cause they're missing the necessary cathotes?-- bristolz, Feb 22 2004 bristolz , what do you mean? please explain.-- cyloie1, Feb 23 2004 It's an anode / cathode related pun. She's just pulling your leg because 'anote' isn't a word. 'Annotate' is the verb you are looking for.-- Jinbish, Feb 24 2004 random, halfbakery