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Guinness World Records held by
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  MOST CAREER TOUCHDOWNS BY NFL QUARTERBACK AT ONE STADIUM Brett Favre (USA), playing for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 2005, has thrown for a career total of 189 touchdowns at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the most touchdown passes ever by a quarterback at one stadium.
  
  MOST CONSECUTIVE NFL PLAYOFF GAMES THROWING A TOUCHDOWN PASS The record for most consecutive postseason games throwing at least one touchdown pass is 18 by Brett Favre (USA) playing for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 2007.
  
  MOST MATCHES STARTED IN CONSECUTIVE REGULAR SEASONS IN NFL CAREER BY A QUARTERBACK The most matches started in consecutive regular seasons in an NFL career by a quarterback were achieved by Brett Favre (USA) who set the record by starting in his 275th consecutive regular season game through 2008. This figure includes play-offs; excluding these, the figure is 225.
  
  MOST PASS ATTEMPTS IN NFL CAREER The most pass attempts in an NFL career were achieved by Brett Favre (USA) who set the record at 9,280 between 1991 and 2008
  
  MOST PASS COMPLETIONS IN NFL CAREER BY A QUARTERBACK The most pass completions in an NFL career by a quarterback were set by Brett Favre (USA) for the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets with 5,720 pass completions between 1992 and 2009.
  
  MOST PASSING YARDS IN NFL CAREER The most passing yards in an NFL career were 61,655 set by Brett Favre (USA) between 1992 and his retirement in 2008.
  
  MOST SEASONS CONSECUTIVELY PASSING 3,000 YARDS IN NFL CAREER BY A QUARTERBACK Brett Favre (USA) of the Green Bay Packers set the NFL quaterbacking record in 2006 by throwing for at least 3,000 yards in a season for the 15th consecutive year.
  
  MOST TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN NFL CAREER Brett Favre (USA) has thrown for a total of 464 touchdown passes playing for the Atlanta Falcons (USA), Green Bay Packers (USA) and New York Jets (USA) from 1992 to 2008.
  
  MOST WINS IN NFL CAREER AS A STARTING QUARTERBACK The most wins in an NFL career as a starting quarterback were achieved by Brett Favre (USA) who has 160 victories between 1992 and 2008.
  
  OLDEST PAIR OF STARTING QUARTERBACKS IN NFL HISTORY The oldest starting quarterback match-up in NFL history was formed by 44 year-old Vinny Testaverde of the Carolina Panthers and 38 year-old Brett Favre ( both USA) of the Green Bay Packers, on 18 November 2007.
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- 1 month ago
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Brett Favre Freak Out
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  And so it was with my heart full of emotion and my head full of cheese that I made my way to the hallowed ground that is Bristol, Connecticut and to the ESPN campus.
  
  Was I going to be inducted into the ESPN Hall of Fame? No.
  
  Was I going to be interviewed for that evening's SportsCenter? No.
  
  Was my name Stuart Claxton and was was I about to judge ANOTHER Guinness World Record? Yes!
  
  Indeed, once again I packed my bag of GWR tricks and headed north to judge one of the most singularly single records I'd witnessed in a long time. SportsNation, that fan-fed festival airing daily on ESPN2 were going to attempt a most judicious record. In honour of multiple-retiree Brett Favre's appearance in the evening's NFL game in which the Minnesota Vikings were going up against his old team the Green Bay Packers, the hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd were going to try and set the record for the Most Mentions of a Name on a TV Show ever. And who's name was selected from thousands of others?
  
  Brett Favre.
  
  Did I say Brett Favre?
  
  Brett Favre? Anyone here called Brett Favre?
  
  The name's Favre. Brett Favre.
  
  You get the idea.
  
  Here's Michelle:
  
  This is Colin:
  
  Here is Brett:
  
  And here are Michelle & Colin with Brett:
  
  The whole set was a most glorious celebration of the man and his myth. It was a Brett Favre-Fest no doubt about it. Brett Favre manifested himself everywhere I looked:
  
  As airtime approached I was shown to my podium. Right next to the Favre-o-Meter. Oh yeah. These guys WERE NOT messing around.
  
  And we were off! The rules stated that each time Brett Favre was mentioned it had to form part of the flow of a complete sentence, no textual references allowed either. Michelle and Colin were up for the challenge though and raced through the mentions with style. I actually had trouble keeping up with them they were so good at it! Here I am, sweating my way through 176 Brett Favres!
  
  The minutes flew by, as did the Brett Favres. But wait, what's this? A video showreel of 23 consecutive Brett Favre mentions! Hang on. Quick as a flash I had to check in with Jamie Horowitz, the producer.
  
  "Sorry Jamie, but those 23 don't count".
  
  Booooo! Paper projectiles suddenly rained down all around me!
  
  "Momma's not happy" joked Michelle.
  
  But all was good in the SportsNation camp and they would not be deterred, onwards and upwards! The end was near...194....195...196...just a few more to reach their self-imposed target of two hundred. And they're there!
  
  A new Guinness World Record, 203 mentions of the name Brett Favre!!
  
  Congratulations to all at SportsNation! They were all most gracious and we hope to see them again soon. Unless this little guy has something to say about it...
- Blog post
- 1 month ago
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Fastest Baseball Pitch Ever?
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  In honor of the MLB postseason I would like to reference Noam Scheiber's excellent article in Slate called Why can't anyone throw a baseball faster than 100mph?
  
  It's a fascinating question, more so because the record for the fastest pitch has stood for over 50 years. As cited in the article, we have the following listed on our database:
  
  Fastest Baseball Pitch The fastest baseball pitch is 162.3km/h (100.9mph) and was achieved by Lynn Nolan Ryan (then of the California Angels) (b. 31 Jan 1947), at Anaheim Stadium, California, USA, on 20 August 1974.
  
  Scheiber actually refutes this saying that he believes Mark Wohlers is the king of the fastball at 103 mph. We love and accept the information subject to confirmation (!). We are nothing if not here to stimulate such superlative research which we hope does turn the heat of discussion into light.
  
  So as Scheiber asks, if athletic records have been tumbling in smaller or greater increments what's up with the baseball pitch record? Being in the world record business it's a source of intrigue for me as it seems to be more and more difficult to tell when and where sports records will be broken. Before the amazing Usain Bolt, we had no idea the 100 m record was going to be broken. But it was. Twice. But Mr. Bolt and his 9.58 seconds aside, why hasn't anyone thrown a pitch faster than 100 mph?
  
  Scheiber says, the 100-mph ceiling is not an illusion - "it's a basic property of human physiology".
  
  Turns out that if a ball were thrown any faster than 100 mph it could literally rip a pitcher's tendons and ligaments from bone and muscle. He'd throw his arm off! At the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, biomechanical engineer Glenn Fleisig calculated that when a pitcher throws a fastball it exerts around 80 Newton-meters of torque on the elbow. Practising with cadavers, Fleisig found that anything greater than that actually caused the ulnar collateral ligament (the bones that meet at the elbow) to snap.
  
  OUCH!!
  
  I will leave you to enjoy the rest of the article (http://www.slate.com/id/2116402 - it is very good) but in the meantime, what are your thoughts?
  
  Will we ever see the Guinness World Record for the fastest pitch broken in our lifetime?
- Blog post
- 1 month ago
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Superb GWR photo slide show on
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  Check out an excellent 52-photo slide show of some awesome Guinness World Records images at
  
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
  
  We collaborated with them on this for the launch of the new Guinness World Records 2010 book. It is sourced from our own photo library plus the MSNBC archive. Scroll a third of the way down the page and click on the 'Guinness World Records' link:
  
  My personal favorite has to be the 35,000+ collection of Lego Star Wars Stormtroopers. Is it too embarrasing to say it's now my desktop wall paper?
  
  ENJOY!
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- 1 month ago
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Meatballs on Jimmy Kimmel Live
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  After a brief hiatus I resume my correspondence with all the wonderful Guinness World Records fans and it is fitting that I recommence my virtual communication with one of the more memorable records I have seen in quite some time.
  
  What's round, made of meat, and goes rather well with some pasta al dente and a bottle of the most readily available Cab?
  
  A meatball.
  
  That's exactly right. but not any ordinary meatball, no. If it's me writing about it and it's on this website you can bet your Valpolicella it's gonna have to be the largest meatball in the world, oh yes.
  
  So we received word from Jimmy Kimmel that he was rather incensed at Mexico being awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest meatball (weighing in at the red, white and green corner at 109 lb).
  
  "Enough!" said Jimmy and he started his own pet project to make the world's largest meatball himself and bringing it back to Italy. Well, actually, the Italian American community in Los Angeles, California which looks a little bit like this:
  
  What made the ocassion even more historic was that the meatball was to be unveiled in honor of the Festival of San Gennaro, that wonderful celebration of everything Italian. So the stage was most definitely set to reveal the absolutely-positively-beyond-any-shadow-of-doubt largest meatball ever.
  
  In fact here IS the stage:
  
  But wait, along the way I had to say hello to a few friends. There's not many opportunities to meet the guy who has wrestled with Borat in a most unforgettable way so when I spotted him I had to say hello. Meet Borat Sagdiyev's agent, Azamat Bagatov...better known as actor Ken Davitian:
  
  On my way to makeup I had to give my regards to my friend Guillermo. Not a lot of people know this but I've actually seen Guillermo in his underpants. Actually in 100 pairs of underpants to be exact when he set the record on the show about two years ago. He was very impressed with the Guinness World Record logo on my blazer and I had to fight him off with a bread stick or he would have had it for sure. Hello again fully-clothed Guillermo!
  
  But enough hobnobbing and let's get down to business. 109 lb was the weight to beat and Jimmy & Team Meatball USA were committed. Just in case anything went wrong three meatballs were prepared which were closely watched to prevent any interference from potential Mexican spies:
  
  Jimmy emerged from the studio with Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda who had been nominated the official taster. A frenzy ensued, no-one had ever seen such a large meatball before - Dios Mio! But first Tommy had to taste it to make sure it was edible per the guidelines.
  
  "It's great!" he declared. The crowd roared its approval.
  
  The stomach trembling meatball weighed in at a ridiculous 152 lb, 43 pounds heavier than its Mexican predecessor - A new Guinness World Record!!
  
  But wait, Jimmy had a surprise. This wasn't the largest meatball. There was another. The crowd parted as four men brought out the monster meatball and slowly lowered it onto the scales. No way! NO WAY! One-hundred-and-ninety-eight-pounds. Yes, 100 and 98 pounds of pure Italian meatball...ANOTHER GUINNESS WORLD RECORD!!
  
  Good grief, I don't know if this has ever happened to you but I was, to say the least, all...ahem...meatballed out. There's no way I can look at another meatball ever again in the same way.
  
  You can watch the whole segment here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ilVDDVDUk
  
  Many thanks to all at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, always a pleasure to work with those guys, see you soon.
  
  Congratulazioni per il tuo sforzo stupendo! Mi hai impressionato!
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- 1 month ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Day
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  And so Day 5 of our record-breaking extravaganza began, sadly the last day of this wonderful week on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly. And what a week it was! Pie fights, a man wearing over 100 T-shirts, another packed in ice and a lady who gets herself into a suitcase.
  
  Fantastic.
  
  We left it to master-house-of-cards builder Bryan Berg to wrap things up for us. He set himself the challenge of building the tallest house of cards in one hour. He reckoned he could do about 8 ft. Now even though this is no small achievement Bryan has done even grander things before. Really big things. In 2007 he built a house of cards over 27 ft tall which is the highest anyone has ever done so.
  
  One of Bryan's more modest (but awesome) house of cards:
  
  And one of his utterly unbelievable creations:
  
  Yeah. That's all playing cards. And none of them are glued together.
  
  So with David Duchovny standing in for Regis Philbin, the show began with the lovely Kelly Ripa kicking things off with a look back over the previous day's pie fight and then she cued Bryan. Off you go Mr. Berg, you've got 60 minutes to show us whatcha got!
  
  The minutes passed, and up went each storey of cards. One foot, two foot, three foot, four foot...Bryan was a man possessed. Nothing could stop him. Not even Ricky Gervais who was on the show touting his new movie The Invention of Lying. I'm not lying.
  
  And then the appointed hour came. The clock wound down. 5...4...3...2...1...time's up!
  
  And then something absolutely unreal happened. When I looked down at my stopwatch the tower was there. When I looked up...it wasn't. Duchovny ran. Kelly gasped. I, didn't do anything. After placing the last card and exactly as time ran out, the whole thing had collapsed.
  
  And if you don't believe me check this out:
  
  And if you still don't believe me, watch this:
  
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/18/bryan-berg-man-trying-to_n_291422.html
  
  A great shame as Bryan is a great guy but he also has an excellent sense of humour so all is good in the Berg world. Many thanks for playing Bryan!
  
  A HUGE thanks to all at LIVE! with Regis & Kelly...you were all wonderful to work with and once again gave us some fantastic memories for the Guinness World Records archive - see you all next year!!!
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- 2 months ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Day
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  Pies glorious pies! Covered in lovely, sweet coconut custard! Oh the joy of holding a pie! Oh the joy of plastering one all over someone's face!
  
  What's this? Has Stuart gone mad?? Not at all my friends. It is none other than day four of Guinness World Records 2010 book launch on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly. And what better way to celebrate this launch but with a big pie fight! Not any ordinary pie fight mind you, but the BIGGEST PIE FIGHT IN THE WORLD.
  
  Indeed.
  
  To break the record today the folks at LIVE! with Regis & Kelly had to gather more than 253 people and get them to throw pies at each other for at least one minute. But first the pies. You must make sure you have enough pies. In fact to make sure of this, 1500 pies were brought in and set on tables ready for the plucky few.
  
  That's A LOT of pies.
  
  And here is a merry band of pie-throwers in full pie-throwing mood ready for battle:
  
  At the appointed time, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa came out accompanied by several NASCAR drivers who were in town. Everyone at the ready? Three...two...one...GO!
  
  If a picture speaks a thousand words, then this must speak a thousand pies. Oh the humanity! 60 seconds later and the record was broken. 269 people throwing 1500 pies and not a black eye in the house. A new Guinness World Record!
  
  Many thanks to all who participated and all at LIVE! with Regis & Kelly for setting the attempt up.
  
  And we must not forget that at the end of the show we also recognized Regis for breaking his own Guinness World Record again for Most Hours on US Television - a staggering 16,343...equivalent to almost an hour for every day of Regis' life!
  
  Congratulations sir you are a legend AND a Guinness World Record holder!!
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- 2 months ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Day
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  It was a particularly breezy cold start to Wednesday morning which was perfect. Multiple Guinness World Record-holder Wim Hof was going to attempt to break his own record on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly for the Longest Time to Stand in Ice - currently an amazing 1 hour 42 minutes and 22 seconds!
  
  Everyone was especially primed for this attempt on set. Even though Wim is a professional and has done this many times it's always slightly edgy when someone attempts to break a record that is extremely high risk. An army of production folks checked all morning that everything was ready and Wim was comfortable.
  
  A moment of panic briefly ensued when production, prop and set crew had to look for Wim's contact lens:
  
  First things first however, and the box in which he had to stand had to be filled with ice. This is actually quite crucial because as much as he's a bit of a superman, Wim really doesn't want to stand in the ice for any longer than he has to. And you certainly won't catch me standing anywhere near anything that cold!
  
  About seven minutes later, Wim was packed in ice and ready while I looked on with my trusty stopwatch in hand.
  
  Ready...steady...GO!
  
  Steadily, slowly but surely, ice man Wim Hof made his way to the hallowed Guinness World Record mark. Tic-toc, tic-toc...
  
  ...and he's there! A new Guinness World Record achieved...1 hour 43 minutes and .04 seconds!
  
  Congratulations Wim! Another GWR 2010 launch morning on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly and another Guinness World Record!
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- 2 months ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Day
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  Day two of our record-breaking week on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly dawned with an early morning attempt on the record for Most T-shirts Worn at One Time by an individual which had been held by the Belgians since 2008 at 227.
  
  Stepping up to the plate was young Matt McAlistair who I had actually met once before on The David Letterman Show (how's that for name-dropping) a few years ago.
  
  On this occasion Matt intended to blow the record away, he was going for broke. He wasn't going to go for 228, or 229 but 240 T-shirts! And what did that actually mean? Well, it basically means you're going to place 200 lb of extra weight on your neck and shoulders and smile about it.
  
  200 lb of T-shirts.
  
  This is Brian, the producer, before the show asking me where I've hidden all his T-shirts:
  
  "Lights! Camera! Action!" but the TV version and off we went at 8am, an hour before the show as it takes about two hours to carry out the record. All looking good and we're up to about the 170 mark. On went the small, then the medium, then the large, then the extra large and then the extra extra large.
  
  Here's Matt and his crew in mid-attempt while my trusty sidekick Laura Plunkett and I keep a close eye on things:
  
  And then as number 177 went on something happened to big Matt. The T-shirts started squeezing his neck in a way which wasn't good. He was a brave fella and kept going for as long as he could but in the end the T-shirts won out. Matt had to sit down and stop before the attempt went any further. Quick as a flash he was cut out of his multiple short sleeves and was once again with us, breathing and full of color!
  
  Matt being interviewed before the 'incident':
  
  Matt being interviewed after the 'incident':
  
  Happily, Matt was fine, just caught a little by surprise. It seems the T-shirts were a little too high at the back of his neck which was causing him some discomfort and so he abandoned the attempt. In good spirits afterwards, he showed me what the final T-shirt would have looked like, it took both of us to hold it up!
  
  No matter Matt, you gave it a great shot and we thank you for stepping up and giving it a go, without you Guinness World Records wouldn't be here so thank you my friend!
  
  In honor of Matt back in the office we decided to have a go at seeing if we could fit as many people as we could into one T-shirt.
  
  We didn't get very far...
  
  The Guinness World Records 2010 book launch fun continues tomorrow when we meet ice man Wim Hoff who will try and stand in ice for as long as possible - see you there!
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- 2 months ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Day
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  And we're off!
  
  I arrived bright and early at the studios of LIVE! with Regis & Kelly on the upper west side of Manhattan wondering what on earth was about to happen. Here I was, spokesperson for Guinness World Records and about to watch a grown woman get into a suitcase to mark the launch of the new Guinness World Records 2010 book.
  
  Leslie Tipton, contortionist extraordinaire has held the record since May 2008 when she zipped herself inside a suitcase in 7.08 seconds. She was now a woman on a mission, not only to break her own record but to do it on live national US television.
  
  After the pre-requisite rehearsals and light & sound checks, we were ready. And so were the five million viewers tuning in.
  
  "Ladies & gentlemen, Leslie Tipton!"
  
  And on she walked, suitcase in tow. A few minutes of limbering up and we were ready.
  
  "OK Leslie...ready...set...go!"
  
  And a record-breaking 5.43 seconds later it was all over, the lady was in! Ridiculous! A new Guinness World Record!
  
  And that was that, short and sweet but the job was done. Another episode of LIVE! with Regis & Kelly...another Guinness World Record!
  
  Tomorrow: Matt McAlistair tries to wear more than 227 T-shirts in one go and set a new Guinness World Record!!
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- 2 months ago
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World's Oldest Person Dies
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  It is with much sadness that we have learned that Gertrude Baines, the oldest person in the world, passed away in a Los Angeles hospital today at 7:25am PST.
  
  Born on April 6, 1894 Ms Baines became the world's oldest person when Maria de Jesus from Portugal died at the age of 115 in January 2009. Since 1986 the world's oldest person title has been held by a woman for all but 44 days.
  
  She owed her longevity to never drinking or smoking and was reported to be in good health before she died. Baines worked as a maid in Ohio State University dormitories until her retirement, and lived at a Los Angeles convalescent hospital for over 10 years. In November 2008 she became the oldest African-American to vote for President Barack Obama and received a letter from him on her 115th birthday.
  
  Guinness World Records sends its condolences to the Baines family.
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- 2 months ago
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LIVE! with Regis & Kelly
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  Just dropping a note to say that next week we launch - YES...LAUNCH - our brand new Guinness World Records 2010 book. Hot off the presses we're coming back for our annual rollercoaster of amazing superlatives!
  
  To help us get on our way the nice folks at LIVE! with Regis & Kelly will be touting a Guinness World Record Breaker week during which they will attempt to set or break a new world record every day.
  
  The run down is as follows:
  
  Monday, Sept 14 - Contortionist Leslie Tipton tries to get into a suitcase in under 7.04 seconds, and zip it closed!
  
  Tuesday, Sept 15 - Matt McAllister attempts to wear the most T-shirts at once (current GWR 227)
  
  Wednesday, Sept 16 - The Ice Man cometh: Wim Hoff will try to stand in a block of ice for longer than 1 hr 42 min 22 sec and break his own record for ice endurance
  
  Thursday, Sept 17 - Members of the audience and fans will all participate in the largest pie fight ever outside the R&K studios. Number to beat: 253!
  
  Friday, Sept 18 - Playing card master Bryan Berg is going to try and build the tallest tower of cards he can in just 60 minutes and set a new GWR
  
  Yours truly, AKA Clackers, AKA...er...me will be the judge on hand so if you want to get your fill of GWR in the middle of the morning turn on ABC at 9am and you'll see all of this and much more.
  
  A photo of me with Regis and the Mrs (I'm the one on the left).
  
  Check us out 9am EST Sept 14-18 on ABC!
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- 2 months ago
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Guinness World Records Mariach
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  ANDALE! ANDALE! AJUUUA! QUE SE OIGA BONITO!!!
  
  I lived in Guadalajara for several years so I feel fairly confident when I say I know a little bit about Mexico. I had only planned to go down there for two years. I ended up staying for six and getting married to a Tapatia (as their women are called) in the process. So if you're ever in Mexico - watch out!
  
  I have plenty of great memories about my time down there. Lots of great friends too. Guadalajara lends itself to this kind of thing because it's where every classic symbol of Mexico comes from. The beautiful women, the wonderful and sometimes not-so-wonderful tequila, the fantastic blue maguey...and of course mariachi music.
  
  MARIACHI MUSIC...
  
  As soon as it starts it is quite unmistakable. The violins, the trumpets, the guitarron, the charro suits, there's nothing quite like it. Songs of lost love, of horses, of women, of sorrow and joy, it is THE music to have a drink to. Now I don't want to encourage anyone but at some point in your life, and only when you are old enough, you have to get drunk listening to mariachi. It just goes. Trust me.
  
  But thoughts of getting drunk were very far from my mind when I travelled down there. I had been asked to go judge the WORLD'S LARGEST MARIACHI BAND a record which had stood since 2007 in San Antonio, Texas at 520.
  
  Gulp.
  
  Just in case you're not familiar, a mariachi band looks like this
  
  And like this
  
  And like this
  
  (Hey, dude on the left! Stop staring at the camera and point to the certificate like everyone else!)
  
  As you can see, the dress code is very strict. No jeans or sneakers. No baseball caps either but you can wear these
  
  You must wear very tight embroidered trousers and and short jackets which have real silver clasps down the sides, plus very polished boots. Women can of course wear skirts like this smart little lady
  
  As I say, there's nothing like Mexico or mariachi. It captures the imagination and makes you want to be in those old black-and-white Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete movies falling in love with Maria Felix. All these folks were actually part of the attempt I was going down to judge. Young and old were there as well as mariachis that weren't even from Mexico like these guys from Canada!
  
  Or these little guys from Mexico
  
  As well as these young ladies from Houston, Texas
  
  Everyone was down there not only as part of the 16th International Festival of Mariachi but also to take part in the Guinness World Record organized by the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce.
  
  They lined up to register for hours
  
  and hours
  
  and hours...no-one wanted to be left out!
  
  As the clock struck six it was time. To the strumming and sounds of five songs played consecutively (rules state they must play for a minimum of ten minutes) they made the record their own. To the sounds of La Negra, Cielito Lindo, Fiesta en Jalisco, Mexico Lindo and Guadalajara all 549 musicians played with amazing precision, a true testament to how much they wanted to make this a historic Guinness World Records moment.
  
  Congratulations to Guadalajara 'La Perla Tapatia' for their wonderful accomplishment and giving me yet another great memory of my time in that great city!
  
  Salud!
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- 2 months ago
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Guinness World Records 2010 bo
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!!!
  
  September 17th, 2009...
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- 2 months ago
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Fast & Furious at Bristol Moto
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  SO HERE'S A SHORT STORY ABOUT A LITTLE PLACE CALLED BRISTOL.
  
  Bristol, Tennessee has a population of around 40,000. Not so big. But it's a great place. Tennessee was actually the first state I visited outside New York after moving to the USA.
  
  It's beautiful and very green. At least when I've been there. And it's very peaceful. Except the night of Bristol Motor Speedway's Sharpie 500 NASCAR race. That's the night Bristol turns into the third largest city in Tennessee and 160,000 people converge to watch one of the most spectacular races in the NASCAR calendar.
  
  43 drivers and cars all line up to race 500 laps at around 125mph around what they call the
  
  It was my first NASCAR race so I was totally excited. NASCAR is a whole new universe which I was eager to find out about. The passion of the fans, the smell of fuel, the roar of the engines. I mean, how could I miss this? I wanted to be one of these guys.
  
  GWR Certificate was with me of course and was just as excited. Addressing a press conference before the record attempt he declared: "Some people may say they have have friends in low places but I'm here on an all-time high. NASCAR and Bristol get my engines going and I'm prepared to go the distance. There are no pit stops for me".
  
  I jumped in before he could use any more racing metaphors but there was no stopping him. But before I could get to him he was off track-side saying hello to some marines who had turned up for the special opening ceremony. I go toe-to-toe with anyone but marines? There was no way I was getting GWR Certificate away from these guys! They're as tough as they come! I mean how tough do these guys look??
  
  God bless these guys for their service. I managed to get GWR Certificate away finally and calmed him down enough to take a photo of me.
  
  But of course he was having none of it and had to go one better. And what's better than getting your photo BESIDE a NASCAR racing car? Having your photo taken IN a NASCAR racing car:
  
  Fortunately before he went roaring off down the race track one of the local officers nabbed him red-handed. GWR Certificate had learned his lesson. No more jumping into race cars under the influence of NASCAR. I really don't want to mess with this guy again.
  
  And so with start time approaching rapidly and images of race car movies with Burt Reynolds and Tom Cruise at the wheel it was time to get down to business. GWR Certificate and I took our places and consulted each other on how best to judge the record and where we should each stand. It was decided he would take the nosebleeds, while I would be in the pit.
  
  The Guinness World Record I was there for was actually-but-not-exactly-yet-maybe NASCAR-related by the way. The night of the race 160,000 voices joined together before the race to sing Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks breaking the existing record for Most People Singing Karaoke Simultaneously set in 2006 by 80,000 in Finland. I have never heard 160,000 people sing before but trust me, it's quite something. I'll be posting the video separately for you to see but it was AWESOME to watch.
  
  Congratulations to Bristol Motor Speedway for spreading the joy of being a Guinness World Record holder and giving the fans something to sing about!
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 1865
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ONE-ON-ONE WITH GWR BOOK
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  It had been sometime since I'd sat down with GWR Book. The endless travelling, the press junkets, the midnight swims, it had all taken its toll on the big fella and he had been getting some well-earned rest in a tropical resort whose name I don't recall. But that didn't mean he was slacking off drinking margaritas by the pool though.
  
  Oh no.
  
  GWR Book may not be visible sometimes but rest assured. He's always there. Silently watching. Quietly taking note of all record-breaking activity. With a few lines of his pen he can preserve your name for posterity. Or leave you in that deep well of anonimity. Not that he wants to. He tries really hard every year to give everyone their moment. But sometimes it just doesn't work. It's either too small, or too slow. Or too few people turned up or you didn't do enough. But he really gives everyone their shot. And that can be demanding, so he needs some time to charge his batteries. I mean, who doesn't right?
  
  I hadn't expected to hear from GWR Book until mid-September but out of nowhere I received a text message from him. He'd obviously been aware of my movements. I don't know how. I didn't want to know. Sometimes it's best not to ask. But meet him I did. And I was relieved to see that he was in good shape. The visits to the gym had obviously had their effect and he was happy to see me too.
  
  GWR Book, why are we sitting in the dark?  I'm not officially supposed to be seen quite yet.  I mean not for a few more weeks, so I think it best to keep myself on the 'DL' right now.
  
  Of course. From what I can make out, you look great! Thank you Stuart. Yes, all is well. You're looking good too. I see you have recovered from your travels.
  
  You mean the GWR Certificate thing? We were just hanging out, that's all.  Not a problem at all.  Certificate is a great asset and a solid guy.  I am very happy to see him out and about. That usually means another Guinness World Record has been broken so we're good.
  
  What have you been up to? Well I took a break there for a while and went travelling for a bit. But mainly I've been lying low in Barcelona, catching up with old friends. It's always good to take time and get yourself checked out. When I know I'm the best I can be that makes me happy. And when GWR Book is happy, everybody's happy.
  
  True, true. You have a few busy months ahead of you, are you ready? Yes, I'm looking forward to getting out there. It's time. It's GWR Book time. And I love it. The fans all over the world love it too, it's a great time of the year. I'm pretty much gonna be everywhere so I should be hard to miss.
  
  Can you tell us anything about yourself? I'm a 287-page-2.9-lb-book of superlative love you know what I mean? I'm going for it this year. Gonna do the web thing.
  
  You mean you're going to be online? Yep, pretty much. Not only are you gonna read and feel GWR Book this year, you're gonna be able to watch him too. Photos, videos, interviews...'downloadable content'...that's where it's at, ya get me?
  
  Love it. Well I know you're supposed to be resting so I'll let you go. Many thanks GWR Book, looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. May I get a picture? No can-do my friend. I am under wraps. In-cog-ni-to. On the dark side of the moo....hey wait, put that camera away! NO!
  
  I hightailed it outta there. I think I heard something like "Come back here ya crazy kid!" through the marshes. But no matter, I had my scoop. And besides, GWR Book's an old timer, he knows how this works...
  
    Oh Yeah.
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 568
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OLDEST WOMAN EVER FOUND
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  ...IN THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS BOOK!
  
  Guinness World Records is all about extremes. From the highest to the lowest. From the fastest to the slowest. We chronicle them all. 50,000 letters a year yield a wonderful world of wanna-be superlatives. Some get there, some don't. From the sublime to the ridiculous. It's a wonder we can keep up. And yet we do. We chronicle as many as we can in the book. The Guinness World Records book.
  
  A look through its pages is a veritable feast for stats fans. And endless source of material for those looking for party pieces. It's as insane as it is epic. A universe of names, places, dates and digits. A true testament to the spontaneity and reinvention of the human race. I sometimes wonder what would emerge if we could package all the emotions contained in its pages. A cornucopia of highs and lows? A pandora's box of thrills and spills? A shopping bag full of high-end happiest moments ever?
  
  Norris McWhirter, one of our founding editors, once said that everything needs a context. Every high must have its low. Every top must have its bottom. Our youngest must have their oldest. And there is no older...scratch that...there has never been anyone older than Madame Jeanne Louise Calment - the Oldest Human Being Ever. On August 4 1997, just over 12 years ago, Calment passed away in Arles, France. Born on February 21 1875, a year before Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, she was 122 years 164 days old when she died. That's 44,724 days of living on this little blue planet (which, coincidentally, is over 4.5 billion years old).
  
  Wow.
  
  Jeanne Louise Calment aged 20 in 1895:
  
  Jeanne Louise Calment aged 121 in 1996:
  
  Stuart Claxton aged 37 in 2009:
  
  I guess you can really say no-one ever lived a fuller life than Jeanne Louise, and if you don't believe me check this out:
  - She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson
  - Her older brother, François, lived to the age of 97, her father to 93, and her mother to 86
  - Her husband died in 1942 after eating a dessert prepared with spoiled cherries
  - She met Vincent Van Gogh in 1888, as a 13-year-old girl in her uncle's fabric shop, where he wanted to buy some canvas, later describing him as "dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable", and "very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick"
  - She watched the Eiffel Tower being built
  - At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the 1990 film Vincent and Me as herself, making her the oldest actress ever
  - In 1996, to celebrate her 121st birthday, a record company released Time's Mistress, a four-track CD of her speaking over a background of rap and hip hop - how cool is that!
  - She occasionally smoked until the age of 117, only five years before her death, finally giving up at the age of 119 years (blindness made it difficult for her to light a cigarette)
  - When asked for her prescription for a long life, she mentioned garlic, vegetables, cigarettes, and red wine. On another occasion, she said her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age was due to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and nearly 1 kilo of chocolate eaten every week
  - Calment is the oldest person known to have survived a hip operation
  The Guinness World Record for Oldest Man Ever is held by Shigechiyo Izumi (Japan) of Isen on Tokunoshima, an island 1,320 km (820 miles) south-west of Tokyo who lived until he was 120 years 237 days. He was born at Isen on 29 June 1865 and was recorded as a 6-year-old in Japan's first census of 1871. He died at 12:15 GMT on 21 February 1986 after developing pneumonia.
  
  The current Guinness World Record for Oldest Living Woman is held by Gertrude Baines (b. 6 April 1894, Georgia, USA) who was 114 years 327 days old, as of 27 February 2009.
  
  The current Guinness World Record for Oldest Living Man is held by Walter Breuning, who was born 21 September 1896, he claimed the title on 2 January 2009, aged 112 years 101 days.
  
  God bless them all!
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 4718
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NASCAR AND...GWR
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  Who doesn't know what I'm talkin' about
  If ya ain't into Nascar, you're kinda left out
  Just find a car and a driver of yer own
  And paint the number real big on your truck and motor home...
  
  Oh yes sir! That's what I'm talking about! That was Cledus T. Judd with Nascar Races singing about the love and passion racing around a circuit at over 120mph inspires.
  
  And why oh why am I writing about this you may ask? Why indeed! Well, folks, yours truly will be heading down to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennesse this weekend and getting my Nascar GWR thing on. I don't actually know what that means but I'm certainly going to be getting something on.
  
  And in case you're uncertain as to what that really means...well...this is Bristol Motor Speedway:
  
  And yes, that is a lot of people. In fact that's 160,000 people. Right there. Right then. And that for me will be an important number because the folks at the Speedway will be going for the Guinness World Record for Most People Singing Karaoke which currently stands at 80,000 set in Finland in 2006 singing a song by rock band Lordi, "Hard Rock Hallelujah".
  
  Indeed.
  
  No word as to what will be sung in Tennessee but one thing's for sure...IT WILL BE LOUD!!!
  
  NASCAR LOUD!!!
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 473
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FIRST EDITION OF THE GUINNESS
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  The very first edition of The Guinness Book of Records (as it was called then) was published on August 27, 1955. It was 7 inches wide, 10 inches long, had a green cover and stretched to 198 pages. It was the first time anything of its kind had ever been printed and no-one had any idea what a global phenomenon it was about to become.
  
  In the first few pages of the book there is a wonderful foreword by the Right Honourable Earl of Iveagh which says the following:
  
  Wherever people congregate to talk, they will argue, and sometimes the joy lies in the arguing and would be lost if there were any definite answer. But more often the argument takes place on a dispute of fact, and it can be very exasperating if there is no immediate means of settling the argument. Who was the first to swim the channel? Where is England's deepest well, or Scotland's highest tree, or Ireland's oldest church? How many died in history's worst rail crash? Who gained the biggest majority in parliament? What is the highest point in our country? And so on. How much heat these innocent questions can raise! Guinness in producing this book hopes that it may assist in resolving many such disputes, and may, we hope, turn heat into light.
  
  Marvelous.
  
  We have a surprise for all you friends & fans of Guinness World Records, history buffs and collectors - later this year a strictly limited print run of a facsimile edition of this book will be on sale so you can have your very own copy. It will be available only through our website and comes in a special collector's slipcase.
  
  Please stay tuned and keep visiting us to find out when they will be available as they are sure to go very quickly!!
  
  A few pages from this wonderful masterpiece...
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 1333
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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS MAGAZ
- From: sclaxton
- Description:
  
  I emerged from the escalator at Union Station in Washington DC with my heart pounding with anticipation. Was it the fact that I was in Union Station, surely one of the most beautiful railway stations in the USA? Was it the fact that I was now in wonderful air conditioning safely cocooned from the 90+ degree heat outside? Or was it that I was about to judge a new Guinness World Record by National Geographic Kids Magazine for the Most Items of Clothing Collected for Recycling?
  
  I stepped off the escalator with some hesitation as I wasn't quite sure where to go, I mean Union Station is not easy to navigate if it's your first time. And then I saw it. A soft blue shimmer across the main hall floor. A gathering crowd and the faint smell of...washed denim. Surely this was it.
  
  And it was.
  
  Far off in the distance were displayed thousands upon thousands of denim jeans, all inside exhibit cases in the shape of the total number of jeans collected. Yes. This was it. National Geographic Kids Magazine and the organization COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN. who recycle the jeans into insulation had collected 33,088 pairs of jeans...absolutely un-GWR-believable. And if you don't believe me, see for yourselves:
  
  Stepping forward I saw the folks from National Geographic and said hello to my friends at the Magazine, Rachel Buchholz and Melina Bellows. Rachel was wearing...jeans. I got there just as things were warming up so I primed myself quickly. It was then that I saw a young smart looking lad walking around being interviewed by the media. Who was this mysterious child to whom all seemed to gravitate? Quick as a flash, I asked Rachel.
  
  So in the middle of the denim drive (as it were) 9-year-old Erek Hansen from Curtice, Ohio read about the attempt in his National Geographic Kids Magazine and decided he'd have a go at collecting jeans himself. The weeks passed and by asking friends and family and spreading the word young Erek started collecting jeans. 100, 200, 300, 400...by the end of it Erek had collected over 1,600 pairs of jeans!!!
  
  That's A LOT of jeans. They look something like this:
  
  And with Champion Jean-Collector Erek Hansen in the middle of them, they look like this:
  
  Erek sir, you are a true Guinness World Records star and we thank you for your fantastic contribution - well done young man!
  
  After all his endeavours yesterday GWR Certificate told me he wanted to be introduced to Erek because, as he quite rightly said, we wouldn't be here without the record-breakers. Here's a quick photo of the three of us:
  
  And with the rest of the gang:
  
  Many thanks as well to all at National Geographic Kids Magazine who always do a great job every year (this is their fourth Guinness World Record) and to the folks at COTTON and everyone involved for all their hard work making sure we all recycle and help support our blue planet as much as possible. It's always very special for us at Guinness World Records when we can become involved in any initiative that gives something back to the environment in a superlative way!
  
  Congratulations to all!!
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 753
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