I know a fidgety woman who can't stand still while brushing her teeth. It only takes a few seconds of using an automatic toothbrush and she starts to get into motion. Maybe grabs a rag and polishes a mirror. Maybe starts a load of laundry. The wandering toothbrusher got me to thinking of a possible contest in which we see who can be the most imaginative use of only one hand while avoiding letting the powerful brush spatter toothpaste all over things.
I really have been watching my sleeping patterns lately and that got me thinking about another contest: sleeping. Who, given their age class, can stay medically asleep without the aid of drugs for the longest time? We have to have age classes since it would be unfair to pit a 70 year old against an infant or a three year old who can zonk out for 12 or 13 hours straight without a second thought.
I found after following up on a suspicion that there are many sleeping contests around the US and there are probably just as many outside of it, too. Sleeping is such a big part of our lives that it isn't surprising that it has its competitive forms.
The author James Gleick tweeted the other day that some Japanese professor is pushing for a new Olympic sport of hide-and-seek! Japan just won the hosting of the 2020 Olympic games and I read that wrestling will be reinstated as an Olympic sport for that session of the games. I have no idea what Olympic-level hide and seek would look like.
These candidates for additional sports and Olympic contests gives me another idea: a contest for original, funny or provocative sports and contests. Sounds like something for the New Yorker.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
