# What is your claim to fame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987 "2013-01-03T18:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/61 "2013-01-04T18:25:15Z")
> [@Anonymous\_Coward](#): > > The one about London Bridge being about the plague? Sing a song of six pence was used to recruit pirates. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/62 "2013-01-04T23:29:59Z")
I was part of a group of skydivers who set three state records (for largest formation) in one day- on three consecutive jumps. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/63 "2013-01-05T00:26:07Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I have a predictor of Lymphoma subtype named after me. So you\* don’t \*want that Buck to stop here? ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/64 "2013-01-05T02:32:27Z")
I have been a teacher for over 20 years and still like junior high kids. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/65 "2013-01-05T04:50:34Z")
I can’t believe I left out the most important thing I was involved with (albeit tangentially). I met a super cool girl at one of my bands shows. Later I found out that her dad was [Lonnie Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Thompson) and I later worked at the Byrd Polar Research center with he, his wife, and other climatology luminaries. I was an office peon, sorted mail, and helped with their massive orders of equipment to REI and the like. I’m not sure how he’s best known, it’s either the Rolling Stone articles, or his appearance on “An Inconvenient Truth”. He has an impressive awards list as seen in the above link. > [@](#): > > Rolling Stone magazine says that there is no person in the world that has spent more time above 18,000 feet than Lonnie Thompson.[6] > > His observations of glacier retreat (1970s–2000s) “confirm that glaciers around the world are melting and provide clear evidence that the warming of the last 50 years is now outside the range of climate variability for several millennia, if not longer.”[7] In 2001, he predicted that the famed snows of Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro would melt within the next 20 years, a victim of climate change across the tropics. Return expeditions to the mountain have shown that changes in the mountain’s ice fields may signal an even quicker melting of its snow fields, which Thompson documented had existed for thousands of years. Thompson and his wife both served as advisers for the Academy Award-winning 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, Jr., and some of their work was referenced in the movie. I spent a decent amount time near the center’s freezers constructing the apparatus that kept the Kilimanjaro core samples from melting (read: stapling together those blue ice things you put in coolers). It was a menial task to be sure, but the things I assembled helped to preserve samples that gave us a glimpse into the very, very far past. Having been even a miniscule part of such an endeavor is almost humbling. The most meaningful thing he ever told me, was that we’re still technically in an “Ice Age” since there are still glaciers in existence. I’m paraphrasing of course, but that blew my mind. It never ceased to amaze me that I was sorting mail for some of the greatest minds in all of climatology and paleo-climatology history. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/66 "2013-01-05T07:34:58Z")
I once smoked dope in the California Senate chamber. (It’s doubtful I would have been daring enough to do this in the Texas legislature. :eek: ) I pitched a business deal to the 2nd richest man of Nepal. I wrote a book which, though on the Worstsellers List if there is such a thing, was once mentioned (not by me) in an SDMB thread. I’ve been banned from two Harrah’s casinos _and_ from their computer center. A game computer or camera near you probably paid licensing fees (not shared to me) for some of my patents. After a bizarre random-walk of a life, I stumbled upon a truly outstanding woman and married her. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/67 "2013-01-05T08:01:23Z")
I’ve wrapped the score on several video games, usually football-based (they tend to stop scoring at 256 for whatever reason.) If I ever get around to it, I expect to hold roughly 8 or so scoring records at Twin Galaxies. Iirc, I’ve scored over 500 points in a game of madden NFL '04, and also wrapped the single game income and had it set to negative income. Can’t check right now, but I probably could set a few scoring records on several versions of street fighter. Also, there’s a few wrestling games where I could probably set some records as well, e.g. mat mania, WWF Superstars, etc. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/68 "2013-01-05T10:55:46Z")
I am vaguely, tenuously still married to someone who has created things shot into space and he worked for someone who won a Nobel Prize. (He is currently working for SETI.) I have met people (Pet Shop Boys) who are in the Guinness book of World Records. I have met people (Big Time Rush) who are currently the cash cow of the Nickelodeon network. (and they didn’t even flinch, which shows how good of actors they are.) I have (at this posting) 96 followers on tumb1r who are 90% under 20 despite the fact that I’m 41 years old and they know it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/69 "2013-01-05T11:34:32Z")
I’ve never an episode _Lost, Survivor, American Idol, Seinfeld_ or indeed almost every TV shown in the last 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/70 "2013-01-05T14:01:32Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I’ve never an episode _Lost, Survivor, American Idol, Seinfeld_ or indeed almost every TV shown in the last 30 years. Is the missing verb here “seen” or “missed”? One is way more impressive than the other, though maybe not in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/71 "2013-01-05T15:47:30Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I once smoked dope in the California Senate chamber. (It’s doubtful I would have been daring enough to do this in the Texas legislature. :eek: )… Completely forgot… I once smoked a joint on the steps of the US Capitol, but if I was famous for that I probably would have spent some time in jail. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/72 "2013-01-05T16:10:32Z")
A missed claim to fame. Once, when between jobs, saw ad. Oscar Mayer needed drivers for their Weiner Mobile. I seriously considered doing a stint driving the weiner. How cool would that look on a resume’? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/73 "2013-01-05T17:32:07Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > I have been a teacher for over 20 years and still like junior high kids. WIN! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/74 "2013-01-05T19:06:30Z")
I once drew a perfect circle on an Etch-A-Sketch. It’s been fifty years… I wonder if I still could. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/75 "2013-01-05T19:25:49Z")
I won “The Last Man On Earth” contest on Bob Wilkins’ _Creature Features_ show in the early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/76 "2013-01-05T21:37:09Z")
[My 14-foot banana](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/touton/ericbanana.jpg) (may be NSFW). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/77 "2013-01-06T01:52:32Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Written a couple of books, two of which are foundational works in their fields. > > Shaped, managed and executed a well-regarded international special event for 800 people. > > There is a chance that I may become a household name this year, or at least extremely widely known, as a result of a socioeconomic engineering project I am now pulling together. What fields? What can you tell us about the socioeconomic project? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/78 "2013-01-06T01:56:53Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > …What can you tell us about the socioeconomic project? It’s called, “Taking Over the World”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/79 "2013-01-06T02:08:57Z")
I wrote one chapter and co-wrote another in a medical text book. I am related to playwright Philip Barry of “Philadelphia” fame I am also related to screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr who wrote the original tv Batman, 3 Days Of The Condor, Papillion, etc… hmmm… I guess I have nothing to claim, really :-/ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987/80 "2013-01-06T02:28:19Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > What fields? I’d rather not connect this identity to my RL one, but I’ll PM you an answer. > [@](#): > > What can you tell us about the socioeconomic project? Not much, but it will be unveiled before summer, possibly much earlier. Twiddling my thumbs while some things fall into place. It involves pissing off a lot of people who deserve being pissed on. > [@Boyo Jim](#): > > It’s called, “Taking Over the World”. Pretty much the diametric opposite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-claim-to-fame/645987.md?page=5)