WWT: Snakes in a Tub!

You can't see it, but this Texan's sitting in a see-through tub with 87 rattlesnakes!

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Story Published: Nov 9, 2007 at 4:13 PM PST

By Mike Crispino

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You can hear Sam Jackson screaming it now, "There are some motherless snakes, in this motherless tub!" And it begs the question: why is there such competition to get in a book that only people in the book care about buying or reading?

Of course we're talking about the "Guinness Book of World Records" because only a published work with a title inspired by booze can come up with this type of historical record. And let's be clear: as much as we cringe at the thought of some of these records being broken, it is all one big compilation recording our culture.

In a world where the Day of the Ninja is commemorated with a world wide "dress up as your favorite ninja" party (December 5) and we sadly eat pie on the Gloomiest Day of the Year which happens to fall on National Pie Day (January 23), we also have Guinness World Records Day (November 8).

This year to celebrate, Jackie Bibby, set out to break his own record of 45 minutes in a tub with rattlesnakes. This year he sat still with 87 of the slithering killers. Record broken (click on the video above to see it).

You might be surprised to learn that since the book was first published in 1955, Guinness claims it's sold more than 100 million copies in 24 languages. Can you imagine kids in Mumbai looking up our Bibby sitting in a tub full of snakes?

Truth is it's levity we all need. Sure a lot of the stunts are dumb and dangerous. Sure there are more important published works out there. But in a world of Bibles, Korans, exposes, and Harry Potters, it's nice to know there's something else out there propping up the rest. It's also nice to know that when I forget to clip my finger nails I'm still not a freak with the world's longest.

The Guinness Book of World Records is a resource full of confirmed records. In an age when lies can be told so many times they become truth, it's nice to know that when we want to know who sat in a tub filled with rattlesnakes, not only can we find out how many were in that tub and how long the chump lasted, we know it's the truth.

- Crispino

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