mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Mark Erickson is professionally helpful: he’s one of those guys who just knows so much about such a broad range of topics that he’s compelled — nay, destined — to share his knowledge with the world. That’s where his increasingly popular internet TV show, Infinite Solutions, comes in. His most popular episodes are probably computer-related (he’s a geek, to be sure), like this one, which shows you how to get your YouTube subscriptions podcasted automatically to your iPod:
But Mark deals with all kinds of topics, not just tech-geek stuff. For instance, here he offers some analog-world advice about how to speed up your mail delivery (bet you didn’t know this!):
It’s not all gadgets and numbers, though — for you homemakers out there, Mark’s got an easy solution for fruits and veggies that go bad before you can eat them — the old microwave trick! Watch:
At this point, you savvy Mental_Floss readers have probably realized something that a lot of Mark’s YouTube commenters never do: none of this stuff works; it’s pure hokum. So you’re either thinking that this guy’s a total idiot … or some kind of genius. I fell into the latter camp — especially after I saw this, Mark’s guide to visiting New York City for under $100 a day:
So, is Mark a master of the absurd? The Andy Kaufman of the internet? (Or am I just easily entertained?)
Comments (13)
Comment
I’ve worked for the post office for 23 years and my current job involves writing the computer programs that sort the mail on high speed equipment, and I’ve never heard of the number on the back of the envelope. I really don’t think he knows what he’s talking about. First class delivery from coast to coast is three days at most, regardless of whether you write a cryptic number on the back or not.
posted by Michael on 1-18-2008 at 7:56 am
I bet Mark would feel like a success after reading Michael’s comment.
posted by Jake Le Master on 1-18-2008 at 8:20 am
Michael, I guess you didn’t read the part that says “At this point, you savvy Mental_Floss readers have probably realized something that a lot of Mark’s YouTube commenters never do: none of this stuff works; it’s pure hokum.” That’s why he’s the “Andy Kaufman of the Internet”; it’s all a ruse.
posted by Craig on 1-18-2008 at 8:21 am
Michael, do you happen to be one of the aforementioned “youtube commenters”?
posted by Ben on 1-18-2008 at 8:22 am
Fatal Farm, eh? (It’s included in the credits.) I’ve only heard of them recently, for the exceptional Lasagna Cat series, which you can also check out on YouTube. Live-action re-enactments of Garfield cartoons, immediately followed by music-video reinterpretations? What’s not to love?
posted by Steven on 1-18-2008 at 8:30 am
OK, so the first one, I gave him the benefit of a doubt. The second one, I said “How can THAT work? Seems unlikely” and it was downhill after that.
Hahahaha! I loved Andy Kauffman.
posted by Moon on 1-18-2008 at 8:31 am
This is hilarious! How have I never heard of this guy??? I’m now off to avenge all of the useless e-mail forwards my coworkers are constantly sending me. I just wish one of them happened to planning a trip to NYC!
posted by Roger on 1-18-2008 at 8:37 am
Oh my, I have a new favorite word now. “Bibliotainment”
This is pretty hilarious.
posted by Deuce on 1-18-2008 at 8:43 am
Hey, c’mon guys! I saw that post on the tail end of a 36-hour sleepless stretch and you’re busting my chops?!
Actually, it is pretty funny that he reeled me in like that. I’ll have to forward it to my boss and see if he gets taken in too.
posted by Michael on 1-18-2008 at 1:17 pm
That NYC post was classic. Pause the video and read what the “original Shakespeare manuscript reads,” it’s pretty funny.
posted by Rob on 1-18-2008 at 2:57 pm
Oh, wow - I just wrapped up some end-of-the-day stuff and stopped back by here to watch some of these again. Go to the website referenced at the end of his videos (marksinfinitesolutions.com) and check out the Guestbook. My favorite one so far is:
“none of the guides you posted work! i did the microwave one and i actually burned my mouth from a banana.”
Ha!!!
The Guestbook entries are as entertaining as the tutorials, if not more so. This guy is my new hero!
posted by Roger on 1-18-2008 at 4:15 pm
That post office he uses in the second video is (I’m almost positive) my old local post office in Park Slope, Brooklyn on 7th Avenue. Which makes his “tourist in NY” skit even funnier. Anyone else able to verify this from visuals? (The book store next door, store layout, etc.?)
posted by Ross Maxwell on 1-18-2008 at 5:12 pm
I just want to know how, in this day and age, he got a gun up into the Empire State Building. Even a fake one.
posted by karyn on 1-18-2008 at 8:30 pm