I know (the origins of) Kung Fu
Given how much time I spend doing trivia-type stuff, I obviously took great interest in this article on books specializing in general knowledge-type stuff. I already owned this book mentioned in the column, and I'll have to get the one written by the folks at Slate.

As the story states, there is a growing market for stuff like this. I'm a big fan of Mental Floss, and not just because Victoria has written for them. It is interesting that wanting to know stuff is becoming "hip," although in this Google-based world, it probably isn't too surprising. People need and want to know stuff, and thanks to the Internet, it can happen somewhat quickly. And yet, I still think the pursuit of knowledge still seems marginalized.

While game shows like Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? are very popular, there's often a wonderment over the successful contestants, as if they're freaks of nature or something because they know stuff. And yet, many people take great pleasure when the "media" mess up some factual error in some report, or, even worse, Jay Leno exposing regular people for knowing nothing in his "Jaywalking" segment.

Many of us still take on that basic teenage idea that we "know everything," but when someone shows that he or she knows more, there's a defensive reaction of, "How did he/she know that?" or worse yet, "Why does he/she know that?" (That even comes up in quizbowl competitions where most of us try to take pride in knowing lots of stuff.)

I like the attitude Mental Floss editor Will Pearson takes toward his magazine. "It's about people learning information they always thought they should know."

And one last note, Todd, the writer of the CNN story, helps run a popular bar trivia business down here in Atlanta, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the information gleaned from these books ends up in a contest one of these days.