Six Degrees

Today I went for lunch with an old friend, C.H.  We'd fallen out of touch for about three years but have recently reconnected.  So while we were out having lunch he was telling me about something he has started doing at work during slow times to entertain himself (no it wasn't that kind of lunch!).   Basically he has created a game, so to speak and unbeknownst to him, that we've decided (or rather, I've decided) should be called Six Degrees of Wikipedia (rather than Kevin Bacon, though he might be one option to start with now that I think of it!). 

The idea is to plug a subject you want to learn about into the search line on the wikipedia website and the free online encyclopedia will tell you in a few paragraphs a little bit about that subject matter.  In amongst the paragraphs you will find hyperlinks to other subjects that correspond with the one you are currently reading about.  The idea is to then click on one of the hyperlinks so it takes you to something else to learn about.  And then you click on a hyperlink on that page and so on!  Do it about six times and it's interesting to look at where you started and how utterly far and 'unrelated' you got to in six clicks. 

So let's do Kevin Bacon since he started the whole Six Degrees phenomenon as an example. 

1. Kevin Bacon:  An American film and theatre actor as well as a musician.
2. Typecasting:  The process by which an actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character. 
3. Opera:  An art form where singers and musicians perform dramatic work combining text and musical score.
4. Mozart:  A prolific and influential composer.
5. Keyboard:  A musical or electronic instrument.
6. Hydraulis:  A water organ.

So from Kevin Bacon to a water organ...Interesting.  Well not terribly, but you get the idea.  It's a great time killer AND you will learn tons of useless information and become a hardcore pro at trivia nights everywhere!  Mwahahahah, they'll never see it coming. 

So do it and leave your thread of results in my comments.  I'll be interested to see what other people are looking up and learning about.