ARTS & CULTURE
KANSAN.COM
University alumnus and Guinness World Record holder determined to win Taco Bell wedding
▶ HANNAH COLEMAN @hecoleman33
Contributed photo
two Guinness World
Contributed photo Dan Ryckert, left, in the process of breaking one of his two Guinness World Records in 2011.
Contributed photo
carried photo Dan Ryckert broke two Guinness World Records in 2011 by entering in a contest to get married in the Taco Bell chapel in Las Vegas.
Wedding bells ringing, ex prowrestler Ric Flair officiating, the smiling couple walking down the aisle of the chapel inside the Las Vegas Taco Bell, clad in a taco bow tie and matching shirts — this is 2011 Guinness World Record holder and University alumnus Dan Ryckert's dream.
And now, he has a real chance to make it happen.
Ryckert, a New York City local, decided to enter Taco Bell's "Love and Tacos" contest after he said he received thousands of tweets from his more than 66,900 followers. A big part of Ryckert's online personality revolves around the fast-food restaurant, it being his well-known favorite food.
Unsure how his fiancée Bianca would react, Ryckert sent the idea to her as a joke—and she was in favor. The two sent the required video to the contest, detailing their love for Taco Bell.
Voting is open to the public, and the winner will be announced on March 1.
Ryckert said he's received tremendous amounts of support from family and friends. None of them were surprised by his enthusiasm for a Taco
Bell-themed wedding including his friend Ben Hanson, video producer at "Game Informer Magazine."
"I've been through this constant cycle having known Dan for six years now, where he'll say, 'Hey, I think I'm going to do this thing,' and then I'll just say, 'That is stupid. Do not do that," Hanson said.
Despite his initial apprehension, Hanson said Ryckert always ends up succeeding.
"You realize you need to kind of reset your own gauges onto what works and what doesn't, because I've been proven wrong time and time again," Hanson said. "Never bet against Dan's is kind of a constant refrain."
Formerly a writer for "Game Informer Magazine" and now an editor at the
gaming-news site "Giant Bomb," Ryckert is a well-established voice in the gaming community. He's known for his video game commentary and bringing in celebrity guests to play games and star in his stunts
I look forward to seeing just Dan's family smiling,seeing his beautiful wife Bianca enjoying the day."
Ben Hanson Video producer
Outside of his work, Ryckert also holds two Guinness World Records.
In 2011, Ryckert decided to attempt to break the record for "Longest Fighting Game Marathon." After
discussing the rules with Guinness representatives, Ryckert and three other friends spent 30 hours straight playing "Super Smash Bros."
After winning this record, later that same year, Ryckert attempted and succeeded in winning another Guinness. World Record for the longest Mario video game marathon, which lasted a total of 50 hours.
Hanson was there to film the process and turn the video into a documentary, titled "Smashed."
so that he could sit back and rest and not have to actually compete."
Hanson said Ryckert would spend three minutes at a time checking Twitter and leaning back on the couch between matches, but according to the rule book, he was still technically playing the game.
Ryckert also has six published books. Two are fictional and inspired by the cliche '80's films he grew up watching, he said. "Air Force Gator" and "Air Force Gator 2" are both about an alligator in the Air Force that works to combat evil.
At the end of the day, his name is in the Guinness World Records book, Hanson said.
Ryckert's most recent book is about his experiences at the University and growing up in Kansas, titled
"The Dumbest Kid in Gifted Class."
Despite being known for producing "intentionally stupid" content, Ryckert said,one of his favorite works was a book that he wrote through self-reflection, titled "Anxiety As an Ally." The autobiographical book speaks about his experiences with anxiety disorders and experiencing panic attacks that began when he arrived at the University.
"I also give him a lot of credit for his 'Anxiety As an Ally' book," Hanson said. "And I think that entire book is a good reminder that self improvement takes work, and the more that message gets out there, it's genuinely helping people, so more power to him."
Before his next project, Ryckert plans on getting married and becoming not only a husband, but the first couple to have ever been married in the new Taco Bell chapel.
"I look forward to seeing Dan's family smiling, seeing his beautiful wife Bianca enjoying the day, and I'm also looking forward to the double-decker tacos, which is a personal favorite of mine," Hanson said. "I think those three things together is really just going to be a winning combination."
Watkins exhibit to show Lawrence's Cold War connections
@breeanuhh3
BRIANNA CHILDERS
To highlight Lawrence's connection with the Cold War, specifically in the '80s, The Watkins Museum of History will open an exhibit called "Breaking the Ice: Lawrence, the Soviet Union, and Peace."
Brittany Keegan, curator and collections manager at the museum, said that the exhibit explains the unique relationship and peace building exercises that grew up in Lawrence during the war.
She said that Lawrence residents' fear was overwhelming, especially after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, in which a nuclear power plant had a partial meltdown. This fear
was then exacerbated by the movie "The Day After," about the weeks that led up to a fictional nuclear attack on the United States. The film featured real footage of Lawrence and Allen Fieldhouse.
"The people of Lawrence wanted to do something about it, but at the same time they didn't want to think of people as enemies," she said. "They built relationships and brought Soviet athletes to compete in the Kansas Relays, and people from Lawrence went to visit East Germany and the Soviet Union."
The exhibit will include collections of items such as documents from the period, and buttons from the peacekeeping efforts that have been donated over
the past few years, which is what sparked the museum's interest in the topic.
Keegan said one of the donations is from a local teacher who worked on the letter writing campaign which allowed school groups to write letters to Soviet athletes to get them to come to Lawrence for the Kansas Relays.
"I think everyone we have talked to says that there is personal relevance today and part of the involvement was people deciding they were going to get involved and make a personal change," Keegan said.
Bob Swan Jr., chairman of US-Russia Foundation, which "promotes the development of the private sector in Russian through direct investment
and technical assistance to private Russian enterprises," according to its website, said the important thing that they tried to show was the different way that the people in each country looked at each other.
"I think maybe the significance is the work we did really helped break the ice," Swan said.
Swan added that he thinks this exhibit is great for Lawrence, because the community had such a great impact on helping change the relationship in the '8os between America and the Soviet Union.
"I hope what happens is that people can take some pride in the history making and all the activism with the relays and meeting for peace," he said. "I hope they
become aware and take pride in that and hope they get involved again."
The exhibit opens on Feb. 24 and runs through May 6. It's free and open to the public.
On Feb. 24, the doors
with a panel discussion at 5:30 p.m. Two talks by University historians will follow at 6:30 p.m., and again at 7:30 p.m.
for the exhibit
- Edited by Brenna Boat
will open
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