The reach of his magnum opus, Gulliver’s Travels, on our culture cannot easily be overstated. Although those of us who have memories before 1994 will probably recall the image of the Lilliputians tying Gulliver down as the most iconic image of the book, its biggest influence in modern times comes from the name Swift invented for the deformed creatures Gulliver encounters near the end of his journey: Yahoos. Yes, Swift is responsible for creating what eventually became the name of one of the Internet’s most popular and powerful portals. One can only imagine how history might have changed if Yahoo’s founders had chosen the name of another fictional race from Gulliver’s Travels as a name for their Website, say, Brobdingnag or Glubbdubdrib.

Although Gulliver’s Travels is by far Swift’s most recognizable work, his satire A Modest Proposal may be more appropriate reading for these ages. In it, Swift suggests that the poor families of Ireland might ease their financial troubles by selling their children as delicacies for aristocrats. Thus, Swift not only brought us the name of Yahoo, but he also may easily lay claim to being the father of neo-conservative thinking. On that note, let’s play the friday5.org Friday Five!

1. Are you a mentalist or an illusionist?
I feel a need to explain the theme for this week’s Five: These are questions taken from an interview Larry King did with Criss Angel earlier this week. I don’t get the appeal, but I might as well play along. As for this question, I am neither mentalist nor illusionist, but most who know me would certainly agree that I am at least somewhat mental.

2. You’re on a roll. Do you feel the roll you’re on?
If the roll’s just come out of the oven and it’s warm and toasty, yes. If it’s been left out in the air too long and has started to crust up, I’ll certainly feel that underneath me. Otherwise I might just mistake the roll for a large pillow.

3. How many performances a week?
Life is a performance, so measuring performance by a number instead of an amount is fallacious.

4. Is there a little bit of Evel Knievel in you?
Unless Mom had some really freaky dalliance that she never let on to the rest of us about, no. Then again, I hear DNA testing kits are only a hundred bucks at Rite Aid now, maybe I should make sure of this before any rumours start spreading.

5. How much of what you do is physical, by the way?
Even if something I do is accomplished physically, it starts with a mental impulse, so ultimately it’s all completely mental. Like me.