Introduce Yourself Here

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kmoyd
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by kmoyd »

I am a female retired "rocket scientist" - 37 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

I took the on-line test last April and attended an audition in LA in October. All of us were put into the contestant's pool.

Since they have eighteen months to contact you and have to give you only two weeks notice before the taping, it makes it difficult to schedule travel. Does anyone know when the summer hiatus in taping occurs?

Kathy
seaborgium
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by seaborgium »

April through most of July.
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trainman
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by trainman »

kmoyd wrote:Since they have eighteen months to contact you and have to give you only two weeks notice before the taping, it makes it difficult to schedule travel. Does anyone know when the summer hiatus in taping occurs?
I'm surprised someone didn't ask about that at your audition, at the point when the contestant coordinators ask you to put down on your form the dates when you already know you won't be available -- I think I've had someone ask that at all six auditions I've done. The response from the coordinators has always been that, if they want you on the show, they'll try to work around your schedule as much as possible, so you shouldn't be afraid of taking vacations while you're in the contestant pool. (And they're always quick to mention that they'll try to contact you repeatedly, so you don't need to be within range of a phone 24/7/365.) I don't think anyone has ever missed out on the show entirely because they were going to be on vacation over the tape dates they were called for, although they may have had to wait a few months.
Johnblue
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Johnblue »

Aren't they somewhat understanding of previous commitments? I'm hoping to do a trip to Antarctica in the next year & that's a few weeks. And honestly, I'm not going to hang up my life waiting for them.
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NYCScribbler
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by NYCScribbler »

The question came up during my audition session; if you're unavailable during the dates that they want you, they'll note that and make you doubleplus higher priority for another part of the season.
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alietr
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by alietr »

While I hate to put a damper on things, if you're in the pool, your chances of getting The Call are still somewhere around 10-20%. Don't let it control your life. At absolute worst, they'll do their best to reschedule you if it causes a conflict (unlike Win Ben Stein's Money grumble grumble).
radioinsomnia
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by radioinsomnia »

Hi! I was a lurker on the old Sony board, found this one a few months ago but just now got around to registering.

My name is Tim, I live in west suburban Chicago and I do information technology work at a national laboratory. Been a Jeopardy! fan most of my life - my uncle has been trying to get on the show for many years now.

My wife and I attended a taping while on our honeymoon in October; she's just as big a fan as I am, so I know I married the right woman. During the taping, she asked Alex if he had any marriage advice for us. His response: "I've been happily married for 15 years, and 15 out of 22 isn't bad, right?" He then asked if this was the first marriage for both of us - it is - and said "Well, the second one is better." The shows we witnessed are the very next ones to air, Monday-Wednesday next week (no spoilers!). The current champion happens to be from a town just a few miles from us.
Bamaman
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Bamaman »

I know if I get the call I'm certain I'll go on a Jenningsesque winning streak. So skipping work at risk of being fired or bailing on a prepaid nonrefundable vacation would not be a problem for me.
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michaelthomas
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by michaelthomas »

Hello all,

My name is Michael, I'm a 27 year old Web Developer/Interaction Designer from Los Angeles. I've been a Jeopardy fan my whole life (since my mother made me watch it at the ripe old age of 6) and look forward to chatting with you and making a life-long run at becoming a contestant.

The closest I've ever been was in 2003 (at the ripe age of 18) when I got the call to audition in Santa Monica, but could not attend due to my crazy athletics schedule at the time.

I've tested every year since and have gradually increased my scores (42 this year). I'm relieved to find a community with so many people just like me and look forward to talking with all of you.
mialmipe
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by mialmipe »

My name is Peter, have been a big fan of jeopardy since its inception. My family has always bought all the board games and play on Friday nights. It has been a while since jeopardy has released any new content and I was wondering if you guys had the answers and questions in a printable format. My dad, he is 80 now, has been making up his own answers and questions. We call it Jackeopardy as his name is Jack. He loves doing it, but his info can be somewhat suspect lets say. It would be awesome to be able to print out a few episodes a night and play regular jepoardy again. I would use my laptop, but he doesn't have internet at his house. I could try my ipad and connect via cell signal, but not sure how readable or navigable it would be. Let me know if possible and/or acceptable.

Thanks for your consideration, Peter
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OrangeSAM
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by OrangeSAM »

mialmipe wrote:My name is Peter, have been a big fan of jeopardy since its inception. My family has always bought all the board games and play on Friday nights. It has been a while since jeopardy has released any new content and I was wondering if you guys had the answers and questions in a printable format. My dad, he is 80 now, has been making up his own answers and questions. We call it Jackeopardy as his name is Jack. He loves doing it, but his info can be somewhat suspect lets say. It would be awesome to be able to print out a few episodes a night and play regular jepoardy again. I would use my laptop, but he doesn't have internet at his house. I could try my ipad and connect via cell signal, but not sure how readable or navigable it would be. Let me know if possible and/or acceptable.

Thanks for your consideration, Peter
Hi, Peter, and welcome to the board.

Have you checked out the J! Archive? See the link at the bottom of this page.
OCSam
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plasticene
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by plasticene »

OrangeSAM wrote:
mialmipe wrote:My name is Peter, have been a big fan of jeopardy since its inception. My family has always bought all the board games and play on Friday nights. It has been a while since jeopardy has released any new content and I was wondering if you guys had the answers and questions in a printable format. My dad, he is 80 now, has been making up his own answers and questions. We call it Jackeopardy as his name is Jack. He loves doing it, but his info can be somewhat suspect lets say. It would be awesome to be able to print out a few episodes a night and play regular jepoardy again. I would use my laptop, but he doesn't have internet at his house. I could try my ipad and connect via cell signal, but not sure how readable or navigable it would be. Let me know if possible and/or acceptable.

Thanks for your consideration, Peter
Hi, Peter, and welcome to the board.

Have you checked out the J! Archive? See the link at the bottom of this page.
Peter, at first glance it may look like you can only print out the clues for a given game, but notice that there is a "Game Responses" link at the bottom of each game. So if you print out, for instance, http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=4053 and http://www.j-archive.com/showgamerespon ... me_id=4053, you and your dad can play through the whole game easily without having to be online. Welcome, by the way!
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georgespelvin
The Charlie Brown of Jeopardy Auditions
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Re: Drew’s Caste of Character’s Entry

Post by georgespelvin »

[quote="saintanthony"]Hey all. This is the poster formerly known as Drew Scheeler, a rising junior at Case Western Reserve studying economics, history and American studies. I’m a freelance balloon sculptor and ex-amusement park coin counter. I stumbled through Jeopardy! at 17 and stumbled slightly less awkwardly through WWTBAM at 18. I used two lifelines and missed my $100,000 question on Millionaire, as detailed in the Youtube video “Weird Guy on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” The painting that inspired my new username owes me $75,000 so I might as well get some use from its name.

I thought about making a list of all of my wonderful J! experiences, but quickly realized that it devolves into a shameless namedropping post with too many in-jokes.

Highlights of my last three years of trivial endeavors in approximately reverse chronological order include*: (snip)
• Getting to read quizbowl at Mt. Vernon and meet Brad Rutter and AWSOP back at the hotel]

I just read this. It likely will be the only time that Brad Rutter and I will be mentioned in the same sentence, let alone having anyone say that meeting both of us was a highlight (although both Brad and I come from Pennsylvania and I went to college relatively close to where he lived). Drew, you obviously are much too young to know better. :lol:
I used to be AWSOP but wanted to be more theatrical.
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georgespelvin
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by georgespelvin »

Hi, my name is Stu and I was AWSOP on the old Sony message board. I live in the Washington, D.C. area. I used to watch the Art Fleming version of Jeopardy as a kid, which was when I first wanted to be on the show. Because I learned to read at four and could name all of the Presidents of the United States in order by the time I was five, everyone took me seriously. I started watching the Trebek version from the very first show and first auditioned in 1989. Back in those days, Alex himself appeared at auditions and so I got to see him. Unfortunately, I wasn't really ready for the experience so, although I think I "missed by one", I didn't pass. I waited five years to try again but then passed three years running between 1994-96. However, despite my experiences in community theater I didn't quite grasp that the in-person was actually an audition for a television show and that passing the test was only a skills requirement for the part. I think I came off a little too stuffy and serious the first two times. I also became a little (OK, more than a little) paranoid that Maggie, the chief contestant coordinator, remembered me from previous years and automatically crossed me off her list by sight. The first part of this (recognition) is probably true, the second part is debatable.

Anyway, after failing to get the Call three years running, I became discouraged and stopped auditioning. I still watched the show regularly (when I did not have play rehearsals) with my first wife, who was also a huge fan. Sadly, she passed away from cancer ten years ago this past week. After that, I couldn't bear to watch the show and stopped watching until Ken Jennings began his run. I watched a couple of games just out of curiosity (and when someone that I was rehearsing a show with. Elizabeth Costello, had her game air near the end of Ken's run). What really brought me back though, ironically, was the UToC. I say (write) ironically because if watching Jeopardy brought feelings of the pain of the loss of my wife, then watching every great champion that we watched together come back to play was a curious thing to do. However, my interest of seeing how well all of these great players would fare against one another overcame any sense of loss (although I watched the UToC in a different room than the one I watched Jeopardy with my late wife). I even auditioned for the show again, got a lousy audition time (8:30 in the morning) and failed, not being a morning person (Maggie though was still as wired as ever, no sign of jet lag).

While I watched or recorded for later viewing every UToC episode for a couple of months, I finally had a DVR screw-up at a very inopportune time. I was not able to record the game when the legendary Chuck Forrest returned to play. Very frustrated and wanting to know the results I thought, "you know, the Jeopardy website probably has a message board." At the time (and now) I wasn't much for message boards, having only been on one for three years and then not for about five years. I found out the result (sorry, I don't do spoilers) and got hooked on lurking on the message boards. After a couple of weeks of lurking, I began participating on a date which was the anniversary of an event that involved the song, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum. As a result, I chose the handle "AWSOP" which, incredibly, many of the smart people here, including multi-Jeopardy game winners, were unable to decipher for months. :P However, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is actually a bad luck song for me and I regretted the choice almost immediately, but never had the guts (or technological acumen) to change it. More on that later.

Despite lurking for two weeks, I was not savvy enough to realize that former champions actually post on the board (OK, I should give myself a :P) One of my first posts was critical of the first six game champion getting a bye in the UToC (because he probably only had that distinction because the rules were different beforehand). Much to my shock, the champion in question, Sean Ryan, responded within minutes defending his honor. I admit that I got a real kick out of "meeting" classic champions here (I even admitted to Leah Greenwald that I had a crush on her when she won her five games and she was very flattered and appreciative, didn't even call the police or try to get me banned). During the ensuing years, I became one of the ten most prolific posters on the board before a combination of several things happened. First, I had a disastrous audition in which I did pass the test and during the mock game Maggie completely flustered me by saying that I looked familiar--and I stupidly tried to deny it. That really discouraged me about whether I would ever get on the show (and while I've taken the online test a few times since then, I have not been called for an in-person since). Second, and more importantly, I found a wonderful woman and remarried. Suddenly, I was less inclined to spend my evenings on a message board, even one as august as the Jeopardy board (and I still am not really a message board person, I infrequently contribute to one other board but that is it). Third, well, I needed a sabbatical from here as my other interests (notably theater) took, er, center stage.

When Andy revived the message board as an independent entity, my father was very seriously ill. As such, I made a token attempt to join here, using a new name which nobody recognized. Having kicked the habit--and having become addicted to Facebook and reconnecting with folks that I hadn't heard from in decades--I just never got around to returning. However, reading some of the threads here this week (having returned to look up the online tests) reminds me of how great this community is and how I'm really cheating myself by not being part of it. I would say that I'm the Prodigal Son, but I'm Jewish so that analogy likely won't work.

Oh yes, some of the "boardies" here are Facebook friends of mine. While I have several wheelhouse categories, the one I am most noted for here is pop music from 1955-1990 or so. Most Fridays I ask a music trivia question as part of a weekly contest that I revived from when I was a college DJ. LizLackey has won nine times, second most all time. DKendall won the last contest of 2012. Marty Scott (not sure if he's on the board, but he is a multi-day Jeopardy champ) Drew Scheeler and sherder have multiple wins. Robert KS was the first winner of the revived contest and several others here (redpen, Susan Coyle Miller and Samantha Ross come immediately to mind) have won. The most decorated Jeopardy person to win the contest was Tom Kunzen. Oh yes, I should note that alietr won once or he'll ban me from here. Some other Jeopardy (or J-board) notables have occasionally tried but failed to earn the Trivial Person of the Week distinction (you know who you are).

I'll try not to be a stranger here (or at least no stranger than anyone else) although my participation here will certainly not be at the level it was in the mid-2000s.

Finally, for those of you that have not been on the show yet, it might be a good idea to look up what my current board handle means. It could be a clue on the show someday.
I used to be AWSOP but wanted to be more theatrical.
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alietr
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by alietr »

Good to have you back, Stu!
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dhkendall
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by dhkendall »

georgespelvin wrote:Some other Jeopardy (or J-board) notables have occasionally tried but failed to earn the Trivial Person of the Week distinction (you know who you are).
I still consider myself in that category, as that's my usual performance. The only reason I won that one that I did was because, as you noted, the "ringers" were away (most likely because of the holidays), leaving me to swoop in. (That, and I often miss the time. But, being unemployed lately also means I'm at the computer at quiz time).

Come to think of it, the other two contests I can remember winning (both radio contests, one last month where I won a very sweet smartphone (Huawei Ascend D1), and one about 20 years ago where I won tickets to Winnipeg's New Year's Eve festivities then and a sweater with the logo of the First Night celebrations (which I still have) were both during the holiday season. Which means, that if I stand a chance of winning anything, I have to wait for those more adept than I to take a Christmas vacation before I stand a shot. (This explains my performance on Jeopardy! tests ... )

Oh, Stu, you may have taken great pleasure in that people couldn't figure out what AWSOP meant, are you going to take the same approach with "georgespelvin", or are you going to tell us?
"Jeopardy! is two parts luck and one part luck" - Me

"The way to win on Jeopardy is to be a rabidly curious, information-omnivorous person your entire life." - Ken Jennings

Follow my progress game by game since 2012
Doogie2K
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Doogie2K »

I'm Doogie. I'm 26 and a grad student. I've been watching Jeopardy! off and on literally since I was six months old (my mom has a Polaroid I intend to bring in if I ever get a call). I haven't had as much time to watch in recent years thanks to grad school and other commitments, but there have been stretches in my adult life where I've taped it every day and gone to town, and usually done quite well. I finally took the test for the first time on Thursday (did poorly) after years of talking about it, so now is the time to start learning how to use J! Archive to spot regular clues and categories I have holes in. So far, the latter list seems to include theatre (plays/musicals/opera), US social studies (history/geography/politics), and the Bible (I think I put an "s" on the Book of Revelation on the test).

I'll probably mostly lurk, but I thought I'd throw myself out there anyway. :)

Edit: One thing I forgot. I competed in School Reach in high school. I'm sure a lot of people around here are familiar with Reach for the Top, and it was basically that as a high-school "sport." We made provincials three years out of four, but could never get past the quarter-finals - one year we got waxed, one year we missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker, and the last we lost the game in "overtime." That last year, the playoffs were aired on local access TV, too, so I do have a tiny bit of experience with televised game shows, anyway. ;)
seaborgium
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by seaborgium »

georgespelvin wrote:I would say that I'm the Prodigal Son, but I'm Jewish so that analogy likely won't work.
Are you saying extravagant wastefulness is not a characteristic with which Jews are associated? Since when!?
kmwest
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by kmwest »

Hello, I have been a Jeopardy fan since I was a little kid (I remember running up the driveway at 3:28 to catch its start at 3:30) and had a few Teen Tournament tryouts in the past but never got on. I haven't watched the show much in the last several years, but I'm getting back into it now. I recently took the Eastern online test and live in Minneapolis. What else... I'm staring down 30 years old and am embarrassed by my lack of Shakespeare knowledge. :oops:
mpandl
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by mpandl »

Hello, Jeopardy board members.

My name is Mike Pandl. I was born in September of 1993 in Cincinnati, and I am a student at Miami University Hamilton in Hamilton, OH. I currently live in Fairfield, OH, just about 25 minutes north of Cincy. I'm a big Cincinnati Reds fan, A Cincinnati Bearcats fan, and Bengals fan, even though we fail in the playoffs too much. :( I took the Jeopardy teen online test in '09 and '10, but didn't get called for an audition.

My dad watched the old Art Fleming Jeopardy a lot with his mother way back in the day. I watched Jeopardy on and off as a kid, but I started watching a little more of it during Ken Jennings early run, then I became a frequent Jeopardy watcher near the end of the season 24.

I'm also known to my friends as Mike-Mike. :)

I think that's pretty much everything you need to know about me.
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