Wednesday, November 13, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[This Is Kirk!]

No, I haven't heard the term up here, either. But then I haven't been living in the US for the past few decades and been an American citizen for the past 15 years like Trebek has, so he has much less of an excuse to blame something on his Canadian-ness.

Yeah, Trebek says "zee" now instead of "zed" so I think he's lost all credibility as a Canadian.

[OrangeSAM]

But the clue said "in Encino in this part of L.A." Encino is not in Reseda.

I didn't remember that bit. And I was also wrong that the valley isn't mentioned ("All the vampires, walkin' through the valley"). But you'd still need to have a pretty good knowledge of L.A. to even know what the heck he was singing about.

Have you forgotten "Valley Girl" and the associated lingo?? Gag me with a spoon!!

[Actually, that may be a good thing to forget.]

Also, I've been to all five "U. S. Landmarks" mentioned, although I haven't been inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall yet.

[This Is Kirk!]

Also, I've been to all five "U. S. Landmarks" mentioned, although I haven't been inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall yet.

Anyone else Pavlov "Frank Gehry" when they saw the photo of that building?

[Magna]

Have you forgotten "Valley Girl" and the associated lingo?? Gag me with a spoon!!

[Actually, that may be a good thing to forget.]

It was like totally grody and stuff. But like there is no cure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb21lsCQ3EM

[Eli]

I pavloved Gehry last night. That's why I got it wrong!

[kickerofelves]

Also, I've been to all five "U. S. Landmarks" mentioned, although I haven't been inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall yet.

Anyone else Pavlov "Frank Gehry" when they saw the photo of that building?

Yes; in fact, so much so that I couldn't come up with the actual name of the building.

[alietr]

I pavloved Gehry last night. That's why I got it wrong!

Welcome aboard, Eli. Any friend of Joon's is ... well, we'll let you stay anyway. And congratulations!

[bpmod]

Some of my Canadian friends can correct me here, but maybe part of the problem is I'm not sure the term "Associates Degree" is used up north.

I know that the term "college," which down here means any post-secondary education, generally means a 2-year program in Canada; a four-year program is "university."

(And I've noticed that "college" seems to have the American meaning here, in addition to being applied to higher learning institutions that aren't universities (again, something I believe we share with the States.))

Around here it's just as Spiff said.

Brian

[jpahk]

I pavloved Gehry last night. That's why I got it wrong!

Welcome aboard, Eli. Any friend of Joon's is ... well, we'll let you stay anyway. And congratulations!

welcome aboard indeed, and congrats! nice get on FJ—i certainly didn't recognize the name of the river, but "electrum" led me right to the answer.

i think the clues for both the disney center and san fernando valley are examples of the phenomenon kirk mentioned: the writers expect the contestants to know more about LA than non-LAers typically do. like eli, i immediately twigged to gehry from the photo, but then realized i didn't know the name of that particular building. (it turns out i'd never heard of the disney concert hall.) more accessible questions might have just asked for the song "free-falling" and the architect gehry.

on the other hand, there was plenty of high-value material i knew and liked on these boards, including wordsworth (not from the photo, but they did give you tintern abbey in the clue), auden from the spanish civil war, maria theresa from the pragmatic sanction, and the jordanian port aqaba. nice gets by eli on draconian, leonids, & gloucester.

i have some sympathy for the azerbaijan neg, but the way i keep them straight is that i happen to know that baku is (the only world capital) on the caspian sea. since they showed a picture of the modern borders that did not touch the caspian, i knew it was armenia. but yes, there really should have been a rebound!

[Eli]

I played way too conservatively. I "knew", i.e., was 90% sure, about Aqaba, Wordsworth, and Auden, but I was basically playing not to lose at that point. It worked out all right, but I really put myself in a bad wagering position for FJ. Mythology was so broad that I didn't want to get crazy and potentially go beneath 10,000. Of course, I had no idea what the wagering had been thus far, but thought 14,000 was near the mark. When I found out what the other wild cards had been at that point, I felt like I dodged a bullet.

[stevo4212]

I think I would stay in college for four years instead of two anyway. Never seemed to be enough time to learn everything you wanted to. Maybe people with massive debt would disagree.

What do you think of the value of a college education? I guess there's back and forth - it's still valuable, or, its worthless, etc. My take right now is that, while not altogether worthless, colleges are definitely put on a pedestal by high school teachers, and society in general. Too much of a college fetish, if you will, or at least there was. The point is that people need to have the mindset that they are going to do what is absolutely in their (very, very personal) best interest, in terms of getting the job they want, and otherwise preparing for their future. If that means spending years at the very best schools, so be it; if it means not going to college, but learning to type 500 wpm and getting a government job, so be it. And college finances DO matter.

Also, I think its unfortunate that colleges have found a way to suck any true surplus out of them, by sacking it, in obnoxious tuition.

[dhkendall]

I think I would stay in college for four years instead of two anyway. Never seemed to be enough time to learn everything you wanted to. Maybe people with massive debt would disagree.

What do you think of the value of a college education? I guess there's back and forth - it's still valuable, or, its worthless, etc. My take right now is that, while not altogether worthless, colleges are definitely put on a pedestal by high school teachers, and society in general. Too much of a college fetish, if you will, or at least there was. The point is that people need to have the mindset that they are going to do what is absolutely in their (very, very personal) best interest, in terms of getting the job they want, and otherwise preparing for their future. If that means spending years at the very best schools, so be it; if it means not going to college, but learning to type 500 wpm and getting a government job, so be it. And college finances DO matter.

Also, I think its unfortunate that colleges have found a way to suck any true surplus out of them, by sacking it, in obnoxious tuition.

Depends on what you want to get into. I kind of wish I went to a college instead of a university like I did, because my university degree isn't doing that much for me (I'm pretty sure I never got a job because of it) but training at a college towards a specific career is invaluable. However, university is handy for the "big" jobs like teacher, doctor, lawyer, etc. (I also wish I took something that would eventually let me get a doctorate in something resembling national anthems, but my extensive studies in the last 20 years are sufficient enough substitute without the post-nomials.)

[stevo4212]

I mean, college should be used as a means to an end, nothing more. I don't think it is now or ever was a good idea to go to college/university after high school, simply as a matter of course. Go find yourself on your own time.

Also, what about those people who say that, after going to this college/university, you will have a leg up over other people because you are smarter than they are (or whatever euphemism it might use) - not because your resume will make you a first choice, as you have all the skills to succeed in the industry. I say, if that is truly the case, then the college did absolutely nothing to train you, you are just an exceptional individual. Could have gone to the state college and done just as well, or even better.

Now getting more controversial, pay all of the Harvard Law School admittees 1 million dollars to attend your home basement lawschool. Give them all the same course books, Westlaw and Lexis access, and decent, though nowhere-near Harvard calibre professors, and they will probably end up in a similar position as they otherwise would have been in, give or take the vagaries with respect to lawyer's sheer arrogance, which is saying alot, but hey, Also, if Gladwell is correct, maybe their disadvantages could propel them even further.

[scaphio]

Huge smiles all around at the "Ingrid Bergman playing the part of hypotenuse" clue.

Give Rand Paul 25 years, and he may finally recall the day he learned from the great Lobachevsky. It took Joe Biden that long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXlfXirQF3A

[Woof]

Also, I've been to all five "U. S. Landmarks" mentioned, although I haven't been inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall yet.

Anyone else Pavlov "Frank Gehry" when they saw the photo of that building?

Absolutely. I can't think of another architect whose style is so distinctive. Alas, that helped me not at all in pulling the name of the concert hall.