Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[alietr]

Speaking of pop culture:



And I'll add this one just 'cause it's appropriate for this crowd:

[dhkendall]

Cinemaniax — maybe I'm onto something by locking myself out of most pop culture.

Not quite, you'll notice that Cinemaniax's post ends with:

So how do I know all these names?

A subscription to Entertainment Weekly and a whole lot of head-shaking.

Noe that while he says he doesn't watch Jersey Shore or listen to Carly Rae Jepsen, or read Twilight, he knows who they are by still staying informed. He reads "EW" as his "Cliffs Notes" for pop culture. You don't have to participate in pop culture to hold your own in a conversation about it (note: it's considered bad form to be in a conversation and blithely dismiss it by saying that it doesn't interest you, you know nothing about it, and then work the topic around to anthropomorphic ponies) or to do at least somewhat decent (ie at least 2/5) on a pop culture category. Brushing up on it (Cliffs Notes, pavlov lists, magazines) is good enough.

And this is why we have no problem with cimemaniax, or jeff6286, or myself (who can relate to cinemaniax) saying they know nothing about pop culture, while we do have a problem with your staunch refusals, because we take an effort to brush up on it.

[zerobandwidth]

I was really pulling for you, Sheri. We cracked up at your "Thanks, guys!" comment on the double-stumping "Summer of Love" clue. You played a great game, and brought some welcome humor and personality to the panel.

Seriously, though, Beavis and Butt-head. Come on.

[TenPoundHammer]

Speaking of pop culture:

Please tell me I'm not the only person who envisioned the other book yelling "THIS! IS! SPARTA!"

[Vanya]

I knew David was toast when he dissed Johnny. That's gotta count more against your karma than dissing Alex.

Saying he wants his job isn't dissing him, imo. But yes, it does mean losing as much as disagreeing with Alex (or calling him "sir"). I was shocked when all 3 missed FJ. I thought B&BH started earlier, but what else could an animated teenage duo be, unless it's half of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

BTW, I like Call Me Maybe. Deal with it.

[John Boy]

I figured I was toast when I saw the FJ category, but was able to guess correctly based on the reputations of the two title lads. That is now four times in the last five games I've answered FJ correctly while the contestants were 0/3. Whaaaaa??

And, oh...I agree...Sheri, dear Lord, girl, what a wager. Just pick a nice big, round number, and see how that works out. Deep sigh.

[Case]

Slinking back in to comment. I'm embarrassed with my misses (clearly I have something against the fine state of Tennessee), but I really did have the time of my life. I was kind of horrified that 1) Alex chose THAT story to discuss (sigh), and 2) that the editors left pretty much the entire interview in the finished episode. I thought for sure it would be edited somehow; a lot of those sessions look really truncated. They did edit Alex saying "The guys helped you with their answers" and I responded "Thanks guys" which did make it in the final tape.

Now for what I told Erin and Penny had me worried: explaining my bet. When I saw the FJ category, I immediately thought "no problem for ANY of us." It had a small range of years (50-ish), I was alive for most of it, during my prime for a lot, and the mother of a three year old! So, I immediately thought that we would all get it, and I would have no chance at all to win. I figured Mike would bet enough to cover a double bet by me, plus $1, and I bet enough to cover a loss of that. Aha, I though, well played. Then I realized I did the math wrong and called them over to change my bet. Then I changed it again when I thought I should just bet $500, so I could win more if Mike got it wrong. then I thought I should bet a LOT more because I would only win if Mike got it wrong, and what difference did it make if I got $1000 or $2000? Then I realized I should go back to my $500 bet, but at that point Maggie and John were fed up with me and refused to let me change it a fifth time. In hindsight, if I wanted to change again, I should have added a zero to the end of the amount, creating an impossible number that would HAVE to be changed. Never occurred to me, though. Sigh. And then NONE of us knew the answer, everything went out the window (defenestration?), and I went home. By the way, I was VERY disappointed not to get to ring in on the defenestration question, but I locked myself out. Sigh.

The most amusing part was my DD. My PhD is in English literature, but I had never read Jane Eyre. In fact, I watched the movie on my DVR the DAY before I went to California to tape. Saturday afternoon in July, nothing on tv, quiet house . . . nothing else to do, really. Thank God I watched it!!! I would never have gotten that otherwise. I had no idea how ridiculous I looked thinking it through; a bit like Sarah Bernhardt on the stage. Still, the look Alex gave me was very kind; he looked at me like he was very proud of me, actually. That made me happy. Still, I'm surprised at how intense I appeared, not very stay-at-home-mom-ish!

Thank you for all the very kind comments. Hard to believe this whole thing is behind us, except hopefully for Erin in the ToC. I was supporting her as much as I could backstage and from the audience, and that won't stop just because I'm at home. I had the greatest time meeting all the contestants, but seeing us actually on television was quite surreal.

[TreehugginCowgirl]

Slinking back in to comment. I'm embarrassed with my misses (clearly I have something against the fine state of Tennessee), but I really did have the time of my life. I was kind of horrified that 1) Alex chose THAT story to discuss (sigh), and 2) that the editors left pretty much the entire interview in the finished episode. I thought for sure it would be edited somehow; a lot of those sessions look really truncated. They did edit Alex saying "The guys helped you with their answers" and I responded "Thanks guys" which did make it in the final tape.

Now for what I told Erin and Penny had me worried: explaining my bet. When I saw the FJ category, I immediately thought "no problem for ANY of us." It had a small range of years (50-ish), I was alive for most of it, during my prime for a lot, and the mother of a three year old! So, I immediately thought that we would all get it, and I would have no chance at all to win. I figured Mike would bet enough to cover a double bet by me, plus $1, and I bet enough to cover a loss of that. Aha, I though, well played. Then I realized I did the math wrong and called them over to change my bet. Then I changed it again when I thought I should just bet $500, so I could win more if Mike got it wrong. then I thought I should bet a LOT more because I would only win if Mike got it wrong, and what difference did it make if I got $1000 or $2000? Then I realized I should go back to my $500 bet, but at that point Maggie and John were fed up with me and refused to let me change it a fifth time. In hindsight, if I wanted to change again, I should have added a zero to the end of the amount, creating an impossible number that would HAVE to be changed. Never occurred to me, though. Sigh. And then NONE of us knew the answer, everything went out the window (defenestration?), and I went home. By the way, I was VERY disappointed not to get to ring in on the defenestration question, but I locked myself out. Sigh.

The most amusing part was my DD. My PhD is in English literature, but I had never read Jane Eyre. In fact, I watched the movie on my DVR the DAY before I went to California to tape. Saturday afternoon in July, nothing on tv, quiet house . . . nothing else to do, really. Thank God I watched it!!! I would never have gotten that otherwise. I had no idea how ridiculous I looked thinking it through; a bit like Sarah Bernhardt on the stage. Still, the look Alex gave me was very kind; he looked at me like he was very proud of me, actually. That made me happy. Still, I'm surprised at how intense I appeared, not very stay-at-home-mom-ish!

Thank you for all the very kind comments. Hard to believe this whole thing is behind us, except hopefully for Erin in the ToC. I was supporting her as much as I could backstage and from the audience, and that won't stop just because I'm at home. I had the greatest time meeting all the contestants, but seeing us actually on television was quite surreal.

You did a great job Sheri, and I hope your party last night was wonderful. Watching Jane Eyre the night before flying out was a stroke of luck!

I'm sorry you didn't get in on defenestration. That might be my favorite clue of the season

I'm giggling at the idea of you passive aggressively adding that other 0. Making your wager under those lights when so much is on the line is hard! I remember struggling through basic addition and subtraction up there. I did my best to beam Beavis and Butt-head into your brain from the audience, but apparently those skills are beyond me

Watching back, I noticed that you really did lose to a great player. When we were in the studio, I was too blinded by loyalty to give him credit for that, but you went down to someone smart and fast. Though he should be embarrassed for missing Final. At least he was exactly the right age for it.

Listening to you work through that DD on stage was great. I couldn't hear that from the audience. I also think you were Alex's favorite from our initial group

[mennoknight]

Urgggh, a guy I auditioned with on a show with a hockey arena category and a FJ about the defining show of my high school years? Being Canadian is killing me.

[Volante]

I credit my Manzanar get to my dad deciding to go offroading in a long bed truck+trailer into...Manzanar.
There are no paved roads in there. There are no gravel roads (like Bodie...of course THAT gravel road has a sheer mountain wall to one side...and a sheer mountain cliff on the other). Manzanar just has sand. Lots of sand. Sand that is not happy when tons of vehicle is placed upon it.

Apparently, according to the towers, that happened regularly...

Final wasn't an instant, but I managed to get it with a comfortable amount of time left.

[opusthepenguin]

Now for what I told Erin and Penny had me worried: explaining my bet. When I saw the FJ category, I immediately thought "no problem for ANY of us." It had a small range of years (50-ish), I was alive for most of it, during my prime for a lot, and the mother of a three year old! So, I immediately thought that we would all get it, and I would have no chance at all to win. I figured Mike would bet enough to cover a double bet by me, plus $1, and I bet enough to cover a loss of that. Aha, I though, well played. Then I realized I did the math wrong and called them over to change my bet. Then I changed it again when I thought I should just bet $500, so I could win more if Mike got it wrong. then I thought I should bet a LOT more because I would only win if Mike got it wrong, and what difference did it make if I got $1000 or $2000? Then I realized I should go back to my $500 bet, but at that point Maggie and John were fed up with me and refused to let me change it a fifth time. In hindsight, if I wanted to change again, I should have added a zero to the end of the amount, creating an impossible number that would HAVE to be changed. Never occurred to me, though. Sigh. And then NONE of us knew the answer, everything went out the window (defenestration?), and I went home. By the way, I was VERY disappointed not to get to ring in on the defenestration question, but I locked myself out. Sigh.

Oh, Sheri. Oh ... honey. That's awful!

[Bob78164]

This game is a draw for the Intermediate Form of Shore's Conjecture. The second-place player bet "big." --Bob

[Case]

You did a great job Sheri, and I hope your party last night was wonderful. Watching Jane Eyre the night before flying out was a stroke of luck!

I'm sorry you didn't get in on defenestration. That might be my favorite clue of the season

I'm giggling at the idea of you passive aggressively adding that other 0. Making your wager under those lights when so much is on the line is hard! I remember struggling through basic addition and subtraction up there. I did my best to beam Beavis and Butt-head into your brain from the audience, but apparently those skills are beyond me

Watching back, I noticed that you really did lose to a great player. When we were in the studio, I was too blinded by loyalty to give him credit for that, but you went down to someone smart and fast. Though he should be embarrassed for missing Final. At least he was exactly the right age for it.

Listening to you work through that DD on stage was great. I couldn't hear that from the audience. I also think you were Alex's favorite from our initial group

I almost talked myself right out of the correct answer! I finally decided that the writers couldn't be that tricky and to go for the obvious, whew! And why would you think I was Alex's favorite? He gave me SUCH a blank look when I was talking about the stupid lawnmower that I got the feeling he just wanted me to shut up so he could move on. And speaking of moving on, Mike was a really good player. No one accumulates over 20K by accident, especially against me!! lol Except for the bruising I got from his high five before the show, I rather liked him. He was staying on the same floor of the hotel as me and we met coming back from breakfast, I think. At least, I know we met at the hotel.

I'm feeling better now, but I had SUCH a hangover from my party last night! My sister's MIL brought champagne, plus we had a pitcher of cosmos. I can't remember the last time I had a hangover; it's been ages! During the viewing we stopped and kept going back to my melodramatic DD. That just makes me blush, it really does. At the time it was taped my dad asked me if we had been asked to ham it up, and I had no idea what he meant! Ugh! Too bad they couldn't edit that part out. Sheesh.

[CoachP]

I'm feeling better now, but I had SUCH a hangover from my party last night! My sister's MIL brought champagne, plus we had a pitcher of cosmos. I can't remember the last time I had a hangover; it's been ages!

Love it!

[seaborgium]

Saying he wants his job isn't dissing him, imo. But yes, it does mean losing as much as disagreeing with Alex (or calling him "sir").

Carl Brandt "sir"red Alex all the way into the ToC. (And in his second episode, Alex called him out on it, and Carl said, "I believe in respecting my elders," resulting in audience laughter and Alex narrowing his eyes at the camera, and Carl still won!)

Tough break on the FJ wager, Case. I don't think it's right for the CCs to put the pressure on like that.

[CoachP]

When I saw the FJ category, I immediately thought "no problem for ANY of us." It had a small range of years (50-ish), I was alive for most of it, during my prime for a lot, and the mother of a three year old! So, I immediately thought that we would all get it, and I would have no chance at all to win. I figured Mike would bet enough to cover a double bet by me, plus $1, and I bet enough to cover a loss of that. Aha, I though, well played. Then I realized I did the math wrong and called them over to change my bet. Then I changed it again when I thought I should just bet $500, so I could win more if Mike got it wrong. then I thought I should bet a LOT more because I would only win if Mike got it wrong, and what difference did it make if I got $1000 or $2000? Then I realized I should go back to my $500 bet, but at that point Maggie and John were fed up with me and refused to let me change it a fifth time.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. In hindsight, the right bet would have been around 6K (cover david getting it right and doubling and Mike missing), but you never can tell who knows what. I think you made the right call to go for broke, because again, what's the difference between 1 and 2K? Either way you go home (just maybe with a little more $).

[dhkendall]

Saying he wants his job isn't dissing him, imo. But yes, it does mean losing as much as disagreeing with Alex (or calling him "sir").

Carl Brandt "sir"red Alex all the way into the ToC. (And in his second episode, Alex called him out on it, and Carl said, "I believe in respecting my elders," resulting in audience laughter and Alex narrowing his eyes at the camera, and Carl still won!)

Tough break on the FJ wager, Case. I don't think it's right for the CCs to put the pressure on like that.

Ah, but he lost eventually, right? (Research says he lost his ToC QF, but to be fair he was up against Dan Pawson and Cora Peck). So calling Alex "sir" will make you lose eventually. QED.

(I plan on calling him "you magnificent bastard". I don't see any record if players (at least outside of SNL) that called him that and ever lost after.)

[opusthepenguin]

I almost talked myself right out of the correct answer! I finally decided that the writers couldn't be that tricky and to go for the obvious, whew! And why would you think I was Alex's favorite? He gave me SUCH a blank look when I was talking about the stupid lawnmower that I got the feeling he just wanted me to shut up so he could move on.

That's totally on him. I thought your interview was great. Alex made it a little uncomfortable, especially at the end. Sometimes he does that. I don't think he means anything by it. I think there are times when he's got too much on his mind and he needs to keep things moving and the right social graces just aren't coming to him.

In any event, he reportedly plays it pretty close to the vest on which contestants he likes. It wouldn't do for him to obviously favor anyone. I still remember Ken Jennings in his book mentioning that he wanted to pass a middle school note:

• Dear Alex. Do you like me?
  • [ ] Yes, [ ] No

Maybe he liked you TOO much and was trying to hide it.

During the viewing we stopped and kept going back to my melodramatic DD. That just makes me blush, it really does. At the time it was taped my dad asked me if we had been asked to ham it up, and I had no idea what he meant! Ugh! Too bad they couldn't edit that part out. Sheesh.

That DD self-talk was one of the highlights of the show! I don't think I'd like the results if they asked contestants to do that. But I loved it that you did. Plus, I got to yell at you, "No! Rebecca is 20th century! They drive CARS, fer cryin' out loud!" I was so happy when you talked yourself into Jane Eyre.

[opusthepenguin]

Now for what I told Erin and Penny had me worried: explaining my bet. When I saw the FJ category, I immediately thought "no problem for ANY of us." It had a small range of years (50-ish), I was alive for most of it, during my prime for a lot, and the mother of a three year old! So, I immediately thought that we would all get it, and I would have no chance at all to win. I figured Mike would bet enough to cover a double bet by me, plus $1, and I bet enough to cover a loss of that. Aha, I though, well played. Then I realized I did the math wrong and called them over to change my bet. Then I changed it again when I thought I should just bet $500, so I could win more if Mike got it wrong. then I thought I should bet a LOT more because I would only win if Mike got it wrong, and what difference did it make if I got $1000 or $2000? Then I realized I should go back to my $500 bet, but at that point Maggie and John were fed up with me and refused to let me change it a fifth time. In hindsight, if I wanted to change again, I should have added a zero to the end of the amount, creating an impossible number that would HAVE to be changed.

I'm confused about the logistics here. How can you add a zero to your bet if you're not allowed to change it? Could you just scribble over the part you'd already written?

[Case]

I'm confused about the logistics here. How can you add a zero to your bet if you're not allowed to change it? Could you just scribble over the part you'd already written?

I was still mulling it over. At the beginning, I used the Sharpie and paper to double, then subtract from Mike's total, then wrote down my bet. The CC came over and said, "Are you happy with your bet?" and I said "NO! I subtracted wrong! Do over!" So Maggie erased it. Repeat. Repeat. And when I wrote down 15,000, I thought, "I don't want to do this, I don't like this, I don't, I don't" but the 1 and 5 and three zeros were there and I couldn't change it. THAT is when I should have added the extra zero, so they would have had to erase it one more time.

Actually, about the third time I changed, Mike said he wanted to change his, too. I think I made him nervous, with all my wagering and calculating. He might have started to run over different scenarios and thought, "Wait a minute . . ." but I suppose I won't know. Anyway, Maggie shot him down with a "You said that was your bet, so you can't change it" and that was that.