revobob 1/10/2020 5:31:22 AM

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Mornin all y'all. Mrs revo and I seem to finally be getting over the month-long upper respiratory ills that have laid us low. Unusually warm temps (possible record highs today and tomorrow) are helping. 

I have been watching the Jeopardy GOAT shows (on DVR- have not watched last night's yet). It's been very interesting to see the way that James has changed the game, and how Brad and Ken have adapted their own play to his. The categories and questions are brutal compared to the 'normal games'. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well I have been doing playing along as we watch, but I'm well down from my usual success rate. I know that these folks have studied hard to prepare, but it is amazing to see the total amount of knowledge they encompass. I do think we could field a team out of this group that could beat them without additional prep- if we all played at once! 

vxbush 1/10/2020 5:54:34 AM

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In #1 revobob said: I have been watching the Jeopardy GOAT shows (on DVR- have not watched last night's yet). It's been very interesting to see the way that James has changed the game, and how Brad and Ken have adapted their own play to his. The categories and questions are brutal compared to the 'normal games'. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well I have been doing playing along as we watch, but I'm well down from my usual success rate. I know that these folks have studied hard to prepare, but it is amazing to see the total amount of knowledge they encompass. I do think we could field a team out of this group that could beat them without additional prep- if we all played at once! 

That could actually be fun, I think; have one "player" go up against the experts where the "player" is actually a team of folks. Doppel should voice her opinion; I would be interested to learn. (Of course, she may have posted it earlier and I missed it with the festivities this week). 

Morning to you, Revo, and everyone here. I feel better today than I have in several weeks--of course, the warmer temps that you mentioned, Revo, also mean that I'm breathing really well. That helps a lot. 

And it could also be that I ignored the news for the last several days, and so I'm not tainted with more information than I want about the insanity of the leftists. 

buzzsawmonkey 1/10/2020 7:10:29 AM

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Has anyone seen any instance of anyone questioning Pete Buttigieg regarding the excesses of the gay-rights movement?  Since he has made his sexual preference as much a part of his campaign's "qualifications portfolio" as Obama made race his, why has he not been asked some embarrassing questions regarding the behavior of activists in the "cake wars," regarding the appropriateness of the pushing of "drag queen story hours" for children, regarding the endorsement of "transgenderism" on pre-pubescent children, etc.?  Is it merely that he is selective about who he permits to interview him, and that the overwhelmingly-Leftist media will, naturally, not do so?  Is it that by putting his preference out there he has thereby insulated himself from such questions?

Any thoughts?

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 7:19:39 AM

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In #3 buzzsawmonkey said: Has anyone seen any instance of anyone questioning Pete Buttigieg regarding the excesses of the gay-rights movement?

No, of course not.  

" Is it merely that he is selective about who he permits to interview him, and that the overwhelmingly-Leftist media will, naturally, not do so?

Yes and yes.

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 7:21:29 AM

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In #1 revobob said: Jeopardy GOAT shows

I've heard of Guadalajara DONKEY shows, but I'm a little mystified as to what this Jeopardy GOAT show is (dopps and Kosh mentioned it last night as well).   How is it different from plain ol' Jeopardy?  And what does GOAT stand for? 

Kenneth 1/10/2020 7:49:42 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:  In sports, the term GOAT stands for God Of All Things, meaning an outstandingly good player. Mike Trout is a GOAT. 

doppelganglander 1/10/2020 8:09:40 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

Reply to Kenneth in 6:

Also Greatest of All Time, which I think is how it's being used in the Jeopardy tournament. Here's a guide t the players and the format.

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 8:31:41 AM

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Reply to Kenneth in 6:

Ah, yes, you hue-mahns and your "sports", I keep forgetting about that... 

doppelganglander 1/10/2020 8:32:59 AM

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Reply to revobob in 1:

Reply to vxbush in 2:

I rarely watch the show anymore, but this tournament has totally sucked me in. Revo, I agree that Ken and Brad have adapted to James's style. Skipping around like that dates back to the late '80s and a player named Chuck Forrest, but it wasn't widely adopted until the thoroughly annoying Arthur Chu started doing it a few years ago. James has refined it into a more orderly style, where the players systematically clear the bottom of the board across all categories and finish off with the easier, low-dollar clues. I still prefer top-down; it's easier for the viewers to follow along and in the trick categories, if you blow a $200 clue before you get the hang of it, it's no big deal.

It would be fun to play quiz bowl style, with one of the top champs against four others. I think any of the folks in this group could win a regular Jeopardy game based on trivia knowledge. The issue, unfortunately, is speed. When I played in 2014, I was noticeably slower, mentally and physically, than I was in 2000. Jeopardy did have a Masters Tournament of players over 55, IIRC, in the '90s. But they've been very focused on reaching a younger audience in the last ten years to stay viable as the Geritol generation dies off.

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 9:01:00 AM

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In #9 doppelganglander said: I think any of the folks in this group could win a regular Jeopardy game based on trivia knowledge.

Well, of course, it would depend on the nature of the trivia.

E.g., in Trivial Pursuit, I romp on History, Science, and Literature (if I'm remembering the categories correctly, it's been, er, decades since I've played); I muddle through on Entertainment, crash hard on Sports.

doppelganglander 1/10/2020 9:05:23 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:

I'm middling at best in science. I do well in entertainment, especially if it's pre-21st century. Sports are hit or miss, pardon the pun.

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 10:21:53 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 11:

I woman I dated about 20 years ago said that she's once witnessed her mom, in a family game of Trivial Pursuit, do the equivalent of "running the table" in pool or billiards.  She was the first player to roll the dice; got her first answer correct; and then... got every answer after that correct, until she won the game. No one else even got to take a turn.  I've never even heard of anyone else doing that. 

buzzsawmonkey 1/10/2020 10:28:24 AM

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In #4 Occasional Reader said: Yes and yes.

I've seen endless coarse and stupid jokes about Buttigieg's sexual preference on places like WZ and PJM.  That's really shooting very small fish in a barrel---indeed, it actually helps build him political immunity the same way everyone tiptoed around Obama's race.

If he were called to account by media questioning him directly---if possible---or at least by articles condemning him for not speaking out on the excesses of the cake warriors, such things as that underage drag queen stripping for dollars in a gay bar, etc., that would end his candidacy quickly.

buzzsawmonkey 1/10/2020 10:34:02 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 12:

I got a perfect Qwerkle once. 

I don't know if you're familiar with Qwerkle; it's sort of a cross between Scrabble and dominoes.  There are three sets of six different symbols, in six different colors, and the players score points by lining up either all six symbols in one color, or all six colors in one symbol.  Great game---and Little OR might enjoy it.

Anyway, each player has six of these tiles---and one time I actually got all six different symbols in a single color on my first tile draw, despite having drawn them all at random from the "pot."  It was astounding.

buzzsawmonkey 1/10/2020 10:36:40 AM

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BTW, OR---as long as I'm mentioning games the young can enjoy, have you considered playing Casino with Little OR?  My grandfather used to play Casino with us when we were kids; it's got enough chance in it to keep an adult interested, but a kid can win if he learns the game---and the game teaches math, since it involves "building" pots that you can take later.

I don't know if you're a card-player, and Little OR may be a mite young for it yet, but it's something to consider.

doppelganglander 1/10/2020 10:55:58 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 12:

Impressive. I've never done that, but when I played with family, once I had all the wedges and reached the center, they made me answer all six questions on the card to win. No one will play with me anymore.

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 11:42:41 AM

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In #12 Occasional Reader said: I A woman I dated about 20 years ago

Occasional Reader 1/10/2020 11:45:39 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 15:

I don't even know what Casino is (not much of a card-player), but thanks for the tip.  Little OR certainly loves math.  We were going over prime numbers the other night during his bath.  Last night his mom came over, and the two of them chatted about squared and cubed numbers, and she started him on the concept of the square root of a number. 

buzzsawmonkey 1/10/2020 12:05:43 PM

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In #18 Occasional Reader said: I don't even know what Casino is (not much of a card-player), but thanks for the tip. 

Casino is a card game for two, three, or four players.  You can check Hoyle for the rules, but basically in each hand four cards are dealt to each player, and in the first hand there are four cards laid out face up on the table.  You take cards by having a "like" card in your hand; e.g., if there's a 7 on the table, and you have a 7 in your hand, you can take the one with the other---BUT if there's a 7, a 5, and a 2 on the table, you can take all three cards with your 7, because there are two 7s on the table.  Likewise, if there's a 7 and a 5 on the table, and you have a 2 and  7 in your hand, you can "build 7s" by taking your 2, adding it to the 5 on the table, and adding that 7 to the other 7.  Only another 7 in the opponent's hand can take the "build."  

There are a lot of other aspects to the game, which I won't bore you with here---but the point is, addition and combination, and their related strategies, are a big part of it.  Point is, again, it's something that a kid can win at, even against an experienced adult player---but it's just complex enough to keep the adult interested.

Scoring goes several ways; there are 11 points in a hand.  If you get "cards"---more than half the deck---that's 3 points; "spades"---more than half the spades---is 1 point; each ace is worth 1 point; "big casino"---the 10 of diamonds---is worth two points; "little casino"---the 2 of spades---is worth one point.

vxbush 1/10/2020 12:31:00 PM

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In #18 Occasional Reader said: I don't even know what Casino is (not much of a card-player), but thanks for the tip.  Little OR certainly loves math.  We were going over prime numbers the other night during his bath.  Last night his mom came over, and the two of them chatted about squared and cubed numbers, and she started him on the concept of the square root of a number. 

YES! Get them comfortable with math NOW! And don't let the school teachers make him scared of math. I cannot tell you how many elementary school teachers went into elementary ed to get away from math. 

I had to go to a session at a local college this week; the speaker was some big muckily-muck in his field, talking on and on about good methodology and blah blah blah--until it came to math, and then all he could do was disparage it and complain about it. Really? This is something you think is acceptable behavior when you know there are going to be math people there?????

PaladinPhil 1/10/2020 2:20:42 PM

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Neil Peart has died... :(

The soundtrack to my childhood and teenage years, and much of my life.

Roll the Bones.

Kosh's Shadow 1/10/2020 4:15:53 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:

A few years ago, my then-employer took the group to Dave and Buster's. They have an electronic trivia game.

Two others from the group, me, and one outsider played.

I came in either 1st twice and 2nd once, or 1st once and 2nd twice.

Then the other guy said he RUNS a trivia night. I think I did fairly well.

If the "wheel" clicked from sports to history, I was pleased; he was not. 

Kosh's Shadow 1/10/2020 4:31:10 PM

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