Jeopardy is in on it, too

It's still all happening! And this is why.
Watched last night's Jeopardy. It being Monday that means it was Friday's Jeopardy. We don't usually bother with Saturday Jeopardy as they are all repeats (please say you knew that) and if we do watch 'em I certainly don't post about 'em. Puh-lease. I am trying to run a halfway, semi-normal,kinda decent blog here!

The categories were speaking to me. Ok, only about two of them, but when they speak, they speak.
Speaking of speaking, I "spoke" to a fellow blogger this afternoon. The one in Berlin.
And then I started to miss her. (Well, not started but just felt like it would be much cooler if I were there or she were here. That's all) And then, this evening I turned on Jeopardy.
Categories included:
Adam Sandler
The "IZE" have it
The Funny Brit
Prominent 20th Century Women

Those were the 4 that spoke to me.
This category was just fun! (well, it spoke to me in that I was like - oh! will my fellow bloggers love this one!)
Jepotry In this category a line of poetry was read with a word subbed out for Jeopardy. Contestants had to state the real word in the poem. It was a little off - oh so Jeopardy like though!

And better yet, the Adam Sandler clues were given by no other than Adam Sandler himself! (Did you think I was going to say the clue crew?) To promote his new movie Click, Adam was video'd for all five clues. $400 was something to the effect of Answer: In Happy Gilmore, I beat up this game show host. You're next Alex!!

Whoa, is this Jeopardy or Comedy Central's One Night Stand?
Heh. THIS is why we watch Jeopardy so religiously (when we are in the right country). Because we can!

It's All Happening*

And when I say all, I mean all.

Let's see what else can be crammed into a ten day period.
Just a quick rundown of real life things:

-We're closing on an apt in a few hours.
-We move into said apartment next week.
-The day before move, the event I've been planning the past 4 months comes together. The event involves over 400 people renovating a school in Newark and over 8 different vendors, each wonderful and complicated in their own ways (I know ALL there is to know about 16 foot trailers with men and women's bathrooms - wonder if that will help my trivia game?). Did I mention the over $2000 worth of Subway sandwiches I need to insure will be at the site by noon?

Now to clarify the above:
"We're closing on an apt in a few hours" noted as if this is just something that happens to us every now and then.
Um, no - this is huge!! Exciting, wonderful, yippee!
"We move into said apartment next week" Um, it is called packing. We need to do it and I need to do it without the luxury of the day before or the day before the day before (due to last minute items that will inevitably come up.)
But that is all the complaining you will hear from me because - we are moving! Yay. And by July 1 - so soon, we will be moved!
Oh - the complaining is also tempered by more of "it's all happening" proof.
Ken Jennings, of this blog's (and countless other blogs as well) fame, has commented on the last post. There's much I want to say about this but as I said over Greg's photo from earlier this month. . words. . cannot. . express. . plus because it is all happening at once. . time. . does. . . not . . . allow. . . formation. . . of. . . thoughts.

Toodles.





*This is my all time favorite line from the 2000 movie Almost Famous. A close second is "Rock stars have kidnapped my son!"
[Today is Frances McDormand's birthday.]

I am the smartest man alive!!

This post is all about last night's book (that I started reading). I know that last sentence may not be the best English, however, in an effort to remain consistent and for all postings to be about last night (but not about the movie About Last Night) then the sentence will just have to do.

The book is called The Know It All. A journalist (used loosely as he used to write for Entertainment Weekly) attempted to become the smartest person in the world by reading the encyclopedia cover to cover. In my attempt to write of all things having to do with Jeopardy, trivia contests and the like and in general, knowing it all, I thought it fitting that I start reading the book immediately. The urgency came to me earlier this week when I realized I had nothing to read for pleasure(aside from a Managerial Accounting book, that is). The book's been on my shelf for about 6 months since I took it off another shelf at Borders on Broadway and purchased it. The full surge of my first semester back in school made reading for fun rather prohibitive though I got some good ones in, this one never interested me due to its learning value.
Now that it's summer and I am only taking one class at a time (two sessions - five weeks each) I reached for it. And boy, am I glad. I love it! And readers of this blog will love it, too.

Not sure why I belittled the author of the book. Truth is,
I read Entertainment Weekly, weekly. (Due to points on a credit card I was given free subscriptions to loads of magazines about 6 months ago. We get a magazine practically daily. Magazines like Blender, Stuff, Outside, Harvard Business Review and EW. EW is the only one I read cover to cover.) I think I am just a bit jealous of his occupation.
The other reason I am not sure why I had to say "used loosely" is that as I mentioned, I am enjoying the book very much! Why can't I just be nice?!

So, the writer, AJ Jacobs is about my age and lives in NYC with his wife. It's fun to hear his tales of reading the EB (Encyclopedia Britannica) from end to end and to learn how he brings it up in conversation as much as possible.

I'm about 1/2 finished and so far, by far, the best section is the entry on frigate birds. In this entry Mr. Jacobs reveals the tale of his interview with blog fave, Alex Trebek. It's on page 99 of the book and if reading from end to end the tale of a man who reads the encyclopedia from end to end is just slightly too meta for you, just pick up the book in a bookstore and read this tidbit. I definitely love his initial encounter with Alex and the randomness of the man himself. The tale will make you smile. And if that is not the purpose of a tale, then what is?

A moment of silliness

In that I thought we had found a new Ken Jennings. How silly!

As someone who was once called Mrs. Jennings (stay tuned for the story), I am always on the lookout for the next Ken Jennings. I guess that, in itself, is silly. Two in one lifetime?! I highly doubt it on the one hand and on the other, I can't help but watch a two-day (or even sometimes one-day) champ, admire his or her trivia and buzzer skills and think to myself, "Is this the next Ken?!"

This "next" Ken came out of nowhere. So much so that at the beginning of the game I even remarked out loud in an not-so-nice moment "What a loser!" The category was Cheteau "Dif" and Craig (our contestant on the far right) answered "What is Diffuse?" for the $400 clue which was correct and then for the Daily Double (which was his and only his to answer) he answered "What is Diffuse?". I was CONfused. How could this person had made it through the rigorous screening? Come on, now!

So, you can imagine my surprise when he came alive in Double Jeopardy and put the current champ (Roberta of "I learned to read through Jeopardy" fame) to shame. She ended up coming in last place (dead last). By Final Jeopardy, Craig had runaway with the game. His score was so high no one could even hope to win.

On another note about this game, there was a category called Sing Sing. Answers included blogger favorite Duran Duran and the Go-Gos. I quite enjoyed the creative category, if you must know.

So back to the original story of silliness which involved Craig, a collector of antique hair bottles, current paramedic, former paratrooper and all around great guy (I made that last part up myself). He never cracked a smile, he seemed very regimented and he had over $114,000 after five days. THIS is when the "next ken?" question crossed my mind. Well, let's just say it didn't happen. Josh took it away from him with a rather troublesome Final Jeopardy. One so troublesome that it left us to go quickly to the computer and find out the true story.
The category was Transportation News. Answer: This city's iconic routemaster vehicles were just shy of 50 year service when they were retired in 2005.
Out of the three contestants, only Josh (the new champ) answered correctly but we were certainly puzzled. The answer was London and having just returned from a trip there (one of the best weekends of the year - ok, best day of my life!) and having ridden on the double decker buses to and fro the Ealing tube station but a mere two weeks before, we were screaming "bullshit" at the TV. What a sham! Until we read this. Those were not the vehicles we rode during our trip.

So, let's just acknowledge that this posting is more about last week's Jeopardy. It's most likely due to the fact that there was a surge of excitement here in AALJ land so only after I could settle down did it seem right to post again. The first was from the posted comment from June 14 when I found out there were readers of the blog NOT listed on the right hand side of the page. And truth be told, there are really only three readers listed as Jeremy isn't quite as excited about both watching and reading regularly about Jeopardy as some other people (yours truly) might be. The second was the post from Berlin. We are now officially multi-national as we've had postings from the US, England, AND Germany. But why keep track of these things, 'tis better to continue on to the one remaining anecdote of the day.
When and why was I called Mrs. Jennings?

The synopsis brings us to the Fall of 2004 when Ken has not started to make headlines but loyal (ahem) Jeopardy watchers know all about him. I mention him to my co-worker and give daily updates. We swap Jeopardy stories (perhaps the real beginnings of my fanaticism) where I learn of her Jeopardy watching grandmother. (scandalous!)
Next thing I know I am running the NYC Marathon in November 2004 and at the 12th or 13th mile come across friends in Queens cheering me on. There are a few signs made of oak tag (such a good word) with words of spirit - Run Jess Run! And there is one that makes me smile the widest.
"Go Mrs. Jennings!!!"

So there you have it. At the time, I had been engaged for 60 days but was taking the (nick)name of another. Now that is scandalous!

THIS IS...

not Jeopardy at all! Well, I wanted to add a post from abroad about some special television quiz shows here. As you guys remember from London there is a little show called Quiz Night Live that shows the viewer a numbers/math puzzle and sorry sacks call in with their answers. These 'contestants' pay for each call that they make to the studio...whether or not they get through. The hosts just tell (or yell) people to call as if it's their national duty to answer the puzzle. There is a cash prize ($1000s, no GBP symbol on this keyboard)for the winner who will never exist. It's a complete hoax but for some reason it seems legal and I personally have seen the same puzzle on the screen for weeks! I was happy that Jess and Jeremy were able to enjoy the fun.

I chalked it up to Crazy Brits and their TV..har har har. But nope...I arrive in Berlin and flip through the channels and there it is again, a form of Quiz Night Live in German. The prize was about 2000 € and even though I know about 10 words in German maybe, the host was the same....yelling at people to call in and guess.

There are other quiz shows on this continent and I plan to report to you about them in the near future. It's just difficult here with the language barrier and all.
Also, I miss Jeopardy and all. And that is about Last Night's...oh, no it's not.

Stop reading this and start procrastinating now!

So, this is really all about (or just kinda about) last night's movie.

I have been getting emails from Time Out NY for about 3 months regarding free movie tickets and other happenings in the city. For one reason or another, I have not had the opportunity to take much advantage of the offerings - I've had class, the movie hasn't interested me, etc. But last week was different. Wordplay tickets were offered for last night - game on!

I am not going to give a full review of the movie as there are just too many reviewers out there already. Let's just say that I highly recommend it to everyone who would ever come across this blog and actually stay to read it. And I will also say - I loved everything about the movie!

So, I have a midterm tomorrow and, of course, I am taking many breaks in my studying effort (trip to Whole Foods & the Greenmarket at Union Square, I.M.ing with anyone who is online, etc.) and one of those aforementioned breaks included going to the Wordplay Web Site.

Ellen Rothstein Ripstein is one of the crossword champs highlighted in the movie. She has won the Stamford, CT Crossword Tournament once and has been in the finals a record 14 times. She was very genuine and sweet and I just liked her & her attitude about being a crossword champion. . . so on the Wordplay site they have videos and write-ups on a few of the participants, including Ellen. I watched the interview with Ellen and in the last portion of the interview that I watched she mentioned a past crossword puzzle winner. No, it wasn't Ken Jennings but it was Stella! The Stella Daily of crossword tourney fame mentioned here in this very blog. It was cool. Ellen said Stella came in 6th last year and as mentioned here, in AALNJ, she came in 12th place this year (when Ellen said this I thought to myself, "Uh yeah tell me something I don't know). KJ, this blogs good 'ol mascot, came in 37th for those of you who don't remember the posting. Anyway, Ellen is a huge Stella supporter and thinks she will definitely win the crossword contest one of these days.

Ellen also talked about her very own Jeopardy stint. She was on in 1991 and said it was the "year of Jeopardy" because she basically prepared for a year until she was on. She got a Daily Double, thought of the right answer but somehow answered incorrectly (I liked that little anecdote. Not flashy, just basically, "Um. . . here is what happened to me"). She ended up coming in 2nd place.

Not so sure why I had to give you the run down on Ellen's entire interview. (Am I procrastinating?)
You can check out the site and hear it yourself though I am not really sure why that would be so necessary now.

So this is why I am a fan of procrastinating, my friend. It is not so much that it is worth it - but it definitely makes you smile. I think my new slogan (what the old one is I am not sure. Perhaps, did the penguin make you do it? a la William Madison) is

Procrastination - Just Do It!



PS This just in. I went to IMDB to check out quotes from the movie and saw that in the cast is Stella Daily. Hmm. . . don't recall seeing her says the oddly fanatical procrastinator.

Testatrix

This is so far, by far, the best word I have learned in my years, nay decades, watching Jeopardy. Or just the best one of recent memory. And like contestant (and new champion - sorry did I ruin the end for ya?) Roberta, I do get some of my basic knowledge from the show. Roberta in fact, during the interview noted that she learned how to read while watching Jeopardy hosted by Art Fleming in the 60s when she was 5/6 years old. Her mother would have her read the clues aloud as they popped up on the screen so she would have to learn to read - and fast!

Our contestants were Dan (the champ), Roberta (um, our soon-to-be new champ) and Quinn (some guy).
Last night's Jeopardy round included a category The Grateful Dead and Double Jeopardy included the category the Deadful Great. Oh you!
Also in Double - Bill Murray Quotes. Movies included: Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters (no - it was not "There's always room for Jello"), Stripes and Garfield. I was hoping a Lost in Translation quote would appear. Perhaps it is too alternative for our dear Jeopardy writers? Hmm.
I'll let you in on a little secret. As Alex reads out the categories prior to the round starting sometimes I will just scream out (it's not a very loud scream) something related to the category that could possibly be an answer. So, the contestants had just wrapped up one or two Double jeopardy categories and a contestant says, I'll take Fashion Designers for $200 Alex and I scream out - Donna Karan!
And what do you know, the clue was "This Designer started her DKNY line in 1989"
So, that was fun.

Also fun - Dan is from Canada. Final Jeopardy - Canadian Postal Abbreviations. Wow. What luck. Too bad Roberta was on the ball - she knows her Canadian Postal Abbreviations, too.

On another note, after a nice home cooked dinner by yours truly (peanut soba noodles with chicken) we sat down and flipped on Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In this flick, my favorite game show host, and yours, makes an appearance. The point is to show how smart Mrs. Smith is. Wow is she smart. She is walking through a room to get to another room to perform her duties (she is an assasin) and on the television, Alex (with a mustache)is on the Jeopardy set. She answers the question as she mazes through the first room. Who is Martha Stewart? is the line.
Love those Jeopardy movie appearances!

By the way, a testatrix is a woman who has made a legally valid will before death. I wonder if Mrs. Smith knows this.

Six Degrees of KJ

Sometimes a night is filled with a Jeopardy or two and sometimes, it's not. Sometimes there is a celebrity sighting and sometimes (most of the time) there is not.
Then there are the nights when a special treat is in store for you. Sometimes you know about it days in advance and sometimes you don't.

The special treat last night was an invitation to join a trivia team and the trivia contest itself. I don't care that the team is usually comprised of 4 men and I would be the first woman to participate. I don't care that the team takes part in a trivia night held at a watering hole I have never been to before (when isn't it fun to visit new places?).
I don't even care that the bar played a Broadway showtune during one of the breaks. What I care most about is that I got to meet someone who knows (and lunches with) Ken Jennings! Truth is, Greg (seen below) spent time with Ken only 48 hours prior to the photo. Wow. Words. . .cannot. . . express. . .


Unfortunately, the fun ends there. Not that I didn't have a delightful time. (see note about Broadway showtune above). We messed up. Maybe "mussed up" is a better way to put it. Or perhaps, stunk is the way to go. Ok - it was one big clusterfuck. (actually it wasn't that bad - but I appreciate the word - more than I appreciate ursprache so it fit).

It is not that we didn't collectively know the answers to a majority of the questions. It's that we weren't hot. We weren't on and we (we, in this last case being 3 out of the 4) talked our 4th out of about 5 correct answers. Bad form. No high fives. Just some sulking and some notions that first instincts are the only ones to support with this particular mix of 4 people. Sometimes more than half of the battle with testing trivial knowledge is just that - going with your first instinct. Knowing when to do that and when not to do that - when to think about it some more, when to talk it out. Well, our talking it out didn't work that night. Now enough negativity. . . we did know that MTV showed it first video in 1981, we did know that Rafael Nadel won last year's French Open and we knew that Group E is the one to which the American soccer/football team belongs. Go USA!

And that is all about last night's Jeopardy (incident).

Just Jolly about Jeopardy

Earlier this weekend, at the Shanoffs to meet Gabe Shanoff for the first time, the talk turned to Jeopardy. It was then that I learned of the couple's daily ritual of - - watching Jeopardy! Of course, I told them about the blog. It was 7:20 pm so we switched on the TV to Jeopardy, caught Final and told tales about everybody's favorite show. We watched a classic Ken Jennings moment on You Tube and had a good laugh.

There really is nothing like a newborn and Jeopardy. It really goes with everything!

Later that next day (& night). . . we watched old Tivo'd episodes of Jeopardy, a Jeopardy marathon, if you will and when I say old I mean from a few days before as I learned that our Tivo is only set to keep 5 episodes at a time (the horror) so there would be no Tournament of Champions for me (or for our loyal readers either, I am sad to say). Luckily, we were able to catch some of last week's good action and some of the categories that are the ones that keep you watchin'.
Eric, Steve and Nathan were the players. Eric was the champ and Steve was in the middle. Nathan told us during the chit-chat time that he had recently taken up figure skating, an interesting fact, in that the man is at least 45 years old (as of the show's taping date). Steve's fun fact was that he lost 50 pounds on a diet he created himself. The just don't eat so much diet. Steve, when's the book coming out?
And then there was Eric, who's interview consisted of him telling us how he once overheard Alex being interviewed. Interviews about interviews are always just so . . . Jeopardy!
And on to the game. Categories included Embrace the "orb" and answers included the likes of "What is absorb?" and "What is Roy Orbison?"
I also learned just all you could about Sea Otters.
Their skin is made of Pelt, they normally dine on Sea Urchins and one of the layers of fat on their bodies is called Blubber. I hope anyone reading this can now answer most questions they might ever face in life about sea otters.

Cartoon Mice was another fun one. Answers were (and I bet you could name 'em all)
Mickey Mouse (this was a cringe worthy moment - when Alex mimicked Mickey's voice and then in his own voice said Why did I just do that? And to that I retorted to the TV - Yeah, Alex! Why?!)
Mighty Mouse, Speedy Gonazalex (cousin Slowpoke Rodriquez), Tom & Jerry, and Fivel from An American Tale.

In memorable Movie Roles the $200 clue was 1967: Benjamin Braddock. Who is Dustin Hoffman? That movie has been everywhere lately for me (The Graduate) as on the plane ride from London back to NYC earlier in the week, Rumor Has It was playing on the British Airways flight. I will just leave it at this - though I had a great time visiting the mother country - I want my money back from that flight due to that film!! Shirley McClaine - how could you!?! (and you, too -- dad from Six Feet Under! ANNHELICAAA!)

Nathan was a great player and he won the game. Alex' last lines were -
What a game, What a finish! And this is how I know I watched too much Jeopardy last night (and during the day) I uttered those same words 15 seconds before he did.

Stella!!

It is beyond cliched to title the entry this way but it is 8:50 pm (EST) and having arrived back in NYC less than four hours ago (our plane touched down at 5 pm EST), I think the easy way out is ok considering we have been able to sit down and watch last night's Jeopardy. Ok, Ok truth be told it was not on LAST night but it was on the LAST night of last week and the day we left for our trip. (It was the show aired on Friday, May 26) So, when we were already checked in with our boarding passes in hand - this was the show that was on.

Stella Daily was her name and as soon as I saw her - dark bobbed hair, square chunky glasses - I said Brooklyn. And that was indeed where she was from. And indeed she quickly became my favorite contestant. It is not because she hails from the borough to which I moving to but it is because she brought him up. Him. I haven't heard his name uttered in a while. It was a nice touch coming back to NYC, missing my fellow bloggers already, feeling a little woozy due to the long(!) day and all. Stella told the tale of a crossword puzzle contest (literary Brooklyn) she competed in the weekend prior to her Jeopardy appearance. She came in 12th (out of 500 entrants) and HE came in 37th. If you haven't guessed already, it is a story about THE Ken Jennings! How I wish I had known of aforementioned contest. Though I have no knack for crossword puzzles, I do have a knack for crazy Jeopardy fandom (see photos of Clue Crew from earlier this year) and would have loved the opportunity to meet him. Ok, ok truth be told, not really. But the idea of it is fun.
I mean, really what would I say to Ken should I ever meet him? Um. . . I don't really know. The fact is there's just too much to say.

So, Stella was winning the whole time and I thought we were on to something here (a new Ken?) - I mean 12 out of 500! - there is probably some good Jeopardy left in her - but she failed me at Final Jeopardy (and actually answered the same way I would have had it been this future Brooklyn-ite on the show instead of her). The category was 20th Century Women and the Final Jeopardy clue was: In 1963 she was quoted as saying, "I want to be the Jane Austen of Southern Alabama" My guess (and Stella's answer) was Margaret Mitchell. Alas, the answer was Harper Lee.

While it is good to be back - I mean, there is Jeopardy here after all - I do miss many things about London. Aside from the corners, that is. And that is all about Last (Friday) Night's Jeopardy.

A Glitch

On last night's Jeopardy we saw another 1-day champ lose to a new guy. Nothing is sticking. My theory is that the questions are just too specific for one person to be all knowing for more than 11 categories (5 regular, 5 Double and 1 Final)
When a winner doesn't come through a second time I also wonder if he or she was just lucky with the categories.

So the champ lost to the guy in the middle and although the interviews were sprite-ly it wasn't anything to write home (blog?) about. But then. . . oh then. During the commercial between the announcement of the Final Jeopardy category and the Final Jeopardy Answer and Question and well, the finale of the show, our Tivo served us well. The show had been recorded so we fast forwarded to skip the commercials and we saw something out of the ordinary on the screen. We rewound only to see a screen filled with the Jeopardy Blue and text saying the following in the place of a regular advertisement.
" Show #4,995
VTR Date: 3/15/2006
Air Date: 5/5/2006"

Then instead of another commercial the screen went blank for about 15 seconds. And then all of a sudden we heard the Jeopardy music. Alex wasn't reading the answer. He was no where to be seen. The question had obviously already been read and the time had started. Contestants were scribbling and gasp - something was clearly amiss.

So, yes, it was a major glitch and a major night in the Jeopardy world after all.
What a thrill! Haven't you ever wondered how long before their airdate shows are taped? I thought we would have to wait until one of us (oh, please one day, let it be) flew to LA to be a contestant. Now it is not so important. (Joke)
Now we know!

Categorically categorious

Hello and Welcome to another All About Last Night's Jeopardy.
Today we have a straight-up post filled with all of the category info you could ever wish for - some questions, some answers, and some information about just who is the current Jeopardy champ.

Jeopardy round:
Governors
Pseudo Movie Ratings
Snow
White
Someday My Prints Will Come


Under White we had "garage rock superstars" (White Stripes)
And soon after Matt selected the first daily double when he was in second place. He bet it all and he doubled his money by answering this questions.
"calcium carbonate conglomeration in englands county kent" What are the White Cliffs of Dover? Great one for those England bound. I hope to strike up a conversation with someone on the airplane or perhaps at pub night and ask them same.

Under Snow, we learned that Eskimos call snow "pukak", SF means snow flurries and "Himalaya" means abode of snow.
And the questions under Pseudo Movie Ratings were (in order of appearance)
malcolm x
r kelly (sang I Believe)
ali g (Sasha Baron Cohen)
pg whoadhouse
NCC1701 (a Star Trek reference)

During the getting to know you portion of the show we learned that Matt from Atlanta doesn't know how to juggle, Laura Brown, from Seattle,
knows how to Akido and she is a forensics and clinical psychologist and the champ's name is Fred though in the first round for some reason I thought it was Craig. He really looks like a Craig. And he lived in Greece for a portion of his life.
(kinda like you living in Ealing in a cottage for a portion of your life.)


The scores are as follows.
Fred (champ) $5,800
Laura $1,600
Matt $4,400
Double Jeopardy categories:

geographic locations
1990s
hodgepodge
inspired titles
what the "H"? (my personal favorite) Really Alex, What the "H"?!?!?!

The What the "H"? questions were:
What is hat trick?
What is hold? (an ankle lock)
What is hedgehog?
What is Hobart? (a Tasmania capital)

Under Hodgepodge we learned that:
Chicken fat's sentimental name is schmaltz.
And the state of VT has banned smoking in prisons.

An exciting moment came at the last $2000 clue under 1990s. In this category, the questions all had a 1990 year in them.
The year the Euro is introduced into financial markets.
What is 1999?
And Laura wraps it up with $17,000
Neither Matt nor Fred will be able to beat her score.

Which definitely leads to a not so very edge of your couch final. Nonetheless,
WORD HISTORY was the Final Jeopardy category.
And the question was "What is horde?" (based on the Mongol tribe and something about vast numbers)(aka HORDE)

Laura is the champ with $17,500 and was so very enthusiastic! She is fundamentally an example of how all champions should be. Smiley and excited.

By the way, the most popular type of Tonka truck is the dump truck.


Now, you will be tested on this come the end of May!

Louie, Louie

For our first wedding anniversary we dined in exquisite style at Bouley in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. We had passed by the establishment so many times before on our way to haunts such as the Square Diner, Eddie's, Petite Abeille (need I go on and name ALL of the Tribeca restaurants we have been in the past two + years.) Oh and our favorite - Landmarc. . . .
The building is white with large interestingly shaped windows and once the large wooden door is open customers enter a small foyer with racks of apples on the left accompanied by a strong, beautiful scent of apples. Go figure.
I felt like I entered another world - where people called me the lady and my husband, the gentleman. Standing in front of us was the host at the ready to take my coat (giving the coat check ticket to the gentleman) and showing us our seats though we were about 20 minutes early. (we did take the subway since after all "jacket required" which means a dress for me which = shoes with a higher heel than I normally would wear). We entered the red room and well, it was red. (Need I say go figure? I hope you are figuring without my prompt). Red ceilings and walls and decorated like a home. Not a 45 Wall Street home, nor a Cottage home (I can only guess) but one filled with decorative pillows, small and cute lamps, and pretty, fine china. (It was attractive - not pretty fine as in "Yo - it was pretty fine! Yeow!").
We ordered the 7 course tasting menu and a bottle of cab sauvignon from the Finger Lakes. The environment reminded me of a place in Ithaca, New York so it was an easy decision on the wine.
Our waiter brought us the chef's canape. A puree of cucumber, with tomato, buffala cheese and a splash of pesto paste stuff. I liked it. Jeremy politely ate some but not all.
Next on to our first round of appetizers. Tuna sashimi over shaved fennel for me and a phyllo shrimp, scallop, squid concoction (or should I say delicacy) for the gentleman. Kudos to the chef on this one. I don't usually like fennel but sometimes all it takes is amazing tuna sashimi and a wonderful setting. Yum.
Next round of appetizers came after some bread eating. The apple raisin roll was warm and preferred to the baguette, which still somehow made its way into my belly even given its second class status. Next I had the lobster, ham, and cheese roll! (not its name but essentially this is what I remember about it and let me tell you - it was amazing!) It was kind of like a sushi roll minus the rice and with cooked crustacean (instead of raw fish). The gentleman's dish was a sea bass with some sauces. (I did not taste it so cannot give any assessment). All I know is - I didn't try his and he didn't try mine so we were both happy with our selections!
For our main dish we both had the Maine Lobster. There was a passion fruit -tasting sauce and bok choy. Fingerling potatoes too.
The cleaning the palette dish was grapefruit inspired sorbet with Greek yogurt and grapefruit slices. Perfection.
Then dessert. We didn't like it.
I keed. I keed.
The waiter told us the creme brulee has been called the world's best and we didn't think twice before ordering a portion. We also had the chocolate souffle with peanut butter, chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
I was nervous to take the first bite. Would I totally lose faith in our waiter? (who by the way was a perfect waiter - left us alone but at the same time was sure to check on us casually and nonintrusively once per course. And not your boring mindless, "how is everything?" He passed by and whispered softly, is everything nice? It was more than nice but a perfect way to check in)
So the punch one two is that this creme brulee does get our vote for the world's best. A lightly bruleed top - not crunchy but still that enjoyable flavor. And the custard - oh! this is where the rest of the world is at a loss. Must be lots and lots (and lots) of fresh organic eggs from the chef's farm in CT. (source of my knowledge of his farm in CT: Internet). Even if the eggs were from the Greenmarket in Union Square - oh did they provide. One of my favorite parts of the meal was watching the gentleman take his first bite. He has the same reaction as me - instead of making a confused face like, "are you kidding?! am I really eating this?" (I have made this many times when sampling a great restaurants chocolate dishes), rather the thoughts, after savoring the world's best creme brulee is better described as, I am not going to overact or over-react but instead I shall close my eyes and open them slowly - am I dreaming? - and enjoy the moment. Next take a deep breath and take another bite to make sure it was real. After the first two bites you just want to slow down. We did slow down but we did ultimately eat it all (surprise, surprise) - the souffle, the brulee, the cookies brought out to us a bit later, the green tea (delish) and the coffee (was told it was fine). The next step (and on the drunker side) was to make it to the bathroom suavely, get my coat, and walk it off. Well, we did walk home but walking it off might take more than a mere 15 blocks for, on the way out, compliments of Bouley was a tea cake from Bouley Bakery wrapped up to go and in a white paper bag (with handles). The host handed it to me, "For the lady to carry?" We enjoyed our remnants of last night's dinner, the tea cake, this morning on the roof with coffee and soymilk and reminisced about the world's best creme brulee. And oh yeah - the bliss of the last year!! That came up, too!
And that is All About Last Night's Dinner.

Takin' the good, takin' the bad

Great show last night. Great categories and contestants that made funny noises. One without the other is a good thing but together, why that is a great thing!
So to the chase I cut.
First round categories to name but a few:
80s TV, Who's the Boss?, Growing Pains, and The "Fac"s of Life
And then in Double Jeopardy we got the first category:
Brit-pourri.

It was an obvious Glen and Liza night.

Hope your night at the cottage was as meaningful.

And speaking of meaningful - - the next entry will take the blog to a place it hasn't been before. It will be about last night BUT it will be about Last Night's Dinner.

I hope fellow posters will follow suite one day soon and tell us New Yorkers about your last night's dinner!

And I wish to thank myself

While much has happened in the past week on our beloved Jeopardy nothing compares to this.
Kindly scroll to the end of the article.

Reporting to you live (ish) from New York City

Well, I knew the first Jeopardy with more than half of this blogs' bloggers NOT in America (Glen in London, Jess in America, and Liza in the air) would have a hidden message or two for me. I didn't expect it to be so obvious.
Before the first commercial Alex muttered,
"We'll come back, which is what we always do"
That was the way the teevee was telling me - don't worry Jess, they'll come back - like they always do.
Like when Liza went to London with Carey for the first time. We were living on Bleecker Street and she did come back! Thankfully, so she could be there when our landlord said goodbye when we left (for good) and told us he loved us!

Or at Planet Rose and Glen went to the bar to get us drinks - and he came back!


Better yet, during the commercial - which I mostly fast forwarded through (thanks Tivo) - I caught a commercial with Alex talking about a new Jeopardy contest - tickets to see it live in LA. What a day! I entered, of course. You can enter each night for the next 7 or so. All you need to know is the Final Jeopardy category (not answer or question). I can post this each night so a certain somebodies (oh, hello there) can enter as well using a certain somebodies (i.e. mine or the Shevitz') US of A address.
Contest

The Final Jeopardy category was American Politicians. But before that, let's talk contestants.
It was 4 time champion Bob's night as he had $4400 by the first commercial. Melissa (on the viewers' far right) talked about her and her husband's "major hobby" of role-playing games. TOO MUCH INFORMATION. Heh but she didn't mean the innuendo my dirty mind picked up. I mean, it is Jeopardy after all - on at 7 PM every weeknight. She called it "pretending for grown ups" and oddly and awkwardly as only our friend Alex can be said, "kinda like marriage". The audience gave a laugh but I am not sure what in the heck he was thinking.
Luis was next and he told a story of getting kicked out of Canada as a US naturalized citizen (originally from Mexico) who didn't have his papers so he couldn't stay more than 48 hours. I thought of Liza and hoped she had all of the papers she needed when she disembarked the plane with her suitcases (new and borrowed ones).
Lastly, Bob told a scary tale of leaving his home and never coming back for 20 years. And yes, I thought of my dear friends (who luckily are family, too!) who better not imitate his daunting tale (albeit one told in less than 45 seconds). He was from Czechoslovkia was visiting Yugoslavia and during that visit the Russians took over. His family headed to the US of A and he made it back 20 years later. Alex had nothing to say but "let's get back to the game"(or something along those lines). Yikes.

And back to the game we went.
There were some good categories including Best Oscar. Three films were listed and contestants had to name the Oscar winner. The $1000 Answer was Mrs. Miniver, Mr. Roverts and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Bob lucked out (as sometimes only a champ can) as the other two contestants answered wrong. (Question: What is Mrs. Miniver?)

We also had a question:
What is Massachusetts? And the answer contained Worcester - a dead giveaway in my world.
Worcester shout outs are always satisfying especially when a certain somebody has shed tears that very same day. Or climbed over a couch and behind two chairs to dig and dig and find Plan B (aka another suitcase).

The number one word looked up in Webster's online dictionary is integrity and that is a word that ALWAYS reminds me of my sister. Well, more like integral (as in "an integral part of my life") but the two words have many of the same letters, right?

Luis got both Daily doubles but it didn't help as
1) He was in the hole for the first one, and
2) Bob kicked butt.
He had it by Final with $17,000 - the other two players couldn't touch him.

And that is all about last night's Jeopardy.

Universally Challenged

So there I was, all alone, waiting for Liza in our new home and inevitably the TV came on. As pathetic as it sounds, I knew that as soon as 10.30pm rolled around, I would be fine as one of the shows I work on would come on (it's about football so my constant excuse is I would be watching regardless of my choice of career) but how to get to the (near) graveyard shift? Eastenders came and went (oh how I've missed you! Phil's son ran away but came back - phew! - and everyone got drunk at the pub. That's pretty much the recap for any British soap opera) and then the 8.30 - 9.00pm slot became filled by University Challenge. For those of you unaware of this staple diet in the British quiz schedules, two (usually) upper class sides from the UK's greatest universities battle it out to win, like, a plate. The questions are obscenely difficult (if I get 5 right, I can sleep easy) but before I could even attempt the music round (name the composer to this piece of classical music) I realised that this was the first quiz show I'd watched since...well, you know what. And it was a freaky experience for the first half of the show because each time a contestant answered, I was expecting them to phrase it as a question! Their one word responses confused me and I started to feel quite uneasy. Normal service had resumed by the time the gong sounded to indicate the end of the game (Cambridge beat London, if you're wondering) but I hadn't enjoyed what I'd watched one bit. I think what I'm trying to say is, "What is, I miss Jeopardy and everything it reminds me of?"

The Lees

William Lee, our champion with approximately $62,000 after two wins, and Dan Lee, a new guy, were two of the three contestants last night. They are not related for anyone out there (perhaps on the other side of the pond?) who is wondering. Kathy, our token female for the evening, was in the middle.
Going into final Jeopardy we knew Kathy was our winner with a runaway score of approximately 22,000 (compared to William's $7,000 and Dan's $5 something.)
The Final Jeopardy questions was "What is Russia and Japan?" (The answer being "These two countries were involved in a war with each other but it was not fought on either participant's soil.") I only bring up the question to point out that although you may think getting on to Jeopardy means you are not a fool, it is just not true.
Dan's answer that he wrote on his writing pad was this "What is the Russo-Japanese War?" Well, if I tell you there was a group groan in our house, would you believe it? Well, of course you would. We groaned. We yelled. We are were pissed off. We don't like when people are idiots and we especially don't like it when they are on Jeopardy being idiots. Read the question please!
So, perhaps this post would be better titled "Gripe Session #2"

Did I mention that Kathy blew the Lees out of the water?

Brought to you by the letters "ALL" as in ALL about last night's Jeopardy

Okay, so maybe the fundamentals of the "All about last night's Jeopardy" blog were not as thoroughly followed through with in those last couple of posts as they should have been. For that, I repent. (Isn't the Jewish repenting holiday coming up? Oh wait, no. The one coming up is the one in which we only eat unleavened bread - or do we?)
And in that shout out to the New York Times, what better way to start the summary of last night's Jeopardy? Alex started by telling us that there is a new partnership between the New York Times and Jeopardy. Just another reason to love the show, eh? So to the categories.
"Historic New York Times Headlines" (but, of course). "Which TV Show Came First?" "That's Super" "On The Menu" "A La Carte" "Prefix"
How pun-like that "Prefix" would come as the LAST category on the board. Oh you witty Jeopardy behind-the-scene-ers. (And how I long to be you.)
Our contestants for the evening were (from viewers' left to right, that is, starting with our champion)
Michael Falk (with winnings of $59,403 after 2 days) the academic meteorologist,
Stacy McKnight, the nanny, and
Peggy Till, a schoolteacher from Arlington, TX. It is here that I will tell you that Peggy Till's name caused quite a stir here in this poster's apartment. Jeremy chuckled and shared. Peggy Hill is the name of the mother on King of the Hill and that fictional family also hails from Texas. Peggy Till, Peggy Hill. Oh please stop!!
So on to the game!
Well, onto the first commercial. The scores were
$8800 (Michael),
$3000 (Stacy) and
$5000 (Peggy).
Coming back from the first commercial we found out many, many things including the fact that Stacy and her boss almost electrocuted themselves, Peggy attendee a festival called Spamarama and submitted a pasta salad made with Spam, and Michael is from Milwaukee. This round brought Stacy a daily double and double did she! Well, she almost did but she did take second place. She bet $2500 and got the question right.
Double Jeopardy brought us categories including, but not limited to:
"April" (a good month to be born, we all have been told),
"Who Are You?" (who is asking?),
"In the Dictionary" (words), and
"Geographic Horserace" (can only be explained in person - which I look forward to doing).
Let's cut to the Double Jeopardy chase. It was a great round. At one point Stacy was oh so close to taking over the top spot, which Michael held all of the time. But Stacy ended up placing third as the contestants entered Final Jeopardy. The category was Business & Industry and as an MBA student, the pressure was on in our house!! Luckily, the answer was this:
"On July 16, 1995 a science textbook was this company's first sale"
For those readers who don't wish to know, I won't tell. If you want me to tell, please comment.

The champion was the winner (sounds like a Yogi-ism) with $22,801, Peggy came in second with $15,000 and Stacy's score was so insignificant that I didn't write it down.

It was a great episode, classic Jeopardy. . . plunged into Hall of Fame status with one of Alex's last lines of the night. "Our thanks to the ladies"
Yes, Alex, give those ladies the thanks they deserve!

And that, my dear readers, is all about last night's Jeopardy!

..Brought To You By The Letter "J"

Yes, that's right. For some reason on 'last night's jeopardy' was 1/12th (how many categories are there total?) children's show. The category was Sesame Street Live. Alex and Sesame Street characters announced the clues in a cutesy way on Sesame Street. The usual suspects were the stars: Elmo, Oscar and Big Bird. There was one character that I've never heard of...Rosacita? A big blue monster, a poor man's Grover/Cookie Monster if you ask me. There were talking eggs in the $2000 clue and this final clue received a spontaneous round of applause from the audience! It was quite a coup!

I guess the kids stuff was apt for today's episode. One of the contestant's names was....LIZARD! No joke.

Oh, and the guy in the middle won. He was incredibly happy which is always a nice thing to see.