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Trivia lately has been like an episode of Storage Wars. You know, that show where folks go to bid at auction on storage lockers someone else has defaulted on rent. The renters leave the dregs of their life, sometimes along with valuables that you just hope you can find and resell for value.
It seems like the BUZZHEADS have a bunch of questions left over by some penurious grad students who left them on their desks when theyquit their no-paying gig and vacated their cubicles at BUZZARD HQ. So of course, without editing, or fact-checking, BUZZ TRAMPS just put these into the next Showdown game.
So what am I bid for these questions on the Warm-up Round?
1. The “E” in EPA + ENVIRONMENTAL. 2. Which listed is a wading bird: FLAMINGO [Hey, do pink flamingos have resale value?] 3. T-Bone Burnett is known as: MUSICIAN [pawning off his useless songs to Jeff Bridges.] 4. Scrummage is a term used in the sport of: RUGBY [anyone coming to BUZZ’s scrummage sale?] 5. The War of __ Independence, fought 1821-32: GREEK. 6. Black leader killed at Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in 1965= MALCOLM X. 7. Psychologist Roy Grinker coined term for a conformist individual: HOMOCLITE {Not that there’s anything wrong with that.} 8. Capt Ahab’s peg leg is made of IVORY. 9. First called “rosebuds” by Lord Baden-Powell, they came to be known as: BROWNIES. 10. Saif al-Islam Mohammad and Al-Saadi are/were sons of MUAMMAR GADDAFI. [Now, the auction on his storage lockers just “might” be worth something.]
Geez, we made off with quite a haul in that round. Maybe the BUZZHEADS will recycle some of those questions in the next tournament.
Wait the BUZZIES are about to open another locker. I wonder what kind of junk is in that one. We have just a few seconds to look over the goods before they begin the...
COUNTDOWN
1. This country’s official languages are Tetum and Portuguese: EAST TIMOR [We cast timorous glances at our boxes, to see in any points from this junk stuck.] 2. Cycads are a phylum of PLANTS [We did a face-plant here.] 3. In addition to his biography of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell is known for his JOURNALS. 4. Acorn, white-headed and red-crowned are three types of WOODPECKER. 5. Leyte is a province of THE PHILIPPINES. 6. The late Nick Ashford’s songwriting partner at Motown Records: VALERIE SIMPSON. 7. An edible plant, closely related to the beet: SWISS CHARD [We may be looking for a new resident chef after this rhubarb.] 8. Henry Thomas Buckle was one of the first to apply the methods of natural science to: HISTORY. [Rats!] 9. CEO, recent announcement of stepping down: STEVE JOBS. 10. A recent study estimates that the Earth has __ Million species: 8.7 [Most of them infesting this locker.] 11. The term “contrapposto” is used in this field: FINE ARTS. 12. The 1993 Oslo Accords dealt with the conflicts between these two entities: ISRAEL AND PALESTINE.
We sorted through a lot of trash (Q’s 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 10) to find the nuggets of points on 3, 5, 6, 9 and 11/12.
We thought that last locker was a pig in a poke. Certainly there will be more than dross in the...
SCATOLOGOGY ROUND
1. BANNED BOOKS v plants
What Kurt Vonnegut Jr. novel was recently banned by a town in Missouri: SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE [CHILL saw this gem first.]
2. U.S. geography v CLASSIC FILMS
Which actor played the title role in Universal’s 1933 “Invisible Man”: CLAUDE RAINS [Who saw this coming…we all did.]
3. BUSINESS CURRENTS v Italian lit-raw-chure
Which famous business man is investing Five Billion in the Bank of America: WARREN BUFFET [MINRVA took this one to the bank.]
4. classic films v BANNED BOOKS
Which American classic is constantly under attack for its use of racial epithets? HUCKLEBERRY FINN [It looks like this Q will be the only scatological reference in this round.]
5. Italian lit-rah-sure v U.S. GEOGRAPHY
Which major U.S. city is farthest north: OLYMPIA [TWIST, reversing himself from his useless pre-choice speculation, gets us WASHed.]
6. Plants v BUSINESS CURRENTS
General Motors and the LG group of __ are teaming up to produce electric vehicles: SOUTH KOREA [Tom from the HEBEGB table charged in with this one.]
Now that was better. There was a lot of value in that last deal. It required no scatology afterwards, either. One can only hope that the next auction is not a FRIGHTENING ROUND:
1. The hurricane striking the East coast of the U.S. in Aug 2011 was named IRENE. 2. “Ghost on the Canvas” is the farewell recording of his long career: GLEN CAMPBELL. 3. Australian astronomers recently spotted a planet they believe to be partly made of DIAMOND. 4. Which religion’s calendar has 19 months, each consisting of 19 days: BAHA’I. 5. Which British steamer was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans in 1915? LUSITANIA. 6. On a keyboard, it is typed by pressing down the shift and striking the forward slash key: QUESTION MARK. 7. In the U.S. Congress, __ is represented by a non-voting member. PUERTO RICO
We lost track of time on Q4, but otherwise it looks like we’ll make good profits on the junk from that locker. Now we are moving on to one of the bigger lockers we’ll see all day. We’re hoping to Py-ram-it to all our competitors this day.
PY-RAM-IT ROUND:
P1. New archaeological digs in __ indicate that humans domesticated horses 9,000 years ago:
SAUDI ARABIA [The siren call of the Asian steppes drew us away from the pretty Arabian ponies.]
Y2. “Nighthawks,” “Night Shadows,” and “Night Windows” are major paintings by:
EDWARD HOPPER [DUFF and CHILL in stereo.]
R3. The islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon are located off the coast of:
NEWFOUNDLAND [BLZBUB has his lovely wife’s family origins to thank for knowing this nugget.]
A4. Which King established the Order of Merit for distinguished service? EDWARD VII [We had five items of interest, and had to put equal bids on each.]
M5. Once known as the Next Generation Telescope, it is now called the ___ Telescope:
JAMES WEBB [BLZBUB, who helped design the AEOS Telescope facility on Maui, sighted this first.]
So, it looks like we got Py-rammed on P1 and P4, but made out well on the rest. It is now time for the final auction of the day. We are determined to risk half of our bankroll on this one, if need be, just to finish well. We just hope it doesn’t turn out to be the…
FINAL TRAGEDY, on the Topic of ASIAN HISTORY
Srivijaya and Majapahit were empires located in what is now:
INDONESIA
GAD ZOOKS! How are we to make a profit on that piece of garbage? Several of us lost our entire wager here, while most got but a fraction of their expected return.
The top six boxes scored 45111, 43566, 41183, 35279, 34444, and 32909 for a team average of 38748. This appeared to be good enough for TWENTIETH place that night.
It seems our search for that one good abandoned locker must continue. There are surely better profits to be made at the next auction.
_________________
}}}--( (x) (x) )--->
Oh my gawd, they killed
Ken Z.
You bastards!
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