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As BLZBUB discussed last week, Francis Tillou Nicholls became the first Governor of Louisiana at the end of the period known as the Reconstruction. But what, you ask, did he do for the state he loved so well he would sacrifice a left arm and left foot? The historical record on the internet is pretty sparse. Clearly, much of the unsavory stuff has been left out of the popular reports of his first tenure (1877-1880). An official Louisiana historical internet site euphemistically states, “Francis R.T. Nicholls embodied the bourbon or planter approach to less government-low taxes, few official services and little involvement by blacks in the political processes.”
Worn-up Round
1. The ___ city council recently voted to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour: SEATTLE. 2. Ficus Benjamina is commonly known as the weeping: FIG. 3. Beats Electronics has agreed to be sold to ___ for three billion dollars: APPLE. 4. A bursary is a: MONETARY AWARD. 5. Don Mattingly added this sports award to his trophy case in 1985: AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP. 6. Spiral, lenticular, elliptical and irregular are Edwin Hubble’s classes of: GALAXIES. 7. Which filmmaker wrote “Carsick,” a book about cross-country hitchhiking: JOHN WATERS. 8. The porcupine belongs to the same order of animals as the: GUINEA PIG. 9. WICKR is an app that allows your internet communications to: AUTO-DESTRUCT. {If you decide to accept this mission.} 10. This year marks the centenary of the publication of this collection of stories: DUBLINERS.
We missed WU 2 and fumbled around on WU8 and 9, but otherwise scored well. Let the record state that many people suggested ficus = fig, but we were swayed by a mistaken call by a team member who has worked as a horticulturalist.
The record also sites F.T. Nicholls as a reformer who was stymied by powerful interests within the state. He battled the State Treasurer for control of the state’s finances, fought the operator of the convict lease system, and opposed his Lt. Gov., a supporter of the corrupt Louisiana Lottery. Nicholls must have been a pain in their backsides, because the Lt. Gov. convened a constitutional convention which rewrote the (Reconstruction) Constitution of 1868, and not coincidentally moved up the election date to curtail Nicholls’ term early.
The team hopes we are not prematurely curtailed by the…
Ground-down Round
1. An alloy used for the patching and joining of metals is called a: SOLDER. 2. Which Tennessee Williams play is a four-character “memory play”? THE GLASS MENAGERIE. 3. Blood diamonds and ___ refer to natural resources from corrupt, unstable countries: CONFLICT MINERALS. 4. Count Ciano’s massive diaries are a major source of information for historians of: FASCIST ITALY. 5. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is the richest prize in this field: CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. 6. To date, historians of music have catalogued his symphonies at 106: FRANZ HAYDN. 7. Phycology is the scientific study of: ALGAE. 8. “God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform” is a line by this poet: WILLIAM COWPER. 9. Maqbool Fida Husain is popularly known as the ___ of India: PABLO PICASSO. 10. Which planet is an average of 5.2 Astronomical Units from the Sun? JUPITER. 11. The region once known as Rupert’s Land is now largely located in: CANADA. 12. The anteaters are more closely related to the ___ than any other animal group: SLOTHS.
This round was particularly painful as we had many questions where good suggestions were made but not followed up. There were splits on GD4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11.
After a four year stint out of office, Gov. Nicholls ran for a second term in 1888 and defeated a crony of the Louisiana Lottery in a contested election. He persuaded the loser not to contest the result by appointing the loser to the state’s Supreme Court. Nicholls’ second term was predominated by his fight against the Louisiana Lottery. He got the legislature to agree to dissolve the lottery, but lost the battle when the state’s Supreme Court overturned the law. Nicholls fought back and won the war when he persuaded the federal government to outlaw the use of the mails to sell lottery tickets.
The team hopes our votes are not nullified during the…
Scatology Round
S1. 1940’s MUSIC v gawd-dammed-pink-fuzzy-venomous animules
Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics about this 1940’s heroine who is stuck on herself: TANGERINE. {BLZBUB, with the call.}
S2. GEOGRAPHY v inventions
A boreal forest is also known as a: TAIGA. {SCOOTR & BLZBUB tag-team this one.}
S3. GUYS WITH GUNS v mystery writers
“Old Betsy” was the beloved rifle of this American frontiersman: DAVY CROCKETT. {CHILL made this call, as they used to be hunting buddies back in the day.}
S4. INVENTIONS v 1940’s music
In what decade was the cyclotron invented and patented? 1930’s. {SCOOTR spun us up on this one.}
S5. Mystery writers v GEOGRAPHY
North, middle, south and little are the main ___ Islands: ANDAMAN. {We were unsure where to set foot on this one.}
S6. G-d-p-f-v animules v GUYS WITH GUNS
This historic U.S. hero roamed the frontier with his “Tick Licker” rifle: DANIEL BOONE. {I guess we missed an easy connection to the first question from this category.}
After leaving the Governor’s office in 1892, Nicholls was appointed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, a post he held until 1911. BLZBUB could not (easily) find any info on this part of his career. Nicholls retired from the position on the court in 1911 and moved back to his sugar cane plantation, Ridgefield, near Thibodaux, LA. He died in 1912.
The team hopes to retire the questions of the…
Frightening Round
1. What is the nationality of Slavik, a notorious hacker who has stolen millions? RUSSIAN. 2. Actinic keratosis is an ailment that directly affects the: SKIN. 3. Known for its policy of zero advertising, Zara is a leading ___ retailer: SPANISH. 4. 2014 marks the ___ anniversary of D-Day: 70th. 5. Dubstep is a type of electronic music that originated here: LONDON. 6. The buskin is an ancient ___ once worn by soldiers, hunters and stage actors: BOOT. 7. The Law of Octaves, discovered by J.A.R. Newlands in 1865, applies to: CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.
During the times of Nicholls, Ridgefield was upstream of the town of Thibodaux on Bayou Lafourche, but by the end of WW II, the town had grown to encompass this land. Here is where the story of F.T. Nicholls and BLZBUB converge. The old plantation was subdivided for home building shortly after the war. In the mid-1950’s BLZBUB’s father bought a house on this land about a mile behind the old Nicholls plantation home.
The team is hoping to annex some big points during the…
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. Colin Matthews, George Benjamin and Ryan Wigglesworth are contemporary British: COMPOSERS. {No strong ideas here, so splits abound.}
P2. Fragaria is a plant genus that contains this edible: STRAWBERRY.
{I think LA OK was the hero on this one.}
P3. The Group of Seven, also called the Algonquin School, was a group of ___ painters: CANADIAN. {Keying on the Algonquin tribes’ historic range, we went Canadian, eh.}
P4. She was a friend of Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley and Bertrand Russell: LADY OTTOLINE MORRELL. {This resulted in another split.}
P5. Developed during the Upper Paleolithic Era, the atlatl is a: SPEAR THROWER.
{PANCHO was the first to hurl this one out.}
BLZBUB’s childhood, growing up near Ridgefield Drive, was 50’s near-idyllic, and by the time he was pedaling bicycles the lure of the Nicholls house was strong. By that time it was in disrepair and surrounded by dense woods and underbrush. But there were some bicycle paths through the grounds, where BLZBUB and his friends would rat-race through the woods and torment the reclusive owner.
Also of note during this era was the founding of Francis T. Nicholls Junior College in 1948. It would be upgraded into a four-year college by 1956, and then into Nicholls State University in 1970. BLZBUB would enroll as a math major that Fall Semester.
Would the team’s final upgrade come during the…
FINAL TRAGEDY, on the Topic of: INFAMOUS CRIMES
This famous kidnapping victim was abducted from a home in East Amwell, New Jersey:
1. CHARLES LINDBERGH, JR.
2. Virgil Starkwell
3. Frank Sinatra, Jr.
4. Elizabeth Smart
5. Patty Hearst
The order of the eliminations was 3, 5, 4 and 2, leaving #1, CHARLES LINDBERGH JR., as the correct answer. As is our habit, the team was speculating on the question content before the final question appeared on the board. One of the first suggestions was Lindbergh baby. All team members got the full pull on this question.
BLZBUB has a couple final notes on F.T. N. and Nicholls State U.
1. The Nicholls plantation house was purchased by NSU in the early 70’s. It was restored and served as a meeting place for special functions of the Alumni Association
2. The nickname of the sports teams for NSU is the Fighting Colonels, and the school’s mascot is Tillou, a colonel. From the school’s inception, he was stylized as a Confederate Colonel, reflecting F.T. N’s history. Of course, over the years this became ever more controversial, as about 40% of the schools registration is comprised of African Americans. A brave university president changed the mascot to a generic (some say fascist) colonel about ten years ago.
BLZBUB would have preferred that they go in a totally different direction and chosen a new mascot. He favored the Nutria…the Nicholls State Nutrias would have been unique in the NCAA world.
The team had what has become an average game of us. The top six boxes were 49899, 45765, 44797, 44338, 44002 and 43561 points. The composite score was 45,393 points. This was only good enough for SEVENTH place in the Mt/Pac Zone of play.
_________________
}}}--( (x) (x) )--->
Oh my gawd, they killed
Ken Z.
You bastards!
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