Devoted science-fiction fans will know that Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick developed the plot of
2001: A Space Odyssey from several earlier Clarke short stories; and that they wrote the screenplay for the movie and the novel concurrently. Yet the book differs in several ways from the movie, in part because the book was based on an early draft of the script and Kubrick decided to change some things during filming. Many of these changes are minor: for example, the date at which HAL was “born” is 1997 in the book, but 1992 in the movie. Some are a bit more significant, like the appearance of the monolith. In the book, the first monolith was crystal clear, and all the monoliths had a 1:4:9 ratio (the squares of the first three integers—a sign that the were created by sentient life). Kubrick thought the resulting short, squat monoliths were not as visually compelling as the tall, thin, black ones that appear in the film.
Of all the differences, though, perhaps the most significant was the change in destination of the spaceship
Discovery One. In the book, the destination was Saturn, but Kubrick did not know how to make Saturn’s rings look realistic on film, so he changed the destination to Jupiter.
I bring all of this up because I suspect that many teams also found themselves in a bit of a planetary dilemma on the final question on Tuesday. Those who followed Clarke and went to Saturn early on found themselves rewarded with being the Star-Children of the night. Those that went to other planets…well…didn’t. They can console themselves with the knowledge that nearly all borg bars struggled with the question, too (only one in the top 20). As Clarke and Kubrick established in both the book and the film, sometimes computer technology can let you down.
Below are the provisional standings after week two of the tournament--provisional because no results posted for Time Out in St. Louis. They will become the official results in the next day or two unless a score finally shows up for that team. (BTW, an even better, interactive version of the Tournament Standings can be found on Don Denton's absolutely invaluable site--I strongly urge everyone who is interested in following the tournament to go there from now on:
http://ntn.donrdenton.com/tournament.php?KeyCol=5 )
WEEK 2 RESULTS
59620 The Fellowship, BWW-Kent OH
58299 The Ragged Rascals, BWW-Albuquerque NM
57372 Houlihan's, Westbury NY
54830 Mad River, New York NY
53640 Teasers, Chicago IL
52592 Four Corners, Chapel Hill NC
52064 BWW-Crystal City (Arlington) VA
51785 Danny K's, Orange CA
51589 The Old Barn, Portland OR
50072 The K-zoo Krew, BWW-Kalamazoo MI
48032 Buster's Bar, Ottawa ON
47844 Scooter's, Las Vegas NV
47515 Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
46611 Stained Glass Pub, Elkridge MD
46021 Tailgate Sports Cafe, Minneapolis MN
44942 Tipsy Coyote, Scottsdale AZ
42645 KC's Time Out, Evansville IN
42544 Cedar Cottage, Vancouver CA
41025 Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
39269 BWW-Oklahoma City OK
38720 West Park Station, Cleveland OH
37240 Broadway Bar and Grill, Nepean ON
36423 Meriden AOH, Meriden CT
36374 Wallaby's, Lenexa KS
35748 Pockets, Tallahassee FL
35029 Beef O'Brady's, Prattville AL
34920 Humperdink's, Dallas TX
28258 Adam's Mill, Manchester CT
26013 Primetime Sports Grill, Tampa FL
23425 BWW-Blacksburg VA
23159 Buckets Tavern, Tampa FL
19646 Stadium Cafe, Addison TX
19165 BWW-Elmwood, LA
0 Time Out, St. Louis MO
A lot of the usual suspects showed up in the top ten, with defending champion The Fellowship posting its first win since mid-July. When adding up the cumulative scores, however, last week's winner--Houlihan's--is still on top:
WEEK 2 CUMULATIVE
115348 Houlihan's, Westbury NY
111327 The Fellowship, BWW-Kent OH
103963 The Ragged Rascals, BWW-Albuquerque NM
102895 Tailgate Sports Cafe, Minneapolis MN
98555 Mad River, New York NY
96855 Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
95917 BWW-Crystal City (Arlington) VA
95024 Buster's Bar, Ottawa ON
94880 Teasers, Chicago IL
93983 Scooter's, Las Vegas NV
93027 The Old Barn, Portland OR
90942 Danny K's, Orange CA
88495 Stained Glass Pub, Elkridge MD
88414 Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
86986 Four Corners, Chapel Hill NC
85672 West Park Station, Cleveland OH
82251 BWW-Oklahoma City OK
82248 Cedar Cottage, Vancouver CA
81974 Tipsy Coyote, Scottsdale AZ
81169 Broadway Bar and Grill, Nepean ON
79323 Primetime Sports Grill, Tampa FL
74854 Humperdink's, Dallas TX
71820 The K-zoo Krew, BWW-Kalamazoo MI
71606 KC's Time Out, Evansville IN
70930 Wallaby's, Lenexa KS
65422 Meriden AOH, Meriden CT
63572 Pockets, Tallahassee FL
61461 BWW-Blacksburg VA
56818 Adam's Mill, Manchester CT
52977 Stadium Cafe, Addison TX
48115 Beef O'Brady's, Prattville AL
47668 BWW-Elmwood, LA
25208 Buckets Tavern, Tampa FL
17327 Time Out, St. Louis MO
Of course, every team gets to drop a low score, and that rearranges the standings once again. The top five stay the same, only in a different order:
WEEK 2 DROPPING LOW SCORE
59620 The Fellowship, BWW-Kent OH
58299 The Ragged Rascals, BWW-Albuquerque NM
57976 Houlihan's, Westbury NY
56874 Tailgate Sports Cafe, Minneapolis MN
54830 Mad River, New York NY
53640 Teasers, Chicago IL
53310 Primetime Sports Grill, Tampa FL
52592 Four Corners, Chapel Hill NC
52064 BWW-Crystal City (Arlington) VA
51785 Danny K's, Orange CA
51589 The Old Barn, Portland OR
50072 The K-zoo Krew, BWW-Kalamazoo MI
49340 Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
48032 Buster's Bar, Ottawa ON
47844 Scooter's, Las Vegas NV
47389 Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
46952 West Park Station, Cleveland OH
46611 Stained Glass Pub, Elkridge MD
44942 Tipsy Coyote, Scottsdale AZ
43929 Broadway Bar and Grill, Nepean ON
42982 BWW-Oklahoma City OK
42645 KC's Time Out, Evansville IN
42544 Cedar Cottage, Vancouver CA
39934 Humperdink's, Dallas TX
38036 BWW-Blacksburg VA
36423 Meriden AOH, Meriden CT
36374 Wallaby's, Lenexa KS
35748 Pockets, Tallahassee FL
35029 Beef O'Brady's, Prattville AL
33331 Stadium Cafe, Addison TX
28560 Adam's Mill, Manchester CT
28503 BWW-Elmwood, LA
23159 Buckets Tavern, Tampa FL
17327 Time Out, St. Louis MO
We are now halfway through the preliminary round, and clearly things are still pretty tight with a lot of room for significant change over the next couple of games. Good skill to all this week!