New Scaratings

The Topix for this month...

February 6 - Winter Olympics
February 7 - TV Couples
February 13 - Russia
February 14 - Love Songs
February 20 - Chemistry
February 21 - Classic Rock
February 27 - Winter Games Recap
February 28 - Liam Neeson

And this month's Trendalicious will be...

February 7 - Super Bowl
February 14 - The Dating Game
February 21 - Young Olympians
February 28 - African-American Celebrities

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"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

Chemistry's a lock for me, and I want to give a go to Winter Olympics, Russia, and Classic Rock (Song X, originally by Band Y, was covered in 2013 by: . . . )

GIMPY tells me she wants to do TV Couples, Love Songs, and Liam Neeson (she also wants to play the game about Liam Neeson *rimshot*)

Looks like we're going to be out playing a lot of trivia this month

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

Yeah, but it will be Chemistry's greatest hits of 2013.

I hope the game doesn't break that way, because it will likely be Breaking Bad

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

It could be nothing but questions about Calcium and Aluminum...

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

I tried tonight's Winter Olympics game, but was not impressed. Nothing at all prior to 1976, about the Soviet Union, or even questions asking what site hosted the games in what year (or which host and year are mismatched). My margin-jotted recap (and snarky comments) follow, with answers in their own section down below:

1. She won gold in figure skating in 1976, and inspired a hairstyle
2. What two events comprise biathlon?
3. It is one of the colors of the Olympic rings: Orange, Yellow, Silver, Purple, Brown (Seriously, Buzztime?)
4. The last man aboard a four-man bobsleigh is called the ______
5. He was the captain of the 1980 USA hockey team (blew this in picking Neal Broten)
6. The clap ______ is a revolutionary piece of equipment which debuted in 1998 (not to be confused with the Clapper)
7. The Battle of the ______ was a highlight of the Calgary games in 1988
8. At Lillehammer in 1994, Johann Olav Koss represented this country
9. Cross-country skiers use one of two techniques, classical and ______
10. Vancouver hosted the 2010 games during which month? (I kept a finger on August, just in case)
11. What is the term for the area where snowboarding competitions are held?
12. The term 'luge' is derived from a French word meaning this
13. Canada's David Pelletier and Jamie Salé won gold in this event in 2002
14. What sport made its Olympic debut at Vancouver in 2010?
15. Sochi, host of the 2014 Olympics, is in ______ Russia: Northeast, Central, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest

1. Dorothy Hamill
2. Skiing - Shooting (a.k.a Norwegian Drive-by)
3. Yellow
4. Brakeman
5. Mike Eruzione
6. Skate
7. Brians (and we'll save Terrance and Philip, too, 'cause that's what Brian Boitano would do)
8. Norway
9. Freestyle
10. February
11. Halfpipe
12. Sled
13. Figure Skating
14. Ski Cross
15. Southwest

Finally, there was a throwaway question in Countdown afterward lauding Mitt Romney for being a bastion of fiscal prudence and ethics concerning the Salt Lake City games. I may or may not have thrown up in my mouth just a little bit at that point in the evening

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

I should have played...Knew 14/15 right away...and may have gotten the skate clap one depending on other choices...

Last nights TV Couples was wrongly named. It was more like 2008 and beyond TV Couples. Was hoping for a mix of eras but as I dreaded, I was hoping for far too much

I'm trying to figure out what Kerry Washington has to do with the Super Bowl. What a lame game..

Yup, maybe six questions were about football, the rest on halftime, ads, and (yes!) players knocking up celebrities.

I'm going to try to play tonight's Russia game. I say try, because I'll be on the road northward, but I believe if I leave work promptly (i.e. don't open Angry Birds), I will be plunked down in an Edmonton bar well before 9:00

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

Good luck with it. Its the one topic we were looking forward to but we will be snowed in...

Due to a lull in the storm, I actually went out and played; there is a Buzztime site less than two miles from my house, and they were open. If they had been closed, I would have just gone home...

I didn't have a very good game; broke 11K and that's about it. I'll post what I recall of the questions in about two or three hours.

We had about 10 inches of snow. Right now it's 32 degrees with light rain, but we will get more snow tonight.

-- RWM

_________________
"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

Some of the questions on tonight's Topix, badly paraphrased, sans answers

Name of Russia's currency
Which Russian leader first promoted glasnost?
Youngest daughter of Nicholas II
St. Petersburg is known as the ______ of the North (where you need to fill in a city)
Number of republics within Russia
Century when Peter The Great was born
What is a dacha?
Name of Catherine The Great's family
zaftrak translates to?
Alexander Pushkin died by what means?
Who officially opened the Sochi Olymoics?
One of the first rulers in what is now Russia (from 862 CE)
Russia leads the world in the production of _________

There were two other questions involving Russian words that I don't recall.

-- RWM

_________________
"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

Thanks for posting that, Zog. I was looking forward to seeing this game and was pissed at our snowed-in-edness here.

Over/Under on # of songs buzztime uses from this list is 2.5

I'll take the under

http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp ... ngs.09.htm

One of the others was actually a repeat CD question - what does "zakuski" refer to.

The production leading Q was my worst point bleed. Given that Russians are generally fond of honey I went with that. Turns out to be sunflowers.

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Please forgive any strange typos or grammar errors. I am typically using voice recognition software to enter text, and sometimes editing works differently from how I expect.

I'll take the under as well, here is a recap of "Love Songs" (not in exact order or wording)

1. Who did song “XO”? Beyonce
2. Bruno Mars had chart topper with: Just the Way You Are
3. Phil Collins song, “You’ll Be in My Heart" from which movie: Tarzan
4. Which is a Katy Perry song? The One That Got Away
5. Who performed “Someone Like You”? Adele
6. One Direction’s first big hit: That’s What Makes You Beautiful
7. Lionel Ritchie/Diana Ross had monster single with: Endless Love
8. Who had hit with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”: Bryan Adams
9. Taylor Swift song: Love Story
10. Which C&W song mismatched: Brad Paisley/The World, John Montgomery/I Swear, Lonestar/Amazed, Dolly Parton/Crazy (hmmm)
11. Miley Cyrus had recent single: Adore You
12. Ariana Grande had hit with: Honeymoon Avenue (really, this was a hit?)
13. Commodores song: Three Times a Lady (I like Buckwheat’s version)
14. Who made it big with “Unforgettable”? Nat King Cole
15. And the grand finale, which POMAN should have seen coming:
Lyrics: “I Don’t Wanna Come Down From this Cloud, etc”: Justin Timberlake

The west coast thanks you for your support

The Phil Collins question said You'll Be In My Arms

Based on how Buzztime LOVES anything recorded after 2009, I'm expecting the "Classic Rock" game to include questions about those great "classic rock" bands such as Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots, and Hoobastank.

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Malort. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

I'll second Akbar's thanks on the recap. I left Calgary late, and only made it as far as Burnsy O'Flanagan's in Leduc. Trouble is, earlier that day, someone hit a power pole or something behind their building, knocking out power to about half the electrical systems in the bar and adjoining pizzeria. They had their backup lights, oven, beer fridges, VLT machines, POS system, and one TV working, but no power for the main lights, grill, hood fan, sound system, every other TV, and -- most distressingly -- the Buzztime computer

It definitely sucks to drive 165 miles with Buzztime in mind, then have the trivia gods declare "no Topix for you!"

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

Sounds like you broke one of the Ten Trivia Gods Commandments: "Thou shalt not play Angry Birds before me." You may have to serve a penance by playing at a BWW near you, for the wages of sin are lagged trivia boxes...

Seriously, I agree that it sucks to drive that far and not be able to play trivia. Were the roads icy or was the person who hit the power pole just careless?

-- RWM

_________________
"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

http://youtu.be/pCpeeaIfF9c?t=17s


Probably careless, possibly also drunk or high. Being the heart of rig and refinery country, there's no shortage of blue collar guys with souped-up testosterone driving "Yeah, it's got a Hemi" souped-up trucks. The roads themselves were the typical pressed-snow-and-gravel found throughout the prairies at this time of year; slippery, but perfectly manageable to anyone driving sensibly with decent tires

I parked on 50th Street in front of the hotel, so didn't see the scene for myself, but Google Maps (as of 2012) shows . . .



. . . two utility boxes right next to a low curb, complete with a cable wound around the streetlight pole, then strung across to Burnsy's building. Alberduh electrical engineering at its finest! This year's snow buildup would easily negate the curb's presence, so all it would take is one rig pig stomping his gas pedal too hard after turning off 50th Avenue to cause a big headache for the block. Or, if whatever that backhoe started is still in progress, your pick from a myriad of construction site cock-ups

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

Chemistry tonight! I can't wait to learn a few factoids about all the exciting developments in the field during 2013

At the very least, I should have a shorter, more relaxed commute to go play this week

_________________
/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?