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Clik here to view.
Thank God I have the vivacious Sean Kram's Q & A to present to you today, because today's episode was a bit of a snooze in my opinion. In fact, I'm putting his Q & A first.
Speaking of Q & As, in my eternal quest to make the blog a little better, I came up with something: What if my Q & As were videos, done with Skype? Is that something you guys would want? I do wonder how many of the few contestants I can find would have that capability. I'd have to learn how to do it myself.
Don't forget to enter today's Explore the World Sweepstakes. Even my non-Jeopardy! watching friend is getting into it, asking me which trip appeals to me the most. She cited a whole bunch of 'em! I told her I'd have to look at the list. What about you? I wonder how we'll find out the winners. They could write guest posts here about their trip.
My Coryat from this weekend's episode, which originally aired 7-10-13, was 24400 (29000 without negs). The first time I played, my score was 21200 (22000 without one neg).
To refresh your memory on Sean if you didn't click the link above, here is a video from Jeopardy!'s YouTube channel. I have many new questions for him, after seeing this! Thanks so much, Sean!
Jeanie: You told me you visit this blog every day. Did you do that even before you were going to be on the show?
Sean: I came across your blog after I received my audition e-mail, and was seeking out as much advice and information as I could to prepare. I enjoy the personal commentary that you give each episode, it makes them a lot of fun to read whether the recapped show aired last night or sometime three years ago. The more I watched, the more it became part of my daily routine.
Jeanie: I was happy you got the clue right about "WHIP," and even happier when you said the next day you have 20,000 baseball cards. Do you have a favorite team? Did you watch the World Series? Andy and I are in a fantasy baseball league together.
Sean: Haha, I felt very lucky to have come across a baseball question. I follow the Orioles (since most of my family is Baltimore-based) and the Mariners, and though I haven't had a lot of time to tune in this year, I've tried to keep tabs on the postseason. I've always been a big fan of the game, though the baseball cards were an addiction that took a long time to kick.
Jeanie: You taped on a Tuesday, right? Did you go back to the studio the next day to watch?
Sean: I did tape on the first day (it was Monday-Tuesday that week, for some reason), and considered coming back to watch, though I wasn't sure what their policy was on that. As it happened, two straight days of waking up at 5 a.m. meant that I slept in very late the next, late enough that I'm sure tape was already rolling once I'd finally gotten out of bed.
Jeanie: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Sean: Though I'm flattered that some people out there enjoyed watching me, I feel that this can't go without comment: what I had hoped would come off as enthusiasm for the game and happiness to be a part of it all wound up coming across as smug, cocky, irritating, and just about every one of the worst qualities a contestant could have. And I am both sorry, and fully in agreement that Alex or any of my competitors should have punched me clean across the face before the first commercial break.
On Friday, Norah McKissic won her first game.
I did love these Jeopardy round categories. I've been to St. Paul's Cathedral. The Daily Double was found there at the bottom of the category.
Norah 1400 (3 right)
Ramsin -600 (One wrong)
Woody 0
Norah broke into giggles when wagering it all. Mr. Trebek asked why, and she said "Because it could be bad.""Well let's hope it's good," Mr. Trebek said. Norah sobered up in a hurry for this brainless clue: "In 1969, the Alabama-born widow of this man became the first woman to preach in St. Paul's." Norah let out a sigh of relief when she was right.
Woody came alive after Norah's Daily Double. At the first break:
Norah 3200 (One right)
Ramsin 0 (One right)
Woody 3200 (5 right)
I don't think the contestants have ever seen A Baby Story, since no one got this one easy for me: "From the Greek for 'female slave,'it's a woman who assists a mother during labor & after childbirth." Mr. Trebek didn't look like he'd heard of it either because he spelled it out first, but he didn't say that.
I got this one too, in World Series: "Yankee manager from 1949 to 1960, he won 37 World Series games, the most of any manager in history." And was this really a triple-stumper, in Numerical Groups?: "The group of elites that were convicted in China for implementing the Cultural Revolution."
Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning with 7 clues left. I was glad when Norah, unlike Woody, dove for the higher-valued clues then. At the end of the round:
Norah 5400 (3 right)
Ramsin 1000 (3 right)
Woody 4200 (2 right)
Woody found the first Daily Double in "C" the World.
Norah 5800 (One right)
Ramsin 1000
Woody 6200 (2 right)
Woody wagered 2000 on this clue, that I thought was hard: "Its waters separate Azerbaijan from Turkmenistan." Woody didn't get it either.
Do you remember when I used this phrase in a post a few days ago? This is in Precious Phrases: "Giving someone something that hasn't been earned is giving it to him on this serving tray."
And this was a triple-stumper, in The Thespian Directs?!: "Hey, Lavoine! This woman was a 'Big' director in 1988."
Unfortunately Norah negged on two 2000 clues, and each of her opponents picked those up. When Woody found the next Daily Double in Third Party Presidential Candidates:
Norah 5800 (4 right and 2 wrong)
Ramsin 7000 (4 right)
Woody 13400 (8 right)
Mr. Trebek had already given the one-minute warning. Mr. Trebek hinted that Woody could "put this game away," so Woody wagered 700 on this clue: "Socialist Party, 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 & 1920." Woody and I got this right, and it was the last clue of the round. Poor Ramsin and Norah!
The Final Jeopardy category was Food & Drink. This was the (brainless) clue: "This soft drink was named for a digestive enzyme & a native African plant." Maybe it's because I'm a nurse, but I doubt it. In any case I got this instantly and left the couch to do other things. I did reread it, wondering if it could really be that easy. It was. Norah had it wrong and she lost 5700. Ramsin got it and added 5011. Woody got it but added nothing. We'll see him tomorrow!
My Coryat today was 24000 (26400 without negs).
One year ago: We were contestants once, and young
Two years ago: [untitled]
Three years ago: [untitled]
Clik here to view.
Thank God I have the vivacious Sean Kram's Q & A to present to you today, because today's episode was a bit of a snooze in my opinion. In fact, I'm putting his Q & A first.Speaking of Q & As, in my eternal quest to make the blog a little better, I came up with something: What if my Q & As were videos, done with Skype? Is that something you guys would want? I do wonder how many of the few contestants I can find would have that capability. I'd have to learn how to do it myself.
Don't forget to enter today's Explore the World Sweepstakes. Even my non-Jeopardy! watching friend is getting into it, asking me which trip appeals to me the most. She cited a whole bunch of 'em! I told her I'd have to look at the list. What about you? I wonder how we'll find out the winners. They could write guest posts here about their trip.
My Coryat from this weekend's episode, which originally aired 7-10-13, was 24400 (29000 without negs). The first time I played, my score was 21200 (22000 without one neg).
To refresh your memory on Sean if you didn't click the link above, here is a video from Jeopardy!'s YouTube channel. I have many new questions for him, after seeing this! Thanks so much, Sean!
Jeanie: You told me you visit this blog every day. Did you do that even before you were going to be on the show?
Sean: I came across your blog after I received my audition e-mail, and was seeking out as much advice and information as I could to prepare. I enjoy the personal commentary that you give each episode, it makes them a lot of fun to read whether the recapped show aired last night or sometime three years ago. The more I watched, the more it became part of my daily routine.
Jeanie: I was happy you got the clue right about "WHIP," and even happier when you said the next day you have 20,000 baseball cards. Do you have a favorite team? Did you watch the World Series? Andy and I are in a fantasy baseball league together.
Sean: Haha, I felt very lucky to have come across a baseball question. I follow the Orioles (since most of my family is Baltimore-based) and the Mariners, and though I haven't had a lot of time to tune in this year, I've tried to keep tabs on the postseason. I've always been a big fan of the game, though the baseball cards were an addiction that took a long time to kick.
Jeanie: You taped on a Tuesday, right? Did you go back to the studio the next day to watch?
Sean: I did tape on the first day (it was Monday-Tuesday that week, for some reason), and considered coming back to watch, though I wasn't sure what their policy was on that. As it happened, two straight days of waking up at 5 a.m. meant that I slept in very late the next, late enough that I'm sure tape was already rolling once I'd finally gotten out of bed.
Jeanie: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Sean: Though I'm flattered that some people out there enjoyed watching me, I feel that this can't go without comment: what I had hoped would come off as enthusiasm for the game and happiness to be a part of it all wound up coming across as smug, cocky, irritating, and just about every one of the worst qualities a contestant could have. And I am both sorry, and fully in agreement that Alex or any of my competitors should have punched me clean across the face before the first commercial break.
My physical self-awareness is pretty awful on a normal day, and when faced with the nerves that accompany having one chance to play the best game of Jeopardy that you can, I made it my goal to simply loosen up and have fun, because in all honesty I felt remarkably out of place and never expected to have a chance to win. I'm sure that I'm nowhere near as smart or as skilled at trivia as most contestants who appear on the show, and knowing that many deserving players have gone home winless because they didn't get the lucky break or two they needed, I sought only to fully enjoy my 20 minutes on stage, try not to finish in the red, and cheer on the victorious champ when it was all over. I was stunned at my good fortune to come away with a win, and horrified to see how obnoxiously I had really behaved through every moment of it.
As little as I realized how much I was bouncing around like a toy up there, I truly had no idea that my misses on the buzzer were so often followed by those pained, spiteful-looking grimaces toward whomever buzzed in first. In the heat of the moment, I was frustrated at myself and curious to see whose timing had come out on top, but in no way did I mean to begrudge any competitor for playing a faster and better game, and am ashamed that I even did that once, let alone fifteen or twenty times. So to wrap up, I want to apologize to all of you who watch Jeopardy as a means of dignified entertainment, and instead had to endure my ruthless, overdone quirks for an entire two shows. And I especially want to apologize to Marge, Molly, Jennifer and Neal, for having to put up with Bobblehead Jones any time they want to relive their Jeopardy dream. They are all extraordinarily kind and smart people, but above all they carried themselves the way that champions should, and that alone made them more deserving of the title than me.
On Friday, Norah McKissic won her first game.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Norah |
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Woody Houchin |
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Ramsin Toma |
Norah 1400 (3 right)
Ramsin -600 (One wrong)
Woody 0
Norah broke into giggles when wagering it all. Mr. Trebek asked why, and she said "Because it could be bad.""Well let's hope it's good," Mr. Trebek said. Norah sobered up in a hurry for this brainless clue: "In 1969, the Alabama-born widow of this man became the first woman to preach in St. Paul's." Norah let out a sigh of relief when she was right.
Woody came alive after Norah's Daily Double. At the first break:
Norah 3200 (One right)
Ramsin 0 (One right)
Woody 3200 (5 right)
I don't think the contestants have ever seen A Baby Story, since no one got this one easy for me: "From the Greek for 'female slave,'it's a woman who assists a mother during labor & after childbirth." Mr. Trebek didn't look like he'd heard of it either because he spelled it out first, but he didn't say that.
I got this one too, in World Series: "Yankee manager from 1949 to 1960, he won 37 World Series games, the most of any manager in history." And was this really a triple-stumper, in Numerical Groups?: "The group of elites that were convicted in China for implementing the Cultural Revolution."
Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning with 7 clues left. I was glad when Norah, unlike Woody, dove for the higher-valued clues then. At the end of the round:
Norah 5400 (3 right)
Ramsin 1000 (3 right)
Woody 4200 (2 right)
Woody found the first Daily Double in "C" the World.
Norah 5800 (One right)
Ramsin 1000
Woody 6200 (2 right)
Woody wagered 2000 on this clue, that I thought was hard: "Its waters separate Azerbaijan from Turkmenistan." Woody didn't get it either.
Do you remember when I used this phrase in a post a few days ago? This is in Precious Phrases: "Giving someone something that hasn't been earned is giving it to him on this serving tray."
And this was a triple-stumper, in The Thespian Directs?!: "Hey, Lavoine! This woman was a 'Big' director in 1988."
Unfortunately Norah negged on two 2000 clues, and each of her opponents picked those up. When Woody found the next Daily Double in Third Party Presidential Candidates:
Norah 5800 (4 right and 2 wrong)
Ramsin 7000 (4 right)
Woody 13400 (8 right)
Mr. Trebek had already given the one-minute warning. Mr. Trebek hinted that Woody could "put this game away," so Woody wagered 700 on this clue: "Socialist Party, 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 & 1920." Woody and I got this right, and it was the last clue of the round. Poor Ramsin and Norah!
The Final Jeopardy category was Food & Drink. This was the (brainless) clue: "This soft drink was named for a digestive enzyme & a native African plant." Maybe it's because I'm a nurse, but I doubt it. In any case I got this instantly and left the couch to do other things. I did reread it, wondering if it could really be that easy. It was. Norah had it wrong and she lost 5700. Ramsin got it and added 5011. Woody got it but added nothing. We'll see him tomorrow!
My Coryat today was 24000 (26400 without negs).
One year ago: We were contestants once, and young
Two years ago: [untitled]
Three years ago: [untitled]