When this began I worried about not only just cancellations, but the effect cancellations were going to have on the entire network of quiz bowl. And while I don't worry that we will be able to connect the most passionate teams and individuals after this passes, I fear we're going to lose a lot of our casual connections because we're too busy geeking out with the already committed.
One aspect I fear will come of this is I suspect this year's freshman contact list is going to be small. One of the networks that we harvest information about seniors going to college, is their coaches. Many coaches won't have that information because their students aren't going to nationals, the team isn't practicing, the school is doing only remote learning, and the college acceptance letters weren’t out when the school closed. That means we're going to have a hard time building new college teams in the fall, and it's going to demand lots of work from existing teams to continue their existence.
What we should realize is that lots of bridges will need to be built in the next few months, with people and organizations which are quiz bowl adjacent. Those people are missing out on the social contact and mental challenge that everything from bar trivia to international quizzes provide. But those people are also going to be the ones who will help us rebuild all our connections, as we will help rebuild theirs.
Stuff to Hear
Stuff to Look At
A 20-minute documentary of M. C. Escher.
Stuff to Read
An article on how Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons and chemistry allowed her to suffuse her mysteries with detail.
Stuff to Do
Take a virtual tour of a national park through Google Earth. I haven’t been to Acadia in thirty years, but I remembered some of the views shown in the tour.
Stuff to Get Straight in Your Head
One of the easily confused articles was going to be about telling the difference between African based religions that migrated to the Western Hemisphere. And then I found this article, and it did the job for me.
The Articles I Learned from This Week
Being stuck at home with the Hemingways would have been incredibly awkward.
I found this book which lists television pilots from 1950-1989. In the pages that are available, I found at least six instances of “no this wasn’t some fever dream I made up, this was actually a TV pilot.
This article has little quizbowl or trivia knowledge in it, but I’ve been thinking about this article for a couple of years now, specifically in its assessment of what you need to develop a soft skill. I’ll have more to say about it later, but consider that the three components they cite: variety, repetition, and feedback, are present in all quiz competitions, and maybe, just maybe, we may not be sitting on the ideal mixture. How could we improve?
The Articles You Could Learn from This Week
While I enjoyed this listing of all the moons in the solar system, with them “ranked” I was completely expecting at least one moon to be described as “utter dross.” 1 2
And in case you missed it last year, the count of named moons went up.
A bestiary of Greek Mythology
Didn’t You Learn Anything From the Last Time?
1
After a lengthy flashback where Jeff Markham explains how Kathie Moffat disappeared with Whit Sterling's money, Markham finds Kathie has returned to Whit.
A. Name this 1948 film noir starring Robert Mitchum as Jeff.
answer: Out of the Past
B. Jane Greer's portrayal of Kathie Moffat who entices Jeff as she steals from and then kills Whit, is often described as the zenith of this archetypal film noir character.
answer: femme fatale
C. Out of the Past was remade in the 1980s under this title. The title song sees Phil Collins attempt at a reconciliation buy urging a woman to "take a look at me now."
answer: Against All Odds
2
This franchise's 1974 cards for Topps showed them as the Washington Stars.
A. Name this MLB franchise which finished at the bottom of the NL West every season from its 1969 inception to 1975.
answer: San Diego Padres
B. The Padres would have gone to Washington had they not been bought by this man who turned a burger stand owned by the McDonald brothers into a franchised business.
answer: Ray(mond) Albert Kroc
C. The Padres would have returned baseball to Washington DC for the first season since 1971, when the Senators left and became this AL West team.
answer: Texas Rangers
3
In response to the CBC reporter Tim Ralfe's question "How far would you go with that?" in responding to the kidnapping of Pierre Laporte, this man responded "Just watch me."
A. Name this Canadian Prime Minister, who invoked the War Measures Act to respond to the October Crisis.
answer: Pierre Trudeau
B. Under the War Measures Act, Trudeau declared membership in this francophone separatist organization a criminal act.
answer: Front de Libération du Québec or FLQ
C. Laporte was found dead in Saint-Hubert airport which serves this largest Quebec city.
answer: Montréal
4
It is often supposed that the author wrote this for his father's death, but his father died five years after it was written.
A. Name this villanelle poem which describes "And you, my father, there on that sad height,"
answer: Do not go gentle into that good night
B. This Welsh poet wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night."
answer: Dylan Marlais Thomas
C. The title refrain of the poem alternates ending tercets with this other rhyming line.
answer: Rage, rage against the dying of the light
5
Prior to the chorus, Escamillo notes that the scene is "the celebration of courage" and "the celebration of the braves at heart."
A. Name this aria, known unofficially by a title referring to Escamillo's occupation.
answer: Toreador Song or Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre or Your toast, I can return it to you
B. The Toreador Song is a number in this Bizet opera. The title cigarette worker sings in this song's chorus.
answer: Carmen
C. A popular Cuban dance supplies the rhythm in this other aria sung by Carmen that begins "Love is a rebellious bird."
answer: Habanera