Okay, so we’re stuck. We’re not going to class, we’re not getting to practice, we’re not going to tournaments. Can’t have bar trivia without a bar. We’re stuck, the world’s on pause. So what do we do with ourselves?
Well, of everyone you know, I probably know more about sitting at home because you can’t go out because a virus is stopping you from doing what’s normal. I didn’t want to veg out when I got sick, I needed something to push against the boredom and isolation. So I kept reading and writing and keeping my brain in fighting shape, and I collected a bunch of articles and links that could be useful for quiz bowl. And assuming I can keep this current, that’s what I’m going to put here.
But since last year, my focus has moved around a little. I’ve crossed paths with people who are trying to help their students or their children in somewhat similar competitions, I’ve run in to pub quiz people, international quizzers, podcast listeners, and trivia app players. We’re all in the same boat right now, wondering when our next fix of questions is going to come. We might as well find something to entertain us, and make us better at playing whatever competition we choose to play.
Some of this may be old hat to some of you, but I’ve tried to pick what’s either a) useful and compact for people just starting out, or b) new to me. I’ll try and keep it accessible for all, if something looks to difficult or dry it might be because it is, but there’s surface information there that shows up all the time.
So let’s see if I can keep you unbored for a while.
Stuff to Read
Snowbound by Whittier (I’m going to try to throw a poem in each of these because they’re easy to throw in, and this seemed appropriate to purpose.)
The Decameron by Boccaccio (This however seemed moreso, and it makes perpetual appearances in quiz bowl questions. Not suggesting you read the whole thing, but we do have the time.)
Stuff to Hear
The Metropolitan Opera is doing nightly broadcasts of recorded performances on their website. They’ll be available every night for the interim. While it’s not quite my thing, my knowledge of opera ends with the plots, we’ve got time to pick up a few pieces of the operatic canon in the meantime.
Stuff to See
An infographic on the chemistry of lava.
James Burke’s Connections, the first episode which gives you a scare, an analysis of where you’ve screwed up the past few days, and a quick player’s guide of the first 40 turns if you’re playing Sid Meier’s Civilization.
Stuff to Get Straight in Your Head
I had thought of doing a series of “easily confused items” for NAQT’s You Gotta Know, or for the facebook page of my book, but I was never able to collect enough in the same place at the same time. When I saw this infographic on the various chunks of astronomic material, I figured at least one part of the job was done.
Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors
The Articles I Learned from This Week
The difference between Butterscotch, Caramel, and Dulce de Leche
I had found this article last month: The Devil’s Mercedes-Benz and Operation Anthropoid. But it then looped back and showed up in some research I was doing to write an article/study guide on Bertholt Brecht.
The Articles You Could Learn from This Week
An article about the Hagia Sophia, which is a constant source of questions.
Three articles on the (probably not) tomb of Romulus, which features enough information about the mythical founding of Rome that it could be study notes for CLAS212 (at least I think that was the course number when I took it.) 1 2 3
So that’s it for this week. I’ll bring more stuff to look at next week, and maybe I’ll make something out of these for you. I’ve at least got enough stuff in my backlog to cover eight weeks, so that should hopefully get us through this. If not I’ll start reading more things.