See it now

     

     I told my hair person about my upcoming appearance on Jeopardy! and also about my blog, so maybe she’ll see this!  She did my hair just before I left to tape the show, and she didn’t know that today.  In fact that was the first time I went to her.

     Today was my smokin’-est day in quite a while.  I didn’t miss any until…wait for it…the 22nd clue.  This is the first clue I didn’t get right, in USS Iwo Jima: “The Iwo Jima’s motto, ‘Uncommon Valor,’ comes from this commander of the Pacific fleet in World War II, who said, ‘For those who fought in Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

   
   

     There were some questionable calls I’ll throw out there to see if you object to my counting them!:

• In Famous Firsts: “Frank McNamara created this first multipurpose charge card in 1950 after finding his wallet missing at a restaurant.” (I said “Diners Card” while they accepted “Diners Club” from Rhonda.)
• Also in Famous Firsts: “On July 28, 1933 Western Union operator Lucille Lipps delivered the first one of these to Rudy Vallee on his birthday.” (I said “telegram,” which I doubt would’ve been accepted but I’d have added “singing” if prompted.)
• In Retronyms: “It’s what the white rabbit consulted when Alice heard him remark that he would be late.”  (I said “watch” while they accepted “pocket watch” from Brendan.)
• In Sounds Like a Language: “I’m fluent in this, the type of Islamic worshippers seen here in the specific garb of his order.” (I said “dervish,” and they accepted “whirling dervish.”

     If all the iffy stuff is counted right, I swept Famous Firsts, Appliances, Sports by Movie, and Sounds Like a Language.
     Rhonda found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round, just the second clue.  (“Way too early,” as Mr. Trebek said.  I don’t know about you but I get sick of him saying that!)  The category was Famous Firsts.  Rhonda wagered 1000 on this clue: “In March 1841 the U.S. Senate experienced its first continuous one of these; it lasted 6 days.”  She got it right.
     I was sweeping Appliances and didn’t want a break, but it came.  Taylor had 2400, Rhonda had 4600, and a very nervous-looking Brendan had 1200.  (By the way, I looked for Brendan on Twitter and apparently he graduated from high school the same year I did.  He looks older than me for sure, sorry!)  At the end of the round, Taylor had 5600, Rhonda had 6200, and Brendan had 3800.
     Now for Double Jeopardy.  I was excited because there was a category about Bavaria, which I saw up close and personal this past summer.  I’m not generally one to appreciate Mother Nature, but the beauty in Europe will just bring you to your knees.  There’s too much to include here, unless you tell me you want to see more.

Oktoberfest

I insisted my Dad take a bunch of pictures here, and now I’m very glad I did!

   

   

This is the BMW headquarters. I desperately wanted this picture because this place is so cool: There is a brand new car in every single window from the bottom of the building to the top. You can’t tell in this picture, though. We were driving by and it was our only chance!

     The contestants went to Bavaria first!  I was mad when I had this one right in my head but changed my mind: “In the 1870s this composer built a theater, Festspielhaus, in Bayreuth to perform his operas.” That’s the only one I missed in the category, luckily.  The last clue in the category was the Daily Double.  Brendan found it.  He had 7400, Taylor had 6000, and Rhonda had 6200.  Brendan wagered 2600 on this clue: “Every 10 years the villagers of Oberammergau stage about 100 performances of this type of Easter drama.”  He got it right.
     I got these triple-stumpers in Double Jeopardy:

• In Sounds Like a Language: “I get by in this, a verb meaning to reduce someone to a state of dire want.”
• In Authors’ Rhyme Time: “Ian’s migratory rodents.”
• In A Real Rhodes Scholar: “This cable TV newswoman received a doctorate in politics from Oxford.”