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i_calql8Cubs won their second game of September, a must win to keep their 4.5 game lead in the NL Central. Magic numbers are now 13 to repeat, and 9 to make playoffs, with 17 games to go.
It gets no easier--one more game at Busch, then three on the road against the pesky and hot Astros. Then back to Wrigley for the final homestand of the season. Unfortunately, it means three against the Cardinals and the Brewers. Then we finish on the road with the East-leading Mets and the Brewers one last time. Hopefully we will already have a more-than-enough lead before going into that last series.
The good news is that even if we win just 5 games the rest of the season, the Beers would have to go 10-6 to top us, and the Astros would have to go 14-2 to top us. Unless there is a catastrophic collapse by the Baby Ursine, we're going to be in the playoffs.
I have begun the new quest to my Year of Quotage on the LJDQ again. I was going to give it another week off, but I have been inspired by friends and fans (...wait, I have fans?) to pun away again, and I have what I believe will be a quotable effort this week.
Found my volume of Schott's Almanac 2008. Fascinating trivia in it. Speaking of which...
One of my questions at my trivia gig last night was "According to the title of the Dr. Seuss book, how many apples were up on top?" Someone in the crowd piped up "It's NOT by Dr. Seuss!" Um, yes it was...it was written under the pen name of Dr. Theo LeSeig, the last name of which anagrams into Geisel, Dr. Seuss' real name. "It's not the same person!" came the voice from the crowd. Um, that's the thing about pen names--different name, same person. And Mary Westmacott isn't Agatha Christie, and Richard Bachman isn't Stephen King either, huh? *sigh*
That's the thing about trivia--it's very competitive, and people love to show up the host whenever possible. Most of the regulars are quite courteous about it, but occasionally, I have people who shout out their corrections. Sometimes they're right, but most times, not so much. And invariably, someone always knows more.
I can usually hold my own in a trivia-related argument about most pop culture and entertainment, and sometimes in other areas, but most times, I Wiki from my cell in case I need back-up and my almanac doesn't do the trick (World Almanac, a trivia host's best non-electronic friend). I like to think I impress people with my eclectic store of useless information, and I like to think even more that I can surprise them by coming up with things they didn't think I knew.
One person who'd played often, but was now a casual observer, asked me out of the blue what the largest member of the deer family was, he swore to himself when I came up with "Moose" in a heartbeat. Another asked me how many laws of thermodynamics there were, and I said four. He said there were three, to which I responded "Did you forget the zeroeth law?" That got me a "Damn you, trivia guy!" FTW.
I'm not infallible, to be sure, at this hosting gig, but I'm pretty sure I am respected. Besides, who else wants to come up with 60+ trivia questions a week? ;-)
Any one of my LJ friends who happens to be down in my neck of the woods on a Tuesday night, stop in, and I'll buy you a drink. Although why the hell you'd even want to be in my neck of the woods in the first place...
It gets no easier--one more game at Busch, then three on the road against the pesky and hot Astros. Then back to Wrigley for the final homestand of the season. Unfortunately, it means three against the Cardinals and the Brewers. Then we finish on the road with the East-leading Mets and the Brewers one last time. Hopefully we will already have a more-than-enough lead before going into that last series.
The good news is that even if we win just 5 games the rest of the season, the Beers would have to go 10-6 to top us, and the Astros would have to go 14-2 to top us. Unless there is a catastrophic collapse by the Baby Ursine, we're going to be in the playoffs.
I have begun the new quest to my Year of Quotage on the LJDQ again. I was going to give it another week off, but I have been inspired by friends and fans (...wait, I have fans?) to pun away again, and I have what I believe will be a quotable effort this week.
Found my volume of Schott's Almanac 2008. Fascinating trivia in it. Speaking of which...
One of my questions at my trivia gig last night was "According to the title of the Dr. Seuss book, how many apples were up on top?" Someone in the crowd piped up "It's NOT by Dr. Seuss!" Um, yes it was...it was written under the pen name of Dr. Theo LeSeig, the last name of which anagrams into Geisel, Dr. Seuss' real name. "It's not the same person!" came the voice from the crowd. Um, that's the thing about pen names--different name, same person. And Mary Westmacott isn't Agatha Christie, and Richard Bachman isn't Stephen King either, huh? *sigh*
That's the thing about trivia--it's very competitive, and people love to show up the host whenever possible. Most of the regulars are quite courteous about it, but occasionally, I have people who shout out their corrections. Sometimes they're right, but most times, not so much. And invariably, someone always knows more.
I can usually hold my own in a trivia-related argument about most pop culture and entertainment, and sometimes in other areas, but most times, I Wiki from my cell in case I need back-up and my almanac doesn't do the trick (World Almanac, a trivia host's best non-electronic friend). I like to think I impress people with my eclectic store of useless information, and I like to think even more that I can surprise them by coming up with things they didn't think I knew.
One person who'd played often, but was now a casual observer, asked me out of the blue what the largest member of the deer family was, he swore to himself when I came up with "Moose" in a heartbeat. Another asked me how many laws of thermodynamics there were, and I said four. He said there were three, to which I responded "Did you forget the zeroeth law?" That got me a "Damn you, trivia guy!" FTW.
I'm not infallible, to be sure, at this hosting gig, but I'm pretty sure I am respected. Besides, who else wants to come up with 60+ trivia questions a week? ;-)
Any one of my LJ friends who happens to be down in my neck of the woods on a Tuesday night, stop in, and I'll buy you a drink. Although why the hell you'd even want to be in my neck of the woods in the first place...
