Search found 88 matches

by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Wed Sep 07, 2011 4:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Online Skype Practice League
Replies: 53
Views: 21852

Re: Online Skype Practice League

Dave, I'm not entirely sure what your email address is. In any case, Todd Pollak is out of power at the moment due to the heavy rain we've been experiencing here. He has asked me to ask you permission to let me sub for him, if you'll allow it. edit: This is Ketan Jha by the way. Apparently Shantanu ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sat Oct 30, 2010 7:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

So, where in the distribution do we put tossups on Keynes as a thinker, if we accept the premise that all economics tossups are to be on concepts? I'm pretty sure we certainly haven't agreed on any such thing. Not only have we not agreed on any such thing, I don't think anyone has even suggested an...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

I'm extremely wary that someone like Shantanu is gonna come on here and start trying to convince us that THEIR Chamley-Judd is really the important one - like, totally way more important than any of the other things. Maybe someone else might do this, but it's not what I'm saying. I'm not really sur...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:38 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

the only way to truly rectify this situation is to increase the number and quality of concept tossups that allow for "expert" knowledge at the beginning and "amateur" knowledge at the end. Though I have perhaps overestimated the number of people with a sufficiently deep interest...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:35 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

Well, Ryan, if your approach to quizbowl is "I'll write down all the anthropologists who show up in the wikipedia article on 'anthropology' and memorize the titles of their works" or "I'll write down all the anthropologists who show up in past packets and memorize the titles of their ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

Well, Bruce, I too am a social science major (at the same school you were, even) and I disagree pretty vehemently. I think your point of view is too colored by a sort of Carlyle-Braudel dichotomy that pervades historiography. But even with respect to history I'm not sure your position makes much sen...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Anthropology Questions
Replies: 47
Views: 11354

Re: Anthropology Questions

I tried to hit on some of the newer anthropological research in some of the questions I wrote for HI 2010 and CO 2010. The apparently ill-received (for good reasons, admittedly) tossup on "magic" at the latter tournament mentioned a bevy of studies and essays that are frequently read by an...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:43 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

Yeah, Tuesday at 9:30 is a fine time for me.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

I don't think either Friday or Saturday work for me; next week I'd be free Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings. Does any of those days work for everyone?
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:18 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

Yeah, sorry about that. For reasons unknown to me I had convinced myself that it was happening Thursday night rather than Wednesday night. I'll tentatively reschedule things for tonight; if people can't show we can always work out another date. I'll also send Abid a copy of the remaining questions i...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

So I'll tentatively suggest the coming Wednesday, August 25th, at 8 PM as a good date for people who want to play the rest of the questions and the packets of death on IRC. If no one vocalizes their inconvenience either here or over email, I'll assume that date is fine with everyone. Which packets ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Aug 22, 2010 3:22 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

So I'll tentatively suggest the coming Wednesday, August 25th, at 8 PM as a good date for people who want to play the rest of the questions and the packets of death on IRC. If no one vocalizes their inconvenience either here or over email, I'll assume that date is fine with everyone.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

Hey, anyone interested in playing the rest of the questions on IRC should shoot me an email at externalsolipsism at gmail dot com so we can work out a date. Sometime next week is what I'm aiming for and I'd like to know what times work for everyone.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

While I will in all likelihood have enough playable stuff by the end of the week, there's some stuff I'd like to ask about that I just don't have the resources to write on while in India. Hence I'd like a couple days to finish this up after I return to the U.S. My current plan is to put together a m...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open thanks and discussions
Replies: 126
Views: 36625

Re: Chicago Open thanks and discussions

Sorry to crash this chain with more music stuff, but I found some more mistakes while reading through the packets today. One is small (round 4, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concertos: I think the anecdote is really talking about Nikloai Rubenstein, and not Anton). The others are larger and are in the tossup...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Wed Jul 28, 2010 4:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open thanks and discussions
Replies: 126
Views: 36625

Re: Chicago Open thanks and discussions

I was responsible, with help from the redoubtable Hannah Kirsch, for editing all the fine arts in this set, and much as the overall set reflected what Jerry might like to play, I made the fine arts, and the music in particular, reflect what I might like to see. Also much like Jerry essentially wrote...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:25 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

Thanks a lot to Abid, Lloyd, and Shantanu for writing this tournament. I really enjoyed playing the set. A lot of stuff I've been waiting to hear questions on since I started playing quizbowl came up in this tournament. And I'm sure I'm surprising (and pleasing) no one when I say that I look forwar...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

I'd be particularly interested in seeing people like Kevin, John, and Aaron play on some of them I won't be at VCU open, but I'd love to play these (IRC, anyone?). Yeah, if people would like to set a date to play these questions in IRC I'd be happy to oblige, particularly if both VCU Open and Sun '...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:12 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the tournament, though it did not have the polish I would have liked. Abid and Lloyd were fantastic to work with and are great writers in the making, and I absolutely look forward to what they do in the future. Anyway, there are a bunch of questions, somewhere betwe...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Fri Jun 04, 2010 5:39 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Moderating etiquette
Replies: 45
Views: 10020

Re: Moderating etiquette

The French people I've known pronounce "Millet" something like "Me-lay." My French isn't quite good enough to be authoritative, but my understanding is that the double L in French is not always pronounced as a "Y", even after the vowel "I"; examples might be m...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun May 09, 2010 2:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2010: This is serious business
Replies: 66
Views: 16852

Re: Player Poll 2010: This is serious business

Hey folks, just wanted to say you shouldn't waste a vote on me because the purpose of the poll is to foster discussion about the best active players and unfortunately I'm out of quizbowl for the foreseeable future. Since my future prospects of involvement with quizbowl seem increasingly opaque, I w...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Apr 25, 2010 11:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

DumbJaques wrote: architectural highlights of Mantua's brothels
Wrong city, right idea.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

We thank you for your offer, but we'll respectfully decline Dude, are you just turning down free questions from good writers? That's. . . innovative, I guess. We want the set to have a cohesive feel to it. There's a specific answer and clue space that Abid, Lloyd, and I have worked out and I think ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2010 ICT discussion
Replies: 100
Views: 20716

Re: 2010 ICT discussion

I think extracanonical clues did come up in, say, the "democracy" tossup, which mentioned Robert Dahl and Charles Lindblom. that's exciting - could someone post the tossup? Charles Lindblom wrote a book on the "intelligence" of this in which he advanced his theory of "disjo...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:18 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2010 ICT discussion
Replies: 100
Views: 20716

Re: 2010 ICT discussion

My point about extracanonical clues was exclusively in reference to the common links and not to the set broadly. I think extracanonical clues did come up in, say, the "democracy" tossup, which mentioned Robert Dahl and Charles Lindblom. They were a little too inclined towards "fill in...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2010 ICT discussion
Replies: 100
Views: 20716

Re: 2010 ICT discussion

I would like to refocus this discussion a little, since it seems there has been precious little discussion of the set's qualities and a preponderance of talk about trash's presence in ICT. While I have no doubt the non-academic distribution often colors the experience of the set - in fact, I gave up...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Fri Mar 12, 2010 2:21 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial
Replies: 275
Views: 116081

Re: CO Side Event: The Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial

I'm posting to say that I'll be working extensively on this set; I hope to make it a more tightly written and accessible version of KLEE. Since there seem to be worries about this being "Illinois high school arts" or whatever, let me assure everyone that both Abid and Lloyd are good writer...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: On writing opera tossups
Replies: 26
Views: 6974

Re: On writing opera tossups

I agree that English titles can be confusing, especially if they're of the "they translated the entire libretto to make it singable and this aria has a first line, and thus title, that is nowhere near the original one" variety. This might (what do you think?) be improved by using more lit...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 46
Views: 7596

Re: General Discussion

Some people at the VCU site, including myself, seemed to think that a lot of the painting questions (Christ's Entry into Brussels, Diana leaving the bath/Boucher/Chardin, etc.) were a little tough for this set. I'd like to know if other people had the same impression. Dunno about the rest of the pa...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 46
Views: 7596

Re: General Discussion

One of these that's a little bit less egregious is the "radio plays of Pedro Camacho" part, since that's a major element of a novel that I'm guessing is very widely read. I can't say the same for the alluded-to part on the unnamed in The Betrothed , but I'm not very knowledgeable in that ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 46
Views: 7596

Re: General Discussion

Since I wrote the Manzoni bonus and edited the Vikram Seth bonus, I'll chime in. Manzoni is the single most important Italian novelist, regularly read in Italy and studied in the context of either the history of the novel, Italian literature, or European history. If he's harder than Li Po, I don't t...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PENN BOWL: So, discussion?
Replies: 48
Views: 7126

Re: So, discussion?

I, too, concur with Ted. I will add that, with the exception of Edmund Bertram, all of those bonus parts were submissions and not replacements written by the editors. This suggests that a number of people who read these classics think these characters are of central importance to their works and hen...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PENN BOWL: So, discussion?
Replies: 48
Views: 7126

Re: So, discussion?

I'll apologize for the Rain, Steam, and Speed tossup. I accidentally pasted the original version into the set rather than the edited version, which I would post now if I had access to my computer. I did not spend as much time editing the literature in this set as I would have liked, but I am curious...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:57 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (11/14/09) Illinois Open at UIUC
Replies: 50
Views: 9629

Re: (11/14/09) Illinois Open at UIUC

I've already sent Donald the correct stats for the finals, since I inexplicably found the finals scoresheets in my notebook (I think I may have picked them up while moderating for RMPfest). In any case, here they are: The first match was 495-170. Marnold: 1/3/0 David: 1/0/0 Seth: 1/3/0 Shantanu: 3/2...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sat Oct 10, 2009 2:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: A Treatise on the Common Link
Replies: 30
Views: 4406

Re: A Treatise on the Common Link

Jerry, I don't think a single person in this thread is actively bemoaning the tossup because they buzzed with 'peasants.' In fact, both Andrew Hart and I have told you we object to the content of the tossup independent of the fact we assuredly could have buzzed correctly. I'll reiterate my problem: ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: A Treatise on the Common Link
Replies: 30
Views: 4406

Re: A Treatise on the Common Link

I don't understand how in this question at hand, which I grow tired of defending, you could "try" to buzz with the correct answer on the Breughel clue. I'll clear this up then: he could only "try" to buzz with the correct answer because, at the time, I was busy negging with &quo...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:14 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament
Replies: 41
Views: 13699

Re: KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament

DumbJaques wrote:Hey, is it cool if we run this at the Maryland MO mirror?
Yeah, of course. Email me to work out the details.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:59 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament
Replies: 41
Views: 13699

Re: KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament

The first four packets were played at HI; this version of Klee will consist of the six unused packets supplemented by four entirely new packets. Mike, after checking the google doc I think a couple of your questions are currently scattered throughout, and we plan on using them unless you have an obj...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament
Replies: 41
Views: 13699

KLEE: Minnesota Open Fine Arts Tournament

This is to formally announce KLEE: Dance You Monster to my Soft Song, a Fine Arts doubles tournament written by Aaron Rosenberg, Ted Gioia, Guy Tabachnick, and Shantanu Jha, with contributions by Chris White. It will be edited by both Ted and myself. The distribution remains the same as the packets ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: RMP Fest 2: IO/TIT Side Event
Replies: 36
Views: 12045

Re: RMP Fest 2: IO/TIT Side Event

My non-western thought distribution will tend to be Buddhist/Chinese/Indian philosophy, exemplified by the Yogacara tossup at CATO. The 20th century philosophy distribution is to account for the Lagavulin induced list of philosophers I've learned about at bars in Bologna. Less Simon Blackburn, more ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:04 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CaTO/TaCO Discussion
Replies: 84
Views: 13465

Re: CaTO/TaCO Discussion

latter parts of Antonello da Messina/Crucifixion/Tintoretto may have shaded easy. The issue with that bonus I had was that you had a super-easy easy part, a fairly famous middle part, and then the exceptionally difficult(albeit demostrably important) Antonello Da Messina. Also, I forget- which Desc...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:17 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CaTO/TaCO Discussion
Replies: 84
Views: 13465

Re: CaTO/TaCO at VCU August 9

As far as questions go... I had a problem with the visual arts. Not only was it mostly painting, but it was mostly Renaissance and generally pre-1850 painting. I realize that people are trying to combat the skew to modern-era arts, but the pendulum should come to rest in the middle. I sympathize wi...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:52 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open II at VCU - Saturday, August 8
Replies: 114
Views: 46383

Re: VCU Open II at VCU - Saturday, August 8

David Seal and I are now playing with Brendan Byrne and Tommy Casalaspi, and we're writing a packet.
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open discussion
Replies: 69
Views: 15826

Re: Missouri Open discussion

I couldn't agree with Ryan more; in fact, the reason I gave up my position as editor was that I didn't think I'd be able to produce enough questions for the editor's packets. I implored Charlie to move the tournament back when I realized that between schoolwork and finals week, neither Auroni nor I ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:25 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open discussion
Replies: 69
Views: 15826

Re: Missouri Open discussion

I thought I had kept the power mark on moment of inertia further back, but I guess not. In any case, Seth's original version of the question had placed Poinsot's ellipsoid much earlier, and I actually positioned it later than the Steiner's theorem clue (which I had never heard of, though apparently ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open discussion
Replies: 69
Views: 15826

Re: Missouri Open discussion

I apologize for the Dante Gabriel Rossetti tossup; I was responsible for partially rewriting it but I apparently managed to miss the fact it was a translation of a fairly famous Villon poem. I hope issues like this were not apparent in the rest of the tossup. Another error that I thought I had fixed...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Jun 07, 2009 4:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open discussion
Replies: 69
Views: 15826

Re: Missouri Open discussion

To be fair, the announcement mentions "Illinois Opens, Minnesota Open, VCU Open, or Chicago Open 2007", all of which are of rather different difficulty levels. VCU Open was considerably more difficult than Chicago Open 2007, for example. And I don't think we received anything I would have ...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open discussion
Replies: 69
Views: 15826

Re: Missouri Open discussion

I would like to give massive thanks to Andy Watkins, Hannah Kirsch, Chris Ray, and Seth Teitler. You can attribute most merits of the chemistry and biology distributions to Andy and Hannah, who were able to write a large number of questions when I asked them on Friday. Chris spent a considerable por...
by Megalomaniacal Panda on Absinthe
Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:58 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gaddis II Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 40
Views: 9559

Re: Gaddis II Thanks and Discussion

I'm not sure what heuristics could be applied to my Mozart tossup to be able to deduce that it was a tossup on an easy answer. Had I written a tossup on Francesco Cavalli from operatic works, it would not have looked terribly different. Edit: Yeah, the point about singspiels leading you to Mozart is...