Search found 54 matches

by felgon123
Wed Aug 02, 2017 4:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Side Event Weekend - 8/5/2017
Replies: 31
Views: 17453

Re: VCU Side Event Weekend - 8/5/2017

How will the cancellation of OCTAVIAN affect the schedule? Rather than poach an event from the second weekend, is it possible to push back the start time for NASAT? Or to have some previously run event (Math Monstrosity, Fight the Power, etc) take its place? Evan Adams and I would like to advocate ...
by felgon123
Sat Jul 01, 2017 11:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Side Event Weekend - 8/5/2017
Replies: 31
Views: 17453

Re: VCU Side Event Weekend - 8/5/2017

I will be moving away shortly after the first weekend and cannot make the second. My ranked preferences for the first weekend's offerings:

1. All side events.
2. NASAT + side events.
3. Trash + side events.
4. NASAT + trash.
by felgon123
Tue May 30, 2017 1:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Virginia Summer Open – 8/5/17
Replies: 53
Views: 33439

Re: Virginia Summer Open – 8/5/17

I would strongly prefer a Side Event Weekend with no NASAT, and it's not in my self-interest to say that as someone who will make money from NASAT. The last Side Event Weekend was delightful and superior in every way, I thought, to a second summer open. Besides, NASAT is a regular-difficulty tourna...
by felgon123
Fri May 26, 2017 3:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Virginia Summer Open – 8/5/17
Replies: 53
Views: 33439

Re: Virginia Summer Open – 8/5/17

I would strongly prefer a Side Event Weekend with no NASAT, and it's not in my self-interest to say that as someone who will make money from NASAT. The last Side Event Weekend was delightful and superior in every way, I thought, to a second summer open. Besides, NASAT is a regular-difficulty tournam...
by felgon123
Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:44 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

As a moderator, I was not particularly a fan of this bonus, especially the third part: 13. For 10 points each, answer the following about Middle English lyric poetry. [10] The lyric beginning “Sumer is icumen in” (SOO-mer “is” ih-KOO-min “in”) repeatedly tells the animal it addresses to do this, fr...
by felgon123
Wed Apr 26, 2017 11:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

-There were functionally three music questions in one packet: Aida, Gesualdo, and Bach partitas Although this technically was not a distributional error (music tossup, other arts tossup, and other academic tossup--mainly literature--with a music giveaway), had we noticed the convergence, we certain...
by felgon123
Wed Apr 26, 2017 11:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

I wanted to fire a question at the author of the Millay bonus in the Maryland packet -- for the bonus part on "tetrameter," which of her sonnets were you thinking about? I pulled this eventually while thinking of her "Three Sonnets in Tetrameter," which are some pretty dope sonn...
by felgon123
Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

I edited all of literature, music, opera, and film. I wrote the majority of the literature and music in the set from scratch, as well as all of the opera and film. The European and World/Other literature includes about 20 excellent questions written by Matt and Evan, and Jonathan Magin freelanced 3/...
by felgon123
Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

There were a few questions that I found odd, like the tossup on "names" that used "these objects" as the pronoun, but I don't think that they diminish the editors' achievements. I wrote this tossup and can attest that the pronoun phrase used throughout was "these things,&qu...
by felgon123
Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet
Replies: 120
Views: 67366

Re: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet

I've been incubating a Festivus packet. The distribution is roughly: 25% Game of Thrones mashups 25% hard answers from easy video games (i.e. more questions like the ones in my Nintendo packet from a couple years ago) 25% wint's Twitter (@dril) 25% Seinfeld and other miscellanies So hopefully somet...
by felgon123
Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet
Replies: 120
Views: 67366

Re: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet

I've been incubating a Festivus packet. The distribution is roughly: 25% Game of Thrones mashups 25% hard answers from easy video games (i.e. more questions like the ones in my Nintendo packet from a couple years ago) 25% wint's Twitter (@dril) 25% Seinfeld and other miscellanies So hopefully someth...
by felgon123
Mon Aug 01, 2016 4:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open 2016 Set Discussion
Replies: 110
Views: 49386

Re: Chicago Open 2016 Set Discussion

I'm a little disappointed that several clues were added to the Trypanosoma tossup that I had specifically avoided because they were non-unique -- there seems to have been a conflation between kinetoplastids or trypanosomatids and Trypanosoma , despite important other kinetoplastid genuses existing ...
by felgon123
Fri May 08, 2015 10:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Also, "please don't attribute psychological motives to my posts, which you are probably doing because you are a tantrum-having baby experiencing mental problems(?)", is some killer irony. Wow, somebody get me some ice for that burn, am I right? Perhaps you didn't notice, but the rhetorica...
by felgon123
Fri May 08, 2015 7:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

In response to Shan: I identified those as especially hard answers under the assumption that no one would contest that they are hard. If someone can show me the conversion numbers demonstrating that they were converted at the same rate as anything else, I'll gladly partially retract that statement. ...
by felgon123
Fri Apr 24, 2015 3:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Pataphysics is still not a literature tossup, though the fourth lit tossup in that packet was on V. , which does nothing to rebut the 20th-century-heavy nature of the editors packets (especially the tossups). I'm certainly not going to defend the overall selection of answer choices as perfect - I r...
by felgon123
Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

To illustrate Evan's and Matt's claims here, I'd like to tell a personal story: I hope I can venture without controversy the claim that I am a pretty good literature player, perhaps even a very good one. As it happens, I don't study literature for quizbowl, and almost all of my buzzes come from read...
by felgon123
Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:04 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

I haven't seen this set, and didn't write any of the questions being complained about; but I can't resist a discussion of what is "beyond the pale" in 20th-century American lit questions! If I'm reading this discussion correctly, the view being expressed is that a tossup on Hemingway's &q...
by felgon123
Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110450

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Each topic had two pretty flipping hard tossups - My Brilliant Career and A High Toned Old Christian Woman in lit, Old Court/New Court and Guizot in history (I really don't think On-to-Ottawa or Sardis are that difficult at all), and Geostrophy and N.Crassa in science. The rub comes in the fact tha...
by felgon123
Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:13 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 CO Visual Arts
Replies: 131
Views: 73181

Re: 2015 CO Visual Arts

Matt Bollinger and I are playing this together. Also, I realize this is probably late in the writing game for Stephen, but 15% sculpture seems like a ton to me, especially when the huge category of architecture is being shaved down to 10%. As Aidan demonstrated with his architecture tournament, it's...
by felgon123
Mon Dec 22, 2014 1:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IRC Festivus 2014: Quentin Tarantino Edition
Replies: 74
Views: 37522

Re: IRC Festivus 2014: Quentin Tarantino Edition

This sounds fun; I am especially looking forward to the SpongeBob packet. I have a packet that has been on the burner for many months that I will read for this. It's a video games packet with a heavy focus on hard answers from hugely popular Nintendo games, mainly major franchises, mainly N64. It co...
by felgon123
Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open 2014: August 2
Replies: 57
Views: 33325

Re: VCU Open 2014: August 2

vcuEvan wrote:I was planning on playing the Texas tournament with John Lawrence, Matt Jackson, and Eric Mukherjee. Maybe there are other teams that have formed that haven't posted here as well.
This is indeed the case. I am playing with Matt Bollinger, JR Roach, and Juan Garavito.
by felgon123
Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

Announcements: 1. The packet deadline is tonight. If you have not yet submitted yours, hurry up! 2. We are capping the field now at thirty-seven players. 3. We have made some slight changes to the format so as to ensure we have enough readers through the whole tournament. We have enough to run the f...
by felgon123
Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:35 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Favorite Quizbowl Experiences
Replies: 77
Views: 68619

Re: Favorite Quizbowl Experiences

One of my favorite quizbowl moments that has stuck with me through the years occurred during Chicago Open 2009. (It seems this tournament was one of my most impressive individual performances of my high school career, a fact of which I was not aware until a few minutes ago.) After my team was done w...
by felgon123
Sun Apr 20, 2014 5:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57282

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

As usual, I want to pick an example to illustrate my point; and as usual, I'll try to pick an example that will piss off a vocal member of the community! I'm amused at the celerity with which I have risen to the dubious distinction of "vocal member of the community"! Actually, far from be...
by felgon123
Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57282

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

John, I think you misread several aspects of my post, and took it to be more hostile than I intended. When I returned to the thread I found that the response was basically to tell me to sit down and shut up; to remember that music questions used to be even worse years ago, so I should be grateful th...
by felgon123
Sat Apr 19, 2014 3:08 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

In case anyone misunderstood, I'd like to clarify that Evan, Matt, and I all plan on writing packets and playing. No one will be editing these questions. Because we will only have time for eight or nine rounds, each of which (with the exception of the seeding round) must be produced by a single writ...
by felgon123
Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

Having talked with Auroni and come to the agreement that anyone, even a gorilla, could run three tossups-only events in one day and still get to the airport on time, I am pleased to announce this guerilla literature tournament as the third Sunday event for Chicago Open weekend. This tournament, the ...
by felgon123
Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57282

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

Thanks to all the editors for putting together a great tournament, and thanks to our opponents for some great games. Some thoughts: First off, the literature was phenomenal. Ted and Auroni killed it. They certainly did ask about some difficult things I've never heard of, which is absolutely fair and...
by felgon123
Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:09 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2014 ICT: general discussion
Replies: 75
Views: 17894

Re: 2014 ICT: general discussion

I thought I was done posting in this thread, but I had forgotten how much Andrew enjoys misrepresenting everything I say. I understand that my posts, rare as they are, must be a real treat for him to set to work upon, so I won't begrudge him a reply. Put another way, I think your argument proceeds b...
by felgon123
Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2014 ICT: general discussion
Replies: 75
Views: 17894

Re: 2014 ICT: general discussion

Note: this is a shoddy reconstruction of a much more eloquent paragraph that was infuriatingly lost when I hit the "submit" button and was told to log in again. Final clarifications/thoughts: I agree with several things Eric has said. The tossups on scientists were generally not to my tast...
by felgon123
Thu Apr 03, 2014 2:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2014 ICT: general discussion
Replies: 75
Views: 17894

Re: 2014 ICT: general discussion

To be clear, I'm not basing my opinion on "this is a thing I've seen in packets," I'm basing it on the fact that Bethe has made regular appearances in the astronomy/physics classes I've taken, both in the context of nucleosynthesis and in the context of the development of QED (and no, I'm ...
by felgon123
Thu Apr 03, 2014 3:14 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2014 ICT: general discussion
Replies: 75
Views: 17894

Re: 2014 ICT: general discussion

I’m not one to post extensive breakdowns of individual questions, and I don’t have a copy of the set anyway, so I’ll mostly limit myself to general observations. By and large, I found the science in this set a bit frustrating. I’ll begin by appealing to the useful dichotomy drawn above between empir...
by felgon123
Thu May 02, 2013 2:43 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2013 Discussion
Replies: 129
Views: 36406

Re: ACF Nationals 2013 Discussion

I strongly agree with the post by Matt and the post by Eric (I'm not a scientist, but it was clear even to me that some of the biology questions were poorly written, so I appreciate your thorough review across all the categories). In general, I don't think it's too much to ask that for ACF Nationals...
by felgon123
Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:02 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform
Replies: 28
Views: 20582

Re: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform

That's a fine point, Mike, and I certainly don't have a problem with including the type of clues you prefer, as my questions should evidence. I just think it's important to mix in some audiovisual clues as well, often in conjunction with screenplay clues. For instance, I think really good clues can ...
by felgon123
Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:52 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fine arts/music
Replies: 117
Views: 44747

Re: Fine arts/music

Andrew, you keep responding to arguments I didn't make rather than the ones I did make. Put that quote back in context and you'll find it doesn't mean what your response implies it means. Also, my post explained exactly why it's not "incoherent" to treat film differently. I suggest you re-...
by felgon123
Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fine arts/music
Replies: 117
Views: 44747

Re: Fine arts/music

With all due respect, Andrew, this is a misrepresentation of my argument. I do not think that film should encompass both "film that we engage from an artistic standpoint" and "film that we engage from a pop culture standpoint." Rather, I think it should encompass "film that...
by felgon123
Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fine arts/music
Replies: 117
Views: 44747

Re: Fine arts/music

There is plenty of room in the distribution for serious tossups on important artists of any stripe in the "other academic" section. I do wonder if John's explanation, which I think is an excellent way of framing the issue, undermines Tommy's film arguments a bit. It seems strange to me to...
by felgon123
Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:21 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform
Replies: 28
Views: 20582

Re: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform

Ted, when I said that “virtually no one” has seen the films that do come up, I was specifically describing the quizbowl community, not the entire world. In that context, not only is my claim not “blatantly false,” but also I would go so far as to claim it is not false at all, because you and I (and ...
by felgon123
Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:18 am
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform
Replies: 28
Views: 20582

Re: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform

I appreciate the interesting sources you all recommended, which will, among other things, definitely help writers without much experience in film to get a general sense for the historical context and critical importance of potential answers. Mike, you provided some excellent examples of useful audio...
by felgon123
Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:54 am
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform
Replies: 28
Views: 20582

The New Oberhausen Manifesto: Film Question Reform

Introductory thoughts: The current state of the film distribution is abysmal. A bizarre taboo has been placed on almost all American film. You can name in a single breath all of the directors who come up with any semblance of regularity. Virtually no one has seen any of the films that do come up, wh...
by felgon123
Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:34 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC: Tournament Logistic Discussion (not the set)
Replies: 62
Views: 23248

Re: 2011 NSC: Tournament Logistic Discussion (not the set)

Just a few brief remarks: Firstly, I’d like to congratulate State College on yet another great performance. While I have neither the knowledge nor the desire to point fingers at anyone, I would like to say that I think it is a shame that this team, indisputably one of the best in high school quizbow...
by felgon123
Sun Dec 05, 2010 11:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 46
Views: 8553

Re: General Discussion

Will, if you could send me an email recommending a good way to modify the tossup on solids properly, that would be much appreciated. Also, for the record, there was no tossup on permittivity of free space. It was the answer to a hard part of a bonus.
by felgon123
Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:41 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVIII at Maggie Walker (12/4/10) - Seeking Mirrors
Replies: 68
Views: 42423

Re: NEW DATE: GSAC XVIII at Maggie Walker (12/4/10)

NEW INFORMATION: This tournament was written (I use past tense because it is already done) by members of the Maggie Walker team, namely JR Roach (history and geography) and myself (other stuff), and head edited by myself. The set consists of twelve packets, two of which are designated for the finals...
by felgon123
Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Finish your tournaments
Replies: 8
Views: 1550

Re: Finish your tournaments

Having been very disheartened reading this thread, I would like to ask if anyone else thought that I was accusing the community of any wrong-doing or trying to dictate how you reacted to my failure to complete a tournament, as that was certainly not my intent.
by felgon123
Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CaTO/TaCO Discussion
Replies: 84
Views: 13452

Re: CaTO/TaCO Discussion

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who played this tournament and put up with the somewhat wacky organization and limited number of games. A tremendous amount of thanks is owed to Shantanu Jha, who graciously contributed the majority of the visual arts distribution to the set and many philosop...
by felgon123
Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open Music August 8, 2009
Replies: 40
Views: 9576

Re: VCU Open Music August 8, 2009

Charlie, if it's any compensation, Cato Taco will have an above-average amount of music in it which I guarantee will be very high quality.
by felgon123
Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CaTO/TaCO at VCU August 9
Replies: 67
Views: 23097

Re: CaTO/TaCO at VCU August 9

Sorry for the confusion, John and Carsten. I grouped the free agents who did not form teams of their own into makeshift teams or added them to teams with open spots. Of course, everyone is welcome to change their team if they have a problem, just post it in the thread.
by felgon123
Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:42 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CaTO/TaCO at VCU August 9
Replies: 67
Views: 23097

Re: CaTO/TaCO at VCU August 9

Current Field: York / Carsten / Nathan / Zheng Caesar Rodney / St. Anselm Guy / White / Silberman / Cheyne Andy / Hannah / Rob / Bernadette Chris Carter / Charlie Rosenthal / Sarah Angelo / Lily Chen Charlie Dees / Phil George / Jason Loy / Trevor Davis Jonathan / Richard Mason Byrne / Graebner / Ev...
by felgon123
Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Tyrone Slothrop Lit Discussion
Replies: 25
Views: 8882

Re: Tyrone Slothrop Lit Discussion

First, I'll just clarify that I make no claim to be a good literature player or have any great knowledge of any field of literature. When writing a tournament of this difficulty, it is also very difficult to figure out what the people playing know, and my pretty-much universal response for "Why...