The Quizbowl Resource Center

fleurdelivre

I accept, having heard you and Matt express this belief, that "Girl" is in fact not as famous as I thought it was (I genuinely did believe it to be her most famous work, but that was unduely influenced, I guess, by the relative amounts of attention we gave her works in class in high schoo...

fleurdelivre

Let me make a suggestion to tournament directors: if you don't actually plan to start at the advertised times, then don't ask us to show up then. I'd much rather be sleeping than hanging out and twiddling my thumbs, waiting for things to start. Also, please show up well in advance of the advertised...

fleurdelivre

I don't have any real criticism of the answer space or question content - I tend not to process these things very effectively when reading - but with commas in place of other punctuation in unexpected places and the occasional four-line-long sentence, this was the first tournament from which I've ev...

fleurdelivre

(2) This can be true. If Matt or someone else at the hotel can drive you, that's fine, but I believe it's only a few miles away from ours, so no worries. [edit to add:] Someone else driving you would be highly recommended if it does turn out that Katy is staying with either us or you unless someone...

fleurdelivre

And quite a few people at ACF Fall got Midnight's Children off a lead-in about Aadam Aziz hitting his nose while praying. It turned out to be a more memorable anecdote than the author had guessed, but then again, it still got answered (albeit immediately) by people who had read the book - so long as...

fleurdelivre

I just found out an old friend will be coming to NYC that week, so I'm almost certainly not coming.

fleurdelivre

DumbJaques wrote:On the other hand, think of the wonders running a tournament from another continent would do for your street cred.

With a good internet connection, it really wouldn't be that hard.

fleurdelivre

If you manage to pull off a three-part bonus with a genuine easy, middle, and hard part that tested something important and academic that involved tasting something, then I will give you one hundred very real American dollars. Paging Susan... (note: I'm also not sure this can be done, but I'm incli...

fleurdelivre

More generally: we don't really see the point in turning qualified teams that have expressed interest away from HSNCT. If such a team is in fact "so demoralized by the questions that they'd turn to bad quizbowl," they would probably turn to bad quizbowl anyway if we told them they weren't...

fleurdelivre

I don't know what the question was on specifically, as I did not play the set (and I wrote only one last-second math question), but UN resolution 242 is without a doubt the most frequently invoked and studied UN resolution. A class on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict I took spent an entire ...

fleurdelivre

To be fair, this seemed to happen with a contingent of Kentucky teams at NSC. Well, yeah. You're good in your immediate area (because nobody's really that good in your immediate area), and you went to one regional tournament and got completely whipped by the one genuinely competitive team in the ar...

fleurdelivre

If you manage to pull off a three-part bonus with a genuine easy, middle, and hard part that tested something important and academic that involved tasting something, then I will give you one hundred very real American dollars. Paging Susan... (note: I'm also not sure this can be done, but I'm incli...

fleurdelivre

As much as I hate to say it, a team from El Paso in my room for Round 13 of HSNCT said the same thing. They'd been losing, mostly badly, over the course of the day, and felt exhausted at the quantity of stuff coming at them full-speed, it seemed. They were still a friendly bunch, but it seemed their...

fleurdelivre

There is now an official Boston/New York caravan coming via the Chinatown bus - email me (kathryn dot e dot peters at gmail) if you'd like to coordinate travel plans with us.

Chris, I trust there's still a spot for a freelance moderator?

fleurdelivre

One more note: "Carat" shouldn't have been acceptable for "circumflex". Especially not at HSNCT, and definitely not if the question was being characterized as linguistics. I'm not blaming the linguistics guy (I thought his questions were fine), but accepting "carat" wo...

fleurdelivre

I've found a consistent 0/1 or 1/0 "geography of the Missouri bootheel" distribution That's 2/2 "mentions the Missouri Bootheel" over five years of tournaments, which might be one question too many but I don't think is ridiculously excessive. Furthermore, these four questions we...

fleurdelivre

Eh, I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. I mean, Chicago comes up a lot in all sorts of disciplines and it wasn't like there were tossups on individual Chicago landmarks or stuff. Also, I was amused that all four of Detroit's sports teams were answers either as a tossup or a bonus part. Yea...

fleurdelivre

jonpin wrote:True. Another place of explicit contradiction is that NAQT specifically prompts on Andrew Lloyd Webber and ACF specifically rejects Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

How is only a partial name/title promptable? Webber simply isn't correct in this case.

fleurdelivre

Given this tournament was run with a flash drive, an iPhone, and post-it notes, I hereby christen Bryce and Katy the MacGyvers of quiz bowl. I was kind of hoping a buzzer system would break down to see what they might rig up to replace it. Maybe something with some room towels, a telephone cord, a ...

fleurdelivre

I find it somewhat strange that, given that NAQT always has to bring in boatloads of staff and at least 80-90% of these people are or were competent college players, there were people that did not know whether NAQT had bouncebacks, nor did they understand what the procedure for proper protest resol...

fleurdelivre

ihavenoidea wrote:No love (read: hate) for Pure Pwnage?

I had forgotten that one, too. (note: the fact that this the running for "worst trash tossup" has such an open, competitive field...? point made.)

fleurdelivre

Also, wasn't it in packet... 18 or later? A playoff packet? I'm nearly certain it wasn't. Specifically, I'm nearly certain that it was in a packet between seven and fifteen, inclusive, because I remember being in the room I was in on Saturday for it, and I was doing stats for the morning. edit: Not...

fleurdelivre

HKirsch wrote:
DumbJaques wrote:Was there really a tossup on Keyboard Cat at this tournament?
Yeah, this was beyond ridiculous. I can't decide if this, spiderwebs, or purring wins the Worst Question sash.

Sea World, people - Sea World.

fleurdelivre

I'd like to hear more about this. Since I was off moderating in my own room, I have a very poor idea of what went on everywhere else on Saturday. All I get is a few coaches complimenting me on my reading without citing a counterexample. While it doesn't shock me that the volunteers vary in their de...

fleurdelivre

fleurdelivre wrote:
ClemsonQB wrote:
fleurdelivre wrote:I have five packets in my inbox and the keys to 2403, 2422, and 2424. Meet in 2403 around 8? Spread the word.

I think I sent six packets.
My bad. 6!

Maker start time 10- everyone wants dinner.

fleurdelivre

ClemsonQB wrote:
fleurdelivre wrote:I have five packets in my inbox and the keys to 2403, 2422, and 2424. Meet in 2403 around 8? Spread the word, and email me (kathyn dot e dot peters at gmail) if you're still tied up with official duties at that time.
I think I sent six packets.

My bad. 6!

fleurdelivre

I have five packets in my inbox and the keys to 2403, 2422, and 2424. Meet in 2403 around 8? Spread the word, and email me (kathyn dot e dot peters at gmail) if you're still tied up with official duties at that time.

fleurdelivre

Since the nebulous Meigs packet may or may not have arrived, I am willing to cut loose from that team and serve as moderator if for some strange reason more moderators are needed (I count Katy, Jeff, and Auroni as definite moderators). I am also willing to go the Brian Young route and input stats w...

fleurdelivre

I certainly did not kill my argument. How can we say that Charter was better than Booker T? They lost! On questions that variously… punish deep knowledge and "hose" you if you buzz in early are so obvious that everybody knows the answer and whoever hits the buzzer first wins aren't about ...

fleurdelivre

Its looking like we'll have 5 submitted packets, an editors packet and a finals packet. Which means seven teams (Hoppes/Luo, Bentley/Cohen/Wellstead, Hart/Byrne/Eppler/Cheyne, Simons/Sorice, Chiego, and I guess two teams of lazy people). I see both Bryce and Katy have said they will TD; which one o...

fleurdelivre

Thanks, all. I'll put the three of you down as moderating. If we have more staff, we can always put people to use scorekeeping or filling out short-handed teams. As for where to show up: we'll be taking over three random rooms somewhere in the Hyatt, probably just rooms set up for scrimmages after ...

fleurdelivre

Tegan wrote:
Cheynem wrote:3. Losing a game to a New York-based team on a geography/current events question about New York.
Remember, these questions are written months in advance ...

I thought of this post when reading a question on California to Rancho Bernardo and then one on Georgia to Brookwood at NSC...

fleurdelivre

everyday847 wrote: CUBS fan preferred

how could you?

fleurdelivre

Random odd question: will a netbook count as a laptop? Do we have enough experience with these things? I certainly also have concerns about being able to secure the laptop at tournaments, but netbooks are smaller and even easier to walk away with. They'd also be even less fun to try split-screening...

fleurdelivre

Not just one-- three laptops were stolen out of classrooms during lunch. Needless to say, we tell mods to bring their laptops back to HQ during breaks now... I figured this sort of common sense would prevail. If you're not gonna take it with you during lunch, take it to the staff room. The statpers...

fleurdelivre

Katy, mind if we use you name in vain/ on a rental contract? perhaps? I'd look at the weekend cost of car rental + gas + tolls vs. everybody chinatown-ing it first, but if it's the better solution, I certainly don't mind helping out... I also have much experience roadtripping and would prefer not t...

fleurdelivre

I have finally been granted permission to come to this, if someone doesn't mind a not-especially-good fourth who can maybe pick up some humanities here and there. If it's too late for me to help out with someone's packet, I'll be content to just come and staff. Also, Katy, can I still room with you...

fleurdelivre

HKirsch wrote: You would also like to join in a Northeast caravan?

Count me in? (I think we're coming up on needing two vehicles here; does anyone yet mentioned have a car??)

fleurdelivre

myamphigory wrote:Hey, if you want some help with figuring out the local dining options, let me know, because that is a thing I do.

and seeing as this is actually a place I know, I'll volunteer to assist.

fleurdelivre

I always defer to packet-writers requesting to guest read on byes. Only once have I regretted it (and in that match, subbed in another guest reader at the half). I don't always know who's a good reader or not, but it's generally worth trusting people to be self-aware about their abilities than being...

fleurdelivre

The dog is named Milou, not Snowy! Anyway, that's awesome, even if it uses the translations.

fleurdelivre

Tintin was a great idea for a tossup I missed a question on Tintin? :( One time, I was in a taxi in Amman late at night with a friend and the driver started talking about how he had driven Americans just the week before and they were Muslims and "zunuj." I didn't know the word "zunuj...

fleurdelivre

Whig's Boson wrote:What stop on the St. Louis metro is "downtown"

My instinct would be to say Union Station, but when Andy says "downtown," he seems to mean "the riverfront-Laclede's Landing" instead - which is apparently called Laclede's Landing/Arch by the MetroLink system.

fleurdelivre

The multithreading question had a complete give away at the very end of it for anyone that knows about it. The multithreading question had a giveaway so spelled-out that I couldn't bring myself to believe it. In the one round I played (as "Louisville"), I heard this one and planned to gue...

fleurdelivre

evilmonkey wrote:After the eye-opening experience of last year's CO, I realized that I need another couple of years before I can compete on that level. So I will staff.

As a 10ppg player at much lower levels, I'll say that staffing is also great fun. Enjoy!

fleurdelivre

The Quest for the Historical Mukherjesus wrote:I'd have staffed, but I have to graduate instead.

gah, graduation is a glorified photo-op. skip it!

fleurdelivre

I don't care what rank someone holds in NAQT; if I have a protest on a history question, I'd want to hear from someone who understands how quizbowl works and knows something about the historical topic, who NAQT has designated to handle history-related protests for those reasons and not because of h...

fleurdelivre

will staff (and freewheel map-create, too).

fleurdelivre

Driving through Boston with Jerry and Eric and getting stuck when a bus inexplicably stopped in front of us on a highway ramp is pretty much my best qb memory ever, so I recommend one carefully considers such drastic action. To provide additional support, driving through Boston/Waltham with Jerry ,...

fleurdelivre

myamphigory wrote:
fleurdelivre wrote:
myamphigory wrote:Sounds like it's Bolt Bus time!
No, no no - Fung Wah all the way!
But is there wireless on the Fung Wah?

No, but it's generally cheaper and doesn't sell out three days in advance, either. I don't like schedules very much, so that wins my loyalty.

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