Monday, July 31, 2017

Final Jeopardy 7-31-2017

July 31, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

Americana

Final Jeopardy Clue:

It was constructed in the Paris foundry of Gaget, Gauthier & Co. from 1875 to 1884

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

The Statue of Liberty


Sunday, July 30, 2017

Super Sales on Super Heroes (2017) William D. Aurand

Super Sales on Super Heroes  (2017)   William D. Aurand



 I didn’t think I would like it.  Bought the audio book on a whim.  Amazingly found it pretty funny and enjoyed it not a little. 

There is one element that I find repellant and will describe that late in this review.

The basic premise is that the world is dominated by super heroes and villains  (with little separating them).  Our hero (Felix Campbell) is not much of one. The only “power”  he has is the ability to improve the things that he owns.  Unfortunately for him he does not have enough points to do anything with and these points reset every day.  He has saved up money to buy some metal in hopes to slowly convert it to gold but instead gets a mostly dead super hero.  He decides to keep the super hero and finds out since he “owns” it as a “slave” he gets to use their super hero points which are much higher than his. He gets the opportunity to buy two others that are equally damaged and uses their points to repair them.  Once this is done he goes on a hero / villain buying spree and develops an organization based on using his points and the powers of the group to create money and upgrade the “slaves” as rewards for services.    This group -  incorporated “We are Legion”  (see “We are Bob”) -  is on constant active from the Legion of Heroes.  Finally with his back against the wall Felix must his enemies himself to preserve his slaves and his way of life.

Lots of fun in here -  Andrea – who can multiply herself, is part wolf, and loves pancakes, Lily – the soul eating demon, and Kit – the mind reader are his chief companions and consultants in this venture.


My big problem with this book is the picture of the big-hearted slave owner.  I do not think they exist.  It trivializes the whole American nightmare that slave-holding brought over us.  I wish Aurand had found another conveyance such as indentured servant – which he does use.  Of course,  Felix is ultimately a villain (has the souls ripped out of his enemies before they are sent (still alive) to the sausage machine.  His slaves then eat the sausage to get increased power. Sounds like a villain to me. As long as the villains eventually loose or are sanctified and reborn. 

Friday, July 28, 2017

Final Jeopardy July 28, 2017

July 28, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

21st Century Thought

Final Jeopardy Clue:

The title subject of a 2007 bestseller, it was discovered in Australia where today it’s a state emblem

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:


Black Swan

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Final Jeopardy June 2017 Review


Final Jeopardy Category:

World Transportation

Final Jeopardy Clue
It traverses hundreds of bridges, the longest stretching 2 miles across the Amur River

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Trans-Siberian Railway


Final Jeopardy Category:

Oscars

Final Jeopardy Clue:

This man received 2 honorary Oscars in his career, & the actor who played him on film received a 1992 nomination for the role

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Charlie Chaplin


Final Jeopardy Category:

British Kings

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Bearing Roman numeral I, he subdued Wales & was called the “English Justinian” for his legal reforms

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Edward I


Final Jeopardy Category:

World War II Heroes

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Credited with saving thousands of lives before his disappearance, in 2016 he was officially declared dead by Sweden

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Raoul Wallenberg


Final Jeopardy Category:

Constellations

Final Jeopardy Clue:

The brightest star in Scorpius is named this, meaning “rival” of the god equivalent to Mars

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Antares


Final Jeopardy Category:

Geography

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Cross the Strait of Bonifacio & you go between the 2nd- & 4th-largest Mediterranean islands & between these 2 countries

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question

Italy and France


Final Jeopardy Category:

16th Century names

Final Jeopardy Clue:

In his 1557 almanac this French doctor predicted, “Immortal I shall be in life, and in death even more so”

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Nostradamus


Final Jeopardy Category:
Books and Authors

Final Jeopardy Clue:

His first novel, from 1920, incorporated some of his pieces from the Nassau, a Princeton literary magazine

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

F. Scott Fitzgerald



Final Jeopardy Category:

Recent Oscar Winners

Final Jeopardy Clue:

For his portrayal of a famous man born in the 1940s, he was the first actor born in the ’80s to win the Best Actor Oscar

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Eddie Redmayne



Final Jeopardy Category:

Classical Music

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Scholars think this 1810 piano piece was dedicated to Elisabeth Rockel or Therese Malfatti, a student of the composer

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Fur Elise


Final Jeopardy Category:

Airlines

Final Jeopardy Clue:

On June 17, 1929 this airline’s first passenger flight left Dallas, making stops at Shreveport, Monroe & Jackson


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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Delta


Final Jeopardy Category:

Shakespeare titles

Final Jeopardy Clue:

The verse from the Sermon on the Mount following “judge not, that ye be not judged” inspired this Bard comedy title


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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Measure for Measure


Final Jeopardy Category:

Sports and Politics

Final Jeopardy Clue:

After moving to Johannesburg in 1903, he formed the Passive Resisters Soccer Club


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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Mohandas Gandhi


Final Jeopardy Category:

Europe 1962

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Rudolf Abel & this American are most associated with Germany’s Glienicke Bridge on February 10, 1962


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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Gary Powers


Final Jeopardy Category:

1960 Books

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Wherever I sat… I would be sitting under the same glass this, the title of the author’s only novel

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

The Bell Jar


Final Jeopardy Category:

Oscars

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Later an Oscar winner, she appeared as the child baptized towards the end of “The Godfather”

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Sofia Coppola

Final Jeopardy Category:

Literary References

Final Jeopardy Clue:

An homage to a 1953 novel, this number appears as an error code when a user tries to access a web page with censored content

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

451

June 28, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

Entrepreneurs

Final Jeopardy Clue:

In the 1960s M.T. Lott was one of the fictitious names he used to buy 27,000 acres in Florida

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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Walt Disney

June 29, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

Nations of the World

Final Jeopardy Clue:

Its contiguous territory covers 36 degrees of latitude, the longest stretch of any country not in the top 10 in area


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Final Jeopardy Answer / Question:

Chile

June 30, 2017

Final Jeopardy Category:

Plants

Final Jeopardy Clue:


Made famous by a 1959 musical, the flower seen here graces a coin of this European country