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Archive for March, 2013

back from Jeopardy! Audition

March 9th, 2013 at 05:43 pm

or "Buster Brains and Brain Busters"

I feel the audition went well. Nobody knows right then if they got on the show. We all did "really well" on the written test, according to the Jeopardy! staff. I think I got up to eight wrong in every test, probably still passing. We're given eight seconds to write our answers, not in the form of a question. Now I know what I suck at and need to study.

Wikipedia has a good description of what goes on in the

Text is audition process and Link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy!
audition process

The staffers, I'll call 'em "Brain Busters" for they drive around in the "Brain Bus", warmed us up, had a question and answer session, made some Sean Connery references.

42 people at each session, three sessions a day, three sessions a week at one city. Twelve cities. Four hundred slots in the next taping year. This means I have a lesser chance at being on the show as a Canadian has at becoming Pope, and a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup this year.

The hardest thing was coming up with five interesting things about myself. What I perceived as being difficult before I undertook it was the mock Jeopardy! play in front of the fellow aspiring contestants, with two other competitors. I buzzed in three times, all with correct answers. The competitors in each set all got to respond at least once. When they all blanked, the "peanut gallery" invariably came up with the correct response.


My favourite restaurant hands down in Cottage Grove, Oregon: Buster's Main Street Cafe. More Buster memorabilia inside!


Where is Brown? There is Brown! Mr. Brown lives in this town! (Seriously this is the Capitol building.) The governor's mansion is around somewhere, but we didn't look for it.

Temple Coffee in Sacramento is the best coffee in the country, but mind you I have never had coffee in the East Coast, nor in Alaska or Hawaii.

In-n-Out burgers are yummy, and the buns are superior to what you'd find at Wendy's or Burger King, but the fries were not all that. I need to try Black Bear Diner next time.

We fell in love with WinCo Foods in Medford. Easy walking distance from our motel, cheap cheap groceries in an EMPLOYEE-OWNED supermarket.

If the Jeopardy! people do call I have two-three weeks' notice. I would fly there and back. If the unlikely happens and I win more than five games, I would commute by air and make sure I smell fresh for the TSA Grope Patrol.


My secret weapon: "Potent" Potable capsicum & dill Brainalizer (alcohol-free, but loaded with stimulants), which I have not seen for over eleven years. Available next to Buster's, in the Bottle Shoppe. The Bottle Shoppe proprietor was super friendly and knowledgeable about "The General" filming. The best part of travel is lucking into friendly and knowledgeable locals who are unofficial ambassadors for their towns.

How we saved money:
1. Took the Prius. 45 mpg. Only four fill-ups in a 1500-mile jaunt.
2. Nibbled on Trader Joe's snacks on the way back after a huge breakfast at Rooster's in Medford. We went to Buttercream in Medford on the way to CA.
3. Used DH's Choice Privileges for reduced rates at motels.
4. Ate at cheap and cheerful diners with the exception of ten22 in Old Sacramento, which is reasonable yet wholesome and fancy by Seattle standards. Recommended!
5. Walked everywhere in Sacramento.
6. I had water everywhere, except for in the accommodations, where I had some Blood Orange San Pellegrino, frugally purchased for $2.99 a sixpack.