Audio Round: Themes from TV Shows

1. Entertainment Tonight
2. Charlie's Angels
3. Taxi
4. Smallville
5. Unsolved Mysteries
6. Doogie Howser
7. Scrubs
8. Battlestar Gallactica

Again... links coming.. really...

Spam Spam Spam Spam

• The epicenter of the Spam universe is Austin, Minnesota, home of a spam factory and a remarkable museum dedicated to the town’s most famous product. Spam has such a worldwide following that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia—to whom Rastafarians would dedicate many a song—once toured the plant.

• Hormel invented Spam in 1937 and still makes it today. At first, the product had a less-than-charismatic name: “Hormel Spiced Ham.”

• If you think there’s just one flavor of Spam, you’re missing out on a world of flavor. There is also hickory-smoked Spam, hot and spicy Spam, garlic Spam, and—for the dieting Spam-lovers among us —“light” Spam. There’s even a collector’s edition Spam Golden Honey Grail.

• Hormel sponsors an annual recipe contest called the “Great American Spam Championship,” with cooks developing new recipes for this product. Some of the 2006 winners state by state: philly cheesesteak spamwich with garlic mayo (California), a-spam-agus risotto (Alabama), and a “romantic country salad for two” with pecan-crusted spam and sweet-and-sour dressing (Tennessee). Extra points, it seems, are given for creative puns.

• Speaking of puns, author Tamar Myers has developed a series of punny murder-mysteries that feature recipes (The Crepes of Wrath, Between a Wok and a Hard Place, The Hand that Rocks the Ladle). The 2005 installment in her series: Play It Again, Spam.

• In South Korea, Spam is considered an appropriate gift for a guest to give a host or vice versa—which beats the hell out of trying to choose a bottle of wine, doesn’t it? In fact, Costco carries a Spam gift pack that will make a perfect holiday gift.

• Hawaii consumes about 7 million cans of Spam per year, which comes out to 5 or 6 cans for every man, woman and child. That’s a lot of sodium and gelatinous fat, which in turn is thought to contribute to Hawaii’s obesity problem. One very popular snack item is the Spam musubi, as shown on the front of this collector’s Spam can…

• It’s a traditional Japanese rice ball with a slice of Spam on top, wrapped in a belt of seaweed to keep that sodium-laden delicacy safely attached – a SEAtbelt, if you will.

• Since 1997, Hormel has sponsored the Waikiki Spam Jam, where it crowns a Mr. or Miss Spam! The 2006 Mr. Spam, a Mr. Wade Balidoy, won a PlayStation and a year’s supply of a certain canned meat product.

• Spam is so popular in some communities that it’s infiltrated big chain restaurants. The McDonald’s breakfast platter in Hawaii includes Spam. In San Francisco’s Japan Town, Denny’s serves a breakfast combo with Spam, two eggs, steamed rice, and kimchee. You can also substitute Vienna sausages for the Spam – or probably negotiate with the waitress to have both.

Go Go Rock Bottom!

Dad's Buying the Beer (260 points)
John McCain Border Geography Class (233)
Gold Metal Smog (222)
Bad Horses (217)
Books, Geography and Sports or We Will Key Your Scion (213)
Racing Presidents
Jason's Hair... um????
The Equal Opportunity Pimpin' Gangsta Drive-Bys From the Hood
Just the Three Of Us / Number 16 Bus Shelter (Tie)
We're Here For the Wings
Polo da Dawns
Flaming Bag of Poop and the Human Response
Nick and the Ladies
A Game I Like to Call Just Tip Your Servers
Bobby and Annie

Question of the Week / 100th Post!

Here is your question of the week:

(Lyrically Speaking) The Beatles had twenty U.S. number one hits, but what Beatles song has the word “twenty” in its first line?


Also,starting sometime in August, trivia at Rock Bottom will be moving to Tuesdays due to Football. The only thing that will interrupt Tuesday night trivia is the occasional beer tapping festivities that are done every several months. I'll let you know when the date change happens.

Even More Wine Lingo

Appellation - where the grapes were grown and the wine produced. The appellation is especially important in French wines that are known by place names and rarely list grape varieties.

Cru - French term denoting a vineyard or estate of exceptional merit. The concept of cru is especially important for Burgundy and Champagne, where the best vineyards are labeled premier cru and grand cru.

Cuvée - blend; a wine labeled “cuvée” is a blend of many different base wines, which may themselves be blends.

Meritage - marketing term developed to describe California Cabernet Sauvignon blends that are modeled after the great reds of Bordeaux.

Reserve - should be used by a winemaker only to designate his best product, but you’ll see the term slapped on the labels of cheap, mass-produced wines.

Vintage - denotes the year the grapes were harvested and the wine made. Most wines state a vintage year on the label, but there are also nonvintage (NV) wines, which are blends of wines from several years.
Tasting terms

The following words are used to describe how wine tastes.

Acidity - the tartness of a wine. A wine can be described as crisp or soft, depending on the amount of acidity. High-acidity wines might be described as crisp or racy, while those with low acidity are called soft, and wines too little acidity are often described as flat. In addition to balancing and enlivening wine’s flavor, acidity is a key element in successful food-and-wine pairing. Generally, the most food-friendly wines have moderate alcohol balanced by crisp acidity.

Balance - the harmony (or lack thereof) among all the elements in a wine. A balanced wine is a seamless progression of fruit, acids, alcohol, and tannins, with nothing too prominent.

Body - how weighty a wine feels in the mouth. Wines that feel heavy and rich are full-bodied (the word “big” is often used to describe these types of wines). Feathery wines with little weight are light-bodied. Medium-bodied wines fall in between.

Complexity - the aromas and flavors in a wine and how they interact with each other. The more layers of flavor and aroma, the more complex the wine and the higher its quality.

Finish - a wine’s aftertaste, be it fruit, acidity, oak, or tannins. Generally, the longer the flavor lasts after you swallow, the better quality the wine. However, there are also bad wines with regrettably long finishes.

Legs - the trickles of wine that run down the inside of a glass after you swirl it. The legs are clues to how much alcohol or residual sugar the wine contains; thicker, slower legs indicate a wine with more alcohol or residual sugar.

Sweetness - refers to the presence or lack of sugar in wine. Wines range from bone dry, with no residual sugar, all the way to dessert sweet in style. Off-dry wines have just a hint of sweetness. Most table wines are dry to off-dry.

Tannins - come from the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes and also from the barrels, are usually found in red wine. Tannins taste bitter and make your palate feel fuzzy, velvety, puckery, or even dry if there’s a good deal of tannin. Wines high in tannins are often described as firm or chewy, and those without a lot of tannins are called soft or supple.

Mean Popitipop

The mean center of U.S. population is determined by the United States Census Bureau after tabulating the results of each census. The Bureau defines it to be:

"the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census."

During the 20th century, the mean center of population has shifted 324 miles (521 km) west and 101 miles (163 km) south. The southerly movement was much stronger during the second half of the century; 79 miles (127 km) of the 101 miles (163 km) happened between 1950 and 2000.

The following counties included the mean center of U.S. population since 1790:
* 1790: Kent County, Maryland
* 1800: Howard County, Maryland
* 1810: Loudoun County, Virginia
* 1820: Hardy County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1830: Grant County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1840: Upshur County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1850: Wirt County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1860: Pike County, Ohio
* 1870: Highland County, Ohio
* 1880: Boone County, Kentucky
* 1890: Decatur County, Indiana
* 1900: Bartholomew County, Indiana
* 1910: Monroe County, Indiana
* 1920: Owen County, Indiana
* 1930: Greene County, Indiana
* 1940: Sullivan County, Indiana
* 1950: Clay County, Illinois
* 1960: Clinton County, Illinois
* 1970: St. Clair County, Illinois
* 1980: Jefferson County, Missouri
* 1990: Crawford County, Missouri
* 2000: Phelps County, Missouri

Although the mean population centers between 1820 and 1860 were located in what is present day West Virginia, at the time they were located in Virginia (with West Virginia not having split from Virginia until 1862).

Recently, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity in Massachusetts declared that the world's Christian Center of Gravity was located in Timbuktu, Mali. According to their definition of Center of Gravity, half of all Christians live west of Timbuktu and half live south of Timbuktu. Presumably they had chosen the International Date Line to differentiate eastern from western people.

More information at Wiki

No Covers? No Way!!

A. Baby Got Back – Sir Mix a lot
B. When the Going Gets Tough – Billy Ocean
C. Ghostbusters – Ray Parker JR
D. On My Own – Patti Labelle/Michael McDonald
E. Breath Stop – Q-Tip
F. Genius of Love – Tom Tom Club
G. How Soon is Now – The Smiths
H. Walk on the Ocean – Toad
I. Can't Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon
J. Idiot Boyfriend – Jimmy Fallon

...links coming soon...

JR's Scores

Buff and Blue Balls (325 points)
Joey's Boyz (311)
Dorothy's Dead Mother (309)
Racing Presidents (301)
Obvi Were Phenom and Your Just Jeal (219)
Major
New Orleans
Lindsay's Uncut Cock and Balls

na, na, na, na, Batman!

So The Dark Knight is kicking @ss and taking names at the box office. In hour, lets have some trivia about the campy TV series that started it all...

* The Batmobile was a customized 1955 Lincoln Futura, which had been used in the film It Started with a Kiss (1959).

* The Batcave set was built on the exact spot where the Skull Island Gate was located in the original King Kong (1933).

* The show aired from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968 on ABC for 120 episodes. It was one of few TV series to be seen on 2 different nights a week: 7:30 Wednesdays AND Thursdays. The episodes were generally two-parters: Wednesday's episode was a cliffhanger, resolved in Thursday's episode.

* Some of the 1966-7 episodes paired super criminals with one another, following in the pattern of the theatrically released version of the series, Batman (1966), which featured The Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler and The Penguin.

* When playing The Joker, Cesar Romero painted over his mustache rather than shave it off.

* Burgess Meredith's role as The Penguin was one of the more popular guest roles, so much so that the producers actually had a script ready for him whenever he was in Los Angeles.

* The Shakespeare bust used to slide open the bookcase and expose the batpoles had an electric switch that couldn't open the bookcase but it did turn on a light behind the set to signal the crew to slide it open.
* In all the scenes of the villains' hideouts, the camera filmed at an angle, almost "crooked" (the shot is known as "canted"). This was because all the villains were also crooked.

* Aunt Harriet was written into the series to counter the rumors that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were gay. The producers felt that a female aunt would "round out" Wayne Manor.

* A Total of 352 "Holy" words were used by Robin from "Holy Agility" to "Holy Zorro".

* The National Safety Council brought up the safety issue in the Batmobile. They wanted to know why the Batmobile was not fitted with seat belts. The producers answered that question by having Batman and Robin "buckling up" before they tore out of the Batcave.

* Each main villain had their own theme music.

* Anne Baxter appeared as two different villians. The first one was the female magician Zelda, but her more famous appearance was as Egghead's paramour Olga, Queen of the Cossacks.

* When the series premiered, Alfred had been "killed off" a few years earlier in the comic book series. However, when the producers announced that they intended to make Alfred a regular character, he was brought back to life in the comic book as well.

* 84 different word overlays were used during the fight scenes from "Bam" to "Kapow".

* The first show to hold two spots in the weekly Neilsen ratings every week, a feat not duplicated until "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1999/I) over 30 years later.

* The Riddler was just a minor and forgettable villain in the comics. This series is responsible for turning him into one of the most popular villains in Batman's rogues gallery.

* This was one of the "in" shows to appear on if you were a big name in Hollywood, and many top names guested on the show, including many who didn't do much TV otherwise. Those performers who weren't cast as guest villains could frequently be seen popping their heads out of windows to exchange a few words with Batman and Robin when the latter would be climbing up a building wall.

* Of all the villains portrayed on the television series, Mr. Freeze had the most actors portraying him: George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Catwoman had three actresses as well -- Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and Lee Meriwether (in the movie version).

* Batman creator Bob Kane noted that this series saved the Batman comic series from cancellation when the show revived the character's popularity. Despite this, most comic fans despised this series for stereotyping superheroes and comics as campy nonsense.

Rock Bottom Champions... Minds in the Gutter!

Uncle Rabbit's Lap (330 points)
Boner Marrow Transplant (304)
I Hope I Didn't Get Salmonella from the Nachos (263)
Drink the Beer (260)
Tina Turner Overdrive and the Derby Destruction (248)
Vern Troyer Videograpy
Beer Today Gone Tomorrow
Triple Entry's Beginner’s Bag
Chris Blast - Shockingly in the middle ages
Jorts
Powder Worthy
Hermaphrodite Barbie: Comes in Her Own Box
Admiral Akbar and the Traps
Fingerbang / Team Charles We Miss You (Tie)
Team Green
Captain Fun Returns