Casing the joint: Jeopardy

Despite making the auditions, I must admit that I haven't watched much Jeopardy over the past few years. I've been spending most of my 7PM hours working out, or lately hanging with the family, not watching TV. Last night, I decided to watch it and see what I could learn for the upcoming tryout.

I need to wear a suit to the audition. There were two male contestants wearing suits last night: one with a tie, one without. Well, there's a trip to the dry cleaners for me in the near future.

I don't need THAT interesting a story for Alex to ask me between rounds. I had been a little nervous about the only paperwork they asked us to bring with us: five things that Alex might ask us about. One guy last night talked about how his dog saved his goldfish, and the other talked about moving from San Fran to Austin, when his girlfriend found a new job there. Yawn.

At least the woman had a good story. She skipped work to go to a Mariners game and was settling in with a beer, when her boss rolls into the row behind her.

Please post a comment if you can think of something more entertaining than that about me, that is APPROPRIATE for syndicated national television.

Here's my preliminary list:

• I got passed by Kermit the Frog in mile 24 of the Marine Corps Marathon.
  
• I have two broadsword scars.
  
• I wrote a poem a day for nearly three years.
  

The World Cup of BBQ

The last few weekends, it's been nice enough to fire up the Weber kettle grill that my brother and sister-in-law got me for Christmas. Our backyard is undergoing a full transformation. Jen's been working hard to get new flowers, grass and herbs growing.

We're intent on having many get togethers at our house this summer, so we're starting to brew up themes. I'm excited for the World Cup of soccer in July. I want to have a BBQ on the day of the final match honoring the two countries that make it. In the last cup, it would have been Brazil and Germany. That would have been something: brats and rodizio. Jen's rooting for Argentina, for chimichurri. The possibilities are endless. USA v. South Korea? Pulled pork v. bulgogi! Spain v. Iran? Chorizo v. lamb kabobs. Man, this is going to be great. Granted, I love the Dutch team, but I wouldn't have a clue what to make.

Who passed the online tryout for Jeopardy, Alex?

A few weeks ago, I took the Jeopardy online audition. I had to bring my laptop home from work, as the test ran on Windows only. Jen was in class and Jasper and I were hanging out. The J-Dawg was very patient as his daddy went about taking the 50 question test. It only took me 8 minutes, so he was able to entertain himself for the duration. There was only one question that I knew I was guessing on, and it turns out I was wrong. I'm not great on my knowledge of Roman emperors, you know.

I didn't know if I would make it. In a city as big as Boston there might be plenty of people who got 50 out of 50. So a few weeks go by until last night, when an email arrives from the Jeopardy Contestant Department, asking me to RSVP for physical tryout in Boston in the beginning of May. I'm past hurdle number 1.

I've always wondered what Alex Trebek says when he answers the phone at home and it's a wrong number. "Oooooh. So sorry. The correct phone number is 555-1213. Three."