Hatrack River Forum: It's my day to waste how I want (was 'sndrake-centered quiz')

This is topic It's my day to waste how I want (was 'sndrake-centered quiz') in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=019703

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Yes, more attention-seeking behavior.

But there really is a quiz. I want to know if anyone can tell me what the following have in common:

President John F. Kennedy
Doctor Who
Man of La Mancha
Jack Kevorkian

Lastly, what one thing do they all have in common with me ?

Couple of hints - the common element isn't subjective (e.g. "my favorite president," "least favorite pathologist," etc.). It's objective and not dependent on knowing anything about me - except for the last bit, of course. [Smile]

Now you might get lucky and figure out one or two and guess - so no one wins this quiz unless they can be specific about the how and why of the commonality.

Except for the last one - me. That might be very hard to get at, unless you're good at searching google newsgroup records and know an email address I haven't used in years.

Is Kayla always the first one to win in these kinds of things?

Please - have fun. Feed my ego by playing or crush it by ignoring the thread. [Wink]

[ November 22, 2003, 02:02 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

Wild guess here --

Same middle name?

Farmgirl

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

They all have a Y chromosome.

Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :

No, same middle name is what Winnie the Pooh and Jack the Ripper have in common. My wild guess? Both assassinated? And they were all your idol at one time or another?

Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :

quote:
They all have a Y chromosome.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Farmgirl,

nice try - but we don't even know "the Doctor's" real name. This is solveable, but it will take some digging.

Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :

They all would be considered crazy by their detractors? [Wink]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

Birthdays.

And, happy birthday Sndrake.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Julie - see my previous reply and see my note on subjectivity.

As to the Y chromosome - The Doctor is Gallifreyan, so we have no clue about his chromosomes.

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

The all have a title.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Dan_raven,

the common element is not birthdays.

Try some research folks...

[Razz]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Rabbit,

that's true, but there's something more unusual and specific they have in common...

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Ludosti:

[Big Grin]

I think I need to remind everyone that "Man of La Mancha" is a play.

Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :

Research, I might as well do my homework. Or study for that quiz I have tomorrow. Or clean my room. Research it is. [Wink]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

They have all been televised.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Dan-raven,

that's technically correct - if you count waiting for a few years for the Man of La Mancha motion picture to make it to the small screen. That alone could disqualify it since it wasn't filmed as television - it was filmed as a motion picture.

I limited my list for a reason...

I admit to it being incomplete, though. I could have thrown in one dead ex French president in the list...

Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :

They have all been the subject of books?

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

ludosti,

thus far, I've only merited significant space in some chapters in two books that I know of. My favorite of the two is The Call of Conscience - Heidegger and Levinas, Rhetoric and the Euthanasia Debate.

But I have not gotten my own book yet. [Grumble]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

My misunderstanding. I misread: "Based on I, Don Quixote, a television play by librettist Dale Wasserman, Man of La Mancha ..."

So, perhaps, you are the basis of a theatrical work?

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Nope.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Dan_raven,

since you're actually trying to look, I'll throw you a bone. The relevant information relating to "Man of La Mancha" is on the page you put a link to. Once you figure out which piece of information is relevant, the rest should be easy. [Smile]

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

They are all creations from the mind of Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra?

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Saxon,

You are deeply weird. I mean that in a good way.
[Smile]

(Trying to avoid the existential trauma of seriously considering being a creation of a dead Spaniard's mind.) [Angst]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

All have had dish-rags tossed at them? [Dont Know]

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

Wait, wait... The main character of Man of La Mancha is Don Quixote, but his sidekick's name is Sancho. And Sancho is MyrddinFyre, right? Let's see, what else? Kennedy was from the East Coast, and Myr is from the East Coast (I think...). I know there's a connection here somewhere...

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

I'd imagine Jack Kennedy had a dishrag or worse thrown at him by Jackie a time or two... [Smile]

As to me and what's been thrown and by whom...
I plead the fifth.

But no.

BTW, Rivka, I got your mail - thanks! It arrived the same day as my check from the Times.

Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :

well, kennedy was assassinated on november 22, jack kevorkian assisting a suicide was aired on 60 minutes on november 22, man of la mancha opened on november 22, and according to findagrave.com, paul erickson, who wrote a doctor who episode died on november 22.

Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :

Do you only have a week to live?!?!

Posted by Sancho (Member # 4844) on :

Myr is not Sancho.

Neither is Scott Baio Sancho.

I...am Sancho.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

LOL! sndrake, was this all an elaborate ruse to tell us your birthday is this Saturday!? [ROFL]

Glad the clipping made it. [Smile]

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

Are you the Sancho that Bradley Nowell was singing about in "Santeria"?

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Rappin Ronnie - you're good! 3 out of 4!

The Doctor Who connection is much more direct.

The reason for the confusion there is that Doctor Who's premiere was delayed by one day. It's scheduled premiere was different than the day it actually ended up airing.

Rappin Ronnie - you're almost there. Can you figure out why the broadcast was delayed?

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

quote:
The first episode was delayed while news was broadcast of JFK's assassination. History was made, twice in one day.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

[Hat]

to Rappin Ronnie and to Kayla for finishing the job!

Rivka, yes - this was an absolutely nonsensical shameless attention-seeking way of saying my birthday is Saturday! And I am going to take the whole weekend off from work - the first time in months!

I'll be on Hatrack, though - count on it.

One more bit of November 22 trivia - it falls on Thanksgiving when November begins on a Thursday.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

*giggles* Well, an early happy birthday, then. And enjoy the time off!

[The Wave]

Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :

They all had relationships with with a lot of women.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Storm,

that's true of JFK
It's true of Doctor Who - some definitely platonic with others open to question.
Kevorkian - basic loner - most of his relationships with women ended up with them being dead.
Man of La Mancha is a play, dagnabit.

Me - quite a few platonic relationships with women. Very few of the other kind with women.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

To be honest, there are personal connections/associations with everything on the list as well.

JFK was assassinated on my eighth birthday. I remember it as the day the world changed. There was blood all over the TV that day and it never seemed to stop after that.

My mom and dad took me to see Man of La Mancha when it was touring as a birthday present when I was ten. It made a big impression.

I discovered Doctor Who in the late 1970s. I was an avid fan - to the point of being a self-avowed Whovian in Denver. My house was the meeting place for over a year when Doctor Who aired every Sunday morning - Coffee, Doughnuts and the Doctor.

Thanks to the nature of my work, and the ratings greed of 60 Minutes producers, I didn't get much of a birthday when they aired the death of Thomas Youk at Kevorkian's hands.

But I was sitting in the second row in the courtroom the day the judge sentenced him and they carted him off to jail. That made up for the missed birthday.

Not a good day. Not a bad day. Just my birthday.

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

Man, you're old. [Razz]

Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :

quote:
They all had relationships with with a lot of women.

Which is why Stormy didn't start this thread.

[Razz]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

quote:
Man, you're old.

In my defense, I want to say that I can still be immature with the best (or worst) of them. [Taunt]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

quote:
Kevorkian - basic loner - most of his relationships with women ended up with them being dead.

Me - quite a few platonic relationships with women. Very few of the other kind with women.

I am fairly glad to hear that you have had only "very few" relationships with dead women. At least that is how I read that quote the first time.

And let it be known, I was the 1st to wish you a happy birthday.

[ November 18, 2003, 11:37 AM: Message edited by: Dan_raven ]

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

Hey, I was just teasing you. I'm only a bit more than a decade younger than you. [Wink]

Boy, you were born in a completely different decade! [Taunt]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Dan_raven,

So noted and thank you!

Kayla, Kayla... [No No]

Youngsters. Sheesh.

One of the great things about my decade was being old enough to watch the Watergate hearings and then throw a humungous party when a certain president resigned, saying as he did so, that he apologized for having to resign, and that, BTW, he was not a crook. OK - I didn't actually throw a party, but I went to somebody else's. Those really were the days.

(I really do belong in the geriatric thread, don't I?)

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

Hell, I was eight when those happened. Just because you are slow, doesn't mean all of us were. [Razz]

I enjoyed the hearings immensely, thank you very much. [Big Grin]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

I tried to just let this go, but I couldn't.

Slow???!!!!!

Unless you were really precocious, you missed out on the short-lived, but wonderful, indoctrination into satire, irreverence, and politics called That Was the Week that Was (TW3). (My parents believed in subverting me at an early age.)

The show was devoted to topical political satire. Some of Tom Lehrer's songs were heard on this show first.

Unfortunately, few of the original shows were preserved, but I ran across this fascinating tidbit from a transcript on the website from one of the shows that aired in January, 1964:

quote:
In his State of the Union address this week, President Johnson gave an impressive performance. In persuasive Texas tones he promised to buy more security and fight more poverty with less money than ever before. Well, it’s no wonder the LJB [sic] is so popular with everybody.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? [Wink]

[ November 19, 2003, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

*does happy dance* Tom Lehrer! I love Tom Lehrer!

*wanders off singing "Pollution"*

Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :

Heh heh. I like Tom Lehrer too...

And yes, sndrake is Old. Heh.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

*bump*

Had to. The coincidence is too good to pass up. The number of the post in this thread is the number of years old I turned today.

I'm devoting the day to total nonproductivity. The powers that be made it easier for me to do this by depriving Diane and I of our vehicle for the weekend. Sometime yesterday it developed a small leak in one of the gas tanks (we have two on the van.)

So, after getting Diane home (it's lift-equipped vehicle), I got the vehicle to our mechanic and took a cab home. But not before I snagged some movies for the weekend. We've alread seen and enjoyed "A Mighty Wind" and have a few others to plow through today. We're also enjoying the bounty of home-delivered Chinese food.

Got a couple of neat gifts too - one's gotta be returned - it's not quite right. The other one was a very middle-aged guy kind of gift.

Hope everyone is enjoying this day - I'm having a good time. And am studiously avoiding JFK documentaries. After 40 years, I know them all be heart.

Posted by Maethoriell (Member # 3805) on :

quote:
Youngsters. Sheesh.

..and your definition of youngsters is???

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

Hmmmm....all these people are mentally deranged?

Posted by Maethoriell (Member # 3805) on :

Who knows?

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

My kids are always trying to sing "feliz cumpleanos" and they really have no clue. They will pronounce it wrong 10 different ways in the same verse.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

I'll have y'all know my age is quite young for a hobbit. Not to mention trees and tortoises. But I have more in common with hobbits than I do with trees and tortoises. [Wink]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

quote:
..and your definition of youngsters is???

Definition: "youngsters are those people who refer to me as old." [Razz]

It's a good, functional definition. Notice the elegant circularity of the logic. [Wink]

[ November 22, 2003, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]

Posted by Maethoriell (Member # 3805) on :

Well you are old. [Big Grin]

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

Happy Birthday sndrake!

[Party]

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

Only two years till your a half a century, right?

[ROFL]

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

Wow, that IS old! [Wink]

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

Wishing you all the joy of this most special day and all the days to come.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

quote:
Only two years till your a half a century, right?

Yep - 2 more years until the AARP invitation arrives in the mail. [Smile]

I just figured out that I am 336 years old in "dog years."

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

I have nothing to look forward to when I'm old. Since I'm on Medicare already, the AARP database thinks I'm retired. I already get all their junk mail. Stuff like "retirement community apartments" and so forth.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

I hope your day was restful and wonderful. [Smile]

quote:
Yep - 2 more years until the AARP invitation arrives in the mail.

I got mine almost year ago. I have rarely laughed that hard.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Thanks all - today was a total waste. In other words, an absolutely great day. We actually managed to watch 4 movies today. It's been a very long time since Diane and I have devoted a total day to that kind of passive entertainment. Caught the original "Village of the Damned" on cable - it plays very well for a 43-year-old film and is still superior the the remake of it with Christopher Reeve. Next was Austin Powers - "Goldmember." Probably the weakest movie of any we saw this weekend. That was a cable offering as well.

Finally got around to watching "Matrix Reloaded." Finished up with "Finding Nemo." One of the good things about not having much time to watch movies is that when we actually do get a chance to rent a few, the shelves are filled with stuff we haven't seen and want to.

I guess if this thread has taught me anything, it's this: No matter what some people think, at least AARP doesn't think I'm old. Either that, or I'm just not in any of their target demographic areas.

Got another nice present, btw. There's a Reno newspaper online that has an article online now - the Sunday edition has quite a bit from me and has my picture in it. (And the resemblance to a hobbit is quite pronounced.)

'night and thanks to all. I'm to bed.

[Sleep]