Transcript 10/05/09 Swapna Reddy

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Swapna Reddy
New York, NY
Children’s advocate

Swapna had a little boy just five weeks ago. She also has a two year old daughter.

Topic Tree:

Inventors
Famous Paintings
Presidential Pets
Medicine
Jazz
Authors
Astronomy
State Capitals
Famous Structures
Movie Characters
From the Russian
Rodents
In the Kitchen
Abbreviations
Air Travel

$500 On an airline, Economy Class is commonly known by what more informal name?
A. Coach
B. Bulk
C. Galley
D. Hell

Spoiler

A. Coach (9)

$1K What does the “K” stand for in the common academic abbreviation “K-12”?
A. Knowledge
B. Kitchen
C. Kindergarten
D. Kosher

Spoiler

C. Kindergarten (10)

$2K According to the Williams-Sonoma catalog, which of these kitchen gadgets should be packed with ice and rock salt before use?
A. Waffle iron
B. Avocado pitter
C. Panini press
D. Ice cream maker

Spoiler

D. Ice cream maker ( 8 )

$3K Which of these rodents are known for collecting bright, shiny objects and taking them to their nests?
A. Groundhogs
B. Packrats
C. Gerbils
D. Muskrats

Spoiler

B. Packrats (6)

$5K Meaning “grandmother” in Russian, a “babushka” is what type of fashion item?
A. Leg warmer
B. Bracelet
C. Headscarf
D. Belt

Spoiler

C. Headscarf ( 8 )

commercial break

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

Spoiler

C. Matt Damon (2)

$10K What historic structure was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, after the ruling family that built it?
A. The Colosseum
B. Westminster Abbey
C. The Great Pyramid
D. The Parthenon

Spoiler

A. The Colosseum ( 18 )

$12.5K With roughly 8,000 residents, what is the smallest state capital in the United States?
A. Juneau, AK
B. Montpelier, VT
C. Bismarck, ND
D. Jefferson City, MO

ATE (10)

Robin: I feel like “B.” How about you? Do you have a strong feeling about any of those?

Swapna: I was gonna say “A,” but I don’t have a lot of reason why. Um. Do you have a reason why?

Robin: Well, I feel like Juneau, Alaska, because there aren’t that many cities in Alaska, I feel would be bigger than that.
Bismarck, North Dakota, I think would be bigger than 8,000 residents.
Jefferson City, Missouri, I think that would be bigger than 8,000 residents.
So, I’m like, Montpelier, Vermont. I’ve never been there. It sounds small.

Swapna: How sure do you feel?

Robin: Not sure.

PAF (4)

Swapna’s PAF team:

Subhakar from New York, NY
Roshini from New York, NY
Tom from Los Angeles, CA

PAF – Subhakar, Swapna’s husband

Subhakar: I have no idea. I guess Juneau, because it’s the third largest city in Alaska, but I’m not sure. 60%.

Swapna makes Montpelier, VT her final answer as the clock goes to zero.

Spoiler

B. Montpelier, VT (0)

commercial break

$15K In 2009, an amateur astronomer made headlines when he discovered a huge “scar” on what planet, perhaps caused by a comet’s impact?
A. Mars
B. Neptune
C. Mercury
D. Jupiter

Swapna makes A. Mars her final answer.
Swapna leaves with $5K.

Spoiler

D. Jupiter (11)

Answers:
$500 A. Coach
$1K C. Kindergarten
$2K D. Ice cream maker
$3K B. Packrats
$5K C. Headscarf
$7.5K C. Matt Damon
$10K A. The Colosseum
$12.5K B. Montpelier, VT
$15K D. Jupiter

[MarleysGh0st]

$15K In 2009, an amateur astronomer made headlines when he discovered a huge “scar” on what planet, perhaps caused by a comet’s impact?
A. Mars
B. Neptune
C. Mercury
D. Jupiter

Swapna makes A. Mars her final answer.
Swapna leaves with $5K.

Spoiler

D. Jupiter (11)

This collision in July had a lot less publicity than the Shoemaker-Levy impact in 1994, primarily because that earlier one had been predicted well in advance. This one was a surprise that was first discovered by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley, in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Jupiter_impact_event

[MarleysGh0st]

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

Spoiler

C. Matt Damon (2)

After the clock disaster that Sargon De Jesus had on Friday, we came close to another one here, related to audience brown-nosing. After the ATA result was displayed, Swapna made one of those standard comments about how brilliant the audience looked. The audience reacted with some loud applause and shouts, and Swapna paused to acknowledge that--and meanwhile the clock kept ticking down. Just a little more distraction here and she'd have walked away with $5,000 on this question (instead of after missing the Jupiter question).

Memo to our upcoming BB contestants: Answer the question first, then thank the audience!

[andrewjackson]

Subhakar: I have no idea. I guess Juneau, because it’s the third largest city in Alaska, but I’m not sure. 60%.

Hmmm. This is a tricky fact. In 2000, Juneau was bigger than Fairbanks but the 2008 estimate puts Fairbanks back in 2nd place. Alaska is tricky because of the city/borough combinations. These totals are for the city/borough. However, in Juneau the borough is huge while in Fairbanks it is a relatively small area. Fairbanks metro population is much bigger than Juneau.

2000
Anchorage 260,283
Juneau 30,711
Fairbanks/North Star Borough 30,224

2008
Anchorage 279,243 (metro pop. 359,180)
Fairbanks/North Star Borough 35,132 (metro pop. 97,970)
Juneau 30,988 (metro pop. 30,988)

Only about 17,000 of Juneau residents are considered to live in an urban area.

Juneau is still way bigger than Montpelier which only has 8,000 people in the city.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Swapna Reddy
New York, NY
Children’s advocate

WE®

$3K: I actually do not know this one. ATA.

$12.5K: Well, I had two answers in mind before the choices came up... and would you believe that neither of them showed up?! I thought it was either Pierre, SD, or Dover, DE. I can eliminate Juneau and Bismarck, though. I would probably be better off using Double Dip here than the Expert.

$15K: No clue. PAF.

[Jeemie]

ATA on $7,500 and Double Dip at $12.5K...I remember seeing videos of Juneau from my aunt's recent cruise, and the downtown area looked so small, I couldn't eliminate it.

[MarleysGh0st]

ATA on $7,500 and Double Dip at $12.5K...I remember seeing videos of Juneau from my aunt's recent cruise, and the downtown area looked so small, I couldn't eliminate it.

Juneau is geographically squeezed in between the water and the mountains, so it doesn't have a lot of room in the downtown area. It has to spread out along the coast.

[ulysses5019]

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

This case took place in the 19th century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_bourne

[Jeemie]

ATA on $7,500 and Double Dip at $12.5K...I remember seeing videos of Juneau from my aunt's recent cruise, and the downtown area looked so small, I couldn't eliminate it.

Juneau is geographically squeezed in between the water and the mountains, so it doesn't have a lot of room in the downtown area. It has to spread out along the coast.

Knowing that wouldn't help me drive the mental picture out of my mind in 30 seconds.

[Jeemie]

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

This case took place in the 19th century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_bourne

Oh criminy!!!!

BOURNE! MEMORY LOSS!

I am such a freakin' DOPE!

[frogman042]

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

This case took place in the 19th century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_bourne

Oh criminy!!!!

BOURNE! MEMORY LOSS!

I am such a freakin' DOPE!

I was leaning towards Harrison Ford from the movie Regarding Henry, where he loses his memory due to a gun shot wound to the head. I knew that Matt Damon was in the Bourne films and that it is based on plot device that he doesn't know who he is but he must be some sort of spy, but not having seen the movies or read the books I don't know how he lost his memory and thought it was some sort of government agent think where they tried to erase his memory's on purpose - therefore I didn't think that it was based on a real case, whereas Regarding Henry IIRC was based on a real person that this happened to - IIRC - so boom - I would have been gone.

[MarleysGh0st]

This case took place in the 19th century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_bourne

Oh criminy!!!!

BOURNE! MEMORY LOSS!

I am such a freakin' DOPE!

I was leaning towards Harrison Ford from the movie Regarding Henry, where he loses his memory due to a gun shot wound to the head. I knew that Matt Damon was in the Bourne films and that it is based on plot device that he doesn't know who he is but he must be some sort of spy, but not having seen the movies or read the books I don't know how he lost his memory and thought it was some sort of government agent think where they tried to erase his memory's on purpose - therefore I didn't think that it was based on a real case, whereas Regarding Henry IIRC was based on a real person that this happened to - IIRC - so boom - I would have been gone.

Well, I don't think the CIA was training super-assasins in the 19th century, so the inspiration is kinda loose, but the name was a give-away.

Suffering brain damage from a gunshot wound is an entirely different plot device.

[earendel]

Swapna Reddy
New York, NY
Children’s advocate

Swapna had a little boy just five weeks ago. She also has a two year old daughter.

This seems to be a hook growing in popularity - pregnant or just having given birth. What's a MAWG to do?

$7.5K Ansel Bourne, a Rhode Island man who abruptly lost his memory, is said to have inspired a movie character played by whom?
A. Hugh Jackman
B. Harrison Ford
C. Matt Damon
D. Christian Bale

ATA ( 18 )

2% A. Hugh Jackman
21% B. Harrison Ford
74% C. Matt Damon
3% D. Christian Bale

Spoiler

C. Matt Damon (2)

I guess she wasn't familiar with the movies.

$12.5K With roughly 8,000 residents, what is the smallest state capital in the United States?
A. Juneau, AK
B. Montpelier, VT
C. Bismarck, ND
D. Jefferson City, MO

ATE (10)

Robin: I feel like “B.” How about you? Do you have a strong feeling about any of those?

Swapna: I was gonna say “A,” but I don’t have a lot of reason why. Um. Do you have a reason why?

Robin: Well, I feel like Juneau, Alaska, because there aren’t that many cities in Alaska, I feel would be bigger than that.
Bismarck, North Dakota, I think would be bigger than 8,000 residents.
Jefferson City, Missouri, I think that would be bigger than 8,000 residents.
So, I’m like, Montpelier, Vermont. I’ve never been there. It sounds small.

Swapna: How sure do you feel?

Robin: Not sure.

PAF (4)

Swapna’s PAF team:

Subhakar from New York, NY
Roshini from New York, NY
Tom from Los Angeles, CA

PAF – Subhakar, Swapna’s husband

Subhakar: I have no idea. I guess Juneau, because it’s the third largest city in Alaska, but I’m not sure. 60%.

Swapna makes Montpelier, VT her final answer as the clock goes to zero.

Spoiler

B. Montpelier, VT (0)

My hunch was Montpelier because Vermont is not very populated (but then again neither are the other states). I don't know if I'd have gone with that hunch or not - at this level it's not a WWOQ question, so the hunch is probably sound. I wouldn't ATA, however; this would be a Google PAF question.

$15K In 2009, an amateur astronomer made headlines when he discovered a huge “scar” on what planet, perhaps caused by a comet’s impact?
A. Mars
B. Neptune
C. Mercury
D. Jupiter

Swapna makes A. Mars her final answer.
Swapna leaves with $5K.

Spoiler

D. Jupiter (11)

Putting "scar" in quotes was a hint - it implies that it isn't a real mark, such as would be the case with Mars or Mercury. The story, IIRC, likened the discovery to the Shoemaker-Levy event of a couple years ago.

[earendel]

Hmmm. This is a tricky fact. In 2000, Juneau was bigger than Fairbanks but the 2008 estimate puts Fairbanks back in 2nd place. Alaska is tricky because of the city/borough combinations. These totals are for the city/borough. However, in Juneau the borough is huge while in Fairbanks it is a relatively small area. Fairbanks metro population is much bigger than Juneau.

2000
Anchorage 260,283
Juneau 30,711
Fairbanks/North Star Borough 30,224

2008
Anchorage 279,243 (metro pop. 359,180)
Fairbanks/North Star Borough 35,132 (metro pop. 97,970)
Juneau 30,988 (metro pop. 30,988)

Only about 17,000 of Juneau residents are considered to live in an urban area.

Juneau is still way bigger than Montpelier which only has 8,000 people in the city.

Yeah, but from Juneau you can see Russia.

[ulysses5019]

Oh criminy!!!!

BOURNE! MEMORY LOSS!

I am such a freakin' DOPE!

I was leaning towards Harrison Ford from the movie Regarding Henry, where he loses his memory due to a gun shot wound to the head. I knew that Matt Damon was in the Bourne films and that it is based on plot device that he doesn't know who he is but he must be some sort of spy, but not having seen the movies or read the books I don't know how he lost his memory and thought it was some sort of government agent think where they tried to erase his memory's on purpose - therefore I didn't think that it was based on a real case, whereas Regarding Henry IIRC was based on a real person that this happened to - IIRC - so boom - I would have been gone.

Well, I don't think the CIA was training super-assasins in the 19th century, so the inspiration is kinda loose, but the name was a give-away.

Suffering brain damage from a gunshot wound is an entirely different plot device.

In the movie, Jason Bourne is shot in the back and falls overboard in heavy seas in the Mediterranean and is picked up by a fishing boat and has lost his memory. Chases and vengeance ensue.

[frogman042]

Oh criminy!!!!

BOURNE! MEMORY LOSS!

I am such a freakin' DOPE!

I was leaning towards Harrison Ford from the movie Regarding Henry, where he loses his memory due to a gun shot wound to the head. I knew that Matt Damon was in the Bourne films and that it is based on plot device that he doesn't know who he is but he must be some sort of spy, but not having seen the movies or read the books I don't know how he lost his memory and thought it was some sort of government agent think where they tried to erase his memory's on purpose - therefore I didn't think that it was based on a real case, whereas Regarding Henry IIRC was based on a real person that this happened to - IIRC - so boom - I would have been gone.

Well, I don't think the CIA was training super-assasins in the 19th century, so the inspiration is kinda loose, but the name was a give-away.

Suffering brain damage from a gunshot wound is an entirely different plot device.

I totally glossed over the name and focused on the memory loss - going back and rereading the question makes it obvious that its Matt Damon.

[Jeemie]

I totally glossed over the name and focused on the memory loss - going back and rereading the question makes it obvious that its Matt Damon.

I did the same thing. On simple reading, I, too, leaned towards Harrison Ford, but couldn't accept that as the answer (because of what Marley said- he got shot- it didn't seem to fit the question).

Maybe if I'd heard the question being read while I was reading it, the connection would have registered.

[Snaxx]

$12.5K: Well, I had two answers in mind before the choices came up... and would you believe that neither of them showed up?! I thought it was either Pierre, SD, or Dover, DE. I can eliminate Juneau and Bismarck, though. I would probably be better off using Double Dip here than the Expert.

On my trip I happen to be in Pierre, SD right now. The population is listed at about 14000 and that looks right. I think they left Pierre and Dover off otherwise it would have been a 25K question.


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