Transcript 11/11/2009 - Blake Howard

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Blake Howard
Nashville, TN
Blake's profession is not mentioned.

Blake is a "wild and crazy guy"

Question Topics:
Psychiatry
Famous Paintings
Veto Power
Band names
The Magic Number
Politics
Sitcoms
Medical Terms
Economics
Arts & Crafts
Regional Foods
Literacy
U.S. Cities
Around the House
Mister Softee
--

$500 - Mister Softee
Since 1956, Mister Softee has specialized in serving what treat out of specialized trucks?
A: Ice cream B: Cupcakes
C: Chewing gum D: Sound financial planning

Spoiler

A: Ice Cream (9)

$1000 - Around the House
By definition, a window located on the roof of a house is called a what?
A: Moonlight B: Skylight
C: Starlight D: Sunlight

With 2 seconds left, Blake decides to Ask the Audience.

ATA results

ATA: A: 0% B: 99% C: 0% D: 1%

Blake decides to answer

Spoiler

B

.

Spoiler

B: Skylight (1)

$2000 - U.S. Cities
The city of Alma, GA gets its name from the first letters in four of Georgia's cities: Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville and what?
A: Austin B: Anchorage
C: Atlanta D: Annapolis

Spoiler

C: Atlanta (11)

$3000 - Literacy
Our country's largest children's literacy organization is named "Reading is" what?
A: Bountiful B: Fundamental
C: Magnificent D: Primary

With 4 seconds remaining, Blake decides to Double Dip.

DD action

His first answer is B.

.

Spoiler

B: Fundamental (4)

$5,000 - Regional Foods
The distinctly American cuisine known as "soul food" originated in what region of the United States?
A: New England B: Pacific Northwest
C: Great Plains D: Deep South

Spoiler

D: Deep South (7)

-- Commercial Break --

Blake has earned the Ask The Expert lifeline. Today's expert is Ken Jennings.

$7,500 - Arts & Crafts
Because they are made up of many small pieces, what type of artwork is typically constructed using grout?
A: Silk screens B: Mosaics
C: Lithographs D: Mobiles

Spoiler

B: Mosaics (24)

$10,000 - Economics
What appropriately named economic index is created by adding the unemployment rate with the inflation rate?
A: Consume Price Index B: Employment Cost Index
C: Producer Price Index D: Misery Index

NOTE: the audience audibly titters at the last choice, as if it were a gag answer to a $500 question...

Blake incorrectly answers

Spoiler

B

and leaves with $5,000.

Spoiler

D: Misery Index ()

[ontellen]

Even though I doubt this guy was going very far, I felt he was dissed by the audience laughing at the Misery Tax answer.

[Appa23]

Even though I doubt this guy was going very far, I felt he was dissed by the audience laughing at the Misery Tax answer.

Maybe they were laughing that they asked such an easy question.

[silverscreenselect]

Even though I doubt this guy was going very far, I felt he was dissed by the audience laughing at the Misery Tax answer.

Maybe they were laughing that they asked such an easy question.

It's not an easy question. You rarely hear the term used in the popular media, certainly not as much as the CPI or PPI.

[TheConfessor]

$2000 - U.S. Cities
The city of Alma, GA gets its name from the first letters in four of Georgia's cities: Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville and what?
A: Austin B: Anchorage
C: Atlanta D: Annapolis

They originally wanted to include Brunswick and Norcross, Georgia, but the PR consultants advised against naming the town "Nambla."

[Phil Ken Sebbin]

$2000 - U.S. Cities
The city of Alma, GA gets its name from the first letters in four of Georgia's cities: Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville and what?
A: Austin B: Anchorage
C: Atlanta D: Annapolis

They originally wanted to include Brunswick and Norcross, Georgia, but the PR consultants advised against naming the town "Nambla."

Heh. They tend to frown on that type of stuff in the South. Not that they take to kindly to it anywhere else.

[Estonut]

$1000 - Around the House
By definition, a window located on the roof of a house is called a what?
A: Moonlight B: Skylight
C: Starlight D: Sunlight

With 2 seconds left, Blake decides to Ask the Audience.

ATA results

ATA: A: 0% B: 99% C: 0% D: 1%

Blake decides to answer

Spoiler

B

.

Spoiler

B: Skylight (1)

That is the most definitive AtA result I can recall ever seeing. It seems like there's always at least a couple of 1%ers...

Does anyone recall seeing a 100% response?

[doitneatly]

Even though I doubt this guy was going very far, I felt he was dissed by the audience laughing at the Misery Tax answer.

Maybe they were laughing that they asked such an easy question.

It's not an easy question. You rarely hear the term used in the popular media, certainly not as much as the CPI or PPI.

I must concur. I'm no economist but I do try to pay attention (typically via NPR) to the economic chatter that goes on when the government releases these statistics... and I'd never heard of the "Misery Index".

Obvious answer as it was, I would've almost certainly wasted a lifeline on this one.

And as the transcriber who had to pay very close attention to this episode, I must say Meredith was downright condascending with this poor guy by the end. I almost included it in the writeup, but decided not to. To wit,

-when he made the unusual (but perfectly defendable IMO) choice to use the DD as his first lifeline, her comment was a dubious "I dunno, that's pretty risky..."

-Upon mentioning the "economics" topic for the upcoming question, Mer added, "this one could be tough for you... [then did she notice a look of surprise/hurt on his face? I think so.] ...or maybe it'll be easy for you!"

Add to that the aforementioned misleading audience laughter, and I ended up wih a lot of extra sympathy for this guy!

[MarleysGh0st]

Maybe they were laughing that they asked such an easy question.

It's not an easy question. You rarely hear the term used in the popular media, certainly not as much as the CPI or PPI.

I must concur. I'm no economist but I do try to pay attention (typically via NPR) to the economic chatter that goes on when the government releases these statistics... and I'd never heard of the "Misery Index".

You're probably too young to remember it. Carter used it as a campaign point against Ford in 1976, then it came back to bite him when Reagan used it against him in 1980, when it was higher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_index_(economics)

[MarleysGh0st]

And as the transcriber who had to pay very close attention to this episode, I must say Meredith was downright condascending with this poor guy by the end. I almost included it in the writeup, but decided not to. To wit,

-when he made the unusual (but perfectly defendable IMO) choice to use the DD as his first lifeline, her comment was a dubious "I dunno, that's pretty risky..."

Meredith doesn't really like contestants taking a risk. Oh, she'll compliment them if they do so and are successful, but I think she'd much rather have them burn enough lifelines to make every answer a sure thing, no matter how that limits the contestants' climb up the stack.

I think she'd side with lv42day in our debate about risk.

[chad1m]

Does anyone recall seeing a 100% response?

Yep.

[NellyLunatic1980]

$1000 - Around the House
By definition, a window located on the roof of a house is called a what?
A: Moonlight B: Skylight
C: Starlight D: Sunlight

With 2 seconds left, Blake decides to Ask the Audience.

ATA results

ATA: A: 0% B: 99% C: 0% D: 1%

This does not bode well.

Nihil obstat®

[MarleysGh0st]

Blake is a "wild and crazy guy"

Blake reacted with surprise at this comment and there was no time for any follow-up explanation.

This would be a really good week for another "Unknown Contestant" with a paper bag over his head.

[Snaxx]

I can't make any paper bag jokes about him as I had trouble with one question, unfortunately it was the $1000 question. For some reason I was unfamiliar with skylight and before the choices I was looking for a response similar to the sun roof or maybe moon roof of a car. I was stunned by the 99%.

The audience may have hurt him on the misery index if he dismissed the answer because of them and thought his was the only logical guess.

[MarleysGh0st]

I can't make any paper bag jokes about him as I had trouble with one question, unfortunately it was the $1000 question.

My comment wasn't intended to be critical of Blake; I was making a point that all the hoopla about the tournament was completely supplanting the usual banter about contestant anecdotes.

Actually...this would have been a perfect week to feature a boring MAWG such as myself, who doesn't have any of those desirable anecdotes to bring to the Hot Seat!

[Snaxx]

I can't make any paper bag jokes about him as I had trouble with one question, unfortunately it was the $1000 question.

My comment wasn't intended to be critical of Blake; I was making a point that all the hoopla about the tournament was completely supplanting the usual banter about contestant anecdotes.

Actually...this would have been a perfect week to feature a boring MAWG such as myself, who doesn't have any of those desirable anecdotes to bring to the Hot Seat!

I noticed the short-shrifting. On Tuesday I transcribed at least the first six questions of a woman's stack with a commercial break as well but still no idea of her occupation or background.

[earendel]

Blake Howard
Nashville, TN
Blake's profession is not mentioned.

Blake is a "wild and crazy guy"

Again, the ToT has all the attention given to it.

$1000 - Around the House
By definition, a window located on the roof of a house is called a what?
A: Moonlight B: Skylight
C: Starlight D: Sunlight

With 2 seconds left, Blake decides to Ask the Audience.

ATA results

ATA: A: 0% B: 99% C: 0% D: 1%

Blake decides to answer

Spoiler

B

.

Spoiler

B: Skylight (1)

This doesn't bode well.

$3000 - Literacy
Our country's largest children's literacy organization is named "Reading is" what?
A: Bountiful B: Fundamental
C: Magnificent D: Primary

With 4 seconds remaining, Blake decides to Double Dip.

DD action

His first answer is B.

.

Spoiler

B: Fundamental (4)

It's getting worse. Two lifelines in the first tier can't be a good sign for future success.

$10,000 - Economics
What appropriately named economic index is created by adding the unemployment rate with the inflation rate?
A: Consume Price Index B: Employment Cost Index
C: Producer Price Index D: Misery Index

NOTE: the audience audibly titters at the last choice, as if it were a gag answer to a $500 question...

Blake incorrectly answers

Spoiler

B

and leaves with $5,000.

Spoiler

D: Misery Index ()

Is there such a thing as an "Employment Cost Index"? Another nihil obstat® stack.