Friday, November 11, 2005

Day 2 Contest Standings

Day 2 standings. First column is for cumulative points, second column is for today's points. Daniel Bagley hasn't been heard from yet, so he could still claim a few points if he checks in before midnight CST.

34--17--Keith Marsteller
28--15--Pete Heizer
25--10--Brian Pilnick
25--13--Brendan Power
25--14--Jamie Eckman
25--16--Kato Katonian
23--07--Jess Moran
22--08--Lee Rawles
22--12--John Compton
18--11--Brett Sherman
10--06--Joe Lewis (Bill Ted)
10--09--Mike Shum
08--00--Donovan Neil
07--05--David Byron
6---??---Daniel Bagley
09--04--Kevin Caffrey
03--00--Jason Ballew

The trend after two days: Keith Marsteller is going to be very, very tough to beat. Both he and Kato responded within two minutes today, and both had the correct answer.

Day three of five will be on Monday. No questions on the weekend.

Here's the passage from the old column:
Open blinds also raise the issue of privacy. Our backyard was created by the town drunk, apparently, because it actually borders five separate houses. When all these blinds are open, I feel like I live in a new primate habitat at the zoo. I look out the windows and expect to see graduate students taking notes on my behavior. Middle-aged women in Bermuda shorts and floppy tennis hats wear “I heart the Bill” t-shirts and press their one-use cameras against the window. The only room where I’ve managed to retain lighting control is my study, and I retreat there when the glare of public inspection is too much.

“He’s in there all the time,” the tourists say.

“They’re just not very active as they get older,” says the guide.

“Mommy, make him come out!” pleads a little girl with chocolate staining her cheeks. They tap on my window but I ignore them, although I will occasionally raise the blinds suddenly and scream at the top of my lungs. I also fling old game boxes at the window.

Last week three people wandered into our kitchen and asked if it was the snack bar. That was bad enough, but two of them also wanted directions to the souvenir shop. Today I walked down to the mailboxes and a woman screamed “The Bill has escaped! Call the keepers!” There ensued a standoff with five people until Gloria came and took me home. There was one tense moment when a four-year-old boy broke free from the crowd and ran toward me, but I gave him a game demo CD and protected him until his mother arrived. She inched toward me, her eyes wide with fear, at last picking up her son. Then she brushed my hand and burst into tears.

As a friendly gesture, I checked her head for lice.

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