Completely Random Thoughts

[LucasM]

See, there's this one for example, in a category of anagrams of ways to cook eggs

I HELD BROAD    

Correct answer: hard-boiled    
My answer: hard boiled

Agree with you and Cyrusso: this is complete bullshit.  Like, if one was on the show, would they say:

               "What is 'hard' 'hyphen' 'boiled'?"

If the hyphen isn't said out loud, it is IRRELEVANT to the answer.

[Pastor of Muppets]

See, there's this one for example, in a category of anagrams of ways to cook eggs

I HELD BROAD    

Correct answer: hard-boiled    
My answer: hard boiled

Agree with you and Cyrusso: this is complete bullshit.  Like, if one was on the show, would they say:

               "What is 'hard' 'hyphen' 'boiled'?"

If the hyphen isn't said out loud, it is IRRELEVANT to the answer.

Well I'm a programmer by profession and I can understand it.  You're feeding text to a a computer, and it can only mark you correct if the text you supply equals the value they code in as the correct answer.  And a lot of answers have variations that it would be too difficult to account for.  So I really ignore the grade it gives me and just grade myself.

I hope that the official online test is less quirky.  That test is the one that actually counts.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Oh, snap! I have been watching a lot of Jeopardy on Pluto TV in order to sort of practice. I'm sitting here and suddenly the episode Rifftrax's own Conor Lastowka was on comes up.

When he mentioned his appearance at one of the live shows, Conor was very self deprecating about it, which made me think he did poorly.  But actually he finished a strong second.  He played well, it's just that the defending champion played better.

[LucasM]

Oh, snap! I have been watching a lot of Jeopardy on Pluto TV in order to sort of practice. I'm sitting here and suddenly the episode Rifftrax's own Conor Lastowka was on comes up.

When he mentioned his appearance at one of the live shows, Conor was very self deprecating about it, which made me think he did poorly.  But actually he finished a strong second.  He played well, it's just that the defending champion played better.

Cool!  I watch Jeopardy on Pluto also.  Do you happen to remember which season/episode # it was that he was on (likely easier to remember the season, unless you just finished the episode)?  Usually, since I'm there for the answers/questions, I skip over the introductions of the contestants, so I would never have known if I'd been watching him, as I MAY have seen a still image of him some years ago and would never have remembered his face.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I don't remember. Pluto has been doing this thing where it will pick a champion who had a long run and show their entire run. This was the second or third episode of some guy whose name I don't remember. All I remember is that he was from the near east. I think Pakistan.

I know this episode aired in 2019 because Connor had mentioned it at one of the live shows before Covid and I remember thinking at the time how I wish I had not canceled my cable service so that I could see the episode. And it could not be after Covid because it was a Trebek episode, and he died at the end of 2020.

[Pastor of Muppets]

No wait I Googled it and I was way off.  Connor's episode aired July 20th 2016.  At the time I did have cable but had lost interest in Jeopardy.

[LucasM]

No wait I Googled it and I was way off.  Connor's episode aired July 20th 2016.  At the time I did have cable but had lost interest in Jeopardy.

Cool.  Thanks!  They have Jeopardy by season (though FAR from all episodes in each season), so I can figure out which was 2016, and narrow it down from there... I think they may even have the original air dates on the episode descriptions.

[Cyrusso]

No wait I Googled it and I was way off.  Connor's episode aired July 20th 2016.  At the time I did have cable but had lost interest in Jeopardy.

I remember that episode pretty well. I don't think Connor won, but he kicked some pretty serious ass.

If I was on Jeopardy, I'd probably be five figures in the red before the first minute has passed.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I found out that some of the most successful players on Jeopardy did a lot of their study through children's books.  What a novel concept.  You don't need a deep knowledge of a few subjects, you need a basic knowledge of a wide array of subjects.  So I ordered some books that Ken Jennings had written on geography, dinosaurs, human anatomy, ancient Egypt, outer space, and Greek mythology.

I also ordered a big poster sized map of the world so I can start memorizing where countries are.

[Cyrusso]

I've been on Threads for a few months now, and sadly... I'm seeing a LOT of homophobia and transphobia on there. Sigh. I'm not even close to being gay or trans, but this proliferation of ignorance makes me very sad. I can only imagine how people in the LGBTQ+ community feel.

I recently watched a video though, from scientist Forrest Valkai, and in the space of about 30 minutes or so, he comprehensively lays out a TON of awesome facts, including how the brain anatomy of trans people corresponds with their gender identity(remember, separate from their biology). I took quite a number of biology classes back in the day at UNM... but hoiy hell, some of the stuff he talks about goes WAY the hell over my head. Then again.. my GPA was only a 2.30...

[Pastor of Muppets]

Lake Titicaca was already a silly enough name for a body of water, but I just found out that it flows through Bolivia to Lake Poopo.

[Cyrusso]

Lake Titicaca was already a silly enough name for a body of water, but I just found out that it flows through Bolivia to Lake Poopo.

Could be worse, could be Lake Boobie, the Titmouse, the woodcock, and the titpecker.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I still can't crack 60% on Jeopardy practice tests.  Maybe because, while I've been taking a ton of notes, I haven't really been studying them.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Took a practice test today, got 9 out of 10.  But this was just a fluke.

[LucasM]

I still can't crack 60% on Jeopardy practice tests.  Maybe because, while I've been taking a ton of notes, I haven't really been studying them.

A thought I just had?  Take your notes and just tape the notes randomly around your home.  Then when you get into a particular area you'll see a note that will stand out because it usually isn't there (e.g. "King of England, late 1600s = ___", "second man on the moon = ____", or whatever).  Then, when the notes in particular places don't surprise, after a few days, move the notes around so they are in new places and remain 'novel' to your brain, to continue to prompt reading them each time you see them.

And for memory, when you read the notes, read them out loud each time.  The more senses you involve, the more the info can 'stick'.

If you can think of a funny mnemonic for particular info, you could, on the notes you spread around, draw a small cartoon panel with the information in a way it would come to mind quickly.

Depending on how your brain works with such things, possibly color-code the notes you put up (either the color of the marker used or the paper printed on).  Since you likely won't want to copy them over, it may be a bit late for this suggestion, however.  Maybe green=world/planet  red=history/politics  blue=academic  yellow=art  and so forth.  But choose color/topic combinations that make the most sense to you.  That way, you also have a color cue to help remember seeing information.

Those are a couple thoughts from my psych background and my experience working to remember 'pure data' in school.  I hope one or more may be helpful.