It’s been a while since we heard from Quizmaster Chris, who does for righteous indignation what Babe Ruth did for the long ball. His blog posts lately have been few and far between, and most of them just had to do with quizzo. We thought that the days of reading his brilliant, angry diatribes against the likes of Dirty Franks and Big Daddy Graham were over. Which was a shame, because when Quizmaster Chris gets on a roll, he is a extremely entertaining writer. But fear not, QC is back on the warpath. A company named Centocor, who apparently didn’t pay him what he was owed for a private function he did, bears the full frontal force of an attack that contains all the subtlety of a Mack truck in a library. This one is a dandy. A few highlights:
The latest excuse that I “can’t” get paid is that they now want me to fill out a W-9 form, a brand new demand that as late as this past Friday was not being made, and had not been brought up from when I was contacted to do the quiz months ago until today.

I always love the use of the word “can’t” in an organization when someone chooses to do the wrong thing. See also Nuremburg defense. And note also the result of its use…I’ve made it very clear that Pennsylvania law states that I’m owed this money, and no amount of post-quiz mid-level-management office petty tyrant jiggerypokery un-makes their debt to me. I just want my damn money. The next step is I sue in Small Claims Court, with damages and costs, and win.

Centocor, one may learn through the information superduperhighway, is a bunch of morally challenged mother-stabbers and father-rapers. The public should avoid doing business with them and avoid their products.

Did he really just call them “Mother-stabbers and father-rapers”? Amazing. And did he really just pull the tried and true “small claims court” card? Quizmaster Chris, our worries about you missing a beat were thankfully misguided. Kepp fighting the good fight. Viva la quizolution!

This year, we are raising money for the Covenant House Pennsylvania, a program that provides homeless, runaway and at-risk youth with a number of services, including a Streets Outreach Program, a Crisis Center, and a transitional living program. The majority of youth who use the program are between the ages of 18 and 21, and many have nowhere else to turn after they age out of the foster care system. The teens then work with a youth advisor and a social worker to come up with a plan to get them in an apartment of their own or in a transitional housing program. In addition to the overhead costs, the money we raise will also go toward SEPTA tokens so they can go to job interviews, pay for college application fees, help them secure proper identification, and take them on field trips. I am asking each person to donate at least a dollar to play quizzo this week, with 100% of the proceeds going to this worthy cause. There is also a Wish List of things the program is looking for for Christmas. For a look at the items on the wish list, click below. If you have anything that you’d like to provide on the wish list, call 215-923-8350.

Continue reading “Quizzo For the Cause…Covenant House” →

Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuck (No relation to Grandmaster Flash) refused to take a drug test after the Chess Olympiucs and now could face a two year ban for doping. Yes, doping, the kind of stuff bike riders do in the Tour de France. But how in the hell could this help a chess player? …when a chess player nears the end of a match and comes under mounting pressure, he can hyperventilate, and his pulse can shoot up to 160 and his arterial blood pressure to 200. In that situation, beta-blockers could help a player keep his head clear. Um, sure, whatever. This just sounds creepy and Big Brotherish. So does a chess player named Robert Hubner, once ranked third in the world. He considers doping tests to be a bureaucratic show of power, and he believes that the tests are degrading and deprive the individual of rights and responsibilities. Drug tests will be introduced into Germany’s federal chess league next year, and when that happens, says Hübner, he will give up his career immediately. What a badass. This is a hell of a story. There hasn’t been this much controversy in chess since the Turk.

Because I’ve seen it about 200 times and I still laugh every single time. “This is a farewell kiss, you dog” would be a great team name this week, by the way. Speaking of funny, this is pretty hilarious, though most certainly crude and not safe for work.