Hanging out at Gleaner’s Cafe in South Philly, and they have their customers guess on their Quote of the Day. Today’s is from a musician. “Speed will turn you into your parents.” Submit your guess in the comments below. Btw, I like this place a lot but today they are playing music that sounds like a monk seal being killed.

It was on this date 55 years ago that Ann Hodges was awoken from a nap by something that had never ended a nap before. A meteorite smahed through the roof of her house, hit a radio and then bounced on top of her. She was burned and bruised, but was otherwise alright. I think this incident reminds us that we can never be too careful, and should always keep an eye to the heavens. Meteorites can strike us at any time, so we must remain ever vigilant, ever on our guard. Have a nice day.

We are on for quizzo on Tuesday and Wednesday night, as usual, but I will be in a turkey induced coma well before 8 p.m. on Thursday, so we have to cancel quizzo that night. I am also hosting a quizzo at the Aqua Lounge in Cape Charles, VA on Saturday if any of you are around.

Got into Gettysburg last night. Did the car tour, walked around Little Round Top, saw the High Water Mark of the Confederacy. Headed to the Visitor Center now to check out the Museum. A lot of people get dressed up around here. A lot. In fact, I feel kind of like the jerk who shows up at a Halloween party in my regular clothes. Anyhow, I’ll post photos and maybe some video later. Here are a few things to read about in the meantime.
Here is a pretty concise, short history of the battle.
Philly’s involvement in the Battle of Gettysburg.

 
We here at JGT Enterprises want to send a shout out to our good buddy and quizzo part timer Sam Murray, who won the million dollars today on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Sam won the money because while the other contestants also had brains, Sam was the only one who had any guts, and took his chances to win the Million. 

The top 10 contestants who had answered the most questions right in the fastest time within the first weeks of the season were placed into contention to win the million dollars.

Each day in the tournament, one contestant would return to be asked one more question for a million dollars. Answer it correctly, you’re a millionaire. Answer it incorrectly, you would most likely lose thousands.

While Sam went for the gusto, the rest of the contestants were spineless cowards. Sam got his question right, then watched as the other contestants got an opportunity to risk a little to win a lot. (Most came in having won $50,000, and if they missed the question, they would go back to $25,000.)

So Sam became the tournament leader and with a surprise visit from his son Tim, who came all the way from Wisconsin, he sat in the stands for the next six episodes as he watched contestant after contestant be asked the million dollar question, and each decided to walk away without risking their hard earned money. By the way, most of those contestants guessed the right choices, but did not make it their final answers, deciding to walk away instead.

The question Sam answered correctly to win the Million?

According to the Population Reference Bureau, what is the approximate number of people who have ever lived on earth? A: 50 billion B: 100 billion C: 1 trillion D: 5 trillion

The answer is B: 100 million.

Abe Lincoln kicks ass. Here is Abe’s written version of that short but powerful speech. The speech was not given shortly before or shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg. It was actually given at a ceremony for a new graveyard for the Union soldiers. Previous to Lincoln’s speech, the Oration was given by Edward Everett. It lasted over 2 hours and was well received. Lincoln’s speech lasted just over two minutes. Some scholars have said that Lincoln’s speech was inspired by Pericles funeral oration. To see a video history of the battle, click here.

Jokes.com
Kent Haines – Reset the Odometer
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

JGT quizzo player, regular on the Philly Comedy circuit, and all around swell guy Kent Haines made a recent appearance on Comedy Central. Check it out above.

This is just priceless. Came across it while I was doing research for F. Lee Hoover, 1920s comic who performed last night at the Khyber (and went over quite well, I must say). It is an article written in the Ladies Home Journal in 1921, saying why jazz was ruining the country.

“Jazz is worse than the saloon! Why?” I asked. 

“Because it affects our young people especially,” said Mr. Bott. “It is degrading. It lowers all the moral standards. Unlike liquor, a great deal of its harm is direct and immediate. But it also leads to undesirable things. The jazz is too often followed by the joy-ride.”

If there is one thing that really sticks in my craw, it’s a bunch of sober youngsters  listening to jazz and then going out joy riding! This madness must end! I’m just glad the right wing is coming down on the side of decency and putting an end to this threat which, if left unfettered, will almost certainly lead to the downfall of our great nation.

…at PetSmart should be boiled in their own pudding with a stake of holly through their heart.

Dear JGT Quizzers,
John Dicker from Geeks Who Drink here.

JGT was kind enough to let me exploit his site to goad you into visiting Denver on January 30th of next year. That’s Geek Bowl, our version of Quizzo Bowl but without Johnny Goodtimes rapping. I pretty much stole the idea from JGT several years ago, only I let him know I was ripping him off so it’s all good. He’s astonishingly easy that way as I’m sure you’ve noticed. In fact, I’m married to his ex girlfriend and, at this very second, four of his former dolphins are synchronized swimming around the western quadrant of my moat.

Geek Bowl is worth your while. Several teams flew out from various parts of the country for it last year and did not send me hate mail afterwards. Go here for last year’s Flickr stream, here for our local alt weekly’s coverage and right here for our blog wrap up. As one player put it, “I left feeling like I belonged somewhere besides an Ewok bathhouse.”

Yeah.

Teams I’m calling out by name: Sofa Kingdom, Steak Em Up, L. Ron Hubbard’s Diabetics, Jams, Duane’s World: Your reputations and egos have preceded you — I’m looking at this here quizzo documentary as exhibit A. Sure, some of you can win against the same handful of teams that show up at the same Center City pubs each week… but what happens when you leave your waning, post colonial, er, post industrial burg comfortable surroundings?

You might scoff at the idea of being humiliated by Colorado Springs or even, yes, Albuquerque…but if you’re so confident then there’s no good reason not to join us. Of course, there’s more than bragging rights at stake. Last year we gave $1500, $1000 and $500 to the top three teams. We hope to do more than that this year as we’re increasing capacity to close to 500 players.

Johnny has given me his complete noncommittal assurance that he’ll be there so if you attend it’ll be like a UN delegation of nerds. I’m envisioning Hoosiers meets The Warriors meets the lesser-known works of Ted Stryker.

Tickets go on sale December 10th on brownpapertickets.com. You can link from our website. We can definitely use our site, Twitter, Facebook etc… to get some of our more altruistic teams to let you crash at their houses. We’re nice that way.

One last note: While I’d love it if even one Philly team makes it out, I’m not posting this for fear of filling seats. Last year we sold out in a week. I expect the same will happen this time around. Frankly, I just think it’s more fun if you’re there. And if you come… and if you manage to win, know that my regular teams will give me at least a year’s worth of s*** for having invited you.

See you in January.
-Dicker