Category Archives: Stevens Point

Trivia 46 Liveblog

This is my live blog for Trivia 46 by 90FM WWSP. You can find out more about streaming the contest here. See the bottom of the post for more info.

If you are commenting please  DO NOT POST QUESTIONS OR ANSWERS as this is against the rules and it kind of ruins the fun.

 

Monday April 20 00:59

Well the numbers are in and I think I had 5,075 points for 240th place. This has been a lot of fun. I put in 40+ hours over the weekend and jumped all over the internet looking for random facts and useless information. I am happy with my decision to do this and am thankful for all the help I had this year from Sadie, Mom, Nick, Nikki and Dad. It was a fun way to spend my birthday. See you next year!

Monday April 20 00:09

Well it’s all over now. They are tabulating the results. I am hoping for a finish at 239 or better.

Sunday April 19 23:50

One more question and it is all over for the year!

Sunday April 19 23:04

One hour to go! I don’t seem to be getting too many questions but still having fun. I don’t feel overly tired but I am sure I will sleep soundly tonight.

Sunday April 19 20:52

Just had a singing question – even though the operator had to listen to me sing she still laughed when I was done. Do you think it was with me or at me?

Sunday April 19 19:52

IBM’s Watson was pretty good on Jeopardy but I wonder how it would do at Trivia?

Sunday April 19 19:03

Five hours until the finish line. I have been at it since I woke up at 9 am this morning. Here we go!

Sunday April 19 18:08

Less than 6 hours to go! Still getting some questions but I have been stumped a few times.

Sunday April 19 15:40

The only people I am talking to more than myself are the trivia phone operators.

Sunday April 19 15:23

Trivia 46, or how I learned to stop worry and love the dial tone.

Sunday April 19 14:29

The last question was a shouting question – I hope I didn’t hurt the operators ear!

Sunday April 19 13:33

So much sitting! I will have to take a long walk tomorrow to burn some of these junk food calories off.

Sunday April 19 12:29

A question is using the “in-between song” as part of the question so we all gotta listen to it twice. Oh Yeah by Yello.

Sunday April 19 12:15

Hour 43. This is a lot of sitting – I need a standing desk!

Sunday April 19 11:38

I finally got a picture question thanks to some lucky Googling!

Sunday April 19 09:05

Nine o’clock – what does that mean? Time for more trivia! Dad had to work today so it is just myself again. I have had some great help throughout the contest.

Sunday April 19 02:34

2:30 and time to call it quits for the night. I will be back in the morning for more trivia!

Sunday April 19 00:23

Into hour 31 and going strong. We’ve got a good streak going right. Slogans are easy!

Saturday April 18 22:02

Back to it after a great dinner with Nick, Nikki and friends. My dad is here to help now. Time to make up some lost ground.

Saturday April 18 19:36

After another solid few hours it is time to go to dinner. I will be back at it afterwards though.

Saturday April 18 19:06

My friends Nick and Nikki stopped by to help out – I think it has been a total of 5 different people on the team so far.

Saturday April 18 16:10

It’s always nice to start off an hour with a correct answer. Moving into hour 23 of the contest and I am in 246th place.

Saturday April 18 15:28

Desert vs Dessert sanfu on the radio! I got it but I hope they don’t throw it out.

Saturday April 18 14:25

Sadie has gone now too so I am flying solo and not doing so hot. Either the questions are getting harder or I am killing too many brain cells.

Saturday April 18 13:51

My mom visited and brought cookies and brownies – thanks Mom!

Saturday April 18 11:31

After some sleep, a shower and some breakfast I am ready to go again!

Saturday April 18 06:30

Well after 12.5 hours of Trivia and being up for 24 hours I am going to throw in the towel for now. I haven’t been as sharp as the night has gone along (or else the questions were harder) but I will be back later. Ciao for now.

Saturday April 18 05:55

Well I made it through 12 hours of Trivia so far.

Saturday April 18 04:37

I can hear the birds chirping – morning is on it’s way. I am going to be throwing my body clock waaaaay off this weekend.

Saturday April 18 04:18

It looks like the team in first place finally missed a question in the ninth hour of the contest. Still an incredible run.

Saturday April 18 04:13

Hour 11 and still going strong. Up to 176th place but not sure how long I will be able to hold that spot. I will have to sleep soon – I woke up at 06:30 Friday morning so we will be hitting 24 hours up pretty quick here.

Saturday April 18 03:54

I decided that brushing my teeth was a good idea. Usually I do it before I go to bed and when I wake up but when you don’t go to sleep . . .

Saturday April 18 02:56

Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America is playing – Good song! Hour nine is done and on to hour 10! See my updated team score here: https://www.triviastats.com/#/teams/BRENDEN%27S%20QUARTER%20LIFE%20CRISIS

Saturday April 18 02:41

Well I have heard of it but now I have seen it first hand. People are editing the Wikipedia page where you can find an answer to a question. Crazy what some people do to get ahead.

Saturday April 18 01:58

Hour 8 is coming to a close and I went 7/8. I think some teams must be sleeping because it is much easier to get through on the phones. I have passed a tired phase and have a second wind. Let’s see how long I can go!

Saturday April 18 01:27

In case you wanted to see the scores and the very entertaining team names you can find them here: http://www.90fmtrivia.org/TriviaScores2015/trivia_scores_2015.html

Also this is a neat site dedicated to Triva that has a really nice interface and show how each team does hour by hour: https://www.triviastats.com/#/

Saturday April 18 01:06

190th place falling but the pace has slowed. Sadie baked brownies – we shall see how long those last.

Saturday April 18 01:01

Boy howdy my teammate is calling it a night so Hour 8 is all me. Last hour was all related to Robin Williams. Only took me 3 questions to figure that one out.

Saturday April 18 00:04

After hour 5 we are in 184th place.

Friday April 17 23:55

Six hours successfully completed – 48 more to go. I must admit a little tiredness is creeping in. Maybe another Sun Drop would help.

Friday April 17 23:32

148th place after hour 4 but we got some points coming our way. If I am counting right there is a team that has gotten all questions correct through hour 4 – unbelievable!

Friday April 17 22:31

After hour 3 we are in 113th place – the descent begins!

Friday April 17 22:02

According to Twitter there are There are 348 teams and 8153 people playing in this years contest.

Friday April 17 21:57

70th place! We are moving on up!

Friday April 17 20:57

Tied for 82nd place after the first hour – I wouldn’t doubt if this is the high water mark for Brenden’s Quarter Life Crisis

Friday April 17 20:53

I am trying to eat some delicious tacos between questions. Thanks Sadie for cooking!

Friday April 17 20:40

Good to be on board for Hour 3!

Friday April 17 19:58

Two hours down – I am having tons o’ fun so far. I am taking a Sun Drop as a precaution against falling asleep tonight.

Friday April 17 19:13

I think that not watching a whole lot of TV over the past few years is really going to hurt me in this contest.

Friday April 17 18:54

One hour down – 53 to go! We had a good start but couldn’t get through on the last question but we didn’t have the correct answer anyway so it didn’t much matter.

Friday April 17 18:42

Sadie and I are rocking it so far. If I were to sleep I would have nightmares of a busy tone.

Friday April 17 18:13

And we’re off. I got through on only the fifth try. This bodes well!

Friday April 17 18:04

Born to be Wild! Kickoff time.

Friday April 17 18:00

Going through the sponsors. What a list of people supporting the station. I just cracked open a Point Root Beer to celebrate.

Friday April 17 17:52

A quick last minute to the store with my girlfriend and we are back in time for Free Bird. Allllllmost there!

Friday April 17 17:02

Home from work and ready to get started. The tunes are rocking on the home stereo and I have my Team ID on the wall for quick reference when I call in my answers. Only 1 hour to go!

Thursday April 16 20:56

The Excel spreadsheet is done. I can’t do something this important without a spreadsheet!

Thursday April 16 20:29

It is the night before Trivia and I did some running around after work trying to get things together. I stocked up on junk food (chips and soda) and some healthy food to try and get me through the weekend. I bought a 12 pack of Nectar of the Gods aka Sun Drop. I think the caffeine will come in handy.

About trivia:

Trivia is a 54 hour trivia contest over the student radio station at UW Stevens Point. I will be playing from my apartment in Middleton WI. I don’t have a team in the traditional sense but I will try and play as much as I can as the weekend goes along.

Eventually the team scores will be posted and I hope to have a link to that – my team name is “Brenden’s Quarter Life Crisis” as it is my 25th birthday on Saturday the 18th. (I plan on living to see 100)

Pile of Snow in Stevens Point

Pile of Snow in Stevens Point

My girlfriend and I were heading downtown in Stevens Point in early April when I saw this. At first I thought it was a bunch of dirt from an excavation. Then it hit me – this was snow. The snow pile is like a beached iceberg. It is massive. I wonder how long it will take to melt?

About a week before Easter I was in Stevens Point. I saw an ad for the Stevens Point Riverfront Arts Center. They had a Peeps art exhibition in celebration of Easter. I thought it would be fun to see what there all was. Below is a small sampling.

The Last Supper made with Peeps

The Last Supper made with Peeps

I thought it was all very creative. I only captured a few on camera but there was many more pieces. The bright colors are fun to look at.

Have you ever made Peeps art or other art from food?

Stevens Point Curling Club

A few weeks ago (during the Olympics and before the Russian invasion of Crimea) I had a chance to try Curling at the Stevens Point Curling club. I had long related to curling as the one winter Olympic sport I could ever even try to attempt without breaking a leg or embarrassing myself.

The "house" at Stevens Point Curling Club

The “house” at the Stevens Point Curling Club

The curling club was hosting an open night where you could try the sport and play an end or two. I got to throw some stones and do some sweeping. I wasn’t very good but I could see the appeal of the sport. It is team oriented and is exciting when you get into it.

Each team has 4 players. Each player throws 2 stones to the other end of the ice. The circled area is called the house*. You score points by being the closest to the center. It is a lot like shuffle board or bocce ball. A captain stands at the other end and helps call the shots for the team to maximize points. Games are often offensive and defensive. The term “chess on ice” is often used to describe the game.

If you ever get the chance I suggest you give it a try. It was a fun night out. You can visit the Stevens Point Curling Club online here.

*I am sure I am getting some of the terminology wrong so don’t take this as fact.

Back to School

It is that season again! This will be my second fall not returning to school. But I still feel a little nostalgia when I go to the store and see the supply lists and hear people talking about scheduling classes.

I miss school, especially my university years. I had lots of time each day to do what I want. I also had new ideas presented to me all the time. I have to make an effort to have that happen now. I try to constantly look for new things and ideas by using Google News, Reddit, and tumblr. With Reddit and Tumblr there is a lot of fluff but there is also a lot of good, thoughtful content to subscribe to and follow. I see new things, learn about new people, and am inspired by some of the amazing pictures that I find on these sites.

Another thing I miss about school is the student life. I was by no means a party animal. But it was easier to have a good time. Due to some thoughtful scheduling and a little luck I had many semesters with no classes on Fridays. (Economics professors apparently don’t like to teach on Friday’s; you didn’t hear me complaining!) I had some 8 o’clock classes, but it wasn’t every day. Another bonus was that I always lived 15 minutes or less by bike from campus so the commute was fantastic. I went to school in Stevens Point, WI and there are not a whole lot of hills. It was very easy biking.

One of the biggest adjustments from school to “real life” is the concept of summer vacation, or lack thereof. It used to be a goal: just get through finals and you get a break. At work that break never seems to come. There are shorter vacations but the longest I will probably be able to take for a while would be 2 weeks and that would be a large portion of my vacation days.

Do you miss school? What part do you miss the most?