Search found 172 matches

by closesesame
Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:14 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAREN at TJ (1/30/10)
Replies: 105
Views: 121774

Re: NAREN at TJ (1/30/10)

Inkana7 wrote:I have little to say, except that this may have one of the best names to any tournament I've ever seen.
Oh God...
by closesesame
Thu Oct 15, 2009 6:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: TJIAT (10/17/09)
Replies: 140
Views: 41309

Re: TJIAT (10/17/09)

Good luck, guys! Hopefully there will be no repeats of last year's question delivery issues. That almost gave us a heart attack last year. Not good.
by closesesame
Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

About this Brahma and Brahman thing again - since when has Brahma ever been the spoken Sanskrit version of Brahman? I have never heard Brahman referred to as Brahma, or even Brahma with a long a at the end. Before someone says "no one has spoken Sanskrit for thousands of years, so how would you...
by closesesame
Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

Siva and Andy are absolutely right. Brahma is a deity, but Brahman is nameless, formless, etc. and is essentially a word for consciousness/ultimate reality/Oneness. I can only imagine[*] how this protest would have been resolved if someone said the completely unrelated "brahmin" instead of...
by closesesame
Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:37 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

Logistically, this was the best HSNCT that I have attended. Question-wise, this was the worst. Let me state up front that I think geography and current events, when written well, are academic knowledge worth testing. I know this differs from the opinions of many others in the quizbowl community, but...
by closesesame
Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:28 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 HSNCT question discussion
Replies: 262
Views: 49114

Re: 2009 HSNCT question discussion

Maybe a question every round or so is fine, but its hard to call academic games that are decided by questions on Butthead and the Tenderloin district ...which happened to us, and many other teams, it seems. What's so hard about adopting a per-round distribution? It certainly seems easier on the fac...
by closesesame
Sun May 31, 2009 11:24 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

I was once one of NAQT's strongest supporters, so I never thought I'd be saying this:

I agree with everyone in the quizbowl community that PACE is far more legitimate than NAQT. The rounds at PACE are too long, but the questions actually test academic knowledge, not Wheaties.
by closesesame
Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:58 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year
Replies: 79
Views: 21806

Re: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year

So I take back what I said about being 99% sure of going to MIT. I'm stuck trying to decide between Harvard and MIT now, and that choice will probably determine how active I will be in college quizbowl.
by closesesame
Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement: Geography Monstrosity (May 2009, Chicago)
Replies: 158
Views: 59702

Re: Announcement: Geography Monstrosity (May 2009, Chicago)

Actually, put me down as expressing interest. I'll know shortly whether or not it will be 100% logistically feasible for me to participate.
by closesesame
Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Science Packets for High School
Replies: 13
Views: 5270

Re: Science Packets for High School

Practicing science tossups is always good, but it can be difficult to memorize a lot of the technical terms that come up. Understanding the underlying concepts is always a better bet. My personal favorite for anything physics-related is Hyperphysics. Wikipedia is a surprisingly excellent resource, a...
by closesesame
Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A word of caution when ordering HSAPQ questions...
Replies: 43
Views: 7696

Re: Do not use HSAPQ for your tournament!!!

Aren't you guys (HSAPQ writers and also other college players) all in communication through #quizbowl and other channels more or less non-stop? I don't buy this "we didn't know" argument...

EDIT: The edit was to remove the worthless drivel.
by closesesame
Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A word of caution when ordering HSAPQ questions...
Replies: 43
Views: 7696

Re: Do not use HSAPQ for your tournament!!!

It's also hilarious to watch the people who lampoon and skewer NAQT (and often for good reason) do precisely what NAQT does to tournament hosts. Ok, maybe not hilarious, but certainly very ironic.

EDIT: Irony >> Nickely
by closesesame
Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A word of caution when ordering HSAPQ questions...
Replies: 43
Views: 7696

Re: Do not use HSAPQ for your tournament!!!

At least HSAPQ has beautiful, freely-available scoresheets...
by closesesame
Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:01 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Dropping Titles in Literature Questions
Replies: 76
Views: 11100

Re: Dropping Titles in Literature Questions

Maybe if Josh Hahm (author of said ridiculous bonus and Oe question at MOHIT) had been there for the finals of WJIAT, we'd have gotten the Oe question off the Pinch Runner Memorandum... Except for the fact that you played Maggie Walker whose notable player Tommy buzzed off it to beat you... ...whic...
by closesesame
Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:52 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Dropping Titles in Literature Questions
Replies: 76
Views: 11100

Re: Dropping Titles in Literature Questions

Maybe if Josh Hahm (author of said ridiculous bonus and Oe question at MOHIT) had been there for the finals of WJIAT, we'd have gotten the Oe question off the Pinch Runner Memorandum...
by closesesame
Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:34 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: WJIAT (2/14/09) at Bethesda, MD
Replies: 54
Views: 12443

Re: WJIAT (2/14/09) at Bethesda, MD

A quick stats note - for TJ A, Josh Hahm wasn't there for the last two games of the playoffs against James Monroe and Gov. So his GP should be 4.0.
by closesesame
Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:12 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MOHIT Discussion
Replies: 4
Views: 1296

Re: MOHIT Discussion

For the record, the set that's been posted does not have the edits that we said we'd make. Sorry about that. If you are going to discuss the questions, please discuss the merit of the clues etc. and don't get caught up in grammatical mistakes. We know how to fix the grammar but we'd love to learn ho...
by closesesame
Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: WJIAT (2/14/09) at Bethesda, MD
Replies: 54
Views: 12443

Re: WJIAT (2/14/09) at Bethesda, MD

Thanks to WJ for an awesome tournament. Congrats to Gov for an impressive performance, including some great bonus conversion. I was also rather impressed by Chuhern and James Monroe; it's great to see schools that weren't part of the quizbowl circuit before really step it up and be major players. It...
by closesesame
Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

I believe it was a third bonus part in the playoffs on him, not a tossup. That said, perhaps it was too hard to be asked at all. Also, since we are now second semester seniors, we can get around to editing those grammatical errors so that the set can be posted...
by closesesame
Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09
Replies: 57
Views: 11818

Re: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09

Basically I feel absolutely terrible about doing this to you guys - it is NOT my intent at all. If you want to know how ridiculous the situation is, we got yelled at for not having sent a list of names to the Activities Office for VHSL yesterday when we were notified today. Apparently TJ wants us to...
by closesesame
Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09
Replies: 57
Views: 11818

Re: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09

I REALLY don't mean to throw the tournament into chaos, but there is absolutely no way we can come tomorrow. Without the adult, if we go, we essentially get royally screwed over by the school (even as "notteejay"). We played at VCU Novice over the summer, but that was with an FCPS-badged a...
by closesesame
Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:56 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2008-09 Mid-Season Poll!
Replies: 34
Views: 5819

Re: 2008-09 Mid-Season Poll!

Basically we have a negging problem, but when we haven't negged we've beat Dorman and Gonzaga by pretty large margins. I would rank WJ above us, though.

EDIT: We've also never played Hunter. I'd like to do that sooner rather than later.
by closesesame
Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:16 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09
Replies: 57
Views: 11818

Re: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09

The problem for us with the team being too small is that the finance office people won't cut the check. So we've basically got our hands tied. In addition to that, I'm pretty sure the parent who is supposed to be our sponsor (because our sponsor doesn't come to these tournaments) can't make it. Ah, ...
by closesesame
Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09
Replies: 57
Views: 11818

Re: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09

Minor problem - TJ may end up not going if I can't find a 3rd person to come along.
by closesesame
Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:36 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

Yeah, there were two science tossups - namely the angular momentum and Brownian motion ones - I was pretty sure that I had deleted, but someone must have resurrected them by accident.
by closesesame
Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

Thank you to everyone who came. First off, congratulations to Charter for winning, to GDS for pulling through over a formidable State College team, and as always, to Gov for stellar performances without negging. All four of you qualify for PACE (again). Our alumni, many of whom came back to moderate...
by closesesame
Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:06 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

So Pallet Town Prep Academy is playing at the M.O.H.I.T. with a wacky name to unofficially play for their school. That explains a lot. So up the field to 27, with Pallet Town Prep Academy in the list.
by closesesame
Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

A school named Pallet Town Prep Academy signed up. Unfortunately, I think it's a joke registration given that Ash Ketchum is from Pallet Town and no such school seems to exist when I do a Google search. If this school IS actually legit, could someone let me know before I delete it from our list? Tha...
by closesesame
Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

The tournament is fast approaching, so don't forget to sign up!
by closesesame
Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year
Replies: 79
Views: 21806

Re: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year

EDIT: I am more or less sure I am going to MIT next year, and I may keep playing quizbowl.
by closesesame
Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:08 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IS Sets, A Sets, and Timers
Replies: 27
Views: 5837

Re: IS Sets, A Sets, and Timers

I think I know who was reading in that room...
by closesesame
Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09
Replies: 57
Views: 11818

Re: ACF Winter Mid-Atlantic @ JS Reynolds CC (Richmond) 1/17/09

Please tell me this is still happening, because TJ wants to bring one team.
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:22 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Yeah, Microsoft Office 2007 has to be the stupidest program ever created :-/ Microsoft's attempt to adopt open-source standards FTL.
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Hunters in the Snow is a stock giveaway.
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:53 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Ah.
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

I can see your point (and Phil Graves agrees with you). There's not much of a way to do a giveaway about something like Axum other than "ancient Ethiopian trading empire", but that said, it's not an unreasonable question to ask given the field. I think most of the questions, especially in ...
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

It's strange you say that, George, because for that Axum tossup I actually thought "the language was Ge'ez" was a giveaway in the first line. I would not have buzzed as early as I did (i.e. after the first line) on that question if the subsequent history had come first, but there's pretty ...
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:46 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

We played a game versus GDS in Round 8 that resulted in a 240-325 loss. That game seems to be missing, and it would give both of our teams an additional game to make our wins and losses add to 9. That got me wondering whether or not games were missing for other teams as well.
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

I hate to make life too difficult for you, Sarah, but isn't an entire round missing from these full stats?
by closesesame
Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:10 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Making A Great Leap Forward
Replies: 33
Views: 7393

Re: Making A Great Leap Forward

Note: we actually beat Dorman at PACE, and the one time we played them in the prelims at the HSNCT we lost. So I guess the whole basketball theory is out the window. I think it had to do more with enjoying the activity and wanting to learn rather than imposing a study plan. Also, we seemed to do bet...
by closesesame
Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:02 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

To the Buffalo Grove kid: Come play in the DC area :lol: Seriously, though, quizbowl has only recently started moving from quick recall formats to the longer, academic formats promoted by house-written tournaments, HSAPQ, and mACF events. Some regions, like the DC area and the East Coast in general,...
by closesesame
Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:11 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Yeah, I got that TU off of "fuit hic", which made me happy. There were plenty of questions at this tournament I thought were good because they avoided most stock clues.
by closesesame
Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Maryland/DC/DC Area Virginia 2008-2009
Replies: 39
Views: 6642

Re: Maryland/DC/DC Area Virginia 2008-2009

So we all play each other and beat each other depending on how much sleep we've gotten and what questions certain packets have in them. There are clearly some areas in which certain teams excel and some areas in which certain teams are lacking, but what seems to be the magic of the circuit this year...
by closesesame
Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Oh Kevin Casto, why did you say Pullman Strike for Watts riots? (85 point loss to GDS in Round 8 :-/) I thought the tournament was definitely well-run, as getting done at 5 o'clock even with playing 9 rounds (and taking the time for 10 because of that circle of death situation) is impressive. The sp...
by closesesame
Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:04 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: VCU Winter High School Tournament: December 13, 2008
Replies: 18
Views: 5719

Re: VCU Winter High School Tournament: December 13, 2008

Unfortunately TJ will not be able to attend this tournament.
by closesesame
Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:08 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: POSTPONED FROM 1/10/09: Shady Side Tournament
Replies: 18
Views: 4035

Re: Shady Side Academy (Pittsburgh, PA) Tournament- 1/10/09

Given that the non-Pittsburgh teams that have attended a Pittsburgh tournament since my freshman year (03-04) have been DCC (at most twice, but I think once), Solon, State College, a pair of Erie schools, and IKE JOSE (who doesn't count since he attends everything everywhere), I don't think you'll ...
by closesesame
Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: POSTPONED FROM 1/10/09: Shady Side Tournament
Replies: 18
Views: 4035

Re: Shady Side Academy (Pittsburgh, PA) Tournament- 1/10/09

Hmm. Just a reminder to DC-area teams that this IS the same weekend as TJ's in-house tournament, the M.O.H.I.T.
by closesesame
Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008
Replies: 223
Views: 114330

Re: GSAC XVI: December 6, 2008

Sarah, I like your bracket idea better than the single-elim options. I'm always nervous about making "top" teams play single-elim.
by closesesame
Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)
Replies: 80
Views: 31400

Re: M.O.H.I.T. at TJHSST (01/10/09)

Just to clarify, we are not doing the whole different difficulty thing. We are going to make the rounds pretty difficult, especially towards the end, though.