#this is his tv set. he is a quiz show host. the humans who get trapped in his domain (the field) have to participate

[sanctus-ingenium]

the centaur of attention

[thedeaditeslayer]

Bruce Campbell talks ‘Evil Dead,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Xena’

mm

The first time Bruce Campbell came across Sam Raimi, they were students at Michigan’s West Maple Junior High School.

“Sam was a year younger than me,” Campbell recalls, “and I remember him dressed as Sherlock Holmes playing with dolls in the middle of the floor. And I remember going way around him. And I found out later that it was Sam Raimi. We didn’t really come into contact until we got until high school.”

What a connection they made. After bonding over D.I.Y. filmmaking, Campbell and Raimi went on to do 1978 shoestring horror-short “Within the Woods” together, which they evolved into 1981 demonic thriller “Evil Dead.”

Campbell would periodically reprise signature “Evil Dead” character Ash Williams in various sequels and offshoots. And appear in Raimi-produced “Xena: Warrior Princess,” portraying slippery “king of thieves” Autolycus on that ’90s-iconic TV fantasy epic.

And then there’s Campbell’s memorable cameos in Raimi’s blockbuster, Tobey Maguire-starring “Spider-Man” film trilogy: the ring announced in the first, 2002 film, “snooty usher” in the 2004 sequel and a maître d’ in 2007′s “Spider-Man 3.”

Of course, Campbell’s made a mark outside that dynamic duo. He drew raves for his portrayal of a nursing-home-bound Elvis Presley in 2002 indie comedy-horror gem, “Bubba Ho-Tep.” Then there’s his role of Sam Axe on USA Network spy drama “Burn Notice.” Not to mention numerous other film, TV, voice acting and even video-game work.

The cult-fave actor will make his first ever trip to Huntsville this week, for Oct. 24 events at Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall featuring “Evil Dead” screenings followed by a Campbell-led chat about the film, his life as an actor and beyond. Tickets for these 3 and 7:30 p.m. events start at $32, via ticketmaster.com.

His upcoming projects include a comedy album with actor Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, called “The Lost Recordings.” Campbell also is readying a book of essays called “The Cool Side of My Pillow,” which finds him riffing on subjects ranging from noise to the environment. He hopes to have both released by the end of this year. More info at bruce-campbell.com. On a recent afternoon, Campbell checked in from his Oregon home for a phone interview. Edited excerpts are below.

Bruce, when you do an “Evil Dead” screening event, do your discussions turn up new things about the film or that you haven’t thought of in a long time?

Every show turns up something new because it puts you on the spot. Someone will say something that will then trigger something that you had forgot. I just sat down the other day before one of these shows with my guy who is my frontman and I was like, “OK, l’m just going to tell the story of making this movie.” It’s not for questions I’m just going to tell you basically what you’re about to see. But yeah, every show triggers some new thing. I’ve seen the movie. I know how it ends. But that is the challenge, finding some new, weird tidbits.

Back in high school how did you and Sam Raimi first bond? Did you share a class or something?

Basically I got into typing class, that’s what started it. I could not believe I was stuck in this stupid class where everyone around me seemed to know how to type. I’m like, “How do you know this?” It was very frustrating. So I went to a counselor for the first time ever – I’d never gone to try to get out of anything.

So I go there and I say, “Hey can I drop this dumb typing class?” She goes, "Yeah, what do you want? I go, “What do you got?” So she comes up with “radio speech.” And I’m like, “Radio speech? Wait they do the morning announcements (at school) and stuff?” and I’m like yeah let me get all over that.

So I got into a class and Sam Raimi was also in the class. And the guy who taught radio speech also directed all the plays. We didn’t know how critical that was. The first year I couldn’t get in anything in my high school. I was auditioning for everything but I didn’t have a class with this guy. By the next year I had a class with him, and then me and Sam were in basically all the plays after that. We found out how the deal worked.

So I met him in radio speech and we’d do the morning announcements together and got to talking about what we do in our neighborhoods. I was making little regular-8 (millimeter film) movies and Sam was making Super-8 movies. So we started to join forces during the course of that high school run, that two or three years in there.

We were very productive. We didn’t really get into trouble because we were too busy like filming parties. We wouldn’t go to the parties we’d film the parties and use them in some way in our little films so it was a great guerrilla filmmaking period.

A celeb or well-known person you were surprised to learn they’re an “Evil Dead” fan?

I heard Charlie Sheen, one of his favorite things was to smoke a doobie and watch “Evil Dead 2,” and Alice Cooper’s favorite horror movie is “Evil Dead.”

If it’s good enough for Alice Cooper it’s good enough for me. You host the quiz show “Last Fan Standing.” What do you make of the mainstreaming of nerd-culture?

Every generation has its deal. In the ’40s most moviegoers were in their 40s and so the actors were in their 40s. Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy and all the guys were in their 40s. You didn’t have to be 21. And then as the audience got younger the actors got younger and the people who run the companies get younger and so they’re really just catering to what’s popular.

Comic books have always been popular but now they’re really popular. Not really sure what that’s all about but yeah social media has certainly helped but I think it’s another form of escapism. Whenever times get weird, people want escapism. During The Depression they did the Busby Berkeley splashy musicals where everyone was happy all the time, when life was really miserable. And some decades where we’re really doing okay, the movies turned introspective and we go after ourselves and figure out why we’re like this and like that. And so I think we’re in a phase where we just want to be taken away to another galaxy and Marvel is very happy to help.

And you’ve been a part of that. In Sam’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, which of your cameos did you have the most fun with?

Well I don’t know it’s hard to lineate because they’re so critical. The first one I named Spider-Man. If I wasn’t in the movie a billion dollar franchise would be called The Human Spider. He wants to get in the theater in the second one, past the snooty usher who won’t let him in because he’s late, because it will spoil the illusion, so I think I’m technically the only character who’s ever defeated Spider-Man. And in part three, a superhero comes to a mortal for help. He wants me to help him propose to his girlfriend so it’s sort of a landmark case where a superhero goes to a mortal for help which is pretty rare. So I can’t delineate because they’re all critical to the “Spider-Man” universe.

Do you have any cool mementos from "Evil Dead or elsewhere from your career? Maybe something like the chainsaw from “Evil Dead 2”?

You know, it’s weird I’m not a hoarder, I’m not a collector. My brother, he has the shotgun from “Evil Dead,” but not because he loves movie trivia, he just likes guns. My brother also has I think the set of keys to the original cabin. That’s a pretty good one. Not sure how he got that one.

I have weirder ones. Like I have a prop from a 1989 movie called “Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.” I have Van Helsing’s holy bottle where he shakes the holy water at them. And I have what I call my tchotchke shelf, where most people would look at it and they couldn’t identify what importance each item is, but there’s a story for each one.

Some of your favorite actors outside the horror genre?

Oh, I l love a lot of the old time actors. William Holden, he starred in “Bridge on The River Kwai” one of my favorite movies. I like the guys who had to work a lot. In the old days and actor would finish a job on Friday he was under contract, he took two weeks off and started a new movie a couple weeks later. Actors kind of just do one or two movies a year if they’re lucky these days and it doesn’t help them refine their craft.

I feel like the guys who worked a lot got good because they got really used to the process. I’m a fan of the studio system. Not all movies were good and not every actor was happy under the studio system, but I think a busy actor’s a good actor.

For your role in “Bubba Ho-Tep,” what was your process for tapping into Elvis’s vibe?

What guy doesn’t want to be Elvis, you know? So I worked with an Elvis impersonator for about a half an hour and then he gave up on me. He goes, “Look, man, you’re never going to get it.” I’m like, “Wow either I suck or you suck as a teacher but somebody here sucks.”

No, but I watched a bunch of footage and documentaries. There’s a good one, all his Memphis Mafia who worked with him, a filmmaker basically got them all drunk one night and interviewed them all and that’s where the good stories are. You learn a little more of the human side of him. But that’s pretty much it. I’ve never been a stage performer so mercifully there wasn’t that much of it, just in quick flashbacks.

And there’s a part of me, in the back of my mind, I want to know that Elvis' descendants, somebody, a daughter, niece, somebody has watched that movie and approved. We’ll see.

I thought it was a cool creative take on that whole Elvis thing.

I agree. That’s why I did it. It was one of the weirdest scripts I’ve ever read But yet it wraps up though. It has a weird premise but it has a really interesting theme of what do you do with old people. Do we forget these old people? And are they still useful in society, old people? And I thought it had a sweet ending, that these two old guys they kind of rally themselves one more time.

What’s a well-known role you’ve turned down?

Turned down? I don’t have a lot of those. I don’t operate in that rarified air of saying, “Oh I turned ‘Titanic’ down.” I tried to get a part in a studio movie called “The Phantom” and Billy Zane wound up getting the part." And it was down to me and Billy, I was number two for the job, but I didn’t really enjoy the process very much because it seemed more political than actually acting. It was amazing how many people you had to audition for, and you had to go up the ranks and each time it got a little more tense as you move up. So I’m good doing these weirdo little movies.

I read the budget for “Within the Woods,” the predecessor of “Evil Dead,” was a princely 1,600 bucks. What was the most expensive line item, you think?

Food and probably fake blood. Tom Sullivan, who did the special effects, probably needed to mold a few things, so he probably spent a couple hundred bucks on molds. A lot of it was footage because Sam Raimi likes to shoot footage, so we probably bought a lot of rolls of film. And we did go to a cabin to shoot it, so had to get in the car and travel so maybe a little gas money in there too. That’s about it.

What can you tell us about the status of the next installment of the “Evil Dead” franchise?

We’re honing-in, circling the building now trying to lock in a partner. We have a couple of bidders and we’re trying to just find the correct suitor and we have a script written and a director picked. Sam Raimi hand -picked a guy named Lee Cronin, who’s a very good Irish filmmaker. And it’s got a very good modern tale. It’s a modern-day urban “Evil Dead,” it’s called “Evil Dead Rise.” And we’re hoping to do that next year.

You were a producer on 2013 “Evil Dead” remake. What’s the key to making a reboot effective?

Well rebooting can be very confusing and frustrating and not always successful. Reboot, sequel, remake we have all these crazy terms. What we’re doing now is we’re saying," Look, this is another ‘Evil Dead’ movie and that book gets around, a lot of people run into it and it’s another story." The main key with “Evil Dead” is they’re just regular people who are battling what seems to be a very unstoppable evil, and so that’s where the horror comes from. It’s not someone who’s skilled. They’re not fighting a soldier. They’re not fighting a scientist. They’re not fighting anybody more than your average neighbor. This one is going to be a similar thing. We’re going to have a heroine, a woman in charge, and she’s going to try and save her family.

Speaking of a female protagonist, when you’re at a con or meet fans somewhere, who has the most passionate superfans: “Evil Dead” or “Xena”?

“Xena” hits them at an emotional level. Like, they’ll come up to me and Lucy Lawless (the actor who played the show’s title role) and just burst into tears, because her character helped them get through a difficult time. “Xena” is more representative of overcoming your struggles in life. “Evil Dead” fans are pretty fervent but they don’t cry as much.

[smartguyreviewed]

1x7 - A Little Knowledge

Original air date: May 7, 1997

Hello there, friends. How are we holding up during these “unprecedented times?” I am currently holding up by pretty much being high 18/7, not sleeping and obsessing over a show that pretty much nobody talks about because I am that bored.

Really, I do want to thank anyone who takes the time to read this blog and/or drop a like. I started this blog because I enjoyed reading reviews of Lizzie McGuire and Boy Meets World. And then I thought of how not that many black sitcoms are pretty much ever really discussed. I watched Smart Guy so much when I was a kid but didn’t realize how important it was to even be watching it because we had so many other black television shows during my childhood, the complete opposite of how it is now. I always thought about even making a YouTube channel reviewing that black ass nostalgia that I love so much, but since I’m in the ugly phase of growing my starter locs, I figured I’d blog for now. 

Alright! There’s my intro. I really did mean it, but I had no idea how else to segue into the opening for this episode. By the way, if anyone is a super meticulous asshole and thinks the numbering of the episodes is off, I was honestly confused because Disney omitted a whole ass episode of the show, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the numbering of the episodes is different here but nowhere else on the web. The first season is already less than 10 episodes, so whatever.

Okay, so we open to Floyd about to do his books but he needs the little precocious calculator to help him out. This triggers me because I still have not done my taxes even though the deadline was extended. Luckily, it doesn’t appear that the Hendersons have any timely bills due but they are broke. After TJ adds up all the numbers, Floyd sees he is definitely not in the black. 

Because the episode is about money, naturally, both of Floyd’s grown children need pricey things all of a sudden. Yvette comes down and asks for a coat to replace this...thing that she’s wearing because it’s clearly ill-fitting. Floyd says he can buy her a new coat, as long as she’s not particular as to which winter she gets it in.

Up next is our Marcus, asking for something totally egregious. At least Yvette was asking for weather appropriate clothing. Marcus is asking Floyd for a $1500 bike. And now I’m confused. Why the hell would Marcus of all people need a bike? If he’s really trying his damndest to get the girls, I thought the band alone served that purpose. Regardless, Marcus needs it and he’s a teenager so the world is going to end tomorrow if he doesn’t get this deathcycle of his. He even tries to manipulate his dad by showing him a photo of Floyd on his bike. I actually think it’s cute how Floyd lights up at the sight of younger him. Maybe he met his deceased wife during these years? 

Floyd breaks out of memory lane and reminds Marcus that he, a human parent, wants the finer things also, including the chance to see his old friends at his high school reunion but that doesn’t seem to have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. Yeah, because Floyd has to put food on the table for a woman and three guys (yes, I’m including Mo and guys eat a lot and I don’t wanna hear shit about how girls eat a lot too because guys just eat more and that’s a fact) and school all of his children. No room for the finer things.

He then says that Yvette and Marcus can buy what they want but simply have to get jobs. Marcus balks at the idea and says he wouldn’t want work to interrupt his studies. Yvette and TJ have a nice little kii over this since hahaha “Marcus is dumb,” hahaha.

We cut to TJ in his room attempting to strategize ways for the Henderson clan to save money while watching a bootleg version of Jeopardy!. Marcus comes in on the phone with Craig, the guy selling the bike, and convinces him to not sell it, even though Marcus only has 4.2% of the funds. Yvette barges in and is pissed at her annoying little brothers for not unlocking her door when they’re done with the bathroom. See, they share a bathroom in this episode. In another episode, Yvette gets her own bathroom built...somewhere because she’s tired of sharing with them. This bathroom is never mentioned again. In another episode, Marcus temporarily moves to the attic. I just wonder exactly how the Henderson house is built because it seems like there’s so much space yet so little space? 

The boys aren’t listening to Yvette however, because she stank. She credits this funk to the job she just got at the Cluck Bucket, “yanking the gushy stuff out of chickens,” as Marcus eloquently puts it. She brags, saying she makes $100 a week, which is obviously $1000 a week in 90s money. 

After TJ proposes that Yvette cut Marcus’s hair, Marcus realizes TJ is attempting to optimize their family’s finances. TJ really is doing a lot for a 10 year old here. Normally, he’s being extremely rude to them, but in this episode, he’s trying to use his intelligence to fix a problem that he has no business worrying about. Clearly, this intelligence is a gift and a curse. I’m about to be 29 and I worry all the time about things I can’t even control along with the things I can. Imagine being 10, gifted AF and stressing only about adult things you can’t control.

Marcus actually delivers good advice this episode, most likely unbeknownst to him. He commands TJ to turn off his brain and stop worrying because this is something he can’t fix. And Marcus is right. A 10 year old has zero reasons to be trying to balance the family checkbook. It would have been better if he threw a Gameboy at him and told him that’s his homework instead.

But this is TJ and he is the determinator AKA hard-headed. Bootleg Jeopardy! is about to end but the host announces a junior version of the show. TJ checks all the boxes. Youngster? Check. Living in the D.C. area? Check. In desperate need of $25k? Double check!

TJ and Marcus are back home and go over how they’re going to break the news to Floyd since obviously he wouldn’t have given TJ permission to audition if they asked. Floyd seems pissed at first when they tell him but Marcus makes sure to place emphasis on how TJ kicked ass. Floyd is proud now, even though a few moments ago, he was about to go full Papa Bear.

The next day, Piedmont is buzzing about TJ’s television debut but he’s confused because he only told his fam. We then cut to Marcus blabbing to some girl about how he can get her a seat next to him so she can give him a handjob on the sly. (Of course, we don’t even see said girl at the show.) TJ tells Marcus he didn’t want everyone to know because, understandably, now there’s more pressure on him. Marcus responds to this by putting even more pressure on him, telling Craig that TJ is going to win him the bike. Then he puts a damn anvil on it by telling Craig to raise the price to $1700 and he’ll just take the bike now. This will end well.

TJ, under immense pressure because the show is filming in 6 hours at this point (film/TV people, if you’re reading, feel free to say if this is even normal for it to move this quickly especially for an underage guest?), is up late at night studying his ass off and high off legal coke. He’s awoken Marcus who is wondering why on earth TJ would be up this early studying for a quiz television show that has a large monetary prize and they’re broke. He wants TJ to get some sleep by he’s in the zone because he had 20 cups of coffee. After a drug fueled rant, he just passes out. 

6 hours later and TJ is still high. Floyd chalks it up to nerves before TJ starts sprinting around the set. Marcus shows up, announcing he just chained up his new bike to a dumpster. This will end well. He checks in on TJ who is still coked up and not coming down anytime soon. His dad calls him over to meet the other contestants which include Dylan Roof and Yung Sharpay.

After the kids are ushered onto set, Floyd goes to the other hoity toity parents, bragging about their kids’ accomplishments. He dismisses them and says TJ actually has a life. Floyd, you dick! Afterwards, the show begins. The host is opening and says he believes that children are our future. Floyd and Marcus are backstage and in true black parent fashion, once TJ is announced, they lose their shit!

The game is now underway and Yung Sharpay and TJ are caught up. Dylan Roof is pretty much just there because he’s so far behind that it doesn’t even matter. Amy loudly tells TJ that he has a broken leg and they’re loading the shotgun because she just caught up to him. Of course, nobody heard this even though she was loud as hell. Also, racial implications much?

Yvette comes late in her work uniform and is hurriedly trying to tell Marcus a bit of info he’ll want to act fast on, but naturally, he shushes her to listen to the game that TJ is about to possibly lose. Yvette is also a petty asshole, so she doesn’t even try to tell him again. They cut to break and Yvette announces then that Marcus’s bike is gone. Turns out, locking it to a dumpster isn’t the best idea because some guy in a garbage truck stole it dragged the dumpster away. Marcus is pissed and lets slip that he paid $1700 for it which gets him in trouble because he just told Floyd that he was taking it on a test drive. Then the rest of the truth spews out. Marcus says he wanted something from the money TJ was going to win and oh mama is Floyd pissed because he naturally expects the worst from Marcus always and thinks he forced TJ to be in the competition which wasn’t even the case. Floyd tells Marcus he’s going to talk to TJ and warns him to “brace himself” for when he gets back. Yvette gleefully says she’s going to get chalk for his body outline. What did Marcus do to everyone to make them hate him so much? TJ does way shittier things than him and he’s still held in high regard. Hmm.

Floyd comes over to TJ to check in and lets him know that he’s aware of what’s going on. TJ, who has only consumed coffee and chocolate for the past few hours, is now dizzy. Floyd has to remind TJ that he has plenty of time to worry about rent and bills and student loans and credit card debt and finding a therapist and the pressure to have it “together” by the time you’re 30 which is crazy unrealistic. Good lesson and one of the few times I don’t wanna strangle TJ. Understandably, with the pressure off, TJ wants to dipset. The host, while seeing TJ and Floyd leaving, says they signed a contract so somebody needs to fill in for TJ. Cut to one of the funniest scenes in the show, hands down.

The question is how much did Thomas Jefferson, another TJ, pay for the Louisiana Purchase? This is word for word what Marcus-as-TJ says.

“Well uh, let’s see. In DC, the most you can take out of the ATM is $300 and you would wanna hold back a $20 in case something comes up, so I’m gonna say $280, Hugh.”

Yvette’s reaction says it all.

In the end, we see Yvette at the Cluck Bucket, putting on her functional gray pea coat that she probably got from Contempo Casuals or something. Marcus is the janitor now because he has to work off his debt to Craig and because remember, Marcus is a dark-skinned buffoon and couldn’t get the same job as Yvette for some reason. Whatever. I wonder what Yung Sharpay did with her prize money.

Stuff I Noticed:

- Yvette’s jacket. What is this?

- Marcus’s face for Lil’ Dylan and Yung Sharpay versus TJ. I love black families.

White lady on the left does not approve.

- No Mo this episode! :(

[the-scottish-costume-guy]

23?

23. Give us some British TV show recommendationsI started writing this and saw a theme emerging: - Educational and Comedic seem to be all I watch of British shows.I’ll always recommend QI most, its a great little comedy quiz show where points are deducted for common misconceptions, awarded for interesting facts and theres a ‘general ignorance’ round. For Quite Interesting and funny content its really pretty awesome. I’ve not had a TV since before Stephen Fry left but from what I’ve seen Sandi Toksvig shares a lot of his humour and is a fantastic addition to the show.Red Dwarf is a comedy sci-fi and is best if you dont scrutinise it too much. It began in the 80′s and some of its content is very dated and not PC but if you can distance yourself from that a little it can be an enjoyable kind of mindless watch. The premise is a human, his evolved cat, an android and a hologram lost in space.Horrible Histories Is a must watch for anyone who hasn’t seen it. It features a collection of short skits, usually involving one song, every episode with the purpose of being educational. Its got a small cast playing all the roles and is well worth seeing - Costumes are even surprisingly accurate, giving at least a good impression of what the characters should be wearing.For Costume Drama I recommend Victoria  A series focused on the life and rule of queen Victoria, it was at least at one point on netflex. I first started watching it while studying costume because the clothing on the show is beautiful and very well made. It gets a bit dull in places but for the most part is very enjoyable.I could keep going but Im only going to suggest one more and thats Blackadder which is a 4 season historical comedy. Each series is set in a different period of history, amusingly the title character “loses” authority over each series, starting as a Prince, a Lord, a Butler and then a Captain in the army. He also grows more intelligent with the first ‘Blackadder’ being frankly a complete idiot. He’s always accompanied by two ‘sidekicks’ and trust me you grow to love Baldricks “cunning plan” bit. In amongst the humour its actually honestly pretty educational, the costumes are always stunning and it gives good glimpses into those moments in history. Rowan Atkinson stars (famous as Mr Bean and Jonny English) Tony Robinson plays Baldrick and goes on to host “Time Team” an archaeological show on a time crunch, Stephen Fry plays various characters and Hugh Laurie who goes on to play “house” in the usa. This is the reason I cant watch that show incidentally.

[sapphireglyphs]

EXO Quiz

♦ Pick your top 5 biases and answer the questions

1. Kyungsoo | 2. Jongdae | 3. Chanyeol | 4. Yixing | 5. Baekhyun

♦ What do you like about 4?

I love so many things about Lay... hmm, if I were to choose just one thing that I really like I guess it would be his sincerity. I love how very candid he is with his feelings. 

♦ Is 2 an alcoholic?

I don’t believe he is just because I remember during an interview he once said “I believe that alcohol can make happy times even more fun but when consumed when you are sad it turns into a poison” or something to that extent. 

♦ Can 1 sing?

Is that a real question? It’s his voice I blame for me currently being such K-pop trash. I luv u bby plz come back to me healthy and happy from the military!!

♦ Is 5 in a relationship?

I don’t think so... he was... but I don’t think he is right now. But, what the hell do I know right?

♦ Would you go out with 3?

Probably not (lols!! xD) And I say this in the most loving way: he seems like a lot of work. Channie is sweet and hard working and super sensitive but I don’t think I could date ANYONE in EXO. They are all so amazing and perfect and I don’t think I could ever be good enough for any of them.

♦ Is 2 hot?

Quite! 😘

♦ Can 3 cook?

His tteok-bokki recipe is apparently very popular on SNS. 

♦ What do you like about 1?

I have written a literal essay about what I like about Do Kyungsoo. Please follow the cut for my fangirl feels. 

Ult bias... heh... I will try to keep this as concise as possible considering I can talk about how amazing and perfect he is all night.

My ultimate bias is Kyungsoo. Besides the obvious reasons as to why he's so amazing (from his beautiful, deep, baritone voice which is always so textured and full of emotions to his vulnerable, boundary-pushing, award-winning acting prowess, to his razor focus at perfecting any craft he puts his mind to - whether it's singing, acting, cooking, tap dancing, pronunciation of the English language, or putting on screen protectors!) the 3 qualities that I truly admire in him is his humble and respectful attitude towards everyone who comes in contact with him, his candidness, and his ability to flip it all on its head at the drop of a hat.

Kyungsoo has been praised by multiple people who have worked with him (co-actors and staff members alike) for his warm and caring personality. Whenever the other members are messing around too much, Kyungsoo who would scold them to focus so that the crew could rest or go home faster. When Chanyeol was stuck at home because he had hurt his vocal cords and couldn't sing or talk to anyone for I think nearly a month, Kyungsoo would often stop by and keep him company, sitting there in silence while playing games on his phone. He would show his love by cooking for the members, sending food trucks to member's individual project shoots, constantly asking the filming crew if they had eaten yet and that they should take a break. He’s even left to go and buy food for the staff members and brought it back for them, which is so rare in the industry! During concerts prep, he could often be seen helping staff members move sound equipment or asking if there was anything he could help with. That level of selflessness is so heartwarming to me. He never sees himself as a celebrity, being an insanely shy and reserved guy, he most likely dislikes the idea of "being a celebrity" so to see someone of his status/caliber be so down-to-earth it's an extremely attractive quality.

And yet, somehow, despite his rather laid back approach, Kyungsoo can often be so random in his own quirky way. I love that I know what to expect with him and yet never be bored watching him. He’s insanely caring and yet has a very strict moral code (see EXO Ladder S2 for all the “strict, rule following” Kyungsoo). He often comes off proper and polite but has moments where he would curse on national television (aka EXO Arcade) or say inappropriate or slightly perverted comments (multiple interviews and concert talks). He hates being called cute or adorable (from wearing cutesy hats to doing “aegyo”) and yet, without trying at all, he is often the squishiest human in existence. He has this amazing ability to be so competent at such a variety of things (see list above) and yet when he fails, he fails spectacularly as well. I love that duality about him - it makes him feel multifaceted and relatable AF. 

*sigh* There are so many other things that I can talk about (like how he proves that he’s a hopeless romantic when he was asked if he would choose ‘friendship’ or ‘love’, he candidly said ‘love’ without even hesitating. Or how he confessed about wanting to retire from the idol life and be a simple farmer, living off the land with his lovely wife and kids. Or how when EXO was asked what their ideal vacation destination would be, everyone wrote down an actual place and Kyungsoo just wrote, “I don’t care where we go as long as it’s together.” Or that he considers his two puppies his little sisters rather than pets in the family.) I honestly can go on and on and on but I’ll leave it off with a comment he said during an interview with JYP. The host asked him if he sees celebrity life as a good one or one that is uncomfortable? And perhaps the p.c. answer would have been something along the lines of positive experiences but instead Kyungsoo spoke from the heart and confessed that there are many things about the life that he’s uncomfortable with. That there were so many times that he was so tired of this lifestyle that he wanted to quit it all. I commend his resolve to not shy away from the truth and that candidness made me feel as though I can trust what I get with him: what you see is what you get. He’s not your ideal idol but that imperfection is what makes him so perfect and beautiful to me. Kyungsoo with forever be my penguin prince! 

♦ Has 4 had any solo albums?

Too many tbh, DAMNIT SM BRING BACK LAY TO EXO!! Yes, all of his self produced albums are fucking amazing and he totally doesn’t need SM to prove that he is a world-class artist but I miss Lay touching EXO’s butts 🤣 I love their hangouts and interactions and I just need Lay to comeback and be with his brothers!! 😢

♦ Would you set-up pair 2 and 5 together?

Lmaooooo!!! Chen and Baek would be the loudest, most chaotic pair ever! 

♦ Do you think 3 would be a good parent?

He would definitely be the “fun/cool” parent. xD

♦ What do you like about 2?

Dem vocals tho! OMFG!! 

♦ Would 3 take drugs?

I don’t know. I guess his hyper ass could do with a bit of weed in his life but probably not like... hard drugs. *shrugs* I just don’t feel like he’s the type. 

♦ Would 4 bail you out of jail?

He’s not in jail with me? Hmm, yeah, I think he would then. 

♦ Has 2 ever been on reality TV?

Can we define “Reality TV” shows a bit more? Like does that include competition shows and variety shows? Because if those count then he’s been on "King of Mask Singer” and “Travel without Manager”.

♦ Out of 1 and 5 who would be more likely to ask you out?

Like I said above, I honestly don’t think I am at all worthy of being asked out by any of the members from EXO but if we are going to play the delusional game for a tiny bit... of the 5... I think Kyungsoo would just because I’m not “confident” enough to be attractive to Baekhyun. :3

♦ Is 5 tall?

Not compared to the baby giraffe that is Park Chanyeol. 

♦ Do you like 4’s current hair style?

100%! This look on his is so refined and yet cool and sexy. ;) But, then again, Lay baby always look scrumptious!

♦ Is 2 gay?

It has been confirmed that he is not and is getting married and is going to be a Jongdaddy! :DD

♦ Would 3, 4 and 2 have a cross-dressing show?

Sure... I think they would be game... >_< Or is that just me being hopeful?

♦ Would 1 go skinny dipping?

No, he is waaaaaaay too shy to reveal his body. He said he has a tummy. *blushes* I think it’s cute but then again anything about him I find insanely attractive so... *shrugs*

♦ Does 3 remind you of anyone you know?

Not really. Channie is really playful and competitive and has a shit ton of energy but he’s also sensitive and really sweet.  

♦ Would 5 watch porn?

I 100% believe he does. I say this lovingly but hentai Baek is real. 

♦ Would you marry 1 but then have them divorce you 6 months later; marry 2 but have them run away a year later; date 3 but then lose them in a car crash a year later; date 4 but then break up 2 years later or sleep with 5 and have them or you pregnant?

Wow... Um... none of these options are really great. *sigh* Idk... I guess, I can live with dating Lay for 2 years. What an honor that would be. :3

[88newszone-blog]

'Jeopardy!' Greatest of All Time tourney features three top winners

Spoiler alert: This story contains details from Tuesday's first match in ABC's "Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time" tournament. Ken Jennings advanced a step toward “Jeopardy!” GOAT status Tuesday. The first night of ABC's "Greatest of All Time” tournament brought together the three biggest money winners in the syndicated quiz show's history – Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer – for its first network prime time airing since 1990. The pre-taped competition continues Wednesday (8 EST/PST). The players and venerable host Alex Trebek will return each weeknight, except for Monday, until one wins three nights, or matches. Each match consists of two traditional, half-hour "Jeopardy!" games, with the night's highest total points winner (scores are measured in points, not dollars, in the special format) getting the victory. The contest could end as early as Thursday, if one player sweeps, or stretch out until a three-way, winner-take-all match on Jan. 16. The winner gets $1 million, with the other two competitors each receiving $250,000. The players lived up to their champions billing early in Tuesday's first game, as no one answered incorrectly in the "Jeopardy!" round, with full wagers accompanying the Daily Doubles. The first wrong answer came from Rutter on the first Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy! round. Jennings went into Final Jeopardy! with 33,200 points, doubling Holzhauer's 16,600 and Rutter scored 5,200. With the category "Presidents & The Bible," the final clue was "'Silent' Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated in 1925 on a Bible open to this six-word first line of the Gospel According to John." All three passed this quick Bible study exam (the correct question is at the end of this story), leaving Jennings still on top with 45,000, followed by Holzhauer (32,000) and Rutter (11,400). The lower-scoring second game was much closer, with Holzhauer (15,000) on top going into Final Jeopardy!, putting him ahead of Jennings (12,200) and Rutter (10,000). The Final Jeopardy! category was "Astronomers" and it featured this clue: "This man's name was given to a comet that crashed into Jupiter in 1994; he's the only human whose remains lie on the moon." Holzhauer and Jennings providing the correct response (this question also is at the end of the story),  and their bets revealed the different strategy of a two-game match concept. Holzhauer bet everything, doubling his score to 30,000 and bringing his evening's total to 63,200. Jennings, with his wide margin from the first game, bet 6,200 to finish Game 2 with 18,400, a calculation that gave him a total of 63,400, putting him 200 ahead of Holzhauer and giving him the first match of the tourney. Rutter, who missed the Final Jeopardy! response, ended Game 2 with nothing and an evening score of 10,400. Holzhauer's headline-grabbing success last year inspired the concept, Trebek told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview when the contest was announced in November. “When James had his run last year, a lot of people were wondering, 'Well, how would he do against Ken Jennings? How would he do against Brad Rutter?' (They’re) our two most successful players in 'Jeopardy!' history,” he says. “These three players have won close to $10 million in ‘Jeopardy!’ prize money and over 100 games among them, so it was logical.” GOAT honors:Exclusive: Three top 'Jeopardy!' champs face off in ABC's Greatest of All Time tournament Fans will be rooting for Trebek, 79, as well as the players. The host, who has helmed the syndicated hit since it launched in 1984, revealed his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March and has updated the public about his treatments and status as he continues to conduct the show. He appreciates fan support, which included an emotional "We (heart) you Alex!" Final Jeopardy answer from a contestant in November. "People all over America and abroad have decided they want to let me know now, while I'm alive, about the impact that I've been having on their existence," he told Michael Strahan during an ABC special last week. "They have come out, and they have told me and, my gosh, it makes me feel so good." Hearts and minds:'Alex Trebek chokes up when 'Jeopardy' contestant honors him by answering 'We love you Alex' The three GOAT contenders compiled their winnings in varying fashion. Holzhauer, 35, set the single-game winnings record on April 17 ($131,127), amassed $2.46 million during his 32-game streak and added another $250,000 when he won November's Tournament of Champions. His aggressive betting style, a groundbreaking strategy, left him just short of the $2.52 million won by 45-year-old Jennings, who more than doubled Holzhauer's victory streak with a "Jeopardy!" record of 74 wins in 2004. Rutter, 41, first appeared in 2000, when players were limited to five consecutive wins. He didn't make the top 10 for regular-season play, but he's the biggest overall money winner on an American game show with $4.68 million, mostly from tournaments. ABC reality programming chief Rob Mills came up with the tournament idea, calling it "my dream project." He says Holzhauer, whose spring run was a publicity and ratings bonanza, provided a worthy third player to challenge earlier champs Rutter and Jennings, who faced off against IBM's Watson computer in 2011 and in an All-Stars match in March. Winning:James Holzhauer wins 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions, adds to streak "Jeopardy!" is averaging 9.4 million viewers this season, and is both TV's top game show and top syndicated program.  It peaked at 14 million during  Holzhauer's streak. Mills hopes the GOAT spectacular, the show's first prime time appearance since "Super Jeopardy!" on Saturdays during the summer of 1990, yields similar audience interest. "I don't know how this doesn't become an event," Mills says. Final Jeopardy, Game 1: What is: In the beginning was the Word? Final Jeopardy!, Game 2: Who is Shoemaker? Contributing: Gary Levin Source link Read the full article

[shirlleycoyle]

The First iPhone Was a Landline

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Phone lines, while not initially designed to transfer binary data, turned out to be a good enough way to do so—at least until the 2000s, that is.

From sending faxes to browsing the internet, people relied on effectively the same copper wires they used with Ma Bell-leased telephones.

While most of the personal tech evolved towards greater connectivity, landline phones mostly got better only at the ergonomics of calling and dialing.

But a few dared to be smarter—decades before smartphones found their way into our pocket.

Let’s talk about the evolution of the landline smartphone.

“Man-to-man, man-to-machine, machine-to-machine. In a short time, we’ve come a long way.”

– A line from “Challenges of Change,” a 1961 promotional movie from AT&T. Filmed on a height of Space Age anticipation, it shows “Data-Phones”—essentially, modems which could transmit data from punched cards, tapes, or even handwritten notes.

The earliest visions of smartphones didn’t anticipate that we wouldn’t communicate with our our voices

The AT&T video, filled with otherworldly visual effects, is delightful to anyone with an interest in history. At the same time, it shows why landline phones did not become the interactive mediums that smartphones later did.

While the narrator talked about changes in communication, scenarios from the movie showed data exchanges at best, as all meaningful interactions were done by voice and between humans. For example, before loading a punched card, a Data-Phone operator had to chat with the person on the other end of the line. Even in the age of rocket deliveries, shopping over a credit card-enabled videophone would be done by talking to a manager, as if one would in a retail store.

Admittedly, Bell engineers envisioned the future where people would only need to use the keypad to communicate with the source over a phone. A year later, Touch-Tone phones were presented to the U.S. public. While the speed of dialing was what AT&T promoted to customers, the DTMF (Dual-tone multi-frequency, informally known as “touch-tone”) signals generated by buttons allowed for menu navigation still used today.

Image: Gillfoto/Wikimedia Commons

How the United Kingdom failed to start an online revolution

By 1970, additional buttons on each side of a zero competed the 12-button keypad. Twelve buttons were what the UK Post Office had to rely on while developing Prestel, a nationwide service which let people use interactive services on a home video terminal.

Looking back, if there is one thing the UK engineers in the 1970s were fascinated with, it’s putting text on TV screens. In the United States, there wasn’t any notable progress in this field between a TV Typewriter electronic kit and the advent of home computers. The British, on the other hand, went straight towards transferring news, financial data, and TV guides—long before the booming popularity of the Internet, developing two coexisting ways to broadcast text.

One of these technologies, teletext, still lingers to this day across Europe. The text data, complete with color and pseudographics, is being broadcast alongside a TV signal—literally stuffed in between video frames. By design of the aerial transmission, teletext provides no interactivity, leaving the user to flip between different “pages” and occasionally revealing hidden text (the latter was mostly used to hide quiz answers).

Using a phone line instead allowed for higher transfer rate, more personalization (and billing for premium pages) and the ability to run remote software. Over several years since the mass introduction in 1979, Prestel accumulated several online banking, shopping, and booking offerings—even before the home computer boom which pushed operators to add software downloads and games.

Prestel used phone lines and required a phone-like keypad for navigation—surely, it was a fitting technology to build phones of the future around. That didn’t happen on a scale required to ensure Prestel’s success. Instead, the Post Office bet on marrying the network with TV—by offering not even set-top boxes, but Prestel-enabled TVs, priced at £650 at the very least. By contrast, France Télécom leased terminals for their similar Télétel network for free, making Minitel popular enough that it survived until 2012.

Executel. Image: Internet Archive

There was just a single Prestel phone—but boy, what a device it was. A wide unit with a small CRT screen and a QWERTY keyboard, STC Executel was an “intelligent display telephone” which combined voice and text communications with almost every productivity feature of its era.

The 1984 ad touted contacts book, calendar, ability to take notes and a “£500,000 in a national advertising campaign directed at top executives.” Being essentially an Intel 8085-based computer, it stored its software on a dictaphone cassette and could connect to a “secretarial unit” which allowed updating the data from another desk.

Just 10,000 Executel devices were sold, according to the designer David Leers. Only five thousand of them were sold, with the rest repurposed.

What might have saved Executel from being completely forgotten is its sleek, modern look.

Several Executels found their way in industrial design museums, although the plastics used for the keyboard turned out to be prone to yellowing. Just last week, one appeared on the YouTube channel Techmoan.

Image: Compass Design

The most advanced landline phone of 1998 was literally called “iPhone”

A British oddity, Executel was simply unknown stateside. Still, the idea of a “computer phone” was a part of the social consciousness, and the manufacturers have toyed with it—if only by exploring. One of the most well-known prototypes was made by Apple by 1984. The “MacPhone” concept had a touchscreen for sending notes and signing checks, but, like other projects by Hartmut Esslinger, was only meant for finding new design elements.

But in the 1990s, the rising popularity of the Internet, a desire for a “post-PC” device and plain old technical progress paved the way for household devices which were meant to connect to the phone line. These so-called “Internet appliances” were promising easy Web and email access in a device which supposed to be as easy-to-use as TVs, music centers … or phones.

But while most IAs were simply low-end computers with a handset on top of it (I’m looking at you, Intel Dot.Station), there was just one which could actually replace a landline phone. And yes, it was actually called the iPhone.

Released in 1997, the original iPhone was made by InfoGear, a startup made from one of the National Semiconductor labs. Despite its big, full-VGA touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard, it looked like a contemporary phone. But on top of making calls, it could work with email and “full” versions of web sites—a feat achieved by off-loading some of the computational power to InfoGear servers.

It isn’t even the name or the web capabilities which made one think of the Apple iPhone, but the way all features were integrated. Just like on modern mobile phones, it was possible to dial a number from a web page by tapping it. The InfoGear’s phone did not only have a voicemail, but could transcribe the incoming messages to text.

While the phone made the international headlines, it was eventually forgotten alongside with the rest of the IA market—especially when InfoGear was bought by Cisco. The story took another turn when Apple released its iPhone—Cisco sued them for trademark infringement. Eventually, the two companies came to an out-of-court settlement.

(It wasn’t the last time Apple and Cisco discussed trademark issues. The iOS name, in fact, belongs to Cisco and is licensed to Apple—and might be the reason the latter doesn’t want people to use the phrase “iOS devices.”)

Alan Sugar hosts The Apprentice in the United Kingdom. Image: Getty Images

A British lord asked all users of his “superphone” to harass a journalist

To people focused solely on computing history, Alan Sugar is a businessman whose Amstrad micros and ZX Spectrum models contributed heavily to the UK home computer industry.

But to everyone else, he is a bigoted, homophobic billionaire in power who keeps his domestic relevance by hosting a TV show originally presented in the U.S. by Donald Trump.

And by the year 2000, his company had lost all that goodwill by releasing products that few people wanted. The PenPad PDA was slow, bulky and had a deteriorating rubber shell; the PcW16 desktop computer had a black-and-white screen and a processor from 1976 despite being released in 1995; the GX4000 game console was just a reason to sell cassette computer games on cartridges for a higher price. Eventually, Amstrad spun off its computing division and focused all its resources on Betacom, a communication company it had acquired. The result was Amstrad E-m@iler, the last attempt to push an Internet-connected landline phone to the mass market.

The Amstrad E-m@iler. Image: philgyford/Flickr.

As a piece of hardware, it wasn’t much different from the InfoGear iPhone. What set it apart was the business model: instead of offering a monthly fee, Amstrad made the E-m@iler operate exclusively through a premium-rate phone number—and put another fee on top. “Sure, if I was organized and could send a day’s worth of emails and SMS messages in one sitting then the prospect of paying 12p for a single session online (plus the cost of the phone call) would be a small price to pay. But I’m not. And I can’t,” noted Tim Richardson of The Register in their 20002 review of a revised E-m@ailer Plus.

Later models of E-m@iler, like the 2004 E3 Superphone, added new features and new ways to get as much profit per user as possible. The ability to play ZX Spectrum games was added, although it was only possible to rent them—again, with paying per call and per service at the same time. The new color screen was used to display ads, with the phone periodically dialing home to download new banners (thankfully, on a toll-free number).

In 2011, the year Amstrad E-m@iler services were shut down, Sugar admitted that “it was slightly too late,” but noted that the subsidized lineup eventually recouped all the costs with services.

He definitely was not as accepting in 2001, though, when he noticed E-m@iler in the list of “techno-flops” in The Independent. The mild criticism (“not proving the success that Sir Alan Sugar had hoped” was all that was ever written about the phone) pushed Sugar to send a message to all 95,000 service subscribers, asking them to send an email to Charles Arthur, the newspaper’s tech editor.

“It occurred to me that I should send an email to Mr. Charles Arthur telling him what a load of twaddle he is talking. If you feel the same as me and really love your e-mailer, why don’t you let him know your feelings by sending him an email,” he wrote in a letter with Mr. Arthur’s address attached.

While the journalist had to cope with more than 1,300 letters—none of which were written by Sugar himself—some of them, eventually published online, exposed hardware faults, annoying bugs, and a helpline being directed to a premium-rate number.

“With this device we can charge advertisers, say, 10p for each customer to receive an ad they will see all day, and charge the advertisers £10 whenever a customer calls them by pressing the ‘services button.’ Or it may be that we give them the ad—free but they pay £25 whenever somebody calls—it’s a no-brainer.”

– Alan Sugar, positioning the E-m@iler as an “electronic billboard” to the readers of Marketing Week. Even considering that Internet phones were not as widespread as PCs, the ballpark cost per click sounds insane. However, as we’ve seen in the past, no one really knew by then how much web advertising should cost.

When asked to reflect on the 1997 iPhone, Robert Ackerman, a venture capitalist who pushed for the independence of InfoGear, said: “We were early into the marketplace. Ten years later, a very different story.” By contrast, Alan Sugar said he was ten years too late—and God knows which decade would be right for the Executel.

The world seemed to be fine with landline phones staying in their lane. But I can’t help but wonder how they would have evolved if the phone industry wasn’t controlled by the Bell System, the Post Office, or other nationwide monopolies. The original telecommunication industry, in my opinion, would have envisioned the connected world differently, based on the phone network paradigms rather than mainframe-terminal ones. Instead, manufacturers had to find faults in a PC-dominated world to make the case for their devices.

Smart landline phones still exist. Some VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and SIP (session initiation protocol) systems for business—arguably the only purchasers of landlines in 2019—are not only using the Web as an infrastructure, but can open web sites and use Android apps. But I think, when it comes to elegance, they pale in comparison to a device I noticed in Moscow Apple Museum.

After licensing the Newton technology from Apple, Siemens made the NotePhone, their own spin on the original MessagePad PDA. When used by itself, it’s functionally indistinguishable from the Apple device. What makes it special is the base with a handset which added phone and fax capabilities. Even back then, mobile computer expansions were nothing new, but this one seems like an integral part of the device while managing to be self-sufficient.

Maybe, instead of being either “smart” or “dumb,” landlines should have been more elegant in their connection to the world of computers.

Yuri Litvinenko is a trade journalist from Russia. When not covering the dairy industry, he spends time being fascinated by legacy technology, both “retro” and gadgets approaching retro status.

The First iPhone Was a Landline syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[megadarkbouquettidalwavethings]

How HQ Trivia Became the Best Worst Thing on the Internet

The game pulls you in by dangling a cash prize, offers manic highs and seething frustrations in quick succession, then dumps you out, usually empty-handed. But the HQ refractory period — six to 18 hours — is just long enough to relax you into a state of optimism about playing again. It’s dystopian “Jeopardy!”: not the trivia game we wanted, but the one we deserve.

HQ is based on an enticing proposition: It turns our phones, those founts of infinite knowledge, into a rare site of human recall. (Because questions are set on a 10-second clock, answers are generally un-Googleable.) But while the game purports to test legitimate knowledge, the questions are so frequently absurd that it comes closer to testing your undivided attention to mindless tapping. If you answer a question correctly, you still get that high of intellectual superiority. The Darwinian aspect — watch hundreds of thousands of people get eliminated as you rise — fosters a gleeful arrogance for as long as you’re on top.

But when you get a question wrong, you’re granted plausible deniability. If you can’t finish the crossword, it feels like a personal failure. But when you lose HQ — which the vast majority of players do the vast majority of the time — it often seems arbitrary and unfair, the fault of the unskilled question writers or the unsophisticated technology. It’s not you. It’s the game. And even if you do win, the big-sounding prizes — $1,000, $2,000, $10,000 — are often reduced to pocket change when split among the sometimes hundreds of other people who also won the game. HQ is a little app that channels big feelings about the fundamental lie of the meritocracy. Every session becomes an opportunity to rail against life’s injustices.

The avatar for all those feelings is Scott Rogowsky, the game’s usual host and its breakout star. Scott — players know him on a first-name basis — has been nicknamed “Quiz Daddy” by his fans. He calls his players “HQties.” On first viewing, Scott can come across as incredibly annoying. The moments in the game between the actual presentation of questions — when Scott is explaining the rules, making jokes, or dropping Phish references — can be excruciating. But after a few plays, Scott ingratiates himself into your psyche in a third-grade crush kind of way. Only after playing a game without Scott — a rotating crew of lackluster substitute hosts occasionally fills in — does his brilliance at his job become obvious: his unwavering eye contact; his punning proficiency; his confidence and coolness under pressure; his belief in himself, and in the game. Even when HQ crumbles, Scott is our rock.

Scott’s folk hero status was cemented by yet another unforced error by the HQ team. When a reporter from The Daily Beast conducted an anodyne interview with Scott, Rus Yusupov, the co-founder and C.E.O., exploded at the “unauthorized” conversation, called the reporter and threatened to fire Scott if the story ran. The bizarre exchange only endeared players to Scott more. He may play our trivia overlord onscreen, but on some level, he, too, is a slave to HQ. Now whenever a not-Scott host appears, the chat that unspools beneath the game erupts in displeasure: “NOOOO.” “It’s not Scott.” “Where is Scott.” “Free Scott.” “#NOTMYHOST.”

The chat is itself a fascinating artifact. When hundreds of thousands of people attempt to communicate at once, the only messages that scan are brief flashes of identity: “MAGA,” “OBAMA,” “BUSH DID 9/11,” “BUY DOGECOIN.” In the chat, griping about HQ has become as popular a pastime as actually playing the game. The slightest glitch produces a flurry of complaints like “LAG” and “NOT WORKING” and “WOW SCOTT.” Many of the game’s failings have crystallized into inside jokes. After incessant complaints of the app’s video stalling, Scott acquired a new nickname: “Lag Daddy.” The octopus question spawned its own in-game meme. Now the chat swims with octopus emoji.

HQ’s most impressive achievement lies in its re-establishment of appointment viewing in the Netflix age. You can now watch pretty much any TV show or movie whenever you want, but when your phone buzzes with an HQ notification, you have only a few minutes to enter the game. If you miss the window, you’ll be forced to watch helplessly, tapping in vain, as it unfolds without you.

HQ is a throwback to TV scheduling in the pre-DVR era, the digital equivalent of NBC’s Must-See TV lineup. (Scott is our Ross and our Rachel.) And the app has pulled it off by cultivating an unexpected sense of community amid the digital swamp. All the Darwinian competition, frustrating glitches and impossible questioning actually bring HQties together, bonding us through our performative trauma. The idea of actually downloading and playing the copycat app, “The Q,” is preposterous, even though its relatively minuscule traffic increases players’ chances of winning bigger sums. It’s not really about the money, after all.

HQ has the power to create bonds outside the app, too. I won that New Year’s Eve game — I wrote this whole column so I could brag about that — but only because my dinner party happened to include representatives of the film industry (who knew that “Beauty and the Beast” was the second-largest-grossing movie of 2017), an actual rocket scientist (who knew that the technology used to peek inside the Great Pyramid of Giza involved subatomic muons), and me, a possessor of meaningless facts concerning Selena Gomez. We won $59.41, an unusually generous prize, and got digitally foisted onto the internet’s shoulders: I heard from a colleague, a Twitter follower, my friend’s mom.

Continue reading the main story

But when my phone buzzed the next day, summoning me to play again, it was as if a spell had been broken. I no longer feel the itch to play twice a day, at work and at dinner. I am free. Maybe I’ll check in from time to time, though. Just to see how Scott’s doing.

Continue reading the main story

AMANDA HESS

The post How HQ Trivia Became the Best Worst Thing on the Internet appeared first on dailygate.