Friday, May 1, 2009

A New Idea for the Blog

I'm still surprised that I continue to get hits on the podcast post that I made a couple of weeks ago. I'm seriously considering devoting one day a week (like, a Thursday or a Friday) to provide synopses of new podcast uploads. This is a test run to see if the podcasters are okay with it as well as to see how long updates like this are going to take to do (and to see if there's any interest).


Please note that this again is not a comprehensive list of the Disney Podcasts that are out there. Mike Hamilton has created Disneypodcastdirectory.net, which he periodically updates with new podcasts and removes dead casts. He also has the automated RSS (historical) feeds of the podcasts. This is more of a cross-section of what is currently being talked about…perhaps something may sound interesting, and you'll subscribe to listen to that topic.


Any and all comments are welcomed!



    • 2/17/09 – in this special episode, Jason and Tony take you through a video ride-through of the newly-reopened it's a small world out at Disneyland. Time: 3:41
    • 4/28/09 – Episode 51, Keegan brings in part "deux" of "Teens on Disney", where 4 teen friends discuss the attractions that closed before they had a chance to ride them. Time: 1:43:31
    • 5/1/09 – Episode 107, Bryan takes the show on his own as Jonathon is under the weather. To discuss the 20th anniversary of Disney's Hollywood Studios, he brings on Matt Hochberg of studioscentral.com . Also included is Disney news as well as the ever-popular AllAboutTheMouseketeer roll call and a touching message from Jonathon to his unborn child. I had a bad download, so I don't have the file specifics.
    • 4/4/09 – Show 18, a good video of "YeeHaa" Bob Jackson singing a very funny rendition "Sara", filmed where Bob usually performs, at the River Roost at Port Orleans Riverside.
    • 4/28/09 – Show 39, IT'S BACK! In this episode, we see a high-definition video of the now-extinct Body Wars. Quite simply, the quality of the video is just amazing! Time: 13:04
    • 4/25/09 – Episode 69, Sorcerer, Jeff, Fantasmic, Imagine, and Pluto are all here. An interesting discussion on what may be coming in the future to replace the current Illuminations: Reflections of Earth show is included. Also are segments on news, a review of Shutters restaurant over at Caribbean Beach, a quick visit by Uncle Sorcerer, a complete skewering of Pluto on the Monorail, a review of some new music at Studios themed to WALL-E, and e-mails. Time: 1:32:16
    • 4/12/09. Shane starts with Lester Day's news from the Disney Company (first time I've heard this…funny way of presenting the news!). He then brings a little audio from The Enchanted Room (Under New Management) from Adventureland at the MK. Time: 25:19
    • 4/27/08 – Episode 14, (Rated PG). Trace and Wayne present and comment on the news and then get into a discussion on…well…umm…"accidents" in bed at the resorts. They also announce that they will be participating in All About the Mouse's Disney Feud. Time: 54:33
    • 4/30/09 – Episode 58, John Rick and guest Luke Manning from the Disneyland News Today podcast they discuss Disney pin news, upcoming pin trading opportunities across the United States, a profile of I.P.L.S. member number #40, John Rick's Disney Pin Investigation, Luke Manning's Pin Trading Time Machine, all of this week's pin releases from the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort and DisneyShopping.com, and much more!!! Time: 2:17:15
    • 4/30/09 – Episode 44, Part 2 of tidbits on Walt Disney's wife, Lillian. Time: 9:45 (Part 1 was posted 4/24/09)
    • 4/19/09 – Episode 20, Tracey and Scott provide an audio trip report of their 2008 Mousefest adventure last December. In this installment, they report on their third day of the event, including a huge sale exclusive to AP holders at the World of Disney at DTD, Toy Story Midway Mania at DHS, the mega-mouse meet, planned meets at Epcot (including eating and drinking around the world), and an evening at Jellyrolls. The Disney, Indiana Radio Station (WWED) plays Disney music and audio in the parks. The show ends with a playback of the Norway pavilion's holiday Storyteller, Jule Nissen, and new member welcomes. Time: 1:00:02
    • 3/6/09 – Episode 41, Greg provides some info on the creation of EPCOT Center and has an interview with Disney Legend Dick Nunis on his perspective of the creation of Epcot. Greg then provides his commentary. After that, the bulldozer comes out for the Speedway at MK's Tomorrowland. Then comes DYI Imagineering on what to do after bulldozing the Speedway. Finally, he goes into his Time Machine back to the time of Don Defore and his restaurant in Disneyland. Time: 33:15
    • 4/26/09, Episode 212. As always, Ricky starts with his "Trip Around the World" news segment. Following that is audio of the ribbon-cutting of the new "Characters in Flight" attraction at DTD and Ricky's take on what the attraction is like. Skipper Ben gives his weekly "Cruisin' the World" segment where he talks about a cast member's story of the Jungle Cruise. Time: 1:22:56
    • 3/15/09 – Episode 158. In this roundtable, after the birthdays and "Lucky Dawgs" who are going to Disney soon, they start with a discussion on Miley Cyrus, which evolves into "Disney Darlings" throughout time. The discussion then turns to an appearance by Bob Iger on The View and a walk-through by Whoopi Goldberg going through the Disney archives, which evolves into Up and then reaction to the naming of the newest Disney Legend (?). Time: 56:07
    • 4/28/09 – Episode 59, Will and Shannon discuss their pre-trip views of Westfest '09. Everyone is excited, and not just for the trip to Disneyland. They're also taking their daughter, the Princess Peanut, to her first theme park. PLUS, they're making a huge trip of this, because, as soon as Westfest ends, they head to Orlando to hit Walt Disney World! Time: 59:51
    • 4/26/09 – In honor of Disney's Hollywood Studios' upcoming 20th Anniversary, Nathan and Jim look at what is, what was, what might have been, and what is to come. Time: 1:01:50
    • 4/19/09 – Episode 94, Jeff meets up with DPN'er Superdry for a gargantuan episode (over 3 hours in length!). I've heard audio from this trip from previous episodes, but the audio in this is second to none, so you'll want your headphones. You'll find yourself even more envious of the first-class passengers after this show. Plus, you might just find yourself learning about some Japanese culture. Time: 3:12:44
    • 4/25/09 – a video presentation by Mike (going solo) offers Illuminations…before Reflections of Earth. Time: 7:03
    • 4/25/09 – Episode 196, Eric, Cathy, and Dan honor a mouseguest.com forum member's birthday by providing a virtual audio tour of Disneyland as they mix together some of the best sounds from Disneyland Park, starting at the monorail and ending with the Main Street Electrical Parade and fireworks. Time: 1:30:26
    • 4/29/09 – Episode 306, Mark and Mike start this show with some audio from Disneyland where Disney Legends Don Edgren and Rollie Crump were honored for their service by receiving names on Main Street windows. The featured topic of this show is the celebration of the 20th anniversary of DHS. They examine what has worked and what hasn't quite worked over at the Studios. Time: 52:08
    • 4/5/09 – Episode 30, a video cast of one of my favorite attractions in Epcot, THAAAAA JJAAMMMMMITORRRRSSS! Time: 8:42
    • 4/28/09 – Episode 50. The cats discuss a disturbing find at a recent trip down to WDW. Apparently Stacey, the sweetheart of the resort TVs top attractions, is off the caffeine and just…there… for the new replacement on the tube that resort guests watch like zombies. Time: 43:38
    • 4/26/09 – Episode 121, Earl provides 2 episodes that day, both dealing with Earth Day. The audio portion has him and the bleepin' wife over at Rafiki's Planet Watch listening to Grandmother Willow. The second upload is a vidcast from the same day where they get assaulted by Pipa the Talking Trash Can. Times: 25:45 (Audio) & 3:29 (vid)
    • 05/01/09 – Episode 44, AussieJohn, Chreestopher, Greg, and Ryan bring a whole list of items, including changes to the Disney Cruise Line manifest for the Wonder, a new street party in Disneyland, a 5-for-3 special at Disneyland, increases in dining prices for character meals in Anaheim, DTD AP discounts, information on the 2009 Mother's Day brunch, and more! Time: 44:38
    • 4/26/09 – Episode 91. There's so much in this one that I'm going to cheat and use the iTunes description for this one: Join me, Tom Corless, and a cast including Justin Heyman, Anthony Yacullo, Scott Smith, Chris Lastrapes, Kyle Duffield, and Luke Manning for a variety show that celebrates the Walt Disney World Resort and its many fans. So what are you waiting for? Let's celebrate another week of Walt Disney World information and fun on the WDW News Today Podcast!!! To kick off episode 91, we have your Walt Disney World Resort News and Rumor Report. In this latest report, we will be discussing the addition of more Pirates to the Magic Kingdom, the possibility of a certain top hat character returning to the Imagination! pavilion, and a brand-new thrill ride coming to Epcot later this year. Town Square Talk is also back this week, highlighting the hottest topics around our WDWNT Network of websites and podcasts. On this trip down Main Street WDWNT, we have all the details on two new features of the WDW News Today website and an important update regarding the WDWNTube Disney Parks Video Site. Finally, to end this week's program, we continue our countdown of the 20 Biggest Moments in Disney's Hollywood Studios History as voted by you with a look at what took the #4 and #3 spots on the list. We'll also be examining just how important these moments are in the near 20 year history of the park. Time: 1:37:11
    • 4/26/09 – Episode 116, As the 20th anniversary of Disney's Hollywood Studios approaches, Disney Legend Charles Ridgeway joins Lou for a discussion on the creation and opening of then-called Disney-MGM Studios. Following that, Lou catches up with a roomful of e-mails with Beci Mahnken. There is no contest this week as last week's contest was to span 2 weeks. Time: 1:35:39
    • 4/25/09 – Daily Disney Diary. Lou's next video takes us to the Boardwalk. It then takes approximately 25 seconds before the discussion turns to food. He then brings up an important topic…the "simple" pleasures of Walt Disney World, including the friendship boats, the unannounced events that always pop up, and just enjoying the pavilions and people-watching.
    • 5/1/09 – Episode 559, the hosts discuss the opening of the brand-new Kidani Village DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Time: 16:53
    • 4/29/09 – Episode 558, answering listener questions. Time: 33:11
    • 4/27/09 – Episode 557, Matt, Mike, and Mike have a really interesting discussion on items in the parks that people often overlook. Time: 18:28
    • 4/26/09 – April 2009 Live Show, originally aired April 19. Time: 1:56:31
    • 4/26/09 – Episode 195, in July of last year, Paul was invited to take part in an exclusive conference held at Disneyland, where he got to hear about updates to Sleeping Beauty Castle, including the re-introduction of the walk-through, the announcement of the platinum edition of the Sleeping Beauty DVD, and more. Time: 1:01:07
    • 4/15/09 – Episode 31, Aaron continues his Top 25 attractions of Epcot. This is a follow-up to episode 29, from a while back. Time: 43:26
Posted by Mush at 10:08 PM 1 comments
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Who DOESN’T Want to Be a Millionaire, Part 6, @#^$%&@$% Stack!

After the $1,000 question, the music comes back in, and it feels more like what you see on television. The screen in front of me gives the experience almost more of a video game feel than a game show where actual money is being won. Still, my mouth was parched and getting drier by the second.


The $2,000 comes up next, and it's a easy one one…a movie about fighting space aliens (Men In Black). I give the final answer in no time flat.

The $4,000 is a question on cooking chicken. No hesitation…the answer is rotisserie.


I'm feeling the groove!


Then comes the $8,000 question: "In what country would you find the county of Tipperary?

Immediately, I thought that it was either England, Ireland, or Scotland…and, of course, the choices include England and Ireland.


In my head, I start singing, "It's a long way to Tipperary…but it doessssssnnn't teelllll meeee whheeerrreee." Seriously, you can see me bobbing my head to the tune for a brief moment on TV. My students always get a kick out of seeing that. I still had the 50/50 and the phone-a-friend. If I did the 50/50, with my luck, I'd be stuck with England and Ireland. I start going through my phone a friend list to decide who to call. After a brief second, I decide to call Neil, who had been over to Europe (the U.K.) the previous summer.


Now, over at my phone-a-friends' locations. They all got phone calls before the show with instructions on what to expect. If I made it into the hot seat, they were to wait by the phone and, if the phone rang, to let it ring three times and then simply say, "hello." They were able to reach 4 of the 5 people on my list…I think they tried to get a hold of Neil while he was teaching. They brought this up to me before the show started and said that I may not be able to use him if they can't reach him if/when I get in the hot seat. Anyways, when I made it into the hot seat, apparently, Neil was in office hours but was just about ready to head out to class. The phone rings, and the producers tell Neil that I'm in the hot seat. Neil's in a dilemma…he has a room with 250 students ready for a lesson, and he's got to figure out what to do. He sends someone out to cancel the class and heads back into his office. About 7 minutes after the phone call from the producers, the phone rings again. Thinking that it was much too early for me to be calling (not realizing that I was already up to the $8,000 question with no delay), and worried that it was a student with a question about an upcoming test or a grade, Neil wants to get this guy off of the phone as quickly as possible so that Millionaire wouldn't have a problem getting through.


Ring…HELLO!!!!


The producers were expecting 3 rings, and I think they gave Neil a hard time for that.


Regis: Hello, Neil…Regis Philbin calling from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire…

You could tell Neil was caught off-guard a little when he realized that it wasn't a student.


They turn it over to me, and I immediately thought it was weird to hear the disembodied voice of Neil echoing throughout the studio. I run through the question and the choices. Immediately, Neil responds with "Ireland." We chat for a quick second about him touring over there recently, and I ask the infamous: "100% sure?"


Neil: 95%


There were a few snickers throughout the studio on that one.


I go with Neil, and Neil is right!


The audience director lets out a WHOOP to get the crowd making some noise, and they announce that they're going to a commercial break. The cut taping, and I immediately grab the glass of water next to the console and down the entire glass in about 0.5 seconds flat. The producers come out and talk to us for a bit. They tell me that I don't need to go that fast…they'll edit out any pauses. The problem is that it's the speed that my brain works. Either I immediately know it or I don't, so there's no reason to pause. I tell them that I'll try to slow down. They ask if I need anything, and I croak out in a gravelly voice, "Water, please!" They bring out a pitcher, and I down 2 more glasses in the blink of an eye. It's not helping…I'm still cotton-mouthed. We joke around for another couple minutes and then get ready to start taping again. I look behind me to catch Sheri's eyes for a minute, and she looks like she's about to throw up. I didn't realize that she had specific instructions too. There were two jumbo screens in the corners of the studio that the audience often looked at. The significant other, however, was to look only at the back of the head of the person in the hot seat or at Regis (same line of sight). After a few questions, Sheri lost track of the dollar amount I was at, and she made a quick glance up to see. Immediately, the jumbotron flashed up "SIGNIFICANT OTHER, LOOK AT REGIS!"


Sheri flew back to look at Regis and didn't blink for the next 20 minutes.


As they get ready to start taping, they remove a small section of the plexiglass floor to make room for the boom camera to zoom in on the suitcase of money on the console (which was actually a flat-screen TV that changed to whatever picture they wanted whenever they needed to). We start taping again, and the boom camera flies up from the floor, nearly taking the stage hand's head off as he put the floor section back into place without getting in the scene. Regis and I banter back and forth a bit. The producers told us to try to make Regis laugh, so, when he asked me what planned on doing with my doctorate once I finished, I mentioned something about hopefully becoming a president of a university. Knowing that Regis was a huge spokesperson for Notre Dame, I threw in "Maybe Notre Dame…you never know!"


One of the producers lets out a huge laugh, while the rest of the audience was deathly silent. (insert chirping crickets here) Regis chuckles a little and then turns to talk to Sheri a bit. They ended up editing out that portion of the interview due to time issues. Before we know it, we're back to the game.


The $16,000 question dealt with biology and asked about the immune system. I was 99% sure of my answer, but, to appease the producers, I went through and eliminated the other three answers as fast as I could ("Lipids deal with fat molecules….marrow's in the bone for blood creation…anti-oxidants deal with…"


…and my mind went blank. My brain was screaming "FREE RADICALS, YOU MORON!!!" My tongue, however, decided to shut down temporarily. After what seemed like 20 seconds of silence (it was actually about a one-second pause), I just answer the damn question.


GOT IT!


Now, onto the ever-important $32,000 question. Get this one right, and I'm guaranteed that much money, with a free shot at $64,000.


"In Charles Dickens' 1837 novel, Oliver Twist, what is the name of the gang leader that teaches the boys how to pick-pocket?"


#$%#%^&#$!#@$#@% literature question!


The only character I knew from the book was the Artful Dodger. I hadn't read the book. I hadn't seen the movie or the musical. Hell, I hadn't even seen Disney's Oliver and Company. Of course, as I was told later, my 3 year old cousin knew it.


The choices were:


Bumbles

Noah Claypole

Fagin

Bill Sykes



I looked at the answers for a quick second and knew exactly what I was going to do. I muttered that I wish I had my phone-a-friend back, as Iroquois West High School would have been getting a call really quick! I burn the 50/50, which leaves me Fagin and Sykes.


I pause for about 5 more seconds as I made sure of my decision. I have a 50% chance of getting it right and going up to $32,000 and a 50% chance of losing $15,000 and going back to $1,000. I seriously had no clue as to what the answer is, so I slowly say, "I've got an idea…."


Smooth move, Mush.


I get the confidence to make my decision and choose to walk…with my luck, I would have been on the losing end of the 50/50 chance, and I didn't want to risk losing $15,000 purely on a guess. I'll be the first one to tell you that your actions get a LOT more conservative in the hot seat than on your couch screaming the answer. I make the final answer to walk. Regis, of course, asks what I would have guessed. I have a friend named Adam Fagen, so I decided to say "Fagin" to get Adam's name on TV.


Of course, Fagin was the correct answer. The audience starts clapping as I start to move the chair around to get out. Unfortunately, I swing the chair a bit harder than anticipated (adrenalin?), and nearly tip the thing over (it barely moves, but I react like it's going down!). Regis and I shake hands, and I head off. The taping ends, and they escort Sheri down to where I'm at. Sheri had no idea what dollar amount I was at when I walked (staring at Regis and not blinking, remember?). We get escorted back to where Dan and Alan were sitting and watching the show, and I collapse. A lot of congratulatory handshakes ensued, but I seriously do not remember a whole lot after this. We watched Kera Keenan get the next fastest finger, and she absolutely flies to the $64,000 question before tripping up. We knew that the horn had to be sounded soon, signaling the end of the show, with a carry-over and three other contestants. Surprisingly, they get another fastest finger question up, and Kevin squeaks in. He gets through a couple of questions before the horn sounds.


Wow…5 people made it on today. Good job everyone! I can't help but wonder how many potential millionaires didn't get their chance because of circumstances outside of their control. Had I guessed at the $32,000 question, Kevin would never have made it into the hot seat to make history. I still remember talking to him the next day at the hotel. We had the option to stay and watch the second show taping, but everyone in our show was exhausted and we all headed back to the hotel. None of us knew that Kevin won it all not 20 minutes after we left. He still was in a state of shock when he told us what happened after we left.



The last segment will deal with the aftermath…the calls home…the fun afterwards…the airing of the show…and (I know everyone wants to know) how much of the $16,000 was paid it taxes.
Posted by Mush at 12:17 AM 1 comments
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Who DOESN'T Want to Be a Millionaire Index

Here's an index for the Millionaire Experience, so you don't have to read through all the posts. This will get updated as new installments are posted.

The next trip report will start appearing on here in the coming month.


Initial Qualifying


Did He Make It?


How to Shave Ten Years Off Your Life


AAAACCKKK!!!


GAME ON!


@#^$%&@$% Stack!


The Carnage Afterward
Posted by Mush at 1:31 PM 0 comments
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Who DOESN'T Want to Be a Millionaire, Part 5: GAME ON!

Dan gets going in his continuing effort to win the big money. He flies through the questions but likes to converse in between. The producers said they'd edit out the unnecessary stuff, but those of us in the ring were getting impatient. We wanted our chance!


Dan takes a chance at the $125,000 and misses it. It was interesting to see how it worked, because Regis could not say the word "mitochondria" for anything! After Dan was done, they brought him back into the hot seat so Regis could re-read the question. It took about 6 takes...every time he got to mitochondria, he'd flub it up, and they'd stop the tape. Finally, on the last try, he got it right. Dan tried sneaking in "I'll say...(correct answer). Not missing a beat, Regis screams "WRONG!!!!", which got every busting up laughing.


Regis heads off-stage while they prepare for the fastest finger. Someone comes on-stage to keep the audience engaged. After they get the prompter ready for Regis, he comes back, and we face our first fastest finger (say that 5 times fast!).



Put these movies in order of release, starting with the earliest:

First Wives Club
Tootsie

Earth Girls Are Easy

What Women Want



(I don't remember the order on the show...once I find my copy of it, I'll edit this part a bit)



I knew that Tootsie was in the 80s, the First Wives club was some time in the 90s, and What Women Want was fairly recent. Earth Girls Are Easy…no flippin idea! Okay…where to put it…sounds somewhat older, so maybe I should puQUIT THINKING AND GET AN ANSWER IN NOW!!!



PRESS…PRESs…PRESS…PRESS…CRAP!!! The third one didn't take…backspace…PRESS…SUBMIT!!



I looked down, and I put Earth Girls Are Easy first…



…I'm not feeling too confident about that one.



Wait for the rest of the 20 second time frame to finish up….....



This takes absolutely forever…the wait is excruciating! The boom camera moves over to our side of the ring of fire, so that means one of us got it. Nope…no way it's me…unless nobody else knew it. I look over at Allan Hackney, next to me, and we both let out this huge exhale.



Regis calls the time up and gives the standard "let's look at the correct order…"



My pulse was somewhere around 436.



Tootsie
Earth Girls Are Easy
The First Wives Club
What Women Want





Oh well.



Right next to me, Allan is celebrating…good for him! They stop the taping to validate the answers and make sure nothing malfunctioned. They also brought Allan's significant other to the chair behind where he would be sitting (all the people that came with the contestants were sitting together near the top of the studio).



After validating that Allan got it and getting everything situated, they start taping again, and Allan starts his journey. I paused for a moment, realizing that very few people have seen the show from this perspective.



Kewl.



Now, the "stack" of questions that is selected for you means EVERYTHING. When I watched Kevin Olmstead go through the stack, I realistically could have seen myself making it to the $125,000 level with that one (not saying that Kevin had an easy stack at all…just that I had an interest in the categories of questions that he had). I bring this up because I would have been in HUGE trouble with Allan's stack. Everyone has decent knowledge on something, but everyone also has a "blind spot" in their knowledge where you simply don't know a question that 98% of the others would consider easy. I simply did NOT know what putting the kibosh on something meant (Allan's $200 question). There were a couple of others…I had no idea who Andre Braugher was (the answer to his $16,000 question), for example.



Allan got to the $125,000 level really quickly, even with a break for scheduled commercials…remember that we all agreed not to mess around with stalling. He phoned a friend for help on figuring out what country Alberto Fujimori ran. His phone-a-friend wasn't able to help, and Allan took a chance and incorrectly guessed. He walked with $32,000.



Another break as they got Allan and his significant other off the stage and in the back-stage where he could relax and watch the rest of the taping. The rest of us in the Ring talked to each other (we all got along, even though we knew we would be battling in a few moments).



Regis comes back on-stage, and we're ready to start taping again.



"Put the follow airlines in geographic order, starting with the north."



As he started to repeat the question, my mind went into overdrive. I immediately thought "SwissAir and Air New Zealand." It was geography AND it was flight-related, so I knew that this would likely be my best chance.

Finnair

Alitalia

Lufthansa

Quantas



I didn't even notice that they mis-spelled Quantas. Finair..FINLAND…close to Switzerland. Qantas…Aussies…far south. Alitalia is Italy, and Lufthansa is in Germany. Germany is north of Italy…PRESS A…PRESS C…PRESS B…PRESS D…pause for the briefest of looks to make sure the answers registered. I had one thumb over the BACK button and one over the SUBMIT button.



SUBMIT





The heart-rate is now over 844. I simply look down…the 20 seconds takes even longer, especially as I hear the boom camera move over to our side again. I knew my answers are correct – the only question is whether someone else got them quicker or not. I continue looking at the screen in front of me, begging time to move just a bit faster.



Regis announces that he's going to give us the correct answer. We all turn to the jumbo screens to see.



Finnair (yeah…keep going)


Lufthansa (I think I started holding my breath about this time)


Alitalia (yeah…show who got it first)


Quantas (COME ON ALREADY!!!!)



"Let's see who got the correct order first"



The first thing I notice is that there was quite a bit of green…I wasn't the only one to get it correct. (still holding my breath)



My time…right around 4.5 seconds. I couldn't even look at the other times, because I see my name start flashing.



I let out this huge "WHOOP!" as I jump out of the chair (I am no longer holding my breath). I run up, shake Regis's hand, and we walk to the center of the stage.



AND…CUT!



Crap…forgot about the validation.



I look over at Sheri, who is being escorted to the significant other chair, and we just give a big smile at each other. They give me a glass of water, throw on a little more makeup, and I think they have me do a mike check. The validation checks out, and a producer comes out and reminds me how to get in the chair. He then tells me to look up at the screen. On there, they have me frozen, starting to head to the chair (when they were taping a couple of minutes ago). I have my head down and my right hand in front of me as I had just released the handshake. The producer looks at me and tells me that I need to get into that pose, which looks like I'm playing Twister or doing the robot. We all start laughing for a minute…it was good as it broke the tension a bit. I get into the pose, and the producer gets everyone quiet for a minute as he gives a couple of instructions to the booth. Regis is right next to me, whispering "2.17 million…it could be yours…you can do it!" I'm trying to keep my balance while at the same time trying not to throw up AND respond to Regis with a barely-audible "yep".



The audience starts clapping, and we're rolling tape again!



I get in the hot seat and start calming down a bit. I could tell that Regis just did not like saying my name…it was always "Chris….pause….Mush…rush." He cracks a joke about Normal Illinois being quite normal. They were able to use the headline from The Pantagraph and had a good laugh about that. He talks to Sheri for a second and then does the trademark "Let's Play…Who WANTS to BE a MILLionAIRE, with Chris….pause….Mush…rush."



I look at the water sitting next to the console and contemplate downing the entire glass in one gulp. Cotton-mouth hit me. Those of you who have seen the show probably noticed me pursing my lips all throughout the experience. No time to do it because the lights went down a little, and the music stopped.



Wow…eerie…for the first 5 questions, it's deathly silent in there. They edit in the music in post-production. I try not to let that get to me…I'm more worried about getting something about a kibosh on the $100 question.



$100…An orchestra is led by how many conductors?



Whew



One
Two

Three
Ask Mozart



I let out a chuckle on "Ask Mozart" and say it exactly as they told us to: 'A', 'One', 'Final Answer'



Okay…got that one out of the way…I immediately calm down a little, and the experience becomes like a video game.



$200

Something about a high jumper





I snickered at the hot lava and mentioned that it would be more interesting if it were lava, but the correct answer was Bar.





$300

Which of the following is both a Roman God and a television show?

This one was one of those questions that threw some people…luckily, the stack was favorable for me, and it didn't trip me up. Titus was out of the way.



$500

Where would you find a control tower?



I'm on a roll…$1,000 here I come!





$1,000

An area of land known as a 'plain' has very few what?



I had "mountains" in my head before I saw the choices. It has to be…plains are usually really flat! 'Rocks' pops up as the first choice.



Hmmmm…well, rocks could be a possible answer! I'll go with rocks.



Then 'trees' comes up. Uh oh. Trees seems like the right answer, but I just couldn't get 'rocks' out of my head (groan). Recalling that the audience led two people astray yesterday AND the average age of the audience is approximately 7.8 years, I decide to burn my "Ask the Audience" lifeline – I make a major mistake, however in saying "I think the answer is C: Trees…but…". Of course, I inadvertently biased the audience. Over 80 percent of the audience picked "trees", which made me look like a complete moron! As I answer, Regis shrugs his shoulders at me and raises his eyebrows. I kind of nod to him as I acknowledge the audience, as though I knew I may have burned a lifeline early. Still, I feel like I made an okay decision. When I talked to Kevin Olmstead after we taped (he had to stick around as he was the carry-over contestant), he fully agreed that it was not a great question. In hindsight, what I should have done was ask for a clarification and verify that rocks could not imply hills or mountains, which was legal. Still, I got to $1,000 and couldn't leave with less.


I take a deep breath and get ready for the next set of questions.
Posted by Mush at 11:47 AM 2 comments
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Monday, April 27, 2009

Who DOESN’T Want to Be a Millionaire, Part 4: AAAACCKKK!!!

We had one day to get everything ready. This was going to be a problem because we were closing on a house and moving on a Friday. Considering we were to leave on Tuesday and return on Thursday, it made for a somewhat stressful time, even without the knowledge that I was going to be on a game show!

I had to get my phone a friend list in order. We were allowed to have 5 names in there. We were still down at Disney World when I got this information, so I had a couple of days to think about this. I wanted to make sure that I had my bases covered in all the areas. I decided on this list:



  1. Al Goldfarb, Former Provost of Illinois State University (current President of Western Illinois University). He served as Dean of Fine Arts at ISU, so I could use him for questions on the arts. He also hailed from New York City, so, along with giving me information on things to do in NYC, he could answer questions about the Big Apple. There was one potential problem, however. He had a meeting at the same time the taping was scheduled with the University President and Vice-Presidents. He said they'd get a phone in there, and I requested a conference phone so they all could help answer the question LOL. There was a running joke at ISU for a few months afterwards, where, if I called him, 3 things would happen: 1) we both talk so fast that we could answer 4 questions in the 30 seconds allotted; 2) he would say that the answer was E. Educating Illinois (Educating Illinois is the strategic plan that Dr. Goldfarb spearheaded during this time…it was the buzzword for everything); or 3) after I give the possible answers, he'd bring up the time I voted against his proposal on academic governance during a Senate meeting and hang up on me.

  2. Neil Skaggs, Economics Professor at ISU. Neil was going to be my religion go-to as well as the guy for sports (despite the fact that he's a Cardinals fan, he still knows his stuff). I also had him set up in my mind as a current events guy, just in case. Neil's challenge was that he was to teach during part of the time frame that the show was to tape.

  3. Michele Finley, my high school English teacher. Literature was NOT my strong subject, as she could attest to. I rocked on the math components of the ACT and SAT. Verbal, however…ugh. I was going to lean on her big-time for anything literature-related.

  4. Steve Haase, friend and veterinarian. Steve was going to be my biology/science guy as well as my German/Europe guy as he has traveled there a couple of times.

  5. Peter Geddeis, friend and undergrad classmate at ISU. Pete and I shared a wall on the 5th floor of Hamilton Hall on the ISU campus. When we both were in the room at the same time Jeopardy was on, one of us would hear the other's TV tuned to it (the walls were thin), and we'd both end up watching it. Eventually, a contest would break out, where we'd shout the answers to each other. We both knew about the same amount (Pete knew a few more than I did), but he was ALWAYS faster than me by a good .25-.50 seconds (pissed me off all the time!). At the time of the taping, Pete was a grad student, and he was working on helping run the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Pete was a backup fine arts guy as well as a current events and general knowledge go-to.


I got my classes covered for Wednesday, and we were off to New York the following morning. We landed at LGA early in the afternoon and had a limo service waiting for us (first time…kewl). All the contestants were staying at the Empire Hotel, located at 63rd and Broadway…right by Columbus Circle. We checked in and had a packet waiting for us. There were what seemed to be a few hundred more forms to sign as well as instructions to meet at a certain suite in the hotel later on in the evening. We decided to do a little sight-seeing before the meeting, so we headed down Broadway towards the Theatre District. After about 10 blocks, we walked past the Ed Sullivan Theater, where a long line had formed for the taping of Letterman. We continued down to Times Square and looked around at the hustle and bustle. Holy crap it was crazy!!! I recall wanting to live in a big city my whole life…standing in Times Square made me reconsider this.

We hopped into a sandwich shop and grabbed a bite to eat before making our way back to the hotel. As we were walking back, we hear a commotion up ahead. As we crossed a street, we walked by the Chippendales, who were heading the other direction. I nudged Sheri to let her know what was passing by, and her tongue hit the pavement. She nearly turned around to follow them. I was hoping the Playboy Bunnies were right behind them, but, alas, they weren't. To this day, Sheri still brings this up in conversation.

We got back to the hotel for the meeting, where we met the rest of the contestants for the show. We all made a pact to just answer the questions without going into long stories. We also joked with the show hand about hand signals to help the guy in the hot seat. When we asked about what the jackpot was at, the show hand refused, despite our best efforts to torture it out of him (he was a nice guy…we had fun with him). We brought the clothes that we anticipated to wear to make sure they wouldn't make the tv screens across the nation go all wobbly and got a rundown on what to expect tomorrow. We also got our per diem ($50/day for 3 days). After talking with each other for a while longer, we disbanded and headed back for what we hoped for a good night's sleep. Some headed back to study…I felt that doing something like that would be fruitless as I would likely forget anything I read at this point. We make a couple phone calls back home, watch a little TV, and attempt to get to bed early. Neither of us were used to the constant drone of sirens from police/ambulance/etc, so it took a while to actually fall asleep.



We had an early morning on the day of the taping. I felt really bad for one of the contestants, who was from Hawaii. It was something like Midnight to his body as we were waking up. We wake up, and I grab a shower. I then realize that, in the insanity of the past 48 hours, I forgot to pack deodorant. Considering I'd probably be sweating buckets all day (no stress at all!), I had to temporarily displace my masculinity and apply Secret (Hey, they say it's strong enough for a man). Sheri still brings this up in conversation too. At the appointed time, we headed down for a shuttle to the studio, which, surprisingly, was only 3 blocks away. We arrived at the ABC studios somewhere around 7:45 in the morning and went through our first security screening. We had a meeting and turned in our list of "phone a friends." We then had to make sure that we did not have any sort of aids for the show (basically, we couldn't have anything that may help us in the studio). Since I was a doctoral student at the time of the taping, I brought some books with me to read for my classes (College Administration...a lot of material there?!). I didn't realize that I had one of the books stuffed in the bag that I brought to the studio, and, naturally, it was found. All the contestants, partners, and ABC staff had a good laugh at that (they still took the book, though).

We then met with the producers and had a short continental breakfast. During this time, we tried to expand a little on our "lives" so that they could use the information and put it on the "blue card" that Regis Philbin has in front of him (he looks at this for the bantering between questions). After that, we got to visit the studio where the show taped and saw where we were going to sit (no audience yet). It was almost surreal when we walked in. Most of the lights weren't on, but we still felt a sense of awe, until we walked on the floor. The glass where the mirrors and lights are seemed like fairly thick plexiglass…it had some give to it as we walked on it. The directors told us the best way to enter our responses for the fastest finger round and then gave us five examples. There were 20 of us there as they were taping 2 shows that day. The second show's contestants played around in the gallery while we tested stuff out. The fastest finger question is not exactly what you saw on TV. The question was asked and then repeated (the second reading is edited out). Then the contestants in what we affectionately call the "Ring of Fire" had twenty seconds to try to figure out the proper order. As anyone who has ever been in the Ring can attest, it's nowhere near as easy to input your answers as you might think! And, to you Disney freaks, what you saw at WTTBAM/PI at Studios…nope…not the same thing. You have to push a button and let go, then press the next button, etc...then you have to press a "Submit" button (I wonder how many people missed getting into the hot seat simply because they forgot to submit their answers). I royally screwed up the first sample round, but I got my bearings and won the second fastest finger sample question (a geography question...remember this).

After we played around in the studio (we even learned the proper way to get into and out of the hot seat), we left our significant others and went back to where our stuff was and changed clothes. Then we went through make-up and got wired with our mikes. We met the carry-over contestant, Dan Orr, and it was then that we found out that nobody had hit the jackpot yet (when I was on, they went a long time without a million dollar winner, so they started adding $10,000 for every episode with no winner). We would be playing for $2,170,000!!!! We all pumped Dan for information on what it was like, and he said that the people yesterday were dumb and that the audience screwed up 2 people because they were so young.

After a little nervous smalltalk, we made our way to the now-dark and packed studio and were introduced to the audience...the first thing that we noticed was that this place looked awesome with the smoke and light effects. The second thing we noticed was that Dan was correct…the audience was YOUNG today too! It was spring break, and a lot of students had tickets to the show. I think we all noticed that -- I talked to Allan Hackney, who was seated next to me, and we agreed that we'll likely have to use the "ask the audience" lifeline early. Before we knew it, there was a call that they were going to start taping in just a minute. A director for the audience had one main job: get the crowd to whoop and holler on cue. He gives the signal, and the place just erupts with noise!!! A couple of seconds later, Dan Orr comes out with Regis right next to him! This was the first time we've seen him, so we're all just as excited as the audience was.



The game…is…on!
Posted by Mush at 11:47 PM 3 comments
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