I’ve wondered the above question before and last night, after playing a good game of Trivial Pursuit (the 90s edition), I found myself wondering about this again.  Does having a lot of trivial knowledge actually mean that you possess strong intelligence or does it just mean that you have a knack for retaining random information?  I am sure that somebody has studied this before and that there are different hypothesis on the matter.  Personally, without any definitive background knowledge on the matter, my guess would be that the concept of intelligence is one that creates a number of difficulties in regards to determining what is actually an attribute and what isn’t.  As such I would guess that trivial knowledge might be seen as an aspect of a certain type of intelligence but in and of itself is not a denoter of strong genius.  The reason why I say this is because it is my assumption that while memory plays a big part in trivial knowledge there is more to it than just that.  Trivia requires an ability to link association of information which is not just a simple act of memory.  Some people undoubtedly have the uncanny ability to find association between facts and ideas allow for them to expand and supply further information themselves.  I would think that the way in which one is able to utilize knowledge provides a stronger marker for intelligence than the actual knowledge itself.  

Anyway, in case you were wondering, I love Trivial Pursuit.  It might be one of my favorite board games.  But saying that I have to now release a gripe in that the game is entirely too long.  I feel like an average game of Trivial Pursuit progresses through three stages which are the following:

1. Enthused Opening: Everybody in the game is excited to get playing.  The first couple of correct answers leading up to the first won pie pieces is filled with excitement and fun (along with the necessary trash talking of the opponents).
2. Mid-Game Stagnation: After awhile the game generally falls into a long period where not a whole lot occurs.  A correct answer is provided here and there and slowly the teams acquire pie pieces fighting for the end game at a slow pace.
3. Exhausting End Game: Most of the teams have won all or most of their pie pieces and the end is in sight, but inevitably the game continues on in a seemingly unending fashion.  Everybody fall into a mix of exhaustion and irritation just wishing that the fucking game would finish.

Yeah, that is kind of how I see Trivial Pursuit going in general.  Of course every once in a while you get one of those super teams who just have a huge amassed resource of trivial knowledge and they can just breeze through the game.  

My secret success to Trivial Pursuit?  I play better when I am drunk but I usually do not recall playing.

An awesome flikr collection of posters created for the WPA (Works Progress Administration and/or Work Projects Administration) which existed in the 1930s and 40s to provide employement in response to the Great Depression.  Some of the posters are really cool looking and represent some old school graphic design.  Check them out.

So for the last several days I have had a car for my personal use.  It has been wonderful.  Unfortunately it is not actually my vehicle, but belongs instead to my friend Paivi who is away in Europe until after Thanksgiving.  Still it is nice seeing as I have not had regular use of a car since the beginning of March.  

In consideration the lack of a vehicle could be much worse.  I am not spending a ton on gas (even considering the rapidly dropping prices).  My carbon footprint has undoubtedly decreased significantly.  And all around I just don’t have to worry about driving, which is not really one of my favorite things to do.  

Still I am in the process of hunting down my own car.  I have saved very close to enough to feel comfortable about putting down a down payment and so I really just need t figure out financing for the rest.  It will be nice to have my own vehicle again I guess but I still intend on walking to work some days.

I can think of many, but I’d say being named the Healthiest City in the Nation by the U.S. CDC is a pretty good marker.  Speaking from personal experience I can say that Burlington is a place for health nuts.  Not only do residents tend to enjoy a wide range of physical activities like biking and skiing but their is a huge health food culture in and surrounding Vermont’s largest city (seriously, there must be like 15 natural food stores within a three mile radius).  Very cool.  Nice to know I will be hanging out around there for Christmas.

I think this would be very cool, if the “Wizard of Oz”  story had a movie remake.  Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the old school techni-color Judy Garland “Wizard of Oz”, that movie is entirely too classic and genius and I could never recommend trying to make a remake of it in it’s style (with all the singing and dancing and simplified story).  But the reality is that L. Frank Baum’s books of Oz offer far more than the old movie version ever captured.  While the stories were definitely for children they possessed a certain degree of darkness and creepiness that I think would be both appreciated and embraced by audiences today (especially in the wake of such successful film series as the Harry Potter  and the Lord of the Rings movies).  I’d love to hear more about this if anybody has found anything else.

Okay, I meant to write a post about this the other day when both @agautsc and @thebrandbuilder linked to this wonderful article by Simon Pegg of “Shaun of the Dead” fame.  It is a genius little piece examining the problem with the new school of zombies who are unnaturally fast.  Now I, being the zombie fan that I am, obviously have some personal opinions on the matter.  First and foremost I am of the school that the best zombie use is with the slow shambling decaying corpses that most people, including the characters in zombie situations, tend to believe should be avoidable but turn out to be more tenacious than is generally liked.  Part of the disturbing quality of George A. Romero’s Dead Series zombies is the fact that they are these slow dead things and yet they still prove incredibly dangerous.  But at the same time there is unquestionably something terrifying about a creature (not exactly a zombie mind you, regardless of how zombie-ish it may be) that can run you down before tearing your throat out.  ”28 Days Later” (and “28 Weeks Later” a little less) is a truly horrifying film with truly disturbing monsters.  But at the same time the unnatural speed and strength takes away from the real sense of good zombie movie.  Essentially, as Pegg points out in the article, it creates a new monster that is scary for similar but ultimately different reasons.  I could go on for hours about the absolute genius that is the zombie archetype and how, I think, more than any other monster (Vampires, werewolves, aliens, etc.), it embrace a truly human fear of death, not just of the body but, probably more so, of the mind, the consciousness.  Really that is what I think it is with zombies.  The fear of death yes but more than that (because almost all monsters present a fear of death through being killed) the fear that the “self”, the human conscious, will be lost and what will remain will only be a husk, a dead body, of what once existed.  Read about philosophical zombies which in many ways embraces this very idea (essentially it states that theoretically it is possible that there could be beings in a parallel world exactly like us in every way — physically, through action and interaction, etc — except they lack any consciousness or sense of self).

A good twist on the traditional slow zombie along with faster varieties comes from Jenny Romanchuk’s webcomic “The Zombie Hunters“, which besides having wonderful illustrations and a decent story, has created a range of different zombie types that threaten humanity (check out her encyclopedia on the site).  Good stuff I really enjoy it.

Oh, and this, a slide show along with Pegg’s article.  Damn I love writing about zombies.

In the long absence of a quality Mexican Monday last night Mad, Bear, and I decided to pursue a lovely Meatloaf Monday dinner.  There was beer and wine and bread and cheese and veggies.  And of course there was the meatloaf.  I wish I had thought to take a picture because I have to say, Mr. Adam “Bear” Gautsch makes one mean meatloaf.  I will not reveal Bear’s technique here, as I am a firm believer that meatloaf creation a a very personal and individual endeavor in which each person must develop his or her own style and go with it.  The real point is that it was delicious.

Beyond meatloaf we learned that there is a difference between “baby carrots” and “baby cut carrots” (see if you can guess) and had some extended book discussing, as well as stories of things we did in our younger days.  While eating dinner we watched “In Bruges” starring Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson.  I liked the movie quite a bit but feel like I want to watch it again 1). because a lot of the speaking is hard to understand (what with the really thick Irish accents) and 2). because I feel like there was some pretty serious symbolism that might have been missed the first time through.

All and all an enjoyable evening amongs friends and good food.  What more can one really ask for?

Hey, guess what, today is the presidential election day.  If you are a registered voter, get up, get out and vote!  Be a part of the democratic process and be proud that you live in a country that allows you to vote.  In fact be proud of your country altogether.  Sure there have been some rough times recently but have faith that our nation will pull through. 

Again I urge you to vote if you are registered to do so.  Sure we all want the canidate we choose to win but obviously not everyone can be a winner.  Vote because you are proud to be a part of the democracy.  Vote because you have a belief and you have the right to choose who you think best represents you.  Just vote because you can.

Have a great day everyone!

I haven’t shared any drawing for quite awhile, so today, in the spirit of Halloween and to honor my favorite monster type.  Here are some zombie drawings and doodles for your pleasure.  Enjoy.

Any older drawing in one of my notebooks, I think its eyes are really freaky

quick, pencil sketch but captures the good ol' zombie essence

Doodle zombie, missing a boot, that klutz

More doodled zombies

I did this drawing earlier today . . . red pen makes blood more, well, "red"

Another zombie I drew today

A bit of a different look but one that was fun to draw

Once again the New York Times has effectively made me miss my home state of Vermont with this wonderful little tour of Burlington, which is, quite honestly, my favorite city.  The article points out some of my favorite places in the city including Radio Bean, which in high school and when I was home from college was a frequent hang out place of mine.  Also American Flatbread and the delicious Zero Gravity craft brew that accompanies it (I recommend trying the grout beer which is flavored by herbs as opposed to hops).  Also have to love Red Square and Nectar’s.  I really can’t wait to go back to Vermont for Christmas and I hope to get to downtown Burlington at least once during my vacation.  It will be awesome because Ian, my brother, is 21 now so we can go get some beers at the Vermont Pub and Brewery or maybe pick up a couple of growlers at the Magic Hat brewery which is only about a five minutes drive away from the city.  Anyway, miss Vermont, miss Burlington, and miss all my peeps up in New England . . . (sigh).

Parents said it was snowing up there this week.  I do not miss that.