Dad was born in 1926 and mom in 1928; they're still alive, thanks.
I'm writing a game on 1931, thus in my parents' lifetimes. I was looking in an old and trusted source, Variety Music Cavalcade, which lists all the top popular hits of any particular year, usually three or four pages of popular songs. One of those songs had what Wikipedia calls "among the most offensive songs of the Depression era." I won't print the lyrics, but the link is here. I will say that despite the offensive title and the first verse, the song indicates a degree of dignity and worth. YouTube has a version sung by Paul Robeson.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
1966: The Chickens Come Home To Roost
Readers of this blog, if there are any, will remember that while putting together the 1961 game, the first game of the year, I noted that I was making sure to leave a number of sources about the 1960s available for a subsequent 1966 game. Well, the time has come to write such a game, and the chickens are indeed coming home to roost. The main problem is the Beatles.
The Beatles?
Yes, the Beatles. Two seminal facts about the Beatles: their real period of activity was from 1963 to 1970. And lots and lots of people have written chronologies about the Beatles, mainly focused on the years from 1963 to 1970. Using our basic plan for the year--doing years that end in 1 or 6--you will note that only one year falls in the period from 1963 to 1970. That year is 1966.
Add to that a bunch of other things that fall heavily into that time period that can only be done in 1966 for this cycle (the Johnson administration, the Gemini program, the beginnings of the Vietnam War, the end of the really heavy civil rights period, the American Football League and a bunch of other pop groups), plus the plethora of books on the sixties we didn't use for 1961, plus a couple of oddities (something called "Report of the Chronicler" that deals with the years 1966 to 1968 and a Chronology of the U.S. Marine Corps I've had for years and years and didn't realize its third volume covered 1966 to 1969 and I'd never used it, plus a Facts on File yearbook for 1966, and by the time I had put only books focused on the period into my book rack, there wasn't much room left.
So 1966, the year of necessity. Not a lot of general sources outside the period, but heck, it's a year where a lot of things happened.
The Beatles?
Yes, the Beatles. Two seminal facts about the Beatles: their real period of activity was from 1963 to 1970. And lots and lots of people have written chronologies about the Beatles, mainly focused on the years from 1963 to 1970. Using our basic plan for the year--doing years that end in 1 or 6--you will note that only one year falls in the period from 1963 to 1970. That year is 1966.
Add to that a bunch of other things that fall heavily into that time period that can only be done in 1966 for this cycle (the Johnson administration, the Gemini program, the beginnings of the Vietnam War, the end of the really heavy civil rights period, the American Football League and a bunch of other pop groups), plus the plethora of books on the sixties we didn't use for 1961, plus a couple of oddities (something called "Report of the Chronicler" that deals with the years 1966 to 1968 and a Chronology of the U.S. Marine Corps I've had for years and years and didn't realize its third volume covered 1966 to 1969 and I'd never used it, plus a Facts on File yearbook for 1966, and by the time I had put only books focused on the period into my book rack, there wasn't much room left.
So 1966, the year of necessity. Not a lot of general sources outside the period, but heck, it's a year where a lot of things happened.
A Question You'll Never See
Nothing profound here, I just made a mistake and used a source I'd already used for a 2011 game. So here's the question:
Q: IN WHAT CITY WAS THE FIRST HOSPITAL NORTH OF MEXICO ESTABLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA?
A: QUEBEC
Interesting fact: the founder (in the literal sense, the person whose funds were used to create the institution) was the niece of Cardinal Richelieu. Anyway, the "illegal" source was The Book of Canadian Facts & Dates. Replaced by a question from Asimov's Chronology of the World.
Q: IN WHAT CITY WAS THE FIRST HOSPITAL NORTH OF MEXICO ESTABLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA?
A: QUEBEC
Interesting fact: the founder (in the literal sense, the person whose funds were used to create the institution) was the niece of Cardinal Richelieu. Anyway, the "illegal" source was The Book of Canadian Facts & Dates. Replaced by a question from Asimov's Chronology of the World.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Funny Classification
I'm writing a game on the year 1637. New England's bad girl, Anne Hutchinson, figures in this year. But in "Famous First Facts", by Joseph Nathan Kane, a standard library reference (my copy is a library discard), Anne is classified as a "clubwoman." I suppose she might have clubbed certain New England men if given the chance.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A just totally cool fact I couldn't use
I'm writing a game on 1951, but the book I'm looking at, "Illlini Legends, Lists & Lore", covers, naturally, academic rather than calendar years. So for the 1950-51 entry it mentions that the first coed cheerleaders for the Illini began on September 30, 1950, in a game against Ohio University. It shows a picture of the four comely coeds. Across their chests is not "Illinois" or "Fighting Illini." It's one simple word:
Cheer.
Cheer.
The Start of the Civil War Was Near . . .
The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, which of course means there were five years, which is exactly our Flashback cycle. And there are a lot of chronologies of the Civil War that focus only on those five years. Which means (with some exceptions if I do 1860) that every year I have to use all the Civil War focused sources for the Civil War year game. This year's is 1861.
One of the sources, for obvious reasons, doesn't cover all five years. This is Stonewall Jackson Day by Day. Oddly, once he's dead, he doesn't seem to do much.
One of the sources, for obvious reasons, doesn't cover all five years. This is Stonewall Jackson Day by Day. Oddly, once he's dead, he doesn't seem to do much.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
My Favorite Source
I'll have something to say about the 1861 game in a bit, but I'm writing a game about 1986 and I realized that I was starting it with what I have long considered my favorite source of all. It is a book called "The Clothes Have No Emperor" and it's a comprehensive chronology of the Reagan years. What makes it my favorite source is that the author has the same sense of humor I do, and it never fails to give me a chuckle as I read it. And I have never, ever been unable to find a good question to use from it. It's not quite day-by-day, but it does have about 20 quotes or quips about every month that Ronnie was President, so the chances I couldn't find a fresh, interesting question for a year are pretty small. It's never failed me. The author is Paul Slansky. He's welcome to continue with something on the W. administration (actually, he did).
Writing the First Game of the Year: Aftermath
When I'm done, I print out the game to read to Marjorie (see a prior post).
Then I take the Query 3 file and rename it with the spelled out name of the game, "January 5, 2011 1961." I think add two fields, "Question No." (which gives me the autonumbered question numbers) and "Last Used". I have to turn on the last two fields from "Group by" to "Expression" because Access is the worst program in the world and gives me that toggle to a field whether I want it or not (and I never want it) and despite the fact that the moment the query is changed from Design View to View I will get an error message.
As I've been writing the questions, I've been filling in this field on the Books 14 database with "1/5/2011", only because I've been writing this blog, I've sort of lost my natural rhythm and I discover I've forgotten to do it about six times. So I fix that, and then change the type of query from "Make Table Query" (which records the autonumbered data) to "Select Query" (which turns that off). I save it again and I'm done.
I know the next game will be 1861 because Marjorie just gave me a great chronology on the Civil War for Chanukah. I won't post as much about that game.
Then I take the Query 3 file and rename it with the spelled out name of the game, "January 5, 2011 1961." I think add two fields, "Question No." (which gives me the autonumbered question numbers) and "Last Used". I have to turn on the last two fields from "Group by" to "Expression" because Access is the worst program in the world and gives me that toggle to a field whether I want it or not (and I never want it) and despite the fact that the moment the query is changed from Design View to View I will get an error message.
As I've been writing the questions, I've been filling in this field on the Books 14 database with "1/5/2011", only because I've been writing this blog, I've sort of lost my natural rhythm and I discover I've forgotten to do it about six times. So I fix that, and then change the type of query from "Make Table Query" (which records the autonumbered data) to "Select Query" (which turns that off). I save it again and I'm done.
I know the next game will be 1861 because Marjorie just gave me a great chronology on the Civil War for Chanukah. I won't post as much about that game.
Writing the First Game of the Year: Part Five
42. NASCAR Chronicle. Another B/C and no. 1120. An example of a source I'd never have bought if I weren't faithful to the idea that Flashback isn't "what Jeopchamp likes to ask about" but rather "stuff I could find for Flashback." Sure, I'd prefer a lot more baseball questions than NASCAR questions (and this is the only source I have devoted to NASCAR). But there will be NASCAR questions because NASCAR happens. So to speak.
43. Chronology of the Disability Rights Movement. A D, since it starts in 1817. This is the first of a series of printouts from the Internet. One always has to be careful about the Internet; I don't take Wikipedia's chronologies, for instance. I have, however, two file drawers of these, and they need to be burned, too. This is a good one, because it covers a lot of interesting issues all together. It's 1184 (and we're barbarians); a lot of them are between 900 and 1200, the heyday of printing off the Internet for me.
44. Chronology of Michigan Women's History. The files are kept in two alphabetical runs, A-Z and Chronology from A to Z. About 20% of all my sources begin with the word Chronology. No. 1054 and a D.
45. Chronology of the National Audubon Society. A C (since it covers 1899 to 1999). You'll get a lot of these sources in alphabetical order. What I do is to find a source that seems particularly relevant (most likely an A or a B but also one that I've been having trouble burning that might have a question for the particular year I'm writing) and I'll take all the other source that have questions for that particular year as well, unless the source is entirely repetitive of a book I'm using and isn't an A or B. Is that clear? This is source No. 826, by the way, the exception that proves the rule on when I printed these. This is an official chronology on the organization's website and it wonderfully covered every single year in its range (sometimes with facts that don't make great questions, but there's always something).
46. Chronology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A B, no. 864. And with 46 questions, we are an official game. Congratulations.
47. A Chronology of Significant Events in Duke University's History. A D and no. 1205. See comment on NASCAR Chronology.
48. Alabama Chronology. No. 1386 and a D. An easy year for Alabama questions.
49. Biographical Chronology of Senator J. Strom Thurmond. No. 911 and despite rumors to the contrary, a C not a D.
50. Boeing Logbook. A C. No. 1785.
51. Bing Crosby Day by Day. A C and the second longest chronology after Walt Disney Day by Day (which I actually paid for). I ran an entire game on Der Bingle, too. Something Bing and I have in common: affiliation with Gonzaga University. He is its most famous alum and the namesake of its library. I was on the advisory board of the Gonzaga Law School Commercial Law Center. I even have a little plaque. No. 935.
52. Brief Chronology of Arthur Miller's Life and Works. A B. Naw, it's really a C. But this is the center of Miller's career. The stuff he did in the 90s isn't of much interest. No. 1660.
53. Pop Culture. Back to actual books. A C. Totally wonderful source. No. 7. You can read this one from cover to cover and enjoy the whole thing.
54. The Complete New Yorker (on CD). Well, 8 CDs. A C. It's No. 760 the way Sci-Fi Movies succeeded to a duplicate Book No. I think I bought it in 2008. It's more user friendly than some of the other CD sources. I own.
55. Hawaii, 1959-1989. A B and No. 1285.
56. Bits and Pieces of Alaskan History, volume 2. A B and No. 294. Equal time for the 49th state. After all, I belong to the Alaska bar, not the Hawai'i bar. Alaska source material tends to be more user friendly than Hawaiian. This is a collection of human interest pieces, month by month for fourteen years after statehood. There is no comparable Hawaiian source. And, yes, I have volume one, too.
57. The 1960's. A B. Really. No. 1868. Except this is going to be No. 59, because it has a great bonus question. So, 57 will be instead The Timeline History of Baseball, which I'm pulling off the shelf because, incredibly, I didn't use a single baseball source this game. And this is 1961. Some stuff happened. No. 1447 and a D.
58. Facts on File 1961. The archetypal A. No. 2009. Usually used for a bonus, I will try to get something as close to December 31 as I can instead for the last "regular" question.
59. See 57. +
43. Chronology of the Disability Rights Movement. A D, since it starts in 1817. This is the first of a series of printouts from the Internet. One always has to be careful about the Internet; I don't take Wikipedia's chronologies, for instance. I have, however, two file drawers of these, and they need to be burned, too. This is a good one, because it covers a lot of interesting issues all together. It's 1184 (and we're barbarians); a lot of them are between 900 and 1200, the heyday of printing off the Internet for me.
44. Chronology of Michigan Women's History. The files are kept in two alphabetical runs, A-Z and Chronology from A to Z. About 20% of all my sources begin with the word Chronology. No. 1054 and a D.
45. Chronology of the National Audubon Society. A C (since it covers 1899 to 1999). You'll get a lot of these sources in alphabetical order. What I do is to find a source that seems particularly relevant (most likely an A or a B but also one that I've been having trouble burning that might have a question for the particular year I'm writing) and I'll take all the other source that have questions for that particular year as well, unless the source is entirely repetitive of a book I'm using and isn't an A or B. Is that clear? This is source No. 826, by the way, the exception that proves the rule on when I printed these. This is an official chronology on the organization's website and it wonderfully covered every single year in its range (sometimes with facts that don't make great questions, but there's always something).
46. Chronology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A B, no. 864. And with 46 questions, we are an official game. Congratulations.
47. A Chronology of Significant Events in Duke University's History. A D and no. 1205. See comment on NASCAR Chronology.
48. Alabama Chronology. No. 1386 and a D. An easy year for Alabama questions.
49. Biographical Chronology of Senator J. Strom Thurmond. No. 911 and despite rumors to the contrary, a C not a D.
50. Boeing Logbook. A C. No. 1785.
51. Bing Crosby Day by Day. A C and the second longest chronology after Walt Disney Day by Day (which I actually paid for). I ran an entire game on Der Bingle, too. Something Bing and I have in common: affiliation with Gonzaga University. He is its most famous alum and the namesake of its library. I was on the advisory board of the Gonzaga Law School Commercial Law Center. I even have a little plaque. No. 935.
52. Brief Chronology of Arthur Miller's Life and Works. A B. Naw, it's really a C. But this is the center of Miller's career. The stuff he did in the 90s isn't of much interest. No. 1660.
53. Pop Culture. Back to actual books. A C. Totally wonderful source. No. 7. You can read this one from cover to cover and enjoy the whole thing.
54. The Complete New Yorker (on CD). Well, 8 CDs. A C. It's No. 760 the way Sci-Fi Movies succeeded to a duplicate Book No. I think I bought it in 2008. It's more user friendly than some of the other CD sources. I own.
55. Hawaii, 1959-1989. A B and No. 1285.
56. Bits and Pieces of Alaskan History, volume 2. A B and No. 294. Equal time for the 49th state. After all, I belong to the Alaska bar, not the Hawai'i bar. Alaska source material tends to be more user friendly than Hawaiian. This is a collection of human interest pieces, month by month for fourteen years after statehood. There is no comparable Hawaiian source. And, yes, I have volume one, too.
57. The 1960's. A B. Really. No. 1868. Except this is going to be No. 59, because it has a great bonus question. So, 57 will be instead The Timeline History of Baseball, which I'm pulling off the shelf because, incredibly, I didn't use a single baseball source this game. And this is 1961. Some stuff happened. No. 1447 and a D.
58. Facts on File 1961. The archetypal A. No. 2009. Usually used for a bonus, I will try to get something as close to December 31 as I can instead for the last "regular" question.
59. See 57. +
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