3/14/2011

Another obscure sports question tonight, I really do love these things: Which town won the Little League Softball title for the state of Massachusetts in 2010? As tough as this one sounds it was pretty easy for me. Thanks to nearly 2 years of doing the ChaCha, I am pretty familiar with where to find things on the Little League website. The Swampscott Little League won the Massachusetts Little League Softball title in 2010. They are from the town of Swampscott, Mass. and they went 2-2 in the 2010 Little League Softball East Regional. They beat Maine (boooo!) and Rhode Island, but lost to Vermont and Connecticut.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

Theme: Baseball Rocks

3/13/2011

Another sports question tonight, but this one was a little more obscure: What is the Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award? This is an award in the world of professional hockey that was named after NHL Hall of Famer Charlie Conacher. It was given to an NHL player who made an "outstanding contribution to humanitarian or community service projects". The award was given out annually from 1969 to 1984 and then retired by the NHL. A similar award has been given out since 1988, The King Clancy Memorial Trophy. It also goes to the top humanitarian in the NHL each year.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

Theme: Feeling Sleuthy

3/12/2011

Tonight's question was a juicy sports statistic that would have flustered most other guides: What is Michigan's record vs Ohio State in men's ice hockey? It turns out that the Michigan Wolverines have owned the Ohio State Buckeyes in men's hockey. They have an all-time record of 65-30-11 against them. You can slice this series up in many ways and Michigan is dominant in all of them. 33-12-6 at home, 28-15-5 on the road, 4-2-11 in overtime, 4-3-0 on neutral ice, and 7-3-0 in the last 10 meetings.

Difficulty: 4 - Very Challenging

Theme: Stats Nut

3/11/2011

Tonight's question was: Is there going to be a sequel to the Thankskilling movie? Normally, I would think that this is some kind of typo, but I have actually seen the 2009 movie Thankskilling. It is an independent, ultra low budget film about a homicidal turkey that kills college students over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It has quite a cult following. My cousin Adam was the one who introduced the movie to me. I don't even pretend to be that hip anymore.

Anyway, their is a website for the film that claims there will be a sequel. However I noticed that this particular news item was posted on April Fool's Day in 2010, so who knows if it is real or a joke at this point.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

3/10/2011

Had to do a little detective work tonight to answer this question: What is the name of the hotel across the street from Whiskey Dix in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The first step is to find this place on a map. Whiskey Dix is a night club and it is located at 436 Main Street in downtown Winnipeg. There are actually 3 hotels pretty close to Whiskey Dix but only one is truly across the street. The Royal Albert Arm's Hotel is located at 48 Albert Street, which is one street over from Main Street. If I ever make it to Winnipeg I will most definitely stay there.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

Theme: Feeling Sleuthy

3/08/2011

Got stumped today while doing the ChaCha: What year is the Firebird that Will Ferrell drives in the movie Old School? I searched and searched and couldn't find the answer to this one. Getting stumped bugged me so much that I went back and found the answer to this question after signing out of ChaCha for the night. Will Ferrell played the character Frank "The Tank" Ricard and his car was named "The Dragon". The Dragon was a red, 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.

Difficulty: 5 - Stumped!

Theme: Relentless

3/06/2011

Another movie question piqued my interest tonight while doing the ChaCha: What is the name of Balian's father in Kingdom of Heaven? Balian of Ibelin was played by Orlando Bloom in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven. His father was named Godfrey of Ibelin and was played by Liam Neeson. This one got my attention since my last name is Godfrey. Perhaps there is some royal blood in the family, woot woot!

Difficulty: 1 - Slam Dunk!

Theme: Worlds are Colliding!

3/05/2011

Tonight's preferred ChaCha question is: When is the Smurfs movie coming out? This is one of those questions where I learned something from answering it. I didn't even know there was a Smurfs movie due out this year, but there is! "The Smurfs" will be released in US theaters on August 3, 2011 and stars my boy Neil Patrick Harris.

I remember watching the original Smurfs cartoon in the early to mid-1980s growing up. I always thought the evil guy who wanted to eat the smurfs was called "Garganel" but it turns out his name is actually "Gargamel", so I actually learned two things by answering it.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

Theme: Educational

3/04/2011

I am a total baseball and statistics geek so even the toughest baseball questions don't phase me. I got one of those tonight: What is the Cubs projected 2011 opening day lineup? Luckily, I knew right where to find a depth chart for the Cubs online but it still left me with a lot of typing to do, and some of those names aren't that easy to spell.

Left Field - Alfonso Soriano
Center Field - Marlon Byrd
Right Field - Kosuke Fukudome
Third Base - Aramis Ramirez
Short Stop - Starlin Castro
Second Base - Blake De Witt
First Base - Carlos Pena
Catcher - Geovany Soto
Pitcher - Ryan Dempster

As a die hard Boston Red Sox fan I was very happy to see the Cubs pick up Carlos Pena and Matt Garza. I like Pena but he seems to hit about .500 against the BoSox who are his hometown team. He grew up in Mass. and attended Northeastern. I dislike watching Garza because he spits between every pitch, sometimes multiple times. It is monumentally disgusting to watch him pitch a game.

Difficulty: 4 - Very Challenging

Theme: Baseball Rocks

3/03/2011

Quite often one ChaCha inquiry leads to a follow up question by the same user. We normally have a history of the customer's recent questions which can help figure out what they are asking about when it isn't entirely obvious. Otherwise things can get kind of confusing. The recent history saved me from getting stumped tonight: Who plays Glen Davis in the episode School Dance? I was able to deduce that they were asking about an episode of Zoey 101 based on their recent question history. It turns out that Asher Book played the role of Glen Davis in the Zoey 101 episode titled "School Dance". It was his only appearance on the show.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

Theme: Feeling Sleuthy

3/02/2011

Nothing overly exciting today so I will go with this inquiry: Who did Don Rickles play in the Gomer Pyle TV series? Don Rickles appeared on just one episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. He played Sergeant Jim Mason on the episode titled "My Buddy, The War Hero" which aired on March 12, 1965. Don Rickles show biz career started way back in 1955 and continues to this day. He provided the voice for Mr. Potato Head in all three Toy Story movies.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

3/01/2011

Some ChaCha inquiries need to be researched or interpreted before you can answer them. I got one of those tonight: What band is Ridge in from the Bold and The Beautiful? The first step here is to find Ridge's real name. The character Ridge Forrester is played by the actor Ronn Moss. Ronn Moss was indeed in a rock n roll band before he got into acting. He played bass and sang vocals for the 1970s band Player. Their big hit was "Baby Come Back" which went to #1 for three weeks in early 1978.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

2/26/2011

One of the beautiful things about ChaCha is that you learn things, whether you want to or not. Tonight I got a question about when Casimir Pulaski Day is in 2011. Offhand, I had nothing so I began to search the net and surprisingly found the answer right away. It turns out that Casimir Pulaski was a war hero from the US Revolutionary War. He was born in Poland and contributed mightily to our victory by training our soldiers and cavalry. As a result of his heroics the first Monday of each March is designated as Casimir Pulaski Day in the state of Illinois. This year it was celebrated on March 7th.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

2/25/2011

I got a question tonight about whether "Ramble On" is a song by Led Zeppelin. The answer of course is yes. "Ramble On" is on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin 2. It is the second track and is 4:23 in duration. The reason I picked this question as my favorite for the day is because a Led Zeppelin song was playing on my radio as I answered it. It wasn't "Ramble On" playing but I still thought it was a pretty random happenstance.

Difficulty: 1 - Slam Dunk!

2/24/2011

I got a question tonight about what half marathon Todd Faulkner is training for. "Uh,oh" I thought, "another lonely guy is asking a question about himself". But that thought turned out to be totally wrong. Todd Faulkner is actually a TV reporter who works for WPSD, the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Kentucky. Todd is a sports reporter and even has a regular series called Todd's Get Fit Reports about eating and living healthy. He started the series in 2009 and has lost 55 pounds and 10 inches from his waist while doing it. He is indeed training for an upcoming half marathon, the Paducah Iron Mom Half Marathon on May 7, 2011. Color me impressed!

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

2/22/2011

Every so often you get a question that has stumped a previous guide but is so important that it's immediately asked again so you get a chance to find the answer they couldn't. I got one of those tonight: Where was Babe Ruth's first home run hit?

This one took some digging but I eventually determined that the Babe's first home run occurred on May 6, 1915 when he played for the Boston Red Sox. Fittingly, the team they played that day was the New York Yankees and the game was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Yay me!

Difficulty: 4 - Very Challenging

2/21/2011

Got a question tonight about the length of a high school hockey period in Minnesota. I did not realize that high school hockey games are shorter than college or professional hockey games but they are, at least in Minnesota they are. All varsity games, both boys and girls, consist of three 17-minute periods there. Junior varsity periods can be anywhere from 15 to 17 minutes long by mutual agreement. College, pro, and international games consist of three 20-minute periods in case you were wondering.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

2/20/2011

Every now and then while doing the ChaCha you get asked a question that you think you will never find an answer to and instead it turns out to be one of the easiest questions of the day. I had one of those today: How many retail stores are located in the state of Georgia. As this one popped on the screen I thought to myself "Oh no, I am soooo hosed!" But thanks to the National Retail Federation this question was a breeze to answer. They have a map on their website which lists the total number of retail establishments in each state - wahooo! It turns out there are 49,501 retail establishments in the state of Georgia. This includes restaurants, hair salons, liquor stores, retail stores, gas stations, and pretty much any other kind of store you could think of.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

2/19/2011

Got a question tonight about what it means when a military statue has a horse with both front hooves up off the ground. This one totally blew my mind! I had no idea that there would be meaning in such a minute detail such as this but there is actually a TON of meaning in it. If a statue has a horse with booth front hooves off the ground it means the person depicted in the statue died during battle. If the horse only has one hoof in the air it means the person was wounded in battle. If both front hooves are on the ground then the rider died died during peaceful times. These rules appear to apply mostly to statues of figures from the American Civil War.

Difficulty: 3 - Fully Engaged

2/18/2011

Tonight someone asked if the 30 Seconds to Mars song "Kings and Queens" is in any movies. I am pretty current on music, although my tastes run a little more to country these days. That being said, this is a song I have never heard of by a band I have never heard of. Luckily, I knew right where to go for this kind of inquiry, IMDB.com. It is amazing how much stuff is on the internet if you know where and how to look for it. Turns out the song was in the 2010 movie Skyline. The band also performed the song live on the TV series Live from Studio Five which runs in the UK.

Difficulty: 4 - Very Challenging

The other funny thing that happened tonight was that I had two consecutive questions about actor Liam Neeson. I am not sure if I have ever answered a question about Liam Neeson before, so to get two in a row is pretty random.

2/15/2011

Got a request tonight for an Ole n Lena joke about a meat grinder. I had never heard of Ole n Lena jokes but it turns out they are pretty big time in the midwestern US. Some are little one liners and some are longer stories. These jokes have been passed down from one generation to the next by people of Scandanavian heritage. I searched and searched but could not find an Ole n Lena joke about a meat grinder. If it exists, I am sure it is pretty funny.

Difficulty: 5 - Stumped

2/13/2011

Every so often while doing the ChaCha you get a question that you just can't find the answer to. It happened to me today at 4:46pm ET: What is the name of the cartoon bear who smokes cigars with a rat for a sidekick? 5 minutes of searching got me nothing. Originally, I was thinking the sidekick might have been Muttsley, but it turns out he was a dog, not a rat - doh. I still don't know the answer to this one and it bugs me!

Difficulty: 5 - Stumped

2/12/2011

My favorite question today was: What's the record for most goals scored in a college hockey game? It turns out the record for most goals scored in a NCAA Division One game is 28 goals way back in 1968. Yes, Northeastern beat Brown 21-7 in a HOCKEY game on 12/17/1968. Imagine being a fan at that game. You go to the bathroom and you could easily miss 3 or 4 goals. That game makes the NHL All Star game look like a defensive battle.

Difficulty: 2 - Ho Hum

2/11/2011

Got a question today about who led the MLB in Strikeouts in 1915. The answer was Pete Alexander who had 241 Ks for the Philadelphia Athletics. More amazing than that is that Pete won 31 games that year for the As. Many pitchers don't even get 31 starts in a season now and the season is 8 games longer now than it was then - 162 games vs 154.

Difficulty: 1 - Slam Dunk!