Trivia and me

I just finished reading Brainiac, the new book by Ken Jennings. I enjoyed the parts about Ken's experience on Jeopardy!. The other half of the book, about the history of trivia in Western culture, was less interesting (I skipped most of it), but it did make me think about how much I have taken trivia for granted in my own life.

Besides enjoying to watch Jeopardy!, my favorite board game is Taboo, which relies heavily on trivia knowledge as you try to explain obscure words to your team. (For example, if your team knows that "Jolly Red Elf" is another name for Santa Claus, it's a snap to get them to guess "Santa Claus" without having to say "St. Nick" or "Christmas" or "chimney" or "reindeer.") I never thought about it before, but the friends I play Taboo with most often are also fellow Jeopardy! fans.

Something else I do a lot is quote from movies, or refer to lines or scenes. Gollum/Smeagol is a particular favorite, so that "we often refer to ourselves in the plural", even when I'm only talking about myself. And whenever Ryan, Jamie, my wife and I say "Buh-bye" to each other, it's always followed by, "Have fun storming the castle!" etc., from The Princess Bride.

Finally, I hadn't thought it strange until this book made me think about it, but really, how many people get an Internet connection in their house not so they can check their email, but so that they can research obscure questions that occur to them while eating dinner? I guess I am a trivia freak. Cool :-)