Operator 9 , Trivia Picture Series

The enigmatic "Operator 9" is currently 1st in scoring for the month of April and with just 2 more quizzes this month seems destined to go into the Hall Of Fame.

OPERATOR9
Leader of the Pack
Loves Penny Slot Machines
Average Card Player
Contortionist

Trivia WeeklyRoundup, Player Picture Series continued

I received several pictures for the Tom's Trivia Players Picture Series this week and

I will be posting a couple today and throughout the week.

I would love more to participate so that we could put a face to those players we compete with each week.

Today we have our first picture from one of our International Players:

MARINMARBURG circa 1963-64

Marina

Flower Lover
Our Favorite German Contestant
First to ever comment here at Tom's Hideaway
Fan of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie

Oh and she's #361 on the Million Blog List!!

Thanks for you photos Marina !!

It's funny I was in Germany in 1963 - 64, see below...

Tom, International Playboy
This Weeks Top Trivia Points Getter
Handsome in is Lederhosen

........I wonder if we ever crossed paths back then Marina!!

And Yes I let it out of the bag...Here are the result for the past week in Tom's Trivia Challenge

Weekly Rank	Player	Total Points for week	Overall Rank
1	Tom	76	2
2	Operator9	75	1
3	kathlock	69	4
4	Sally	61	5
5	PG	60	3

As you can see above...Tom, that's ME, was th Number 1 Point getter for the past week!! Boo YEAH!!!

We had 3 new players this week and hope that all those who played will keep on coming. Remember the more frequently you play the more points you get...You are always in the game at Tom's Trivia Challenge...Sign Up and play..It's Free

Tom, Fishing For Compliments

The Man Behind Tom's Trivia Challenge

2nd in a series of pictures of the players who compete in the Trivia Challenge...The Pictures of course are only posted of those players who send me a picture or, if I already have one and they say it's ok...

I would prefer pictures to be sent to me via my email located on the sidebar and it would be best if they are pictures of the players in their youth.

The one of me above was taken a ....few years ago.

Weekly Trivia Winners and Pictures from Fenway

This is the Weekly breakdown for the top 5 Weekly Point getters for Tom's Trivia Challenge for the week ending Saturday 4/19/08.

Weekly Rank	Player	Total Points for week	Overall Rank
1	Operator9	79	1
2	Sally	75	4
3	Fatback	69	5
4	Tom	68	3
5	bunny	65	7

Operator 9 has for the 2nd consecutive week been the Weekly Point Getter and as I predicted last week has climbed to the top spot in overall scoring...Operator 9 is Number 1. I hope Operator 9's Favorite Red Sox player, Jason Varitek, starts hitting!!

SALLY, from Yeah What Of It!? finished 2nd in points for the week and moved from 8th overall to 4th overall ...Way to go Sally...Did you see Manny last night??

3rd in points for the week was FATBACK, Alarmingly she has dropped from 4th to 5th overall and needs to step up on her game this week!!

Tom, yes, TOM.....the man, the myth , the legend...At least that's what it says on his coffee cup, was 4th in points for the week but has moved into 3rd overall...AND he got to go to the Red Sox game last night..Well Done Tom if I don't say so myself, hmmm, I have been known to talk to myself but now I am typing to myself...crazy, Yes!

The No. 5 point getter from the week is BUNNY, it is her first time in the top 5 and she hopped all the way up from 12th overall last week to 7th this week. If she eats more carrots and plays more consistently we may see Bunny in the top 5 before the end of the mont. Nice going Bunny

Thanks to everyone...All 30 of you for playing the past week and remember you don't have to win every day to make it into the Top 5 Weekly Point Getters..Just play, be accurate and as fast as you can and you can make it up there with the other winners!! Also if you have a blog I'll link you up when you make the Weekly Top 5!!

Join the Challenge

If at all possible I'd love to have a baby picture of our contetestents that they would not mind me posting, PixiePants was nice enough to provide me one for the last post and of course I will do anything I can to provide anonymity if that's what you want..Everyone knows what Tom looks like anyway.. Handsome of course!!

Pictures of my Fenway Park Excursion last night..



Parked "FREE" by the tracks on Beacon Street and walked to the park



Grabbed a Hot Dog outside beneath the Green Monster before going inside



Lance Armstrong threw the first pitch.



Manny won the game, did I say 2008 MVP, with a 2 run blast in the bottom of the 8th...He powered the ball out of the park!!

More pics later this week!!

Pixiepants

The Infamous PixiePants
Future Sandwich Shop Owner
Lover of Cheese
Trivia Buff
Man About Town

I'm better off than the Cougar

Yesterday it looked like the entire Chicago Police department surrounded a cougar on the North Side of the city and shot it to death....There had been reports of "Cougar Sightings" around the city but I guess no=one thought about coming up with a plan with regard to capturing the animal, maybe using a tranquilizer or involving any experts from a local zoo or anything.

Find it, Kill it seemed to be the action plan of the day, to bad for the cougar he didn't bring his Uzi with him.

Personally I feel bad for the animal.

Moving on...I am watching the Red Sox vs Yankees right now and it's ugly 11-9 Yankees in the 6th Inning.

I listed my blog on the Million Blog List on the 15th and at the time I was at the bottom of the list at #202...Just 24 hours later there are already up to 456 blog listings... If you haven't listed you blog visit the site and do it...I'll be updating the count with my post but things seem to be moving fairly fast there..

Tom's Trivia Challenge is still open for new players, so if you actually think you can match wits with some of the players we have there now...Bring Your Best Game.

The weather here in Sunny Massachusetts is turning spring like...I'm feeling the urge for BBQ and Cold Beer more than usual.

GO SOX

The Million Blog List and other news

In an experiment to see how long it will take to get 1 Million blogs listed in a single place, The Million List has been created..

I'm # 202

If you would like to be part of this experiment, just click on the logo above and join in!!

OTHER NEWS !!!

Manny Ramirez hit a 2 run homer in the 9th inning to power the Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians last night at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

I want to be on record in April of 2008 saying Manny Ramirez will be the leagues Most Valuable Player in baseball this year!!

It's Tax Day here in the USA so if you haven't already, file your taxes!

By paying your taxes you help the United States

Wage War
Build Bombs
Provide Full Medical Coverage For all your Senators and Congressmen !!

What are you waiting for???

New Weekly Ranks / New Blogroll Widget

Hello , fellow trivia players and also a big wave to those who haven't joined yet but should. Aren't you tired of people telling you that your stupid??..Join in on Tom's Trivia Challenge and show off that brain of yours!!

Every Sunday I take a look at the Standings on the Trivia Page and pull out the Top 5 Weekly point getters. Also we had 7 new players that tried their luck in the past week. The important thing for everyone to remember is that if you play 5 - 7 times a week you too could be a weekly winner, at least in the top 5...and then you will be Immortalized in my Sunday Post. If you have a blog it will be linked to the Sunday Post as well.

Here is my breakdown for the Top 5 Point getters over the last 7 days:

Weekly Rank	Player	Total Points for week	Overall Rank
1	Operator9	79	2
2	PG	75	1
3	Tom	69	4
4	Kathlock	68	3
5	The Jackster	65	5

Operator 9 was the #1 point getter for the week and #2 overall for the month of April 2008!! A real smooth operator and certainly right on the heels of our current leader and number 2 point getter for the past week, PG from Annoyingly Boring , watch out Pat looks like you got Operator 9 on your heels. Somehow TOM has been able to hang in, earning 69 points over the week, and placing 3rd for the week 4th overall. Kathlock, our Aussie Genius and author of the Blog Blurb From the Burbs has 4th for the week and remains 3rd overall in the standings and the biggest splash in the TOP 5 rankings was The Jackster who last week place 13th out of a field of 21 players and is now both the # 5 point getter for the week and is also ranked 5th overall in a field of 28 players!! Nice Job Jackster!!

BLOG NEWS:

I have installed a new widget for my Blogroll and those on it will notice that along with their blogs is the time and title of their last update. It's a new tool from Blogger that is pretty cool. So those on my list or those who make it there in the future..The more recent your post the higher you are on the list..

If you have Blogger you can check out there latest gadgets at Blogger In Draft

OTHER NEWS:

The Red Sox beat the Yankees yesterday at Fenway Park...Manny Ramirez, my pick for 2008 MVP, was "The Man" with 3 RBI's a 2 run Double and a Monster Home Run. He also scored another run from 2nd base. That Manny he's running hard this year!! Did I mention a great catch taking a hit away from Johnny Damon...Oh Yeah..

Sox and Yankees match up tonight at 8PM... Go SOX!!

The Path Of Least Resistance (PLR)

I like to call it PLR...basically it's what I try to inspire people to do when I happen to be in the car with them.

You know those people, friends or family, that drive like they are God's gift to driving. The ones that believe they can get around any kind of traffic they happen upon by taking what they refer to as "Shortcuts"

But those shortcuts take you to places you have never seen and all the twisting and turning through back streets, the herky-jerky starts and stops , all turn you into a sort of bobble head as you sit mesmerized by the efforts of your driver to save precious seconds of time to get to where you are going.

I mean what if you are headed for the dentist? Really, they will drill you when you get there...what's the hurry??

Have you ever been to the dentist and they are on schedule???

It is the glazed look in their eye as they gun their engines, accelerating ahead of the slower drivers, that always reminds me that I should really put my seat belt on. Either that or how they hug the back bumper of someone who is only going 34 in a 35mph speed zone...

These same drivers will often be stymied by other people, who apparently haven't the need to get to the grocery store 30 seconds before everyone else. These other drivers may actually not want to risk damaging their tires on the curb by squeezing around a F-350 that's waiting to go left at a red light. They just don't see the need for speed. They also know the light will turn green...What they may not realize is that I'm in the passenger seat of a car being driven by a maniac!!

When behind those kinda drivers I will often hear my shortcut loving speed freak driver say something like

Doesn't this idiot know he can go right on RED???" or

"I could drive a bus around that truck ! What IS wrong with this Ass----!!??

So I have begun using a little psychology on these drivers, these friends or family members, who can go Jekyll and Hyde behind the wheel over the slightest impediment to our swift journey to the dump or some other time critical destination.

Actually, first I tried humor. I drove with my oldest sister one day from my house to the mall and en route my sister pointed out at least 6 IDIOTS, although she may have had harsher descriptions for a couple of them.

I tried to make light of her rising blood pressure and the crimson color of her face by laughing and saying I had no idea how many IDIOTS were out there driving these days. But rather than laughing she launched into some stories of other idiots she had encountered earlier in the week....

Humor wasn't working.

My new tact is to make a game out of getting from point A to B. I like to challenge the driver to make the fewest turns possible. What this does is cut down on the frequent use of shortcuts and lowers the strain on your neck by eliminating a lot of the twist and turns that come with them. Still we do run into a lot of MORONS!!

Unfortunately they tire quickly of the "game" and revert back to their "need for speed" driving habits...

It's PLR now. It's a state of mind rather than a way of driving. I ask the driver to just follow the road and let whatever happens along the way happen. If someone stops to let another driver pull out...don't let it bother you...just go with the flow. All this angst about getting around a bottleneck of cars or just simply getting from point A to B in record time, isn't worth it..

We will get there and everything will be OK!!

Just drive on the Path Of Least Resistance (-:

PPSD, Post Party Stress Disorder + The Red Sox

Me, The MOM, The DAD and little sister

Pictured above, we celebrate as if it's just all fun and games. Me with that big ceremonial wine glass...The DAD willfully contributing to his daughters delinquency...

Yes we had fun at my - still hard to say- 50th birthday party, but it's the next day when you are hit with this P.P.S.D. _ Post Party Stress Disorder.

It's not a hangover people, although that may be an underlying symptom.

Post Party Stress Disorder is described as a condition where a person begins to realize that they are celebrating something they would rather not even think about..

In my case, the fact that I am 50!

When I think about it I realize I am probably way past the half way point..if you know what I mean.....

At 50 you start to wonder about senior discount eligibility, instead of getting 2 for 1 drinks at the bar.

At 50 you begin to realize it's not all fun and games anymore...

Well most people do.

I am going to beat this P.P.S.D. by not being a typical 50 year old...

I am not gonna worry about a thing and whatever happens...happens.

I mean really, why start worrying now?? It's obviously too frigging late to do anything about it!!

One thing is for sure..The Boston Red Sox, after opening their season in Japan, playing some ball on the West Coast with the Oakland A's and then traveling to Canada for a very depressing series against the Blue Jays, will finally get to play their 2008 Season Home Opener against the hapless Detroit Tigers...

Let's hope they don't play like a bunch of 50 year olds!!

Batter UP!!

The BIG Five O

Get ready, April 6th is almost here:

On April 6th, last year, many reports were spreading around the web regarding an Attack that was planned on Iran named Operation Bite

It was a hoax but it was covered by all sorts of news agencies. One comment I read said "It should be obvious that it was a hoax, US Operations seem to always have 2 words...It should have been Operation "Eternal Bite" or Operation "Bite Me"

But some things really did happen on April 6th...and of course I feel the most important thing that happened was Easter Sunday on April, 6th, 1958....

! Was Born

and the world has never been the same...just ask my sisters!!

Easter, hhhmm that was the day Jesus rose to heaven wasn't it??

Everyone refers to my mother as Mary even though it's her middle name???

My dad's confirmation name is Joseph???? WAIT, There's more!!

Mormons, Jesus and Me As to the season of the year in which Christ was born, there is among the learned as great a diversity of opinion as that relating to the year itself. It is claimed by many Biblical scholars that December 25th, the day celebrated in Christendom as Christmas, cannot be the correct date. We believe April 6th to be the birthday of Jesus Christ as indicated in a revelation of the present dispensation already cited [D&C 20:1], in which that day is made without qualification the completion of the one thousand eight hundred and thirtieth year since the coming of the Lord in the flesh. This acceptance is admittedly based on faith in modern revelation, and in no wise is set forth as the result of chronological research or analysis. We believe that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, April 6, B.C. 1 from Mormonfortress

I was born In USA!!

Keeping it cosmic...

April 6 2000 Moon,Saturn Jupiter and Mars all lined up and there was a rare occurrence of an aurora borealis in the southern skies of the US. Keith Cooley captured this photo of the planets against a backdrop of reddish-colored Northern Lights from his backyard in Athens Alabama on April 6, 2000, at 8:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time. (Camera: Cannon AE-1; F-stop: 1.8; film: Polaroid 400 ASA; exposure time: 10-20 seconds)

on the same day we had a..

Geomagnetic Storm Event

This has something to do with the weather in Space I think and may be another name for the aurora borealis above.

With Jesus ascending or depending on your belief system, getting born, add in the planetary alignment in 2000 and throw in the earliest recorded solar eclipse and you have a pretty cosmic day!!

But what else happened on that day...

TARTAN DAY...Get out your Kilts

Tartan Day celebrates the existing and historical links between Scotland and Scottish descendants in North America. In the United States there are over 30 million people who claim Scots descent..I"m related to the Scottish Poet Robert Burns.

Tartan Day is held on April 6, the anniversary of the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was created in 1320. The declaration claimed Scottish Independence. wiki

Other Events:

04/06/1869 1st plastic, Celluloid, patented
04/06/1906 1st animated cartoon copyrighted
04/06/1909 North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson
04/06/1917 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
04/06/1924 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight
04/06/1925 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)
04/06/1930 Hostess Twinkies invented by bakery executive James Dewar
04/06/1954 TV Dinner was 1st put on sale by Swanson and Sons

#1 Hits

(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Young Girl - The Union Gap
La - La - Means I Love You - The Delfonics
How Long Will My Baby Be Gone - Buck Owens

Other Apr 6 babies

04/06/1806 Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, poet
04/06/1874 Harry Houdini, [Erich Weiss], Hungary, escape artist
04/06/1884 Walter Huston, actor (Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre)
04/06/1892 Lowell Thomas, Woodington Ohio, newscaster
04/06/1914 George Reeves, Ashland Ky, actor (Superman, Gone With the Wind)
04/06/1937 Billy Dee Williams, Harlem NYC, actor
04/06/1937 Merle Haggard, Bakersfield Calif, country singer
04/06/1944 Michelle Phillips, rocker (Mamas and The Papas)
04/06/1945 Bob Marley, reggae musician/singer (Whalers-No Woman)

I guess I'm in good company...

It's my 50th OUCH!!

1/2 Century!!