The big shots are only the little shots who keep shooting.

Quote by: Christopher Morley

…according to the great, and wise, Agent 86. Thursday night at Big Shots in Bedford was quite possibly the most competitive night of trivia to date.

For the first time in Buzzwordz Trivia history (in Texas), we had a team (2 teams actually) run the table in the opening round. That’s 11 points…..in the first round! I won’t name names, but I’ve had teams that have struggled (ala the NY Jets according to Joe Namath) to amass 11 points for an entire night. There I was with 2 teams that had 11 points after the first round! Unbelievable.

Well, it turns out that it was pretty unbelievable, at least for one of those teams. One of my regular teams, Smartass McCrackin’ was turning in the answers just as soon as I could ask them. These guys play each week and always do well, so there’s never a question of their integrity. I couldn’t say the same for the other team. Constantly turning in answers just before the time limit and always with other answers scratched out, I began to wonder. So, when the tie-breaker question was “guessed” perfectly by one of those teams, I knew something was up. After politely confronting the team as I watched them look answers up on a cell phone, I kindly asked they keep the phones put away and play the game as intended. It worked, and we were off to round 2.

The nice of  “firsts” continued in the second round as team Water Works decided to run the table. They didn’t sneak up out of nowhere, they finished the opening round with a great score, but was amazingly in third place. Not to be out-done, regulars, Bulgy Like a Moose matched Water Works’ effort and added a perfect round of their own. After a second tie-breaker, 4 teams stormed into the final round with HUGE final score potential.

We’ll fast forward to the end of the third round, where Water Works and Team DeFeebegan to fade, but Smartass McCrackin and Tuna Twisters(formerly Bulgy Like a Moose, more formerly Antique Farm Equipment) surged onward. I awarded a somewhat controversial half point to Smartass McCrackin’ when one of their team members was able to tell me every career stat and personal detail about Jerry Sloan, but not his name. It turns out, that half point only caused more agony. With the bonus point provided by the Twitter Keyword, the Tuna Twisters prevailed by exactly one half point. Let’s just twist that knife that’s now buried in your heart Smartass McCrackin’.

Until next time…..

…pictures coming soon.

Ok, I’m not being mean……at least not intentionally…… yet.

Thursday night Buzzwordz Trivia at Big Shots saw quite the theme amongst winning teams. Round one was a very tight race from start to finish. The tie-breaker question came down to Team Schizophrenic Rage and The Schizos. Amazingly, no, these teams did not know each other and had no idea the other had chosen a team name based on a personal affliction. The Schizos took the first round tie-breaker after hitting the bulls-eye on the year in which Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written(1818). Turns out, one of the players is an English literature major….. which explains the Schizo aspect of their team.

Fresh off a name change, the Poo Slangers (formerly Schizophrenic Rage) jumped out to an early lead over the Boozefighters and trivia regular, SmartAss McCrackin’. Even though they walked in late, Team 205 dove right in and finished the round tied for third place. Other regulars, the Farmers and the Truckers each finished tied for fourth place headed into the final round.

With yet another name change, Vick’s Bitch(formerly Poo Slangers & Schizophrenic Rage) had their work cut out for them in the final round. A tremendous 24 point final round catapulted SmartAss McCrackin’ toward the top of the leader board. The two team race culminated in a slim two point victory for …….. Vick’s Bitch. Feel free to come up with your own joke about their team name and leave that in the comments below. Sorry no pictures this week- technical difficulties.

Until next time…..

Walking into Big Shots Thursday evening, I had no idea that I was about to host our largest night of Buzzwordz Trivia in DFW to date.

The Step dads. I don't get the name either, but who cares!

I had my usual tables of regular players, and many of them had brought along some additional help. I even saw one team from the Big Apple Cafe (Tuesday night’s trivia location) that told me they had such a great time, they wanted to check out our other locations. I had one team warn me that they had brought in their “ringer” this week and would be walking away with the grand prize.

The Czech Mafia played well, but had to leave early.

The Jenny theme in Round 1 didn’t fool teams like Obama & The Dirty Turbans or Dr. Dick & The Traveling Medicine Show. Both teams stormed through the opening round with relative ease.

The Toothfairies

Congratulations went out to Team Not a Clue for overtaking regulars Smartass McCrackin’ and Rosa Parks Called Shotgun (formerly Obama & The Dirty Turbans) at the end of the second round.

Smartass McCrackin'

In the final round, the competition really started to heat up. The Penetrators joined the fracas as well as the Vice Squad. Regulars, the Truckers and the Farmers both cranked out correct answers one after another.

The Farmers finished in second place.

However, the “Ringer” which one team promised proved to make the difference. In the end, there can be only one, and tonight it was The Camera Adds Ten Inches (formerly Rosa Parks Called Shotgun).

Obama & The Dirty Turbans/Rosa Parks Called Shotgun/The Camera Adds 10 Inches

To all the other teams at Big Shots Thursday night, find a “Ringer” and bring him or her! If you can’t find a “Ringer”, at least follow us on Twitter (@Buzzwordz_DFW) so you can get hints and a free point.

So a few weeks ago, we started a small promotion to get more followers on the latest internet craze, Twitter. Each week, I post a Twitter Keyword on our account (el linko) and offer a free point to anyone that sees that and gives me that keyword at some point during the show. This week, the Twitter Keyword showed the difference that one point can truly make.

The Shag Bots had a great night and finished in second place!

Before the game could get started, we had a minor delay when one of the bar patrons decided  to become a chatty Cathy with me and even went so far as to offer to pull out a handful of my leg hair. His rationale was that I offered a fun and exciting game of trivia, with the potential of great prizes, to them, and he counter-offered with a painful and not-so-fun experience……. I don’t get it either! I graciously declined his very enticing offer, and pregoressed toward the game.

The Globo Gym Purple Cobra's/Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team/Bushwood Caddy's Union. Longest, but most creative teams names......EVAR!!

From round to round, it proved to be a battle between two of my regular teams; The Shag Bots and my favorite metamorphic team, The Globo Gym Purple Cobra’s/Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team/Bushwood Caddy’s Union. The first round belonged to the Globo Gym Purple Cobras. The second belonged to the Shag Bots. Both teams were in a dead heat headed into the final round.

Once the dust had settled after the final question, there was a tie. Both teams, The Shag Bots and The Globo Gym Purple Cobra’s/Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team/Bushwood Caddy’s Union pressed on into the tie-breaker. With a guess of 1869, The Bushwood Caddy’s Union was closer in their guess of Woodrow Wilson’s birth year.  The Shag Bots had guess 1886. *Updated to reflect the true winner of the tie-breaker.

With another exciting round of Buzzwordz Trivia behind them, both teams celebrated their triumphs over a pint, and even bought a drink for their favorite trivia host.

The Crop Dusters only played Round 1, but had a very strong showing.

Team Asskick is becoming one of our regulars, and they are always willing to offer an entertaining answer.

The Snakes played strong through the first 2 rounds, but bailed before the end of the game.... uh oh.

The Truckers played three great rounds and finished in third place.

The Full Mooners were great in the second round, but forgot how to play the game in the final round.

Smartass McCrackin', one of my regulars, was too busy watching the Yankees pound the Red Sox to really engage in trivia. They finished in 4th place.

….At least when it comes to Buzzwordz Trivia. This week at Big Shots Sports Cafe in Bedford, I repeatedly reinforced Rule #3 which is that cheating is not tolerated.

Alli Cat & Friends (31 points)

Unfortunately, some teams did not feel that this rule applied to them. Without pointing out that team, it is important to remember that cheaters NEVER win….. and the trivia host can see to it.

Bang Botz (34 points)

The questions in Round 1 appeared to be pretty difficult as many of the teams struggled to top 5 points. However, the Bang Botz managed to muster up enough correct answers to finish the round with 7 points, taking home the $10 Gift Certificate from Big Shots. The Farmers, along with Team Barack Beats Scissors, were just edged out with 6 points.

Barack Beats Scissors/Teabag Coldbrew/$5 foot (sch)longs 40 points and the Winners!

All the teams rebounded nicely for the second round and the teams Make the Girls Drooligans and Smartass McCrackin’ (one of my regulars) had very respectable scores of 13 & 14 points.

The Cunning Linguist (38 points)

The Cunning Linguist and Team TexMex (both regulars as well) finished the round with 14 points. However, The Farmers out-guessed Team Shnap on the Playboy tie-breaker question and took home the Round 2 prize.

By the end of the game, after a brief audio glitch involving the jukebox, The Cunning Linguist, Make the Girls Drooligans, and The Farmers had finished in a tie for second place.

Team Shnap (35 points)

The night belonged to the team that changed their name with each round….. Barack Beats Scissors/Teabag Coldbrew/$5 foot (sch)longs finished the game with 40 points, the best name(s), and the $20 Gift Certificate from Big Shots.

Smartass McCrackin' (27 points)

Congrats to the team with three names and everyone else that came out to Big Shots for another installment of Buzzwordz Trivia. We’ll see you next week, hopefully without the iphones and the cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eaters.

The Farmers (38 points)

Team TexMex (36 points)

Make the Girls Drooligans (38 points)

On a night when Buzzwordz Trivia was supposed to be confined to a small section of the bar due to Biker Night at Big Shots, the Buzzwordz trivia buzzers had something else in mind. After a spattering of showers earlier in the day, there were not a lot of bikers that decided to come out to Big Shots. Simply put, Buzzwordz Trivia takes a back seat to no one!

Back for their Thursday night trivia fix, teams Duke, TexMex (back after a

Team Awesome (18 points)

week long hiatus), and Smartass McCrackin’ jumped out to early leads in the opening round. This week, team Duke had too many people for one team, thus, the Acoustic Douche (great team name!) was created. After a quick battle with Ricky Bobby, team Duke prevailed at the end of the opening round.

Charles (39)

In the second round, Team Charles and Team TexMex jumped ahead of Team Awesome and the house’s own, Team Quarterback, to take a seemingly commanding lead. However, this round belonged to Ricky Bobby as he edged Team Asskick.

At this point in the game,

Team Asskick (33 points)

Team Awesome decided to forfeit and walk away in shame. This was sad to me since they had earned the vaunted extra point by supplying the Twitter keyword to me during the round. For those not familiar with the concept, simply follow us on Twitter and you’ll see the Twitter

Team Duke (42 points) and the winners!

keyword the day of the event. Give that keyword to your host and you will be awarded on free point. Easy enough right? Now back to the game.

In an effort to help their cause, Big Chris and Team Karen decided to combine their knowledge and create an alliance.

Acoustic Douche/ Jew Man Group/ 'Tween the Balls (40 points)

They, along with Team XMed, fell just short of the top teams on this night. Offering a new team name with each round, the team formerly known as Acoustic Douche, or Jew Man Group, played round 3 as ‘Tween the Balls and finished in second with 40 points. Just outside the top grouping was Team TexMex, Smartass McCrackin‘, and Team Charles. After a tie-breaker for all the marbles, Team Duke had a guess of 1.5 million people living in Haiti (vs. 8-9 thousand from Ricky Bobby) and was declared champions for the night.

Big Chris

Team Karen!

Check us out on Twitter for hints as well as the keyword, and PLEASE keep your iphones put away!

Smartass McCrackin' (37 points)

Team XMed (23 points)

Team TexMex (35 points)

Ricky Bobby (42 points)

Team Quarterback (37 points)

The Anteaters (16 points)

Another week, another huge night at Big Shots Sports Cafe in Bedford. We’re three weeks in at Big Shots and each week, the number of teams and participants has increased dramatically. With such growth comes great responsibility. Ah, who am I kidding?

At the onset of the game, we had 17 teams that were turning in answers. I guess the first round questions were too easy or everyone had already killed the weak brain cells. Once the round was over, The US Team had stormed through to the finish with 9 points! Hot on their heels were The Winners, and the Big Ass Dingers (B.A.D.).

Headed to the second round, everyone was sticking around, and we were still 17 teams strong. By my estimation, we had over 70 players enjoying the $1.25 vodkas and, of course, some great trivia! The Galactic Zombies stepped up big with 11 points in the middle round, but fell just short along with Team Peach Fuzz Beard and 4 Chicks and a Rooster. Smartass McCrackin’ had a rough night and was not his usual trivia aficionado-self, although he and Team Karen certainly had a great time. At the end of the round, The Winners had just edged out Team Awesome for the $10 Gift Certificate.

It all came down to the final round, and despite a great effort, Team Peach Fuzz Beard and Team Hook’em just couldn’t catch up. Team Awesome had come close, along with The US Team, but tonight’s game belonged to, aptly named, The Winners.

We added a new little twist this week. I posted a keyword on our DFW twitter account (@Buzzwordz_DFW). Each Thursday, any team that comes and tells me that keyword throughout the night, will receive an extra point. It’s just something extra that we hope will drive some traffic to our twitter page and, more importantly, to our website and blog.

…ma anche meno.

Se i primi minuti possono essere divertenti, a seguire ho avuto sempre l’impressione di stare davanti alla versione maschile di Desperate Housewifes: stesse storie di tradimento, stesse confidenze tra amici dello stesso sesso, stesse musichette, stessa trama. Poi c’è il solito bel tenebroso con la voce profonda, Duncan, che svaluta un telefilm che recensivano però in modo molto positivo. A questo punto meglio le casalinghe disperate…

Non sono nemmeno arrivato alla fine del primo episodio, vedete voi…

Texans love their trivia! In just our second week at Big Shots Sports Cafe in Bedford, the turnout for the game was very impressive. The crowd included several returning teams and even a few that had heard the buzz about our awesome game.

With such a great crowd, it was apparent that the competition on this night would be rather fierce. Team TexMex and Team Buttnuts finished in a tie for the win after Round 1. With a very “Price is Right” answer on the tie breaker question, Team Buttnuts took the opening round. I particularly enjoyed the wonderful illustrations from Team Buttnuts throughout the evening. Most were representations of their team name…… you get the picture.

Stepping up for Round 2, Team DeFee blew away the competition with a tremendous 14 point effort. Not to be left out, the UA Losers and Team Scott & Maria each had a great round. By the end of the turn, Team B.A.D. (Big Ass Dingers) and the combined team of Swingers (formerly Teams Karen & Jerry) were only 3 points behind the rest of the pack.

In Round 3, the competition certainly was stepped up as 11 different teams were cranking out correct answers right and left. When the dust had settled, The Fort Worth Cat and Team Duke had finished the round with a very respectable 27 points but were just outside the top spots. For the second week in a row, there was a tie for second place overall. Team Buttnuts took home the second place prize over Team TexMex and the Big Ass Dingers after they more correctly guessed the century in which gunpowder was invented. On this night, however, celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary and doing so in style by taking home the victory was Team DeFee. Congratulations to Team DeFee on their victory and their 4th wedding anniversary. And a special thanks to both Team DeFee and Team Duke for the drinks they purchased for their favorite trivia host!

Funny moment of the night was watching an older gentleman dance in his chair (by himself) while Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean was playing. When I approached him and asked if he was having a good time -even though he was not playing- he smiled and said “This trivia stuff is kinda fun!”

The Buzzwordz Bee has officially landed at Big Shots Sports Cafe in Bedford!

After a brief delay due to technical difficulties, the first ever live trivia event in the history of Big Shots was underway. The game started off with the Red Raiders *great team name* and Team Tex Mex jumping right out of the gate with quite the onslaught of correct answers. However, by the end of the round, Team Smartass McCrackin had stormed to the front and finished the round with 11 points and the victory.

Round 2 saw the Patriots and the Gophers turn in correct answer after correct answer and both teams jump out to an early round lead. Newcomers, The Mendozas, started up in Round 2 and finished with 11 points. After a tough time in the second round, Team Tex Mex had fallen off pace slightly and the Red Raiders were nowhere to be found (much like the Cotton Bowl). Once again, Smartass McCrackin plowed through the competition and walked away with the prize.

Headed into Round 3, we had a few new teams join the cause in an effort to chase down Smartass McCrackin. Deadman Moonwalking and Team DeFee finished the game with very respectable scores of 23 & 21 respectively. However, as mentioned, this night belonged to McCrackin. Although the night did not finish without some flare for the dramatic as Team Tex Mex defeated the Patriots for second place on the all-important tie breaker question.

Congratulations to Team Tex Mex and Smartass McCrackin for their displays of trivia dominance. In fact, in a moment of questionable bravado, the apparent team leader for Smartass McCrackin threw down the gauntlet for all future trivia players at Big Shots. “As long as you’re having trivia at Big Shots, we’ll be winning it.” Such a statement cannot be free from consequence…… So, to all trivia players in the DFW area, you have been called out; come out in full force and attempt to defeat the mighty beast, Smartass McCrackin.

minor technical difficulties with the camera and lighting result in google images awesomeness. Enjoy!

Smartass McCrackin - I don't make the rules, this was just the best picture that google had to offer.

Team Tex Mex - Finished in second place after the tie breaker.

Patriots - I always thought the old logo was pretty cool. Tied for second, but lost the tie breaker.

Gophers! - Sure they look cute at first. Keep your eye out for these guys, they finished in fourth place tonight, but they'll be at the top shortly.

Deadman Moonwalking - Don't blame me, google did it.

Team DeFee - This creamy goodness finished with the highest score in round three. Too bad they only played round three.

Session 2 – Stray Dog Strut: The first episode to add a new member to the Bebop’s crew. We don’t find out that his name is “Ein” until the next episode, but that’s the name of the “data dog.” This whole episode is pretty much about three parties, Abdul Hakim, whoever Hakim robbed (played by 3 dudes cruising in a surveillance van), and the Bebop crew. Hakim reminds me of a character out of Watanabe’s later series, Samurai Champloo, but is apparently based on Kareem Abdul-Jabar from Bruce Lee’s “Game of Death” (according to wikipedia).

Up to this point Spike hasn’t shot anyone, but he pulls his gun on a person in a clever way involving a fish tank. This session introduces the bounty hunter show, “Big Shots,” which features two characters dressed as cowboys telling everyone which bounties are the highest paying in the galaxy. There’s a part where Spike tries to get information from a weapons dealer, but dude asks for money, so Spike changes the subject to antique nun chucks, and eases the guy into revealing the information. Dude is smooth.

Ein

This episode wraps itself up tightly, but I didn’t really dig the ending all that much. Just don’t understand why Spike and Jet would keep the dog instead of selling it for the high bounty. Spike is clearly watching Big Shots when they’re talking about the dog.

Session 3 – Honky Tonk Women: Episode opens with Faye Valentine walking into a smoke shop. I love that a lot of the characters smoke in this, adds a film noir feel to the atmosphere. It was nice to see the three old men from Tijuana (Session 1) gambling, and winning. Groups of three seem like a theme in this show. Spike makes like Goku again, and shoves anything he can down his face, this time it’s a cigarette and a poker chip.

Faye Valentine

At one point in this episode a man running the casino executes another man at gun point (off-screen). I appreciate a good mercy killing in the animation world, let’s you know those guns aren’t just for sound effects, and shooting windows. There’s a cool part where Spike jumps from the Bebop to another ship. I thought this was a clever way to set up the age old “hand-off” scene. This show takes a lot of classic film cliche’s, and finds ways to turn them into something cool/original.

This episode ends a bit like Session 1, where Spike and the main female (Faye Valentine) share one last bit of dialogue before parting ways. This is my favorite episode so far.

Mom and the Space Warriors

Session 4 – Gateway Shuffle: The Space Warriors and their leader, “Mom,” reminded me of “Mom’s Friendly Robot Company,” from Futurama. I guess Groening and Co. were spoofing Cowboy Bebop with those characters, and I never even knew. The Space Warriors were like P.E.T.A. with guns, which is a scary thought. Fanatics are the deadliest of protesters.

Mom from Futurama

The way all the test subjects, who were turned into monkeys by the Space Warriors virus, reminded me of the opening to 28 Days Later. This may not have been where Danny Boyle got his visual cues in that scene from, but I wouldn’t doubt it. I’m also not sure the line “Us or them,” was a Pink Floyd reference, but in a show this cool, I imagine it was entirely intended to be.

The theme of three was invoked again in this episode, when the missile the Space Warriors shot split into three separate missiles. Still not sure if it means anything. Faye Valentine, the gypsy that she is, has seemingly joined the crew of the Bebop at the end of this episode. It doesn’t surprise me, and she seems like a cool enough character, I’m just glad Mom and her boys didn’t last. That lady was beyond annoying, especially hearing her in my headphones. Can’t wait to get deeper into this series, as it gets more enjoyable with each passing session.

“Easy come Easy Go”

Here’s hoping this doesn’t violate fair use laws (Hey AP, I’m not making any money here). I saw the photo below, care of the Boston Globe’s great Big Shots sports photo blog:

And I’m sure I’m the only one who thought, “Man, wouldn’t this be cool…”:

Let me know what you would have done to this picture in the comments.

Hey world.  Have you heard of the new game where you dance your heart out.  Well I played it and loved it.  DJ Candice or something like that is a master of that like sensei in a way.  So I want to meet her but can’t.  So anybody have her tracker comment!

La serie de la HBO ‘Sexo en Nueva York’ se ha convertido ya en todo un icono mundialmente. Y hay quienes piensan que la clave del éxito podría estar en reformular éxitos pasados. Pero el tiempo pone las cosas en su sitio, demostrando que las copias, así como las segundas partes, casi nunca son buenas.

Esto viene a que la última serie casi-como-sexo-en-nueva-york ha sido retirada de la parrilla, la NBC ha sentenciado a ‘Lipstick Jungle’, lo que se traduciría como La jungla del pintalabios, aunque aquí en España ha venido a llamarse ‘Mujeres de Manhattan’, para intentar hacer más referencia si cabe a la original ‘Sexo en Nueva York’.

La serie, protagonizada por Brooke Shields (De repente Susan) comenzó su andadura en la NBC la pasada temporada, pero se vio muy afectada por la huelga de guionistas. Esta temporada no remontó el vuelo, y tras discretos resultados en la noche de los miércoles fue recluida a los viernes, para finalmente acabar hundiéndose.

La baza de ‘Lipstick Jungle’ era seguir la estela de ‘Sexo en Nueva York’, pero tal vez lo intentó de una forma tan descarada que acabó siendo pasto de las comparaciones, que como todo el mundo sabe, son odiosas. La propia serie está nace de la creadora de los libros que inspiraron ‘Sexo en Nueva York’, y al igual que en la serie de la HBO, en ésta se narra la vida de un grupo de mujeres cortadas con la misma tijera: éxito, poder, glamour, estilo y mucha feminidad.

Pero no es la única vez que se ha intentado repetir, o más bien reproducir, el éxito de ‘Sexo en Nueva York’. El año pasado la ABC lo intentó por partida doble. Por un lado sacó otro calco de la serie de la HBO llamado ‘Cashmere Mafia’ protagonizado por Lucy Liu. Se repetía el mismo patrón: mujeres de una gran urbe, ricas, poderosas, femeninas y su ajetreada vida. Y por otro lado, y quizás una apuesta más arriesgada, la cadena lanzó ‘Big shots’ (‘Triunfadores’), lo que ellos autodenominaron como un ‘Sexo en Nueva York’ de hombres. La idea prometía mucho pero luego se fue desinflando. Ambas series fueron canceladas en su primera temporada.

Probablemente la diferencia entre la serie de Sarah Jessica, y las sendas series de Brooke y Lucy es que éstas últimas se emitían en canales generalistas en abierto, y su precursora en un canal de cable, lo que le daba mayor margen tanto en audiencias como en libertad a la hora de tratar temas comprometidos. Y es que emitirse en abierto conlleva más responsabilidad ante un público heterogéneo, lo que lleva al producto a descafeinarse bastante.

En España hubo otro intento de hacer una serie similar. Y llegó de la mano de la inefable Anita la Fantástica, alias Ana Obregón, que creó para Antena 3 una serie titulada ‘Ellas y el sexo débil’ que no aguantó en antena más de tres emisiones. La propia Ana promocionaba su producto como una ‘Sexo en Nueva York’ española.
¿Serán suficientes estos fracasos para que los directivos de las cadenas dejen de intentar resucitar la serie de Sarah Jessica y sus amigas?

Probablemente no, porque pese al rotundo fracaso de sus sucedáneas televisivas, las secuelas cinematográficas de la serie parecen ser rentables.

Mucho se habló de la primera película de ‘Sexo en Nueva York’ y muchos fueron los fans descontentos ante el film, que más que un film era un mal capítulo de larga duración. Pero la taquilla dice lo contrario, y con tan buenos beneficios ya se ha confirmado que, al menos, habrá otra entrega en cines de las andanzas de Carrie Bradshaw.

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