Trivial pursuits...

Hey guess what... I'm not going to rant on hubby again, not today. (He just breathed big sigh of relief, hahahah!)

But... I do have a new hobby other than picking on hubby: yelling at the TV. Not just any yelling, I mean yelling trivia answers at the TV during the show "Ca$h Cab" on Discovery Channel. This could be a problem if hubby's trying to sleep, LOL... good thing it's on towards the evening here. And for a whole hour! Woohoo!!

If you haven't seen the show... here's kinda how it goes: The opening shtick says there's some 13,000 cabs in NYC (that's a LOT Of cabs, holy cow!) and only ONE of them, driven by the host Ben Bailey, is the Ca$h Cab. Victims, I mean passengers, hop in and give their destination, then these colorful lights go off on the ceiling and as they jump out of their collective skins he intones "You're in the CASH CAAAAB!!! The game show that takes place right here in the caaaab!!!" and goes on to say they can play the game-show-on-wheels guessing general trivia starting at $25/question on up to $100/question as they get harder. They get two shout-outs if they get stuck: one from some random stranger on the street, and one freebie cellphone call to someone. Miss three times and Ben dumps you out right where you are! Of course - bonus is - nothing paid for the free ride. Except a little embarrassment if you strike out.

Oh the shame of being in the mobile shout-out and the random stranger that you pick has NEVER seen the movie "Gone With The Wind"!!! More yelling at the screen here.

One part I love are the red light challenges. They get a red light and he asks a multiple choice question and the idiots, I mean contestants, have to yell out as many answers as possible in 30 seconds for an additional $250 and there's no striking out with wrong answers. They ask stuff like... ohhh... name 5 of the top 7 schools of law (the group of 4 got that one)... or name 5 of the top 7 fast food chains (2 ladies missed that one)... you'd be surprised what people don't know, they completely blank out under the pressure.

What I really like is not the concept, nor the voyeurism of watching the contestants sweat it out, but the host's facial expressions and side comments. He delivers the questions very clearly and succinctly (got an earpiece on his left ear feeding him info, you can see it sometimes), then from the watcher's viewpoint (cough ME cough) we get to see him grimace, grin, or mouth wisecracks to the camera, often with a quite sarcastic tinge. That's gotta be why I like it... the sarcasm.

At the end of the ride, if they don't strike out and they make it to their destination, then Ben gives them a double-or-nothing video bonus question. Half the time the people take the enticement, and MANY times people miss. I think more than half of the errors are because they're suddenly sweating it out thinking of the all-or-nothing-angle, hearing that Ben just said the question's going to be MUCH harder than the other questions.

Often times, they're not!

Like... asking the young lady 'what state is Old Faithful in'... and showed some pictures of it too, becaaaaauuuuse... tadaaahhh... it's a VIDEO bonus question. She went back and forth between Wyoming and New Mexico... with me shouting WYOMING!!! at the screen, and she guessed... drumroll... New Mexico.

D'oh! Oh the pain!!

Her mom lives in Wyoming, she said. Wanna bet she won't live that down anytime soon? Imagine every holiday, birthday, and anniversary from there on out, her mother gently sticking another pin in the doll... "Remember when you didn't know where Ol' Faithful was, sweetie..." I can't remember how much she lost out on, I think it was gonna be $1200 or $1300 for the right answer. She was on a roll, too! Poor sucker, I mean passenger... shoulda left with the money she'd already won. At least she got a free cab ride across town... but the shame of missing that one... woof. That the material family reunions are made of.

Then... there were the two young ladies that were doing sooooo good, till they got to the video bonus... and missed! ARGH!! The question was about who lived in this palatial estate in San Simeon California. Well, I have gone there so that's why I knew it: William Randolph Hearst. Pretty pics of Hearst Castle, too, very distinctive. They looked like they were gonna cry for missing that. Missed out on $1500 for that boo-boo.

Almost (ALMOST!) makes me wanna go to NYC. The odds of actually landing in that cab would be... astronomical. And expensive, LOL! I'll just stay home and yell at the TV, hehehe. For now I will just yell at the TV.