ENTRY 6
GAME TIME TV: MAKING MONEY FROM STUPIDITY
Some of you may have heard of 'Game Time'.
Most of you probably have not.
'Game Time' is a late-night call-in show.
There are puzzles to solve and if you are correct there is a cash prize.
However, there is a catch. It costs a dollar for each entry, but it is not guaranteed that anyone will answer when you call. Most of the time, they don't answer the call and so one of the ways they make money.
They also make money because of the high number if ridiculously stupid people who call and actually do get through.
This is the reason I watch this crap. It is entertainment. When I don't deal with enough stupidity at work, let me enjoy watching stupid on TV.
They seem to play the exact same games frequently.
One such game is a grid of geese that are moving, and you have to find three that are different.
This game is played so frequently that the chances are very good that if you were to turn on 'Game Time' in the middle of the broadcast, you would see this game.
Another game they play frequently is 'Guess the Car Brand'. They put letters up and you have to guess a brand of vehicle from the letters and if it matches what is in the envelope, you win. Sometimes as much as $2000.
That's fine, but the answers she gets...
'Toyota'.
People, clue in. They are not going to give you $2000 for 'Toyota'.
It is always some obscure name that nobody thinks of. Of course!
Then there is also just plain unexplained stupidity.
In a game they no longer play, one had to guess a word that was in the envelope that ended with '_____MENT'.
There are a lot actually.
Apartment, cement, employment, ailment, filament, announcement, accomplishment, enrollment, tournament, fragment, compliment...and the list goes on. There are actually 128 words that end in 'MENT'.
That is a lot of words. I don't even remember what word was in the envelope, but I do remember one particularly odd and definitely wrong answer.
Doesn't some woman call with all of her infinite wisdom with the answer, 'pepperment'.
Pepperment. That isn't even a word.
I can go on and on about the amount of stupid that calls to this show.
However, I did notice on the last show that someone did call in with an obscure car brand, so it looks like people are catching on, but that was only one of many.
Another note, the phone numbers they use are always active, even when the show is not on. That leads me to believe that they probably make a fair buck on accidental calls.
I mean, who is going to notice a one dollar charge on their phone bill? Who actually looks at their phone bill?
The producers of these games buy air time on local TV stations overnight when air time is very inexpensive.
However, I never realized the scope of this game show.
It is operated by a German company, Fernsehen Anrufen, which translates to Call TV.
This company apparently produces various versions of 'Game Time' in many different languages in many different regions. Although, I am not sure how many. I know there is a Québéc version in French produced in Montréal.
The last frame is from the Montréal production.
No. It is not what it looks like.
She was doing a countdown and for some reason did it with the back of her hand.
Cinq...quatre...trois...deux...un...and that finger apparently means 'un'.
For your nightly dose of entertainment in Southern Ontario, tune in CHCH at about midnight. This game is not on every night, but most nights.
It is worth watching just to listen to the stupid.
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DOCTOR DECIDES DAMAGED DELTOIDS DON'T DEBAR DISCIPLINE
That means that my sore shoulders are injured muscles caused by overexertion but it will not affect my exercise routine.
My physician told me that it was not that serious, and that I should not have problems.
The cause was likely due to not properly warming up before exercising.
About three weeks ago I noticed it and it has been a bit irritated since. Although it does not hurt all the time. Only when I rest it for a long time then suddenly move it.
I know coach does not chase people to warm up, he just expects us to do it.
However, sometimes things happen. I don't know how. It was possible I was in a bit of a rush.
This just goes to show to start early to make sure you have time to properly stretch. Injured muscles take a long time to heal, and in the case of an active athlete, that could be a big setback.
Be careful.
Continuing with training, Silver Gloves training starts next week.
Coach wants me training with the team and attending sparring which could be as often as three times per week.
At the same time I can't forget about conditioning, and the fact that I still have to trim a couple of kilograms.
I have been stuck at 83 kg for over three months. I can't seem to budge off that.
I don't know why I can not drop. Even at work I do more than enough walking. Well, my whole job is really just walking. 12-hours four times per week of walking and then the other days I am doing some kind of conditioning at a gym. I am either at X- Coutur or Bloor Street Fitness.
Yes, I still sometimes go to Bloor.
Like I said in the last entry, after the C.N.E., its rabbit food diet.
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GETTING SOME EX--ERCISE
On Labour Day weekend I will be doing my annual visit to the C.N.E.
I normally don't go that late in the season, but I want to check out the Active Ontario exhibit at Ontario Place at the same time.
I will be producing a vlog at the same time as well.
Everyone, please check out the 'Another Brick In the Sprawl Video Edition' on YouTube. I put a lot of work into these and more views will inspire me to make more.
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---The Brick
ENTRY 5
Welcome to another entry of 'Another Brick In the Sprawl' and a new category, 'Not So Deep Thought'. This is the category I put items that really don't fit anywhere else. Things I think about, but are not really an opinion.
Also in this entry, a look to the Silver Gloves tournament, and making me an offer I can refuse.
WHY DOES THE HAMILTON TIGER-CATS UNIFORM HAVE YELLOW?
The team sucks, but that is not the subject of this article.
For many years the Hamilton Tiger-Cats uniform and logo have been black, white, and yellow.
I can understand the black because tigers have black in their fur. I can also understand white because there are white tigers, but I have never seen a yellow tiger. Why is the uniform yellow?
This has been like that for many years, and is not really explained.
It makes sense now so not to be confused with the B.C. Lions uniforms, but the B.C. Lions were not around when the Tigers-Cats began.
It makes more sense for the Lions' uniforms to be yellow because there are yellow lions, but their uniforms can't be yellow and black because of the Tiger-Cats.
Okay, why is this so complicated?
Maybe I did put a bit too much thought into that.
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SILVER GLOVES...SILVER GLOVES...
ITS TOURNAMENT TIME IN THE CITY...
The Silver Gloves is fast approaching. September 29.
My coach has posted the last of all the team members who are being registered to compete, and yes, my name is on it.
Second from the bottom.
I'm in at 81 kg. I am currently 83 kg. I have to be below 81 kg to avoid disqualification. That means a month or so of water and salad diet. Except of course for my one day at the C.N.E.
It is my once-a-year treat, so button your face!
I am appreciative that I was chosen for the Silver Gloves and I didn't have to ask.
I have had previous coaches (no names mentioned) that have their 'favorites' who get automatically picked for everything.
The coach I have now will let you compete as long as you are showing interest and doing your best to participate in training. That is how it should be.
My current work schedule does not always co-operate with my training schedule, but I do need to find a way to get more training time especially with the tournament coming up.
I didn't care too much during the summer since we were off season, but now it is time to get butt in gear.
I am going to ask for some shifting of my work schedule.
For example, this week I worked Sunday to get Wednesday off for sparring.
I will be doing more of that in the future.
Speaking of work...
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MAKE ME AN OFFER I CAN EASILY REFUSE
That area I work is getting stranger and stranger by the day. I am now truly beginning to understand why nobody wants to work there.
I have been having a problem with this asshole who keeps bothering me while I am trying to work.
He approaches me and yells at me, and follows me. He tries to video record me using a GoPro. Yeah, he follows me while I'm on patrol with a GoPro.
...Downtown...
Anyway...
It has happened four times, and normally I just tell him to take a hike.
Well, now I have had enough. On the last time it happened which was Friday, I filed an incident report about it. Normally I don't do a full report about it, just a note in my shift report.
I did a full report this time because this was the fourth time it has happened, and...that's enough.
I wasn't expecting anything to become of it.
Well, I finished my shift at 6:30. This was on a Saturday morning. At 7:00, I received a call from my manager. He wanted more information about the report.
Well, I am not going to go into the details, but the bottom line is that the person in question is going to be banned from the property.
I have to say that was a very fast response.
I appreciate an employer who takes workplace harassment seriously.
You see when security tells you something, there is a reason. Complaining to security is not going to help because they can not do anything about it.
Harassing security will get you into major trouble. I could have filed criminal charges, but I really don't have time to spend in court because someone else is an idiot.
By-the-way, I like how most people don't know the meaning of 'harassment'.
It basically means being an asshole frequently. The keyword is 'frequently'.
Some may be wondering why I don't do many reports.
The reason is that if it wasn't for the fact I work downtown, my managers would think I had some kind of a major mental malfunction by the reports I file.
Some of these things I don't even know how to report without coming off as being some kind of a nutcase.
On the same night of the harassment, another guy. It is important to note that this was a male. He told me that he would give me a hundred dollars if I would let him pull down my pants.
I told my wife and she thought it was funny.
It isn't funny. That is my place of work. What do you think would happen if I walked into a Walmart and said that to a Walmart employee?
That is also a serious issue, but I did not report it.
Why?
How the hell does one report something like that?
It is like when I found two males completely naked and playing with each other in the middle of the parking lot.
Yes, I saw that.
Again, I had a lot of trouble writing that report. I mean, if you were reading that...I mean...I can't even think of what to write here.
...or finding a full unopened bottle of Mrs. Butterworth on one of the stairs to the parking area. Just...there...for no apparent reason.
Again, how to report that with sounding like a basket case?
I tell you, if it wasn't for the decent wage, I would be out of there so fast...
My next 'Another Brick In the Sprawl Video Edition' will be looking at more detail in to the stupid things security guards have to deal with on a nightly basis, and will include actual video from some of my patrols.
Look for it soon.
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One final note.
I would like to thank my friend Cliff for his comments about this blog.
One of his comments was that the banner is to 'busy'. He suggested only having the Toronto skyline and title.
The idea behind the collage was to introduce readers to what this blog was about.
I am goiong to be changing it to something simpler after a few more entries.
Again, thanks for the feedback.
You can check out Cliff's blog also here on Blogger, 'Candid Conversations'.
Also please check out my Niagara Fall vlog.
I put a lot of work into it, and it includes visits to two abandoned power plants and a visit to Movieland. See it here.
--The Brick
