Curses!
Recently in Who Wants To Be a Millionaire Category
It's nearly 7:00 p.m. on the west coast, and those producers from "Millionaire" still haven't called!
Here's a shot I took around 7:00 a.m. of the scenic back-alley in which I spent my wee morning hours today. Aren't malls just lovely bits of architecture? There's nothing that quite showcases the success of capitalism and the bountiful choices it offers us than a squat, beige cement building in the middle of an asphalt field surrounded by Dumpsters. [Click for a larger view.]
And here's the blank official "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" scantron pictured moments before our 10-minute test-taking clock started ticking.
Unfortunately, my recall of the actual questions from the test isn't that great what with my being preoccupied with fantasizing about rolling around naked in piles of crisp US currency.
For the movies, I know I blew the questions about the song Harry and Sally sang in When Harry Met Sally (it was from Oklahoma, not 42nd Street), the opera Richard Gere and Julia Roberts attended in Pretty Woman (Don Giovanni, not La Traviata), and the first film to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes (Marty, not East of Eden). But I did know that Linda Hunt, not Hilary Swank, won Best Supporting Actress for playing a man (tricky question!) and that Roger Moore has been the only Bond who was born in England.
For the general test, I got one about "erythrocytes" wrong (red blood cells, not white), but I was right about rods and cones being on the retina (as opposed to the iris, lens, or cornea), that James Ellroy and not Elmore Leonard wrote L.A. Confidential (again: tricky!), and that mudskippers were fish and not lizards (thanks Ren & Stimpy!)
OK, guys, it's nearly 7:30 now. Maybe my phone's not working! But if I pick it up to check, what if they call right then!? Maybe I should call them to make sure they have my number right!! Does that seem too desperate? But what if they call while I'm calling....????
I passed the "Millionaire" test and just had my minute-long interview with one of the producers.
It was touch-and-go there for awhile. There were two 30-question tests -- one for the special movie episodes and one for the general show.
They did the movie test first and it was mighty hard. Despite my degrees in film studies, I was not one of the only four people (out of 192) who passed. I guess that's why I never got the Ph.D.
The general test seemed surprisingly easy and I was worried that there would be very little margin for error. But only 40 people passed, and I was one of them!
The interview was quick and the whole process was remarkably efficient. I swear, they should hire these people for airport security.
They said there is a slight chance some contestants will be called this evening to appear on the current series, which is taping now. But eligibility remains open for about two years, so I may get a call when I least expect it, or not at all.
I'll try to remember some of the test questions and post them later.
We're inside now, which is nice as it's a bit chilly outdoors.
The last time I waited in line like this was for tickets to David Bowie's 1991 Sound + Vision tour. My girlfriend, Katie, and I drove to the ticket outlet at 5 am. It was freezing out, and a dozen or so fans were there already, but they were still in their cars, thus violating a major rule governing queuing up for concert tickets: no matter the weather, you wait in a line outside.
We boldly strode to the doors and sat down. Slowly, the others emerged from their car and joined us. One guy engaged us in some pleasant conversation before awkwardly stuttering that he had been there since 2 a.m. and, surely, we would let him in first.
" Well," I replied, "you weren't at the door."
For the next several hours, I think he and the others thought we were bluffing. The atmosphere was tense, and when the doors opened, Katie and I rushed in to the ticket window and placed our order.
No one had a chance to object, and we ended up scoring font-row center tickets.
At the concert, the 2 a.m. guy spotted us from his 8th row seat. He was, rather inappropriately, in full Ziggy Stardust regalia, and shouted angrily at us. We smiled and waved, and, later in the show, took great pleasure in watching the decidedly anti-glam Mr. Bowie recoil from his touch.
I am blogging to you live from the picturesque rear parking lot of Everett Mall. I am number 115 in a line of folks waiting to audition for the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."
The bluetooth link on my computer doesn't work, so I can't post photos yet. But. honestly, it isn't a pretty locale, and as far as the people go, well, it's not like it's an audition for "America's Next Top Model."
It's almost 7:00 am; auditions begin at nine. I arrived about a half hour ago, but I was waiting in the wrong place (along with some other folks who shared my amazement that there were so few people.) The auditions can accommodate up to 2500 people, however so I'm not worried.
More soon. Wish me luck.
