Friday 28 July 2017

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 28-7-2017: Goin’ Back To Miami

I THINK I’m going to have to come up with something … 

That’s right.

I’m going to have come with an excuse to have an early night!

Right now … ?

I’m rather tired: after staying up late, watching two more episodes of The Man In The High Castle.

It’s slow.

But I think it’s worth the effort … 

~≈É≈~

But let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: scoring ten out of ten in the process.   The day ALSO saw Olga† looking in to saw hello.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s theme questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) Miami was formally incorporated: on 28th July, 1896.   The city’s in which state?
Q2) Just over 70 percent of Miami’s population speak which language at home: Spanish, English or French?
Q3) Brickell, Lummus Park and Park West are all where: Downtown, West or South Miami?
Q4) Miami resident, Gloria Estefan, found fame as the front-woman for?
Q5) Finally … Which Miami set, 1983, film, stars Robert De Niro as Tony Montana?
Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1) 27th July saw the birth of games designer, E. Gary Gygax.   In which year of the 1930s?
A1) 1938.
Q2) Gygax was the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons.   Who did he co-create the game with: Greg Stafford, Dave Arneson or Ken St. Andre?
A2) Dave Arneson.   (Greg Stafford came up with Runequest, which featured the best background universe ever written, whilst St. Andre wrote Tunnels and Trolls: possibly the simplest RPG ever made.)
Q3) Gygax’s company first published Dungeons and Dragons, in which year of the early 1970s: 1972, 1973 or 1974?
A3) 1974.
Q4) The original Dungeons and Dragons was a version of an earlier Gygax game: called Chainmail.   Chainmail was a what: board game, wargame or video game?
A4) Wargame.
Q5) Dungeons and Dragons, itself, kicked-started the popularity of what: collectible card games, tabletop role playing games or board games?
A5) Tabletop role playing games.
Q6) In Dungeons and Dragons, players assumed alter egos: called player characters.   These player characters are known as what?
A6) PCs.   (Characters controlled by the referee are called ‘NPCs’: or NON-player characters.)
Q7) The referee who ran and organised a game of Dungeons and Dragons was referred to as a what: games master, play master or dungeon master?
A7) Dungeon Master.   (TSR, the company that published Dungeons and Dragons, owned the trademark on the term.   Other companies tended to use terms like games master, referee or judge, to avoid getting sued.   TSR had a reputation — on a par with Apple — for calling the lawyers.)
Q8) In Dungeons and Dragons, both players and referee used multi-sided dice.   The notation for these was in the form, XdY.   X was the number of dice, Y was the number of sides on each die and the d stood for what?
A8) Dice.   Obviously …   (Percentage dice would usually be notated as d100: usually, one would rarely need more than one 100 sided die, unless playing very specific games.)
Q9) Gygax set up a company called TSR, in order to publish Dungeons and Dragons.   The initials stood for Tactical Studies … what?
A9) Tactical Studies Rules.
Q10) Finally … Gygax, himself, died in 2008.   Dungeons and Dragons lives on.   What’s its current edition: fourth, fifth or sixth?
A10) Fifth.
I’ll leave you with a song … 


And a thought …
“Miami is a melting pot in which none of the stones melt. They rattle around.”
Tom Wolfe.
Today’s questions will be answered tomorrow.

Have a good day.



*        Oh, I know, Debbi: 2001 is still the good science fiction movie: better than Star Wars, I think.   And the BBC used to air Star Trek — over here, anyway — whenever Dr Who wasn’t showing.   But I can’t help but notice Star Trek went berserk … after Paramount saw how well Star Wars was doing.   Thirteen films, seven series and two theme parks later … !

†        I might just have a look, anyway, Olga!   Well, it only seems right … !   And those two-hand, swap-’em-’til-they-drop-’em, plays seem to have been a fad for a while: especially with heavyweights involved.   (I THINK we can say Star Wars is arguably, when SF got respectable!   It’s — to quote William Gibson — when it changed!   Oh … I’ve just seen the news about the Barcelona Crash: I’m hoping it’s not affected someone you know!

2 comments:

Olga said...

Q1) Florida
Q2) Just over 70 percent of Miami’s population speak which language at home: Spanish, English or French? Spanish (I haven’t been to Miami, but during my only visit to Florida for a conference (I was there for 4 days), Boca Raton, I only spoke Spanish (apart from the paper I was giving at the conference that was in English). Such large Cuban population…
Q3) Downtown
Q4) Miami Latin Boys (later called Miami Sound Machine). I saw her once in New York. It wasn’t a concert. She was at a live event of some sort outside the Rockefeller Center and my friend and I went by at the time.
Q5) You mean Al Pacino, Scarface. You made me check, as I thought perhaps I got confused with the name of the character…
I hadn't heard about the Barcelona crash. It doesn't sound too serious. It is strange as trains there are quite good. We have another station very nearby. Sants. Most of the people I know are away on holiday at the moment but thanks very much.
I haven't managed to catch up with any TV series with all the correcting. I saw American Gods and I was intrigued but not sure I can do with something too long with all the books to read and everything else. We'll see.
Have a good Friday! And weekend!

Debbi said...

Thank goodness it's Friday! :) Whew!

Nice to have a teaser where I know 2 out of 5 without Googling! :)

1. Florida
2. Spanish
3. Downtown
4. Miami Sound Machine
5. Scarface (and I think you mean Al Pacino, not Robert De Niro)