Top 10 "wrong answers"

For my first post of 2012, I have a childhood flashback.

When I attended school, I memorized the answers to multiple-choice tests so well that I couldn't help but giggled at the wrong answers, which got me in trouble sometimes.  Later, when I watched game shows on TV and played them online, I encountered even more answers that sounded right but were off the mark.

Here are my top 10 examples and the places they come from.

1. Little Jill Horner (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, original ABC version, 1999): Brian Fodera became the second contestant to leave this show without answering a single question right.  The question was something like, "What did Little Jack Horner find in his Christmas pie?"  Little Jill Horner was the "D", or least sensible choice.  Fodera answered "blackbird" - confusing this story with "Sing a Song of Sixpence" - instead of plum.  I then joked to myself, "Little Jill Horner made me do it!" in paraphrase of the late Flip Wilson who blamed the devil.   I love this wrong answer because I can imagine LJH as a bratty little girl, as I did in The Buddy Wayne Chronicles, or as an adorable child star, as in My Ideal World.  (Rehab does wonders!)
2. Amy the woman scorned: Twice on Now You See It, which CBS aired in 1989, "AMY" was hidden inside 14-letter puzzles for which contestants had to find the right answers.  Both puzzles were tied to specific categories.  The first time, it was part of "SQUASHINGLEAMY" and contestants had to find types of worms.  The second use was part of "STEAMYNABORSON" and the right answers were associated with Oliver North, who made the news two years earlier due to the Iran-Contra scandal.  (North is now a weekend host on Fox News Channel.)  Both times, "Amy" was a wrong answer; in fact, there were no answers that fit the categories on either occasion!   Therefore, the "woman scorned" part.  I later called a winery Squashing Leamy, in honor of one of the puzzles, in My Ideal World.
3. Chocolate-covered boogers: This was on page 125 of a book based on the once-popular CD-ROM game You Don't Know Jack, which I no longer own because my new laptop can't play it for some strange reason.  The category here was "Death by & with Chocolate" in the "jack attack" round (the last, rapid-fire round of the game).  As it turns out, page 125 was a bumper crop of such absurd answers: others included cherries, bananas, chipped beef, tuna fish, chicken, grasshoppers, and even snot. (Phew!)  But for some reason, boogers stuck with me more than any of the others.
4. Rock star Pinky, queen of butt rock: I remember this from the CD-ROM of volume 3 of YDKJ.  It was another jack attack and the category was "The Name Behind the Band."  In other words, find the first names of the leaders of certain rock bands (e.g. Eddie Van Halen).  This reminded me of my Pinky McPipkin character - a rockabilly star - and her purported invention of "butt rock."  That I later found out that "butt rock" was just another name of the music done by 1980s hair bands didn't diminish my wonder.
5. "Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Gloomy, Bashful, Doc!"  Think these are the names of the Seven Dwarfs, right?  Not according to an episode of the children's TV classic Saved by the Bell.  Only here do we learn that, in the original Grimm Brothers story (by the way, to be adapted into two cinematic retellings in 2012), the dwarves had no names!
6. The television character who wears a birthday suit.  Welcome to the next big hit show on HBO!  Anyway, the source is YDKJ yet again, this time page 65 of a second book adaptation with TV-related questions.
7. The brain that's striped and that you can get without trying it on first: This ridiculous combination comes from two more puzzles on Now You See It.  Both were adjacent to correct answers: zebra and bra, respectively.
8. If They're Bounding Around Their Parents' Tie Leashes, the show about hyperactive children!  This comes from Camouflage, which aired briefly on GSN in 2007.  This was actually presented in three lines of text as larger "words" that masked a correct answer, if read from left to right.  What the show was looking for was the soap opera The Young and The Restless.  This is another entry in My Ideal World.
9. Laura, Brenda, Rebecca, and Brendan, the ghosts of TV past: From page 51 of the second YDKJ book, the category was unseen TV characters ("We Haven't Seen Hide nor Hair of Them").  All of them were characters on the same shows as the unseen characters, however.
10. Cindy Brady, the youngest one - in a bob?  It's the second YDKJ book one more time, on page 17.  Let's just say that, without the curls, the song wouldn't sound the same.

The Barefoot Collection: A real-life list

NOTE: Latest revision took place overnight on Aug. 22, 2015

This afternoon, during my regular trip to Barnes & Noble at Long Beach Towne Center, I got the idea for this page, which details all of Buddy's "cousins" in real life which have at least some notability.  Here is my collection:

*Brian: Editor on the reality TV franchise Survivor.  He has been part of all 25 seasons so far, dating back to the opener in 2000
*Amy: Actress who, when she appeared in the 2005 movie Junebug, appeared with three-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams and former Wipeout "sideline reporter" Jill Wagner
*Charles: Defendant in a U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with whether psychiatrists can predict whether or not anyone is subject to criminal behavior
*Karen: Head women's basketball coach at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, where she was born and raised
*Ken: Only person named Barefoot to ever play a major pro sport in the U.S. - eight games for the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1968.  Before that, was an outstanding tight end for Virginia Tech.  Son Ken, Jr. also played for the Hokies (late 1980s).
*Britt (pictured at right): Punter and placekicker for Southern Miss, 2004-08.  Despite the Barefoot name, he wore a kicking shoe, which drew some quizzical looks from sportscasters who loved the aptness of the surname anyway.  Had an up-and-down career that ended with an outstanding night at the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, with field goals from 38, 46 and 39 yards in an overtime victory over Troy.  He and wife Hollie returned to Laurel, MS after graduation; nothing more is known about what happened to him.
*Shelton: Owns Barefoot's Auto Mart in Dunn, NC.  Named local used-car salesman of the year 14 years in a row by the local paper
*Laura: Cheerleader at Clemson University in 2002.  She was on the cover of USA Today on Apr. 25 of that year in a story about cheerleading injuries and safety.
*Robert: Doctor, born in Canada but now living in Arizona, who is a proponent of medical treatment using coral calcium.  Has been in legal trouble in the U.S. and his infomercials with Kevin Trudeau have been pulled from television.
*Darren: Blogger and gay activist based in Vancouver, BC (but who has also traveled extensively throughout Europe)
*William: British politician in the 1920s
*Jennifer: Former human-resources executive at Fuddruckers, one of my favorite hamburger chains
*John: Played end for the University of New Mexico's football team.  In 1956, he led the team in receptions with - believe it or not - exactly six
*Hyran: President of Union University in Jackson, TN, from 1987 to 1996.  The student union building and a coffeehouse are named after him
*Caldwell: Lawyer specializing in family disputes
*David: Owner and chief executive of Barefoot & Company, which installs windows, doors, closets, and other household items in Charlotte, NC
*Michael: Founded A Southern Season, a renowned gourmet food store and coffeehouse in Chapel Hill, NC, and owned it from 1975 to 2011
*Kelly: Founder of fishing lures company endorsed by Bassmasters champion Mike Iaconelli (also see recent online article about his business)
*Brittany (Barefoot Ramos): Founder of ThePrudentPatron.com, which is a site for extreme couponers (those obsessed with using coupons to save tons of money)
*Amanda: Competed in Miss North Carolina in 2010, featured in Wall Street Journal article about how state pageants are broadening their pool of competitors
*Brantley: Art director for some Nike and Crown Royal ad campaigns
*Tom and Jake: Father and son owners of Tom Barefoot's Tours, which offer packaged, discount vacations throughout Hawaii.
*Melinda: Model who lives in Texas; honored by Coed magazine in June 2013; was named "Miss Howard TV" by none other than Howard Stern in June 2012; before that, she appeared on the morning show on 105.3 The Fan in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on my 40th birthday in March of that year
*Coy: Author, lecturer and television/radio host in Charlottesville, VA
*Bridgett: Spokesperson for - ironically - a national discount shoe-store chain, DSW, early in this millennium, now operations director for SNS, Inc. (whatever that means)

And this is not to mention the singers, race car drivers, artists, fighters, scientists, and others I have found online who proudly carry the Barefoot name.

Also worth noting are two for this is a middle name: Barefoot Sanders, who was a prominent U.S. attorney in Dallas and part of the investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and his son Harold Barefoot Sanders III, who is a musician and composer (on, among other shows, Top Chef).

Dusting it off...

It's been two months, but I have come across two relevant items recently:

• Adam "Bubba" Brister is now engaged!  He and fiancee Faith are due to marry perhaps in March 2012.  Follow the latest developments on his Facebook and Twitter pages.
• B.W. loves Gibson guitars, so this recent story is disturbing to him.  Recently, agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a search of Gibson's manufacturing plant in Memphis, TN.  Allegedly, some of the wood used to make the guitars were harvested from endangered species of plants grown in India.  The plant was closed and public tours scheduled for Aug. 24 were canceled.  Two years ago, a similar search was conducted in its Nashville facility for wood allegedly poached from Madagascar.  I will try to update the results of the ongoing investigation.

Some notes from the creator

• My Twitter account has come to life in recent days. I placed some of the "wish list" items from my book out there, plus an entirely new item based on America's Next Top Model, the long-running reality competition on The CW. Check it out now!
• Speaking of reality shows, one reason I restarted it was to show my support for Beverly McClellan, who recently competed on The Voice. I was disappointed that she did not win, but I am happy this bald-headed, tattooed rock and roll woman was able to win over a lot of people, including myself.
• Finally, Fox Sports Net has canceled The Final Score. I loved that show, as it was a no-nonsense alternative to the drawn-out drama that SportsCenter can be at times. Just game highlights and sound bites in a neat half-hour. It was great while I lasted, which was a little over five years.
  

Karen Barefoot gets new coaching job

Karen Barefoot, referenced in this post last December, was recently named as the new head coach at Old Dominion University. It has one of the proudest traditions in women's college basketball, with past superstars like Nancy Lieberman, Anne Donovan, and Ticha Penichiero, and three national championships (AIAW, 1979 and '80 and NCAA, 1985). However, the Lady Monarchs has missed the last three NCAA tournaments after playing in 17 in a row. School officials hope that Barefoot's record of turning around programs and her many ties to the Hampton Roads region where the campus is located will help restart the program's success. Last season, Elon was 20-13 under Barefoot's coaching.

And Karen is not the only real-life bearer of B.W.'s last name that has ties to sports in the commonwealth of Virginia:

• Bartley "Pretty Boy" Barefoot is co-host of a sports talk radio show in Norfolk with John "Johnny D" DeCandido. The 757 Club is an afternoon drive-time show.
• Ken Barefoot was a star tight end at Virginia Tech and played briefly in the NFL. In fact, Bob Boyles and Paul Guido listed him at the only tight end when compiling their all-time Hokies roster in their book The USA Today Encyclopedia of College Football.
  

All three Barefoots are originally from the Hampton Roads area, which include Chesapeake, Norfolk, Hampton, and Virginia Beach. However, none are directly related to each other.

Barenaked ladies and a blast from the past

OK, so it's been more than a month since I've been here, but the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice tonight on NBC gives me an excuse to do things: put up a picture of my made-up doo wop band called the Barenaked Ladies, and share a quote from when the "other" group of the same name appeared on a past finale of this franchise, which was held in Los Angeles:

"Wouldn't it be great if these were real barenaked ladies performing?"

P.S. Welcome to theicedog from the506.com. Hope you enjoyed this post!

(In case you missed the earlier post, left to right are Vicky Lynn Hogan, Brandy Roderick, Tara Patrick, and Michelle Mitchell.)

Another new idea: All duets, all the time

The following is a fakeout press release.

The duet has been a musical concept that has produced hit after hit in the music world. When two great voices come together, usually in the form of a love ballad, the result can be magical. Consider these examples:
*"Endless Love" - Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
*"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
*"Islands in the Stream" - Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
*"When the Bough Breaks" - Buddy Wayne Barefoot and Brittany Spears

So what's the next logical step? Of course, it's to have a whole album full of them!

That's what Brightful Birdsong (top) and ButtaFly (bottom) are working on for release in a few weeks on the Little Boy Records label.

The pairing makes perfect sense: Both are talented artists who are steeped in the R&B and pop music traditions that have produced the greatest duets. They have known each other since they attended high school together in the Atlanta area. Oh, and they have been romantically linked!

"This new album, Flying Together, marks a new era in the genre and one that I hope will be well received," according to Barefoot, who also happens to be Little Boy's founder and owner. "This sets the standards in production values and performance."

"It's a challenge I am glad to take on," added Matthew McBriar, head of production for the label. "Besides, working Brightful's soulful voice and Fly's poetry slam style will make for a sound never before heard on record on a major label."

The first single, appropriately called "We're In Heaven," is available for download now, with the album to come on April 26. Appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and other shows will follow to promote it. This will be followed by a tour starring June 9 in Anaheim, CA.