[thechat] Do I want a yacht? Oh, how I do not!

[Paul Cowan]

Hey all,

Just to let you know, I received a callback yesterday from the good folk at
the Australian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, the game show
which I'm sure I don't need to explain to you; I gather that by
now every country in the world, most external territories and
dependencies, and probably more than a few uninhabited research
stations, have their own versions of it.

I'm attending the taping on Monday; if I can get into the "hot seat",
I think my chances are pretty good (I have a bit of a game show
track record), so it's just that damned "fastest finger first"
that's the initial hurdle. So, on Monday evening (6-8PM AEST,
10-11AM GMT) please send me all your good vibes. I will need
them.

For what it's worth, $1 million Australian = about $510K US.
Dammit. Why can't I be on the US version... or even better, the
UK one? I'm just glad I'm not on the Turkish one... that works out
to about a 70 cents US by my (very rough) calculations.

If I win big, I promise I will buy several evolt mousepads in exchange
for your good wishes.

For what it's worth, and to keep you all occupied for a few seconds,
here are the 6 questions that were asked over the phone to "pre-qualify"
me. 6 are regular questions, 1 was an "estimation" question to be
used as a tie-breaker. I'm fairly sure I got 6/6 on the first lot, and
was out by/.. well, a bit, but certainly less than an order of magnitude,
on the last.

1) Every year, the US president delivers the "state of the (what)"
   address?
2) Tobey Maguire plays which superhero in the upcoming movie of the
   same name?
3) The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean with which
   sea?
4) What Australian artist is famous for his paintings of Ned Kelly?
5) Nostradamus was born in which country?
6) Held to the earth by "mass of gravity" is which body of gases?
   (no, that one doesn't even make sense. I didn't write it...)
7) Estimation: How many complaints were made to the Commonwealth
   Ombudsman about about the Australian Taxation Office last year?

(for #7, it might help you to make a guess if you know that there are
near enough to 20 million people in Australia. Or, it might not)

Answers to follow, if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Paul