And... We're Off! (The Show)

Though technically, we were never on.

Hirp's covered most of the ground here, but I wanted to officially let everyone know that we didn't make "the show." We got dict.

As we've all signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), I really can't go into the gory details. And truth be told, there wouldn't be much to tell as the producers didn't have to disclose any information related to our performance at the "auditions" (code for super secret recruiting process). All the way to Austin, and they're going to leave us hanging as to how we rated for the rest of our days...

We discussed whether or not we wanted to take tonight's pop culture IQ test in an attempt qualify online, but we started this as a team, and we're ending it as a team. Though my money's on Hirp to break the pact, take the test and qualify for NYC.

All-in, we got to play a ton of poker, talk a lot of shit, eat some great steak, and get fucked up on 6th Street in Austin, Texas. I'll take that over some lame ass, biased, wanna-be reality TV show any day.

And... We're Off!

Heading out to Austin with Hirp and Skrawg tomorrow via San Antonio and I've gotta say, I'm a lil' nervous.

We've got the junior g-man suits, we've got the skinny ties, and now we find out if we've got any game. Something tells me we're going to find out we've just been jerking each other off with our professed vast knowledge base all these years, but I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope we get down there, check-in, clean the barrels in our respective shotguns (separately of course), slip into our man-of-leisure suits, and kick the pop culture knowledge test firmly in the nards. Next step, bedazzling the casting directors with our quick wits and man tits (well, at least one of us can claim those) and getting one of the eight coveted spots in Sunday's qualifying round. Upon running roughshod through the field on Sunday, we're ultimately awarded a trip to NYC and a chance at being acknowledged as those "most blessed" with an abundance of useless knowledge (or "nowledge" if you're from Nebraska).

King of the geeks. Lords of the losers. Gentiles of the genius sect. We'll take any title you'll give us.

Or... we could get to Austin, take a quiz, get punted, and spend the night crying in our beers.

Either way, it sounds like a most excellent weekend to me!

Travel Plans

I've booked my flight, our hotel and a car to get us from San Antonio to Austin. Each of you will need to book your flight plans for yourselves.

Flight Out: Saturday morning - Midwest Airlines Flight 580 - departs KC at 8:25 a.m. - arrives in San Antonio at 10:21 a.m.

Car: Hertz full-size rental car - likely a Toyota Camry (sorry, the Blues Mobile was not available).

Hotel: Embassy Suites - Austin Downtown. Saturday and Sunday nights. Two double beds, one sofa bed (whoever takes the sofa gets to sleep in the front room).

Flight Back: Monday morning - Midwest Airlines Flight 99 - departs San Antonio at 10:55 a.m. - arrives in KC at 12:44 p.m. (leaving us just enough time to hit the ArghOsy on our way home...)

Hirp's cousin is sending us reels of last year's finals, so we can begin viewing for format and subject matter next week. Aside from that, we need to start studying... pronto!

Game On

The boys and I received word today that we've been invited to a casting call for the 2007 World Series of Pop Culture in Austin, Texas. Needless to say, we're pretty freaking stoked.

To think that less than a month ago, we were sitting around the poker table contemplating wether or not we could successfully field a team for this event is astounding. Many thanks to Skrawg for pushing us to get our shit together and get our application in.

Now for the hard part.

We have no idea how many teams are going to Austin in attempt at qualifying for the finals in New York, but only one will move on. And the process to get into Sunday's qualifying competition is looking to be extremely rigorous. Only eight teams will compete on Sunday.

Our appointment with the producers is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Which means we likely skated in for one of the last appointments. This could either turn out to be a brilliant strategy (i.e. we "wow" them at the end - and we're all they can remember), or the dunce move of the century as we catch some cranky producers at the end of a two day bender. Time will tell. Seven weeks will tell, to be precise.

We've been told that we should be prepared to take a timed pop culture quiz, which will immediately determine whether or not we move any futher in the process. If the entire team passes, we move on to one-on-one interviews with the casting crew. Then comes the subjective decision making process of the casting crew and the producers, determining which of the many teams they call back for the eight open slots in the competition on Sunday.

So, it could turn out that we study our asses off, get cocky as hell, fly all the way to Austin, take a quiz, and get the boot.

But with Hirp, Skrawg and Porqchop fielding team Pulp Diction, whatever the outcome, I'm sure the trip will be a blast.