Kevin's Khronicles

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Ever since I can remember (which was sometime when my brain clicked back on several months after the electrocution some 35 years ago), I have always been fascinated by trivia. It doesn’t matter what particular subject that’s being discussed, I usually have related trivia, which makes me somewhat popular (depending on which side of the playing field I’m on) at parties and other social gatherings.

When the popular board game, Trivial Pursuit emerged in the 80's, I was attracted to it and all it’s assorted subjects and additions like a fly to a dung heap. No one could touch me in that game, and I soon became tired of it after winning all the time.

It was also the same with Jeopardy! although I still like to watch it when I can. I can still remember the time when the Double Jeopardy question was, "The next leap year is 1996. When is the next one after that?" The current champ answered 2000, while the other two contestants answered 2004, but according to the judges, the champ gave the wrong answer and lost. I went crazy talking back to the television. Yes, technically there’s no leap day (February 29^th) in a year that ends in a double zero, unless that year that ends in a double zero can be divided by 400, which after year 1600, the next double zero leap year would have been 2000. Being that my birthday is on February 29^th, you can understand why I went so ballistic. All I could think about was, Boy, I wish I were in that person’s shoes. I’d still be champ.

I just don’t know what it is about trivia that amuses me to fill my head with all these facts and figures and other stuff of nonsense. I supposed it’s because I find my life boring (I’m the only one that associates that word with me, no one else does) and never think I have anything worth talking about at social functions. Trivia is sort of a way out for me. With trivia, I can hold my own in a conversation by adding little tidbits to whatever is being talked about. It also helps to be a voracious reader.

Your mind can never be completely filled with the infinite amount of facts that are presented to us, through the various media around the world, on a daily basis. Why? Because the greatest computer in the world, your brain, was designed so that it could hold one piece of information per second for the next 3 million years before it ran out of room. That’s just one of the many wonders of God’s creation we call our bodies.

A group of men at my church one Sunday afternoon were discussing blue moons. One of the men in the group recently heard the song, Blue Moon, on the radio and was curious to know what exactly was a blue moon and does one even exist. Silence. Feet were shuffling. Eyes cast downward. I happened to be walking by when I overheard the question and popped out the answer rather nonchalantly as I was heading toward the door.

Then I dropped a bomb by asking, "What are the names of all the characters on Gillian’s Island?" and walked away. I didn’t get very far (answers to these pieces of trivia can be found later).

Trivia’s a great game of sport. Aside from practically stealing money from an unsuspecting passerby, you can win leisure time from household chores against siblings, or future favors from friends. Of course, the only set back to this is that not only do you have to know the answers to your own trivia, but be prepared to know the answers to whatever trivia they throw at you.

A couple of months ago, a friend and I were discussing upcoming family birthdays. His son was about to turn four on February 4th, and I mentioned that it was going to be a special day, because it wasn’t just a birthday, but a GOLDEN birthday. Like others before him, my friend looked confused.

The reason why this piece of nonsensical trivia came up, was that my own little girl, Jia Tu, was about to turn 12 on March 12, 2003 which makes her a golden birthday recipient as well, and why the only people who never get the chance to experience a golden birthday are those born on leap day, February 29^th. When we leap day babies turn 29, we’re really only 7.25 years old, because that’s how many times our birth-date has come around. I mean, how many 116-year-olds have you met?

In all of this trivia madness, I should follow my little Pisces puppy’s attitude. She doesn’t care what day of the week, month or year it is. All she wants to know is how many biscuits can she finagle out of me at any given time. If she could talk, she’d say, "You want to do something special for my golden birthday? Great! I’ll have a steak. You don’t even have to cook it, dad. I’ll take it raw, and don’t worry about the bone. I’ll just bury it out in the back yard somewhere for later."

Fact is, she received an early birthday present a couple of months ago when her Creator restored her sight to full vision, praise God! That was also a gift for me as well, in many ways. If you missed last month’s (Love & Miracles, February 2003) Khronicles, go back and take a look.

About 30 some odd years ago, a television ad mentioned how much a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Ain’t that the truth with me. Trivia will always be one of those hobbies I’ll continue to be addicted to until the day I die. If nothing else, it keeps my mind (what little I use) sharp.

And trivia will always be a great ice breaker at social events.

Until next month,

Kevin

Okay, you thought I forgot, right? You thought I was just going to leave you hanging for the answers to those two pieces of trivia I mentioned at the beginning of this story? Well, you can all calm down now, because here’s what you’ve been waiting for. Hope they come in handy someday...

A blue moon is the 2^nd full moon in a given month which usually occurs about every 18 months. The next blue moon won’t be until May 2004.

The character’s names on the 60's TV show, Gilligan’s Island are as follows... Gilligan, Jonas Grumby (The Skipper), Thurston Howell, III (The Millionaire), Lovey (Wentworth) Howell (And His Wife), Ginger Grant (The Movie Star), Roy Hinkle (The Professor), and Mary Ann Summers (And Mary Ann). Only Gilligan never had a last name (his first one was bad enough). Poor Gilligan.