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Trebekistan article in the L. A. Times online

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Tuesday, 22 August 2006

Was hoping this piece in the Los Angeles Times online edition might not run until the book is actually out, but what the heck, here it is.

Deborah Netburn asked me to come up with a number of lists related to the book's content, one of which was my seven favorite exotic places I've visited since starting to travel so much in the wake of Jeopardy!.

So this is the list I came up with.

UPDATE, 10:23 pm 8/24: A chunk of that tiny piece has apparently just been picked up by United Press International, and is now running (online at least) everywhere from the Washington Times to DailyIndia.com to the North Korea Times. Whoa.

Before this goes any further, there are three errors in the UPI article, one of which is my fault, and I'd like to correct these asap:

• The UPI wire version characterizes the book as a travelogue in its headline. Umm... OK, maybe, in a couple of places, sure. But that's not really accurate. Mostly it's a humor book about screwing up a lot.

• The book's on-sale date is September 5, not September 15. No idea where the ten-day error came from.

• Unless you're a geologist, I've only been to countries on five continents so far, not six. I've been told different things about whether to count Trinidad & Tobago as part of South America. T&T is on the same tectonic plate, actually closer to Venezuela than I am to the Pacific Ocean right this minute -- and I can see the water from where I'm writing this, mind you. But I checked again, and no, it's not usually counted, unless you're a geologist or the guy selling me roti in Scarborough. So, Jeopardy! boy here should know his geography better.

Of course, if you ever saw any of my games, well, you're probably not surprised to see me blow something I really should know. I've done it so often I could probably write a whole effing book about it. Oh, wait.

• Fourth (I can't count, either), while we're at it, in the original chat with the L.A. Times, I screwed up the name of the biggest mountain in Bali. It's Agung, not Agama, which is the type of Hinduism practiced there. My bad.

I was gonna post these last two corrections tomorrow anyway, but eek! Wire services! Ack! So, um, rush, rush, my bad, mea culpa. So there.

Incidentally, while UPI reporters might be paying attention, I'm almost tempted to say something nasty here about Ken Jennings, just for the cheap press -- Jeopardy! champs in public flame war! We've got a story! -- but he's actually a great guy, at least in our emails. I couldn't, even as a joke. So, well, no cheap press there.

Dammit.