Monday, December 28, 2015

The Test 29: Let Freedom Rev (Art History)

I vaguely describe seven famous paintings in this episode of The Test, and the ladies attempt to identify them. I must warn you, though, things get surreal quickly: Stacey shows off a rather odd work of art that she acquired in a rather odd way, I forget my middle name, and Cunningham reveals her vast knowledge of Salvador Dali . . . or maybe she doesn't.

And there are spiders.

This is one of my favorite episodes . . . you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss thirty minutes of life good-bye, and you might even learn something. Good luck.


23 comments:

rob said...

speaking of the spider, dribble some out for meadowlark lemon.

Whitney said...

This one kind of annoyed me, as I knew nearly all of the answers for once and there was much dancing around the matter when it came to them answering. Also, I was listening in the car and almost to work and just wanted them to get on with it.

Having been a subject of Dave's Test before, his Test is a bit of a psychological melodrama unfolding, wherein we the testees (1, 2... 3?) try mightily not to feel stupid as Dave tries very hard to make us feel stupid.

I found myself fake-sort-of-kind-of-not-really answering questions with BS that I thought I should know the answer to (Plato's Cave) when really I should have been comfortable enough to say "I have no idea." These are objective questions and we are answering subjectively in hopes of getting partial credit, some sort of validation and affirmation of our intellect from Dave. Listen in this episode as Cunningham requests partial credit because she couldn't name "American Gothic" but knew it was a "farm" scene... after Dave had given her the clue that there's a man with a pitchfork in it. We are asking for table scraps from Dave.

Part of the problem is that Dave often revels in telling testees they are wrong. I got the essence of the Fox and the Grapes message completely, but a difference in whether that message is a good or bad thing (which, by the way, I was totally right about) made Dave phrase it that I completely missed the answer. Reminiscent of Dana Carvey as John McLaughlin on SNL: "Wrong!" In this episode we seem him lightening his authoritative stance, granting partial credit here and there and providing painfully easy clues to the testees, but that just reinforces his status as the omnipotent one.

I prefer Stacey's administration of the Test. (I took a music Test of hers - did that ever air?) There's a very different feel to it. But I'm sure Dave will tell me why I am wrong about that.

rob said...

i particularly enjoyed the test where cunningham soundly defeated dave. but then she needlessly devalued her own victory by worrying that the topics weren't serious. buck up, cunningham! revel in your supremacy. as a father of daughters, i was uniquely qualified to soundly thrash dave on that particular quiz. and i will not give back my trophy.

i have no fucking idea what plato's allegory of the cave is about.

rob said...

also, doesn't the fact that dave forgot his own middle name render all of his other opinions essentially meaningless?

Whitney said...

Also, Rob, I'm sure you saw that Hendu died this weekend. A huge part of the Mets/Sox lore of '86 and one strike away from New England immortalization. Also considered one of the really good guys in the game.

Whitney said...

Yes, dude -- the middle name thing is mind-numbing.

zman said...

You're surprised that a high school English teacher revels in making people feel intellectually inferior to him by testing them?

rob said...

i did see hendu's passing, whit. at 57. hopefully he and donnie moore are having a laugh now - both gone way too young.

TR said...

I saw the Maryland Terps play y/day and they are absolutely loaded this year. Shouldn't surprise anyone, considering they are #4 in the country, but I was not fully up to speed on the transfer story for them. Suleimon (booted from Duke for alleged sexual assault) is the big story, but when I watched them yesterday, Robert Carter Jr. was the best player on the court. He transferred from G Tech after two years and is a stud. 6'9", very athletic, strong post game and great defense. And Diamond Stone is a future lottery pick. He comes off the bench b/c he has problems with fouls, but he is a total freak. Melo Trimble is scoring less and assisting more this year, and has a little Derek Rose in his game. If all the big guns can learn to play together selflessly, this team is as good as any. Will be fun to watch Duke-Terps, given the Suleimon story, which is a bit fishy.

Was my first time at Xfinity Center. Very impressive facility.

Shlara said...

TR--I agree, the Terps are stacked.
I saw them play UConn in the Jimmy V classic a few weeks ago at MSG and it was like watching two NBA teams.

Danimal said...

Chuck Woolery can peddle some creams, man.

Whitney said...

Ton Thumb, Tom Cushman, or Tomfoolery
Dating women on TV with the help of Chuck Woolery

Marls said...

Back in 2 & 2.

Marls said...

Are the Terps actually playing Duke this year? I thought that the ACC schools had shunned them other than the Big 10 Challenge games.

TR said...

I may have totally forgotten they're now Big 10.

Dave said...

thanks for the constructive criticism . . . we definitely slid off the rails on this one, it was the third one we recorded in a row-- so i had lightened up and was awarding partial credit everywhere. i am certainly the "villain" of the show, but what kind of show has no villain? and whit, you need to read "learned optimism" to know why the fox's strategy was a good one.

the music one that whit is a guest on will air next week . . . he did quite well.

everyone should know plato's allegory of the cave, and be able to apply it to "the matrix."

zman said...

Dana Plato, right?

Dave said...

use your allusion II . . . R.I.P.

rob said...

if you liked the original star wars trilogy, you'll dig the new movie. 4.5 children of the force out of five.

T.J. said...

RIP Lemmy

rob said...

no way. that dude was supposed to be immortal.

TR said...

Barnwell is right. It's gonna be the Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the AFC. The Bengals and the Broncos are both poop. On offense at least.

Clarence said...

I agree with Rob. I can't believe that I can't believe that a 70's/80's metal rocker died - at age 70, no less - but it seems to defy expectations. I'll feel the same when Keith Richards finally goes.