“2) Can you just take the cash value of your prize?
I get this question so often! “So, did you take the car or the cash value?” There is no cash value option. They make it super clear in all of the paperwork – you take exactly what you won, or you take nothing.”
https://aurorasblog.com/2013/04/24/the-price-is-right-faqs-regarding-prizes/
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
I am convinced that memory is a lot like many of our other capabilities - to prevent atrophy - you have to exercise it. I practice remembering things. I'm also an actor and I have to learn lines. But I learn lines even when I don't have to so that when I have to, I can do it rather easily. (I learn Shakespearean monologues for fun.) Yes, it's a little harder now that I'm older, but not that much harder. I do find I am not as good with names as I used to be but I'm still very good at remembering faces and I will remember exactly where I met somebody even if the name doesn't stick.
Yeah, you think I'll just drop "The forgeries of jealousy" on anybody? You gotta earn it. And if you don't know what play that's from - you've got a long way to go before you do. ;-)
We open Much Ado About Nothing in Medford next Friday, June 14. If anybody in the Boston area wants to come, send me a PM and I'll give you the details. Free outdoor Shakespeare. ("The forgeries of jealousy" speech is not from Much Ado.)
A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
---Roger Ebert
Some questions cannot be answered
Who’s gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
---Over the Rhine
I don't know what to tell you, my cousin's husband works for Fremantle Productions, and has told me that their shows offer cash alternatives, which are typically taken.* I have no idea why he'd make that up. I also have a friend who was on Wheel, and won some kind of furniture set, and instead took a cash payout. Again, no idea why he'd have made that up, and I can confirm that no such furniture set ever materialized in his apartment.
*Fremantle is involved in The Price is Right, but we have not covered this on a show by show basis - I guess stay off Price is Right if the tax liability from your winnings is a material consideration for you.
Demented and sad, but social, right?
So I finally watched this episode today -- the backlog of DVR episodes was longer than usual, as the umpteenth demonstration of James' dominance was getting less and less appealing. And because I fast forward to skip over the introductions and interviews, I didn't even notice it was THAT EPISODE until Emma hit her first Daily Double in the second round.
I saw nothing to make me think James was less than competitive, but in his last 2 or 3 games, he seemed a bit fatigued. I would guess that inching closer to the money record was taking a stress toll as well. His final wager confounded viewers mostly because they are used to seeing the second-place finisher wager everything. What they fail to realize is that almost EVERY contestant in that position prior to James (2nd place but within reach of 1st) is doing it wrong. The only time 2nd place should wager everything is if he or she has exactly half of what 1st place has. Otherwise, bid more strategically.
There was a past thread where we (me, gus, and others) discussed wagering strategy, especially from the 2nd place perspective. I believe it was decided that my general approach (wager enough to have $1 more than 1st place has at that moment, forcing 1st place to get it right to win) was better than betting it all, but still not optimal. I also said to disregard the 3rd place contestant, but James did not, bidding enough to stay ahead of 3rd place but not enough to pass 1st place at that moment. He's more of an expert on this than I am, both in terms of training and personal experience. So I could be wrong about that too.