Jeppidy

Here's the version from when it was fresh news: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6540758 (I promise you won't get in trouble for viewing an obsolete version.)
    With the JEOPARDY! online test coming up in mere days (8, 9 & 10 January, says the email) I thought I'd get everybody fired up by telling you how much fun it is if you pass. The test is easy, assuming you have broadband and are good at the game. You only have to give replies; they do not have to be in the form of a question. This is fortunate as it's a timed test.
    I passed and was invited for a tryout in Atlanta. I'm always up for a trip to Atlanta, so I pulled on my funeral suit and my happ'nin' '80s tie and hit the road. Alice was very skilled with Travelocity so she got me a hotel room across the street from the tryout site. (Damn the luck, the computer I was using at that time dropped dead about then, so the Inbox on this one doesn't quite go back that far, or I could say exactly which hotels. It was at or near Five Points, though.)
    I've been more nervous once or twice, I guess, but the contestant co-ordinators were very friendly and put us at our ease. We had to fill out a resume, more or less, something I hadn't been prepared for, so if you do this, be sure to be prepared. It also asked for interesting anecdotes from your life that Alex could use to banter with you if you make the show. We also had to take a Polaroid; as I was still in my doughy gargoyle phase, I couldn't be said to be prepared for that, either.
    But after that, the fun started, or JEOPARDY! buff type fun anyway. We were led into a meeting room set up a lot like a classroom, where we took another timed test, this one on paper, also not requiring replies in the form of a question. Then while these were being marked, we were brought up on stage three at a time to play a bit of JEOPARDY! Of course Alex Trebek wasn't there, and Johnny Gilbert was only on tape, but it was very fun anyway. The contestant co-ordinator asked us about ourselves and what we would do with the money if we won. (They didn't use the banter anecdotes from the resume, at least as far as I can remember. I guess we were expected to come across with them ourselves.)
    I have the impression that I made the cut, but neither do I remember anyone being sent home as NOT making the cut. So maybe they just wanted us all to think we had passed. A few of us (mainly women) had a lot of panache and stage presence (not me); I watched the show with special attention over the next year and remember seeing several women form the Southeast who may have been from our group. We were told we would only hear from them if they were actually using us on a show, so it's impossible to say for sure whether I was ever even in the pool. However, the pool was very large; I wasn't much expecting to get the call to LA.
    That said, it was a stone blast, and I definitely recommend everybody giving it a try. It could not have been more fun, I met a lot of nice people, and hey, Atlanta is always fun. So give it a go!