adam versus eve. my theory on games such as taboo and catchphrase is that girls are naturally better at it. my rationale is basically that girls are more attuned to each other and better able to pick up non-verbal cues. girls know how to attack the senses in more than one way. case in point, the eye contact, arm touch, giggle, perfume combination; we all know how effective this can be. girls are also more accustomed to trying to guess what someone else is really saying, as opposed to guys who just want to be told with no gray area. guys scream alot and try to hammer something into you, girls are trying to get ahead of the story.



i also noticed this weekend -- while playing catchphrase -- how much girls gesticulate while they are talking or describing. while the arm/body/eyebrow movements may not make sense individually, combined with the correct verbal cues, girls can get to answers very quickly. then again, how hard is it to finger the nose and have people guess "nose." but i'm not bitter. for the record, i failed and went down in flames when my fellow y-chromosomes (actually, just gene but he's a good representation) most needed me. redemption will be mine, if not in this lifetime then when i reincarnate as a lower life form. i've always wanted to be a girl anyway.



the other pillar of my theory about why girls are better at taboo/catchphrase is that girls tend to talk faster. so when they play a game based on words per minute, they are inherently at an advantage. luckily for us males, i think girls, in general, are more susceptible to the pressures of time contraints and the insistent beeping produced by the machine. unless of course, they practice and practice till they are honed to a razor's edge. there are two people -- i won't name any names -- who have been known to practice catchphrase via telephone. you may call that crazy but i just call that staying ahead of the competition. remember, every moment you rest from catchphrase is another moment that someone else is practicing. the heart of a champion is not enough, you need a fully functioning brain too. how did i miss "little league?" how? shit fuck bitch me. moving right along.



christina says that she thinks guys should have it easier playing games like this because guys tend to think along similar lines. guys have sports and video games and usually very common guy interests that can be referenced at any time. cleveland is not just a city, it's the hometown of the football playing browns. the lion for detroit is a "logo". in my opinion, sports-speak is the only clear advantage that guys have over girls in taboo situations. christina contests however that girls are more likely to be on different wavelengths since interests can vary so much from woman to woman. if a group of girls are on the same wavelength, they are really on, but if they are not, they are at a serious disadvantage. i've only been introduced to this theory today so i'll have to observe it in action. but for now, i still contend that girls are more socially equipped to succeed at catchphrase. which will just make it all the sweeter when we dominate the next time.



is there a better way to figure out who hangs out / talks / is on the same level with whom than to see two people click in catchphrase? inside jokes and stories and references are key.



big winners

(1) galvez getting "sid caesar" after only having "sid" figured out.

(2) karen and her sister, kat, screaming out "yentl" when "barbara streisand movie" was part of the description. yentl!

(3) james clue-ing "final haha" for "last laugh." concise and to the point. excellent job mr wang. now if only we could work on that team morale.

(4) the girls in general, score one for title ix and feminism. knowledge is not just half the battle, it's the whole damn war.

(5) x-men as cultural reference. un-catchphrase related but very important part of my night. katherine said "he got huge like colossus" when the he in question started working out and got all muscular. this opens up whole windows of coolness for me. i can drop phrases like "she just pulled a jean grey on me (read my mind)" or somebody was "untouchable like rogue, hairy like the beast." the list goes on. i feel cooler than bobby drake right now, for reals.