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Animal-Vegetable-Mineral-Abstract: The Pants Memorial Game
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The chairperson selects an object/idea/whatever and announces whether it's animal, vegetable, mineral, and/or abstract. The others have to ask questions to figure out what it is. Whomever guesses the object correctly is given the chair for the next round; repeat ad nauseam.
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[Chalky] Yes!
1812 Overture?
Scratch that, it's by Tschaikovsky.
Wellington's Victory
His fifth symphony?
The fourth movement of his ninth symphony?
(aka Ode to Joy) (aaka the EU anthem [where's JLE when you want to raise his blood pressure? ;) ])
[Raak] Scratched.
[Inkspot] No.
[Breadmaster] No.
[Brendan] Well, I'm tempted to say "No" and make you all discover that I intended the whole thing; but I think that's close enough. Chair to you, sir!
Ooh, wow, my first time! Thank you for being so flexible, Toby. Let's have an ANIMAL/ABSTRACT.
Mythical?
Is it a person?
An expression?
An anthropomorphism?
[Raak] No, not "mythical" exactly ...
[Inkspot] Yes.
[Software] No.
[Kim] No.
Are they fictional?
Is it a charater from a play?
If not "mythical", then "legendary"?
[Breadmaster] Certainly not! I'm shocked you could even suggest such a thing.
[Inkspot] No.
[Kim] Again, no, by a strict definition of "legendary" as coming from a legend. But possibly "legendary" in a looser sense amongst people here.
Are they someone like Robin Hood, legend loosely based on 'fact'?
[Inkspot] No, I would have said "Yes" if it was Robin Hood.
Is there a connection with ISIHaC?
Man?
[Chalky] Yes.
[Kim] Yes.
Mrs Trellis?
Pretty legendary, I'd say. And certainly NOT fictional!
Mr Trellis
(just noticed the sex)
[snorgle] Nope!
An occasional panel member like Jeremy Hardy?
[Inkspot] No. (Don't forget the abstract/quasi-legendary side of things; snorgle's on the right lines, but not quite there.)
Sven!
[Breadmaster] Correct! I was going to have Samantha but I decided she was a little too easy ... Your turn.
applauding widly whilst fixing Brendan's forgetfulness ...
Yay!
Well, who else could it have been?
Well, just for a change, let's go for something MINERAL.
Is it man-made?
Well timed, B'meister - must be that new yeast you started using a couple of weeks back, you're certainly proving that you can rise to the challenge by using your loaf and turning out some tasty guesses ..

.. now where's that butter?

[Chalky] - No. You're playing a good roll in this game, though, despite your crusty exterior.
Is it made of stone?
[Inkspot] On the whole, I think.
Is it a geological feature?
[Kim] No.
Is there only one of this thing?
[Toby] There is.
Is it an English landmark?
[Tuj] Nope.
Is it above ground?
Is it a building?
Is it the Grand Canyon?
Making a pointlessly specific guess, just for fun.
[Inkspot] That's a hard one to answer. In one way yes, in another way no.
[Raak] Nope. Not manmade, remember.
[Brendan] Nope. Alas.
Is it found on earth?
[Toby] It is not.
The moons of Jupiter?
For pity sake, child.
Is it somewhere on Mars?
Halley's Comet?
Does it orbit something other than the Sun?
[Inkspot] Mostly ice, isn't it, Halley's Comet?
Is it a planetary body?
[Toby] None of them.
[Raak] It is not.
[Inkspot] No.
[Brendan] Yes.
[Kim] Technically, no.
Surely it can only be a matter of time now!
Does it orbit something that orbits the Sun?
Is it further than 8 Astronomical Units from the Sun?
(8 AU being between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn)
Is it The Moon (ie, ours)?
[Raak] It does.
[Brendan] It is.
[Kim] It is not.
Charon?
Pluto being 39.4 AU from the sun and Saturn orbiting at 9.5AU
[Inkspot] Nope.
The rings of Saturn?
One of the moons of Saturn?
I'm busy with these ones, Mudder!
[Brendan] Yes indeed.
Sorry, I forgot - [Raak] Nope.
Pass
I think Brendan's done all the hard work on this one....
Titan?
just one out of 31
Iapetus?
[Inkspot] I think you're right, actually, given Breadmaster's enthusiasm for the Huygens probe. But I like Iapetus for being the real location of the monolith in 2001.
[Kim] Sorry if I've been monopolising it a bit. I think Toby deserves a lot of credit for the initial realisation that it was extra-terrestrial.
[Inkspot] Yes indeed!
Inkspot snatches the answer from Brendan, who foolishly plumped for an obscure moon about which I know nothing, except for a vague recollection that it is piebald, being dark in front and light behind, or possibly the other way around, from its passage through the dust that orbits Saturn.
Thank you, Breadmaster, very close at the end there.

ABSTRACT / ANIMAL

Is it a human concept?
Is it something fictional?
Software] No, I think I understand what your asking.
Breadmaster]No...
Is it an anthropomorphism?
I have this strange sense of deja vu...
Kim] No
Can it be detected with one or more of the senses?
Deja vu, what? [Inkspot] Very close indeed; you simulposted me!
Brendan]Yes, so that's one thing (probably the only thing) I've got right today
Is it mythical?
I have this strange sense of deja vu...
Kim] Yes
Is it a mythical human?
Or possibly legendary?
I have this strange se-...no, stop it.
The Medusa?
Breadmaster]No
Kim]No
Toby]No
Is it an animal of myth (or fable)?
Kim]Yes, this particular animal is mythological, not fable though others may appear in fables
is it a particular one (eg Smaug) as opposed to a kind (eg dragons)?
Breadmaster]Yes it is one particular dragon.
The Welsh Dragon ?
Kalessin?
snorgle] YES, an inspired guess
Kim]so sorry no.

snorgle once the crowd have put you down again and the cheering has subsided,the chair is yours

Abstract
Yay! And not really inspired, considering where I live and one is gazing at me as I type. But who is the Dragon Kalessin? Google throws up a bunch of rock websites - and some Ursula LeGuin excerpt I'd never heard of. Do tell, Kim.
Can it be seen?
Not in and of itself, no.
Is it fictional?
Erm, sort of.
Do people pretend that it's real?
Is it mythical?
Ursula le Guin's "Earthsea" quartet is why I read the first Harry Potter book and then never went back.
Is it a human concept?
A badly phrased question; feel free to give a badly ophrased answer!
Would it be a religious icon?
Would you experience it in a dessert?
Raak - I'd say yes.
Kim - Not really.
Tuj - Yes. Or Eys, if you want it badly phrased.
Dujon - Nope.
Inkspot - Are you on drugs? That means no.
Is it an anthropomorphisation?
Did Inkspot perhpas mean desert? Although I've experienced some rather heavenly moments inspired by my dessert...
So a troll from Mount Blancmange can be discounted then?
Is it from folk lore?
getting colder!
Toby - no.
Inkspot - no and no.
Is it a scientific concept?
Is it connected with ethics?
Transubstantiation?
Brendan - Assuming you mean like a law or theory, then no.
Breadmaster - No.
Raak - no.
Does it have anything to do with ways of measuring or measures of time?
So to paraphrase (for my own benefit, since I'm having more trouble following this one for some reason), what we do know is that it's sort of fictional, people pretend it's real, and it's a human concept. It is not mythical, folkloric, a religious icon, a scientific or ethical concept, nor visible in and of itself. Nor is it experienced in a dessert.

That lets out the Easter Bunny, whis is a folkloric religious icon frequently experienced as a dessert...
CAn it be percieved be any of the senses?
Marriage?
Toby - No, and you're on target with your precis.
Inkspot - well, taking into consideration what Toby said - erm, not really, but yes.
Raak - No, you wierdo.:)
Is it an expression or saying?
Toby] at least one of us knows what we're doing, and its not me.
Money?
Gravity?
[Inkspot] That makes none of us.
Is it in some way related to economics?
Generalising from Raak's inspiration.
Is it a universal human concept?
The law?
Something associated with the weater?
s/weater/weather
Lunchtime?
this is dragging on a bit, innit?
Inkspot - not really an expression or saying.
Raak - not money.
Toby - not gravity really obscure reverse referential cough
Brendan - not related to economics.
Raak - not the law.
Inkspot - not weather-related.
Raak - not time-related, remember?
An emotion, like love?
Or a convention we all accept to make life a little simpler?
Like the international date line.
An inquiry into the state of someone's health, uttered merely as a ritual move in the game of smalltalk, and without any intention that it be taken literally?
Is it a speech act of any sort?
Toby - not an emotion, like love, and not a convention we accept to make life simpler.
Raak - Dear God, no! Stop taking those drugs now! And it's not a speech act! You're all going completely the wrong direction - (go the other way!)
Witchcraft?
Some kind of art?
Yes, but what is the other way from everything?
Magnetism?
A form of alternative medicine?
A rainbow made from moonlight?
I just like the idea and wondered what clour it would be....wanders off to have a cup tea
Is it a direction?
Is it related to the arts or entertainment?
Do people want it?
Raak - no....(!)
Toby - no. (Nothing? Upwise?)
Inkspot - not magnetism, or a form of alternative medecine, or a rainbow made from moonlight. Look here for info about it
Brendan - no.
Snodgrass - No, not really.
Guest Login - a catamaenic person, perhaps?
A Clue! So, it is something a woman might want at that time of the month? Valium? A blood transfusion? A divorce? A heavy machine gun? Two heavy machine guns? All those are rather concrete, except the divorce.
A vow of silence?
immaculate conception on the astral plane?
Something I might want upwise at that time month? Hmm.
This one seems to have been hanging around for AGES. I guess that's what happens when we overdose on Abstract. I'll remain detached until it's done.
[Chalky] I decided that a while ago. I'm stumped with this one. It's so Abstract it's not actually conceivable (Berkeley is vindicated!).
Not that direct a clue, Raak. So none of those. Think of characters who particularly fulfill that definition. And something about them.
Toby - nope.
Chalky, Breadmaster - COWARDS!
What clue?
Points upwise.
Hothead Paisan, Lesbian terrorist?
Or Tank Girl, Charlie's Angels, Shelob, Death, Desire, Delirium, or...running out of catamenics and catamaenads.
I need a bigger dictionary!
*riffling through* catamaenic?
Weightlessness?
I really didn't think it was that hard! Think HORROR!
If I said "UFO" would I be headed in the right direction?
Cthulhu?
Black Magic?
what is catamaenic? Google could find no matches, and I don't count made up words like upwise clues either, and I have found some of the answers cofusing, but thats just me reading reading things far too literally. Perhaps if I take a nother print of the game thing may look clearer
Something cosmetic, like a Boob job for instance
PMT?
[Inkspot] I couldn't find catamaenic anywhere, even the OED, but catamenic means menstrual. Catamaenic could be a formation from catamaenad, the Maenads being the Furies, and cata- being a prefix of rather vague meaning.
Count Dracula?
Can it be seen? Not in and of itself, no
Is it fictional? Erm, sort of
Do people pretend that it's real? I'd say yes
Is it mythical? Not really
Is it a human concept? Yes.
Would it be a religious icon? Nope
Would you experience it in a dessert? Are you on drugs? That means no
Is it an anthropomorphisation? No
Is it from folk lore? No
Is it a scientific concept? Assuming you mean like a law or theory, then no
Is it connected with ethics? No
Transubstantiation? No
Does it have anything to do with ways of measuring or measures of time? No
CAn it be percieved be any of the senses? erm, not really, but yes
Marriage? No, you wierdo
Is it an expression or saying? not really an expression or saying
Money? not money
Gravity? not gravity really obscure reverse referential cough
Is it in some way related to economics? not related to economics
Is it a universal human concept? This question not answered
The law? not the law.
Something associated with the weater? not weather-related
Lunchtime? not time-related
An emotion, like love? not an emotion, like love
Or a convention we all accept to make life a little simpler? and not a convention we accept to make life simpler
An inquiry into the state of someone's health, uttered merely as a ritual move in the game of smalltalk, and without any intention that it be taken literally? Dear God, no! Stop taking those drugs now! And it's not a speech act! You're all going completely the wrong direction - (go the other way!)
Is it a speech act of any sort?
Witchcraft? no....(!)
Some kind of art? no. (Nothing? Upwise?)
Magnetism? Inkspot - not magnetism
A form of alternative medicine? not a form of alternative medecine
Is it a direction? No
Is it related to the arts or entertainment? No, not really
Do people want it? a catamaenic person, perhaps?
A Clue! So, it is something a woman might want at that time of the month? Valium? A blood transfusion? A divorce? A heavy machine gun? Two heavy machine guns? All those are rather concrete, except the divorce.
Not that direct a clue, Raak. So none of those. Think of characters who particularly fulfill that definition. And something about them.
A vow of silence?
immaculate conception on the astral plane?
What clue?
Points upwise.
Hothead Paisan, Lesbian terrorist?
Or Tank Girl, Charlie's Angels, Shelob, Death, Desire, Delirium, or...running out of catamenics and catamaenads.
Weightlessness?
Think HORROR!really didn't think it was that hard!
I am just stabbing at straws now for a character that is sort of non-anthropomorphisation fictional human concept, that people pretend is real, that can and cannot be percieved by any of the senses with Catamaenic HORROR
Is it the frustration we are all experiencing?
Is it a character from a book?
After seven days I still have no real idea, perhaps there is a important question about this Abstract that still needs to be played.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Inkspot] Thanks for that, although I think maybe the question is 'What's the point?'

C'mon snorglekins - we're practically dead from attrition here. Give us some help before we just declare another topic altogether.
maenads...
[Raak] It contributes absolutely nothing to the game, but then nor does the game seem to at this current moment, so may I point out that the Erinyes or the Eumenides are the Furies, and the Maenads are the crazed female followers of Dionysus (famous for going berserk during bacchanals and ripping things apart). Just so you know.
oxford pocket dictionary
cata- prefix 1 down. 2 wrongly. [Greek]
oh yeah...I'm guessing this is just the greek word, the preposition meaning "down" (and, I suppose, wrongly :p). Although quite what plonking this with maenic means (that'll be the english english spelling) I have no idea.
The light of a master mason, which is darkness visible?
Just guessing now, perhaps you can tell.
[ZK] Thanks for the correction. "-maen-" may be a hypercorrection of "-men-", as even the complete OED doesn't list it.
men
[Raak] Are you in america?
Vampires?
Wow, this is impressive...
The difference between 5 cubed and 125 in very strong gravitational fields?
[ZK] No, the UK.
No to everyone, except Inkspot - well, it's no to you too, really, but yes, think of a character in a book, how many damn horror writers do you know!?! And also think of the Maenads - just come on, you damn eejits!
The upending of a vat of menstrual blood at a senior prom caused not by psychokinesis but as a side-effect in the outpouring stream of casaulity generated by the gentle flapping of the wing of that moth I should have crushed instead of setting free when I was seven?
Well, see, that's helpful now, since we know it is and isn't a character in a book.
Is this a nom de plume?
You know I'll give it to Toby - since he mentioned PSYCHOKINESIS! Yes, that was the answer - it just popped into my head after last week's episode of Dark Place.
Know you now the answer, wasn't it obvious? :-P
oo-er. After that I'm inclined to say, "Vegetable. (And it's a turnip.)"

However.
MINERAL
A fossilised turnip?
A metal container (for turnips)?
A modern art installation in which a rusty nail represents the turnip in all of us?
No, no, & no. Not at all related to a turnip.
Is it made of stone?
snorgle] Oh yeah, I remember now .
Yes, predominantly.
Is it a monument of some sort?
Of some sort quite possibly, but not as I think you or I would commonly understand it.
Is it on the American continent?
Is it a unique thing?
I.e. like Cleopatra's Needle, and unlike obelisks in general.
[Inkspot] No.
[Raak] Yes.
Is it man made?
Is it a swede?
[Dujon] No.
[snorgle] Yes, in the alternate universe of tragical mirth, brief tedium, hot ice, and wondrous strange snow. In this one, swedes, nor yet Swedes, are not mineral ;-)
Is it in Britain?
No, it isn't.
Is it on land? [as opposed to underwater or floating in the cosmos]
Is it in Asia?
Table Mountain?
Is it smaller than Nelson's column?
Is it bigger than a pony?
[Chalky] Yes.
[Breadmaster] No.
[Software] No.
[Inkspot] No.
[snorgle] Yes.
Is it more than 1000 years old?
Yes, fundamentally.
Is it Ayer's Rock?
No, but it's closer to all of you (including Dujon) than it is to me.
Is it in Europe?
Nor there.
Is it in an Arabic country?
Does it have religious site?
[Raak] Also not.
[Inkspot] Well, I suppose it may, but a desultory web search turns up nothing in particular, and it's not what we associate with this in general.
Is it in Africa?
Does it lie between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn?
double straddle due to time zone invoked ;)
Yes and yes.
Is it a mountain at all?
Does its name begin with the letter "K"?
Is Dujon trying to steal my idea?
Sorry, it's late and I've been eating Frosties.
Not at all, Ma'am - Just narrowing it down... :-) No, I will not gazump you - I don't wish to win. So, if there is a yes/yes it's all yours - if you are fast enough and still awake!
yes/yes
so its not..
the giant rock carrot of Heysham?
Kilimanjaro - leaping in as an opportunist - ?
Indeed, Software has seized upon the correct opportunity and identified Mount Kilimanjaro.
*clapclapclap*
curse!
Oh- err, somebody say something? What? It's my turn. Oh bu**er! Now I have to do some work.
Right, this time its MINERAL and ANIMAL with ABSTRACT connections. Sounds complicated, hun?
Should be a line somewhere...
Thats better. Now start again...
Right, this time its MINERAL and ANIMAL with ABSTRACT connections. Sounds complicated, hun?
Is it a man made?
Congrats Software, a standard opening to begin with.
Is the mineral metal?
Is it an anthropomorphisation?
I can't help it, I just like the word!
Is it the Grim Reaper?
Sorry, I'm in a strange mood today
Is it Rocking Horse Droppings?
Is it some sort of chalk figure carved in a hillside?
Like one of those horses, or the Cerne Abbas giant?
Goddamit! That was my feminine side expressing itself, yeah, that's it ...
Thanks, all:
Ink: yes
Raak: Undoubtedly.
Kim: Some might say.
GL: ditto.
Snod: No.
Brendan: Don't be ridiculous. (That's my feminine side).
Is the Animal part made to be eaten?
Are those who would say it was the Grim Reaper just being rude?
(I sold my feminine side to a porn site, years ago)
Is it a homicidal cyborg or some other kind of killing machine?
Just so I know.
Is its function to produce sound?
Playing to your strengths, eh ZK?
A knight in shining armour?
Is it a fictional character?
Is it the Borg?
One of the terminators?
Or a presidential candidate?
Sorry, I only work days :-)
Inkspot: No.
GL Yes.
ZK: That's a matter of opinion.
Tuj: Not mainly.
Raak: Absolutely not.
Kim: No.
BM: Err..
Snorgle: No.
all: No.
Is it the army? or assosiated with the army?
Is the animal a horse?
No and No.
Kevin Warwick?
Microsoft?
Is it a company?
Seven of Nine?
Ah, great insight!
Brendan: Who?
GL: Yes.
Raak: Are you not confident? Your first answer was spot on!

WELL DONE RAAK! Over to you!

The next item is MINERAL.
Is it a single item?
1. e4
Does it have a specific function? (ie man-made non-decorative item)
Is it made from metal?
[Kim] No.
[GL] Yes.
[Inkspot] At least partly.
Is it found in the home?
[Software] A not entirely accurate, rather out of date, very biased answer to your question can be found here.
Is it man made?
-Brendan. I see, I think...
Did it exist before 1801?
[Brendan] It can be.
[Software] Yes (see GL's Q)
[Bm] No.
Is its function to produce sound, images or a combination of the two?
Does it use electricity ?
Is it a bridge of some kind?
Is it portable?
This is to replace my previous question, having seen Brendan's. *administers sharp rap to own wrist*
Is it made also from glass?
[Kim] Yes!
[Inkspot] Yes!
[Bm] No.
[Bm] Yes!
[Toby] No.
Is it a communication device?
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