Yes, it's another round of that classic guessing game - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Abstract [or any combination thereof]. This effort - '03/'04 should address any queries, but then again, may just serve to confuse and baffle which some might say is the point of the game. Patience, integrity and a decent search engine may be useful ....
I'll have you know I spent at least one microlife yesterday looking up the geology and geography of Iceland on Wikipedia, and I've still no idea what it is.
Quantity of lava? No. Now I'm feeling guilty! The audience applauds at the word "volcano". Hidden textAt this point I will tell you for free that all my confusion/ignorance with regard to Rosie's question does indeed concern lava. I have never thought much about lava beyond the fact that it's a, well, hot mess. What exactly is going on chemically, I have no idea. Maybe, with Rosie's help, I'll end this AVMA better informed than I was when I started. :)
Hekla? Hekno, because... ...Fagradsfjall, which commenced eruptions in March of this year and is still erupting (at least as of yesterday) is indeed the answer on the card. "Fjall" is Icelandic for mountain. The other acceptable answer on the card was Geldingadalir which is the more precise location of the eruption. Hidden textFull disclosure. The original AOTC was just Geldingadalir, but when I was asked whether the AOTC was a mountain, I felt it would have been badly misleading to have answered No, so I hurriedly grabbed my Sharpie and wrote in Fagradalsfjall as well. Also, to clarify one other piece of my answers, I went with the fact that one dictionary definition of 'metallic' is simply 'containing a metal'; I was a little worried that answer might mislead and tried to convey as much with the audience reaction; in the end it didn't seem to lead you astray too much!Hidden textI clearly overthink this, don't I? :)
Rethinking the rubric, it might be better if more long-windedly expressed as VEGETABLE and MINERAL, with ABSTRACT, VEGETABLE and sometimes ANIMAL connections.
[RtG] Not a fossil. [R] Not a weapon. [SM] There can be wood, peripherally. (murmur of amusement in the audience) [SM2] (Confers with Mycroft. Mycroft gives a definite nod.) Yes, the mineral is stone.
[SM] The exact phrase was “very well might”, which is even narrower. I mean, a Crescenter might own an original Chagall, Hidden textI choose this example because I did know a perfectly ordinary not-rich person who owned a (small!) Chagall. but I wouldn’t stick a “very well” in front.
[S] Could be. [SM] Not unless it's dead, because... [C] Yes. A still life. Have this tasteful basket of flowers, fruits, and roadkill. Everyone can now boast of their collection of still lives that every Crescenter should own.
Me again? OK. I'm about to head into a horrendously busy period, so here is a nice easy ANIMAL and MINERAL that we can hopefully despatch in a few days. *some immediate muttering and discussion in the audience*
Human? *some more animated discussion in the audience* Given what was posted on the board, No. Weapon? *laughter* No. Although, for a sufficiently broad definition, and in some circumstances, Yes.
A haaaaaaaaaaandbaaaag? No. Begin with P? No. Statue? No. Sports-related? No. Hidden textI can think of a very very very minor way to relate the AOTC to sports, but it's not worth exploring. So forget I said anything.
Lift easily with one haaaaaaaaaaaaand... Sorry. <mode "Edith Evans" = off>
Lift easily with one hand? Yes, I can. Part of animal's anatomy? I think No is the best answer, but *some audience discussion* Salt? No. *a sprinkling of audience laughter*
I'm going to clarify the "anatomy" response: I think that No is probably the right answer, though there could be some room for some debate, and I'm quite sure that No is the least misleading answer.
Oh! I didn't think it would be eggactly that. We can let CdM go and be very busy and begin once more with another nice easy one: ANIMAL with some MINERAL. And no it isn't an egg again.
tl;dr Being in the AVMA chair is surprisingly hard: Hidden textReflections on an egg. First, I set the last AVMA forgetting to check whether we had had 'egg' as an answer before. To my surprise, even though the word has come up over 50 times, it has never been a subject before (though both Faberge egg and Easter egg have been). Second, it's amazing how you think you've set a nice easy AVMA, and then the questions come in and you realise there are many more subtleties than you considered. In my head, I was thinking of a simple chicken egg sitting on a table. But I immediately had to worry about whether people understand 'mineral' as a geological term, or as including biominerals, such as eggshell? (I decided eggshell should be classified as mineral, but does that mean we should actually classify almost all animals as 'animal and mineral' because of bones and teeth??) Of course, having made that decision, I immediately ran into trouble with human eggs. And then there was the anatomy question. We'd classify ova within an animal as anatomical, but I had already assumed the existence of eggshell. But, then, what about, say, a developing chicken egg before it has been laid? Oh, and finally, it turns out some eggs are poisonous. Still, at least I was confident that one could lift an egg with one hand and that they could be weaponised. :)
Dead? I do hope so. Unique? No. Ocean dwelling? No. Hidden textAlthough taking into account what you said in your hidden part, I would suspect there will be at least one example of the AOTC bobbing around in an ocean somewhere. This would be almost certainly accidental and should be ignored. It would not be 'living' anyway! Also, I haven't gone back through the entire history of this game to see if my AOTC has been used before. Sorry if it has.
Art? Isn't everything? In this case, NO. Although thinking about it, there is a connection between the word on the card and art... DANGER! DANGER? NO. Well, usually not. Some close relatives might be.
Snails? NO Tortoise? NO Pickled? Not usually, but apparently it can be found pickled (I did not know until I Googled it.)
Note: There are some tiny grey areas here. For instance it is possible that the AOTC could be associated with a ruminant, but it is then described as such and not just the single word on the card. Best ignored.