Well, I plan to live forever (so far, so good)... but that doesn't mean I think life should be taken too seriously, either. One of my favorite pastimes is creating and participating in little games to make the mundane a bit more tolerable. Today's topic: ironic Bingo.
Radio Bingo
My mom says you'll always have friends if you have a deck of cards. Indeed, I remember many a college orientation or group trip being dominated by card games. But cards are a little too much work: the dealing, the playing, and the shuffling. I'm simpler and easier to please tha
n that -- all I need is a radio. Preferably one with a repetitive and predictable radio station. Sitting and listening? Much more passive than cards.Radio Bingo was, as far as I know, created by two bored employees of a Subway franchise in Manlius, New York. These poor folk were forced to listen to Syracuse-area adult contemporary juggernaut Y94 FM all day, every day -- a station not known for its variety. (Think, like, Celine Dion nine times an hour.) Instead of intentionally driving a bread knife through their eyes, however, they came up with a way to stave off the abject terror of adult contemporary radio. They each created a 5x5 "Bingo" board -- free space in the middle, natch -- and filled each space with a Y94 artist they were likely to hear. Each time an artist on the board played, his/her/their square was crossed out.
The object of the game, of course, is to get a Bingo. The first players of Radio Bingo never reached their goal. Their cruel, androgynous supervisor snatched their cards away and made them suffer once again. These brave martyrs are not forgotten, however. (Long live Saint Ned and Saint Brian!) The bag boys at the local country club picked up the tradition, filling out Bingo cards each morning and afternoon for their favorite radio stations.
Now that NOVA 1
05.1 is off the air -- may it rest in peace -- my preferred radio station is TK99, Syracuse's classic rock station. It's not my favorite radio station, because I'm a talk radio guy, but the music has withstood the test of time, and the station is freaking repetitive as all hell. My brother and I heard Led Zeppelin six times during last week's shift. I nailed 20 of my 24 Bingo picks -- and really, some incarnation of Eric Clapton not playing once in eight hours is nothing short of a travesty. Aggregate Bingoes (Bingos?) at the end of the shift crowns the winner, the tiebreaker being total squares covered. The fabled Cover-All has yet to happen, but when it does, you'll be the first to hear. (You'll hear me screaming "BINGO! BIN-GOOOOOOO!!!")Other Ironic Bingo Games
Bingo has caught on like wildfire in all other walks of life. Danny Macintosh, for instance, works at the State Fair's Gianelli Sausage stand. He created a Bingo board for stereotypical Fair patrons he had as customers. (Danny Mac, help me out, where is the link?)
The past two semesters, I alleviated the boredom and monotony of the first week of class in college by creating "First Week of College Bingo." I uploaded the board to Facebook, tagged my friends, and encouraged them to print out their boards and bring them to class -- I taped mine to the inside of a binder -- and cross off spaces as things happen. It's not as easy as some of the other ironic bingo games, but when your teacher finally gives you a dictionary definition that you've been holding out for all week, it's almost impossible not to stand up and shout in euphoric glee. (But that would interrupt class.) I'll do another board this coming semester and post it here, though I'll be in Spain so I don't know how well it will work en español.
Another good one is Nice-n-Easy Bingo, performed by Danny Mac and Baby Blu at the local convenience store, which is a popular place for the local townies. They put loser kids from high school and frequent customers on the board and, yes, cross them off as they come in.
Do you have an ironic Bingo game? Or suggestions for an improvement?
0 comments:
Post a Comment