Trivia Update

I am ensconced in a farm house just outside of New London, WI. The sun is shining brightly and the weather is temperate for a February day. We have successfully answered the first trivia question: "Who was the first person killed as the result of a car accident?" Answer? Henry H. Bliss.

I arose around 5:30 this morning as a friend was supposed to pick me up about quarter after 6. He was, of course, late. But we packed my stuff in his car and hit the high road. For breakfast, we stopped in Plainsfield at a place called Fran's Cafe or something similar. Plainfield is your typical small Midwestern town excepting the fact that it was home to Ed "The Mad Butcher" Gein. Gein provided inspiration for Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silece of the Lambs. He was arrested in November 1957:

"The stunned and sickened officers immediately called for reinforcements. A short time later, more than a dozen lawmen were combing the farm and exploring the contents of what would become known as Ed Gein's "house of horrors". What they found that night was like nothing that had ever been recorded in the annals of American crime.

Soup bowls had been made from the sawed-off tops of human skulls. Chairs had been upholstered in human skin. Lamp shades had been fashioned from flesh, giving off an eerie and putrid glow. A box was discovered that contained nothing but human noses. A belt had been made from female nipples. A shade pull had been decorated with a pair of woman's lips. A shoe box under a bed contained a collection of dried, female genitalia. The faces of nine women, carefully stuffed and mounted, were hanging on one wall.... and there was much more, including a bracelet of skin, a drum made from a coffee can and human flesh, and more. A shirt of human skin, complete with breasts, had been fashioned from the tanned torso of a middle-aged woman. Gein would later confess that he often put the shirt on at night and pretended to be his mother.

To make matters worse, the refrigerator turned out to be stocked with frozen human organs and a human heart was found in a pan on the stove. The local sheriff estimated that the various body parts added up to fifteen women, maybe more."

A real horrorshow. Fucking white males!

Anyway, breakfast was pretty good. I had biscuits & gravy so my heart is palpating and my belches are laced with sage. The best part was their prices for coffee. There were a few levels.

$0.50 for a cup and 1 refill
$1.50 for all the coffee you can drink for half the morning
$2.00 for the entire morning and...
$4.00 for all the coffee you can drink all day long AND they give you an hour break for lunch. So you can head home for some food and then return and pick up where you left off.

I wish the proprietor of my local coffeehouse would extend a deal like that to me.

The contest is 23 hours this year. If you're so inclined, you can check up on our progress by going to:

http://www.hometownbroadcasting.com/trivia/index.html

We're the Flying Zupan Brothers.

We've been here for about 45 minutes and Mary Jane arrived about 15 minutes later. The Elvis picture is out and I think the Johnny Cash photo is lying around somewhere. Joe, the homeowner, has gone to shear some sheep, give sleigh rides, and drink some beer but will be back in about 13 hours...