A stupid party game/trick I used to try to get people to play as a way of showing off some specialized knowledge I thought I had: Let’s name rivers! Specifically, let’s name X rivers in Y, where X is an uncomfortably high number and Y is a place I happen to know pretty well.
For instance: Name 25 rivers in Illinois (rivers bordering Illinois count). It’s been a long time, but: Chicago, Fox, Rock, Pecatonica, Apple, Mississippi, Illinois, Mackinaw, Big Muddy, Sangamon, Spoon, Vermilion, Kickapoo, Kankakee, Des Plaines, Wabash, Galena … and from here, with 17, I need help: the Ohio (a no-brainer), Kaskaskia (thought about this one, but wasn ‘t sure), Iroquois (same name as the county south of Kankakee County; forgot about it). That’s only 20. That means I have to look up rivers I may or may not ever have known existed: the Kishwaukee, the Green, the Saline, the La Moine, the Macoupin, the Cache. (For the really curious, here’s a map: Major Watersheds of Illinois.)
See what fun that is? The whole family can play!
If you don’t like rivers or Illinois, try counties in California. Or lost pets in Wichita. Whatever you know.
Good game. Put me down for the Mazon River.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Illinois_rivers
Oh, and speaking of the Wabash, how about a round of name your Midwest earthquake faults.
Cool list. I can’t believe I forgot the CALUMET River — in my (old) backyard, practically, for heaven’s sake!
And regarding the earthquake faults, I can name one: The New Madrid.
Do the Calumet Sag, and the Sanitary and Ship canals count? Also, to stretch a point, Thorn Creek.
Also, the Du Page river.
Sounds like fun. I’d settle for a crowd that could do cipherin’ with their shoes on.
Does the Deep Tunnel Project count?
That rules chairman sez: I recognize that the big rivers and many of the smaller ones have been channeled and plumbed to a fare-thee-well by the Corps of Engineers and other ingenious nature-improvers, but I draw the line at waterways and the like — the I&M Canal, the Sanitary and Ship Canal, the Cal-Sag Channel, and Deep Tunnel Project (it would be entertaining to try to navigate this last one) — that are purely artificial.
Illinois rivers? Please.
I’ll take on something meaningful –the California counties challenge:
(Tiny) Alpine
Del Norte
Siskiyou
Shasta
Lassen
Tehama
Glenn
Humboldt
Mendocino
Colusa
Modoc
Placer
Nevada
Sierra
El Dorado
Amador
Calaveras
Mariposa
Stanislaus
Sacramento
San Joaquin
Merced
Yolo
Solano
Sonoma
Napa
Lake
Contra Costa
Alameda
Marin
San Francisco
San Mateo
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz
Monterey
San Benito
Kings
San Luis Obispo
Santa Barbara
Ventura
Los Angeles
Kern
Orange
San Diego
Riverside
San Bernardino
Imperial
Inyo
Madera
Fresno
That’s 50.
How’d I do? I don’t even know how many there are. Is it 52?
The California total is 58. Here are some others (not looking them up!): Mono, Plumas, Sutter, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yuba. … Um, one more.
Last one: Butte.
Shame on me. Especially for missing Trinity and Mono counties, two of the more spectacular of our counties. Tuolumne’s cool, too, though I’ve spent less time there.
Yuba? Yeah, whatever. What’s Yuba County got going for it? Nothing I can think of. Is Chico in Yuba County? Funny thing, looking up info about Yuba County just now, I find that Yuba City is in SUTTER County, another one that I missed. Sutter County, proud home to the smallest mountain range, I might add…. But what I remember Yuba City for is Juan Corona. Lots of talk about Zodiac and what a story that was in the early ’70s, but I remember Corona more vividly. The sheer numbers were gruesomely impressive.
Ah, for the simple days when Mariposa County comprised a quarter of the state…
http://www.csac.counties.org/default.asp?id=103