More good extemp introduction material

A friend sent this along to me this morning, and it looks like a gold mine of good extemp attention getters for international topics. Here's how you could use it: a few days before the tournament, you think about which countries are heavily featured in the news, and then you browse through the curiosities listed for the country, find your two or three favorite, tell them to two or three friends in enough detail to commit them to memory, and they're perfectly legit, non-canned attention getters. 


For example: Greece has been in and out of the headlines over its contribution to Europe's currency woes. So if there are major new developments, and you think the odds are good you'll wind up with a Greece topic, you might read up on the Antikythera mechanism, or the Necromanteion of Ephyra, either of which could make spiffy opening devices on a wide array of topics.


Merry slightly late Christmas, and happy almost new year.

What game are you playing?

One from the vault: are turnarounds legitimate?

Topicality as eligibility