Week the Fourth Questions

[plumboz]

Sorry about jumping the gun here, but work schedule is such that I am afraid my next chance won't come till late Sunday, and I hate being tardy.

So here we go with the last round of thought provoking questions.

Thanks for reading Boomerang!


All the best,
Alan



1. Who paid for the ground transportation for Phillips Steve and Mrs. Kinsbury?


2. What kind of car did Jerry “borrow” to get himself and Ted back to the Traceys’ neighborhood? Did Ted enjoy the ride?


3. What seating/standing arrangement did Ted and Jerry have to adopt in order to get their commandeered paddleboat to steer properly?


4. Who arrived in the Traceys’ backyard just after the street lost electrical power? What was he holding?


5. What past connection did Ted and Jerry have with Leslie?


6. Would Miss Campanella, Paul’s third grade teacher, have ever called him “little boy”?


7. What did Bethie do when she made it to the middle of the “lake” with the boomerang?


8. What story does Jerry try to tell Director Fatherday to explain Ted’s emotional outburst at water’s edge?


9. What was the bargain with Paul Ted had to agree to in order to get Fatherday to help rescue Sarah?


10. Who discovered Sarge as he was trying to extract himself from the restraint Leslie had put him in?


11. What happened to Paul’s guitar just before the choir was due to enter the sanctuary? Did it cause Ted to bow out of his commitment?


12. What song did Korie sing with Ted accompanying?


13. Bonus question: What do the names of all of the agents who went with Fatherday to the Tracey’s home have in common? (hint: it helps it you are a basketball fan)

[Roxie]

1. Who paid for the ground transportation for Phillips Steve and Mrs. Kinsbury?
Mrs. Kinsbury paid the $500 for the ground transportation.

2. What kind of car did Jerry “borrow” to get himself and Ted back to the Traceys’ neighborhood? Did Ted enjoy the ride?
Jerry “borrowed” a Monte Carlo. Ted did not enjoy the ride. Not at all!

3. What seating/standing arrangement did Ted and Jerry have to adopt in order to get their commandeered paddleboat to steer properly?
Ted sat on the bench while Jerry sat at the very front of the paddleboat like a “figurehead.”

4. Who arrived in the Traceys’ backyard just after the street lost electrical power? What was he holding?
Leslie showed up right as the street lost power and went very dark. He was carrying a kerosene lantern.

5. What past connection did Ted and Jerry have with Leslie?
Leslie was hired to kill Jerry. While he was looking for Jerry in a club in Chicago he ended up killing Jerry's friend Dale.

6. Would Miss Campanella, Paul’s third grade teacher, have ever called him “little boy”?
No she wouldn’t call Paul a “little boy.”

7. What did Bethie do when she made it to the middle of the “lake” with the boomerang?
Bethie stood up and did a cheer to taunt the others that she had possession of the Boomerang.

8. What story does Jerry try to tell Director Fatherday to explain Ted’s emotional outburst at water’s edge?
Jerry tells the Director that Ted’s niece had been sold into white slavery in San Diego and Ted needed to be paid so that he could buy her back.

9. What was the bargain with Paul Ted had to agree to in order to get Fatherday to help rescue Sarah?
Ted had to play for Korie in church and he had to give Ted guitar lessons.

10. Who discovered Sarge as he was trying to extract himself from the restraint Leslie had put him in?
Sarge was discovered by his Aunt Doris and his Uncle Eugene.

11. What happened to Paul’s guitar just before the choir was due to enter the sanctuary? Did it cause Ted to bow out of his commitment?
A string broke on Paul’s guitar when Ted was trying to tune it. Ted did not bow out of his commitment.

12. What song did Korie sing with Ted accompanying?
Korie sang Number 145 in the United Methodist Hymnal.

13. Bonus question: What do the names of all of the agents who went with Fatherday to the Tracey’s home have in common? (hint: it helps it you are a basketball fan)
I have no idea! The hint didn’t help me because I don’t follow basketball.

Roxie

[WT Sharpe]

1. Who paid for the ground transportation for Phillips Steve and Mrs. Kinsbury?

Mrs. K paid for the pickup out of her emergency funds.

2. What kind of car did Jerry “borrow” to get himself and Ted back to the Traceys’ neighborhood? Did Ted enjoy the ride?

An iridescent purple, mid-seventies Monte Carlo. Ted enjoyed the ride as thoroughly as he enjoyed all his other activities with Jerry.

3. What seating/standing arrangement did Ted and Jerry have to adopt in order to get their commandeered paddleboat to steer properly?

Jerry had to take a precarious position standing in the front of the paddleboat for ballast.

4. Who arrived in the Traceys’ backyard just after the street lost electrical power? What was he holding?

Like the deformed assistant in an old-time monster movie, Leslie showed up right after the fateful lightning strike carrying a kerosene lantern.

5. What past connection did Ted and Jerry have with Leslie?

Leslie had killed Dale Crane, the drummer for Ted and Jerry’s band.

6. Would Miss Campanella, Paul’s third grade teacher, have ever called him “little boy”?

No, but Bethie did.

7. What did Bethie do when she made it to the middle of the “lake” with the boomerang?

Went into cheerleading mode. After her appearance at the Tracey’s, and especially after this episode, I fell out of love with Bethie.

8. What story does Jerry try to tell Director Fatherday to explain Ted’s emotional outburst at water’s edge?

Ted concocted the story that Sarah was Ted’s niece who had been sold into white slavery in San Diego.

9. What was the bargain with Paul Ted had to agree to in order to get Fatherday to help rescue Sarah?

In order to get Paul to turn over the contents of the Boomerang, Ted promised to give Paul guitar lessons.

10. Who discovered Sarge as he was trying to extract himself from the restraint Leslie had put him in?

An aunt and uncle came in just in time to witness his first solo performance as a soprano.

11. What happened to Paul’s guitar just before the choir was due to enter the sanctuary? Did it cause Ted to bow out of his commitment?

The strings on Paul’s ax were a couple of years old, which, in string life, is approximately equivalent to one year older than the Bible. When one of them broke, Ted prepared to play around it. Fortunately, Director Fatherday chose that moment to deliver Sarah to Ted.

12. What song did Korie sing with Ted accompanying?

#145 in the United Meth. Hymnal.

13. Bonus question: What do the names of all of the agents who went with Fatherday to the Tracey’s home have in common? (hint: it helps it you are a basketball fan)

I haven’t a clue. I would have done better had you named them after professional wrestlers. (—but not by much!)

I thoroughly enjoyed Boomerang, especially since Jerry and Sarah were reunited in the book's conclusion. Ted, I believe, grew as a human being, and even Jerry had his moment as a hero. The only character who I feel even slightly sorry for was Amelia. She deserved better, but then again, she is the one character in the book who really seems to have the ability to find contentment in whatever situation she finds herself.

[arne_bue]

I can hardly wait for the answer to the bonus question to show up.
I liked Amelia, also, as one Boomerang Book Club member did. She in her own way was a survivor and yet seemed to have a goodness about her that she held on to, even fought for. I hope one day she appears in Alan's next Book Club entry.
The ending of Boomerang was perfect, to me.
ARNE

[Roxie]

WT Sharpe- I always enjoy reading your responses. They are funny and well written!

Roxie

[plumboz]

Bonus Question answer.

Sorry about that one. Not really fair, although I have had a few readers (all from the Phoenix area) who picked up on what I was doing there. I am a lifelong Phoenix Suns fan, and since Ted was a basketball player (a partial inspiration for Ted, at least for the athlete/jazz musician combo, was Wayman Tisdale, a power forward who played for a while for the Suns. Personality-wise Tisdale was Ted's polar opposite. Wayman had a smile that could light up a city block and he was seldom without it. I had the chance to meet him a few times when he shopped at the store I used to manage. I just took his personality and turned it inside out for Ted, but left in the good heart. Unfortunately, Tisdale passed away not that long ago after forging a very successful career as a bassist and band leader.)

Anyway, back to the agents who accompanied Director Fatherday. They were named after some of my favorite Suns players throughout the decades. (Dick) Van Arsdale, (Connie) Hawkins, (Garfield) Heard, (Kevin) Johnson, (Elliot) Perry and (Paul) Westphal, who also coached the Suns for a while.

Gotta change the strings on my Epiphone now. See ya later!

Alan

[WT Sharpe]

WT Sharpe- I always enjoy reading your responses. They are funny and well written!

Roxie

Thanks Roxie.

I'm glad that more people jumped in this week to answer the fourth week questions. After last week, I was afraid that we would be the last two standing!

[plumboz]

Thanks Roxie.

I'm glad that more people jumped in this week to answer the fourth week questions. After last week, I was afraid that we would be the last two standing!

Well, it's not exactly a crowd, but you folks who have hung in here are precious as diamonds to me!

Alan