A couple of us decided to visit Powell’s Pub for its My Trivia Live scene Monday night. No prizes for us, it was just an excuse to get out somewhere cheap on a Monday night when we both had a case of “The Mondays!” The bartender Jamie always remembers what beer we like, no matter how long it’s been since our past visit. And the bar tab has to go under my name, apparently, because “Mike” is too common, she says! As for the questions, you know it’s a tough Norse mythology question when Mike is laid low by it – not unlike someone on the wrong end of Mjolnir, or “Hammer of Thor,” for those who prefer English! He is quite the expert in Norse mythology, and has read – and re-read – “The Poetic Edda” many, many times! You cannot BELIEVE the books I’ve seen in his bathroom that he uses as “reading material!” Dante, Awakening Osiris…Pssst…they’re all super nerdy books (get your minds out of the gutter, people!). And the questions…
Round One
1. Advertising – What restaurant used the slogan “Think outside the bun?” 5
2. States – How many U.S. states border the Pacific Ocean? 3
3. Planets – What planet in the night sky is the brightest object after the sun and the moon? 1
Started off by getting all of these correct.
Round Two
1. Dances – What dance originated in 1928 in Harlem and is named for an aviator? Mike and I actually argued about this one – but as it turned out, neither of us were right (gotta love it when that happens)! We centered too much on the aviator’s first name rather than the last name, miss for 1. But in our defense, neither of us was alive – let alone hitting up the Cotton Club dance scene – in the 1920s, so there! 🙂
2. New York – What part of New York is named for Dutch immigrant Jonas Bronck? I’ve grown quite accustomed to people asking me lots of silly questions all my life – how tall are you, do you play basketball, yada yada – but hands down the strangest question I have ever been asked was, “Are you Dutch?” I was about 19 at the at the time, and was working in a grocery store. I asked why the person wanted to know, and they said “Because Dutch people are tall.” All righty then! I said “Yeah, there’s probably Dutch in there somewhere.” Strange world… Got this answer for 5.
3. Mythology – According to Greek mythology, what would happen to a person who looked into Medusa’s eyes? For an extra three-point bonus, how many worlds are there in Norse mythology? And Mike started writing down the ones he knew, wound up being three short of the correct answer, but we didn’t attempt to answer this. So we got three points, but no bonus points.
Round Three
1. Music – What was the fifth single to reach #1 from Michael Jackson’s “Bad” album and is named for a woman? Hm, now I’m curious…is this song named for the iconic pop singer who played Dorothy in “The Wiz?” Or is it named for a famous princess (checks wikipedia) – neither. Guess it’s about a persistent groupie…pffft rock star problems! Poor, poor Michael (RIP). Got this for 5.
2. Religions – A religion based on what movie became popular in 2001 because of being listed by people on the U.S. Census? 3
3. Books – What 1974 novel was eventually made into a movie and had early titles including “Stillness in the Water” and “Leviathan Rising?” Heh, I think I like “Leviathan Rising” better than the title that wound up being used! I only recently saw this movie for the first time…Robert Shaw’s character was a character! Got all of these right…
Halftime – (this is going to SUCK!) TV characters – Identify the TV series based on the characters listed and the year the series debuted
1. 1990, Donna and David
2. 2001, Sidney and Michael Vaughan
3. 2005 – Meredith and Derek
4. 2004 – Lynnette and Tom
Got #3 correct on a guess…I said, “One of these HAS to be a medical drama.” So only two points in this whole halftime round. Dammit, these MTL TV questions usually skew older than this! Grumble…
Scores – Eight teams, scores 18 to 35, with Team Jizzerati in first. And I don’t know if I’m spelling this name right or not…We were in fourth with 28 playing under the pseudonym Sam Elliott’s Mustache.
Round Four
1. Senators – Hattie Caraway was the first woman to serve a full term as a US Senator, for which state? Newsletter clue, 6.
2. Phobias – Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and Julius Caesar all suffered from ailurophobia, which is the fear of what? Don’t ask me HOW I knew this, but I knew this one. And my aunt Grace had this fear, too. Though my favorite phobia is coulrophobia, which is the fear of clowns. If you have this phobia, I read somewhere that it means your parents were a bit “shaky,” or something…
3. Gangsters – What gangster was shot to death after watching the gangster film “Manhattan Melodrama?” Got all of round four correct.
Round Five
1. Food – What uncooked food is the Trichina worm most likely to make its home in? Yay eighth grade science class! Mr. Francis LOVED to go into gory detail about parasites….(shudder). 5
2. NBA – What NBA team last made the playoffs int he 2003-2004 season, the longest drought in NBA history? Nope, miss for 2.
3. Fictional Characters – What fictional character was created by Clarence Mulford in 1904 and went on to appear in a series of short stories and on radio/TV? Mike initially had the right guess, but he changed it, miss for 4.
Round Six
1. Rivers – What Northern Idaho river, nicknamed “The River of No Return,” goes by a name shared with a fish? Miss for 2.
2. U.S. States – McDonald’s is headquartered in the cit of Oak Brook in what midwestern U.S. state? 4
3. Celebrity Relations – What singer and actress was the aunt of George Clooney? We had a six point wager to use here, thankfully I remembered her name…this has GOTTA be an old Trivial Pursuit answer! It was kind of buried in the brain a bit…6
Scores – Eight teams, scores 40 to 67, with Jizzerati again in first with 67. We were again in fourth with 56.
Final Category – Awards
What president was the first North American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize?
Nope, we picked the wrong president who won a Peace Prize. Final standings pretty much stayed the same. Until next time, which will be The Wurst Bar for our ‘Pods outing tonight. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Dirty Diana!