We knew we were on too much of a hot streak in our Sporcle Live trivia nights at Original Gravity Brewing Co., and as every gambler knows, they’ve just gotta come to an end sometime! We’ve managed to win $100 in prize money over five games, and in one of those, won a first by rolling a d20 to determine our final question wager! We KNEW this was something that would cause us to have to “pay the piper” later! And what better night to pay the piper and present a shitty, prizeless game as a sacrifice to the dark gods than a night illuminated by a waxing gibbous moon? Which happened to be quite lovely on the unseasonably balmy fall evening! We even made a brief stop on our way to the game, and took some photos at a cemetery adjacent to Stony Creek United Methodist Church, the fog over the cemetery was just too wicked cool!

While the moon may have been lovely, and the fog was looking nice and creepy, the stars certainly weren’t right for us! A new trivia host – Sporcle Live with Lauren – took over the helm Thursday, and did a pretty decent job on what she said was only her second night of hosting! The music was kept at a decent volume, and “most” of her word enunciations/pronunciations were correct (I’m a very tough customer when it comes to things like that, forgive me). It’s all the fault of my demanding dad, who would not tolerate “baby talk” by his children or poor pronunciation! Enough nostalgic digression, how about those questions?

Game One

1. Rap Lyrics – What song, the second single from Snoop Dogg’s debut album, mentions Seagrams and Tanqueray? I can literally only name one song by this guy, and thank the trivia gods this one was the correct one, got this for 4.

2. Racing – In Formula One, what color flag indicates a race that has been stopped – usually due to deteriorating race conditions or an accident? FB clue, 10.

3. Charities – Founded in the U.S. in 1888, what charity’s slogan refers to health, education and stability in every community? Another cautious wager, but got for 3.

4. Harrison Ford – In what 1997 action thriller did Harrison Ford deliver the line “Get off my plane?” When, oh when will someone do a mashup of this movie and “Snakes on a Plane?” I want to hear Harrison Ford tell all the snakes to get off the plane (we know his hatred of snakes is legendary, after all…) 9

5. Math – What does the letter “E” stand for in the PEMDAS mnemonic commonly used in math? Poor, poor Mike…he totally brain farted here and felt like he flunked a math test! He’s usually so good on the math questions! Miss for 2.

6. Reality TV (yikes, fasten your seat belts, the rest of this game will be a bumpy ride) – Eric Stonestreet is the host of what reality program that includes a panel of hosts who are all children? Huh? Miss for 1.

7. Clothing Companies – Founded in Rhode Island in 1851 and now headquartered in Kentucky, what underwear company was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway recently? I work in a place that sells Berkshire stuff, and even own some Berkshire tights, but nope, picked the wrong company miss for 5. Ugh…it gets worse! Are you SURE you want to keep reading? 🙂

8. World Geography – Of the following four countries, which lies farthest north? Venezuela, Malaysia, Belize or Sudan? We don’t usually fail geography questions, but we f—ed this one up for 8!

9. Snakes – What term describes both a group of cobras and an accessory for holding arrows? 7

10. American History – John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry happened in which U.S. state? For an extra “nerd” bonus point, within five, in what year did this happen? Mike knew the first part, I nailed the year dead-on. Forty-two points going into the mystery round! Will we get all eight?

Mystery – Before and After (thank you trivia gods)

1. 1993 comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and an Australian band who had an 80s hit with the song “Down Under.”

2. Second most populous city in California and notable Mexican painter who was married to Frida Kahlo

3. Entertainment news magazine program hosted by Natalie Morales and a game show featuring celebrities in a large tic-tac-toe board

4. Brand of cinnamon flavored gum and a chain of casual dining restaurants specializing in seafood

I call shenanigans on #4…the first part of that clue should’ve been a “gimme” for any of the Milan locals because of their high school mascot! We got all of these.

Scores – Fifteen teams, scores 15 to 63, with Party in first. We were in (cough) 10th place with 51 points playing under the name “We buried Linus in the pumpkin patch, Charlie Brown!” Venue leaders Big Heads Big Hearts was in fifth with 56.

Final Category – Film Critics

The Godfather, Annie Hall, The Last Emperor, and Schindler’s List were the only four winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture that were also named as Best Film of the Year by what movie critic?

Mike wanted to go with one critic, I wanted to go with the other. So what did we decide? Toss a coin? Probably wouldn’t have hurt our chances! We wound up putting down another guy who was incorrect. But one of us had the right guy!

Final Scores: Beer Me Up, Scotty, 71 (moved up from 10th, and Golden Geese, 77.

Game Two (spoiler…game two was worse for us than game one!)

1. Kids’ Books – In “James and Giant Peach, the joruney ends when the peach gets impaled on what iconic building? For an extra “nerd” point, what is James’ last name? Miss and miss for 3.

2. Business – After Wal-Mart, the next largest private sector company is an oil and gas company based in what country? Miss for 2. A lot of teams missed this one…

3. Final Albums – The 1995 album “Adios Amigos” was the last studio album by what punk band featuring members who all had the same surnames? 10

4. Human Body – Aneuploidy, linked to some birth defects, is also linked to an abnormal number of what? I initially had the right guess, but we went with another…miss for 4.

5. ’80s Movies – Audio clue of a 1982 action sci-fi film starring The Dude abiding in cyberspace (yes I may have just given it away, pffft)! Mike was all over this for 9.

6. Schools – What New Orleans school has athletic teams called the Green Waves? Brad would have helped us here, miss for 1.

7. Fencing – In fencing, what five-letter word describes a single defensive action to deflect the blade? Looney Tunes knowledge kicked in here for 8. Who says Daffy Duck can’t teach you anything? And did y’all know Brad’s dad used to teach fencing to female college students at Western Michigan University? Too weird to NOT be true!

8. TV Performers (this is going to be terrible…) – John Lithgow, Jimmy Smits and Julia Stiles all appeared in separate seasons of what Showtime series? Nope, miss for 5.

9. State Nicknames – If you are traveling from the Peace Garden State to the Treasure State, what cardinal direction are you traveling? Yay I knew this for 7 (not enough to save this shitsack of a game, lol…)

1. Restaurants – In the 1970s, what breakfast chain used a cartoon kangaroo as a mascot as a means of playing on its name? And thank you “Kroger Man” for providing a little lifeline for us (Kroger employee who has sat next to us at a few games). Finished the regular round with 40 points! Are you appeased, o dark gods? 🙂

Mystery – https://www.sporcle.com/blog/visual/map112/

Missed #4, only one team in the bar got this one correct.

Scores – Fourteen teams, scores 8 to 61, with Rikers in first. We were in ninth with 46 points. Venue leaders Big Heads Big Hearts were tied for third with 54 points.

Final Category – Acting Resumes

Born in 1966, what actor has played movie roles including a vampire, an old-west gunslinger, a modern cowboy, a med student, a U.S. marine, a KKK member, and a U.S. Secret Service Agent?

Got this, but so did too many other teams. BHBH and whomever they were tied with had to answer this tiebreaker for second place – what was the total box office gross of “Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen?” The other team got the closer guess, unsure who finished first. Well that’s it for now! We will play our last qualifying game here next week and attend the venue tournament November 16, but will not be attempting to summon a whole ‘Pods team for the occasion. And since winter is coming, we’re not likely to be playing here again until next spring. This is, however, a trivia spot that has become near and dear to our hearts. We showed up for the debut game in March, 2016 during a blizzard! If  we didn’t at least show up for the venue tournament to provide some competition, we would be violating our mission statement and NOT living up to our team name! And that’s all I’ve gotta say about that… Unsure yet if we are playing the Sporcle Live with Liz show Saturday at Oscar’s Sports & Grill. Saturdays have been canceled a few times because of U of M football games, so we will see! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, the Scarlet Pumpernickel!