It’s not uncommon for us to begin a Sporcle Live trivia season non-triumphantly, or with a “thud,” as it were! It’s all part of our playbook – give the other teams a false sense of security as we crawl…or swim – our way up through the rankings and eventually strike with victory at the precise moment! Or am I just describing what happens in some video we just watched with an octopus in it, where the octopus kicks a shark’s ass? Speaking of octopuses, a couple of us plan to go see a real live octopus very soon at the Sea Life Aquarium in Auburn Hills! The past two times we’ve attempted to see octopuses in captivity were rather… unsuccessful. 😦 The octopus at the Toledo Zoo back in early April, 2017 was crammed into a very small tank and looked very unhappy! The poor thing! And the octopus we tried seeing at the aquarium in Virginia Beach, VA back in October, 2017 was a virtual no-show! The shy ‘pod stayed hidden in the rocks during our entire visit, which was almost as bad as those adorable otters, who decided to ALL take naps when we walked over to their exhibit. We payed $25 a head to see otters take NAPS rather than watch them caper around in – and out of the water? The humanity! 🙂
The most exciting things we saw all day were the manta rays, some of whom were friendly enough to swim up to you and let you pet them in what they called the “touch tank.” And then there were the turtles…the sea turtle was quite lovely, and looked like a real bad-ass! If this turtle talked, he would probably sound exactly like Jason Robards.

Kind of reminds me of Nirvana’s Nevermind album cover. I could have watched this sea turtle all day! Shot is from the Virginia Beach aquarium. Impressive that a female sea turtle lays, on average, just 110 eggs, then basically leaves the babies to fend for themselves. Amazing that any of them manage to survive, let alone this big specimen!

But the absolute MOST exciting thing we saw all day were two ordinary turtles, the kind you might occasionally see in the road in Michigan – one of them a dude, the other a chick. {SPOILER – DO NOT READ THIS NEXT PART TO YOUR KIDS}. The dude turtle tried climbing atop the chick turtle and and sticking his…uh, do turtles even have those (hastily checks Google)? Yes, they do – and they’re located in their tails, for the record! Anyway, this dude turtle tried sliding his “brat” into her “bun,” (aka cloaca) and putting some “mustard” on it I guess you could say! But the girl turtle, who completely retreated into her protective shell, was like, “No, get off me, bro, I don’t like you!” She wasn’t having any of it! Denied! Animals have their own way of saying “no,” and she was saying it quite loudly (go you girl turtle)! One of the aquarium employees said this wasn’t the first time such a thing happened with these turtles! There has to be a story there (sigh…if only my job were this exciting)!

In the words of “En Vogue:” “Never gonna get it…never gonna get it (repeat ad nauseaum)!” Failed turtle hookup at the Virginia Beach aquarium.

As for Saturday’s game at Oscar’s Grill in Saline (MI), uh…it was not QUITE as exciting as attempted turtle sex, but more exciting than sleeping otters! We finished with 98 points for the night, no prizes – fourth place overall. We missed out on second place in game one on a tiebreaker about Olympic sports (nice try on that one, Evan). And the questions (none of which will be about turtle sex …sorry)!
Game One
1. Kids’ TV – What children’s TV show, debuting in 1998, features a construction worker as its title character and various anthropomorphic construction vehicles in supporting roles? 10
2. Beverages – What soft drink, distributed by Coca-Cola, was originally released in 1959 as a clear lemon flavor of Fanta? FB clue, 9
3. Wars – Name one of the two countries (both for an extra point) involved in the 20th century territorial dispute called the Kashmir Wars. Mike all over this…and no, Liz did not play Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” though if I were hosting this game, I probably would have! 😛
4. 2002 Hits – Audio clip of 8-bit version of song I literally just downloaded earlier that day. I even did a post on my personal FB page about it…how weird is that! Got this for 7.
5. Tennis Players – Which American tennis player refused to attend Wimbledon between 1988 and 1990 because of its mostly “white” dress code – but returned in 1992 to win the championship? I think we misunderstood what “white” meant here – did it mean the color of the clothing – or was this a cultural thing? Got it, but only for 1 point.
6. Transport – In Jules Verne’s novel “Around the World in 80 Days,” he spends a majority of his journey using what type of transportation? Big miss for 6. Sinker!
7. Card Games – How may cards does each player receive at the beginning of the round according to official Hoyle rules in a gin rummy game? Miss for 2.
8. 2017 Films – What 2017 film starring Dax Shepard and Michael Pena is based on a TV series that ran from 1977 to 1983? 5
9. Slogans – What brand of skin care product introduced in 1993 includes its brand name along with the words “and under control?” For the second time in a week, we miss a question about skin care products…clearly we need to start paying more attention to commercials! Miss for 3
10. Flags – What symbol, popular in French heraldry, appears four times on a Quebec flag? 4
Finished this round with 48 points. And the mystery round [SPOILER] won’t help us…AT ALL! 😦 You might want to stop reading here!
Mystery – Name four sports, in addition to athletics, that have been contested at every Summer Olympics since 1896. Clearly we did not understand what “athletics” meant here, because every event we put down was considered “athletics” and was not correct. Isn’t the Olympics ALL about athletics? Grrr, semantics!
Eight teams, scores 37 to 56, with Better Late Than Never (I think) in first, they did not play under their league name. Maybe they were in second? We were tied with One is the Loneliest Number in fourth with 48, and What the Shibboleth was ahead of us by 3 points with 51.
Final Category – Disney
Of the official Disney Princesses who have debuted in Disney movies in the last thirty years, only four of them have names that are longer than five letters. Name those four Disney princesses.
We were only asked to name three, but could have named all four. We opted not to go with the one who was from a Pixar film just to be on the safe side.
We moved up to second, but were tied with another team…unsure which one. We sent Evan up for a tiebreaker about Olympic events, and this was the question: How many events were contested in total in the 2016 Summer Olympics? We went too low… 😦
Game Two
1. Fun Food – What is the country of origin of a Bento box, which includes food arranged to form an image? 10
2. Companies – What kind of products is the Swedish company Koenigsegg best known for producing? Big miss all around.
3. ’90s Movies – What 1998 movie directed by Brian DePalma shares its name with a bad die roll and features Nicolas Cage as an Atlantic City detective named Rick Santoro?
4. SCIENCE! – The Mercalli scale, encompassing ranges of “not felt” to “extreme” measures the intensity of what natural phenomenon? A lot of discussion, but got for 2.
5. World Cities – The two most populous metropolitan areas in the world beginning with the letter “K” are located on what continent? Funny, the populous cities we were thinking of were on the right continent, but neither of them are the top 2, still got this for 5.
6. Sports Equipment – In what sport would a player practice with a piece of equipment called a fungo? Again, a bit of hemming and hawing, but got for 3. Rough round!
7. HBO – I was just coming back from the bathroom when this question was being read, but it was it about Emmy nominated actresses from the HBO series “Big Little Lies.” We missed for 4.
8. Parties – Within two, in what year did the Boston Tea Party occur? Got for 8.
9. Hair Bands – What band scored their only #1 hit with “Every Rose Has its Thorn?” Funny, the one song I have from this band wound getting deleted from my car’s USB before the game. The 4-gig thumb drive was getting kinda full! Sometimes songs wind up having to get pink slips!
10. Novels – What young adult /sci-fi novel by Madeleine L’Engle, published in 1962, was adapted into a 2003 film, and will be adapted again into a 2018 film? Damn, I just SAW a trailer for this when I saw “The Last Jedi!” Another miss for 6! Sad, Mike and Evan are both generally good at categories involving books…and can you believe this is a book Mike DIDN’T read when he was a kid (IKR)? Again, sad!
Mystery – Missed #3.

We had 50 points going into this final, which put us in fifth – One is the Loneliest Number was in first with 57.
Final Category – Presidents
We bet 20 on this, but should NOT have…unusual when we miss on president final questions! Clearly the shark defeated the octopus in this game! Meh, the tentacled arms the shark bit off will grow back, won’t they? Sometimes!
Donald Trump attended two colleges, one of which is in the Ivy League, and the other of which is in New York City. Name both of those colleges.
We managed to get one, which was all Evan’s efforts…One team managed to get this correct.
Game winner: One is the Loneliest Number, unsure who finished second.
Until next time, which will be Wednesday at  the “Corner Brewery.” Next week is a My Trivia Live “bye” week, so it’s very unlikely that we will play in any of those games. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Dax Shepard! Did y’all know he’s from MI?