A couple of us ‘Pods joined forces with another league team for a Sporcle Live game Thursday at Sticks in Ypsilanti, MI. Mike and I played with three members of the team Trump 2020: Keep America Great (two of them left after game one). Normally I can’t do the late games, but (yippee) I am not working today, so I got to play a late game! So, so glad I didn’t have to drive to work today, it looks NASTY outside…Anyway, we’d previously played with Evan from this team quite a few times, but had never met anyone else from his team before. Interesting that all members of this team had first names ending in the letter “n.” How many male first names can you list ending in the letter “n?” Some of them are pretty popular baby names right now! Hm, that sounds like a trivia question…Our hybrid “team” quickly got into a groove – wound up getting a first place sweep, 149 points – first place for the night. Poor Evan kicked himself for coming within three on a tough Pokémon question (players had to be correct within 50). Still a nice night of teamwork, and a pleasant surprise when our bar tab was due! We had a $20 bar tab, and a $15 gift card to cover that tab. Turns out, we had a $10 reward on our Aubree’s Rewards account, so once that was deducted, and $10 deducted from the gift card, we had $5 left on the gift card! It was kind of nice only having to pay the tip! It was kind of a mixed bag of questions – covering topics including literary characters, bowling, Spanish language films, streetcars, and…cats. Everyone loves cats, don’t they? No? Well, let’s get on with those questions…
Game One
1. Mascots – The S.S. Guppy is the primary transportation of what animated food mascot? A bit of debate, got for 3.
2. Documentaries – What nature documentary that premiered in 2006 was narrated by David Attenborough when it aired on the BBC and narrated by Sigourney Weaver when it aired on the Discovery Channel? 10
3. Oceans – What is the third largest ocean by volume and by surface area? 7
4. Foreign Language Films – What 2006 dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo Del Toro is the highest grossing Spanish language film of all time at the U.S. box office? I remember seeing this in theaters…someone actually brought a very young child to see this! Needless to say, this poor kid was crying quite a bit during the movie. Yeah, this movie is a bit TOO dark and violent for young children…and if they can’t read English subtitles – or understand Spanish – what could possibly be enjoyable about this experience for a little kid? Hell, there are some scenes that I have to close my eyes for in that movie! I know we saw the subtitled version (I would not have chosen to see the dubbed version…I hate foreign movies that are dubbed into English). Maybe the parents just couldn’t get a sitter? Also, Del Toro personally oversaw all of the Spanish subtitles in this film to make sure they were all correct. Way too many interesting bits of trivia about this movie to list here…damn, now I want to see it again! And also see Del Toro’s new fish monster movie! Got this for 9.

Fairy folk are NOT to be trifled with…they have a different sense of morality than humans. Forget about Disney Jr.’s take on fairies, REAL fairy folk are…downright scary! Tinkerbell from Peter Pan tried killing Wendy! It’s best to try staying on their good side! Here, “The Faun” in Pan’s Labyrinth talks with Ofelia. [SPOILER] Ofelia does something in this movie to get on his bad side…but you probably already guessed that, right?

5. Ice Cream – What is the largest individual portion size available at Cold Stone Creamery, roughly equivalent to a “like it” and “love it” combined? Mike and I have never been to one of these joints, but Evan visited one once and managed to get this for 2. Isn’t this the place where they cut ice cream into slabs or something?
6. Balls (snicker) – According to the U.S. Bowling Congress, what is the minimum allowed weight for a bowling ball – 4, 6, 8 pounds – or no minimum weight? Miss for 5. I used to bowl and never saw a ball weighing less than 8 pounds…
7. Hit Songs – Name either of the hit songs that has spent 16 weeks as the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Both for a nerd bonus. Nope, and nope. I need to start studying up on hit songs! Ugh…do I gotta? 
8.. Animal Words – The term ovine is used to refer to what animal? 8
9. Famous Moms – What Native American had two children named Jean Baptiste and Lisette who were later adopted by an American explorer? 6
10. Keeping Score – In a standard game of darts, what is the lowest positive number that cannot be scored with a single throw? I gave my brain a rest for this one…thankfully they all came up with the right number…
Mystery – Beatles Anagrams
Identify the top 20 hit by the Beatles based on the following anagrams – and release years.
1. Torch Me Ego, 1969
2. Howdy Rat Tail Nunhood, 1964
3. Nurse Moth Cheese, 1969
4. Emu Vet Balcony, 1964
I came up with 1 & 2 fairly quickly, and started racking my brain for #3, since I was positive it was from the same album as #1 (which I was listening to a lot a few months ago). Maxwell’s Silver Hammer? No (I wish, though…I wish! A song about someone who kills people with a hammer)! Mean Mr. Mustard? No! Octopus’ Garden? No! Dammit brain, why do you always go to the obscure shit first? Stop overthinking this! While I was having this convo with my brain, Evan came up with #4 (thank you)! And I still covered my ears and doggedly worked on #3, (my teammate Dave does this when he tries to come up with music answers on trivia nights too) figuring it HAD to be one of the ones sung by the “Quiet Beatle.” The one my mom had a crush on and named one of her cats for (I don’t know why I thought this, but that is really where my brain decided to go, which turned out to be a good thing). Still My Guitar Gently Weeps? No, wrong album, wrong letters…Something? No, wrong letters! Then it came to me…(yay)! Got all of these. What a photo finish! Thank you for not betraying me, brain, now to go back to killing you with beer (JK)!

Indeed…

Scores: Twelve teams, scores 14 to 56, with Trump 2020 (us) in first. Dirty Mike and the Boys were right behind us with 54, and Dem Iggs right behind them with 51.
Final Category – Transportation
While San Francisco is known for its streetcars, which major city has the oldest still-operating streetcar system in the United States, having begun operation in 1835?
I wrote down what I thought was correct right away, but really, I had no clue, so we started discussing different cities. Midwest, South, even the West Coast. Lots of cities crossed off. We wound up going with the one that both Mike and I guessed right away, basing our logic solely on a Tennessee Williams play, for which we didn’t even know the city in which it was set. We just knew what region of the U.S. it was set.
Then host Tim started reading off a list of cities that still have working streetcar systems, and gave the years that they started using said systems. City after city was named, but not the one we put down. Jesus, did we get this? Such torture! Then he read the last city. Woot, got it!
Scores: Dirty Mike and the Boys, 74 Trump 2020, 75.
Game Two
1. Diseases – Name 1/3 infectious disease that a DPT is designed to prevent. Name two of these for an extra bonus point. Evan all over this for 10, he said “I love diseases” when the category was read, lol…
2. Sports Achievements – Sir Barton became the first sports figure in 1919 to accomplish what feat – which was recently repeated in 2015? Evan again with the right guess, for 5.
3. Breakfast – In addition to egg, what food item is required for a Spanish omelette? Nope, no short order cooks in our trivia group, miss for 2.
4. Gaming – Within 50, how many Pokémon are there in the National Pokédex as of the 2017 release of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon? Evan really tried hard here…missed within only 3!
5. Literary Families – What is the last name of the family that lives at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England? Nope, miss for 1.
6. Africa – Which country on the continent of Africa extends farthest north? Mike for the points here.
7. Debut Albums – What American rock band released the singles “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes” on their debut album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite?” Both songs make me “stabby,” lol…but this was a FB clue, 9.
8. ’60s TV – Audio clue of ’60s show featuring an actor who played a chimney sweep in a movie. Thankfully Mike was all over this, I would not be able to pick this theme song out of a lineup, and Evan too young to have a clue!
9. Famous Women – Valentina Tereshkova, Roberta Bondar, Chiaki Mukai and Liv Yang were the first women from their respective countries to do what? First woman listed was enough of a clue for me, got this…
10. Horror – What 1984 horror film included the line, “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep?”
Finished regular round with 48 points. A bit rough! But I heard that other players had a rough time with this question set on Thursday, too…
Visual Mystery

Missed #2.
Scores – Ten teams, scores 28 to 58, with Dem Iggs in first. We were in second with 54.
Final Category – Pets
Name any one of the five most popular breeds of cat, according to the Cat Fanciers’ Associations, based on the number of registrations in 2016.
A bit of debate…but wound up getting this. Mike had right guess right away.
Final Scores: Dirty Mike and the Boys, 54; Trump 2020, 74.
Until next time, which “may” be Saturday *weather permitting.* As always, Go Pods, and stay classy…Chip and Joanne Gaines!