It’s not uncommon for people not familiar with the layout at Powell’s Pub to wander over to the kitchen doorway thinking it’s where the restrooms are. Hell, I think I did that the first time I visited this place back in 2014! It’s in a spot that would make sense for the bathrooms to be, after all! It’s less common for someone to stagger over there, stumble after doing a side “detour” into an empty adjacent booth and then do a back plant and commence a thousand-yard-stare staring contest with the ceiling tiles (I think the drunk guy won the round, BTW). “Are you OK?” I asked the guy, whose buddy was quickly on the scene to answer that question for him. He said to us very un-reassuringly, “Don’t worry about him, he had a whole fifth before coming out here.” This guy (who did not have ID) was not served alcohol by the bar staff. Upon leaving, they lightly grazed another car while they were pulling out of the parking lot (My trivia partner Mike was keeping a keen eye on the scene to make sure our car was safely out of the car’s path). A police officer arrived a short time later, and the bartender was able to provide the first and last name of the guy who paid the tab (for soft drinks) to the officer. Someone reported seeing one of the men pitch an empty liquor bottle out of the window of their car, which was recovered later. I hear it was round and had a skull design on it. Though this scene is not typical of the trivia nights at Powell’s, it is located close to the EMU campus, so it’s not really surprising that a couple of drunken boys wandered in there (yes, I am that old, college-aged males are “boys” to me). Survey says? Who DIDN’T do stupid things in college? And does graduating from college preclude people from continuing to do dumb things, particularly while consuming alcohol? Nope! As for our game, things were far less interesting, though we did win a first place/$30 prize. The game MVP award definitely goes out to Mike this time, who came through on some questions, and even pulled a correct answer out of his ass! Well done! And the questions…
Round One
1. Candy – What is the most common color of Reese’s Pieces candy, at roughly 2/3 by volume? 1
2. Japan – What translates into “thing to wear” in English? 5
3. Chilling Out – What colorful name refers to the name of the lounge room where performers wait before going on stage? Mike with the right answer for 3 (I would have no idea on that one).
Round Two
1. Blankets – What kind of large, decorative blanket gets its name from the large landlocked country where it was originally produced? 5
2. Oscar Nominations – What 2008 film earned Mickey Rourke an Oscar nomination as an aging has-been named “Randy the Ram?” Watched this at a friend’s house shortly after it was released. Depressing AF…would not bother to ever watch again by choice. 3

Actor Mickey Rourke (below) and Robert DeNiro in the 1987 film Angel Heart. This looks like some kind of publicity still. The two main reasons to see this film are to see DeNiro playing Satan and really hot sex scenes with Rourke and actress Lisa Bonet. Who doesn’t want to see good girl Denise Huxtable naked, lol?

3. In The Dictionary – Added in 2013, what does Merriam Webster describe as sexually suggestive dancing characterized by rapid, repeated hip thrusts and shaking of the buttocks especially while squatting? For an additional three-point bonus, what word describes a person of non-Jewish faith? Got this for 1 plus the bonus (though we almost overthought by putting down a similar word beginning with the same letter). I thought about using a photo of the most famous person to have engaged in twerking but I deemed to be too poor taste to do so (yes, really).
Round Three
1. PBS – Since 2012, what “Mr. Rogers” character has had his own TV series? I could think of only two dudes from the show besides Mr. Rogers, forgot about this particular fella…miss for 1. Forgive me, it’s been decades since I’ve watched this show, and I obviously have not been keeping up with all of the reboots, lol! The guy we did put down has, looking back, a REALLY inappropriate name for being a character in a kids’ show (think about it)!

Could someone PLEASE explain to me why “Mr. McFeely” is an appropriate name for a character on a kids’ show? 🙂 This is who we put down as our answer, because the only other guy I could think of from the show besides Mr. Rogers was King Friday, and I thought that was too ridiculous.

2. Inventors – Horsepower was a word coined in the 1800s by whom, who used the word to compare engine power to draft horses? Brain farted on the guy’s name, though we shoulda known, miss for 3. This would leave us with a 5 point slip in the category of “bodybuilding.” Will we? Or won’t we? Read on!
3. Bodybuilders – What bodybuilder from the 1920s/1930s got his nickname from a friend who said he resembled a Greek titan? I was kind of hoping the answer would either be this guy – or Ah-nold…(my knowledge of bodybuilders is kinda limited, thank the trivia gods for this one, lol). 5
Halftime – Taking Stock
Identify the companies based on the stock symbols (yikes)! The stock market? Weird magicks I will never, ever,ever understand (along with algebra)! Chins up, let’s see how we do with THIS….
1. PEP
2. VZ
3. MMM
4. MET
Missed #3 but it seemed like, so DUH when the answer was revealed (d’oh)!
Scores at the half: One is the Loneliest Number/Dan smith, 30; ‘Pods/Says Who, 32; Ham Wallets, 36.
Round Four
1. Astronomers – What Italian astronomer is often credited with having invented the first thermometer, in 1592? Newsletter bonus, 6.
2. Harry Potter – Since its first American release in 1998, which publishing company holds the publication rights to the Harry Potter books in the United States? A guy sitting at the table next to us said confidently, “I’ll know the Harry Potter question” when the categories were read. Didn’t hear any cheering from them when the answer was revealed…(tough question). Miss for 2.
3. Loud Noises – AKA “slate” or “soundboard,” a “clapperboard” is most associated with what creative process? 4
Round Five
1. Heart – Since 1973, the lead performers of the band Heart have been sisters who share what last name? 6
2. TV Hosts – Don Herbert, a children’s TV host from the 1950s-1990s known for teaching kids about science, was better known by what nickname? Mike pulled his one from his nether regions, but for only 2 (got it last second).
3. At the Market – To help reduce time spent in the supermarket, the Price Chopper store in New York introduced what in 1992 in its stores? 4
Round Six
1. Sports Records – The longest standing record for what track and field event has been held by Bob Beamon since 1968, at 8.9 meters? Educated guess for 4.
2. Movie Signatures – “Deep Note,” is the signature sound associated with George Lucas films, and is known by what three letter nickname? Mike again with right guess for 6 (I am SO glad I didn’t try to play this game without him, lol…)
3. Shipwrecks – The freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank in what Great Lake? If you play on a pub trivia team in Michigan and miss this one, you should probably just give up on the whole trivia hobby right now! Might I suggest macaroni art instead? Maybe you could make a scale model of the Edmund Fitzgerald out of pasta (that would probably be really, really cool)! And imho, the Gordon Lightfoot song about this tragedy is the closest thing Michigan has to its own “sea shanty.”
Finished regular round with 66 points, which is our highest score at Powell’s this season! Scores: Dan Smith, 55; Says Who, 61; Abraham/One is the Loneliest Number, 62; ‘Pods, 66 and Ham Wallets, 68.
Final Category – War and Peace
In the history of both awards, who is the only person to have been awarded both a Congressional Medal of Honor and a Nobel Peace Prize?
Sometimes we do learn from our mistakes! Having missed questions involving this person’s winning of the peace prize helped us get this…though we decided to strategically wager 59, which meant:
Final Standings: Ham Wallets, One is the Loneliest Number, ‘Pods, 125. I did not catch the scores of the teams placing second and third. This concludes the exciting story of Monday’s trivia game! We’ll be back at it again…soon. We’ll be flying by the seats of our pants a bit the next couple of weeks in terms of trivia games (seriously…when do we NOT approach trivia games in this fashion)? As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, former Department of the Interior Secretary James Watt (who shares the same name with a guy from one of the answers we missed in this game)!