Ah, trivia night…what better night for taking a load off around the end of your work week, soothing recent heartbreaks and giving a solid fist-bump to teammates for remembering obscure facts? A “trio” of ‘Pods met up Thursday at Original Gravity Brewing Co. for its Sporcle Live scene. Speaking of “scenes,” we’ve been hard-pressed to not see some interesting/quirky things when walking around this town! Last week, we saw some little league “spring training” going on – and a lone girl soccer player dribbling a ball in an empty field. Also last week, we also spotted a rare Dodge Rampage in a parking lot of a repair shop (they’re Chrysler’s take on the El Camino). As of last night, it was not still in the parking lot (bummer I wanted to take a photo of it). Here is another photo of this car I found online:

A Dodge Rampage, but not the one that I saw in the repair shop lot last week

Thursday, we saw a group of kids/teens and adults from a local karate class – clad in their white “gis” – jogging on the sidewalks downtown (some of them barefoot). The baseball spring training was also going on, this time the youngsters were doing jumping jacks on a baseball diamond! God how nice it is to take a trip away from the city I live in which is full of hipsters, poorly dressed college students (don’t get me started on today’s fashions…oy) and did I mention hipsters? I did? My bad! Anyway, as for the game, we did pretty well in the regular rounds of the game, but were laid low by both final questions (as were most of the other teams in the bar). So no prizes, finished with 81 points in this last “off-season” week.
And the questions!
1. Food – What bright-yellow gourd takes its name from the method of preparation where noodle-like strands come from the flesh? 10
2. Voices – What stand-up comedian and talk show host played herself in “Shrek 2,” Julie in “Look Who’s Talking” and Dot Matrix in “Spaceballs?” 9
3. Africa – What African country borders Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and the Indian Ocean? Dave asked me if Africa was one of “my” trivia categories, I said “Yes, but Mike is better at the map stuff.” Which he was, in this case… 8
4. Hybrids – In Greek mythology, a siren is a half human and half what other animal? 7
5. Canadians – As of 2018, not including any seasons due to lockout, within two, which was the last year in which a team from the U.S. not win a Stanley Cup? Nope for 1.
6. Book Titles – What book title is the destination for characters named Fiever, Bigwig, Hazel and Blackberry? I actually read this book before but would not have known this…thankfully Mike remembered the book better than I did! 6
7. ’80s Music – Billy Joel has had three singles reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the decade of the 1980s. Name one of those singles – two for an extra “nerd” bonus point. Got one for 5, but not both. No teams in the bar got both.
8. Documents – What series of essays were anonymously published and written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in order to defend the Constitution? 4
9. Video Games – According to Metacritic, the two highest-grossing video games of 2017 were both console games made by what manufacturer? Miss for 2.
10. TV Hosts – Drew Carey and Aisha Taylor (photo tie in of one of her characters) have both been hosts of the U.S. version of what comedy show? I SO love it when teammates ask for the biggest points slip on questions I don’t know…thanks David! 3

A scene from “Archer,” in which Aisha Taylor voices this female character named Lana.

Mystery – Before and After
1. Actor playing Count Olaf on Netflix’s “Series of Unfortunate Events” and 1983 Tom Cruise romantic comedy
2. Mayor of Sombertown in “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and subsidiary of Nestle that makes baby food and other baby products
3. Flashy two-point basketball move and coffee chain founded in Canton, Massachusetts
4. Titled shared in top 10 singles by Hall & Oates, the Purveyors and Gwen Stefani
Missed #1, our guess was Anthony Michael Hall The Right Moves, lol…maybe that SHOULD be a “before and after answer sometime!” Let’s see…actor playing Paul Barnes on “Murder In the First” and 1983 movie starring Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson (ahem)!
Scores – Fifteen teams, scores 23 to 61, with us in first.
Final Category – Song Titles
America, LeAnn Rimes, Paul Carrack, and the Pointer Sisters are four of the eleven artists who have all released charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 with what three-word title?

I can name a solo song by Paul Carrack (not only was he a solo artist in the ’80s, but served as lead singer for bands such as Mike and the Mechanics and Squeeze). I can name a couple of Pointer Sisters songs. I can name one song by “America,” but not any songs by Lee Ann Rimes. Answering this question correctly was NOT to be! Why oh why did the other artists besides the Pointer Sisters not record songs called “I’m So Excited?” LOL…
One team managed to get this right…on a guess! Go them!
We had a tiebreaker for second with This Is Sparta, which was in what year was “Santa Claus is Coming to Town’s” premiere. Their guess was closest. So they got second, and Team Rupert came in first with 76 points.
Game Two
1. Paint – International Orange is the official paint color of what famous landmark? 3
2. Comics – Boobadoop was the maiden name of what comic strip character created in 1930? I knew this one right away, but Mike started talking more in depth about this comic. Apparently her husband’s family disapproved of his marrying her, so even though he was an heir to a railroad fortune, they basically disinherited him, which means explains why he would become the “bitch” of his boss Mr. Dithers. As for his penchant for giant sandwiches? Can’t explain that one, lol! Got this for 10

Yup, this pretty much sums up what Mike was talking about!

3. Actors – What actor played Superman in the 2006 film “Superman Returns,” and was his only portrayal of that character? 9
4. Famous Firsts – Robert Walpole is generally considered to be the first person to hold what governmental title? Miss for 4.
5. Stocks – First opening in 1982, what restaurant and video arcade company trades under the stock symbol PLAY? FB clue, 8
6. Relocations – Prior to the Rams and the Chargers’ move to L.A. in 2016/2017, what was the most recent sports team to relocate? Miss for 1.
7. Duos – Audio clue of an 8-bit version of 2006 song, had to ID the duo who performed it, got for 7.
8. More Duos – Anthony Geary and Genie Francis went by what first names as on-again off-again regular characters on a long-running soap opera? Only two people in the whole bar handed their slips in early on this one (one of them was ours). Generation gappy? 6
9. Scienc-y Duos – Two chemical elements are named for dwarf planets. Name one of those elements, both for an extra “nerd” bonus point. Missed the bonus, though Mike knew which dwarf planet the element was based on (just couldn’t name the element). And Dave and I kind of accused him of “overthinking” this one, lol! Got for 5.
10. Board Games – In the 1992 board game Loopin Louie, the title character attempts to steal chickens in what type of vehicle? I WISH we’d asked the trivia host Lauren to spell this game’s name, it might have helped us “land” on the answer, lol…miss for 2.
Mystery:

Got all of these.
Scores: Ten teams, scores 19 to 56 with us in first.
Final Category – ’70s Movie Casts
Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, and 6-foot, 10-inch tall Bolaji Badejo are four of only eight actors who appear on screen in what film from the 1970s?
Good news is we put a movie from the 1970s that featured Yaphet Kotto. Just not the right one…no teams got this one.
Final Scores: Subaru Brothers, 45; Zuckerberg, 51.
That’s it for this week! For you blog followers, there will be an “either/or” trivia quiz posting 10 p.m. Saturday, and a little “Happy Earth Day” posting today at 4 p.m., but otherwise, probably no new blogs until next Monday or Tuesday. No weekend pub trivia shenanigans, we’ll be back in the saddle Monday for our My Trivia Live game at Powell’s on the first night of the season! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Mr. Dithers!