First night of the new Sporcle Live trivia season at Original Gravity Brewing Co. We didn’t exactly start things off with a bang in terms of total points, but managed to get first place overall/ and the coveted 15 league points for the night. We didn’t win any prizes, and had a pretty rough game two, so I guess we’ll take those 15 points as a consolation prize! Most of the teams wound up flunking a question that should’ve been a “gimme,” since the question was based on the Facebook clues given out by the trivia hosts! Clearly we all need to brush up on our colonial U.S. history! Maybe the trivia host Lauren was way too kind to not rap all of our hands with a metal ruler as punishment for not paying better attention to the FB clue she posted(JK)! “Study harder, trivia players! What’s the name of that lake where Fort Ticonderoga was located?” “Uh…Champagne?” Yeah…we blew SEVEN points on a question that only asked us to name any ONE of the seven years in which the French and Indian War (aka Seven Years War) occurred (we would’ve gotten it right if a “within two” qualifier was given, so our guess was really close).. Knowing the final question answer in game two did kind of save our bacon a bit, though not enough for us to actually bring home any bacon (sadface)!

And how about the questions?

Game One

1. Constitution – As written in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress can impose duties, excises, imposts and what fourth other thing? Correct guess but not confident, 3.

2. Games – What game, introduced in 1965 and currently produced by Hasbro, involves strings of animals with arms hooked together with the object being to keep as long of a chain as you can before losing a piece? 10

3. Rock Movies – As of April, 2018, Dwayne Johnson has appeared in two theatrically released films based on video games. Name one of those movies – name two for an extra “nerd” bonus point. Got one right away, then thought a bit.. and thankfully my trivia “pardner” Mike thought of the second movie, so we got it for 9 plus the bonus. Is it just me, or have questions about this guy been coming up a lot lately? Maybe in addition to studying up on the French and Indian War, I should be learning more about “The Rock!”

4. Rock Music – What English rock band’s only two charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 charts include “Iron Man” and “Paranoid?” First “social” of the night, 8

5. Measurements – Fill in the blank with the next metric prefix in the following sequence: milli, micro, (blank), pico, and fento? Again, Mike steps in for the win (he is far more helpful on trivia nights than he gives himself credit for), 5 points.

6. Long-Running TV – Joseph Wapner, Ed Koch, Jerry Sheindlin and Marilyn Millian have all starred in what TV series that first aired in 1981? Most Gen X-ers probably got this one based on the first guy listed…sorry… (ahem)I GOTTA say it…”Ten minutes to Wapner.” Hey…I tried holding myself back! OK…another one…”I’m definitely not wearing my underwear.” Hey, this was great comedy in 1988!

7. Baseball Books – What 1952 book by Bernard Malamud features a baseball player named Ray Hobbs? I got really excited and said aloud after handing in the slip, “Hey…a baseball question I know!” I actually saw that movie when it game out…as far as sports movies go, it was pretty good (and of course Robert Redford back then wasn’t too hard on the eyes, either, wink-wink!), got this for 6. The next question won’t [SPOILERS AHEAD] be quite so gratifying!

9. Commercials – What credit card company uses celebrity look-alikes in its ads and the slogan, “We treat you like you treat you?” We didn’t know this one for sure, so I started listing credit card companies. You know things were getting desperate when I wrote the name “Diner’s Club” on my list (geez are they even around anymore?). Luckily we “discovered” the correct answer for 2.

10. Tall Buildings – Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States and is located in which U.S. state? Finished regular round with a 4 pointer. Now if only we sweep the mystery round!

Category – What Actress Am I?

UGH! A “progressive” mystery round! These are always DEATH! No matter, guess all of us OG teams will go down with the ship! Yikes!

1. Some of my roles include Princess Pea, Mae Holland and Nicki Moore

2. I was born in 1990 and received a degree in English literature from Brown

3. I was named a United Nations Women’s Goodwill ambassador in 2014 as part of a “He for She” campaign promoting gender equality

4. I appeared in all eight Harry Potter films (there was more to this question but this is pretty much where most of the teams started handing in their slips).

Two points on this mystery round! Woot?

Scores: Ten teams, scores 27 to 62, with This Is Sparta in first. We were right behind ’em with with 60 using the name Cosby’s Prison Pudding Pops.

Final Category – Laws

We weren’t too confident here, so we wagered three. Mike had his “strategic” reasons for this wager, but I honestly don’t remember what they were.

In 1949, the FCC created the Fairness Doctrine, which forbade stations from using the public airwaves to broadcast unfiltered propaganda.

Who was president of the United States when the Fairness Doctrine was repealed?

Mike seemed so certain of our answer and was starting to think we should’ve have wagered higher. That was not to be…

Final scores: Big Heads, Big Hearts, 52 (moved up from fourth), Just The Tip, (moved up from sixth).

And the next game will be kind of like “Shawshank Redemption,” where we’ll crawl through a river of sh– and come out clean on the other side! Well, not REALLY…it’s going to be rough! Are you SURE you want to keep reading?

Game Two

1. Prizes – In April, 2018; who became the first artist to win a Pulitzer Prize in music who was not a classical or jazz musician? Miss for 1…how “humbling.”

2. Cocktails – According to the International Bartender’s Association, a Bloody Mary is made with two different kinds of juices. Name one of those juices, name both for an extra “nerd” bonus point. A “social,” though not all teams got the bonus point, we got for 10 plus the bonus.

3. Hockey Teams – Of the NHL “Original Six,” only one team has been a member since 1917. Name that team. Ugh, so I have to pretend to be the “sports guy?” OK, here goes! I actually named four correct Original Six teams (see, Brad, sometimes I pay attention when you blather on about sports crap!), but of course did not list the one we needed. Miss for 2.

4. ’90s Movies – Audio clip of movie featuring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage that we totally should’ve gotten. Nope, miss for 3.

5. Netflix – What Netflix original series is about the women’s pro wrestling scene set in the 1980s? I knew what letter it started with, and my four-letter guess was SO close to the correct answer, but nope! Miss for 4.

6. Country Names (now that’s more like it) – Of the seven Asian nations ending in “stan,” which one comes last alphabetically? 9

7. Royalty – As of April 24, 2018, who is fourth in line for the British throne behind Queen Elizabeth II? Nope, miss for 5. Hey, I warned y’all this game would be TERRIBLE!

8. Games – Steve and Alex are default characters in what video game released in 2011? This question is abbreviated, Mike came up with correct guess for 6 (whew)!

9. War – Name any one of the years in which the French and Indian War occurred. Off by two, miss for 7. Ouch! We were not the only team missing this FACEBOOK CLUE QUESTION!

10. Alter Egos – Hank McCoy was the alter ego of which original X-Men character? Precious eight points here (yay nerdy comic book stuff)!

Visual Round:

Missed #4.

Scores: Twelve teams, scores 26 to 56, with This Is Sparta and Better Late Than Never tied for first. We were in ninth with 40 points.

Final Category – Authors

Along with his far more popular works, what American author released a series of books attributed to his alias, Uncle Shelby, a series of works originally published in Playboy, and a number of posthumous works, including Every Thing On It?

Knew this one right away (we own one of the “Uncle Shelby” books). And here are a couple of images from his “ABZ Book.”

Final scores: Zuckerbergs, 61; Just the Tip, 72 (this team got a first place sweep for the night). We were just one point out of the “money zone” with 60 points!

That’s it for trivia this week! Won’t be playing Saturday since I have an early shift on Sunday. Trivia planned for next Monday night at Powell’s. As always, Go Pods and stay classy…Uncle Shelby!