We played our seventh game of the Sporcle Live season at Original Gravity Brewing Co. Thursday. We’ve had our ups and downs so far this season, and have been playing “mostly” with a skeleton crew of just 1-2 players, fielding more than that at just two games so far! In a recent development, one of our regulars has asked to take a break from trivia for a few weeks, so it’s been a bit of a…struggle (if you’re reading this…we miss you – come back whenever you’re ready, bro)! In addition to driving Brad to at least a couple of games, we’re going to try being a bit creative with our “staffing” in the final stretch of games. In the next three weeks, an “all women” trivia night is planned, and we hope to get at least a couple of “guest” players out to games, too. Hell…I’m not even ruling out a game with my folks (they have come out to some trivia games in the past, and they are pretty smart)! Funny…the other day, my boss commended me for “thinking outside the box” at work (for a task that involved an actual box, no less) – I guess I kind of “think outside the box” when it comes to trivia games, too! I said to her in response, “Hey…just call me MacGyver – and thanks!”

Marge’s sister Selma at her ill-fated wedding to Sideshow Bob. Selma had a huge crush on MacGyver…

Don’t count us out of the trivia game just yet! Our track record for qualifying for Sporcle Live league championships has been very good, with the last time we failed to do so being in 2013. God…it was a “Phil Collins or Genesis ” mystery round that helped put the nails in our coffin at that game- and an obscure Paul Newman movie question, too as I recall..In the other trivia league we play regularly (My Trivia Live), we’ve been doing very well with just a “duo,” but it’s become apparent we need a little help in our games at OG! Funny, we wound up sitting by a “NPC” (non-player character) last night who helped us with a couple of questions! If you’re a D&D player, you already know what a NPC is! If you’re not a D&D player, I guess you could describe a NPC as being akin to a movie “extra,” or background character, if you will! All of that said, special thanks to NPC “Dean from Saline,” who helped us with a couple of tough questions in game two (should’ve wagered full points on both of those questions)! We’ll take ALL of the help we can get at our OG games these days! As for the standings, we dropped down to fourth place and won no prizes, though we came close in game two. Oy…let’s get on with the questions, shall we?
Game One
1. Sports Movies – In what 1992 sports film would you find characters named Charlie Conway, Gordon Bombay, Casey and Fulton Reed? Good guess for 3.
2. Energy – When first introduced in 2001, Amp energy drink was branded as an extension of what soft drink? Another good guess for 4.
3. Vice Presidents – As of June, 2018; who is the youngest living vice president? Flipped a coin between two possibilities, picked the wrong one, miss for 2.
4. Symbols – Tyet is an ancient Egyptian symbol closely associated with what goddess? I really leaned on Mike for this one, and we got it for 7 (this is a guy who has read “Awakening Osiris” for fun…).
5. Comedians – What stand-up comedian and actor is heard speaking in the following clip? Missed for 5.
6. U.S. Cities – What U.S. city is home to the U.S. Steel Tower, which is the tallest building in that city? Social for 6. Fasten your seat belts, we have some BIG point slips to use…
7. Top 10 Hits – Name one of the three top ten (on the Billboard Hot 100) singles from Eminem’s 2013 album “The Marshall Mathers LP 2? Name two songs for an extra bonus point. Miss for 7. Me: “I’m sorry I can only name like five Eminem songs (hangs head in shame).” Mike: “And his songs are all the same – him whining about how rich and famous he is.” Proof that money doesn’t make you happy! I actually like a couple of his songs…especially “So Far,” the one where he samples “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh (which is one of the songs we guessed, and is on that album). It even came up randomly on my car USB drive recently! We guessed the Rihanna duet “I Love The Way You Lie” for the other song even though I knew it was too early. We tried…oh how we tried! Maybe we should write a pity party rap song about this, lol…(uh no…)!
8. Math – Name the only number that appears twice in a Finobacci sequence. This one made us sweat a bit…and not because the A/C in the bar was laboring a bit (which it was)…but Mike came through with the right guess for 9 (we were very, very happy to get these nine points)!
9. Cereal – Name one of the two fruits featured in the “Basic Four” cereal debuting on shelves in the early 1990s. Another good guess for 10.
10. NASCAR (we were saving our one-point slip for this one) – Who won five consecutive Scripp Cup races between 2006 and 2010? Miss for 1.
Mystery – Quickfire
Name the four actresses appearing in the most episodes of “Modern Family.” We could only think of one actress’ name, so we put her name down four times (really, we did). After doing so, I kind of broke out in maniacal laughter (really, I did).
Scores – Ten teams, scores 28 to 69, with Team Dick in first (I did not catch their whole name, but the word “dick” was in it). We were in sixth with 47 points playing under the name “It’s Daddy Daughter Day On Whore Island.”
Final Category – Animals
A tiercel is the male of what kind of animal that has been domesticated for use in hunting?
Got it, but so did enough teams ahead of us…
Final Scores: Team Mott, 82; Dick, 89. Mott won second over This Is Sparta on a tiebreaker based on this question: Singer Prince and Izzy Azalea share a birthday on the same day how many years apart? I played along and my guess was only off by 2 (I love tiebreakers as long as they’re not sports stats, lol).
Game Two
1. Nursery Rhymes – What three men are in the tub in the classic nursery rhyme with the line, “Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub?” 10
2. In The News – What Hawaiian volcano erupted in May, 2018 causing the temporary closure of Volcanoes National Park? Miss for 4 (nice try, Mike)!
3, Classic Rock – Released in late 1969, what was the highest charting single by Led Zeppelin? Lifeline from NPC Dean on this one, but only wagered 3 (should’ve wagered more).
4. Commercials – Katy Perry, Pink and Rihanna have all appeared in ads for what cosmetics company? 9
5. Mascots – What NBA team has a costumed dragon mascot named “Scuff?” Dean helped us again here for 5.
6. Academy Awards (now THIS is more like it…) – What actress has received four nominations for best actress, most recently doing so for the 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give? Sigh…speaking of “something’s gotta give…” THIS trivia season at OG!  8

Marilyn Monroe in the unfinished 1962 film Something’s Got To Give. Monroe is one of a couple of actresses (the other being Jane Fonda) I have secret “girl crushes” on. Yes, Marilyn Monroe was good eye candy (duh), but I also have a deep appreciation (and empathy) for her troubled soul, which undoubtedly led to her path of self destruction – and gave her depth. To this day, no actress can light up the screen the way she could (imho). I LOVED her in Some Like It Hot, which also starred Jack Lemmon (who had a deep respect for her, despite her reputation for being a pain in the ass on the set).

7. Treaties – Formed in 1955, what treaty is formally known as Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance? Miss for 7.
8. Snakes – Facebook clue question. Python was the answer (sorry not recreating that question…), 7.
9. Daytime TV – Lynn Toler took over as arbiter of what TV series that has aired on and off since the 1950s? Nope, miss for 1.
10. Memorials – Opened in 1989, in what southern capital city would you find the Civil Rights Memorial? For an extra bonus point, who designed this memorial – and was also the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.? Got this for 6, missed the bonus.
Visual mystery –

Missed #2.
Scores – Ten teams, scores 28 to 57, with Big Heads Big Hearts in first. We were in second with 54 points.
Final Category – European History
The eurozone came into existence with the official launch of the euro on January 1, 1999 in eleven member states of the European Union.
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain were four of those countries – name two of the other seven.
Nope. Wagered 20 and missed…
Game winners: This Is Sparta, 72; Big Heads Big Hearts, 75.
Our next game will be a solo outing Saturday, so look for a recap on Sunday. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Eminem!