Looks like we have our work cut out for us for this new My Trivia Live season at Powell’s Pub! We encountered some rough seas last week with a particularly tough question set which left us with just 49 points heading into the final and the top team managing just five more points than us with 54 points. Three games into this season, we have just a three point lead over the second place team Ham Wallets. All we can do is what we always do – either know the answers to the questions – or not! We wound up with 62 points going into the final question, and won a $20/second place prize, which was the first prize we’d won at Powell’s in a while! Only one team managed to get the final question correct, so congrats to team “Says Who,” which was “manned” by solo player Francis. Clearly his knowledge of the Crimean War was stronger than everyone else’s in the bar! First order of business, point out where the Crimean Peninsula is on a world map! Let’s see, isn’t it kind of near Ukraine somewhere? OK Google, show me where that is! JK, JK! I do not own any voice activated “clappers” for surfing the ‘Net (really, those Alexa devices are just super high tech “clappers” if you ask me)! I’m old school and let my fingers do the walking (some of you other old farts will spot that old advertising slogan for the Yellow Pages). Now let’s get on with the questions!
Round One
1. Countries – What is the largest country in the world by area? 5
2. Authors – Cujo, Misery and The Stand are all novels written by what author? 3
3. Animals – What animal is known as “The Ship of the Desert?” Easy first round…
Round Two
1. MLB – What former pitcher was known by the nickname “The Express?” Nope, miss for 1.
2. Food – Sauerbraten is a pot roast dish that originated in what country? 5
3. Comic Strips – What Bill Watterson comic strip featured a boy named Calvin and his pet tiger? For an extra three point bonus, what Tom Batiuk comic debuted in 1972 and featured characters name Leslie “Les” Moore and Lisa Crawford in addition to the title character? Did not attempt the bonus…I honestly don’t recall ever, ever seeing this comic strip in any newspapers when I was growing up – if it did, I probably just didn’t pay attention to it. Total “Error 404 – pop culture reference not found” for both Mike and I (surprising miss, Mike has some pretty deep knowledge of some comic strip stuff)! Ask him to tell you the back story of Blondie sometime! What? OK, I’ll just tell you guys (pssst this is a “blog exclusive”)!

Dagwood met Blondie, whom was a “flapper” at a local dance hall. His rich folks did NOT approve of their marriage, and they cut him off, which is why he had to become Mr. Dithers’ bitch. I’m not sure if this also explains why Dagwood really, really liked YUGE sandwiches. That’s probably another psychological problem altogether!

Got this for 3, but not the three bonus points.
Round Three
1. SNL – What SNL alum portrayed Gerald Ford on early episodes of SNL? 5
2. Scientists – What was the first name of the man for which the Nobel Prize is named? 3

3. Movies – What 1985 movie involved the search for One-Eyed Willy’s pirate treasure? 1
Halftime – State Nicknames
Identify the U.S. state based on the nicknames.
1. The Grand Canyon State
2. The Last Frontier
3. The Peace Garden State
4. The Show Me State
Got all of these…
Scores: Five teams, scores 25 to 40, with Two’s Company (formerly known as One Is The Loneliest Number) in first (perfect score). Man oh man! That team was fun ENOUGH to try to beat when he just played by himself all of those years! Now that he’s gotten himself what appears to be a permanent trivia “partner,” it’s all the MORE fun to try beating them! Consider my competitive “fires” to be fully fueled when I have to play against BOTH of them! Hmm, why could THIS be? Uh….I’m not sayin’! I will say I cannot WAIT for the tournament Saturday!

 

Anyway…we were tied with team Marco going into the second half with 36, with our only misses having been the MLB question and the comic strip bonus (sportsball!).
Round Four
1. Amusement Parks – What country is home to the world’s oldest amusement park? Newsletter bonus, 6.
2. Music -What mode of transportation did Gary Numan sing about in his top 10 hit? 4 Doesn’t get much more “Pure ’80s” than THIS song!
3. Space – What was the name of the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958? Nope for 2.
Round Five
1. Sci-Fi Films – What 1982 film was an adaptation of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 6
2. Geography – In what country would you find the Vlatata River? Nope for 2.
3. Grammies (sorry this is how I spell the plural of “Grammy,” deal with it, LOL) – Which Beyonce song won two Grammy awards at the 57th Grammy Award ceremony in 2015 – one for best R&B performance, and the other for best R&B song? I managed to name a Beyonce song, just not the correct one, miss for 4.
Round Six
1. Poets – Robert Burns is widely regarded as the national poet of what nation? 6
2. Colleges – The University of Paris is more commonly known as what? Nope for 2.
3. Magazines – What three-word question is associated with the Mad magazine mascot Alfred E. Newman? And this is the second time the name “Alfred” came up in this game! How many other Alfreds can you name? Let’s see, Bruce Wayne’s butler, that one movie director who did the scary movie about the weirdo and his mother and a scary movie about birds, that Victorian poet, and that “prize” guy…wow, I really can’t name that many guys named Alfred. We got this for 4…

Sadly, this Alfred is one of only a few Alfreds I can name! Batman would be so lost without him!

Finished the six rounds with a respectable 62 points, which put us in a tie for second along with Ham Wallets. Two’s Company was in first with 68 points.
Final Question Category – Clothing
What garment was named after a British Army general who led the Charge of the Light Brigade after the Crimean War?
We put down the name of a garment that also sounded “kind of” like a person’s name, but we were not confident at all, so we wagered nothing.
Final standings: Marco, 55; ‘Pods, 62 and Says Who, 76.

My next “trivia-ish” outing will be name-that-tune tonight with Kim. We have prize money from last time to spend! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Nolan Ryan Jr.!