Chuck Berry sang the words “It goes to show you never can tell” in that one song…what was it called? Oh yeah the song was called You Never Can Tell. How fitting! That said, however, those words actually sound like the words of a quitter! Like when that friend of ours polished off can #23 out of a case of beer on a camping trip in Upstate New York and wanted to call it a night. Well, another friend said to him: “Nobody likes a quitter.” I wasn’t there to witness this event, so I’m unsure whether that 24th can of beer was actually consumed that night or not!

Let’s think for a minute about that phrase “You never can tell.” Well…sometimes you CAN tell! For example, in Tuesday’s trivia game, I could TELL that it was going to be a lackluster/prizeless trivia night for us because we had a QUESTION ABOUT BOY BANDS. This has happened in past games as well. That topic is pure Kryptonite for our team – and since I’m the only female on the team, the team turns to me when we get the questions about boy bands (not it, guys)!! Occasionally… I’ll make a lucky correct guess on a boy bands question for low points. For the most part, I’m pretty much a big “duh” when it comes to knowing about Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, 98 Degrees, One Direction, Menudo (for you clueless youngsters, they were a boy band back in MY day and they were plastered all over Tiger Beat magazines in the early 1980s) Fingerbang and just about any other “boy band.” And I offer no apologies for that! Boy bands just weren’t “my jam.”

“Fingerbang,” the boy band on South Park.

 

As I’ve already hinted, it was a prizeless night for us in our Sporcle Live game Tuesday at Tower Inn Cafe. Don’t pity us too much, our entire bar tab was covered by last week’s prize winnings (with just a smidgen left over)! We’re not going to win ’em all, but we’ll enjoy the prizes when we can get them!

And the questions…

Game One
1. ’60s TV – What TV series airing from 1964 to 1966 had these lyrics in their theme song: “They’re creepy and they’re kooky” among other lyrics? 10
2. ’70s Movies – What 1972 film featured Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox and featured a plot revolving around an ill-fated canoe trip? 9

All right…I may be using a shirtless photo of Burt Reynolds here (hello, it’s MY blog)…(RIP, Burt!) – but at least I’m not using the nude photo of him from Playgirl  where he’s lying on the bearskin rug while he’s having a smoke (not that I’ve seen that photo or anything, ahem).  Trivia note, Burt Reynolds shared my birthday!

3. United Kingdom – Which was most recent to join the U.K. – Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales? 8
4. Video Games – What video game series launched in 1992 featured characters named Baraka, Kitana and Kung Lao, among others? Lucky guess from me for 5.
5. Sports – Makuuchi is the top division in what sport originating in Japan? 7
6. Companies – What company started out as a watch company in 1897 and is now known mainly for yearbooks and class rings? FB clue, 6.
7. Newspapers – What Baltimore newspaper is the most circulated daily newspaper in the state of Maryland? Miss for 1.
8. Albums – Scarecrows, Sevens and In Pieces are the most recent charting top 200 albums by what artist? Miss for 2.
9. Forests – What six-letter word refers to a forest’s upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms? This is not the actual question we had,  (it has been rewritten) got this for 5.
10. Countries – Name one of the seven countries in Central America with two-word names. For a “nerd” bonus point, name two of the seven countries with two-letter names.Four points plus the bonus.

Mystery – My Name is Oscar – give the last name of the following people named Oscar based on the descriptions.

1. Irish poet/playwright who penned Picture of Dorian Gray
2. American meat company known for producing various lunch meats and the “Lunchables” snacks
3. Dominican fashion designer known for dressing Jacqueline Kennedy
4. Sesame Street character who lives in a trash can

Got all of these. We were in first with 64 points out of five teams going into the final. Our next closest competitor was 8 points behind us. We wagered 13 points.

Final Category – Oscars

Since 1990, four foreign-language films have been nominated for at least five Academy Awards, all of which won at least one. Name any two of those four films.

I’ve studied up on quite a lot of film “subcategories” for trivial purposes. High grossing films, best picture winners, acting nominations, animated films, directors…Sadly, foreign language films is NOT one of those categories! We managed to get one right, but not both (although a second correct film was suggested, we just didn’t think it was nominated for at least five Oscars and of COURSE it was).

Game Two

1. Logos – What type of utensil has been used in the Betty Crocker logo since 1954? I joked that it must be because of Ms. Crocker’s heroin addiction (JK guys – Betty Crocker was NOT a real person)! Brad was all over this for 10.
2. Americans – Correctly identify any year in which Davy Crockett was alive, a whole lot of unnecessary debate, mainly involving figuring out what year the Mexican-American War occurred and what year the Battle of the Alamo occurred…got this for 9.
3. New TV – What CBS series debuted in 2017 and features Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson Jr. and Stephanie Sigman as Captain Jessica Cortez? Curses (shakes fist)! Doctor Cop Lawyer Question fail! Miss for 3.
4. Geology. – The Mesozoic Era is divided into three divisions, one of which was the Jurassic. Name one of the other two divisions – both for a “nerd” bonus. Nerdy teammates all over this one like a Tyrannosaurus Rex attacking a lawyer sitting on the john…8.
5. Boy Bands (I’m outta here!) – Let’s see if Kimberly knows this one… What ‘N Sync song consisting of a four-word title was their only #1 Billboard hit? We went with a four-word title attached to a song by Britney Spears out of…utter desperation. “Well (hangs head sheepishly)…maybe they BOTH had songs by that name?” Miss for 1.
6. Trivia – What DVD-based party game released in 2002 quizzed players based on various scenes from movies? This question is abbreviated…Perhaps because the trivia gods took pity on me for giving us a BOY BANDS QUESTION (ahem), I was able to pull this answer out of my ass at the last second for 2. Never had a chance to play this game, but I probably would have liked it!
7. Speeches – Audio clue of actress talking about lots of her co-stars. Miss for 5.
8. Novels – Lydia, Mary, Katherine and Jane are all sisters of what title character in what 1813 novel? Miss for 4.
9. U.S. States – Which state is nicknamed “Big Sky Country?” 7
10. Pitchers – (we had a six point slip remaining so…no pressure on Brad or anything! What man whose real first name was Denton holds MLB records for most complete games at 749 and spent 21 seasons as a pitcher between 1890 and 1911. He also has an annual pitching award named for him. Got it for 6.
Visual Mystery –

Missed #2 and #4.
We were in second going into the final with 47 points.

Final Category – TV Episodes

What TV series that aired from 1996-2001 takes place in the fictional town of Rutherford, Ohio, and had 139 episodes, 108 of which had the word “Dick” in the title?

Totally off our radar…but we wagered it all anyway.

As of this posting, there are no “plans” for any other trivia games besides next Tuesday’s game at Haymaker. If my work day Thursday isn’t TOO awful…and I’m not TOO tired (it’s a very busy time of year for me)…AND I can have the car for a couple of hours… 🤔 Nah! Well, MAYBE! Can’t plan that far out! Thursday trivia game is NOT being ruled out! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, those rednecks from Deliverance who made Ned Beatty squeal like a pig!