Answers in the comments. Except visual round (I don’t remember all of those answers and didn’t write them down).
Sometimes all it takes is just ONE question to let you know when a trivia game is going to end up in the toilet. In this game’s case, it was failing a question about ’80s movies, which is usually a fairly strong category for us. Animated movies were a different “thing” in the ’80s, especially if you were a Gen-X kid. I can’t speak for everyone here, but I know that I “outgrew” animated films by the time I’d reached a certain age. The Fox and the Hound was probably the last animated “kiddie” movie I saw in theaters, and a short time after, I advanced quickly to the R-rated movies (I saw Risky Business when I was 11 – my parents were…liberals). Yes, us Gen-X kids had to grow up pretty fast! Nowadays, the animated Disney, Dreamworks and Pixar films have become appealing to kids, teens and adults. Hell, even I liked WALL-E! It was a different story when I was 16 and The Land Before Time came out. What? Go see a “cartoon” on the big screen? Nope, I was WAY too cool for that (note I was not “cool”)! Why go see cutesy dinosaurs on an adventure when I could see a barefooted John McClane bump off a bunch of hot Euro terrorists – or Ripley go to town on an alien while in her underpants – or see the dad from That 70s Show say “Bitches leave” before blowing up a guy’s apartment and breaking up a hooker/cocaine party in Robocop? No contest! And yes I know That 70s Show post-dates the original Robocop movie, so you don’t need to point that out (note to my recap “nitpickers,” y’all know who you are, wink-wink).
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Aliens. Check out those skimpy bikinis! Wait…you’re already doing that, aren’t you? I’ll leave ya alone for a spell!
After getting a horrid game one out of the way…we did a bit better in game two, winning a $20/first place prize based on the strength of me remembering a character from a book I “tried” to read when I was 12.
Substitute host Sporcle Live with Katie T was on the mic this night, subbing for regular host Kat.
And off to the races…
Game One
1. Nursery Rhymes – What nursery rhyme character was implored to “Come blow your horn?” 10
2. ’80s Movies – Name two of the four friends accompanying Littlefoot on his adventure in the 1988 film The Land Before Time. Name three for a bonus point. I put down Rachel, Ross and Monica (I don’t like turning in blank slips), miss for 1.
3. Liquor – Aside from any element of the production process itself, what distinguishes whiskey from bourbon? Nope for 3, though we did kind of discuss the correct answer.
4. U.S. Cities – What U.S. city is known as the “Biggest Little City in the World?” It is home to many casinos, this question is abbreviated, but we knew this because of a Comedy Central series about this city, 9.
5. Anatomy – What is the eight-letter name for the structure that partially divides joints in elbows, knees, wrists and other joints? Nope for 2.
6. Football – The Military Bowl is held annually in a stadium belonging to what military branch? This was a FB clue, and I “sort of” looked into it before the game, so I thought I had the right answer (which as it turns out, I did). But I deferred to another player with more “sportsball” knowledge than mine, so missed this for…SIX! See how that Land Before Time question set up a chain reaction of badness? All downhill from here! Can we avoid a meltdown? Read on!
7. Restaurants – In December, 2018, what chain restaurant announced it was sell one of its signature items for 1 penny each – as long as they were ordered on the mobile app at or near its largest competitor’s nearest location? Always nice to see Mike reach for the biggest point slip without saying anything (such a glorious sight), 8.
8. World Leaders – Victor Emmanuel II ruled over what country in World War I? Miss for 4. This name doesn’t sound a darn thing like the name you would think would represent a person in this country.
9. TV Characters – Mr. Roarke and Tattoo were characters on what TV series that originally aired from 1977 to 1984 and was “rebooted” from 1998 to 1999? Normally I hate reboots, but I kind of liked this one (Mr. Roarke was VERY dark in this one), 7.
Malcolm McDowell as the “new” Mr. Roarke on the “reboot” that debuted in 1998. What – you afraid to let “Alex” from A Clockwork Orange fulfill your deepest fantasies? What could possibly go wrong? Allow me to queue up Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie…
10. Cover Songs – Audio clue of song being sung by Porky Pig, had to ID the original artist recording this song (I went on a little “mini rant” about how I’ve NEVER thought it was funny to make fun of stuttering – it’s just my little “thing”), 5.
Mystery – What celebrity am I – the following clues will reveal a celebrity – when their initials are put in order, it will reveal the name of the parent company of Crayola.
Actor from #1 (below) as he appears in Mystery Men. I used a shirtless picture of him as his flamboyantly gay character in The Birdcage on the trivia team’s Facebook page (hey blog followers, don’t say I didn’t do something nice for you today)! I also gave you the Ellen Ripley “underpants” photo!
1. Actor whose highest-grossing live-action movies in the 21st century include America’s Sweethearts, Night at the Museum: Battle Of the Smithsonian and Dodgeball.
2. Country music artist born in 1932, also subject of Coal Miner’s Daughter.
3. Italian-American who was the only person to win the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Formula One championship
4. English author whose works include Kim and The Jungle Book.
Numbers 2-4 all came easily to us. And we really, really tried on #1, but just couldn’t come up with the right person, even being able to “deduce” what their initials were. Turns out this person’s character in Dodgeball, which is the movie with which we were most familiar (go figure) was barely even on screen. Oh. Well…
Actor whose name we didn’t remember appeared briefly on screen in an instructional video in Dodgeball. Dammit, I can name SO many characters that this guy voices on The Simpsons but I couldn’t remember his name for this mystery round (bangs head against nearest table).
Scores: Only two teams in game one, us and…them. Easy enough! We had 48 points, they had 56.
Final Category – Golf
There are only five men who have won at least one each of the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and the British Open. Name three of those five golfers.
We decided not to wager on this because…meh. Had we known that only a first prize was to be given out because of only two teams, we might have wagered…and won – because guess who started naming the right people for this answer? Yup, Brad (go figure)! So “they” won the prize in game one. No crying over spilled trivia answers!
Game Two
1. Companies – Doordash, Uber Eats and Grub Hub are all companies dealing with what specific service? 10
2. Dolls – Cynthia is a doll belonging to a character on what TV series that aired from 1994 to 2001? I honestly thought this series aired earlier than this, thinking it was a contemporary of Ren and Stimpy so I overruled the answer that would have been correct (slap me silly, guys – this was MY bad), miss for 2.
3. ’90s Music – Eiffel 65 had a top 10 Billboard hit with a song (and its lyrics) referring to what color? Lucky, lucky guess for 1 (I’ll bet ’90s music maven Kimberly would nail this one for the big points).
4. Animals in Literature – In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is hunting for an 18-foot long fish belonging to what family? Because of all of our previous point flubs in this game, I asked the host, “Do you mean fish family or human family?” And when she answered, I realized how silly of a question it was (fish don’t usually have “human” families to which they belong, unless you’re watching American Dad). Hey…there are no stupid questions – just stupid people! Got this for 9.
5. U.S. History – What “Original 13” colony didn’t send delegates to the Constitutional Convention because it sill wanted support from the British? I wrote down all of the colonies for the “guys” to peruse to pick their answer, and their answer was “close, but no cigar.” I mean, as in the states border each other and are in the same region (nice try guys), miss for 3.
6. Artists – What artist, whom was born in 1881, had works whose English names included The Old Guitarist, among other works (sorry I didn’t write them all down and too lazy to Google). 8
7. Box Office Bombs (this question is dedicated to you, Scott): What 2017 box office bomb starred Lucas Till as character Tripp Cooley, who discovers a monster named Creech living under the hood of his…monster truck who eats motor oil? This one totally escaped our pop culture radar, though I do remember seeing this film’s title on a list of recent box office bombs I looked at not long ago (just didn’t make it into long term memory and thus help out on a trivia night). Miss for 4.
8. Olympics – Name one of the two years in which Michael Jordan won a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games? Came up with one correct one, not both, 7.
9. Dancing – Electro Shuffle and Orange Justice are dance moves in what game which allows users to use avatars? Speaking of recent things escaping our pop culture radar (I’m outta here)….miss for 5.
10. National Symbols – Emus and red kangaroos are symbols of what country? 6
Visual Mystery –
Missed #3 and #4.
Scores: Five teams, scores 44 to 55 with the “Them” team from the previous game in first. We were in fourth with 45 points.
What fictional character, first introduced in a 1908 novel as the title character, has appeared in dozens of film, TV, and stage adaptations, was born in or around 1865, and has been associated with locations named Windy Poplars, Avonlea, and Ingleside?
The year “1908” was the biggest clue for me, seconded by “Avonlea.” Since I’ve already “dedicated” that movies question to another player, I’ll unofficially “dedicate” this question to my childhood friend, Phoebe, who lent me one of these books (which I didn’t end up finishing). She tried – I tried! I was just SO bored trying to read this book…
Final scores: Liquor Kitty, 50; ‘Pods, 65.
Next trivia outing planned is Thursday at our MTL spot in Canton. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Creech the motor oil eating monster! And…the people who made this movie!!!
hebspeaks 
Game one
1. Little Boy Blue
2. The Land Before Time
3. Made in the United States
4. Reno
5. meniscus
6. Naval Academy
7. Burger King
8. Italy
9. Fantasy Island
10. Elvis Presley (blue Christmas)
Mystery
1. Hank Azaria
2. Loretta Lynn
3. Mario Andretti
4. Rudyard Kipling
Final question answers:
Jack Nicklaus
Tiger Woods
Ben Hogan
Gary Player
Gene Sarazen
Game 2:
1. Food delivery
2. Rugrats
3. Blue
4. Swordfish
5. Georgia
6. Picasso
7. Monster Trucks
8. 1984, 1992
9. Fortnite
10. Australia
Visual answers: First two are Smashing Pumpkins and Fiona Apple. Do not remember the other two. Anyone else know ’em?
Veruca Salt
Eagle eye cherry