We wrapped up the Sporcle Live season Monday at Sticks, winning a first place/$15 gift card in game one – and logging a score of 106 for the night. Next Monday’s game has been canceled for Memorial Day, so the “season” for us ended Monday (though we’ll still go out for some games “just for fun”).

In other news, it’s always kind of nice when missing a question in a previous game – helps you get one right later on! That proved to be the case with our final question about South America, for which a particular capital was still kind of “fresh” in my brain from having been an answer to a tough question in a trivia tournament in late April. Too bad the same kind of thing didn’t help us get the final correct in game two! Oh well, we had a good run last week – all hot streaks gotta end sometime!

In this game, we had myself, Mike and Brad doing trivia battle. Sadly, one of Brad’s dogs died shortly before the game (RIP  Kes)! He wanted to take his mind off things, so he joined his trivia “comrades.” Now if that isn’t trivia “camaraderie,” I don’t know what is! Call us the “Three Octoteers!”

How about some questions? Answers will be in the comments…

Game One

1. Mascots – Guinness beer and Fruit Loops cereal have both used what kind of bird as mascots? 10

2. Opening Lines – “I believe in America – America has made my fortune” is the opening line to what 1972 film that won the Academy Award for best picture? 9

3. Tests – Give two of the words represented by the letters GRE when referring to the standardized test given after obtaining a bachelor’s degree? Got this for 2.

4. Asia – Name one of the two countries sharing the longest land borders with Thailand. Name both for a bonus point. Got one but not both for 4.

5. TV Actresses – This was an audio clip, so I’ll put the question this way – what actress most recently portrayed the character Debbie Downer on SNL? We missed this for 1.

6. Novels – Winston Smith is the protagonist in what 1949 dystopian George Orwell novel in which he begins a forbidden relationship with his co-worker Julia? 8

7. Money – What is the only U.S. state in the 50 state quarters program to feature a spacecraft on the reverse side? Considered the right state, but didn’t write it on our slip – miss for 5. Just hit me in the face with a sock full of quarters as punishment! Anyone want to volunteer to be our “coins” expert for our trivia team? 🙂

8. Baseball Players – In 1994, Chan Ho Park became the first MLB player who was born in what country? Even a non-sportsball person would have a shot at making the correct guess here (especially if you live in an area with lots of people of this nationality), got this for 7.

9. Artists – Dale Chiluly is an American artist who is best known for his work in what 2,000 degree medium? 3

10. ’70s Music – In the 1971 single Joy to the World, what kind of animal is Jeremiah? Softball to end the regulation round, 6.

Mystery – Quickfire

Name four films featuring Jaden Smith to have grossed at least $50M at the U.S. box office..

We managed to get two…

Scores: Nine teams, scores 32 to 63, with Drinking Team With a Trivia Problem in first. We were in fifth with 56.

Final Category – South America

What country, the ninth-most populous in South America, is the most populous on the continent that is NOT home to a city that exceeds one million in population?

We really worked on this one…I wrote down all of the countries, and we all started crossing some off. We were down to two possible options, and by some strange trivia logicks, I picked the country with the capital that fewer people tend to remember/know. And that was precisely the country we needed to put down… (thank you brain – I owe you one! Maybe we’ll watch a Nova marathon soon – possibly a Ken Burns historical miniseries  – or Blue Planet)! What’s that? You’d rather go to a museum? Oh, OK! Let’s do that soon! There is a Star Trek exhibit going on at the Henry Ford right now, let’s do that!

Gamer winners: ??? (there was a tie for second), ‘Pods, 76.

Game Two

1. Acquisitions – As a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty, what country ceded much of what is now modern-day Florida to the U.S. in 1821? Kind of overthought our way out of wagering more than 3, but got it…

2. U.S. States – Of the Big 10 states that contain full membership to the Big 10 conference, name one of the two what are the most most populous. Miss for 4.

3. Authors – The GIlded Age: A Tale of Today, published in 1873 and The Mysterious Stranger – published in 1916 (after the author’s death) were the first and last novels published by what author, who normally used a pseudonym? Both the “real” name and pseudonym were accepted as correct, got this for 10.

4. British Music – What British singer’s song Kids in America reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts five years before she reached #1 with You Keep Me Hanging On? I started writing down this singer’s name right away yet Mike still asked “Are you sure?” 9

Not a bad cover of a Supremes song (IMHO)!

5. Measurements – Angstroms measure distance, mass, pressure or time (multiple choice)? Brad all over this, 8.

6. Food – What type of salad made of mozzarella, tomatoes, salt, basil and olive oil is named for an Italian resort island in the Gulf of Naples? 7

7. Super Bowl – In 2007, Devin Hester became the first player to return an opening kick in the Super Bowl for a touchdown while playing for which team – which would go on to lose the game to the Indianapolis Colts? Got this but not confident, 1.

Meh, I’ve seen  hotter! I guess he was some kind of heartthrob in the TV series whose name we didn’t put down (more about that in the next question)…

8. TV Resumes – Name one of the two series in which Joshua Jackson is credited in at least 100 episodes. Name both series for a bonus point. Knew one, but not both for 6. Tried watching one of these series for a couple of seasons, but just couldn’t get past John Noble’s character (after seeing him as Denethor in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, we just couldn’t take him seriously). Yes, that’s a strange reason to not be able to get into a TV series – but nobody said I’m not strange! And there WERE other reasons for abandoning this series besides the whole “Denethor” thing…

After seeing this actor play Denethor (pictured above), it’s almost impossible to see him play any other character! Yes, I know that’s just me!

9. Buttons – Within two, how many buttons are on a Nintendo 64 controller, not including the grey directional buttons? Mike had a “hit” with this one for 2. And these cautious, low wagers on questions we knew will bite us in the ass before the game is done (ugh)!

10.  Romantic Comedies – Which actress starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in Failure to Launch? I’ll chalk up this miss to a “failure to watch.” Well, I think maybe I got a bit of this on TV before, but obviously didn’t pay enough attention to it. What? Was I SUPPOSED to? 🙂

Visual Mystery –

Missed #1 and #4.

Scores – Eight teams, scores 32 to 58 with How to Train Your Drogon in first. We were in fourth with 50 points.

Final Category – Sports Relocations

We wagered on this, because Brad has come through with correct answers in this for us before. Too bad this was more of a “stadium names” question…

Following Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints did not play any home games in New Orleans during the 2005 season. Name one of the three stadiums at which they played a home game during that season.

One team got this correct (not ours).

Game winner was OK I’ll Have Another, 70 points – unsure who finished second.

A just for fun non-team game may be on the agenda for Thursday, but otherwise this is it for our week’s trivial pursuits. A theme night “might” happen next week… As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Denethor the Steward of Gondor!