Three of us hooked up virtually with roughly a couple of thousand miles or so between us Friday evening for a rousing virtual trivia night. It was a chance to discuss memories of teenage vandalism, hookups, bad movie sequels, gay TV characters, booze and much, much more!

It’s never a dull moment when Michelle and I get to see each other – even it’s just in a virtual trivia game! Maybe this summer we’ll be able to see each other for reals? In one of the most recent times we actually met in person, the song “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen was playing on the radio, and Michelle kept saying “Eric Cartman,” and since I gave up on correcting her, I started singing the song like Eric Cartman would. Never tell us to act our age – we’ll always act like we’re 11, so there! Now leave us alone so we can work on our sticker collections (LOL)! But look the other way if either of us is sneaking a smoke at Huckleberry Junction 😉

1. TV Episodes – In 2019, what PBS animated series aired an episode titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” featuring a same-sex wedding between a teacher and his partner? There was a brief period I actually watched this series – normally kids’ TV questions are stumpers for our team, got this for 10!

2. 2000s Movies – In what 2007 film does Eddie Murphy play the title character, his abusive wife Rasputina, and Hangten Wong, the owner of an orphanage? This one required a bit of grey matter, but we got this…

3. Geometry – In square inches, what is the area of a square that has a diagonal of 8 inches? Michelle was the superstar here. She said, “I never took geometry, but I took trigonometry.” I said, “Isn’t trigonometry just advanced geometry?” Said the gal who failed algebra in high school….(groan)!

4. Song Questions – Who is the title character in the 1994 single by Swedish techno group Rednex that asks the questions, “where did you come from, where did you go?” Knowledge you don’t need, but comes in handy on trivia nights…

5. Alcohol – What type of alcohol was produced by Alexander Gordon, who opened a distillery in London in 1769? We were actually drinking another type of alcohol produced by this company during the game! So we were torn between the correct booze – and the one we were drinking (so we didn’t go max points, but we got it).

6. Acquisitions – What major beverage corporation acquired Gatorade in 2001? Not so lucky on this either/or question – but at least we didn’t put Cadbury!

7. Lakes – The northernmost portion of Lake Champlain is located in which Canadian province? This was one of those questions where someone suggested the right answer right away, but had to be “voir dired” by their teammates and prove how they knew it (these things happen in trivia). So my argument was, “Remember how in Super Troopers 2 they were in a border dispute with that Canadian province where they all spoke French?” Yes, watching bad movie sequels can help on trivia nights! So sad – they did a Kickstarter to get that movie made, and they squeezed out a turd (IMHO). Broken Lizard movies can be so hit or miss – but Super Troopers (the original) and Beerfest are both so, so funny (also IMHO)!

8. Games – What children’s game has a name derived from the sound of marbles tumbling to the base of a transparent plastic tube when a straw is removed? Apparently none of us ever played this game, miss…

10. SCIENCE! – What is the term for the energy-creating process in which multiple nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus? Mike helped steer us correctly here…

10. Musicals – The 2017 Broadway musical that includes the songs “Super Sea Star Savior,” “BFF,” and “I’m Not a Loser” is based on what animated TV series?

Nerd point – who created this animated series?

Got the right series, but couldn’t remember the guy’s name.

Mystery – TV Settings

Identify the TV series when given their settings and the years in which they debuted

M1 – International Secret Intelligence Service (2009)

M2 – Mode magazine (2006)

M3 – Sugarbaker & Associates (1986)

M4 – WNYX (1995)

#2 the only one we missed. We were in sixth place going into the final with 56 points (Friday night trivia nights with host Jill are very, very competitive)!

Final Category – Musical Compositions

What 1936 musical composition features characters represented by specific instruments, including a bird represented by a flute, a duck represented by an oboe, a cat represented by a clarinet, and a title character represented by French horns?

Clearly we were having too much fun talking about teenage memories (such as meeting a boyfriend while TPing his house and seeing him getting undressed for bed through his window) and not enough attention to the wording of the question. Had I paid better attention to the words “title character” we might not have missed this!

On a somewhat related note, I was on a camping trip in 2019 and my subconscious brain decided to screw around with me (as is its wont). And it demanded I come up with the TUNE of this composition. So there I was – lying on an air mattress on the ground – awake – trying to come up with this tune. Eventually I gave up and managed to get back to sleep. But I did come up with the melody later! Too bad this wasn’t enough to get the question right on this night…Rewind a few years earlier, and we had another question about this composer in a trivia tournament (which would decide which team would advance to the finals), and the name just kind of appeared in my head – as if someone whispered it in my ear. It was so bizarre. I explained it away by thinking that the ghost who (according to the owners and several staff members) haunted this place gave me the answer. Has anyone else played trivia places in old buildings that are haunted? Asking for a friend! Also, I think this ghost stole some of my notes from a previous trivia game 🙂

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy…ghosts who haunt old buildings in which people play trivia games!