Sometimes, especially when you were a kid, you would go to a holiday gathering at a family member’s house and go home with nothing but boring gifts – you know – sweaters, McDonald’s gift certificates, non-interesting toys, etc. And sometimes people you shared a house with would commit the unpardonable sin of giving you “practical” gifts like socks and underwear!

Reminds me of a joke I made just the other day while working in a retail establishment. I had accidentally knocked a box of men’s underpants packages on the floor, and a very kind older male customer helped pick up the merchandise for me. I took the opportunity to ask him, after he groaned “Ugh, underwear,” “What would happen if women stopped buying underwear for men for Christmas?”

“We’d go without,” he said rather matter of fact-like. Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it? Men always seem loathe to buy new underwear and socks, yet don’t really want them as gifts, either. Honestly I wish I had someone to buy me some new socks! Underwear? I’m picky, I’ll buy those myself!

As for the trivia questions, they were not unlike a bad haul at Christmas gift giving time! The questions weren’t bad, they just didn’t click with our trivia wheelhouses – AT ALL. That happens… Here they were:

Round One –

1 Opening Lines – “On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed.” is the opening to what Caldecott Medal-winning 1985 book, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg? We had no idea, we incorrectly guessed A Visit from Saint Nicholas.

2 Casual Dining – What restaurant founded in Knoxville, TN in 1972 by Samuel E Beall III got its name from one of its co-investors, a fraternity brother of Beall’s at the University of Tennessee who suggested that name their restaurant after a popular rock song at the time? No idea on this one, either. Miss. Will we get a hat trick of misses this round? Read on to find out!

3. Baseball – What MLB franchise currently has the longest World Series title drought, having last won the Fall Classic in 1948? Yes, a hat trick of misses! Consecutively! Miss…

4 Hosts – What talk show host, primarily known for the program he hosted from 1991-2018 would end his TV show with the line “Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other?” Yay, we actually knew this one!

Mystery Round One –

Yay, got all of these correct! Though I was nervous about #4.

Round Two 

5 Elements – What element, atomic number 17, gets its name from the Greek word for a greenish-yellow color?

6 Same Name – What 9-letter US retailer of outerwear found in 1973 shares its name with a 400,000 square mile geographic region in South America?

7 Networks – Within two, in what year was HBO (Home Box Office) launched as the first premium cable network?
NERD POINT: Get the year exactly correct

We were seven years off on this one. Miss. And we thought we went early enough!

8 Just Desserts – Born out of a classic SNL sketch, what 2011 Holiday Season Limited Batch flavor from Ben & Jerry’s®️ featured vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum, loaded with fudge-covered rum and malt balls?

Mystery Two – 

Dead or Alive? – Answer whether the given person is dead or alive, as of December 16, 2022.

1. Actress Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)

2. NHL Hall of Famer Stan Mikita

3. General Norman Schwarzkopf

4. Broadcast Journalist Barbara Walters

What? No Henry Kissinger in this round? He is alive, and will be 100 if he lives until May, 2023! Also, did you know Cassandra Peterson had a cameo as a biker chick in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure? Of COURSE you did! But here’s a pic anyway:

We had 41 points going into the final. Unsure what our place was.

Final Category – Honors

As of 2022, 23 people have been awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Name either the oldest recipient of this award at age 80 in 2013 or the youngest recipient at age 40 in 2010?

Had we known a little more about what this awards people for, we might have done a little better. But…probably not really! Miss and miss.

No trivia for a few days for us, as always Go Pods, and stay classy, Jerry Springer – though your guests certainly should NOT stay classy – because nobody would watch!