Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Dilly, our happy, sleeping bulldog
I have been looking forward to returning to de Vere’s this evening after our St. Patrick’s Day-inspired week off. A couple days before our last quiz, we heard of a Malaysian Airlines plane that had disappeared, and today we discovered more authoritatively where the plane “ended.” I tend to stay away from recent tragic events in the Pub Quiz –you should expect more questions about the Crimean War, say, than about the current civil wars in African countries, because I try never to have people cheer on the topic of the faraway pain of others. Today’s announcements about train crashes in Chicago and mudslides in Washington are mentioned here in passing, but they won’t appear on tonight’s Quiz. “Art is a spiritual, immaterial respite from the hardships of life,” says Fernando Botero, and so it should be with out Pub Quiz.
Speaking of potentially sad topics, I also haven’t been talking up the life-threatening health problems that have been faced down by our beloved bulldog. Dilly has spent almost all the days since last we met (March 10) in the hospital recovering from several surgeries and their aftermath. We have excellent health insurance, but our dog did not, so we ended up spending more on her care than we had on our entire family’s out-of-pocket costs over the preceding decade. No matter: as of yesterday, she’s home safe now, looking noticeably slimmer and very grateful. The children are ecstatic to have the family be whole again. When I asked Kate yesterday for a Pub Quiz topic, she offered this: “What is the best breed of dog?” She said that I should look for the words “English Bulldog,” but that I could also accept “French Bulldog.” Other people root for sports teams, while we seem to root for breeds.
Next Monday I will be giving my yearly reading at the MIND Institute to raise awareness of Autism. This year Kate will be joining me, for she wrote half our new book: Where’s Jukie? It’s about the joys and challenges of raising our son with special needs, something we do to heighten awareness of a relatively unknown malady: Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (or SLOS). All the profits made from Where’s Jukie will be donated to the Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome Foundation, so of course I will expect each of you to purchase a copy. I will bring some with me on April 7th, or you could join me at the MIND Institute next Monday, when the rest of you will enjoy a show by one of my favorite substitute Quizmasters.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature a number of geography questions, including about old empires and galactic empires. Expect also questions about Oscar-nominated actors, villains, foreign automobiles, the path to hell, the SCOTUS, alliterative names, Steve Jobs and his family, AFC champions, Ottomans, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, RPGs, billionaires, big bangs, Disney, people who are familiar with the fame, Olympians and other Greeks, allergies, illustrations, dead Grammy-winners, mélanges, the aforementioned Star Wars, TV shows that I am embarrassed even to recognize the titles of, legends, famous actors, large countries such as Zambia, fearlessness, Ireland and other islands, things that are confused for avocados (such as lawyers), Republicans, opera, and Shakespeare.
As the students of Davis have this week off, I expect all the sprung spring-breaking teachers to join us for this evening’s joyous communal assessment. See you then.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from our March 10 quiz:
- Hexagons. What is the number of degrees total in the internal angles of any hexagon? I added this question for our occasional math teachers. Maybe they will attend tonight’s Quiz.
- Pop Culture – Music. Who sings the 2003 rap song that includes these lyrics? “Go, go, go, go / Go, go, go shorty / It’s your birthday / We gon’ party like it’s yo birthday / We gon’ sip Bacardi like it’s your birthday.” For the record, March 10 actually was my birthday. Thanks to all of you who attended the party.
- Great Movie Lines. How does Morphius respond after Neo says “I know kung fu”? Two words.
- Unusual Words. What three-syllable M word means “to interest or amaze (someone) so much that nothing else is seen or noticed”? It’s an eponym.
- Art History. What is Auguste Rodin’s most recognizable sculpture? Some provided the French answer. Tonight’s quiz will call upon your understanding of German.
P.S. The great poet and playwright Arisa White will be coming to Davis on April 3. You will want to see this show at the John Natsoulas Gallery at 8 PM. Mark your calendar now.
P.P.S. Tonight’s swag will be provided by Steve Oerding, author of the Ranger Ralph comic books. He’s working on a graphic novel, and you can support him with his Kickstarter campaign.