Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Saturday I shared a snarky tweet aimed at Jon Voight, the notable actor who was demeaning Robert De Niro for De Niro’s characterization of Donald Trump. Trump critics found and started liking the tweet by the dozens, while Trump fans said that “poet laureate is a title for someone who is unemployed,” which I thought was pretty funny. The tweet was approaching 20,000 impressions before I deleted it. The language and tone of my online ridiculers were becoming more caustic, and I didn’t like my most prominent tweet to be even a little mean-spirited. A friend wondered over dinner why I was “trolling” members of the Hollywood elite.
Another tweet to John McCain expressed admiration for the senior senator for withdrawing his support from Donald Trump in the aftermath of the release of the videotape that showed Trump telling stories about his proclivity for sexual assault. During my decades at UC Davis, I’ve taken dozens of workshops about sexual harassment and the definitions of words like “unwanted,” “unwelcome,” and “consent.” Do moguls and billionaires not have to take such classes? I guess they have lawyers, instead. Let’s just say that, if elected, Donald Trump would be our first U.S. president who has owned strip clubs. Today it was announced that the Trump Taj Mahal Casino has closed after years of losses, leaving over 3,000 workers without jobs.
The election fatigue felt by myself and many other voters is good news for Hillary Clinton. The Republican nominee is far enough behind in key battleground states, and there are too few undecided voters left to affect Clinton’s demographic and momentum advantages. Now we will see how the Clinton get-out-the-vote efforts will affect the makeup of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. While Senator McCain’s late withdrawal of his endorsement cannot be called an act of courage, his choice reminds us that each member of Congress will be judged by future voters and historians according to how closely those lawmakers adhere to a presidential candidate who has been so damaging to American political discourse, and to our very democracy itself. Speaking of dangers, the new concern is that Trump will be seen as so damaged that those voters who would seek to defeat him may stay home, thinking that they are not needed. What are your plans on election day?
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will take on a couple of the topics raised above, as well as ongoing disagreements, invasions, roses, educational rights, the question of heritage, rhizomes, Normans, book genres, people named Barnes, Ancient Greece, cannibal clowns, Australian performers, electricity, botany, inventors, spices, vulnerabilities, unwelcome residents, superheroes, gatherings of friends and family, Harris polls, civil wars, dudes named Tony, ABC sports, Norway, John Malkovich, modern manufacturing, a few other topics, and Shakespeare. There will be no questions about joists.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz may move quickly. I will be on Jukie duty (with help). See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. Tony the Tiger used a famous catch-phrase to promote what kind of breakfast cereal?
- Internet Culture. Today Facebook introduced a new tab in its mobile app which lets you buy and sell things in your city. What is the three-syllable name of this new function within Facebook?
- Newspaper Headlines. Major League Baseball said goodbye to Turner Field today, with plans to move its team to SunTrust Park, now under construction in Cobb County. Name the team.
P.S. Pub Quiz irregular Evan White, a fiction writer and poet, will be opening for Don Thompson at Poetry Night on October 20th. Mark your calendars now!
P.P.S. This week marks our fall fundraiser at KDVS. Would you like to contribute?