Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I’m pleased to announce that the Davis City Council has confirmed me as our city’s next Poet Laureate. I begin that important work in September, and will let you know, should you be interested, when I am sworn in and when I will be holding my first Poet Laureate events. I’m sure that by the end of my reign, in 2016, skittish schoolchildren and Davis politicos will cross to the other side of the street when they see me coming, lest I impose upon them yet another self-important poem about our fair city of Davis.
One might wonder how I would have time to take on yet another honorary role. Regular readers of this weekly newsletter know that my unpaid public service to Davis already includes a 14-year radio show on KDVS, the poetry series that I run at the John Natsoulas Gallery, my work as Chair of the Cultural Action Committee of Davis, and my hosting of various fundraisers for Davis causes. How exhausting! As Sartre said, “Commitment is an act, not a word.”
But what about over-commitment? I’m reading a book now titled Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. In it, McKeown argues that “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.” Non-essentialists say yes to everything (an accusation that has been leveled at me), while Essentialists say no to most things, even attractive opportunities, so they can focus on core avocations and the best opportunities.
The Pub Quiz is, by its nature, an inclusive and varied enterprise, and therefore one might wonder if it is indeed necessary: “trivial” and “essential” certainly qualify as antonyms. Yet I’ve decided that it is essential for me to spend time with friends such as yourselves, and for me to dine out with my wife, Kate. And our Pub Quiz gives me those opportunities. What’s the tradeoff? For me, I’ve given up watching television and collecting material goods. It’s liberating, really, to shed one’s needless habits. My bookend kids are both collectors, so I wonder to what extent it is my duty to help them find joy in this world without bringing home mementos of that joy. As Kate keeps telling me, the best swag is the swag you can give away.
Pub Quiz questions about starlets, cable TV shows, and Harry Potter may seem non-essential at first, but they provide an excellent balance to the trickier questions that I will ask tonight about Constitutional amendments, John Milton, and the beginning of the Cold War (all weighty and important topics). I call our weekly competition a “Pub Quiz” rather than merely “trivia” for many reasons, chief among them that one needs a Pub for a Pub Quiz, and because spending time with friends and teammates qualifies as essential. Expect also questions about big tech companies, connectors, football, people born the same year that Jay Silverheels passed away, fictional professors, great American authors, elasticity, alleged allergens, Canada, coinages, legendary creatures, recent films, recognized geniuses, Neanderthals, sleep, Capital cities that start with P and that none of us will ever visit, the United States of America, crossover albums, processed metal, retired presidents, the little things that hide in our soil, conservative beer, hot rhythm and blues, inflatables, relieved topspins, really long rivers, algebra tests (that is, a real math question), and Shakespeare.
Last Monday we filled every seat in the Pub, and with your help, we will do that again tonight. I hope you can join us in this effort.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Internet Culture. A recent marketing study revealed that “YouTube’s mobile ads are three times more effective if people are given the option to BLANK them.” Fill in the blank.
- Newspaper Headlines. A new study reveals that the most religious state in the U.S. is also the most corrupt. Name the state.
- Celebrity Birth-Years. Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Walters were all born the same year. Within one year, name it.
- Four for Four. Which of the following colleges, if any, are found in New Hampshire? Dartmouth, Franklin Pierce College , Northeastern University, St. Olaf College.
- Celebrity Assaults in Elevators. Last month Jay-Z was assaulted by his sister-in-law in an elevator. Starting with the letter S, what is the name of the Knowles in question?
P.S. On July 17th, our current Davis Poet Laureate, the extremely talented Eve West Bessier, will be performing at the John Natsoulas Gallery as part of the Poetry Night Reading Series. The show starts at 8, with an open mic at 9, and then the after party at everyone’s favorite Irish Pub starting at 10. Please add this event to your calendar.
Jay Silverheels