Your Quizmaster — Home of the Quizmaster of Sudwerk Brewing Company in Davis

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Great Americans. Denzel Washington and John Travolta were born the same year as the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Name the year.

2. Unusual Words. What verb beginning with the letter B means “to explain, worry about, or work more than is necessary”?

3. UFOs. The Roswell UFO Incident took place during what decade?

4. Pop Culture – Television. What former cast-member of the TV show Taxi has a rare mental condition that allows her never to forget any moment of her life?

5. Film. In the film Despicable Me, what are the little bright yellow guys called?

P.S. I’d like to recognize the efforts of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, and thank the DSE leaders for what they do in the city of Davis.

The Irrelevant City Council Handicapping Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on May 21, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

The Davis City Council election is right around the corner, so I think it’s my duty to inform you the extent to which, if any the candidates for election or re-election have participated in the de Vere’s Irish Pub Quiz. I don’t see why this information would have any bearing on the choices that you make in the voting booth, but I did want to publicly thank the public officials who spend time solving anagrams and arguing about Australian species of lizard with their teammates.

1) Lucas Frerichs. Lucas Frerichs has the second most difficult name to pronounce of all the regulars at the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz (after New York Times best-selling author John Lescroart). Not only has Lucas attended the Pub Quiz more than other candidates for the Davis City Council, combined, but he also did so long before considering a run for elected office. I should add that Lucas has a delightful wife named Stacie who, like Lucas, appreciates art in downtown Davis (or so I learned at Flourish Davis this past Saturday night).

2) Dan Wolk. Dan has attended the Pub Quiz on occasion, and he was also an active participant in this year’s Pub Quiz-themed fundraiser for local Rotary Clubs. He joined his mom on the winning team this year, thus raising sizeable bank for local charities. He plans to attend more often after the election. Many people think he will make it to the winners’ circle this election cycle.

3) Sue Greenwald. I remember Sue attending a Pub Quiz a few years’ back. She also stayed latest at my March 12 post-Quiz birthday celebration, which I appreciate, for she spent at least a few of those hours entertaining my Mom. Rather than trivia, Sue’s game of choice is Scrabble, and she can often be seen playing with her Scrabble buddies Wednesday nights at another restaurant. Especially well-read, Sue would make a great addition to any team.

4) Stephen Souza. Steve Souza also attended my birthday party, and he has also been spotted in de Vere’s after the Quiz, sharing a brew with friends. I look forward to a regular team recruiting Steve to participate in the Quiz. He’s a hard worker, so perhaps 7pm is too early for him?

5) Brett Lee. When I wrote Brett to inform him that I’d be talking about City Council candidates in today’s newsletter, he responded immediately with regrets that he works in the Bay Area on Monday nights. He offered to make amends, so I recommended Poetry Nights. I was impressed with the quality of his writing, and look forward to see how Brett does in the coming election.

While I especially appreciate Lucas Frerichs’ ongoing participation in the Quiz, as an impartial Quizmaster (and a journalist), I won’t be formally endorsing anyone in this election, though I’d be curious to know which candidates you support.

Tonight’s de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz will feature questions about cleansers, mythical creatures, musicians, seadragons, annoying people, Ohio cities, spinners and spitters, the music of 2011 (remember 2011?), stadia, kitchens, oblate spheroids, The Taking of Pelham 123, long explanations, unfair math problems, Revolutionary War heroes, the SCOTUS, aliens, taxicabs, humorous helpers, gnawing pugs, David Letterman, men in black, ferocious dogs, A-List actors, cable TV shows that I don’t watch, Ashton Kutcher films, people born at Times Square, The Avengers, Columbus, Europe, Texas, anatomy, Republicans, the letter “T,” the San Francisco Giants, and Shakespeare!

See you tonight.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Internet Culture. Today is the birthday of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. With a one year margin of error, how old is he today?

2. Newspaper Headlines. It was announced today by the BBC that Americans consume what percentage of the world’s painkillers? Is it 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100%?

3. Four for Four. Which of the following countries, if any, are found within the area called “The Fertile Crescent”? Bulgaria, France, Iraq, The United States.

4. Film. In the 2011 film Colombiana, a young woman, after witnessing her parents' murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. What actress played the title role?

5. Unfair Math Problems Involving Sheep. Why do white sheep eat more than black sheep?

P.S. Congratulations to Fred Wood of UC Davis. Fred has just been named the new Chancellor of University of Minnesota, Crookston!

The Shakespeare as Professional Development Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on May 7, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I got to play the roles of both parents today, the one who gets to attend meetings on topics as diverse as SmartSite, social media policies for UC Davis, and supporting the arts in our home town; as well as the parent who gets to feed the three kids, prepare them for the trip to school, and then collect them again at the end of their school days. And then, this afternoon, I get to attend more meetings! This diversity of parental experience is made possible, in part, by my wife Kate attending a conference all day in Sacramento. Ironically, while I sometimes question the purpose (and especially the number) of the meetings I attend, as does anyone who attends many of them, I love attending conferences, especially if they support a cause I believe in (as will be the case of the Flourish Davis event that I linked to earlier), or if they offer some sort of professional development. With regard to professional development, UC Davis has named “Preparation for Lifelong Learning” as one of the seven Educational Objectives for Students decided upon by a large group of faculty (including myself) at the 2001 Chancellor’s Fall Retreat, and since then I’ve made a point of modeling curiosity and discovery for the students I teach. I suppose the Pub Quiz allows me to extend that practice, to enact a practice of lifelong learning that might appeal to a broad range of locals, without regard to how many years it has been since they sat in a formal classroom.

Tonight, for instance, we will share and learn microlessons on a variety of substantive and trivial topics, topics such as cold remedies, online communities, political change in France, The Avengers, large margins of victory, well-stocked libraries, museums, basketball, the tongue as razor, home states, bugs, the SCOTUS, making things undecipherable, Latino culture and heroes, auteurs, party music, solid footing, names of cities that you have seen but never visited, William McKinley, jays, non-fiction novels, Oscar-nominated actors, Irish culture, faraway capitals, favorite continents, Ron Paul and his minions, CEOs, breakfast cereal, and Shakespeare.

Speaking of Shakespeare, the man responsible for the largest Shakespeare tour in American history, Dana Gioia, will be coming to Davis on May 17^th for a noon reading and Q+A at the John Natsoulas Gallery as part of the Poetry Night Reading Series. I keep plugging these events because I create and organize them, and because you feel compelled to read these bonus paragraphs, looking for stray Pub Quiz clues. Gioia is former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and current Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California. His new book of poetry is called Pity the Beautiful.

See you tonight at 7 for the Pub Quiz!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What company whose five-letter name begins with L uses the slogan “The relentless pursuit of perfection”?

2. Internet Culture. What is the name of the electronic-book reader developed by American book retailer Barnes & Noble?

3. Newspaper Headlines. The same film topped the box office for the second weekend in a row. It has four words in its title, which is one more than The Hunger Games. Name the film.

4. Four for Four. Which of the following animals, if any, are members of the weasel family? Ermine, Polecat, Skink, Stoat.

5. Mitt Romney’s BFFs. With which 62 year-old current world leader is Mitt Romney closest friends? Hint: Back to the 1970s, both were young hotshots at the Boston Consulting Group.

The Happy Birthday to Ian MacKaye Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 30, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I read today on the website for radio station WTOP that my old friend Ian MacKaye was recently treated to a surprise 50^th birthday party. Ian is a central figure in the Washington DC punk rock scene, having founded the groups Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and Fugazi, so a number of his old friends came out to fete him, some of whom hadn’t seen Ian in years. Ian was an influence on me as a child because of his patience and kind heart, rather than because of his music (which my brother Oliver loved). Ian’s brother Alec introduced me to Ted Nugent, for which he should be forgiven, and Queen, for which he should be celebrated. Ian was older than me (obviously), but he would sometimes attend the musical performances that we would put on in our house, just a half block from his own. One time he accused our band The Headaches of being a rip-off of The Monkees (perhaps because our signature song began “Hey, Hey, We’re the Headaches”).

Ian introduced me and many other young people to the “straight edge” movement, a sub-genre of the punk phenomenon. Taking its name from one of Ian’s songs, followers of the straight edge philosophy abstained from alcohol, drugs, smoking, and violence. Some, like Ian, chose also to be vegans. Staying away from alcohol was a challenge to teenagers in Washington DC where the drinking age was 18, but I managed to do so until I was, say, about 23 (thanks, Kate). I never did pick up those other vices. Now I attract people to the joys of Guinness in a pub with my clever questions and loud humor. I wonder what Ian would say.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on alcohol of various sorts, as well as bookstores, perfection, popular movies, weasels, world leaders with friends in high (American) places, islands where Gilligan never lived, rock bands, milk sickness, baseball, chemical elements that you need or you get sick, rich people, southerners with big smiles, notable deaths, killer politicians, Disney, people named Alex, educations, adventures, champs, hookers, country music (as I do at least once a year), Gaga, the best minds of my generation, even more Disney (too much, really), energy policy, big republics, married co-stars, physics, children’s literature, radio stars, Democrats, humor, basketball, and Shakespeare.

Thanks to all of you who supported KDVS last week. They have almost reached their pledge goal, and they have plenty of premiums left if you want to help.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Newspaper Headlines. In what country did the recent Secret Service prostitution scandal take place?

2. Four for Four. Which of the following presidents or candidates for president married their cousins? Michael Dukakis, Rudy Guiliani, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

3. Bottled Water. The U.S. is the largest consumer market for bottled water in the world. China is the third largest, followed by Brazil. What is the second?

4. Film. What 2008 film stars James McAvoy, and features previous Academy Award winners Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman?

5. Pop Culture – Music. From 1995-2000, American singer-songwriter and record producer Ben Folds was the frontman and pianist of what alternative rock band?

P.S. Carlos Reyes reads his poetry Thursday night at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery. I hope you can join us! The after-party takes place at de Vere’s.

The KDVS Fundraiser Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 23, 2012

Dear Friends of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz,

Usually my radio show is engaging, but sedate. I interview newsmakers in the worlds of poetry, technology, and innovation, and enjoy unhurriedly discussing my guests’ new projects and interests. This Wednesday’s show, however, will sound in tone and energy much more like a Pub Quiz, for the KDVS fundraiser is upon us. Please note: Starting this morning, the almost 50 year-old campus and community radio station will betaking this entire week to implore and cajole its listeners and members of the family to support a station that has stood for independent and fiercely self-determined approaches to music, news, and public affairs. I’ve been hosting my public affairs show, “Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour,” since the year 2000, and during that dozen-year volunteer stint I have interviewed a number of Davis public officials, technology wonks from a variety of fields, local and traveling performers and authors, as well as creative professionals all over the country and the world via the telephone. Sherman Alexie, Margaret Atwood, Ian MacKaye, Ralph Nader, Gary Snyder, Steve Westly are among the many notable people have joined me to talk about their literary concerns and aspirations. This year on my fundraiser show I plan to raise $1,000 towards the station’s total goal of $60,000. I hope you will tune into 90.3 FM this coming Wednesday at 5 and be ready to share a tax-deductible donation. You’ll receive a swell thank-you gift; preview the premiums at http://fundraiser.kdvs.org/.

In addition to the hints I just reviewed, expect questions tonight on sleep aids, South America, presidential hopefuls, water, Angelina Jolie, alternative rock bands from the 1990s, college football, universals, Chicago, M*A*S*H, inaugurations, gratitude, Star Wars, Canadian performers, Abraham Lincoln, Hawaii, TV personalities, Asia, card games, flowering plants, rodents, soft drinks (or one of those last four), vice-presidents, India, genetics, American forts, baseball, and the entirety of the works of Shakespeare. I hope you can join us tonight for all the fun.

I’d like to congratulate de Vere’s Irish Pub for keeping our favorite hangout a safe place for revelers to congregate on Picnic Day. There were neither altercations nor arrests at one of the popular places in town, partly perhaps because de Vere’s chose not to open early, and to carefully restrict access. I’m proud to host my Pub Quiz in such a classy location.

I hope you can join us tonight for all the fun!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What company calls itself "The World's Online Marketplace"?

2. Internet Culture. As of February of 2012, what company founded in 1998 has the most followers on Twitter?

3. Newspaper Headlines. Inexperienced participants in a major annual sporting event were told to wait until next year because of the unseasonably high temperatures in New England today. Name the event.

4. Four for Four. Which of the following actors, if any, played Mousketeers in the 1990s? Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, Justin Timberlake.

5. New York Geography. One of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York is named after one of the ancient elements. Name the island.

P.S. You are invited to listen to KDVS (90.3 FM) all week at http://www.kdvs.org/

The Peacocks in Davis Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 16, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Having recently finished working with our tax preparation professional, I realize now that I can deduct the cost of an increasing number of my purchases, for I always find myself doing research for the Pub Quiz and for other outstanding writing projects. As I might ask you and your team a poetry question at any moment, I can certainly deduct the cost of the poetry books I purchase. One such book that I purchased recently was The Paper Garden by poet Molly Peacock. Voted one of the top 20 books of 2010 by a number of magazines and journals (see the press, here), Peacock’s non-fiction account of the genesis and history of collage intrigued and attracted many readers. Peacock is also received broad acclaim for her six books of poetry, having been named an honorary fellow at The Johns Hopkins University, having served as Poet-in-Residence at The American Poets' Corner, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City, and having served as President of the Poetry Society of America. Peacock has also performed her one-woman show in poems, The Shimmering Verge, Off Broadway and throughout North America.

Peacock is coming to Davis this coming Wednesday night at 8 for a free performance at the John Natsoulas Gallery. I get to introduce her, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what she will share with us. We welcome to Davis authors of Ms. Peacock’s prestige only occasionally, so I hope you will consider coming by Wednesday night to see the show.

Two other shows are coming up this weekend: Picnic Day, of course, and the KDVS Fundraiser. I’ll share more on both those topics in next week’s newsletter. Tonight’s show will feature questions about internet companies, Patriots’ Day, Ryan Gosling, fire and ice, do-gooders, people whose names are portmanteaux, hitters of home runs, favorite presidents, Frank Sinatra, Senators, Japanese words, automobiles, music from the 1980s, people who are filled with genuine class, famous relatives, Dick Cavett, National Lampoon, people named Jones, abandoning football for acting, red eyes, the British, fowl, people who can no longer cry for Argentina, Germany and Greece, the Equator, the Tiber River, American heroes, and Shakespeare. If I remember, I might also ask you if the fundraiser edition of KDVS radio show “Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour” takes place on April 25^th at 5pm, with a one-hour goal of $1,000 in tax-deductible donations.

See you soon!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. American by Birth, Rebel by Choice. Name the 108 year-old company.

2. Internet Culture. According to the latest internet meme, what woman in sunglasses has been confidently texting President Obama and other key political figures?

3. Newspaper Headlines. In what US state is Mitt Romney planning a refurbished house with a car elevator?

4. Four for Four. As announced today, which of the following was sold for a billion dollars? 800 patents from AOL to Microsoft, Instagram, The Rights to Raise the Titanic, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

5. The History of Disobedience. What American poet and essayist who lived from 1817 to 1862 once wrote, “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty”?

The Journey is Like a Marriage Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 9, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

One of the best decisions I ever made was studying abroad. From time to time we should excuse ourselves from our familiar and comfortable surroundings, and explore strange and wonderful cultures elsewhere. Doing so takes a certain amount of bravery in the undergraduate – typically a junior in college – but less so today because of the ways in which our world is so networked. I recently worked with an intern who resolved to phone her mother at least three times a day when living in London (in addition to the texts, the tweets, and the Facebook messages). I love my Mom, but to me that would seem like a heavy bonus assignment on days when my family would rather have me out seeing the sites and meeting the people of my host country, rather than talking endlessly on the telephone. Luckily, for me, when I lived in London, calls home cost a prohibitive pound sterling (or about $1.86 at that time) per minute, so I wrote letters, a couple per day. I saw letters home as a daily gift that I could bestow upon faraway friends, but the greatest gift to me was my roommate in London, a statuesque woman named Kate who has made me laugh more than anyone else I have ever met. Of course, she and I have been roommates for the last 21 years, so statistically, she has a big advantage over the rest of you. The moral of the story? If you are still an undergraduate, study abroad. Surely the benefits will last you a lifetime.

That said, when I lived abroad I learned an important lesson summed up by this quotation from John Steinbeck: “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on faraway places (such as an African country, the city of Edmonton, as well as the island of Ireland), strong women, disobedience, the circus, the state of California, a mosquito, a rock, geology, US Presidents, the 8^th century BC, fish, April 8, the late Mike Wallace, mentalists, the Muppets, linen aviaries, music from the 1980s, Selma, people named Zach, friends, glacial boots, elves, sports that most of us have not played, the streets of Davis, great poems (April is National Poetry Month), UC Davis news, conjoined twins, chemistry, consumer products that are made of pigments and waxes, musical autobiographies, many more music questions than usual, and Shakespeare tragedies.

By the way, I recently received a stack of fliers from my colleague Eric Schroeder (Faculty Director; Quarter Abroad and Summer Abroad) about the Internship and Writing Program in Sydney Australia. If you know an undergraduate student at UC Davis who would benefit from participating in such a program, and thus completing most of the units needed for a Writing Minor, (and really, that includes all of them), direct that student to the UC Davis Education Abroad Center.

See you tonight for the Pub Quiz! If you recruit a new team to join us, I would be glad to feature you or your charitable cause in a future newsletter.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. The drug Zolpidem has a trade name that starts with the letter A, and the commercial slogan of “Works Like a Dream.” Name the drug.

2. Internet Culture. The 20th most visited website in the United States is the first most-visited general news site in the US. Name the website.

3. Newspaper Headlines. The title of the second book of the surprise co-host of this morning’s episode of the Today show was America by Heart. What is her name?

4. Four for Four. Which of the following superheroes, if any, are Marvel superheroes? Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket.

5. Unexamined Acronyms. If you DARE to keep your kids off drugs, what do the letters in DARE stand for?

P.S. Molly Peacock will be reading at the John Natsoulas Gallery on April 18^th at 8pm. Google her to discover why that is such a big deal.

The Remembering Rex Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 2, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Back in the early days of “Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour,” the KDVS (90.3 FM) radio show that I began hosting in 2000, I paid special attention to obituaries and anniversaries, hoping that they would give me enough material to string together the sort of fascinating commentary, recorded poems, and read poems for my listeners to enjoy. These days, because of the work of my producer and assistant, Pia Baur, my show is overrun with guests who themselves are promoting projects or books. I’m guaranteed at least two engaging conversations a week: the one I have with a table of Pub Quiz aficionados before the Quiz begins, and another on the radio Wednesday afternoons at 5 with the guests that Pia finds me.

Because the show is no so busy, I will barely have time this coming Wednesday to say more about the passing of the great feminist poet and Stanford Professor, Adrienne Rich, who died last week at the age of 82. I saw Rich read at UC Davis in about 1991 – it was fascinating to hear the crowd’s murmuring voices at a higher octave than a more typically mixed-gender throng of poetry fans. She was an excellent craftswoman, as you can see by reading and hearing some of her poems at her page at the Academy of American Poets website. The other great loss last week was that of the world’s foremost banjo player, Earl Scruggs. My wife Kate happened to be listening to some banjo music (by or influenced by Scruggs, no doubt) in the hospital on the day that Truman was born, and she remarked that banjo music always made her happy. (Pete Seeger once said of the banjo that “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”) Anyway, Truman was soon born, aaand Banjo was his middle name (O).

But mostly I want to take a moment to remember Rex Babin, the editorial cartoonist of the Sacramento Bee who passed away this weekend at the much-too-young age of 49. Babin was a member of the Manly Man Movie Club of Davis (which I happen to run), as well as a consistent and spirited friend to KDVS, your local free-form radio station. Just about every year Rex would donate original drawings to the KDVS fundraiser, drawing everyone’s attention to one of the last independent voices in radio. I didn’t know him terribly well, but he always made me smile when he came to one of our dinner and movie nights, and when he would take on then Governor Schwarzenegger in the Sacramento Bee. My thoughts are with his family. If Rex were still with us, he’d probably also ask me to remind you that the KDVS fundraiser begins April 22.

In addition to poetry and music, tonight’s Pub Quiz at de Vere’s Irish Pub will include questions on prominent Republicans, somnolence, US news, superheroes, drugs and more drugs, Glee, dreams, basketball players, youth, food and drink, colors other than silver, religiosity, thieves, island residents, magic, American composers, cookbooks, those tiny fitted dresses that starlets wear at LA nightclubs, zoos, The Nobel Prize, other things I learned in LA this weekend, Frisbees, college basketball, Roman Polanski, Africa, baseball, Telly Savalas movies (not again!), Barry Manilow, second-favorite planets, rich people, absurd people, closed doors, famous Europeans, Los Angeles, problem plays, the rain, and Shakespeare.

Thanks to editor Justin Cox and the folks from Davis Patch for providing the swag last week, prizes for fourth and a rare fifth place. Davis Patch also shares this newsletter with its growing number of readers.

See you this evening!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

10. Textiles and Clothing. What do we call the soft woven fabric that is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, bed sheets, and sleepwear?

11. Unusual Words. What five-letter monosyllabic verb starting with the letter P and with a Scrabble score of 10 means “to render peevish, that is, to annoy”?

12. Pixar. Which Pixar film features the greatest number and variety of mentions of food?

13. Pop Culture – Television. Who anchored the ABC television program World News from 2006 to 20009, at which time he was replaced by Diane Sawyer?

14. Another Music Question. Released in 1971, what is the three-word title of the most requested, and the most played album-oriented rock FM radio song?

P.S. Scot Siegel and Laurie Glover are reading their poetry this coming Thursday night at the John Natsoulas Gallery. See http://poetryindavis.com/ for more details.

The No Mention of Hunger Games Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 26, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Spring has sprung in Davis, and the college students, like T.S. Eliot’s nymphs, have departed. Those who haven’t fled our fair city have few responsibilities tomorrow morning, so perhaps they will come out to play the Pub Quiz this evening, if only to look their friends in the eye again. I reacquainted myself with a 16 dads from my son Truman’s elementary school this past Saturday evening, and enjoyed dozens of rounds of a poker tournament. I enjoyed it not only because I won the tournament, but because of the spirited banter among all the men (some of whom said they would join us tonight – they wanted questions on music from the 1980s). In some circles, we too rarely excuse ourselves of screens of various sorts to meet for games, beverages, conversation and storytelling (I suppose that’s one reason why our Pub Quiz is so popular: forced interaction with your friends!). As Jim Morrison said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind,” and in free-thinking Davis, we prefer to control our own minds, as well as exercise and challenge them from time to time. This was a topic of a book I finished recently: Daniel Pink’s Drive. Pink has taught me ways to reward my students and my children by appealing to their needs for autonomy, mastery and purpose, as Pink emphasizes, rather than other sorts of carrots. On the other hand, my children also appreciate ginger snaps.

Speaking of snacks, as an adult, I never really went for French fries or potato chips (what the Brits call “crisps”) until I started spending Monday nights at de Vere’s Irish Pub. Quality ingredients and the absence of superfluous oils and questionable chemical agents make de Vere’s food particularly savory, I think. We will be discussing potato chips tonight on the Pub Quiz, as well as other food topics. Plan also to answer questions about San Francisco companies, Chicago, large countries, rivers, Diana Ross, superheroes, recognizable surnames, Simpsons, Roses, carotene, the color brown, unusual words, red herrings, basketball, Nancy Pelosi, textiles and clothing, Scrabble scores of 10, annoyances, ABC television, album rock, Rhodes scholars, Russia, rodents, the color violet, China, the great plains, Roman Catholicism, good men, Autobiographies, explorers, favorite brands of beer, March, bicycles, the German language, hunger, the Appalachian Trail, Giuseppe Verdi, the Guinness Book of World Records, Shakespeare, and bunnies.

This Thursday is the fifth Thursday of the month, so you’ll have to wait for April 5^th for the next Poetry Night, that is, to see Scot Siegel from Oregon and Laurie Glover from Davis perform their work at the John Natsoulas Gallery.

I hope to see you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

5. Greek-Roman citizens of Egypt that lived in the second century after Christ. The name of the author of The Almagest, the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy, started with the letter P. What was his name?

6. Monosyllabic Five-Letter Words that Start with the letter S. What word means 1 : an elemental being that inhabits air, and 2 : a slender graceful woman or girl?

7. Pop Culture – Music. What 1996-founded British alternative rock band achieved worldwide fame with the release of the single "Yellow" in 2000, followed by their debut album released in the same year, Parachutes, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize?

8. Sports. What San Francisco 49ers free agent quarterback is meeting with the Miami Dolphins, now that Peyton Manning has chosen the Broncos?

9. Science. What is the natural phenomenon that causes dispersed matter to coalesce, and coalesced matter to remain intact?

The Captured Saints Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 19, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Thanks to all of you who attended last week’s Pub Quiz, and who stuck around for the birthday party afterwards. I so enjoyed interacting with people from all the different segments of my life (the Pub Quiz folks, the Poetry folks, the UC Davis faculty colleagues, the parents of my kids’ friends, the Arts Advocacy folks, the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble folks, and the City Council members). I got to introduce some of these folks to one another, and watch them make connections and tell stories about life in Davis. For example, my Mom, visiting from Washington DC, spent an hour talking about geography and other hot topics with Davis City Councilmember Sue Greenwald, who grew up in Bethesda. Sue followed up the next day with a Facebook message offering Mom the use of her electric blanket! We are lucky to live in such a city, and I am lucky to have such adventuresome night owls as friends. Even though my Mom was on East-Coast time, the last of us didn’t leave until the hardworking hosts at de Vere’s were putting chairs up on the tables.

From what I heard, St. Patrick’s Day was a busy time for downtown Davis, and especially de Vere’s Irish Pub, the pub that has helped us all reconnect with Irish Culture. Like so many Americans, I have both Irish ancestry (perhaps 1/64^th), and Cherokee ancestry (1/8^th), though I must admit that I identify more with the latter than the former. At last week’s Quiz, we learned that St. Patrick did his missionary work in Ireland more than 1,500 years ago. Like Julius Caesar, St. Patrick was captured by raiders whom he later came to know well (and escape from). Whereas Caesar had the pirates who captured him crucified, St. Patrick returned to Ireland as a Roman Catholic bishop to convert the locals to Christianity. As is the case with many religious holidays, today most of us remain unaware of the religious significance of the man, and instead see the holiday as an occasion to drink and, in this instance, to celebrate Ireland and Irish culture.

In addition to questions about Ireland, tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about rocks, cell phones, empty states, the three major American sports (and I don’t mean the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), astronomy, Egypt, Spanish words, Mercury Prize-nominees, Popes, two questions on rodents, Arizona, elementals, vampires, centripetal forces, Revolutionary War heroes, birds, graceful women, feet, restaurants where I would never eat, reality TV, people named George, Missouri, songs we danced to at weddings, haircuts, Elfin undertakers, the Land Run, retired boxers, crying, raised eyebrows, lobsters, tall actors, special-needs heroes, the IRA, surprises, what we do for the people we capture, POTUS, Eurasia, the University Mall in Davis, fast runners, quality-focused redheads, and Shakespeare plays that you really should have read by now.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What deodorant that starts with the letter D has as its slogan “It won’t let you down”?

2. Internet Culture. Which of the following was the original name of Google, the search engine? Backrub, Gorgon, Keister, RoboSearch.

3. Newspaper Headlines. According to 52% of Republicans recently polled in Mississippi, what religion does Barack Obama observe?

4. Four for Four. Which of the following French philosophers, if any, died from injuries sustained in a car accident? Roland Barthes, Albert Camus, Francois Derrida, Jean-Paul Sartre.

5. Silly Celebrities. Which of the Jonas Brothers has the most Twitter followers?

P.S. Speaking of Shakespeare, the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble has posted a video trailer of their next production, titled Relapse, coming to an art gallery near you in April.