Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I am preparing for the first day of my journalism class, so I will hand the shank of this week’s newsletter to my wife Kate. I will post the relevant picture on the Quizmaster website. Happy National Poetry Month!

One of the blessings of having three kids is that by the time I got to my third, I acquired a sense of perspective taught to me by the older siblings. And there’s nothing like launching a kid out into the world to cause us to reflect on what we did well, and also what we screwed up. Until my firstborn left for college, I’m not sure I quite got that childhood is finite. The days are long but the years are short, as the saying goes. So, I want to squeeze all the fun out of my kids’ remaining kid years. 

Last weekend, after Andy had turned in the last of his students’ grades, I asked him this inevitable question: What good is living in California if you can’t just pick up and go to Disneyland whenever you want? Anyone who knows Truman knows that he ✨loves💫 Disneyland. He knows all the Disney facts and has even written a guide to Disneyland. Honestly, I love it too. And Margot had never been to SoCal, so why not take a spontaneous trip?

Here are the highlights of our spring break:

💙 Introducing Margot to her Uncle Oliver, Aunt Sarah, and cousin Clementine. Margot greeted them like long lost relatives, and I was happy they could meet her in her puppy stage of life. They threatened to cause a family rift by dognapping her, but I kept a close eye. 

🧡 Watching Jukie meet Chewbacca, gently grabbing his fingers and looking straight up, into Chewie’s eyes. Normally characters freak Jukie out, but he and Chewie seemed to bond wordlessly and instantly. I thought about how Truman used to explain Jukie’s disability to his friends: “It’s like my dad is Han Solo and Jukie is Chewbacca.” It’s still my favorite explanation. 

❤️ Meeting up with Davis friends who surprised Andy with Mickey ears with his professional name “Dr. Andy” stitched on the back. Never in my life did I think I would see Andy wearing such headwear, but he got in the spirit, further endearing himself to me every time I looked over and saw him in those ears. 

💜 Feeling a gentle tap on my shoulder by two mom strangers as I was managing Jukie by myself over lunch at a chaotic Disneyland restaurant. One of them said, “We just want to tell you that you’re doing a great job, Mom.” They had no children in tow, but I recognized that these were members of my tribe (parents of kids with disabilities). With their kind act of recognition, they were saying, “We see you.” Moments of connection like that feel more magical than anything Disney ever created, and I wanted to throw my arms around both of them. Instead I simply thanked them as we exchanged knowing smiles. Their acknowledgement fueled me throughout the rest of the day. 

💚 Spending one entire day at Disneyland with just Truman. While Andy, Jukie, and Margot attended an outdoor birthday party with family, Truman and I spent 14 hours of uninterrupted fun together. Throughout the day, I kept noticing how often my increasingly tall boy and I made each other laugh. Fortunately, the food and wine festival was going on, so we ate well as we rode all of our favorite rides multiple times (Guardians of the Galaxy? Four times). I texted one friend a picture of my cocktail in hand with the iconic Mickey Ferris wheel in the background. He replied, “NOW it’s the happiest place on earth.” I agree!

 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on fools, really big closets, island nations, Kings and other rulers, a broken internet, an accusatory finger pointing southwest, midwestern states, centennial jokes, short poems, the occupants of clutches, petitions gaining traction, state economies, civilian leaders, pen names that are also dictionary words, fun in college, Israel, heroes, Dartmouth, postponements, the wait for affection, keeping up with the Jones families, precocious performers, columnist memoranda shifts, actor and musician spouses, islands worth exploring, regionality, specific plans for actresses, almonds as a metaphor, jerseys, and Shakespeare.

 

The Poets Quartet will be performing at the Natsoulas Gallery this coming Thursday, April 4^th, at 8 PM. You should join us!

 

See you tonight.

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

Tweets by yourquizmaster

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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Irish Culture. What kind of musical instrument appears on Irish coins and the Irish coat of arms? 
2. Science.  Albanian, American Warmblood, and Azteca all refer to breeds of what? 
3. Books and Authors. What 1937 children’s fantasy novel has “There and Back Again” as its subtitle?  

 

P.S. “Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.” Audre Lorde

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I got to meet the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.S. Merwin only once, about 15 years ago, when he came to UC Davis to give a talk about the practice of translation. I knew Merwin’s poetry well, for he had appeared in just about every important anthology of American poetry published in the previous 40 years, and one of my English Department colleagues had chosen Merwin as the single-author subject of his dissertation. He was a prodigious author. Perhaps inspired by his early friendships with poets such as Robert Graves, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath, Merwin had published more than 50 books of poetry and prose, averaging a book a year for most of his adult life.

I also knew Merwin as a nature and conservation activist, rooted especially in the beauty and biodiversity of his adopted home state of Hawaii. To this day, the Merwin Conservancy “maintains the [Merwin] house and palm forest [that he planted] as a place of stillness and reflection for retreat, study, and contemplation through a residency program for creative visionaries and thought leaders from Hawaii and across the world.

Friday at a pub quiz fundraiser for Davis Sunrise Rotary, on the day W.S. Merwin died, March 15^th, I unleashed a particularly difficult anagram. Here it is.

“One of America’s greatest poets, W.S. Merwin, died today at the age of 91. The three-word title of Merwin’s second book featured animals, and was an anagram of the unusual phrase BAD INTERCHANGES. What was the title of that book?” 

One team bought a hint to the anagram question, learning that the animals in questions were BEARS. Can you figure out the answer?

Two poems come to mind first when I think of Merwin. One was perhaps his shortest, a verse that I sent to Kate in 1989 when she lived a great distance from me. It is titled “Separation.”

 

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

 

The second poem is perhaps Merwin’s most anthologized, the one that many had prepared to share on social media when his last day was finally announced. It is titled “For the Anniversary of My Death”:

 

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day  

When the last fires will wave to me

And the silence will set out

Tireless traveler

Like the beam of a lightless star

 

Then I will no longer

Find myself in life as in a strange garment

Surprised at the earth

And the love of one woman

And the shamelessness of men

As today writing after three days of rain

Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease

And bowing not knowing to what

 

I tip my hat to the great poet, the second of the world’s most famous poets writing in English to have died in the last six months (the other being Mary Oliver). Please consider spending some time with the work of this mindful and accomplished writer.

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on issues raised above, and on the following: rides, spring break plans, hunky princes, people named Spiegel, cups, the slow absence of oxygen, successful musicians, starting and finishing with the letter A, valuations, urban development, plural nouns, famous boulevards, billionaire siblings, sports awards, frontmen, Davis businesses, seeds, Florida vacation homes, bird songs, big books, syndromes in the news, servers, Howard and Stanford, islands, three meanings of a single date, trains that are out of control, Scandinavia, piranha that travel via jet aircraft, spelling for a long time, weapons, soft-offs, peace in name only, American royalty, little dancers, southern states, and Shakespeare.

 

Poetry Night is Thursday night at 8 at the Natsoulas Gallery. I hope you will join us!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

Tweets by yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Famous Ships. What was the name of Ernest Shackleton’s ship which became stuck in Antarctic ice in 1915?   
2. Pioneers in the mass production of tires. In what year was the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founded? Was it 1880, 1900, 1920, or 1940?  
3. Sports. Two NBA basketball teams currently have a better record than the Golden State Warriors. Name one of them. 

 

P.S. “Poetry and beauty are always making peace. When you read something beautiful you find coexistence; it breaks walls down.” —Mahmoud Darwish

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

For my birthday yesterday, I took a break from my laptop, and now I am paying for it. The end of the quarter entails a significant grading load. Not writing from time to time also comes with its own psychic load. I agree with Gloria Steinem when she says, “Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”

This morning at a meeting I talked about how rich I am, just not monetarily. I have a healthy family, a ton of friends here in Davis and elsewhere, and many cultural activities to partake in. Thursday night I got to host Poetry Night, Friday I got to attend an avant-garde jazz concert titled “Citizen X” (two of the Broun Felinis performed with master guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly and inspirational poet Sadiq Bey), Saturday night I got to attend Stories on Stage, Davis, and yesterday I saw Captain Marvel, which earned a PG-13 for anti-alien violence and some saucy language. What a full extended-weekend!

In addition to tonight, I would love to see you this coming weekend at a fundraiser Friday night. Starting at 6:30 at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A Street, more than a dozen pub quiz teams will gather together to win large sums of money for their favorite local charities. Tickets cost $30, dinner included. Come hang out with the charitable all-stars of Davis, and compete to be named, by the Davis City Council, the “smartest people in Davis.” All the money goes to good causes. Find details on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/371974176945919/or just search for “Trivia for a Cause 2019.”

At tonight’s Pub Quiz, you will also be playing for bragging rights, as well as for restaurant credit. In addition to something mentioned above, the topics to be covered include Saturday Night Live, marijuana possession, places that sound French, endings of a wave, bongos, staplers, missing mandated meetings, places that opened in 2010, godlessness, contiguous states, Sunset Boulevard, American novelists, hosts, building clay, rabbits, seemingly inter-galactic substances, the acronym BHMC, personal rules that are followed and public rules that are not, film titles that are distasteful in retrospect, eight years on probation, women who sculpt grails, medical mishaps, shades of face, Chicago activities, ceaselessness, unusual uses for wheat, scamming, long marriages, $7.5 billion, the compulsion to dance, faraway winners, welcome brain stains, rubber, states in play, the shocks that continue and the shocks that cease, and Shakespeare.

Thanks to all of you for your birthday greetings. One of these years I will be older than either Shakespeare or Houdini, two of my heroes. I hope to see you this evening.

 

Your Quizmaster

 

Here are three trivia questions about March 10^thfrom yesterday’s Davis Enterprise:

 

1. Only one U.S. president applied for a patent, this one for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions. Name the president. Hint: He applied for the patent on March 10^th. 
2. What former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined the position of baseball commissioner on March 10^th, 1951? 
3. On March 10^th, 1963, who scored 70 points in a game between the San Francisco Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals? 

 

P.S. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” Amelia Earhart

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I once saw a comedian whose name you know perform a long routine about all the investments he and other dads had made in their sons’ love for and accomplishments in sports, only to see those sons become, say, NFL stars and then smile while sharing an inevitable message when first confronted with TV cameras: “Hi Mom!”

My Dad took me to see that comedian, one of maybe 100 times that he took my brother Oliver or me to see a show at the Kennedy Center, the performing arts arena whose opening my parents attended together. Even though this opening gala, with a new opera written for the occasion by Leonard Bernstein, also the conductor that evening, took place on September 8^th, 1971, I still remember it. I suppose this is one of my earliest memories. My brother Oliver was only two months old.

I had such memories in mind when I called my Mom yesterday, for my father had passed away 15 years and a day ago, and the long walk that Jukie and I took from our south Davis home to the Pub for an early afternoon dinner gave me an opportunity to reminisce, and to mourn. On the phone, my mom reminded me that she and my Dad did not play all the manipulative games that other recently-divorced couples play, such as using the children as pawn in their game of cutthroat chess. Neither one of my parents had what evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins called The Selfish Gene.

We come to depend upon our parents and our best friends from childhood (such as my best friend Tito, who, speaking of March 2^nd, was always eight days older than me, at least until he died suddenly on August 4^th, 1993). And later, if we are lucky, they come to depend on us.

Some parents continue to bankroll their children, as I learned from an article in the March 2^nd New York Times titled “The New 30-Something.” The subtitle asks this pertinent question: “Have you or haven’t you cut the financial cord with your family?” Although we enjoyed their visits, and the help they offered with the down-payment on our first Davis home in 1998, we largely have cut that financial cord, perhaps a necessity because of our choice to live so far away from the nearest parent.

But the need to belong, to be connected, to lift up others and, at times, to be uplifted ourselves never really goes away. We are grateful to our local friends in Davis. I think offhand about our friend “Uncle” Evan who brings us supplies or provides a ride when hospital visits interrupt our plans. I think of current and former members of our Davis City Council who greet me with a hug and words of affection. But despite our appreciation of such friends, one sometimes would seek also to adopt a readymade family.

That’s how I feel about the delightful Kalisky family. You probably know Trudy and Mo Kalisky from having visited their Upper Crust Baking Company booths at local farmers’ markets. Now they have a storefront at 634 G Street in the old Radio Shack building. Jukie and I visited there yesterday and were delighted to find both Trudy and Mo on location. Our conversations were repeatedly interrupted by Davisites dropping by to purchase examples of the hand-made and small-batch goodies. And I can see why. My kids just love the triple-chocolate and oatmeal cookies, while Kate hankers after the apple tarts. And the birdseed and multigrain whole wheat breads make any sandwich or toast seem like a gourmet experience. Now, more than ever, we have resolved to eat local bread.

As much as I love their baked confections, I am even more grateful to the love and friendship that the Kalisky clan has offered my family and me. These friends and I have voted together, dined together, visited photographic exhibits together, and even seen classical music performances in Sacramento together. I knew Trudy’s dad when he used to give away samples at the farmers market in the 1990s, Trudy and Mo have become like a beloved aunt and uncle, and their son Lorin (Happy Birthday Lorin!) and his family, and that of Lorin’s sister Gillian and her family, have become like our cousins.

With our own original families separated by distance (such as the distance between Davis and Chicago, or Davis and Washington DC), by time, and by death, Kate and my kids and I are grateful to adopt some bonus family members here in our home town. To know a Kalisky is to be richly rewarded, indeed.

Also, Hi Mom!

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on some of the topics raised above, as well as on the following: sustainability, shareability, names that are unlikely to be spelled correctly, mountains, early leaders, the numbers in Mexico, final birthdays, power rankings, disingenuous ratings, cradles, non-vowels, friends in name only, famous books, conducting solutions, powerful women, fiery places, cardinal directions, people who may love sports, people who are neither Cher nor Madonna, reasonable safeguards, prison escapes, unfair disruptions, Nobel Prizes, polkas, unsound ovations, unusual superheroes, Hawaiian exports, big berries, beauties, even more than Bill Clinton, beer flavorings, and Shakespeare.

Poetry Night takes place on March 7^th at 8 at the Natsoulas Gallery. Join us to see Joshua McKinney and Randy White astound us with new work. Also, take a siesta if you have to, but plan to join us at the Pub tonight at 7!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

Tweets by yourquizmaster

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yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Science. The capybara, the largest living rodent in the world, is native to what continent?    
2. Books and Authors. Honored in the In-Memoriam segment at the Academy Awards last night, what playwright authored the plays Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple?  
3. Sports.  Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, and Carlton Fisk all played what position on their baseball teams?    

 

P.S. “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” George Bernard Shaw

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Today’s newsletter was GENIUS! It quoted Tolkien, Archibald MacLeish, and Lady Gaga. It delighted with its bon mots, its clever phrases, and with its puns. I could have used it the next time I performed standup. I could have included it as an appendix to my next book of poetry. John Lescroart, a regular reader, would have shaken his head in appreciation.

And then, just as I was about to add a title to and save the newsletter, my computer froze. I photographed the screen just before it went black, saving part of the lightning in a cracked bottle before it was lost forever, and then it was gone. Pity!

Then I discovered that five of the recently-written pub quiz questions were also gone. Now I know why my students keep trying to submit their essays on Google Docs.

All that said, I am not one to harbor regrets (though I’ve had a few). Writing is the poor person’s art in part because the paper always waits. The cursor always blinks, waiting for more.

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the birthday of John Iacovelli, a few topics that I will have to rediscover, benches, numbers in North America, what to wear to the park, prime numbers, creatures that live on continents, the journal of nutrition, monosyllabic countries, outstanding plays, early films, repeated letters, African-American History Month, stamps, approval ratings, names as punctuation, mathematics, people named Kendi, 44 entires, the Academy Awards, metals, famous dinners, seven-letter adjectives, legal dramas, unplugged albums, weaklings that must be hailed, mega-published authors, conversations about slavery, founders, award-winning sports stars, and Shakespeare.

See you tonight!

 

Your Quizmaster

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Musical Instruments. What is the most common word that we use for a musical instrument that has both a drumhead and zills? Also known as metal jingles, “zills” are found on a tambourine
2. Another Music Question. “Thank You, Next” was a big hit for whom in 2019?  
3. Anagram.  Born in 1894, the 33^rd Mayor of San Francisco, a Republican, was known for his many eccentricities, especially his fondness for linen sombreros. What was his name? Hint: His name is an anagram for LINEN SOMBRERO.  

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

I’m writing you this morning from the 11^th floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco where Kate and the boys and I have been enjoying three days of adventure and of the San Francisco Writers Conference. I have served every year on the faculty for the last 14 years, so I have many friends here. Every February I feel like I get to attend a summer camp reunion!

 

Because we want to go enjoy the City on this Presidents Day, I am going to turn to my wife Kate to be the guest-author of today’s newsletter. She wrote this update for friends on Saturday while I was giving poetry talks and catching up with old friends.

 

We stepped out this morning on Day Two of our adventures in the City on a mission to nowhere except to discover where our feet took us. As it turns out, our feet stepped over 24,000 steps — for [pour French Bulldog] Margot’s eager puppy steps, we must multiply this by at least four. And while she’s used to long walks at home, she’s also used to long naps. On this day, I brought her “puppy Bjorn” and carried her whenever she needed a rest.

 

For me, the highlight of the day was the surprise discovery of the Greenwich Steps starting at Coit Tower and leading down 400 steps and the equivalent of 25 flights, through gorgeous, hidden gardens with views of the Bay Bridge, all the way down to the Embarcadero. “It’s like a secret forest right in the middle of the City!” Truman declared. At one point, Jukie stopped his descent, seeming to be fascinated by the sky. When I looked to see what he was smiling at, I saw a fast flying flock of bright green wild parrots. “Hey, it’s the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill!” I told the boys. How lucky are we to see them, we thought.

 

Just then, we happened upon a small, guided walking tour, which Jukie slyly joined. I’ve learned from Jukie over the years that when you act like you belong somewhere, and if you follow along without saying anything, usually no one questions you. So we enjoyed our tour, learning about the tropical birds and about the city, for a good while until Jukie lost interest. Then we met a letter carrier who agreed with me that he had the luckiest route in the U.S. At least I thought so until we came to the last series of steps which triggered my intense fear of heights; the descent at this point was so steep and it looked so treacherous that Jukie had to be coaxed, and Margot had to be carried. And I resolved never to walk down those steps again.

 

Then came Truman’s highlight: the discovery of Starbucks at the bottom of that hill. The boys needed some peppermint hot chocolate, and we all needed a place to rest our feet. Warmly welcomed by the baristas, Margot immediately started snoring in my arms when we finally sat down.

 

As the boys fell asleep tonight, we talked about the magic that comes with a day spent with no agenda other than discovery and enjoyment of each other’s company. We best make such discoveries when we don’t have a clear destination, and we can best enjoy them when we are not guided by a map. Both were true today as we scaled and descended the insatiable hills of San Francisco.

 

Thanks to Kate for filling in for me today, and for so much more. You can read more of her writings at her blog.

 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on Africa and Europe, resins, divisions of literary labor, streaming music alternatives, bridges, big prizes, the importance of Hugo, highest peaks, clothing manufacturers, Luxembourg and Malta, the city of San Francisco, mayors in linen sombreros, everyday superheroes, British authors, citizenship, The Wizard of Oz, touchdowns, redecking projects, deputies, unlikely record albums, sublime mists, family guys, strongmen, Nebulas, Republicans in San Francisco, t-shirts and jerseys, drumheads, fabulous witches, Indian words, heard and overheard voices, chemical alternatives, and Shakespeare.

 

Poetry Night is Thursday at 8 at the Natsoulas Gallery. Please plan to join us! Also, I hope to see you tonight. I will be dressed formally, but you should come as you are.

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com  

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster 

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster 

yourquizmaster@gmail.com 

 

Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Popes Named Gregory. Which of the most famous popes named Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar, the most widely-used calendar in the world? Was it Gregory I (590–604), Gregory VII (1073-1085), or Gregory XIII (1572–1585)?      

 

2. Science.  Starting with the letter S, what kind of fruits are found on apricot, cherry, and peach trees? 

 

3. Shakespeare. In which 1606 Shakespeare tragedy do we learn that Life is “a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing?”  

 

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

When your beloved French Bulldog puppy is mauled in the UC Davis Arboretum, the community of Davis is quick to offer its concern and support. Such was the case for us this past Thursday, when my wife Kate was taking our new puppy Margot on her daily walk. She had no reason to expect that the owner of the much larger and decidedly ferocious dog would walk her dog right up to Kate and Margot to initiate the attack. Over the course of a minute or more, Kate tried a variety of strategies to get the dog to let our puppy go, finally reaching down to pry the jaws apart, and bloodying up her hands in the process. A visit to the vet immediately afterwards revealed that it was probably Margot’s puffy sweater that saved her life, for it took the brunt of the damage. We continue to monitor her to see if there are signs of internal damage.

Kate posted two Facebook posts about the ordeal. In the first, she highlighted a picture of the dog’s owner and the dog itself, both to determine their identity, and to warn other walkers of dogs and children on the greenbelts of Davis to take extreme care if they see the two. This post garnered more than 400 expressions of concern in the form of emojis: 277 angry faces, 82 sad faces, 37 looks of surprise, 20 likes, and one laughing face. People left 386 comments (more on that in a moment), and the post was shared 472 times, a record for either of us on Facebook.

Kate’s post attracted so much attention in part because Kate mentioned the breed of the dog that had attacked Margot. A great number of defenders of the breed shared their opinions, as did an even greater number of people who were not fans of the breed. While still nursing her wounds, Kate had to spend much of Thursday and Friday deleting comments from strangers who shared aggressive, maligning, malevolent, racist, and even violent posts directed at a number of targets, including the dog, the breed of the dog, the owner of the dog, people who were the perceived race of the owner of the dog, and even Kate herself.

When Kate stopped by Trader Joes Friday, the friendly banter with the woman who was scanning all of Kate’s purchases turned to weekend plans; Kate admitted that she was just going to spend her weekend snuggling to her French Bulldog, for she had been attacked in the Arboretum the day before. The woman responded, “That was you?” Word had spread. A kind neighbor of ours stopped by the house yesterday to see how Margot was doing, even though she is not a Facebook friend and hadn’t talked to Kate about the ordeal. If you are active in Davis social media, chances are you have heard this story, as well.

Margot continues to heal, and Kate is asleep this morning as I write this. As we continue to grapple with the physical trauma, and the psychological distress (Kate hasn’t been back to her daily walking route along the Arboretum’s Putah Creek since the attack), we will most remember the hundreds of expressions of love for our dog, many from Davisites whom we have never met. Such words of support gives people overcoming an awful incident an alternative narrative to focus upon. The benevolent voices fill our ears while we wait for other echoes to subside.

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the following topics: canine companions, sad stories, firefighters in Alabama, midwestern sports, prisoners, landed gentry, chefs, spices, public duels, names in the news, arboreal obsessions, people named Greg, breathing room, flattery, funny names, distinguishing between Mikes and Mickeys, transferred channels, Vegas residency, math topics, title characters of TV shows, iconic Grammy nominees, members of Congress, formidable Greeks, first ladies, the Dalai Lama on Twitter, DNA, newspaper headlines, quenchers, and Shakespeare.

I hope you can join us this evening. If you recruit too many, bring two teams!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com  

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster 

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster 

yourquizmaster@gmail.com 

 

Here are three questions from a 2013 quiz:

 

1. Internet Culture. What’s a LAN? 
2. Newspaper Headlines.   The last British king to have been killed in battle was recently found under a parking lot in Leicester, 100 miles north west of London. Name him. 
3. Mathematics. In our American system of mathematical progressions, what denomination come after million, billion and trillion? 

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

For some reason, I was thinking this morning that I know what I was doing 30 years ago this month, but not necessarily 20 years or ten years ago this month. Regular Facebook users get reminders as to what they were posting on this date in years past, and I suppose some of us keep diaries or really detailed calendars. Unless you have the eidetic memory of Marilu Henner, only a big change will remind you definitively of the details surrounding a particular time in your distant past.

For example, I remember well my first week wearing a polyester tuxedo to my usher job at the Tenley Circle Theatre (at 16), my first week exploring Boston as a new college student (18), my first trip driving with my friend smoker Bob from Washington DC to the coastal redwoods of California (20), or my first week living with my future wife Kate at 45 England’s Lane, NW3 (also 20). We pay such close attention during times of change, times of novelty, times of discovery.

Sometimes remembering a particular month so clearly is no blessing. In the same month that my father passed away, my son Jukie underwent double eyelid reconstruction surgery, and I was told that one of my positions on campus was coming to an end. I remember the details of particular days during that month too well, but I also recognize that often we learn and grow the most during time of great difficulty. While no one could ever replace my dad, or erase the heartache I feel from his loss, at least Jukie’s eyes haven’t needed touch-up surgery (as we told would be the case for his ptosis repair). And I have accepted a succession of even more rewarding positions at UC Davis since that fateful month in 2004.

30 years ago this month I was beginning my final semester as an undergraduate at Boston University, and as I told myself and anyone who would listen, it would also be the first semester that I would approach with the intensity of a graduate student. I was taking four classes for credit, and four others, including a graduate course, for my own edification. I remember being so enamored with what I was learning from the books I was reading then. As Fahrenheit 451 teaches us, “The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”

Thirty years ago this month, I would head to the library every night to read the books that would appear on the GRE Literature in English Test (I eventually earned a score in the 99th percentile, and I still remember some of the questions I was asked). And every day I took some time to write Kate a letter, an even more important investment in my future than the GREs. In May of 1989, Presidents Bush and Mitterrand spoke at my graduation ceremony, and then I filled my pumpkin-orange Datsun B210 with books, pointed it west, and stopped only when I reached North Berkeley, my new home.

Mark Twain says that an education is what you have left over after you’ve forgotten everything you learned in school. I am grateful for everything I learned in school, for I find it still to be relevant today, either on the job, or Monday evenings with friends and a microphone. I’m also grateful for the education provided by memorable moments, and the friends and now family members who have filled them. A life is made not from the details of what we remember, though as a poet I am grateful for all the imagery that I can continue to call upon, but from the intensity of the love and the laughter we can spark, and participate in. For you, I wish that your February turns out to be intense and memorable for all the right reasons.

 

 

Tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on some topics raised above, as well as the following: women with brothers and fathers, the backstroke, dragons, made-up slogans, liberators, small margins, televised simulcasts, blowhards, cell phone addicts, eye doctors, state capitals, Scottish exports, the state of our union, Canadian imports, an expected topic, esteemed British poets, opening ceremonies, odds and chances, fetched sandwiches that allow one to keep writing, firework finales, the names of popular musical groups, destination bridges, traditional meals, George Takei, finding water, ship captains, truths and falsities coming from Donald Trump, CNN scoops, squares with four corners, scientific patent holders who are pitchers in Arabia, elopements, too many zoos, prejudicial support, final quartiles, early aspirin, baseball, and Shakespeare.

 

See you tonight!

 

Your Quizmaster

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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Books and Authors. In his most important essay, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What is the title of this essay? 
2. Sports.  Recently elected unanimously to the Baseball Hall of Fame, what New York Yankee pitcher’s 652 career saves is considered by baseball statisticians to be an unbreakable record? 
3. Shakespeare. What proper name appears in the largest number of Shakespeare plays, at six? 

 

And here’s a question that was recommended by a friend of the Pub Quiz, but which I decided was too hard: “Of the people who claim Assyrian heritage, a majority live in Syria and what other country?” Answer: Iraq

 

P.S. Poetry Night is Thursday. You should attend! 8 PM at the Natsoulas Gallery.

 

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

In Sweden, Gloria Steinem once said, both parents take care of the children. This is also true in Davis. Also in Davis, both parents take care of the dog.

Our puppy, Margot, can now sleep seven hours at night between visits to our front yard. Her ability to sleep at night has done wonders for her “parents’” ability to do the same. That said, something usually wakes me before the seven-hour chime rings on my iPhone. Sometimes, as was the case this morning, our son Jukie visits the bathroom before 6 AM and leaves the light on, like an unwelcome light therapy alarm clock. On other mornings, Margot decides that she wants to engage with Kate and me, even if the bedroom is not even remotely illuminated by the dawn’s early light. Sometimes Margot will hear Jukie before we do, and share a tentative bark, to let us know what an excellent watchdog she is. These interruptions of sound and light are not easily reconciled with our last dreams of the evening, and soon we are both awake, attending to the household creatures that desire our attention.

This morning, I attended to the mouths to feed as best I could before leaving the house at 6:45, 30 minutes before the official sunrise. Typically an indication of coming storms, the eastern sky was filled with red light, refractions upon the winter fog that we enjoy at this time of year. Driving north and west over Richards Boulevard from south Davis, I saw red lights in my rear-view mirror that reminded me of a description of dawn over the chaparral in Larry McMurtry’s best-known novel, Lonesome Dove:

“The eastern sky was red as coals in a forge, lighting up the flats along the river. Dew had wet the million needles of the chaparral, and when the rim of the sun edged over the horizon the chaparral seemed to be spotted with diamonds. A bush in the backyard was filled with little rainbows as the sun touched the dew.

It was tribute enough to sunup that it could make even chaparral bushes look beautiful, Augustus thought, and he watched the process happily, knowing it would only last a few minutes. The sun spread reddish-gold light through the shining bushes, among which a few goats wandered, bleating. Even when the sun rose above the low bluffs to the south, a layer of light lingered for a bit at the level of the chaparral, as if independent of its source.”

The vermillion sky shared its orange glow with the meditating sitters who had gathered at the Davis Shambhala Center at 7 AM, reminding us to be mindful of our environment, and how we respond to it. The warm welcome of my friends at the Center filled the room with bonhomie as we took our seats (in chairs or on zafu meditation cushions) and our minds started to settle. I reflected on how lucky I was to be present in that moment, and how right Alan Watts was when he said that “Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”

The sky had lightened dramatically as I headed home, and the morning was almost warm by the time I stepped outside with Margot again, both of us deeply breathing the morning air. Always in touch with the joy that eludes many of the humans that she meets on her daily walks with Kate, Margot was communicating with her spry vertical leaps that she was already ready to play. As I handed the puppy back to her mom at 8, I realized that I had lived a “day” rich in discovery and gratitude, all before turning to the computer on a Monday morning, curious to know what I would share with my friends in today’s Pub Quiz newsletter.

 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight expect questions on unbreakable records, showhorse senators, proper names, marathoners, the question of brotherhood, square predictions, drinks and beverages, post-revolutionaries, Good Friday, cell biology, Taiwan, gross domestic products, invisible walls, terminals, blood disorders, saviors, happy families, work days, exports and imports, rushing horses, international hitmakers, Stan Lee, crosshairs over Wisconsin, lovely lakes, hard math, acronyms, causes and effects of anxiety, numbers that define, departed birds, four-letter annoyances, fractions of control, aspiring geniuses, oversleeping hankies, tax revenues, the Forbes Global 500, and Shakespeare.

Our next poetry night takes place on February 7^th, and will feature UC Davis English Department professor Margaret Ronda, and the poet laureate emerita of Napa, Leonore Wilson. Mark your calendar now, and plan to join us at the Natsoulas Gallery that night at 8.

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com  

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster 

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yourquizmaster@gmail.com 

 

Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Books and Authors.   Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, what best-selling poet in America died last week at the age of 83? 
2. Current Events – Names in the News.  Founded in Macon, Georgia, what airline’s foundation provided the grant needed to keep open Martin Luther King National Park?  
3. Shakespeare.   Least likely to be performed in high school, the title of Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent work starts with the letter T. What is it?  

 

P.S. Do you know the work of essayist and novelist James Baldwin? This writing-centric introduction may intrigue you: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/08/james-baldwin-advice-on-writing/.

P.P.S. Congratulations to our own John Lescroart, whose new novel The Rule of Law was named the top-selling legal thriller on Amazon last week.