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

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. Born in 1884, what US President came up with the personal slogan “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”? We learned last week that FDR was too wealthy to spend much time in the kitchen.

2. Internet Culture. Because of a $3.2 billion dollar purchase rumored by Apple, who is about to become what he calls “the first billionaire in hip-hop,” even though he hasn’t dropped an album in 15 years? Actually, the man in question will only have about $800 million from this deal. Another disappointment.

3. Name the Category. The following all refer to different types of what? Adjustable Bend, Artillery Loop, Ashley’s Bend, Axle Hitch. I bet Ashley would be proud to be included on this list.

4. Four for Four. Between 1968 and 1980, which of the following cities, if any, hosted the Summer Olympic Games? Mexico City, Montreal, Moscow, Munich. Is every four for four a trick question?

5. A Topic Suggested on Facebook: Harry Potter. “BLANK’S WARNING” is the title of the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Whose warning is it? Thanks to Kayla for this topic suggestion.

The Dancing with Patchouli Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on May 12, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I was reminded again this weekend why I love living in Davis. The Whole Earth Festival gave me a chance to dance to some live music with my family amid the scents of patchouli and incense, and then Saturday night my wife Kate and I enjoyed Stories on Stage Davis, where the kind organizers gave away a copy of our new book, Where’s Jukie?, as a door prize.

Last night after my Sunday evening office hours I received a Facebook message from a former student of four years ago; she was expressing concerns about the extent to which such cultural offerings are available to everyone, especially when considering the high cost of living in Davis. She wrote, “Hi Dr. Andy. Many of my peers have expressed the concern that Davis as a town is now largely socio-economically unequal and overrun by its affluent, “white” residents. As a poet living in Davis, do you have an opinion about this sentiment?”

This was my response:

Hi Mariam,

Well, your friends are right about the economic challenges of living in Davis. Rents are high, and median home prices are unaffordable to most new families, thus likening the housing market here to some of the more expensive ones in the Bay area. Like most cities under 100,000 in the U.S., the city is also majority Caucasian. That said, Davis has a large Asian population, as you know, and a growing Latino and African American population. The city is also younger than you might expect, with about half the population under 25, and almost 75% under 45. As a progressive city, Davis makes a point to tax itself more heavily than other Central Valley cities, with most of those extra taxes going to support education, which is a significant leveler when it comes to income inequality.

In recent years, city and business interests have made significant investments in the arts and culture. Most (but not all) of that is concentrated downtown, thus attracting visitors and new residents to Davis who care about quality of life issues outside of one’s financial comforts. A city with a strong library, bike-able streets that are also served by a vibrant public transportation system, public and performing arts venues (such as Third Space), and some inexpensive restaurants, is a city that has made an investment in attracting and keeping a significant diversity of citizens.

UC Davis will always be a feeder engine for the City of Davis, which means that as the university attracts more and more ethnically and economically diverse students, we can hope that more of them will move here (or move back here) to raise families and contribute to the cultural richness of 95616 and 95618. When Kate and I moved (back) here in 1998, we could barely afford our mortgage, but now we are thankful for the great schools that our property taxes help to fund.

If you are implying that Davis needs to do more to welcome poets and poetry, I agree with you. My KDVS radio show, the Poetry Night Reading Series, and the extra poetry classes I teach represent some of my efforts, but I’d like to see more widespread interest and investment in the literary arts in Davis.

I have some friends on the Davis City Council whom I am sure will want to chime in about ways they have addressed some of the concerns you raise. I wouldn’t be surprised if thoughtful folks such as Joe Krovoza, Dan Wolk, Brett D Lee, Lucas Frerichs, and Rochelle Swanson chime in. We might even hear from some folks who hope to serve on the City Council in the future, such as Robb Davis and Sheila Allen. If you end up having conversations with any of these public servants, I would be interested to hear what you learn. As a UC Davis alumna and a talented poet, your opinion matters, and should be heard. Thanks for writing.

So what did I leave out of my assessment of our fair city? I look forward to hearing your opinions, too.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on kitchens, cities that begin with the letter M, words that start with “A” (such as “artillery” and “axle”), a topic suggested by one of you on Facebook, authors with names that start with H, victory, Cervantes, sports that Americans don’t follow, the Philippines, U.S. states, the acreage of Ireland, Tiffany, injurious sports, the Greek alphabet, the death penalty, wine, waves, Doris Day and Nancy Reagan, experimental music, the culture of rugged geography, birds of prey, songwriters, mothers, crimes, U.S. Presidents, TV networks, a Poe boy, actor-directors, boats, metals and voles and worms, climate change, St. George, and Shakespeare.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Mottos and Slogans. What San Francisco-based country is known for the slogan “Quality Never Goes Out of Style”? Most of you use more of this company’s products than I do.

Internet Culture: Again with the Web Browsers. The Yuba City horse that won Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shares a name, partially, with a web browser. Which browser is it? Yay, California!

Film Quotations. What film includes the line “Into the garbage shoot, flyboy!” Thanks to Truman for this question suggestion.

Pop Culture – Music. OMG. The lead singer of Maroon 5 has totally dyed his hair platinum blond. What is his name? Do we call a male blond “platinum”?

Sports. Yesterday we enjoyed this baseball headline: “Wil Myers Hits 3-Run Inside-the-Park Home Run Despite Jogging to 1st Base.” Myers has hit four home runs against the Yankees this season. For what team does this outfielder play? I myself always enjoy watching a batter round the bases while Yankee outfielders look on.

P.S. Poetry Night this week is an entirely Open Mic. Thursday at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery.

The Productive Pomodoro Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on May 5, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I’ve agreed to give a talk at the University of the Pacific Second Annual Conference on Creative Writing. Organized by Davis resident and University of the Pacific professor Scott Evans, this conference features presentations by many of northern California’s most accomplished and innovative writers, including New York Times bestseller James Rollins, local television journalist and devoted dad Sam Shane, and Pub Quiz regular John Lescroart, whose new novel The Keeper will be released tomorrow, May 6. I hope you have reserved your copy, as I have.

At the Conference I will be speaking on a subject that I’ve researched and practiced often, but presented on rarely: personal productivity. Here’s how it will read in the program:

Productivity Lessons from High-Performing Authors and Thought Leaders

“This session will sample some of the theories and practices of productivity gurus such as David Allen, Seth Godin, and Tim Ferriss. We will discuss maintaining focus, eliminating distractions, and meeting deadlines. Participants in this session will learn the meanings of terms such as GTD, Pomodoro, the Four-Hour Workweek and the 10-Minute Hack.”

Does that sound enticing? The organizers of the conference picked this and a social media platform presentation from the six options that I presented them. Funny that my PhD in English and 25 years of university teaching are evidently less valuable to aspiring writers than what I’ve learned about productivity and social media marketing over the last decade.

Are your most valuable skills the ones you were schooled in, as it were?

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about current events, first base jogs, web browsers (again with the web browsers), Romantic poets, Jimmy Stewart, the 1970s, American rivers, human rights (unfair, I realize), divisive holidays, garbage, blondes, Nyle C. Brady & Ray R. Weil’s 2009 book Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils, Emmy-winning shows, 30 pounds of muscle, moving in a circle, people named Zachary, rooflessness, Semisweet inns (sounds like an anagram), percentage jumps, sequels, big cities, power, divisible integers, independents, Wordsworth, iPods, books about books, mechanical devices, literary prize-winners, American rallying teams, Alan Rickman, salads, the volume of gas, and Shakespeare.

Tomorrow night’s John Lescroart book release party, complete with wine and food and live music, will take place at the Odd Fellow’s Hall at 6:30 p.m. As with the Pub Quiz, I encourage you to come early to reserve a seat. John always puts on a good show, and the critics love his new Dismas Hardy book, The Keeper.

Meanwhile, I hope you will join us tonight for some trivial fun!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Mottos and Slogans. The only major sportswear brand without a slogan is a German company named after a genus of large cat. Name the brand.

Newspaper Headlines. A surprising announcement revealed what about George Clooney yesterday?

Complete the Quotation. The saying that “BLANK is a good walk spoiled” is often attributed to Mark Twain. What one-syllable word completes the quotation?

Pop Culture – Music. Only four named bands were among the top 15 highest-grossing musical acts of 2013. Name just one of them.

Sports. Fill in the blank from the FIFA.com website: “A match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than BLANK players, one of whom is the goalkeeper.” Fill in the blank.

P.S. UC Davis professor Joe Wenderoth is reading at the Black Box Theatre / Lab A at Celeste Turner Wright Hall (the UC Davis Theatre Building) this coming Thursday night at 8. Parental discretion advised.

P.P.S. Did you see that last week’s newsletter appeared later Monday evening in the Sacramento Bee?

The Racist Banana Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 28, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Like many sports fans yesterday, I have been thinking about the place of racism in professional sports. Standing in the sun near the new eastern entrance to our UC Davis Arboretum while my son Jukie inspected the archway made of shovels, I wondered what others were saying about how the LA Clippers would respond to the opinions of the team’s owner, so I searched for the term “racist” on Twitter, and discovered that most of the mentions on that day concerned sporting events and teams. Although George Orwell called sport “War minus the shooting,” I was actually encouraged by what I discovered, including mentions of Branch Rickey.

As we consider the private racist conversations of the owner of the LA Clippers, who thought it wise to privately disparage Magic Johnson for being a black man, we might take a moment to remember that it was another sports executive, Branch Rickey, who helped to challenge racism in professional sports in 1947. By signing Major League Baseball’s first African-American player, Jackie Robinson, Rickey broke an important color barrier, gave all Americans a Rookie of the Year to cheer for, and incidentally made it possible for Rickey to recruit subsequent baseball standouts of color at bargain prices. Sometimes it pays to be the first: it could be argued that Branch Rickey remains the most appreciated baseball manager in American history, and not just because he was the first to mandate that his players wear batting helmets. This week Donald Sterling will find out what price he will pay to be the least appreciated owner in sports.

As we have talked about at the Pub Quiz, and as we will touch upon this evening, soccer is a much more popular sport worldwide than any of our American sporting exports. So maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that my search for incidents of racism on Sunday found many more mentions of soccer than baseball, with much attention paid to Dani Alves, the offensive right back who plays for FC Barcelona in La Liga. Evidently at a match yesterday someone threw a banana onto the field before Alves. I don’t understand such acts of racism, nor do I care to delve into the motivations or symbolism of such an act, but certainly any of us might feel anger or humiliation at being jeered in such a way. Rather than getting upset, Alves grabbed the banana, took a bite, and then kicked his corner kick. Alves later said, “We have suffered this in Spain for some time. You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren’t going to change things easily. If you don’t give it importance, they don’t achieve their objective.” The six-second clip has been shown on YouTube and Vine tens of thousands of times since, reminding us that the equanimity of the LA Clippers players, Jackie Robinson or Dani Alves (my new favorite soccer player), is sometimes necessary to confront entrenched racism without being confounded by it.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature some international flavor, and thus unfairly advantage those of us who travel. The question topics will include large cats, mad men, Canada, light solids, films that you may have seen the preview for without having remembered the title, Queen Elizabeth, ice, cast members with the letter O in their names, the Nobel Prize, Latin America, a master’s degree from Yale, summer songs, People’s Choice Awards, people named Thomas and Richard, flowability, former Secretaries of War, protein, bands that you may have actually seen play live, whiskey, famous felons, a few other topics that I haven’t chosen yet, browsing, viruses, German companies without slogans, second marriages, and Shakespeare.

Speaking of international flavor, notable Pablo Neruda translator and stirring poet William O’Daly will be performing at the John Natsoulas Gallery this coming Thursday night, for it is Poetry Night. Join us at 8 that night to see why those events are so much fun.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Newspaper Headlines. A plan introduced in 2010 set the price for Netflix’s U.S. streaming subscribers at how many dollars a month? Hint: Correct answer is a number that is divisible by 4, so of course it is not 7.

Patriot’s Day. Patriot’s Day is a civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of two battles on April 19, 1775. Name either battle.

Acreage. How many square yards are there in an acre? Is it closest to 5, 50, 500, or 5,000?

Pop Culture – Music. What current hit song begins with these lyrics? “The snow glows white on the mountain tonight / Not a footprint to be seen / A kingdom of isolation, / And it looks like I’m the queen.”

True or False. The median home value in Davis is more than half a million dollars.

P.S. If you recruit a brand new team of first-timers to come to tonight’s Pub Quiz, I will reward that team with a serving of pub fries with curry ketchup.

The Vivid and Perpetual Exhibits Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 21, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Happy Patriots’ Day! When I was a Bostonian, I relished having a Monday off in late April. My friends and I would either watch the Boston Marathon runners go by from one of our dormrooms, or head out to the sideline of the race to cheer on the finishers. I have heard that the cheering was particularly loud this year. I suspect that if I were running the race this time, I still would not have crossed the finish line as this newsletter goes to print.

I probably should have joined a running group when I lived in Boston, for I would have benefited from the inspiration provided by regular runners. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” I tended to run solo: along and across the Charles River to Cambridge, home to the great bookstores; along Commonwealth Avenue and then Newberry Street to end up at the Boston Common and Gardens which I had once learned about in childhood picture books; and sometimes out in some randomly chosen direction through neighborhoods that I sometimes revisit in my dreams. Alan Sillitoe explored this sort of determination to cover ground as a solo runner in his most famous book, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. He wrote: “You should think about nobody and go your own way, not on a course marked out for you by people holding mugs of water and bottles of iodine in case you fall and cut yourself so that they can pick you up – even if you want to stay where you are – and get you moving again.”

In Davis, of course, most of us bicycle instead of run, and we most often bike for transportation rather than for freedom-seeking exercise. I wonder to what extent the City of Davis took a hit during the aftermath of Lance Armstrong’s duplicity, his betrayal of all those who cheered him on. Had he been a legitimate champion, our US Bicycling Hall of Fame would have had Armstrong appearing in vivid and perpetual exhibits, much like those Smithsonian Institution exhibits devoted to Captain America in the most recent Marvel film. By contrast, Armstrong’s accomplishments are obscured by the largest possible asterisk.

Willy Nelson recently came to Davis to perform at the Mondavi Center, causing some Davisites to revive the apocryphal remark supposedly shared by Nelson when the Armstrong scandal broke: “I think it is just terrible and disgusting how everyone has treated Lance Armstrong, especially after what he achieved, winning seven Tour de France races while on drugs. When I was on drugs, I couldn’t even find my bike.” Willie and Lance were friends, so who knows if the musician really said such a thing. Either way, the story is worth a chuckle. I just hope that however you venture to de Vere’s Irish Pub this evening, you will do so safely.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on Kill Bill, metal nuts, CEOs, civic holidays, perseverance and energy, newspaper headlines, things that are hastily sealed, acreage, buffalo milk (I know, again), wingmen, coaches, names in the news, American novelists, cops and their rotating partners, rumblings, medieval physiology, wandering popes, Star Wars, 129 countries, Amazon, American heroes and patriots, animation, familiar tunes, alliterative titles, real estate, publishers and polynomials, happy employees, odorlessness, running, lyrics of isolation, repeated names, India and Shakespeare.

Thanks to all of you who came to my book party on Saturday. We filled every chair in the John Natsoulas Gallery with about 120 people, and feel very lucky to be living in the City of Davis. Copies of Where’s Jukie are available at The Avid Reader in Davis.

I hope you will join us this evening for the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Mottos and Slogans. What energy corporation promises “Gasoline with Techron”?

Internet Culture. What video game is set in municipalities such as Vice City, Liberty City, and San Andreas?

Pop Culture – Music. What Canadian rock band was the second best-selling foreign act in the U.S. of the 2000s, behind The Beatles?

Four for Four. Which of the following former world leaders, if any, were former mayors? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Jimmy Carter, Nicolas Sarcozy, Margaret Thatcher.

Name the Year. Tiger won his first Masters, Harry Potter was first published in the UK, and Ellen DeGeneres outed herself all in the same year. With a one-year margin, name the year.

The Eager and the Restless Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 14, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I have been trying to work this extended saying by Mohandas Gandhi into a Pub Quiz question, but I haven’t figured out how:

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.

Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.

Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.

Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.

Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.

I’d appreciate your advice on that.

Happy Picnic Day aftermath! I hope you enjoyed Saturday. I realize that people in our town have different attitudes towards Picnic Day. Most UC Davis students participate eagerly in the variety of available activities, some of them elicit, but most licit. Some townies, who I suppose prefer to be called long-time residents of Davis, stay away from the entire downtown, especially after the parade has concluded. I heard somewhere that some Davis residence rent out their homes for the weekend, and use the profits made to take a short vacation elsewhere in California.

I myself had the pleasure of officially announcing the Picnic Day Parade down on 2nd and D streets, right around the corner from our favorite Irish pub. I enjoy yelling out the names of friends and friendly organizations, such as the gay veterans organization that led the parade this year. One of the best things about being a volunteer announcer for the Picnic Day Parade is the expectation that the California Aggie Marching Band will surely stop and perform right in front of you. We could hear the marching bands’ faraway drums just at about the time that the locals were growing eager and restless. I appreciated the late start, for that gave me an opportunity to catch up with some old friends, and even to sell a few books.

Speaking of which, the book release party of my new book Where’s Jukie? takes place this coming Saturday at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery, and I hope you will join us. The book-buying prize for last week goes to The Mavens, one of the most devoted teams who participates in our Pub Quiz, because I think every team member purchased a book for $10 knowing that all the proceeds would go to medical research. I hope to mention the name of you or your team in next week’s newsletter. I will bring some more copies of the book with me this evening.

Tonight’s quiz will feature questions on additives, faults, fictional (?) California cities, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cell phones and email, the word “love,” spices, year of the Tiger, rivers in the east, Canadians (Hi Dianna!), astronomy, a bonus sports question, new things, southern cities, killer governments, four-syllable adjectives that start with the letter C, Ellen and her friends, valuable commodities, needful fees, spell-checked anagrams, love songs, depth, translation problems, Lawrence Fishburne films, boneless chicken, big cities in the (really) deep south, diversity in sports, bones, NPR, first couples, Hippolyta’s playground, Shakespeare, the book release party Saturday night, and Picnic Day.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Gambling on TV. Gambling website Bovada has released its odds for the next host of the Late Show on CBS. What 49 year-old is leading the pack, with 5/2 odds? Obviously the odds-makers were correct. Did any of you place a bet?

Science. What, specifically, does an animal known as a “folivore” eat? I like everyone to score in double digits.

Current Events – Names in the News. What alleged arms trafficker with a three-letter last name describes himself on Twitter as “Father, husband, educator, child psychologist, reformer, #CA Senator and Candidate for #California Secretary of State”?

Sports. With a single to right field in the 4th inning of a game against Toronto yesterday, what member of the New York Yankees passed former World Series MVP Paul Molitor for 8th on the all-time hit list?

Shakespeare. What were the four letters in the name of the Shakespeare character most famously played by Mickey Rooney in a 1935 film? Name the character.

P.S. Beloved Davis poet Hannah Stein will be reading at the John Natsoulas Gallery this coming Thursday at 8. I hope you can join us!

The Hilarious Chemistry Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on April 7, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

In my head while hiking around Muir Woods this weekend, I wrote an extensive newsletter about the importance of David Letterman, amending it last night to discuss the importance of Mickey Rooney. But then my sons wouldn’t go to sleep, and my 9-11 PM office hours were full of eager students with questions, and this morning I have an appointment with my favorite dental hygienist, so I will let you imagine what I am neglecting to write. As you imagine, reflect on Rooney’s more than 300 films and TV programs, and Letterman’s sustaining wit.

My book Where’s Jukie? was published last week. All the money Kate and I make from sales of this books of poetry and essays will be donated to the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation, so I hope each member of your team will bring an extra $10 to buy a copy tonight. We will be signing them after the Quiz (or before, if you arrive early enough). We will also be hosting a book-release party and reading on April 19^th at the John Natsoulas Gallery.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about Mickey Rooney and David Letterman, as well as wits, education, wardrobes, Viacom, moons, water, YouTube, Pakistan, virgins who make much of time, bicycles, the cost of living and spending, rock and roll, people with the initials of KD, grandkids, hilarious chemistry, authors famous for accomplishments other than book-writing, perches, eternities, veteran journalists, my favorite musicians, Abraham Lincoln, familiar but inexplicable anagrams, dangerous moves, feminism, John Lescroart’s May 2014 publication, tall people, Samuel Beckett, puns on “nightfall,” world capitals, musical instruments, young adults, guns, California notables, baseball, basketball, and Shakespeare. You should know that our book Where’s Jukie? is only $10, with all profits being donated to charity.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Internet Culture. 30% of Americans now get their news from WHAT?

Great Americans. MIT researchers recently analyzed data (including Wikipedia page views, among other things) in order to determine the “global popularity of historical characters.” According to the San Francisco Chronicle, which American man, neither a musician nor a president, was number one?

TV Anniversaries. Still running today, what game show premiered on NBC on March 30, 1964?

Pop Culture – Music. The oldest woman to top the Hot 100 did so in 1999 at the age of 52 years, 9 months, and it isn’t Madonna. What is her name?

Great Americans. Where did President Barack Obama attend law school?

P.S. Special thank to Ted who guest-quizmastered last week’s Quiz.

The Unlikely Spiritual Magnet Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 31, 2014

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

One of my best friends in elementary school, Aaron Gilmartin, left Washington DC in about 5^th grade. That was about the same year that Stephanie Kolman, who some thought to be the prettiest girl in the class, left for Florida. In retrospect, it seems unlikely that I would remember their names, much less think to look up where they might be today.

Aaron and I should have run into one another. We experienced what George Carlin jokingly referred to as a series of “near misses.” For a while Aaron attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music when I was a student at Boston University. And later as I was packing up my books and other effects in Berkeley in order to move to Davis, Aaron was beginning school at CSU Hayward, now CSU East Bay. Like most Americans, neither of us owned computers during those short geographic overlaps.

Because of Facebook, Stephanie and Aaron found me, or I found them. I see that Aaron has toured the world as a classical and Flamenco guitarist – evidently he’s big in Germany, where in some cities Nazi bunkers that have resisted demolishment (for that was their function) have been turned into arts centers and performing arts venues where Aaron performs. And Stephanie studied art (among other things) at Yale, and has sold a great number of paintings. All three of us have been deeply influenced by our Waldorf education’s approach to the arts and to creativity.

Because of Facebook, both Aaron and Stephanie have seen more pictures of my kids and more Poetry Night announcements than they would care to, so you think that might have scared them off. But no, coincidentally both of them contacted me just last week, and I met both of them for meals this weekend. Saturday afternoon Stephanie and her new husband came to town to watch Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago at the Davis Varsity Theatre. They had recently moved from Vermont to Novato, and were thinking of walking the Camino this spring. We dined and then walked around town (as my bookend children sprinted ahead to Bizarro World). They loved Davis, and could see why we moved here.

The next morning I met Aaron and his girlfriend in a Berkeley café for lunch, and then the three of us walked with Jukie around the campus that had first drawn me to California 25 years ago. From both meetings I conclude that the close friendships you make in childhood are easy to return to, even after the wearying challenges of a three-decade interruption. Every day, still, I feel the loss of my closest friend, Tito, but I am grateful to have reconnected with other members of our Hearst Hall cohort, and am grateful that they have moved to California, above which I sense an unlikely spiritual magnet that draws those that have been closest to me. I hope there’s a magnet over your head, as well.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will be hosted by a substitute Quizmaster, and I am also grateful to him. Ted is a Pub Quiz regular, an accomplished teacher at UC Davis, and a scholar whose many academic presentations keep him traveling throughout the Untied States and beyond. This evening he will be asking questions about MIT researchers, Bob Hope, Portland, the daily news, great Americans, great comedies, historical characters, danger, those who believe, engineers, wideouts, fruits that are botanically berries, law schools, great musicians, hayseeds, Star Trek, New Zealand, kings, islands that I have not visited, acting as pretending, the burial of decent men, lawns that need to be mowed, populations, Bill Murray, eating vegetarians, keeping score, name the centuries, Germans, collections of subunits, Austria, middle books, cats, statistics, and Shakespeare.

My new book, titled Where’s Jukie, has been released (well, I have my copies). Soon they will be available at local bookstores, and at the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz. More on that when I see you next week. If you can’t wait, Kate and I will be reading from Where’s Jukie tonight starting around 7 at the MIND Institute. You are welcome to join us, though there will be no tie-breakers.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

Mottos and Slogans. There is some debate as to whether the P company that uses the commercial slogan “There is no substitute” has one or two syllables in its name. Name the company.

Internet Culture. Remember that Oscar-night selfie that almost broke Twitter? What twice-nominated actor actually took it?

Education in California. According to a speech given this past weekend by California Attorney General Kamala Harris at the California Federation of Teachers convention, what percentage of inmates in California are high school dropouts? Is it closest to 22, 42, 62, or 82%?

Fun and Games. In what decade did Gary Gygax and Robert Arneson create the game Dungeons and Dragons? Was it the 1960s, 70s, 80s, or 90s?

Science. An allergen is a type of what other A word that, in the world of immunology, refers to an antibody generator?

P.S. Arisa White performs her poetry at the John Natsoulas Gallery on Thursday night at 8. You should join us for an incredibly talented Oakland poet and playwright.

The Healthy Dilly Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 24, 2014

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 7^th, 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

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.

The Sleepy Birthday Monday Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 10, 2014

Dear Friends,

Happy Sleepy Monday! That’s what some researchers are calling the workday after we set our clocks forward, causing all our appointments to start an hour earlier. According to a recent USA Today article, today “our risk of having a car accident will rise about 6%, research shows, as will our chances of being in a workplace accident.”

Last night I met with students from 9-11 at a downtown café, and then had an early-morning appointment at my daughter’s school before my 10 AM class. As a result, this “sleepy” correspondent is publishing the newsletter later than usual, surely disappointing some regular readers who like to pour over the hints after having poured a cup of coffee.

Despite the lateness of this newsletter, I’m not worrying about filling the Irish Pub this evening, for I have invited a few extra friends to join us, both during the Pub Quiz, and for an after party. I plan to party as if it were my birthday. In fact, I can drop the subjunctive: today is my birthday, and I am paying for the party.

Here’s how I wrote about my Native American potlatch tradition in the newsletter from this week two years ago (back when I used to write more ambitious paragraphs):

“Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday greetings on Saturday. Today’s will be a special edition of the Pub Quiz, for it will conclude with a party, that is, even more of a party than we usually hold on a Monday evening. Starting at about 9pm, the hard-working staff of the Irish Pub will emerge from the kitchen with all sorts of finger food, the phrase that we Americans use instead of “hors d’oeuvres.” Although I will be paying for the extra food myself, in honor of the Native American tradition of potlatch, you will have to purchase your own drink. Gifts (to me) of any sort are specifically discouraged, but if you are feeling particularly generous, I encourage you to consider one of my three favorite local charities as a focus for your generosity: community radio station KDVS (which holds its annual fund-raiser next month right after Picnic Day), The Cultural Action Committee of the City of Davis (which supports my poetry efforts in the community, as well as all the public art that you’ve seen popping up in the last two months), and Writing on the Edge, the local (and nationally famous) writing journal that is sponsored by the University Writing Program at UC Davis. Subscriptions to WOE are only $20 a year, a real bargain when you consider the incredible writers who one sees interviewed, and whose work is published, in every issue.”

This year I will also be encouraging folks to donate to the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome Foundation (SLOSF). My book of poetry (with my wife’s essays) comes out later this month. Titled Where’s Jukie, the book explores the joys of raising a child with special needs. All the profits from book sales will be donated to the SLOSF, so I will be reminding you often to make the $10 investment once the book is released.

And as an added bonus, while a small buffet will be unveiled around 9:30, my favorite news of the day is that the incredible all-woman a cappella group The Spokes will be performing a couple songs at about 10 this evening. What fun! I hope you can join us.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on tragic royalty, beloved daughters, doors, Oscar-winners, civil rights benchmarks, playful slogans, dreaming of profit, Androids, Disney firsts, thought leaders, women in film, tombs, the National Safety Council, NASA, internal angles (math question), Swedes with degrees, Bacardi, 11-letter words that begin with the letter Z, martial arts dialogues, hypnotist collectors, televised journeys, a party for Ringo, parallel lives, centrifugal forces, old names, shoes on the table, utopias, incumbents with raised rifles, cucumbers, current events, and Shakespeare.

See you tonight for the Pub Quiz, and the after-party!

Your Quizmaster