Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Treasure your moments of inactivity. Although we find distraction in television, video games, and endless web surfing, we often approach peacefulness  and contentment though a more purposeful inactivity: time spent in reflection, meditation, contemplation, invention, or prayer. I enjoy turning off my email on Friday evenings and Saturdays. I leisurely read the Davis Enterprise rather than scrolling rapid-fire through my many social media outposts and favorite news websites. I might read or write a poem. I take my sons and our bulldog on a long walk.

Knowledge Workers, a term coined by Peter Drucker in 1959, are called that because they think for a living. Such workers have more autonomy, require (or accept) less supervision, and usually make more than the rest of us. They also sometimes suffer from what is called “normative control,” the expectation to act in an expected way because “that’s how things are done around here,” and thus from burnout. In this way, Knowledge workers might be distinguished from Creative Professionals, a term I use in the Writing Across Media and Writing in Fine Arts classes that I teach at UC Davis, for creative professionals often confront or resist such control (and often challenge what might be called “normative.”) They also are less likely to experience burnout, for they create many of their own deadlines.

Both Knowledge Workers and Creative Professionals need a break, a moment to themselves, a respite from thought and duty. For this we have the weekend. Christian and Jewish workers celebrated a day of rest and prayer on different days, so early last century some cotton mills and Henry Ford’s car factories would shut down two days a week to accommodate everyone. And then in 1940 the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act finally went into effect, and all of us were expected to work no more than a 40-hour workweek. Today we might thank labor unions, President Roosevelt, and all those workers of faith for the opportunity to reflect and play for two days a week. As Joseph Addison said hundreds of years ago, “Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.” If he were around today, I’m sure he would add Saturday, as well.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on television shows that I don’t watch. I’ve largely had to give up TV in order to leave time to read and write, to play with my kids, and to prepare your Pub Quiz. For that, I thank you. Expect also questions about companies that rhyme with their slogans, tracks, The Ukraine, words that are not “ankle,” comedy, the RIAA, football, Swedes, fancy houses, 13-letter phrases that describe 80% of a certain people, Dick Van Dyke, wrinkles, enthusiasm from Rolling Stone, Star Wars czars and other words that include the letter Z, Russians, literary journals, old people, St. Patrick’s Day, Candelabra, Oscar nominees, crust, favorite states, and Shakespeare.

St. Patrick’s Day happens to take place on a Monday this year, so we will not be holding Pub Quiz on March 17. Also, on March 31, I will be participating in the yearly poetry reading and fundraiser to benefit the Mind Institute, and its Autism research. I will let you know if we will hold pub quiz late on that evening, or if I will enlist the help of a substitute.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

Pub Quiz for Monday, February 17, 2014

 

1.         Newspaper Headlines.   This week we learned from a University of Chicago study that one of the biggest killers of the elderly – that is, one of the biggest factors that speeds up death from other inevitable causes – is not obesity, but is actually a ten-letter word that starts with the letter L. Hint: Mother Teresa said that L-word and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” Solve for L.

 

2.         Pens and Sponges. A pen is like a sponge because both are involved in dispensing WHAT?  This was a great question. Hall of Fame, for sure.

 

3.         Greek Gods. Cupid is the son of what Greek goddess?

 

4.         Pop Culture – Music. When I asked my 16 year-old daughter if she knew the rapper who had a big hit with the song “Happy” from the Despicable Me 2 Soundtrack, she responded “Oh, do you mean the guy with the hat?” What is the name of the rapper?

 

5.         Science.   According to a study released last week, cocaine use in young people raises by six times the risk of what six-letter S word?  Favorite incorrect answers include the six letter words STUPID and SCURVY.

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

I’ve spent the entire weekend at the San Francisco Writers Conference. I chaired or presented formally at 10 panels over four days, and hosted three evening poetry readings, including a raucous open mic that featured a live jazz trio (with whom I got to play my bongos). I’ve made close friends and valuable contacts at the conference over the last decade, and always relish the opportunity to learn more about the publishing industry. Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada, the San Francisco literary agents who produce and host the event, are beloved heroes of the west-coast literary scene, even while the rapid changes in publishing – towards self-publishing and ebooks, and away from the New York publishers, sometimes called “legacy” publishers – complicate the work and livelihood of agents. Nowhere else can one find such gracious hosts.

 

My favorite moments of the conference involved interactions with the poets. Fifth-generation Davisite and third-generation UC Davis faculty member Brad Henderson was there, reading from his new ebook The Blue Devil. As you might guess, Brad is also a Davis High alum. Other terrific poets at the event included Brian Felsen, Matthew Zapruder (a contemporary of mine in DC who I’ve just met for the first time), Aya de Leon, Micah Ballard and especially Arisa White. Some of the poets at the conference have also appeared at the Poetry Night Reading Series here in Davis, including Joan Gelfand, Indigo Moor, and Mary Mackey. I include all their names here with the hope that you will look them up.

 

At SFWC I also learned even more about social media marketing, especially from Rusty Shelton, the Austin-based thought-leader in micromedia who offered to help Kate and me publicize the book we’re publishing next month about raising our son Jukie. I think Rusty appreciated that we are donating all the profits from book sales to the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation. More on that in future newsletters.

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the Quizmaster Twitter account, Greek gods, Valentine’s Day (late), scientific slogans, Santa Claus, Toy Story, pens and sponges, men with hats, roses, Olympic coaches, US Presidents, noise, games, delicious desserts, great films, poet laureates that inhabit color, proper names that are not Kane, gangsters, dead birds, Italians, the sympathies of ash, islands that are not men, long lives, Frenchmen of the 17^th century, the example of Mercy, Dukes, first choices, female leads, chocolate, and Shakespeare. There will also be a couple current-events questions that I haven’t written yet.

 

I hope you have been enjoying some time off this holiday. Consider taking a nap so that you are fresh and sharp for tonight’s Pub Quiz!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Mottos and Slogans.    The UNCF tells us that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” What do the letters UNCF stand for?

 

2. Internet Culture. What is the length of those automated “Look Back” movies that Facebook created for everyone who cared to investigate them? Are they closest to 30, 60, or 120 seconds?

 

3. Newspaper Headlines.   We learned last Thursday of the closure this coming summer of which one of the following ebook retailers/ devices? Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony Reader.

 

4. Four for Four.      Which two of the following four actresses were born in Hawaii? Jane Fonda, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Sofia Vergara.

 

5. Star Wars Anagram. The first letters of the first names of Leia Organa’s mother, father, and grandmother together spell the name of a place where you’d never find Darth Vader. Name it.

 

P.S. This coming Thursday one of California’s most dynamic poets, Francisco X. Alarcon, will be performing with other poets at another meeting of the Poetry Night Reading Series. We start at 8 PM at the Natsoulas Gallery at 1^st and E Streets, and you are invited. Details at http://www.poetryindavis.com.

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

The elderly church lady who almost hit me asked if I wanted to recover from the bike accident while sitting in her car. I told her that I didn’t want to bleed all over the seats of her Mazda. She blessed me several times after being assured that I was OK, and then drove away.

I can barely blame her for not being sure where to drive in Davis. The lane markings that had helped bicyclists and drivers alike keep from entering each other’s space had been paved over by CalTrans during the previous summer, so the overcrossing was a free-for-all. Almost every morning during my bike commute I wrote a letter in my head demanding that the bike lanes be repainted, but the letter was never written. While lying under my bike in the highway access road, I thought of the phrase “The life you save may be your own.” I have spoken these words on the radio dozens of times while reading blood drive public service announcements, but I never thought they would refer to my own procrastination with public-minded correspondence. It was my turn to donate blood, but not in the way that anyone would have wanted. Messy.

I took a day off to recover from the “road rash” on my palms, left knee, and left elbow. My helmet and MacBook Pro – my two priorities – remained unscratched. The next day I phoned David Kemp, the staff liaison to our city’s Bicycle Advisory Commission to complain about the safety lapse. He didn’t sound hopeful when he phoned me back, saying that the city wasn’t in charge of highway overcrossings, but then a week later the bike lanes are back. Thanks to David’s work, all South Davis residents can cross Richards Boulevard a little more safely now, though I recommend the bike tunnel under I-80 for that purpose (as well as leaving for your commute ten minutes earlier).

When I reported a problem, nobody blamed me, called me a troublemaker, or had me detained (as might be the case if I were a resident of Sochi this week). As FDR said in 1938, “If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free.” I hope you have found some free time to enjoy the Winter Olympic Games! I wonder what country would earn gold if the Pub Quiz were an Olympic event.

In addition to topics raised thus far, expect questions tonight on bodies of water, short histories, Sam I Am, Montana, long-suffering literary fathers, trips to DC during the Reagan era, salty language, ancient Greeks, time for comparisons to the lower 48, cubic kilometers, Irishwomen, no awards for acting, road works, Neolithic walks, the US Census and the spelling of the word “community,” underground, US cities, a basket full of bread, exhausted pugs, Iceland, 50 years ago today, the joke’s on him, baseball transitions, birdsongs, math geniuses, Star Wars anagrams, Hawaii, surprise residents, reading being fundamental, Facebook, wastes of time, reversals, and Shakespeare.

I hope you can join us for the Pub Quiz tonight. Happy Lincoln’s Birthday!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Mottos and Slogans.    The New Jersey stadium where Super Bowl 48 took place yesterday was named after what insurance company that uses the slogan “It Pays”?

 

2. Internet Culture. Katy Perry has welcomed her boyfriend back to Twitter. What is his name?

 

3. Cars and Commercials. According to a commercial I saw yesterday, where a bunch of engineers earned their wings, what car company has the most cars on the road with 100,000 miles?

 

4. Four for Four. Which of the following islands, if any, are parts of Polynesia? Guam, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.

 

5. Pop Culture – Music. One from the Archives. The 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly dated July 4, 2008 listed the same album at number one on the Top 100 Best albums of the past 25 years that Vanity Fair in 2007 called the greatest soundtrack of all time. Name the album.

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

The title of this week’s newsletter, surprisingly, does not refer to yesterday’s Super Bowl, though I suppose all of us lost who expected an exciting game. So many of you viewed the game yesterday that I feel compelled to include some relevant questions on tonight’s quiz. I hope the time with friends and family rewarded your investment of time and attention.

 

One striking Loss from yesterday was the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman at age 46. James Lipton, the host of the TV show Inside the Actors Studio, called Hoffman the “greatest actor of his generation,” comparing him to Brando, Nicholson, and de Niro. My wife Kate recognized Hoffman’s talent in his earliest films, and would set aside time to see each new film as he became more recognized and event more talented. I have mentioned him dozens of times on the Pub Quiz, and he will reappear this evening as we celebrate his life and work.

 

One Win, for me, was a reunion of sorts with my favorite teacher from high school, Will Layman. He and two of his colleagues from that small private school, The Field School in Washington DC, were in San Francisco over the weekend, so yesterday my son Jukie and I woke as early as we would on a school day and drove out to the Café de la Presse for some breakfast. I was pleased to see that the maitre d’ was just as snooty as the Yelp reviews had lead to me expect, asking us twice, with some incredulity, if indeed we had no reservation for our 9 AM meal. The food was delicious, and the conversation even better. Now a musician and a jazz critic as well as a beloved teacher, Will Layman (with others) inspired me to jump into the literature racket, to invest deeply in learning and reading, and to consider ways to inspire others’ discoveries. We might say, then, that Will Layman is indirectly responsible for all my brash and public artistic pursuits, including the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz.

 

The final Loss, for me, is my loss of respect for Woody Allen. I should wait to see if the allegations against him are corroborated, but to imagine an aesthetic hero of mine acting in such a way fills me with grief almost as much as reading of the death of Hoffman. Perhaps this is how the Chris Christie partisans feel as more revelations are revealed.

 

In addition to what is mentioned above, expect questions tonight on insurance, diminutive stars, introductions to a boyfriend, heroes, impoverished tropical paradises, wings, solar politics, the imagination, POTUS, American rappers, monsters, unusual words with Fs and Ps, more candy from Jay Leno’s doo-to-be-vacated desk, living American authors, surf instrumentals, rock journalism, wars, flowers and dancing, books of maps, houses of worship, the roots of American music, ethnic groups, countries in Europe, loud noises, Canadian menaces, nothing, ketchup, and Shakespeare.

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Mottos and Slogans.    What US company founded in 1903 has used these two commercial slogans? “American by Birth, Rebel by Choice” and “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

 

2. Newspaper Headlines. The front-man of Nine Inch Nails tweeted his pique over being cut off towards the end of yesterday’s Grammy Awards ceremony. Name this musician who won an Oscar for scoring the film The Social Network and who Spin magazine described as “the most vital artist in music.”

 

3. Know Your Historical Events. Using letters only, tell me the order of these three historical events: A) The Founding of the French First Republic (with the resulting end of the French Monarchy), B) The Founding of San Francisco by Spanish colonists, and C) The Founding of the United States of America.

 

4. Four for Four.      Which of the following Davis parks have a play structure or any kind of apparatus that includes a slide? Central Park, Community Park, Oxford Circle Park, Slide Hill Park.

 

5. Kid Culture. What’s the name of the human handler and adoptive father of Alvin & the Chipmunks?   

 

 

P.S. This coming Thursday the Poetry Night Reading Series will feature a reading and book-signing by highly acclaimed Nevada City poet Molly Fisk. Fisk will be reading from her most recent book: Blow-Drying a Chicken: Observations from a Working Poet. I hope you can join us Thursday night at 8 for this event at the John Natsoulas Gallery.

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

I’ve talked to many strangers since I saw you last.

 

In addition to the growing audience of my radio show, to whom I introduced Nina Amir, the writing coach and author of the book How to Blog a Book, Thursday I spoke at the UC Davis Design Museum about my former professor and colleague Sandra McPherson. Sandy, a beloved poet and teacher, had donated all 67 of the quilts she had collected, all of them created by African American female artists, most of them in the southern US. I got to read one of Sandy’s poems, titled “Artists,” and talk about what an important voice she has been for poetry, and for her students.

 

Then Friday I presented a talk at a writing conference in San Francisco, a paper titled “It’s All About the Caption: Understanding and Encouraging Students’ Use of Social Media to Create Multi-Modal Compositions.” Therein I talked about how rewarding it is to work with such talented Technocultural Studies students at UC Davis, and how I love encouraging them to take their knowledge of images, film, animation and sound, and create multimodal compositions in response to my assignments. They repeatedly delight and surprise me with their creativity and originality.

 

Then Saturday I gave a talk before the Ina Coolbrith Poetry Circle in Lafayette about the importance of radio on poetry and literacy. Kate brought the kids to that event, and several people came up to us afterwards to remark on how well-behaved our children are. That was almost as gratifying as hearing people laugh at my impersonations of Dylan Thomas (Born 100 years ago) and the late Amiri Baraka. Speaking of people born 100 years ago, a poet named Ben Slomoff shared a poem with us that had won a prize last year when Ben was 99. Now he is 100. My new friend Ben earned a master’s degree in conflict resolution in 1997 from the University of Massachusetts. What an admirable fellow.

 

And then on Sunday, like Ben Slomoff, I rested. Both Ben and I had earned it. How was your weekend?

 

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the following topics: dogs and dog breeds, staged violence, football defense, enforcers and where they come from, gothic novels, Heart favorites, Swedes, big cities, Ireland (the island itself), films that are not titled Shrek, infectious diseases, meadows, radically progressive statements about women, menaces, dudes named Jack, young royals, absent flavor varieties, venerables, the poem “The World is Too Much With Us,” Harvard, alcohols, Julie Andrews, handlers, famous foundings, slides, newspaper headlines, Apples, American rebels, California cities, and Shakespeare.

 

See you tonight!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Great Americans.  Who the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California?

 

2. Unusual Words. What C verb means “To modify, especially to increase, the rate of (a chemical reaction)”? Verbs only, please.

 

3. American Cities. What American city is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located?

 

4. Pop Culture – Television.     The name of the 1980s TV sitcom title character ALF is actually an anagram for what?

 

5. Another Music Question: Three-Vowel First Names. Who had big 2010 hits with “Dynamite” and “Break Your Heart”? 

 

P.S. Poetry Night returns on February 6 with a reading by Molly Fisk. Stay tuned for more information!

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

Happy Martin Luther King Day! I’ve previously written in this space about my family’s connections to and admiration of Dr. King. In recent years, Dr. King’s birthday has become a National Day of Service. A visit to the Davis Wiki Events Board reveals that as I write this two different local community spirit and beautification groups are planting native plants in Winters and North Davis. Elsewhere across the country people are painting murals at schools, boarding up abandoned homes, and picking up trash and cigarette butts in public parks. I hope that this has been a fruitful “day on” rather than just a day off for you.

Speaking of cigarette butts, thanks to our friends at Breathe Free UC Davis for providing the swag (six T-shirts!) and a reason to remind everyone about the well-established dangers of smoking cigarettes. According to a recent CNN story, the acting Surgeon General has new findings on smoking: “For the first time, the report found that smoking can cause diabetes, erectile dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis, macular degeneration, ectopic pregnancies and impaired immune function. Smokers have a 30% to 40% increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared with nonsmokers.”

Smoking seems like a great way to try out old age before you are due. That said, some of my smoker friends have told me that their addiction to death-sticks has made them more contemplative, for their addictions have forced them outside to take a break from work and consider sunshine and the view. In large organizations, smokers often know the best gossip, and more people from different departments, because they make friends while huddled outside as they administer nicotine and the hundreds of other chemical pollutants infused in their cigarettes. Of course, one could also turn to poetry – reading or writing – to encourage deep thinking. The side effects are far less dangerous.

Business and social media marketing guru Chris Brogan has said that smartphones have replaced cigarettes. Fans of Mad Men and people who remember Elvis before he was fat know well how it used to be: immediately after a dinner out with friends everyone would light up a cigarette and begin conversing (and coughing). Today people turn on their smartphones to see what important messages and events they had missed during the previous hour. Some people don’t even wait for the meal to end. Just yesterday I saw two sisters in their 20s enjoying burritos, but not each other’s company or conversation, for they both spent the entire meal silently staring into the small screens of their phones.

As the host of a weekly trivia contest, perhaps I should encourage your obsession with the transitory and the trivial, and thus smile when I see teams submit their scorecards without looking them over one last time, if only to be reunited with their smartphones, and thus alleviate the pain of separation. Instead I sometimes think of how Henry David Thoreau responded to a friend who insisted on walking into Concord once a week to read a copy of the New York Times. Thoreau said, “Read not The Times; read the eternities.” What are you reading?

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Expect also questions about monadnocks, the San Francisco 49ers, people who have been nominated for five Oscars, 2013 films, fairy tales, trivia questions found in back-copies of the Christian Science Monitor, distilled spirits, countries that are not Indonesia, aliens, minimalist absurdity, cinematic debuts, American cities, breaches, living authors of substance, silly film anagrams, The Journal of Pain, milk, the potential of wine, key Irish people who you should not snub, dogs, problems, unusual verbs, fliers, people who are not Gay, stars, dance, light wits, marches, films online, east Carolina, Navajos, and Shakespeare.

See you tonight! I will be the one dressed in black.

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1.         Science.   Some casual students of the Periodic Table of the Elements believe that, when arranged alphabetically, ZINC is the last element. Which element with an atomic number of 40 proves them wrong?

 

2.         Unusual Words. What J verb means “to drop (someone, such as a lover) capriciously or unfeelingly”?

 

3.         Actors. What actor in recent years played both Johnny Storm and Captain America?

 

4.         Pop Culture – Television.    Andy Samberg won a Golden Globe last night for what action comedy television series that airs on Fox?

 

5.         Another Music Question. What singer/songwriter is responsible for the repeated refrain “This place about to blow”?

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

“Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.” ~Muriel Rukeyser

 

Stories of romance and of coming of age are always about beginnings. We cherish the unstained potential, the optimism of possibility. I myself revisit often in my mind’s eye the moment I met my wife, Kate, in a Spartan room on 45 England’s Lane in London, England. My good luck, to have met this particular Chicagoan a few blocks from Hampstead Heath, seemed both so improbable as well as entirely fated. Sharon Olds explores this theme more darkly from a daughter’s perspective in her poem “I Go Back to May 1937”:

 

I Go Back to May 1937

 

I see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges,

I see my father strolling out

under the ochre sandstone arch, the

red tiles glinting like bent

plates of blood behind his head, I

see my mother with a few light books at her hip

standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks,

the wrought-iron gate still open behind her, its

sword-tips aglow in the May air,

they are about to graduate, they are about to get married,

they are kids, they are dumb, all they know is they are

innocent, they would never hurt anybody.

I want to go up to them and say Stop,

don’t do it—she’s the wrong woman,

he’s the wrong man, you are going to do things

you cannot imagine you would ever do,

you are going to do bad things to children,

you are going to suffer in ways you have not heard of,

you are going to want to die. I want to go

up to them there in the late May sunlight and say it,

her hungry pretty face turning to me,

her pitiful beautiful untouched body,

his arrogant handsome face turning to me,

his pitiful beautiful untouched body,

but I don’t do it. I want to live. I

take them up like the male and female

paper dolls and bang them together

at the hips, like chips of flint, as if to

strike sparks from them, I say

Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it.

 

I hope your year has begun well. This past week I got to be interviewed by the BBC on the passing of the great American poet Amiri Baraka, and I got to perform the prose of Anthony Marra before a crowd of 100 at The Pence Gallery as part of Stories on Stage. How auspicious for 2014! And what fun! I hope you are also working on your bucket list.

 

Tonight’s pub quiz will include questions that touch upon the following topics: Amiri Baraka, Madison Avenue’s Advertising Walk of Fame, thresholds, the big three, trees with attitude, Gallup polls, surprised swallows, unilateral disengagement, U.S. States, underwater hunger, remarkable women, fabrics, Razzie awards, English departments, tobacco, South Americans, nosey musketeers and other great Frenchmen, the dispersal of demons, avoiding cancer, the vindication of echoes, hit songs with refrains that are not grammatically correct, Brooklyn, the piano, female authors, periodic tables, college football, things that are cold, Oscar-winning actors, big purchases, things that will be released in 2015, and Shakespeare.

 

All the tables were occupied last week during the Pub Quiz, and my quizmaster Twitter account has been attracting new followers every week, so I expect another sold-out Quiz this evening. I hope you will join us!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. Mottos and Slogans.    The 3-part slogan of the TV show Survivor is Outwit. Outplay. WHAT?

 

2. Internet Culture. Inexplicably, Internet Explorer has the largest international market share of web browsers, at about 58%. What web browser has the second-largest global market share, ahead of Google’s Chrome?

 

3. Chimpanzees. Starting with the letter C, what river divides the native habitats of the two species of chimpanzee?

 

4. Pop Culture – Music. When last night at 9 I checked the temp in the birth-city of Bob Dylan, it was -18. Name this birthstate also of Judy Garland and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

 

5. Sports.   What retired baseball pitcher holds records in career no-hitters, strikeouts and base on balls?

 

 

P.S. This coming Thursday night at 8 I will be hosting a celebration of the life of Amiri Baraka at the John Natsoulas Gallery. The event will feature award-winning poets from Sacramento and Davis. You are invited to come read something of Baraka’s or to just enjoy the show. See you then, and see you tonight.

 

P.P.S. Happy early birthday to Pub Quiz irregular John Lescroart!

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

Happy New Year to you and your families. I hope you enjoyed what little holiday and new year’s respite you could. The Wednesday appearance of the two major year-end holidays left many of us wondering when we should take our breaks from work. What can be done with (or over) a five-day weekend?

 

In my family, we have a tradition of visiting snowcapped peaks over the holiday break. Last year we ventured to Mount Shasta with some close friends, while this past week my wife’s mother and our bulldog joined us for a few days and nights at Lake Tahoe. Both trips resulted in a doctor’s visit for me. Have I grown too used to the uniform horizontalness of Davis?

 

Sometimes we read of celebrities who never quite recover from a fall at home. Others, like Charles Rosher, the first great Hollywood cinematographer, and crusader Henry II of Champagne, died outright from a fall. These were some of the names that were not running through my head as I regained consciousness after a bad fall on the ice. Instead, I heard these helpful words: “Do you want me to get Mommy?” I must have said yes.

 

I was brought to the emergency room of the Barton Memorial Hospital, where I was treated especially well. Kate might have been remembering another fall that did not turn out so well, that of inexperienced skier Natasha Richardson. I was more sanguine about my experience, for I could easily answer the admitting nurse’s questions about where I was and what the day’s date was. Kate remarked later that a Quizmaster should expect harder questions if they are to test his relative mental acuity. I’m glad I wasn’t asked about Henry II of Champagne. I’m also grateful for health insurance, and for the thick wool cap I was wearing during the mishap.

 

On the way home to Davis, it was suggested that I figure out how to work the word “concussion” into the title of my weekly newsletter. I prefer the phrase “dying fall” made popular by Shakespeare,

 

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again! it had a dying fall:

O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound,

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odour!

 

And by Eliot,

 

For I have known them all already, known them all:

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;

I know the voices dying with a dying fall

Beneath the music from a farther room.

So how should I presume?

 

I’m sure you can name the sources for these lines. If not, bring an English major to the Pub Quiz tonight, as well as someone who could speak authoritatively on the following subjects: slide rules, insults, people who are “marked,” recognizable colors, live and dead stars, blood, people with good luck, the NSA, London, faeries, anime, sequels, Honey, symphonies, people named Pike, rock bands, browsing the web, tallying votes, Emmy-winning actors, Disney, dads, people named Phillip, 2013, clinicians, Nashville, televised competitions, nights, making news, the U.S. Constitution, 2013, Brits, famous married couples, R.F. Foster on talking about faeries with guns and the occult on YouTube, baseball and football, primates, people who make good choices with their money, and Shakespeare.

 

Welcome to the new subscribers to this newsletter! See you tonight.

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

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yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

1. US States. It turns out that South Carolina, Kansas, and Indiana don’t have the most restrictive abortion laws in the US. They are tied for third. Neither does Utah, in second place. Which state has the most restrictive abortion laws in the country?  It’s not Texas.

 

2. The EU. What is also the most widely spoken first language in the European Union?

 

3. Sports.   The FIU men’s basketball team failed to finish 2013 on a happy note, losing to the Georgetown Hoyas 92-57 on the Saturday before Christmas. What do the letters FIU stand for?

 

4. Texas. The second most-populous city in Texas has more people in it than Dallas. Name the city.

 

5. Another Music Question. What English singer and lyricist rose to prominence in the 1980s as the voice of the band The Smiths? 

 

 

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

 

Congratulations to the Bjerke family of Davis, California, on the arrival this week of Lyla Bjerke, a beautiful baby girl. Before she started having babies, Jenny Bjerke would help me with the grading of the Pub Quiz, and Mark Bjerke competed just last week, winning the 7^th Place Bonus Prize provided by de Vere’s Irish Pub. As I follow the Bjerkes on a variety of social media, I’ve seen pictures of their beautiful family, but this new Bjerke may be the most beautiful Bjerke of all. Congratulations, Bjerkes!

The Bjerkes will benefit from a 2013-long tax deduction because of the addition of Lyla Bjerke. My son Jukie was born on January 4^th, just a few days from being the first child in Davis to be born in the new millennium. No retroactive tax deduction there, but he has rewarded us in many other ways. Jukie won’t be joining us for the Pub Quiz tonight, but he’ll be cheering us on in other ways.

 

Of course, I am no accountant, so I look to the new year for other milestones and opportunities. Most people who make resolutions at this time of year resolve to become more fit, and recent research supports such a decision. As you might have seen in yesterday’s USA Today, “Studies show that exercise reduces the risk of early death, helps control weight and lowers the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, some types of cancer, anxiety disorders, cognitive decline and hip fractures. It can help improve sleep, memory, concentration and mood.” As Exercise Cure author Jordan Metzl puts it, “Exercise is the best preventive drug we have, and everybody needs to take that medicine.”

 

Although I canceled my underused gym membership this last year, I have been exercising like a fiend in recent months, asking increasingly heavy children in my home to balance themselves on my back as I do push ups. As I am not a medical doctor, and as I have a sore back, this anecdote is not meant to substitute for medical advice about your own exercise plan, which I hope you will restart for the sake of your own health and happiness.

 

Because I am teaching classes about creativity in the winter and spring quarters, I look to different sorts of thought leaders for inspiration as I consider goals and paths for 2014. One such constant source of inspiration for me is Robert Pinsky, the former US Poet Laureate who taught me a crucial class when I was an undergraduate at Boston University, and who has since taught many others in a variety of media. A much sought-out public speaker, Pinsky gave a commencement address at the Concord Academy last year that reminded me fondly of his mini-lectures in our lyric poetry class. Pinsky speaks of the importance of struggle, and of taking on difficult challenges, as we do every week at the Pub Quiz. Perhaps my having grabbed the answer to a Pub Quiz question from his remarks will compel you to investigate the video.

 

In addition to topics raised by Dr. Pinsky, tonight’s Pub Quiz will also feature questions about independent music, madness, gangsters, anchors, admiration, home runs, absentee dukes, formerly hailed, outage magnets, American poets, Jills, nonviolence, cities in turmoil, the symbols of humankind, perilous journeys, abortion rights, the Irish diaspora, 2013 obituaries, what we Google, pretty and just gluts, lead singers, stage names, rich ladies, southern states, not so swift boats, Europe, states that are not South Carolina or Indiana, and Shakespeare.

 

Thanks to all of you who have informed me via email and Facebook that your erstwhile teams will be re-forming this evening for the Pub Quiz. I anticipate another full house. See you tonight!

 

Your Quizmaster

https://www.yourquizmaster.com

http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster

http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster

yourquizmaster@gmail.com

 

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

 

 

1. Books and Authors.  What essayist, playwright and humorist created the diary of Crumpet the Elf?

 

2. The City of Woodland. What is the largest highway to intersect Woodland?

 

3. Battleships. The fastest and the last of the British Royal Navy’s battleships, the HMS Vanguard, was launched in what year? 1924, 1944, 1964, or 1984.

 

4. Science.  The antiparticle of the electron is the positively charged electron, which is produced naturally in certain types of radioactive decay. What is the three-syllable word we use to name a positively charged electron? 

 

5. Shakespeare.   Which of Shakespeare’s title characters says this? “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. / Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell.”

 

 

P.S. There will be no Poetry Night Thursday because of the proximity to New Year’s Day. I know that some of you will still be recovering. See you in 2014! Happy New Year!