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

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on April 23, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on April 16, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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

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

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

See you soon!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on April 9, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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

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

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

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

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

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on April 2, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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

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

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

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

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

See you this evening!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on March 26, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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

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

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

I hope to see you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on March 19, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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

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

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

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by yourquizmaster on March 12, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

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.

Speaking of charities, I’m really pleased to be associated with an organization, de Vere’s Irish Pub, and a group of people, the de Vere White Family, that is doing so much good in the world. More specifically, the de Vere’s Irish Pubs do more than any other local outfit that I know of to support the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that has raised over $188 million over the last dozen years to fund innovative and promising research into cancers that affect children. They do this primarily by shaving heads of volunteers who raise money for this good cause. My friend John Marcotte, the Sacramento-based journalist and activist, is getting his head shaved at the de Vere’s Irish Pub in Sacramento this evening. I supported his efforts with a donation on his St. Baldrick’s Foundation Page, and you can, too. Thanks to de Vere’s Irish Pub for focusing on important causes during St. Patrick’s Week. Enjoy this frabjous day, and take note of the St. Patrick’s Week events that de Vere’s will be sponsoring – at least one a day through Saturday. Perhaps I will see you at one of the celebrations.

In addition to the expected topics during St. Patrick’s Week (Irish culture and such), expect questions tonight on personal hygiene products, Hawaiian culture, Gorgons, philosophers, confections, Grammy-award winning singers, football, dangerous car accidents, the American Presidency, UC Davis, textiles and clothing, actors with natural names, grenades, cashmere poets, coffee drinks, Indian culture, Japanese words, cereal, prominent Twitter users, translations, mystery novels, modern fables, rushing, Irish culture, big countries, fruits and vegetables, people whose pockets brim with imperatives, politics, and Picnic Day, after which the KDVS fundraiser shall begin.

I look forward to seeing you tonight for a memorable Pub Quiz and after-party.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What product that starts with the letter M uses the slogan “Medicine with muscle”?

2. Internet Culture. This past January, what website became the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark, most of those users being women?

3. Newspaper Headlines. The last name of the Georgetown graduate student who Rush Limbaugh has been picking on is a synonym for the words “accident” and “blessing.” Name her.

4. Four for Four. Which two of the following names, if any, are those of the Leonardo DiCaprio character in the film Inception? Bob, Cobb, David, Dominick.

5. Star Trek. What Star Trek species that shares ancestry with the Vulcans has been described as passionate, cunning, and opportunistic?

P.S. Here’s the event page for tonight’s after-quiz party: https://www.facebook.com/events/198696140235793/

The Slanted Daffodil Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on March 5, 2012

The Slanted Daffodil Edition of the de Vere's Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

If you saw the cover of yesterday’s Davis Enterprise, you probably spied, and perhaps even recognized, members of Portraits O’ Muhammad, the winningest team in the history of the Pub Quizzes that I have hosted. They won the most points / quizzes in February, and are due “full respek,” as Ali G would put it. They won’t be basking in any glory this evening, however, for most of the team’s members will be attending Human Rights and Humanities Week, an effort of The Human Rights Initiative at UC Davis. Congrats to Keith David Watenpaugh and the other scholar heroes of human rights who live right here in Davis.

So if you’ve ever yearned for an opportunity to win the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz, tonight might give you even more opportunities than usual. We may have a crowd tonight because of the extra local press, so please plan accordingly.

Do you think of Winston Churchill when you think of the English Bulldog? Is that because Churchill looked somewhat like a bulldog, or because he once said that “The nose of the Bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go”? In any event, my family and I will pick up our new bulldog on Saturday, my birthday, and to celebrate these two events, I will be throwing a party of sorts next Monday night after the Pub Quiz. Starting at 9pm, I hope as many revelers will arrive as typically exit at that time, if only for the extra finger food that we’ll be providing. You’ll be responsible for your own drinks, should you still be thirsty. I will most likely have iPhone pictures of Daffodil Jones to share for those who stick around for the party.

Tonight’s quiz will feature questions about British people, but no bulldogs. I’ve also saved a bunch of questions for an evening when I knew that POM would be gone, so expect questions on Star Trek, the Middle East, and the southeast US. Additionally, expect questions on anodynes, social media, “accidents” and “blessings,” favorite movies of recent years, illnesses, fictional people, Canadian musicians, basketball and baseball, American cities, greatness in size and degree, great apes, short song titles, brotherly love, birds that we have never seen in person, vegetable plants, abandonment, supreme beings, caterpillars and butterflies, expanding, canonical works of British literature, Irish politics, the US government, chemistry, the iPhone, home, once-recent history, sports and Shakespeare.

See you tonight for the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

2. Fashion. The fashion designer who is the creative director of Liz Claiborne was the subject of the 1995 documentary film Unzipped. Name him.

3. Unusual Words. What British slang term that starts with the letter G and has the word SMACKED in it means “astounded or astonished”?

4. Pop Culture – Music. Which of Beethoven’s odd-number symphonies is considered The Eroica Symphony, originally to be dedicated to Napoleon?

5. Great Americans. Two living men with the same last name have run unsuccessfully for President of the United States. They spell that last name differently, and one lost part of his leg in combat. Name either of the two men.

6. Science – Geology. There are three classes of rock: sedimentary, igneous, and WHAT?

The Plummer Demographic Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter The Plummer Demographic Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on February 27, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I watch the Oscar telecast every year, and appreciate the way that it convinces me that I am young, for the actors and directors that it celebrates seem to grow older and older. This was a theme of the Monday-morning critique of the telecast of the 84^th annual Academy Awards. Last year's attempt to appeal to young viewers was such a disaster, many thought, that the show's producers returned to Billy Crystal to host for the 9^th time, giving viewers a familiar face during unstable economic times. The actors were old, we were told, and the jokes were old, and the settings of the nominated films were old and removed and distant.

Having grown up in a film household, I was steeped in film history for as long as I remember. I later studied film as an undergraduate, and taught it as a graduate student and a young faculty member at UC Davis. As a result, while I still recognize most of the names during the "In Memoriam" segments of the Oscars, I often have to ask someone else about the new starlet, such as Emma Stone (about whom you can expect a question or two later in 2012).

Of course, I have the same challenge as the producers of The Academy Awards. How do I ask questions that will appeal to participants younger than the Christopher Plummer demographic? Interviewing my younger friends helps me learn more about Flight of the Conchords or Easy A, and thus ask you questions that rewards teams whose members span generations. We'll see how it works out tonight.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Pub Quiz-themed fundraiser that I hosted for Sunrise Rotary of Davis. Generous players donated all sorts of money to a good cause, and I got to see elderly and distinguished members of the Davis community indicate that they thought another team was full of "losers" by signing big Ls on their foreheads, and then pointing at their vanquished friends and family members. Perhaps you will know such exhiliration this evening if you make it into the winners' circle of the de Vere's Irish Pub Pub Quiz.

Tonight's quiz will feature questions on the Academy Awards, ancient video games, robocalls, China and other countries where the government puts people to death, fashion, the act of being astounded, classical music, Spain, presidential candidates, presidents of the United States, Danes, Japanese people, religious people, adviser updates, movies like Gone with the Wind, superheroes, science fiction, sin, poetry, bodies of water, Irish culture, Republicans, basketball, monsters, and Shakespeare.

See you tonight!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week's quiz:

5. Television. What American situation comedy has been responsible for more original episodes than any other?

6. Cartoons. A poll of 1,000 animation professionals revealed that the greatest cartoon of all time had a three-word title, with the first being "What's," and the third being "Doc." What five-letter word completes the title of this 1954 Warner Brothers classic?

7. Pop Culture – Music. With eleven number one hits on Billboard Hot Country Songs, what musician is listed in the 2012 Guinness Book Of World Records as the Female Country Artist with Most number one Hits on such chart from 1991 to present, tied with Reba McEntire?

8. Sports. True or False. The New York Knicks have won every game they've played since Jeremy Lin became a starter.

9. Science – Space Travel. 50 years ago today, John Glenn became the first American to do what?

P.S. I am hosting a poetry reading this coming Thursday night at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Chris Sindt and Kitty Liang are the featured readers. Check out http://www.poetryindavis.com for more information.