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. What six-letter company uses the commercial slogan “Because you’re worth it”?

2. Internet Culture. The game Angry Birds was first released for Apple's iOS in December of what year?

3. Four for Four. At his big speech last week, Clint Eastwood said “We don’t need lawyers in the White House.” Which of the following Americans, if any, have law degrees? Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan.

4. Food and Drink. Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from what grain?

5. Pop Culture – Music. Last year’s pop song “On the Floor,” one of the best-selling singles of all time, appeared on the seventh album, Love?, of what singer and actress?

P.S. What’s older than all of the following?

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Lollapalooza

Nirvana’s Nevermind

REM’s Out Of Time

Selena Gomez

Hot Shots!

The Death Of Freddie Mercury

Taylor Lautner

Michael Jackson’s “Black Or White”

Disney’s Beauty & The Beast

Thelma And Louise

Answer: My marriage!

Poetry and Prose Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on September 4, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Mario Cuomo once said, “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” I was thinking of that quotation this past week while watching the speeches presented at the Republican National Convention. In his acceptance speech, Romney had an interesting line in which he seemed to confront the poetic magic of President Obama’s campaign rhetoric:

Many of you felt that [optimistic] way on Election Day four years ago. Hope and Change had a powerful appeal. But tonight I'd ask a simple question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama? You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

Perhaps one of the strongest points Romney made Thursday night, he suggested that many Americans voted for Barack Obama because we were moved by the great speaker’s rhetoric – the poetic sway of his words – and perhaps because we were appealing to what President Lincoln called “The better angels of our nature” by confronting our racist past with our votes for a post-racist (and for many, a post-Bush) future. As we’ve been told many times, President Obama is also likeable.

In some ways, Romney’s emphasis seeks to inoculate us against Democratic rhetorical flourishes in the future, and, more specifically, he raises the bar for President Obama’s speech Thursday night. As a poet, I have been reflecting upon the opposition Romney and the RNC insinuate between that which is rhetorical, poetic, or even artsy, and that which is practical and businesslike. I often find myself trying to confront or ignore those commercial interests that seem to obscure the more substantive pleasures of reading, play-going and concert-going, or writing or performing something myself, even a Pub Quiz. We know, for instance, that Romney has said that he will seek to end federal support for the arts if he is elected, saying in a Fortune Magazine interview that he will seek to eliminate “the Amtrak subsidy, the PBS subsidy, the subsidy for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities.” I wonder if the need for such investments in the artistic souls of future entrepreneurs is not more evident than ever.

As an educator, by contrast, I agree with Sir Ken Robinson, who argues the value of imagination and creativity. He says,

Imagination is not the same as creativity. Creativity takes the process of imagination to another level. My definition of creativity is “the process of having original ideas that have value.” Imagination can be entirely internal. You could be imaginative all day long without anyone noticing. But you never say that someone was creative if that person never did anything. To be creative you actually have to do something. It involves putting your imagination to work to make something new, to come up with new solutions to problems, even to think of new problems or questions.

You can think of creativity as applied imagination.

Imagination is necessary, of course, for the playwright, the opera singer, or even the owner of a small business. Thinking about the musicians that matter to her, a colleague of mine recently opined that the Democrats have a “deeper bench,” and I suppose that deep bench of creativity will be on display this week when delegates enjoy performances by Earth, Wind and Fire, The Foo Fighters, and Mary J. Blige. By contrast, I was amused by the long list of evidently Democratic-leaning lyricists who have objected to the Republicans using their songs: Last week Dee Snider of Twisted Sister said “no” to Paul Ryan who wanted to arrive to rallies to “We’re Not Going to Take It,” Survivor earlier said Newt Gingrich could not have their “Eye of the Tiger,” Tom Petty said that Michele Bachmann was not his kind of “American Girl,” and even Bruce Springsteen told President Reagan that he may not use “Born in the USA” at any of his rallies. Do such public refusals and denials by some of our best-known songwriters suggest some central and unrecognized power that creative people have over all of us? All this makes us wonder if, as Percy Shelley once said, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about Republicans, creativity, stand-up comedians, birds (x2), iOS, Clint Eastwood, lawyers, food and drink, August disasters, pop songs that didn’t qualify for my “new energy dance mix,” impressive athletes, the Southern Hemisphere, big boys, New Jersey, things that way as much as five tons, California history, trickery, millennials, Atlanta, tattoos, water, classical music, male sinners, movie taglines, Brown hair, Florida, important books of the 1960s, Norse myths, the Irish economy, lists created by The American Film Institute, big impacts, flowers, faraway countries, a Shakespeare question that’s actually about other countries, fatal mishaps, and hay.

Bring a big team or two tonight to compensate for those people with Tuesday night conflicts. See you at 7!

Your Quizmaster

This week’s quiz will be a cake walk compared to last week’s. Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

10. Great Dutchmen. According to Forbes Magazine, making $25 million a year, Tiësto is the highest paid WHAT in the world?

11. Unusual Words. What five-letter word beginning with the letter L means easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible?

12. Books and Authors. What Ayn Rand book most inspired Paul Ryan?

13. Pop Culture – Television. The name of the current anchor of The CBS Evening News is an anagram for PETTY CELLOS. Name him. Hint (for the newsletter): his first name is Scott.

14. Another Music Question. Who had a big hit in 1965 with “The Tracks of My Tears”?

P.S. This coming Thursday night is Poetry Night in the City of Davis, and I hope you can join us. We will be welcoming poets Cynthia Linville and Christopher Yu on Thursday, September 6^th at 8:00 PM. They will be performing at the John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1^st Street in Davis. The after-party will begin Thursday night at about 10 at de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis. People who are up late watching President Obama’s speech may come only to the after-party.

A former pupil of prominent Sacramento poet Dennis Schmitz, Cynthia Linville has taught English at California State University, Sacramento, since 2000 and served as editor of both Poetry Now (2008-2012), and Convergence: an online journal of poetry and art. She is a regular contributor to the Sacramento News and Review, Medusa’s Kitchen and WTF. She has also appeared in The Sacramento Bee, The Rattlesnake Review, and Song of the San Joaquin. She periodically hosts readings for The Crocker Art Museum, The Vox, and The Sacramento Poetry Center, as well as performances with the group Poetica Erotica.

Christopher Yu is a recent graduate of The University of California, Davis, where he earned degrees in both English and Economics. He was among the winners of the 2012 Pamela Maus Prize for Poetry, and hosted the LLAMA Radio Show on KDVS. He studied with poets Joshua Clover and Joe Wenderoth, and his poetry has appeared in the new literary anthology All the Vegetarians in Texas Have Been Shot (2012), from Absurd Publications. Chris Yu has been an occasional Pub Quiz participant, so he deserves your support. I have not asked him what he thinks about Clint Eastwood.

The Distracted Ninjas Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on August 27, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

The end of August marks a significant transition for most renters in Davis, as well as for the Pub Quiz. One reason (among many) that it is so difficult to find an available table at the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz over the summer is that many renters have few summer responsibilities outside of preparing for moving from their beloved adopted hometown. As a result, July and August provide ideal opportunities for them to relish time with friends, enjoy a beverage, and prove to themselves and to the other teams that they have learned something during their years of instruction at UC Davis. Vibrant people who choose not to subordinate their leisure time to one (shrinking) screen or another often prefer to look their friends in the eyes as they rack their brains for a tip-of-the-tongue response to something they feel they should know. The competition, laughter, element of chance and camaraderie provide many summer Davisites moments of instant nostalgia that they can carry to their next lease or to their next adventure outside of our entirely relevant city.

Once September rolls around, we will see who has remained. Will the fall months pack our Irish Pub the way the summer months have? Will Dr. Andy choose valuable items of swag from the free-for-all yard sale goods found outside every apartment complex in Davis this week? Find the answers to these and many other questions at the de Vere’s Irish Pub Quiz. To September and beyond!

And speaking of our obsessions with screens, I’m just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to reaching for a smart phone whenever I am off walking by myself, or when I am taking my children trick-or-treating, as portrayed in a famous October 2009 cover illustration of The New Yorker. Because I have impulsive children, I consider myself especially aware of my surroundings, for my first job is to keep them safe. Nevertheless, after Pub Quiz last Monday I didn’t hear that bicyclist speeding down D Street without a light. I was also distracted, while crossing the street, by my cell phone, for I was texting my wife Kate that I’d be right home to help put the kids to bed after their day at Stinson Beach. When the unapologetic cyclist slammed into me, I was just about to hit “send” – instead, I watched my beloved iPhone skirt down the block, the screen facing upward and clearly visible in the crepuscular evening. Of course, it didn’t help that I wasn’t watching where I was going, and that I was dressed like a ninja. Fortunately, like a ninja, I walked away from my conflict without a scratch. At least I didn’t end up like that woman who stumbled into the mall fountain while texting. Be safe out there, folks! The Pub Quiz is not the only time when you should take a break from your smart phone.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on many of the expected topics, including a great deal of film questions. Expect to be asked about blockbuster films, online films, sequels, and action-adventure films. Expect also to be asked about otters, people of European extraction, bicycles, Republicans, millionaires, the people of Davis, intelligibility, Unitarians, Hannibal, hockey, Boston, caimans, Dutchmen, New York Times bestsellers from the 1950s, petty stringed instruments, tears, geode notches, iMAX, screws, People Magazine, countries that import their fish, final fantasies, botany, great poets, jazz, incredible pitchers, and Shakespeare.

I hope you will join the capacity audience for tonight’s quiz, and that you will help me in September to recruit new players to replace the departed renters. Thanks for all your attention this summer!

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz, this time with a few answers.

1. Mottos and Slogans. What company proclaims that you should “Leave the driving to us”?

2. Internet Culture. Not adjusted for inflation, what is the most valuable company in history?

3. Newspaper Headlines. Swimmer Diana Nyad is currently attempting a swim between what two countries? Cuba and the United States (she didn’t make it)

4. Four for Four. Which of the following actors, if any, were born in Russia? Yul Brynner, Kirk Douglas, Peter Falk, Natalie Portman. (YNNN) At the end of his life, I got to see Brynner play The King on stage.

5. Sports. What NFL quarterback holds the record for career completions?

Admiring Absurd Words Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on August 20, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Recently I ran into a university colleague who had left teaching for a position as a project manager elsewhere at UC Davis. He said that he loves working with “an adult population” on the far west side of campus, far away from undergraduates. I smiled and told him that I was pleased that he was happy with his new position. What I didn’t tell him was that I hold a radically different opinion, for I am sustained and (appropriately) challenged by my classroom interactions with undergraduate and graduate students, I find that the energy of college students feeds my own, and I feel that potentially shaping the choices and futures of Aggies makes my work as a member of the UC Davis faculty important and meaningful. I suppose this is why I teach, and value teaching. As Aristotle tells us (or warns us), “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.”

Speaking of promising youth, this past Saturday night I attended an event hosted by Absurd Publications, a new publishing collective established by UC Davis undergraduates and recent graduates. This impressive group of students, most of whom met in a poetry seminar that I taught a year ago, have published an anthology of poetry and fiction, stated distributing a free experimental journal called The Oddity, and established a workshop series that offers support and critique of the creative output of anyone who cares to attend (free of charge). As a vegetarian, I’m still deciding what I think of the title of their most recent publication (All the Vegetarians in Texas have been Shot), but I totally admire the content. I encourage you to pick up a copy this week at The Avid Reader to see if you agree (and to support local artists and authors).

Tonight’s Pub Quiz at de Vere’s will include questions on most of the following topics: transportation, fruit, dogs, jellyfish, Russians, arable land, tall men named Sacha, Natalie Portman, single-digit numbers, tall men, Oscars, country music, football, amateurs, POTUS, short stories, dashes of emotion, stenography, world languages, epistles, Asia, Africa, monocular vision, people named Hawkes, hunting in Ireland, vice presidents, water, six-syllable words that might come up in your biology class, Moroccan women, baseball, and Shakespeare.

Even though summer is almost over for the schoolchildren of Davis, I still expect enough parents, energetic UC Davis students, new participants and regulars to effectively “sell out” tonight’s Pub Quiz. Do come early to claim a table.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What US state uses the following as state slogans: “The Greatest Snow on Earth” and “Life Elevated”?

2. Internet Culture. Which of the following popular news websites uses as its tagline “Read Less. Know More”? Chooser, Loser, Newser, or Snoozer?

3. Newspaper Headlines. Helen Gurley Brown, author of the empowered-woman classic Sex and the Single Girl, died today at age 90. She was the longtime editor of what international magazine for women that was first published in 1886?

4. Actors and Actresses. Who had first billing in the 1999 science-fiction comedy parody film Galaxy Quest?

5. Local Celebrities. About what UC Davis Nutrition professor has it been said that she teaches more students in person than any professor west of the Mississippi?

The Demanding Democracy Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on August 13, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

I heard a fascinating interview on the radio show To The Best of Our Knowledge while returning from relatively chilly Berkeley hills yesterday evening. Discussing the show’s theme of “Demanding Democracy,” Dr. Cornel West and talk show host and author Tavis Smiley confronted the political establishment, especially President Obama, focusing especially on the problems of poverty that we face as a nation. Smiley noted that while the country as a whole struggles with recovering from the recent recession, many communities of color (and the working poor of all sorts) actually find themselves deep in an economic depression reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s. I saw some evidence of this last week in Santa Monica. My son and I had a spare hour before meeting some former students of mine for dinner, so we parked down by the Santa Monica Pier and walked around a bit. In the beautiful stretch of park between Ocean Avenue and the Pacific Coast Highway we talked to people who were struggling with the poverty that West and Smiley speak of. I read in a study found on the Ocean Park Community Center website that nearly 3,000 homeless people live in Santa Monica; evidently many of them last week were reading, people-watching and sleeping on the soft and manicured public lawns near the sprawling Pacific Ocean.

A 2009 head count in Yolo County revealed that Davis was home to 114 homeless people, 23 of them children. Our homeless folks are not as visible or as numerous as they are in Santa Monica, but the ongoing efforts to address the problems associated with homelessness could still benefit from our support. Groups such as HomeBase can share with you more about those efforts. Meanwhile, during this election year we can all think about what it means to “demand” democracy.

Thanks to my friend Ted for performing the duties of substitute Quizmaster last week. Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on snow, American states, news websites, highways, science fiction films, ancient colors, local celebrities, spiritual leaders, people with seemingly American names like Smith and Harris, baseball, the periodic table of the elements, US Presidents, never at dusk, gospel music, Iowa, Mexico, zesty atoning, moons, banks, games that are over, Homer, mixed drinks, Olympic medals, foul weeds, title characters of Oscar-winning movies, fine wires, race, running mates, football, Greece, cheese, and Shakespeare.

If you have a friend who you think should be subscribed to these weekly newsletters, please direct that person to https://www.yourquizmaster.com so he or she can sign up! I learned this week that the longtime mayor of Beavertown, Pennsylvania, Cloyd Wagner, is a new subscriber. He also edits the Beavertown News.

Your Quizmaster

P.S. Here are five questions from last week’s Quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. In addition to asking how you spell relief, what antacid product sponsors the yearly “Relief Man of the Year Award” for relief pitchers in baseball?

2. Internet Culture. According to the websites Kred and Klout, which current Olympian has the greatest social media influence?

3. Newspaper Headlines. A blackout in what country last week plunged 600 million people into darkness?

4. Four for Four. Which of the following Die Hard movies, if any, were released during the lifetime of Hailee Steinfeld, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her acting work in the 2010 film True Grit? Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard.

5. Occupations on the Screen. Alan Napier, Michael Gough, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Ian Abercrombie, and Sir Michael Caine have all played the character Alfred Pennyworth. What is Pennyworth’s job?

P.S. Yesterday I saw the poet Connie Post perform her work in a deli in Crockett, California, and I am pleased to say that the former Poet Laureate of Livermore is coming to Davis on Thursday to read from her new book at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Occasional Pub Quiz attendee CJ Morello will be opening for Connie, and I bet he will join us for the after-party at de Vere’s. Details at the website Poetry in Davis.

The Changing Meaning of Vacation Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on August 6, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

The most famous essay ever written about a summer vacation is probably E.B. White. “Once More to the Lake” tells the story of a man’s return to the vacation spot chosen by his father decades earlier:

One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub Pond's Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We returned summer after summer–always on August 1st for one month. I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week's fishing and to revisit old haunts.

I’m writing from Disneyland this morning, an annual vacation spot for many, many Americans (and international visitors), but never before for me. More of an E.B. White vacationer, myself, I most appreciated my childhood yearly summer trips to central Pennsylvania, though for us it was always once more to the creek, rather than to the lake. Sometime in the early 1950s my grandmother invested $1,500 in a cabin and a tract of land along the reservoir and creek in Beavertown, a small town that in recent years was known as the American home of Monkee Davy Jones. My Mom would drive my brother and me to that little three-room domicile (four if you count the outhouse) that was free of the distractions of home, such as television, friends, and running water. The creek and the hikes up the mountain provided us with endless (well, sufficient) entertainment. Our Grandmother, just 11 years younger than E.B. White, also told us stories of her own visits to those same mountains and lakes, stories that featured horses, Civil War veterans, and unmet relatives who had predeceased even her by decades. Those unhurried days at the cabin remind of what used to be true of vacations: as Robert Orben says, “A vacation [meant] having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”

Have Disney and the other pop cultural foci of America’s children replaced the books, stories, and natural wonders that captivated vacationers of previous generations? Well, an hour ago from Cars Land my son Truman proclaimed “Mommy, this is the whole point of my LIFE!” A few dozen years from now he may write an essay titled “Once More to Cars Land.” I try not to cringe. I hope at least he and all of you will still be reading the essays of E. B. White.

Tonight’s de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz will feature a bunch of Olympics questions. Are you surprised? There will even be an Olympics and Social Media question, though not one of the questions I was asked by Beth Ruyak on this topic this past Wednesday. Also expect questions tonight on baseball x2, darkness, young actresses that are nominated for Academy Awards, John McClane, the worth of a penny, skyscrapers, chemistry, pop music, Sir Michael Caine, an anagram that includes the word “implant,” moons, unusual words that start with the letter F, private investigators, memorable eyes, gold medals, Klout, Pennsylvania, Harry Potter and other science fantasy topics, islands, young actors who you have not thought of in years, jerseys retired in 1992, Dover, Stillwater, and Shakespeare.

My friend Ted (also a regular Pub Quiz participant) will be the substitute quizmaster this evening. A doctoral candidate in Comparative Literature at UC Davis, Ted teaches in several departments on campus, as well as in the UC Davis Extension international English program. Some of his interests include the environment, British Romantic poetry, film, and expository writing. A long-practicing vegetarian, Ted usually enjoys a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on Monday evenings at de Vere’s Irish Pub. I hope you will enjoy the Quiz tonight!

If you have a friend who you think should be subscribed to these weekly newsletters, please direct that person to https://www.yourquizmaster.com to sign up!

Your Quizmaster

P.S. Here are five questions from last week’s Quiz:

5. US States. The state with the shortest ocean coastline of any state in the United States produced just one US president, Franklin Pierce. Name the state.

6. Superheroes. Captain America’s shield is made primarily of which of the following fictional metals? Adamantium, Bombastium, Unobtanium, Vibranium.

7. Pop Culture – Music. “Moves Like Jagger” was a 2011 number one hit for what LA pop rock band with a number in its name?

8. Sports. To what football team was Jay Cutler traded in 2009?

9. Science. R-snares and s-snares refer to WHAT biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides?

P.P.S. I will return on August 13^th. I can only take so much vacationing.

The Kevin and Natalie Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on July 30, 2012

The Kevin and Natalie Edition of the de Vere's Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Two of my favorite pub quiz participants (at a previous pub quiz venue) made up a couple: Kevin and Natalie. Kevin had been a student of mine in a Technocultural Studies class that I taught in 2006, and Natalie was one of our favorite babysitters. They had already been dating for a couple years when I taught Kevin, and everyone agreed that they were adorable together. At Pub Quiz, Natalie was always in charge of asking the clarifying questions, and she did so more purposefully than any other Pub Quiz participant. When I would come by during the break, she would shush the entire table, announce the question by number for my easy reference, and then immediately move on to the next question as soon as I had repeated the previous one, with her expectation being that her other teammates would focus on my restatement while she prepared to ask me something else. So efficient!

Recently Kevin and Natalie have been living in Washington DC, less than a mile from my Mom’s apartment there. Kevin has been working as a program coordinator for a desperately-needed non-profit called The Literacy Lab, while Natalie has been working as School, Outreach, and Family Programs Coordinator at The Phillips Collection, one of my favorite modern art museums in the country (along with The John Natsoulas Gallery). What rich and artsy experiences these two Aggies have!

I knew they were returning to California for an important occasion, so I was wondering what I could do to show my affection and support for some of my favorite past Pub Quiz participants.

Reader, I married them.

Rather, I officiated. Recently ordained, on Saturday I had the occasion to use the sort of weighty and well-hewn phrases that one has heard in innumerable television and cinematic weddings, only this time, as a close friend and mentor, rather than as an indifferent deacon or parson.

My wife was daughter and later step-daughter to two different ordained clergymen, and, I’m sure vowed never to marry a minister herself. She may have even written it into our vows when we tied the knot, as they say, almost 20 years ago. I will have to look again at our wedding video, pausing during our favorite scenes of the celebrants dancing.

Congratulations to Kevin and Natalie! I am confident that their humor and devotion will sustain them for the rest of their lives together.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will inevitably include a couple questions about the Olympics, but perhaps not as many as during next week’s Quiz. Expect also questions about Mitt Romney, the Mississippi River, desserts, baseball teams, coastal states, metals that you have heard of (and at least one that you haven’t), US Presidents, Iranians, pop music, quarterbacks, American gifts, biochemical compounds, Walt Whitman, loud noises, Seinfeld, jazz, not particularly long turbo inferences, big cities, seismic activities, assigned novels, more recent films that did not have me as a target demographic, Irish delicacies, television news, unfortunate choices, words that start with the letter F, and familiar Shakespeare plays.

As has been the case all summer, tonight’s Pub Quiz will sell out. I expect next week’s Pub Quiz to sell out, as well, though I will be in Los Angeles that night, enjoying a rare vacation. I will let you know about my sub in next week’s newsletter. As for tonight, come early to claim a table.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

21. Voice Actors. Everyone of a certain generation knows who played the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Name the voice actor.

22. Irish Culture. The name of what Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher is an anagram for the short phrase DEBUNKED RUM?

23. Countries of the World. What is the westernmost country in mainland Europe?

24. Books and Authors. "’Where's Papa going with that axe?’, said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” Name the book.

25. Science. The deadliest plague in history was eradicated in 1979. Name it.

P.S. New Davis Poet Laureate Eve West Bessier will be performing jazz and poetry at the John Natsoulas Gallery this coming Thursday evening at 8, her first reading since her new appointment. Details available at the website Poetry in Davis. The after-party will begin at about 10 pm that night at de Vere’s Irish Pub.

The No Nightmares Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on July 23, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

My assistant recently followed a link from a news story to the Freeh Report outlining the case against Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, and other coaches and administrators at Penn State. She immediately regretted the decision, and soon after started experiencing nightmares (though about serial killers rather than serial sexual offenders). You won’t find questions about the Freeh Report on the Pub Quiz. Nor will you find questions about today’s coordinated series of suicide bombing’s in Iraq, nor will you hear questions about the pickup truck that crashed in south Texas late last night, killing 14 of the 23 people crammed inside. And although I love superheroes and blockbusters, I won’t touch the horrific events that took place in Aurora overnight Thursday. You can find all that elsewhere, but you shouldn’t have to research those topics because of your plans for Monday evening.

As a teacher, author, and father, I love learning. I believe that as a society, we should all feel responsible to encourage the young and the curious to find answers, and always to ask more difficult questions. As Abigail Adams put it, “Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” That said, a Pub Quiz does depend to a certain extent on chance, for you don’t know for sure what topics I will ask you about this evening, but ardor and diligence are much more likely to prepare you for success on tonight’s quiz (and in life). And if you are to be motivated to keep reading, and listening, and discussing what you know, you should be motivated by learning for its own sake, with individual pub quiz triumphs as secondary rewards. When the week is hard, as last week was, the Pub Quiz may also be challenging, but I hope in a way that allows for escape and camaraderie, as well as cognitive calisthenics. No nightmares should result from our time together Monday evenings.

Tonight’s de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz will instead share with you questions about the happy and welcome topics of beer, social networking, diamonds that are not recommended to wear on the soles of one’s shoes, French cities, UC Davis honchos, Trident Maples, real-life superheroes, journalism, alternatives to biology, productivity, SNL alumni, Anthony Tommasini, baseball, bewitched inns, stalwarts, French firsts, tiny vibrations, Al Capp inventions, wet weather wearables, Obama strongholds, popular TV shows (that I don’t watch), mononyms, jobs, poets, Batman, alcoholic drinks that have been debunked, two anagrams, Europe questions that I asked about three months ago, axes before breakfast, diseases, bald people, money, impressive women whose names and faces would not be recognized by most Americans, Shakespeare plays that have similarities with The Tempest, basketball, and fast women.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will sell out again this week. Isn’t that terrific? Come early to claim a table.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. What General Mills cereal calls itself “Magically Delicious”?

2. Internet Culture. The collection of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications known as the Creative Suite is made by what software company?

3. Newspaper Headlines. This past Thursday the Romney campaign folks suggested to Matt Drudge that a certain Republican woman was at the top of their list of contenders for the running mate spot on the ticket. Name the woman.

4. Fictional Characters. Mabel Simmons, commonly known as Madea, is a comedic fictional character created and portrayed by whom?

5. Film. What 1991 Disney film was the first ever animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?

The Humid Smogless Oxygen Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on July 16, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

For me, summer weekends are less fraught, for my workweek presents me less that I need to recover from. For instance, after bike rides to the farmers’ market, Saturday afternoon my sons and I attended a neighbor and colleague’s birthday party. Hung from an awning, the backyard mister was malfunctioning slightly, dripping occasional artificial raindrops on the children who would yell “HEY,” as if someone had just squirted them. The constant dripping reminded me of the aftermath of summer storms from my childhood back east, where rainy days were often so warm that we would be given permission to frolic in the rain, the air rich with humid, smogless oxygen. What a delight.

Anyway, when I wasn’t recalling rainstorms, I spent most of my time at our neighbor’s party chatting with new friends in the back yard, but at one point, I ventured back into the dining room for seconds on the catered Mexican food. There I encountered an ongoing discussion of the impact of technology on education, distance education, and responsible teaching. I was tempted to jump in, for in my capacity as Academic Director of Academic Technology Services at UC Davis, I’ve lectured, presented, and published on all these topics, and could easily have impressed everyone there with my knowledge and perspectives. Instead I smiled to myself, created a couple more vegetarian soft tacos, and headed back out to play with the kids.

I think we’ve all dined with (or been cornered by) people who seek to impress us. Such people remind us often of their accomplishments (as I suppose I did in the previous paragraph), and like us to know that they matter to many important people. I once lived next door to a physician who used to remind us often of the gratitude of his patients, and of the inattentiveness of his hospital’s nurses. The more insistent and exasperated his comments became, the less plausible or relevant they seemed to his dinner guests (who were left checking their watches and trying to change the subject). I’ve tried often not to be that guy, choosing instead to impress people with my kindness rather than with my status. Believe it or not, some of my friends don’t even know that I host our Pub Quiz.

We all have to chart our own paths, and remember the Yiddish proverb: “Too humble is half proud.”

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on breakfast cereal, significant fees, creativity tools, strong women, superheroes, African-American culture, AIDS, sports heroes, natives, great Americans, slacks, fashion, The Avengers, fictional planets, US Presidents, Irish culture, bands that my students seem to like, 13 year-old explorers, murder mysteries, basketball, islands in the (gulf) stream, acting awards, games people play, seas, Russians, hit dice, children’s literature, women who are not Julia Roberts, big cities, baseball, plants, Stan Lee, words that start with the letter H, observant detectives, the Olympics, and title characters in Shakespeare.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will sell out. If you attended last week, yours was one of 46 teams, the de Vere’s record (and perhaps a City of Davis record). Come early to claim a table.

Also consider coming to see the storyteller, educator and comedian Chris “Whitey” Erickson as he performs original work this coming Thursday night at 8 at the John Natsoulas Gallery. The after party will start at about 10 at de Vere’s, where there is always a party going on. Details on the Erickson event can be found at the website PoetryInDavis.Com.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

6. American States. The number of American states that Georgia borders is larger than you might think. What is that number?

7. Pop Culture – Music. Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse make up what American Soul Duo?

8. Sports. Known as "Mr. Clutch," what quarterback who died in 2002 holds the record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass at 47, and is ranked by some sports columnists as the greatest quarterback ever?

9. Science. Avogadro’s number reveals to us the number of molecules in a WHAT?

10. Living Americans. Not adjusted for inflation, who is the richest man ever to run for the White House?

P.S. Congratulations to the team known as The Penetrators: they earned a score of 29 of 30 last week.

The Heeded Summer Anniversaries Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

by yourquizmaster on July 9, 2012

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

As you may have read in the current issue of UC Davis Magazine, I hold extra office hours for my students on Sunday evenings at a local restaurant. The bike ride home from this welcome duty is especially enjoyable because of the cool temperatures, the peaceful and shady greenbelts, and the absent traffic. One sees far fewer cars and fewer bicycles in the summer in Davis, though, as my wife Kate points out, one also sees far more bike helmets on the (townie) bicyclists who remain. So many sights await us in the summer, as Aldo Leopold reminds us: “In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”

Inspired by Olympian Kim Conley, this summer I have begun an ambitious exercise regimen that might not be possible during the busier school year, when there are so many more people in the meetings I attend. As I learned recently, health concerns actually helped to determine the generous break that American schoolchildren enjoy (the same break that shapes the UC Davis academic calendar). Here’s how Juliet Lapidos explained the choice in a 2007 article in Slate:

Gradually, [public school administrators] shortened the school year by about 60 days and eliminated the summer quarter. Reformers could have instituted a long break in winter, or spring, but they picked summer for three main reasons. 1) Poorly ventilated school buildings were nearly unbearable during heat waves. 2) Community leaders fretted that hot, crowded environments facilitated the spread of disease. 3) Wealthy urbanites traditionally vacationed during the hottest months, and middle-class school administrators were following in their footsteps.

For many of us, the summer break provides an opportunity to see summer films. My wife is a huge move fan (she even watched that Vampire Hunter film), and I treasure the opportunity to spend time with her, so in the last 10 days I’ve seen four films on the big screen, two of them in the large auditorium at our fabulous art-house theatre, The Varsity. And while watching those films by Woody Allen and Wes Anderson, I was reminded that directors matter. In the film class that I taught for the English Department 11 years ago, we would have called Allen and Anderson auteurs.

Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature plenty of film questions, as well as questions about other summer adventures. Expect questions about Liv Tyler, wallets, Italian words, presidents, Lindsay Lohan, Euros, animated characters, people portrayed by Stanley Tucci, states that border Tennessee, soul(s), mice, football legends, Oscar nominees, bunchbacked toads, numbers you would have learned in school, rich men, lucky men, the grand old Duke of York, fruit, people who are sometimes confused with fish, pop stars, buildings, hurling belches, film quotations, Lynyrd Skynyrd, magic skills, gymnasia, galactic villains, depressed authors, Native Americans, the green island known as Ireland, Santa Claus, shiny objects, privileged radicals, legislators, and Shakespeare.

I hope to see you this evening. In the summer time, for every team that goes on vacation, two or more teams stand ready to claim the extra table.

Your Quizmaster

Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:

1. Mottos and Slogans. According to the updated commercial slogan, choosy dads also choose what kind of peanut butter?

2. Internet Culture. What is the Twitter handle of Your Quizmaster?

3. Newspaper Headlines. What three-syllable word completes this first sentence from a story in today’s Agence France-Presse? “Every year in Japan people are hospitalised after eating BLANK; sometimes the result is fatal. But despite apparent dangers, strict rules on serving the toxic delicacy in Tokyo are to be relaxed.”

4. Four for Four. The terrible storm on the east coast has hobbled which of the following cloud-based companies, if any? Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Pinterest.

5. California. The three first-incorporated cities in California (in the winter and spring of 1850) all start with the letter S, and the three different counties where they are found ALSO start with the letter S. One city is Sacramento. Name one of the other two cities.

P.S. Congratulations to Jennifer, the Pub Quiz enthusiast who has been regularly assisting me with tallying votes, even last week, when she was more than 40 weeks pregnant. She and Mark have been joined by Owen, and all are well.

P.P.S. Happy birthday to Oliver Jones, my favorite writer.