Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
This past weekend we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” in which, as every Davis schoolchild could tell you, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his most famous speech. I discovered a fascinating retelling of the history of that march on the website of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Titled “Getting to the March on Washington, August 28, 1963,” the long article describes all the chartered busses, trains, and roads that protestors used to come to DC.
My favorite part a 1963 New York Times article on one marcher, titled “Marcher from Alabama,” represents my former hometown as especially civil, especially when compared to the segregated and tense southern cities that many marchers traveled from. Hazel Mangle Rivers, of Birmingham, Alabama, shared these reflections:
“The people are lots better up here than they are down South,” Mrs. Rivers said. “They treat you much nicer. Why, when I was out there at the march a white man stepped on my foot, and he said, “Excuse me,” and I said “Certainly!”
“That’s the first time that has ever happened to me. I believe that was the first time a white person has ever really been nice to me.”
These words were still echoing in my head when, over Facebook, I tried this past weekend to convince my friend Marcel to move to Davis from our former hometown of DC (he never left) where we knew each other in high school and at the Tenley Circle Theatre, where we both worked as ushers. I remain grateful for the lessons about white privilege and his own personal relationship with racial discrimination that Marcel had taught me, though I valued our friendship primarily because of his sarcastic wit and our shared love of movies.
Would Davis be the right city for Marcel? I would like to think so. When I asked my friends what beyond the bikes and farmers market might compel one to move here, they mentioned KDVS, poetry and pub quizzes (sycophants), Ikedas, the schools, and the prolific parks. Others mentioned the public art, our yearly festivals and parades, and the food at de Vere’s. My favorite remark came from my friend France:
The general kindness of the residents — always willing to lend a hand. I have been in line at a light twice when the driver in front spaced out and not one person beeped their car horns at them.
That last remark reminded me of Hazel Mangle Rivers’ thoughts on the kindness of strangers in Washington DC in 1963. I hope we can all continue to meet the raised expectations of France Kassing, and thus make Davis a welcoming place for whomever can afford the costs of our ridiculous rents and mortgages.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz, regrettably, will offer no questions on the March on Washington. In fact, Dr. King might be disappointed to see how many questions on celebrities and musicians populate tonight’s Quiz (and our lives more generally). Expect questions on toys, exits, American Presidents of the United States (including Lincoln), lobes, basketball, Rio Vista, eating in Ireland, butterflies, bandits, overseas heroes, people that might be compared to Madonna, scientific principles that are relevant in linear systems, baseball, sinisters, US states, British and American English, adjacent regions and bodies, Frenchmen, marked festivals, speed-eating, unlicensed sales assistants, flesh, specious topics that trend young, hashtags, posthumous works, top brands, grocery stores, countries that are not China, people with the same last name, dexters, ways that Americans differ from Turks, and Shakespeare.
You might have noticed a long line out the door of de Vere’s Irish Pub last week at about 6:15, a line that reached all the way to Bizarro World. Regulars are encouraged to come early tonight. Irregulars could come later, though they may end up sitting outside (where last week’s first and second place teams sat).
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
1. Mottos and Slogans. What organization adopted the motto “Semper Fidelis” (or “Semper Fi”) in 1883?
2. Internet Culture. A five-letter word beginning with B refers to the fifth most-trafficked website in the world, that of a search engine and the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index. What is the name of this Chinese equivalent of Google?
3. Newspaper Headlines. Israel’s recent statements on the conflicts in Egypt indicate that it A) backs the military, B) backs the protesters, or C) seeks to remain neutral.
4. California. The Farallon Islands are found off the coast of what California city with a population of about 825,000? John Lescroart’s team answered that one correctly, not surprisingly.
5. Countries Whose Names Start with the Letter B. The Keel-billed Toucan is the National Bird of the country with the lowest population density in Central America. Name it. (It’s not Brazil or Bolivia, which are both in South America)
P.S. Former Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley will bring his banjo and copies of his many books to the John Natsoulas Gallery for our next Poetry Night on September 5th. Details next week. See you tonight!