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
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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.