Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Today, of course, is the birthday of J. K. Simmons, the character actor perhaps best known for playing J. Jonah Jameson and Juno’s dad. I was thinking that today would be a fine day to ask five questions about J.K. Simmons, but then I remembered that one team recently accused me of fixating on the film Juno, because of all the questions I’ve asked about that film. Another team once accused me of being obsessed with Carla Bruni, the First Lady who has appeared in a number of questions about the most visited country in the world. Sometimes we need friends to point out the incessant patterns of reflection that might otherwise go unnoticed. “The tongue returns to the aching tooth,” Chaucer taught us six hundred years ago, just as our brains diligently loop back to the images, films, experiences and conversations that resonate with us most deeply. One of the pleasures of quizmastering is the compulsory reflection this job requires, as I take stock of what I have read and remembered over the course of a week, or a lifetime, and then force all of you to grapple with those same matters in a noisy pub. If I were a solipsist, this last part would give me great pleasure, knowing that I was controlling your attention and concerns, if only for a couple hours. As my students would tell you, however, I am much more intent on fostering independent thought, rather than to have them heed what Dylan Thomas, a Welsh (not Irish) poet called “my craft or sullen art / Exercised in the still night / When only the moon rages.”
Tonight expect five questions on books, instead of movies. Also anticipate cause to reflect upon special effects, Davis streets, recovery from tragedy, the great southwest, spirits, criminals, two companies with life, the Pledge of Allegiance, Scottish culture, Irish culture, Rockets, songs with numbers in them, glaciers, American Presidents, children’s literature, psychological challenges, books and more books, a life of sloth and disobedience, architecture, pot smokers, Modernist literature, John Lescroart’s new book The Hunter, rock anthems, Men in Black, a nude twirling an azalea, Africa, nuclei, people named after colors, those Republicans, football, basketball, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There will be no questions on J.K. Simmons, Carla Bruni, Dylan Thomas, or Chaucer. Those were red herrings (at least this week).
Thanks to all of you who attended last week’s Quiz with patience. Our favorite Irish Pub has instituted some new regulations regarding how soon you can arrive to claim a table (5:30), and how much of your team you’ll need to claim that table (half). This means that some of you may have to loiter suspiciously while our hostesses work extra hard to accommodate everyone. Have a drink while you wait!
See you tonight.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
10. Great Americans. In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored what American by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces”?
11. Unusual Words that Start with the letter V. What three-syllable word that starts with the letter V means “Relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect”?
12. Art and Art History. “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is the most famous 17th century painting by what Dutch Painter?
13. Pop Culture – Television. Name one of the two hosts of the New Year’s Eve television program that attracted the most viewers Saturday night.
14. Another Music Question. Three body parts are mentioned in the Simon and Garfunkel song “Cecilia”: name two of them.