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 84th 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 9th 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
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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.