Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Growing up in Washington DC, with the Washington Post as my hometown newspaper, I was steeped in both news and politics. And because my father reviewed films on the local evening news just before Walter Cronkite began his newscasts, I ended up watching Cronkite until my father returned home from the TV station. As a result, and because of my NPR addiction, I end up reading and hearing a lot of the news of the world. And now I research news stories and many other topics every week for the Pub Quiz. Following the news so closely can be a wearisome practice, however, especially when so little of the news is welcome. Few of you want to hear questions about the struggling economy or about future leaders of Norway being gunned down by a nationalistic madman. Even the oft-retweeted news of the death of Amy Winehouse doesn’t seem to merit a question: most of what people know about her involves her hair, her death, and her refusal to go to rehab.
Instead this week I will ask you questions about numbers (years, months, measurements, etc.), as well as about local history. One of my favorite Pub Quiz participants, a returning college student who grew up in Davis), keeps requesting questions about our fair city. I worry that such questions privilege the “townies” who have lived here for ages, rather than the “gownies” who visit from Sacramento, the Bay Area, or southern California. I got to give a poetry reading in Berkeley yesterday afternoon, and as I was driving back I kept trying to turn off the perhaps malfunctioning air conditioner in my car. It took me a moment (I was concentrating on my driving rather than, say, thinking) to realize that the cold air rushing into my car was actually ambient: Berkeley evenings are refreshingly cool. That must be one of the reasons I moved to Berkeley as a new Californian back during the George H.W. Bush administration. That same President Bush – the better one, most people say – shared a video rental store (remember those?) with my Dad when Bush was Vice President, and sometimes they would find time to discuss movies while scanning titles. The proprietor of Georgetown Video once quoted my Dad to me from a conversation he over heard: “For you, Mr. Vice-President, I would consider a Dirty Harry flick.”
There will be questions about movies and Presidents tonight, as well as indigestion, Apple, the US Congress, Amy Winehouse, religious leaders, big cities that you have never heard of, songs with attitude (do you know any?), Arnold Schwarzenegger, China, angry young men, African heroes, International System of Units units, the history of Boston, textiles and clothing, namesake drummers, rock and roll, News Corp., dates and more dates, famous judges who don’t understand the criminal justice system, funny actors, Sacramento, peasants, animated film characters, a ribbon of highway, Canada, astronomy, children’s book authors, World Series winners, Jefferson and Lincoln, New Hampshire, and William Shakespeare.
I hope to see you this evening.
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
21. Books and Authors. What American Nobel laureate wrote the 1970 novel The Bluest Eye?
22. Film – Superhero Movies. What is the three-word title of the best-rated superhero film on the Internet Movie Database? The film was released in your lifetime.
23. Native American History. The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when the town of Wounded Knee was seized by followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM). The occupiers controlled the town for 71 days while the United States Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the town. Name the state where one find the town of Wounded Knee.
24. Cities of the World. In 1536 Pedro de Mendoza of Spain founded what is now the 17th largest metropolitan area by population. Name the city.
25. French Film Directors. What Frenchman directed the film Jules and Jim and had a major acting role in the Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind?
Friends of the Pub Quiz, and those curious about all the fun and fuss associated with the Pub Quiz, should come to de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis (217 E Street), the highly esteemed pub and restaurant that fills up every night because of the superb quality of food, drink and company that can be found there. The de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz takes place every Monday at 7pm, though players are encouraged to arrive early to claim a table. As always, find out more about the Pub Quiz by visiting https://www.yourquizmaster.com. For more on de Vere’s Irish Pub, visit http://deverespub.com/.