June 16, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Music Guy, Book Guy.
We scored 16 out of 20. The winners had 17 points.

The Missed Questions

1. **What is the Latin word for 'elsewhere'?
2. **Who is credited with having written the ancient poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'?
3. Who made the jersey number 16 famous for the Kansas City Royals in the late 80s?
4. What cocktail's standard recipe is comprised of Tequila, Cointreau, and fresh lime juice?

The Right Answers

1. alibi
2. Pearl Poet
3. Bo Jackson
4. Margarita

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. blank. I confess that I don't remember exactly what we wrote. However, we did argue about the standard "here, there, over there" conjugation. It was just that none of us knew any Latin, which is sort of central to the question. In the absence of knowledge, we went making up something. And failed.
2. Anonymous. I'll defend Book Guy here, since there is no actual name for the author, and many sources consider him anonymous. Book Guy remembers a cover with the word 'anonymous' on it. However, in terms of literary scholarship, the author is grouped with other contemporary poetry, and has been given the name "Pearl Poet", which is -technically- right. I suppose we could press the point here, but we got a judgement call in the other direction, and so didn't push the issue.
3. Fred Patek. Our standard answer was going to be Joe Montana, especially since he wore number 16 (for the San Francisco 49ers), and played in Kansas City (for the Chiefs, as the Royals are a baseball team). I guessed a name of any Royals player from that era, and left it alone.
4. Tequila Sunrise. None of us really go for cocktails. And our fault was not recognizing that Cointreau is a brand of triple sec. We only knew two cocktails with tequila, rejected the margarita as the question didn't say 'triple sec', and went elsewhere.

My Favorite Right Answers

As before, random questions are marked with ** two stars. Teams can visit a group of librarians, and ask for help on one question: chosen from one of the starred questions. The librarians have no knowledge of the questions beforehand, and may not know anything about the subject. It is just a fun bonus. I will include the starred questions in the blog.

1. **Whose directorial debut feature film was 1977's 'Eraserhead'?
2. **What building is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens?
3. Whose 1996 sophomore album 'Fairweather Johnson' has sold a preposterous 2.3 million albums to date?
4. Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel on July 11, 1804

1. David Lynch. It's good that Book Guy and Music Guy know their movies, because I don't. Although, I don't know how to interpret his weather report
2. Acropolis. But what do they say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is?
3. Hootie & The Blowfish. People with good memories might remember last week's blog, where a question asked about a band's preposterously selling debut album.
4. Aaron Burr. This is an easy question for my generation, as long as you remember the famous Got Milk? commercial. The question is worded in the same way.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

June 9, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Game Guy, Book Guy.
We scored 12 out of 20. The winners had 13 points.

The Missed Questions

1. What river runs past Belfast?
2. What band's debut album 'Cracked Rear View' preposterously sold 10.5 million copies in 1994?
3. **What NBA team had 'The Jordan Rules' designed to defend against Michael Jordan?
4. What's the most popular name of Mount Godwin-Austen?
5. Name the 1992 Australian movie about the neo-Nazi movement in Melbourne starring Russell Crowe
6. What's the polynesian name of 'Easter Island'?
7. **What animal is featured on the flag of Sri Lanka?
8. Where are General Zod & his men imprisoned in 2013 film 'Man of Steel'?

The Right Answers

1. Lagan
2. Hootie & the Blowfish
3. Detroit Pistons
4. K2
5. Romper Stomper
6. Rapa Nui
7. lion
8. The Phantom Zone

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Liffey. Yes. We know that the Liffey is in Dublin. And we know that Dublin is not close to Belfast. But we drew a blank on "Name another Irish river" and panicked. The shame!
2. Spin Doctors. Book Guy takes the credit for this. He remembered the album cover, tried to describe it, knows that he had the album when he was younger. And then completely remembered the wrong album entirely.
3. Houston Rockets. This was a small debate between Game Guy and myself: we knew it had to be a rival for the Chicago Bulls. And that it wasn't the Lakers. I voted for Houston, as they did win the NBA Championship during the years that Jordan retired. So wrong answer, wrong reasons.
4. Kilimanjaro. I want a point for this. I knew it was one of the big four trivia mountains (Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro, or the Matterhorn), and that we had this question before. I tried to talk it out, but I was immediate overruled by both Book Guy and Game Guy who were pretty sure that it was Kilimanjaro, figuring there was a separate European name. Well, there isn't, and I demand a retroactive point here.
5. Mad Max 3. None of us even knew that Russell Crowe had started acting roles in 1992, so we tried to list any Australian film we knew, and gave up. However, the quiz we graded suggested Australian History X, which is by far, the best wrong answer.
6. Moai. I claim the blank here. I knew it had a Polynesian name, and that Moai referred to the statues on Easter Island, so maybe there's a link. I think we just forgot about the original name, sadly.
7. Tiger. There is a separatist group on Sri Lanka called the Tamil Tigers, so the guess is that there is some greater significance to the tiger in the culture. This discounts the idea that lions are really cool on flags.
8. The Negative Zone. While you can understand the difference, this is worse if you are a comic book nerd who points out that the Negative Zone is alternate universe from the Fantastic Four series, which is Marvel not DC.

My Favorite Right Answers

Starting this week, random questions are marked with ** two stars. Teams can visit a group of librarians, and ask for help on one question: chosen from one of the starred questions. The librarians have no knowledge of the questions beforehand, and may not know anything about the subject. It is just a fun bonus. I will include the starred questions in the blog.

1. **What was the name of the family ranch on TV's Dallas?
2. **Which of Shakespeare's plays is referred to as 'the Scottish play'?
3. Who was the star musician founder of Rocket Records?
4. Who made her motion picture debut as Mathilda, the pre-teen assassin in the 1994 movie 'Leon: The Professional'?

1. Southfork. I am proud to know that, despite never watching an episode of any soap opera. This is "learning trivia by watching too many quiz shows". Also, it's now a conference center.
2. Macbeth. I guess this is a gimme, but at least I get to link to a behind-the-scenes clip from The Chase about Scottish kings, and how to handle mentions of Macbeth.
3. Elton John. It helps if you start listing musicians and acts associated with the word "Rocket". Like Rocket Man.
4. Natalie Portman. It's rare, but it's a movie that I've actually seen, start to finish. Although now I don't remember the name of Leon's plant.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

June 2, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Game Guy, Book Guy.
We scored 16 out of 20. This was good enough for first place for the week, and the tournament.

Apparently, I was unable to update this blog in a timely fashion during May. While I have the original questions and the correct answers, I no longer remember what we wrote down. So, rather than leaving some poorly-remembered notes, I'm skipping ahead to June.

The Missed Questions

1. Who played 'Sweet River Baines', the first black Harlem Globetrotter in a 1991 SNL skit?
2. Name the frontman of T-Rex, who was alleged to be the inspiration for Bowie's hit 'Lady Stardust'
3. What now-defunct division of Chrysler debuted the Barracuda in 1964?
4. What was Winston Churchill's middle name?

The Right Answers

1. Michael Jordan
2. Marc Bolan
3. Plymouth
4. Leonard

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Chris Rock. This was an fun question (early 90s Saturday Night Live was quite well done), but we couldn't work this out. We went through the regular cast, but no one seemed to fit (for instance, Tim Meadows isn't normally that type of character). We tried to guess on special cast or guest hosts, presuming that Chris Rock would do something like this type of sketch. It never occurred to us to think of an actual basketball player as a guest host.
2. Iggy Pop. A music question, without music guy. And we had no idea. We could've tried to guess something funnier, but I this was the last question of the day, and we can't stand to leave an answer blank.
3. American Motors. A major gap in our knowledge: American car brands and marques. There's an entire history there, with companies and mergers and spin-offs. Unfortunately, we could only pick something that "sounded right", which is probably just as valid as writing Iggy Pop.
4. Hawthorne. The Wikipedia featured articles for the last few weeks were on Neville Chamberlain. Unfortunately, none of them included on any of the other names for Churchill. This was another blind guess (which isn't as interesting as gettng something wrong for hilarious reasons). But still, something British sounding: Hawthorne fits.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. What Shakespearean problem play features the King of France & Bertram?
2. What is defined as a line that connects points on a map that have the same temperature?
3. What popular children's show successfully funded a Kickstarter last week, in the amount of $1 million, to bring an app-based program to underprivileged schools?

1. All's Well that Ends Well. My favorite question of the night, even though I didn't participate it. The clue phrase was "problem play", which means that Game Guy and Book Guy tried to list all of the problem plays: Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, Winter's Tale, before landing on the correct answer. It is an earned point for deducing the right answer.
2. isotherm. This is a shout out to both my friends who are interested in weather related topics, but also the fact this was a component on Only Connect only a week prior.
3. Reading Rainbow. This is a personal plug to note that this Kickstarter is still going strong (as of June 17, it is at $3.8 million). Reading Rainbow was a wonderful and important program for me as a child, so I am glad to see it succeed.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

April 14, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Music Guy, Book Guy.
We scored 15 out of 20. This was good enough for first place. It also marks that Music Guy is now at 5 wins in 5 appearances.

The Missed Questions

1. What does Merrian-Webster define as 'the inability to feel anything in a particular part of your body because of cold, injury, etc.'
2. What outfielder led the San Francisco Giants with 178 hits in the 2013 MLB season?
3. 'Search & Destroy' appears on which 1973 album by The Stooges?
4. Founded in 1907, what is California's oldest surviving amusement park?
5. What pop star posts on Instagram using the handle 'badgalriri'?

The Right Answers

1. numb
2. Hunter Pence
3. Raw Power
4. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
5. Rihanna

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. neuralgia. Book guy was late, and Music Guy deferred the question to me. I immediately wrote down 'numbness', pending Book Guy's evaluation. Book Guy wasn't sure, and was looking for something with a 'neuro-' root. The only one that came to mind was 'neuralgia' (thanks to a notable Countdown Conundrum). Of course, the initial guess that I had was the right one. I'm not bitter, though.
2. Angel Pagan. Sports is a hit and miss thing for me (not a pun). I like the game, but don't memorize a lot of the details. So this turned to "name a good hitter from the Giants". Maybe I should've remembered that he was injured from most of 2013...
3. The Passenger. This defers to the Music Guy who, surprisingly, didn't know. At the last moment, this is the answer he wrote, even though this is a song title (maybe it was also an album title?). It just turns out that our collective knowledge of The Stooges is 1) Iggy Pop was in it. 2) Some of the songs are good.
4. Knott's Berry Farm. My first reaction was that Knott's Berry Farm was more of a 30s thing. The only other California parks that were before Disneyland (1955) was the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, but we figured that we this local park would've made a lot of noise about their centennial if they had one in 2007. Either they have poor marketing, or we have poor memories, since no one recalled any news about the Boardwalk, so we went with another guess.
5. Miley Cyrus. Again, first reaction was a blind guess on the 'ri' part for Rihanna, but I made no attempt to defend it, especially when Music Guy was more sure that it was Miley. He'll claim that it was totally a guess and he doesn't know anything about Miley Cyrus, but I am not sure I believe him.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. Name the actor who starred as 'Dr. Who' in the 1965 feature film 'Dr. Who and the Daleks'
2. Name the 1971 musical film featuring the songs 'Pure Imagination' and 'I Want It Now'?
3. What Briton's full name is Henry Charles Albert David?

1. Peter Cushing. I am actually not a fan of Doctor Who, not having watched the original parts, nor anything from David Tennant onward. But I did 100% know this, because one of my favorite sites, Rifftrax, makes fun of movies by adding jokes and commentary. Not too long ago, they did a full length riff on Dr. Who and the Daleks, so more of the details stick. (They also did a riff of Dr. Who: Invasion Earth 2150)
2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I drew a blank, until Music Guy filled in the blank. Once he did, we started to launch into the very sweet song that is worth a listen.
3. Prince Harry. I'm a fan of a certain German game show, called Schlag den Raab. Last weekend, some of my friends did a 5-hour webcast of an amateur version of this same show, calling it Schlag den Brig. The games were absolutely inventive and fun. One of the rounds was a trivia round, with a question to name as many members of the family tree of Queen Elizabeth II (that is, her descendants and their spouses). One of the contestants gave his answer of "Henry or Harry", and that slight bit of pedantry stuck in my head and gave us one point.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

April 7, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Music Guy, Book Guy.
We scored 14 out of 20. This was a tie for first. We won the tie-breaker.

The Missed Questions

1. In what country was the car manufacturer Audi founded?
2. Name the John Carpenter directed 1980 film that was his second collaboration with Jamie Lee Curtis.
3. What team won the National League East with 96 wins in 2013?
4. What Shakespearean play opens with a scene of three queens seeking an audience with Theseus and Hippolyta?
5. What is the current home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes?
6. Block, Horsetail, Cataract, and Punchbowl are all types of what natural occurance?
7. (Tie Break) Sidney Crosby leads the NHL with 102 points. How many assists does he have (as of April 7)?

The Right Answers

1. Germany
2. The Fog
3. Atlanta Braves
4. The Two Noble Kinsmen
5. Buck Shaw Stadium
6. Waterfalls
7. (Tie Break) 66

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Sweden. Sweden was my first guess, but Game Guy was leaning towards Germany. We ruled out every other country, other than these two. (We were pretty sure there weren't any major car manufacturers from Denmark or Belgium). Ultimately, Game Guy held the pen, and we let him take a guess. Ah well.
2. Halloween. We knew that Halloween was a Jamie Lee Curtis movie, we weren't sure if it was the first or second collaboration. To be fair, we did have a John Carpenter question last week, but didn't remember a lot of details. Ultimately, another wrong guess.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm the sports representative, and I could narrow it down to the Pirates or the Braves. I had a vague sense that the Braves didn't even make the playoffs (they did), but I guess another 50/50 guess that didn't pay off.
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Whenever it is a Shakespeare play, we usually guess As You Like It or Midsummer or Twelfth Night or something like that. However, last week, when everyone missed the questions on The Two Noble Kinsman, the quizmaster told us that it would be an answer on next week's quiz. I don't think we took the warning seriously.
5. Spartan Stadium. Another sports question. (Yes, America does have a thing called Major League Soccer) I used to drive past this stadium, and I knew they were at that location. Apparently, they've moved to this other stadium since. Fun fact: they are partners with the Tottenham Hotspurs, or Tot'num
6. lava flow. Music guy knew that 'Cataract' was a type of waterfall and we agreed. But we had no idea on the other terms, so the suggestion was withdrawn. And we tried to list other things that are sorta 'fluid'. Accordingly, our brainstorm was worth 0 points.
7. (Tie Break) 60. In hockey, a player's "points" is the sum of their goals and assists. I knew Sidney Crosby is a prolific goal scorer, so estimated that he had more goals than assists, so I wrote down my best guess. Afterwards, I realized my error, but couldn't change it. Since the other team guessed "75", my two mistakes cancelled out, and we are winners. Hooray!

My Favorite Right Answers

1. Tesla added an underbody shield made of what metal to help prevent battery fires in its cars?
2. What 80s TV show's theme song was Joey Scarbury's hit 'Believe it or Not'?

1. Titanium. Most of the car is probably carbon fiber, but the question wanted a lightweight metal. Our guess was either aluminum (or aluminium) or titanium. Aluminum would be the cheaper alternative, but then we reasoned that this is a Tesla and so the more expensive option is likelier. And it was.
2. Greatest American Hero. An excuse to link to the catchy theme song.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

March 31, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Game Guy, Beer Guy.
We scored 11 out of 20. One team scored 12, and two tied with 13.

The Missed Questions

1. What play based on 'The Knight's Tale' in Chaucer's 'The Cantebury Tales' is attributed to Shakespeare and John Fletcher?
2. In which country were the 1994 Winter Olympics held?
3. What actor plays a game of chess against Death in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 masterpiece 'The Seventh Seal'?
4. Tashkent is the capital city of what country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union?
5. Name the 1999 Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp.
6. What sauropod dinosaur was first described based on fossils found in the Grand River Canyon as 'the largest known dinosaur' in 1903?
7. Name the Oakland A's veteran center fielder who stars most games.
8. What John Carpenter film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006?
9. Who wrote 'Just So Stories for Little Children', published in 1902?
10. (Tie Break) Miguel Cabrera had the highest batting average in the 2013 Major League Baseball season. Michael Cuddyer came in second. What was his batting average?

The Right Answers

1. The Two Noble Kinsmen
2. Norway
3. Max von Sydow
4. Uzbekistan
5. Sleepy Hollow
6. Brachiosaurus
7. Coco Crisp
8. Halloween
9. Rudyard Kipling
10. (Tie Break) .331

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Twelfth Knight. I think we'd have a chance if Book Guy was in for this week. Unfortunately, it's left to three people who only know the really common plays. We figured that it was probably a mistaken identity play, and/or a comedy, so we flipped between As You Like It, and our actual answer. They key fact is probably the dual attribution thing that I haven't seen before.
2. I am proud of this one. I was pretty sure that the 1994 Winter Olympics were in Lillehammer. I remember this from when I was in high school, and late-night host David Letterman sending his mother to do live reports from Lillehammer all during that time. We even worked out every summer and winter Olympics from 1988 to 2014. And then we wrote Lillehammer because we didn't read that the question asked for the country.
3. Börk B. Börkman. We passed on this question repeatedly, having little chance of getting the right answer. We even tried the gambit of 'Name any Swedish actor' from that time, and drew a blank. In this case, just make up something. And talk about the Swedish Chef from Muppets Most Wanted
4. Turkmenistan. There is a map of Europe in the pub, and the rules openly state that consulting it is allowed. Unfortunately, Tashkent is outside the boundaries of the map. It was a toss-up between Uzbekistan and our answer, and we guessed wrong.
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes. Another week of a Johnny Depp / Tim Burton question. I even looked up a list of films they've done together while writing the last blog entry. But I didn't have the years off hand, so I took a guess again.
6. Ultrasaurus. I remember this from a book that I read as a kid, as many kids do, because I like dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the history is more complicated, and the bones that were called an Ultrasauros (note the spelling) was actually part of two difference species, including the Brachiosaurus. (Also note that the Grand River is now called the Colorado River, but the Grand Canyon and the Grand River Canyon are two different things)
7. [Yoenis] Cespedes. Even our baseball guy does not followed the Oakland A's, so we had to take an educated guess. And it was not correct. And sadly, he is no longer wearing the afro.
8. The Thing. We read the question correctly to note that 2006 was the year it was selected for preservation, not the year it came out. So we thought about his most well-known movie. Alas, Beer Guy actually mentioned "Wait, he didn't do Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street, right?" Apparently, he had an inkling that it was a horror film franchise, but didn't think of another.
9. L. Frank Baum. This was an attempt to name a contemporary author who wrote something for children. Although, after we learned the answer, Game Guy did mention that reading Rudyard Kipling now is a little be uncomfortable, concerning some of Kipling's views towards minorities. I tend to agree with my friends view. Some of the poems do not suit me today.
10. (Tie Break) .328 We weren't in the tie break, coming in fourth. But we were in a previous tie-break about Cabrera's batting average, so we played for fun. We were actually closer than both teams, so that's some comfort.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. What name is available on mini-license plate souvenirs in Itchy & Scratchy Land much to the chagrin of Bart on TV's 'The Simpsons'?
2. Who co-wrote and produced Iggy Pop's late-70s albums 'The Idiot' and 'Lust for Life'?

1. Bort. My son is also named Bort.
2. Davie Bowie. Look! We finally got a music question correct! Without our music guy! (This was a very educated guess, since Bowie did a whole lot of things during that era).

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

March 24, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Book Guy, Music Guy.
We scored 16 out of 20. This is enough for a two-point win.

The Missed Questions

1. Jargonelle is a type of which fruit?
2. What band announced their forthcoming album 'Turn Blue' via Mike Tyson's Twitter account?
3. What beer was released in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Co.?
4. Name the 2007 Tim Burton movie starring Johnny Depp.

The Right Answers

1. Pear
2. The Black Keys
3. Rolling Rock
4. Sweeney Todd

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Melon. This is the second week of "fruit variety" questions. None of us had any real clue, other than to name something with a lot of varieties. I think we'll keep choosing melons until it works.
2. The Black Kings. This was a rare misstep from the music guy. He knew the band, he knew the tweet, but he mis-recalled the name. Ah, well, it happens.
3. Pabst Blue Ribbon. None of us are major drinkers, nor have any alcohol trivia in our brains. I ventured to name an old beer that is still current, but a bit obscure. This is a lesson: stay away from hipsters.
4. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Tim Burton and Johnny Deep collaborations have come up before. Our mistake here was simply a gap in our knowledge: no one could recall that this movie existed. Apparently, this is a good thing, as our quizmaster calls it a terrible movie based on a terrible play.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. Name Alexander Dumas' novel sequel set twenty years after the events in 'The Three Musketeers'
2. What 16th century fleet was almost entirely laid to waste at the Battle of Gravelines?

1. Twenty Years After. Our book guy could not remember if it was Twenty Years Later or Twenty Years After. We went with the latter, thinking it to be a semi-trick question. We were also prepared to argue for different French translations of the title if we were wrong.
2. The Spanish Armada. To be fair, there aren't too many 16th century fleets to choose from. However, this gives me a chance to link to a relevant question: What was the Spanish Main? Was there a Spanish Backup?

Notes
There was no quiz for March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, which means every pub is packed).
This update was late because I am a lazy person. Regular posts will resume after tonight.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!