Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Trivia Q&A: June 4

We had eight teams take part in the earlier edition of Trivia last night. Before we got going at 8:30, we had a number of "technical difficulties," like having a broken microphone (I had to run out and buy a new one), a faulty printer and a few other things that seemed to make the night difficult. But we got going and everything was fine during the actual contest.

It was a close match throughout between two teams, The Fluffers and Roger Clemens' Numb Groin, both teams being previous Trivia Night champions. The hardest category seemed to be the newest one I brought in, "Four Seasons Trivia." Most teams did well in the seasons part, but getting the exact day and month of each event proved a little too difficult for most. (This proved to be a one-night category, and we'll have a brand new one for next week.)

It was close until the last round, when RCNG ran the table in IQ Trivia and won easily, by 15 points. Congratulations to them on another fine victory. And Trivia Night officially ended just seconds before the first pitch was thrown in Oakland.

Next week we will be returning to regular time of 9 PM on Monday, as there is no Red Sox game next Monday.

Current Events
1. Three men were arrested last week in a terror plot to blow up JFK Airport, and a fourth man is being sought in connection to it. In which Caribbean country is he being searched for in?
2. This movie won the Best Film Award at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.
3. Congressman William Jefferson, from this Southern state, was indicted today on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering.
4. The G-8 Summit of the leaders of Western nations begins this week in this European country.
5. A man named Joey Chestnut set a new world record last week by eating how many hot dogs in 12 minutes (within 5)?
6. This NBA team won the Eastern Conference title last week and will face the San Antonio Spurs in the finals beginning Thursday.
7. A recent poll found that 13% of people in this Eastern state actually favor seceeding from the Union.
8. Tank Johnson, an NFL player from this team, was suspended for 8 games in 2007 for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
9. This wrestler/actor announced last week that he and his wife of ten years had formally separated.
10. This classic album, considered by some the best ever, reached the 40th anniversary of its release last Friday.

Answers: 1. Trinidad; 2. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest;" 3. Louisiana; 4. Germany; 5. 59 1/2; 6. Cleveland Cavaliers; 7. Vermont; 8. Chicago Bears; 9. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; 10. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

General Knowledge
1. In which central American country are all US MLB baseballs manufactured?
2. Which mathematical tool is used to measure angles in drawings?
3. What part of a cinnamon tree is the spice cinnamon made from?
4. What TV show from the 1950s did both Woody Allen and Neil Simon write for early in their careers?
5. Which item is featured prominently as melting in Salvador Dali's painting, "The Persistance of Memory?"
6. What unit of measurement was supposedly based on the distance from King Henry I's nose to his fingertips?
7. According to the popular 1990s ad campaign, what is "the other white meat?"
8. What name is given to the science of map-making?
9. In which film is the main character named Dirk Diggler?
10. On the show, "Seinfeld," what was the last name of Elaine's character?

Answers: 1. Costa Rica; 2. protractor; 3. bark; 4. "Your Show of Shows;" 5. watch; 6. yard; 7. pork; 8. cartography; 9. "Boogie Nights;" 10. Benes.

True or False ("The Q Train")
1. JFK once referred to the nation's diverse population as "a thousand points of light."
2. "You Are My Sunshine" was written by Jimmie H. Davis, who was known as Louisiana's "Singing Governor."
3. Salma Hayek played singer Selena in a 1997 film about her life.
4. Saturn is the largest planet in our solar system.
5. Michael Crawford was the original Phantom in the 1988 Broadway debut of "The Phantom of the Opera."
6. In 1980, the US boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
7. The US Open golf tournament awards a green jacket to its winner every year.
8. Hemoglobin carries oxygen throughout the human body.
9. Maize is another word for corn.
10. A scarab-cut stone is designed to resemble a lizard.

Answers: 1. false, it was George H.W. Bush; 2. true; 3. false, it was Jennifer Lopez; 4. false, it's Jupiter; 5. true; 6. true; 7. false, it's The Masters; 8. true; 9. true; 10. false, it's a beetle.

Four Seasons Trivia
1. Richard Nixon becomes the first US president to resign in 1974.
2. Fort Sumter is attacked by rebel forces and The Civil War begins.
3. The stock market crashes in 1929 and the Great Depression begins.
4. German troops invade Poland, and WWII starts.
5. JFK is elected the first Roman Catholic president in 1960.
6. The Supreme Court hands down the historic Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling.
7. The US drops the first atomic bomb in 1945, on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
8. Jackie Robinson becomes the first black MLB player in the 20th century in 1947.
9. Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.
10. The Beatles arrive in NYC for the first time in 1964, and appear on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later.

Answers: 1. summer (August 9); 2. spring (April 12); 3. fall (October 29); 4. summer (September 1); 5. fall (November 8); 6. winter (January 22); 7. summer (August 6); 8. spring (April 15); 9. summer (July 20); 10. winter (February 7).

IQ Trivia
1. Author William Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County is located in which Southern state? (4 points)
2. The first woman to serve as a cabinet member served under which president? (5+2 points)
3. What is the name of the desert home of Luke Skywalker in the movie Star Wars? (5 points)
4. What brand name roughly translates to "prepare to be attacked" in Japanese? (5 points)
5. In Jacques-Louis David's painting "The Death of Marat," where is Marat sitting? (6 points)

Answers: 1. Mississippi; 2. FDR (Frances Perkins); 3. Tatooine; 4. Atari; 5. In a bathtub.

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