Trivia Q&A: August 25

We had 14 teams in for Trivia Night on Tuesday, and the bar was less crowded than usual. I would guess with the upcoming Labor Day holiday and the end of summer on the horizon, a few regulars decided to go elsewhere last night.

Anyway, we had an unusual round for The Q Train, as the numbers for all teams but one were either 5 or 6 correct (the other had 4). It was one of the toughest lightning rounds we've ever had. The scores were also lower for Current Events, but they were better for The 1980s Trivia and General Knowledge rounds.

Going into IQ Trivia, we had six teams separated by five points, but the first place team going in slipped to third, and we had a tie between Megan Wants a Restraining Order and Prestige Worldwide, both at 39 points at its conclusion. We broke the tie with a question about the movie "Casino" I asked back in May about how many "F-words" are in it (which happens to be a record for a feature film). Prestige Worldwide was closest (422 is the actual answer) and we were crowned champions for this week. Nice going guys.

Current Events
1. The mayor of this midwestern city was hospitalized last week when he was attacked at a state fair coming to the aid of a woman who was being menaced by a man wielding a pipe.
2. Don Hewitt, the longtime producer of this TV show, died last week at age of 86.
3. John Marek became the 68th death row inmate to be executed in this state by lethal injection since the death sentence was reinstated in 1979.
4. Hans-Rudolf Merz, president of this European country, apologized to the Libyan government after arresting Moammar Khadafy's son on charges of abusing domestic employees there, but the case was later settled.
5. This MLB team was sold for about $900 million to Tom Ricketts, capping a process that began over two years ago, and it will be the largest sale of any team in baseball history.
6. This US state was rocked by two earthquakes last week, with one that registered 5.0 and rattled buildings in the state's largest city.
7. More than 90 wildfires have been raging across this European country since Saturday, with thousands evacuated from thie homes and fires have threatened two ancient temples.

Answers: 1. Milwaukee; 2. "60 Minutes;" 3. Florida; 4. Switzerland; 5. Chicago Cubs; 6. Alaska; 7. Greece.

The 1980s: Yes or No Trivia
1. Germany as a nation is reunified officially following the Berlin Wall's collapse.
2. The USSR invades Afghanistan.
3. The San Francisco 49ers win the first of five Super Bowl titles.
4. John Lennon records "Double Fantasy," his comeback album after five years away from the music business.
5. Seoul, South Korea hosts The Summer Olympics.
6. "Rain Man" wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
7. The Chicago Bulls win their first NBA title over the LA Lakers in five games.

Answers: 1. no (1990); 2. no (1979); 3. yes (1982); 4. yes (1980); 5. yes (1988); 6. yes (1989); 7. no (1991).

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of "Tarzan," is buried in Tarzana, California.
2. The Hawaiian Islands are an archelpago.
3. Gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body in terms of volume.
4. In the board game "Risk," the winner is determined by drawing cards.
5. The USA has the most TV sets in the world.
6. It will take a person more than 400 years to watch every video on YouTube.
7. Victoria Woodhull was the first woman ever to run for US president.
8. Soccer is the biggest participant sport in the world.
9. The average person says about 5,000 words in a day.
10. Over the last 40 years, food production has increased faster than the world's population.

Answers: 1. true; 2. true; 3. true; 4. false, rolling dice; 5. false, China (300 million); 6. true; 7. true; 8. false, fishing; 9. true; 10. true.

General Knowledge
1. In England, a "boot" is what part of a car?
2. The line "When you've got nothin', you've got nothin' to lose" is from what Bob Dylan song?
3. The Erie Canal links Lake Erie with what other body of water?
4. The new iPhone 3GS has a touchscreen with an "oleophobic coating" which is specifically designed to do what?
5. What Broadway play tells the story of John Merrick?
6. What bad habit has the technical name "rhinotillexomania?"
7. If you have three bills, each one with a different face from Mt. Rushmore, how much do you have in total paper currency?

Answers: 1. trunk; 2. "Like a Rolling Stone;" 3. Hudson River; 4. not show fingerprints; 5. "The Elephant Man;" 6. nose picking; 7. eight dollars.

IQ Trivia
1. What scientist first determined that human sight results from images projected onto the retina? ( 5 points)
2. When Barack Obama and his future wife Michelle went on their first date in 1989, what film did they see? ( 4 points)
3. In the classic film "The Bridge Over the River Kwai," what country is the River Kwai in? ( 4 points)
4. By definition, where does an abyssopelagic animal live? ( 4 points)
5. Who was the director of "The Manhattan Project," and was also known as "The Father of the Atomic Bomb?" ( 3 points)

Answers: 1. Johannes Kepler; 2. "Do The Right Thing;" 3. Thailand; 4. bottom of the sea; 5. J. Robert Oppenheimer.