Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Trivia Q&A: September 29

We had a decent crowd but only 11 teams taking part in Trivia Night on Tuesday. It's been a bit concerning to me to see the crowds down slightly, but I'm hoping with the postseason playoffs on the horizon, it will spur more folks to come out and play trivia. (I know the two aren't connected, but I can always hope.)

The scores were pretty good throughout the night, and we had a three-way tie going into IQ Trivia. That final round was rather tough, as only three teams got as many as three questions correct. But my old friends The BLOHARDS were one of them, and wound up the champions by just two points.

Congratulations to them on their hard-fought win, and their return to the winners circle after a rather long absence.

Current Events
1. Pope Benedict XVI announced he will be visiting this country this coming January, the first Papal visit there since 1982.
2. The worst dust storm in 70 years swept across this country last week, covering 3 of the major cities there in red dust.
3. A recent survey by Sacred Heart University had this news organization as both the most and least trusted news source.
4. Roman Polanski, the director who was wanted in the US since 1978 on statutory rape charges, was arrested this past weekend in this European country to face those charges.
5. William Safire, a conservative columnist and a former speechwriter for this president, died of cancer on Sunday at the age of 79.
6. An award-winning essay written by this rock superstar as a 10-year-old for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation was discovered in an English library after more than 50 years of lying there undiscovered.
7. This American animated TV series was outlawed by authorities in Venezuela because of an episode promoting the legalization and use of marijuana.

Answers: 1. United Kingdom; 2. Australia; 3. Fox News; 4. Switzerland; 5. Richard Nixon; 6. Paul McCartney; 7. "Family Guy."

Who Was President Trivia
1. When the first $1 bill was issued as legal tender for the first time?
2. When California was admitted to the Union as a state?
3. When the White House became the president's official residence?
4. When the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show?
5. When the US entered World War I?
6. When Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strip was first published?
7. When the Supreme Court ruled on the Brown vs. Board of Education case, ending school segregation?

Answers: 1. Abraham Lincoln (1862); 2. Millard Fillmore (1850); 3. John Adams (1797); 4. Lyndon Johnson (1964); 5. Woodrow Wilson (1917); 6. Harry Truman (1950); 7. Dwight Eisenhower (1954).

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Mistletoe is the state flower of Vermont.
2. Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great were epileptics.
3. Fred Astaire once said that his favorite dance partner was Gene Kelly.
4. Cyndi Lauper once won an Emmy Award for a role on "Mad About You."
5. Kermit the Frog is right-handed.
6. Helen of Troy was Queen of Sparta.
7. The New York Daily News is America's longest contining published daily newspaper.
8. Uranus has the most moons of any planet in our solar system.
9. "Hang On Sloopy" is the stae of Ohio's official rock theme song.
10. The song "Jingle Bells" was actually composed for Thanksgiving and not Christmas.

Answers: 1. false, it's the Red Clover; 2. true; 3. true; 4. true; 5. false, left; 6. true; 7. false, the New York Post; 8. false, Jupiter; 9. true; 10. true.

General Knowledge
1. In 1958, sociologist Michael Young coined what phrase to term to describe a society that picks its leaders based on their level of intelligence?
2. In Sudoku, how many individual digits are there once the entire grid is completed?
3. Pompanos and porgies are two types of what?
4. What unit of energy gets its name from a Latin word meaning "heat?"
5. President Obama once joked that what politician was writing a memoir titled, "How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People?"
6. Timothy Geithner currently holds what position in the Obama administration?
7. Based on the classic Pentomino tile puzzle, what widely popular video game celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009?

Answers: 1. meritocracy; 2. eighty-one; 3. fish; 4. calorie; 5. Dick Cheney; 6. Treasury Secretary; 7. Tetris.

IQ Trivia
1. The Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Occidental are two of the principal ranges in what enormous mountain system? ( 4 points)
2. By definition, someone who is "skirling" is playing what musical instrument? ( 4 points)
3. Author Henry James once famously wrote that "the two most beuatiful words in the English language" are what? ( 5 points)
4. In the acclaimed 2008 movie "The Wrestler," Mickey Rourke plays an aging pro wrestler who goes by what ring nickname? ( 3 points)
5. In what Shakespeare work does the famous phrase "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" appear? ( 4 points)

Answers: 1. Andes; 2. bagpipes; 3. "summer afternoon;" 4. The Ram; 5. Henry VI, Part 2.

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