Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Trivia Q&A: February 17

We had another huge crowd on Tuesday night, with 21 teams taking part in the festivities. We had some strong scores in the Oscar Trivia as well as the 5 or More Academy Awards rounds. Five teams got perfect scores in both The Q Train and General Knowledge, and we had five teams within three points of the lead.

The numbers were good in IQ Trivia, with seven teams getting at least three of the five questions correct. But the team of The Meeks Shall Inherit the Earth managed to get four correct (the only team to do so) and moved from second place to win the night by four points. My congratulations to Matt and his crew for another win.

Current Events
1. The mayor of this major US city wants an apology from President Obama after he said companies shouldn't visit his city on the taxpayers' dime.
2. President Obama broke a taboo last week when honoring Abe Lincoln at Ford's Theater he uttered this word, which is considered to be bad luck to say in a theater outside a performance.
3. An L.A. woman has filed a $4 billion class action suit against this singing star after she made what was perceived to be a racially offensive gesture with her eyes recently.
4. The Chinese government warned the estate of this late fashion designer to return two sculptures from the Qing Dynasty that are scheduled to be auctioned off in Paris.
5. A panel of experts on US politics at the Times of London ranked the persidents, and chose this man, who served near the time their number one president held office, as the worst ever.
6. This actor made a bizarre appearance last week on David Letterman's show, including cursing at Paul Shaffer and lots of awkward silence, that has now become a hit on YouTube.
7. Nearly 40,000 people gathered in this world capital on Valentine's Day to set a new Guinness world record for the largest ever group kiss.

Answers: 1. Las Vegas; 2. Macbeth; 3. Miley Cyrus; 4. Yves Saint Laurent; 5. James Buchanan; 6. Joaquin Phoenix; 7. Mexico City.

Oscar Trivia
1. What 1997 film was the last one that the lead actor and actress both won Academy Awards?
2. Name 1 of the 3 actors who directed themselves to an Oscar for acting.
3. Who hosted the Academy Awards ceremony a record 19 times?
4. What was the last Western to win the Best Picture Oscar?
5. Name 1 of the 2 movie trilogies that each film installment received a Best Picture nomination.
6. What individual has been nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar a record 13 times?
7. Who is the oldest person to ever win the Best Director Oscar?

Answers: 1. "As Good As It Gets;" 2. Charlie Chaplin (1928), Laurence Olivier (1948), Roberto Benigni (1998); 3. Bob Hope; 4. Unforgiven (1992); 5. "The Godfather" and "The Lord of the Rings;" 6. Woody Allen; 7. Clint Eastwood (74).

Five Academy Awards or More Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Star Wars
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. On the Waterfront
4. West Side Story
5. Forrest Gump
6. No Country For Old Men
7. Rain Man
8. Patton
9. The Godfather
10. The Departed

Answers: 1. yes (6); 2. no (2); 3. yes (8); 4. yes (10); 5. yes (5); 6. no (4); 7. no (4); 8. yes (7); 9. no (3); 10. no (4).

General Knowledge
1. What is the third largest state in the US in overall area?
2. What term is used in golf for shooting a 3 on a par-5?
3. What book by Upton Sinclair was instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act?
4. What US president declared the Americas off-limits to European colonization in 1823?
5. What term was first used by James Watt for a unit equivalent to 550-foot pounds of work per second?
6. What element makes up 78% of normal day air by volume?
7. What ship, that was sunk on December 7, 1941, was designated a National Landmark in 1989?

Answers: 1. California; 2. eagle; 3. "The Jungle;" 4. James Monroe; 5. horsepower; 6. nitrogen; 7. USS Arizona.

IQ Trivia
1. Which artist died in the late 19th century having only sold one painting, but a century later one his works sold for $82.5 million? ( 3 points)
2. Which US state is known as "The Yellowhammer State?" ( 4 points)
3. Over one mile deep and 25 million years old, what is the deepest and oldest lake on earth? ( 5 points)
4. Which future Hall of Fame player hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history, in 1947? ( 4 points)
5. T.S. Eliot's verse drama "Murder in the Cathedral" deals with the death of what man? ( 4 points)

Answers: 1. Vincent Van Gogh; 2. Alabama; 3. Lake Baikal; 4. Yogi Berra; 5. Thomas Becket.

4 comments:

Matt said...

That Charlie Chaplin answer is pretty sneaky, sis. Since he never won for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor, it's really tough to piece together the info.

BklynSoxFan said...

Actually he won a special Oscar for a picture he directed in 1927, "The Circus." So technically he directed himself to a picture he won an Oscar for, Matt.

Matt said...

Right. I did see that (after last night's TNT). I wasn't claiming it was wrong; just sneaky. Starting from scratch: directed movie; won an acting Oscar; I mentally ran down the list of winners of acting Oscars. Since Chaplin wasn't on either of those lists, it didn't occur to me. Of course, we blew that whole question, so it didn't really matter.

BklynSoxFan said...

Yep, it's one of those "technically correct" answers. I actually found that question on the Academy Awards web site. I thought about asking for just Olivier and Benigni as the correct answers, but since the Oscars themselves recognize Chaplin in that question, I went with it. And 2 or 3 teams actually did say Chaplin as an answer.

Then again, you won last night...