Trivia Q&A: December 8

We had 18 teams in for Trivia on Tuesday night, on a night when I had to miss "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on ABC. (Tell me something. Why does ABC always show it on a Tuesday night to conflict with my Trivia Night? Fortunately I have it in on video, so I won't miss it.) I did notice a lot of new folks I hadn't seen in before, and a few of the regulars were not with us.

We had some terrific scores for Beatles Ringtone Trivia and Dead Rock Stars Trivia, but they dipped a bit for General Knowledge. We had a tight contest going into IQ Trivia, with the top five teams separated by just three points. But IQ Trivia was rather tough, with just one team getting as many as three of them right, and that was the winners, Tiger's Ten Mistresses (one of many team names having to do with the besieged golfer). They won by five points, and it was their first ever win. Nice job everyone.

Current Events
1. This cable TV giant, the largest in the US, announced last week that it will purchase a majority stake in NBC Universal for the staggering price of $13.75 billion.
2. Name 1 of the 2 universities, one in New York and the other in New England, that have announced that they are dropping their football programs, both due to the high cost of running their programs.
3. A bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage was defeated by this state's legislature by a 38-24 vote last Wednesday.
4. This country's government slowed Internet connections before student protests began on Monday in an effort to deny the opposition a vital communication.
5. The Episcopal Diocese of this US city elected Rev. Mary Glasspool, a lesbian, to the role of assistant bishop, the second openly gay person elected in the Episcopal hierarchy.
6. Last week Rwanda became the first nation to comply with the Ottawa Treaty, which 156 nations are a party to. What does the Ottawa Treaty specifically ban?
7. The lead singer of this rock band suffered minor injuries when the group's tour bus skidded on some ice and crashed in a ditch as they were heading through NY state on their way to a show in Boston.

Answers: 1. Comcast; 2. Hofstra and Northeastern; 3. New York; 4. Iran; 5. Los Angeles; 6. land mines; 7. Weezer.

Dead Rock Stars Trivia
1. How did Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones die in 1969? a. drug overdose; b. heart attack; c. drowned; d. killed in a car accident.
2. What city did Jim Morrison die in? a. Miami; b. London; c. Los Angeles; d. Paris.
3. What rock star, whose real name was John Simon Ritchie, died of a drug overdose in 1979? a. Bon Scott; b. Sid Vicious; c. Ian Curtis; d. Gram Parsons.
4. Which of the Beach Boys tragically drowned in an accident in 1983? a. Dennis Wilson; b. Carl Wilson; c. Mike Love; d. Brian Wilson.
5. Which of these rock icons died first? a. Janis Joplin; b. Jimi Hendrix; c. Jim Morrison; d. Keith Moon.
6. Eric Woolfson, co-founder and lead singer of which 1970s/80s British studio group, died of cancer last week? a. The Alan Parsons Project; b. Jethro Tull; c. Yes; d. King Crimson.
7. What year did Kurt Cobain of Nirvana commit suicide? a. 1991; b. 1993; c. 1994; d. 1996.

Answers: 1. c; 2. d; 3. b; 4. a; 5. b; 6. a; 7.c.

Another Beatles Ringtone Trivia ("The Q Train")
Answers:1. The Long and Winding Road; 2. Nowhere Man; 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds; 4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da; 5. Paperback Writer; 6. Penny Lane; 7. Revolution; 8. From Me To You; 9. Hey Jude; 10. Got to Get You Into My Life.

General Knowledge
1. If it is midnight in New York City, what time is it in Detroit, MI? (1 point)
2. Which college basketball team has the record for consecutive victories, with 88? ( 1 point)
3. What NYC borough was the TV show "The Honeymooners" set in? ( 1 point)
4. What was the length of term for the President of the Confederacy? (2 points)
5. What is the driest state in the US in terms of overall precipitation? ( 2 points)
6. Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer once redecorated his living room with the set of what classic talk show? ( 2 points)
7. What name was Max Rockatansky better known as? ( 3 points)

Answers: 1. midnight; 2. UCLA; 3. Brooklyn; 4. six years; 5. Nevada ( 9 inches per year); 6. "The Merv Griffin Show;" 7. Mad Max.

IQ Trivia
1. In what field are the Antoinette Perry Awards given? ( 4 points)
2. Which foreign capital city in 2007 was given the dubious title of "Kidnapping Capital of the World?" ( 4 points)
3. Which two countries had the most deaths as a result of World War II? ( 5 points)
4. What is the more common term used for the condition known as chirospasms? ( 4 points)
5. What movie character famously carried around a copy of the children book's "Curious George" in his suitcase? ( 3 points)

Answers: 1. Theatre (Tony Awards); 2. Baghdad; 3. Soviet Union and China; 4. Writer's Cramp; 5. Forrest Gump.