Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Trivia Q&A: December 28

On a night when the remnants of the big blizzard was everywhere, I thought we might only have 8 or 9 teams in for Trivia. Boy was I proven wrong! We had an amazing 22 teams in, on a rare night when their was an NFL game on at the same time as Trivia.

My buddy Chris said before the night that many people might have been suffering from "cabin fever" and wanted to get out. Boy was he ever right.

It was a boisterous crowd on Tuesday night as well. The scores were very close all night, but the team of Domination Nation! pulled out the win by two points, getting 4 of 5 correct and getting their first win.

But we had a rare event once again that happened last week. We had another three-way tie for second, between the teams of Rex Ryan's Favorite Porno Is My Left Foot, Aloha Obama! Wish We Were There, and Ephs. We broke the tie in an unusual way, as I asked the three teams to guess how many songs I currently had in my iPod, which I use on Trivia Nights. I gave them the parameters (between 5,000 and 8,000) and the team of Ephs guessed the closest and took second place. (For the record, at the time of Trivia last night I had 6,732 songs in my iPod.)

I want to thank all of you who made our last Trivia Night of 2010 such an enjoyable one. (Of course, the Vikings win in Philly made it that much more fun.) So many of you braved the elements and came out last night, and I was really happy you did.

Happy New Year to you all.

Best Team Name: Rex Ryan's Favorite Porno Is My Left Foot

Current Events
1. What rock band had to cancel a gig in London last week after a fire broke out on one of the band's tour buses next to the arena?
2. What place, closely associated with the Beatles, was named a British landmark last week?
3. Steve Landesberg, an actor and comedian best known for his role as an intellectual detective on this 1970s sitcom, died last week at the age of 74.
4. What automaker agreed to pay a record fine of $32 million over its handling of millions of car recalls, and it's also its second major fine of 2010?
5. Actor Stephen Baldwin is suing this Oscar-winning actor, claiming he and a business partner schemed to dupe him into selling shares of a company that builds machines that separate oil from water in the wake of last April's BP disaster.
6. Jorge Rafael Videla, an 85-year-old former president of this South American country, was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity during his de facto rule there in the last 1970s.
7. What southern US state had its first snowfall on Christmas Day since records were first kept there in 1887?

2010: The Year In Review
1. What pop singer dropped his Twitter account last September, leaving over 3.7 million of his followers behind?
2. Jose Bautista was the only MLB player to hit 50 home runs during the 2010 season. What American League team did he do it for?
3. What northern country had a volcanic eruption in 2010 that spewed ash that caused weeks of travel delays?
4. What was the name of the octopus from Germany who correctly predicted the outcomes of the last seven World Cup soccer matches this past summer?
5. In May, a painting called "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" by what 20th century artist sold for a record $106 million at auction?
6. Alexander Haig, who served as Secretary of State under which US president, died this past February?
7. The president of what European country was killed last April, along with 96 others, when his plane crashed in western Russia?

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. "The Muppet Show" was once banned from TV in Saudi Arabia because one of its stars was a pig.
2. Guinness is considered an aphrodisiac in Ireland.
3. The three letter abbreviation for Los Angeles International Airport is LOS.
4. The Wright Brothers plane was called The Kitty Hawk.
5. The siege of Leningrad in WWII went on for over two years.
6. Pocahontas was once pictured on the $20 bill.
7. Russian TV once made a communist version of the TV show "Star Trek."
8. Thomas Jefferson served as George Washington's vice-president.
9. In Mexico, bullfights are traditionally held on Sundays.
10. There are 36 black keys on a standard piano.

General Knowledge
1. The Silver Bullet Band is the longtime backing band of what popular rock star? ( 1 pt)
2. How many tentacles does an octopus have? ( 1 pt)
3. Which of the world's oceans goes to the deepest depths? ( 1 pt)
4. The 2010 movie "I'm Still Here" followed what actor as he grew a beard and retired from his Hollywood career? ( 2 pt)
5. What reality TV series often airs a wrap-up episode at the end of each season called "After the Final Rose?" ( 2 pt)
6. Awarded by the Women's Sports Foundation, the Billies are annual prizes named for a famous athlete in what sport? ( 2 pt)
7. According to legend, what historic London landmark has superstitiously housed ravens for at least a century? ( 3 pt)

IQ Trivia
1. In 1982, Charles Brooks Jr. became the first person in the US to be executed by which method? ( 3 points)
2. What British TV show celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this month and became the world's longest running soap opera? ( 4 points)
3. Gephyrophobia is the fear of doing what, something millions of people do every day? ( 5 points)
4. What TV and movie actor became the first person using Twitter to have one million followers, in 2009? ( 4 points)
5. What current West African country was once known as "The Gold Coast," before gaining independence from the UK in 1957? ( 4 points)

Answers
Current Events
1. Kings of Leon; 2. Abbey Road crossing; 3. "Barney Miller;" 4. Toyota; 5. Kevin Costner; 6. Argentina; 7. South Carolina.

2010: The Year In Review
1. John Mayer; 2. Toronto Blue Jays; 3. Iceland; 4. Paul; 5. Pablo Picasso; 6. Ronald Reagan; 7. Poland.

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. true; 2. false; 3. false, LAX; 4. false, Flyer; 5. true; 6. true; 7. true; 8. false, John Adams; 9. true; 10. true.

General Knowledge
1. Bob Seger; 2. eight; 3. Pacific; 4. Joaquin Phoenix; 5. "The Bachelor;" 6. tennis; 7. Tower of London.

IQ Trivia
1. Lethal injection; 2. "Coronation Street;" 3. Crossing bridges; 4. Ashton Kutcher; 5. Ghana.

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