Dear Friends,
If there were a trivia community in the city of Davis, the members would be grappling with this question: Has Mark Palmere been attending Dr. Andy’s pub quizzes for so many years so that he would qualify to do well onJeopardy!, or has Mark been readying himself to do well on Jeopardy! on September 12 in order to do well on the Sudwerk Pub Quiz?
We may never know, but we will find out more about the Palmere Prowess if we tune in to see him compete. In the Sacramento area, Jeopardy! airs on ABC10 (KXTV) weeknights at 7:00 p.m., unless it is pre-empted by another debate.
Donald Trump may have participated in his last debate, or so some are hoping, on his way to participating in his last election. According to Rolling Stone, “By early Wednesday morning, multiple Trump aides were telling Rolling Stone that their boss did not perform as well as they wished, that Harris had exceeded expectations, or simply that — in the words of one of the sources — getting Trump onstage for another debate against Harris is ‘not a priority’ for the campaign and its candidate right now.”
This is how The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky put it today: “Kamala Harris was really good Tuesday night—really, really good. She accomplished everything she needed to accomplish. She sliced and diced him. She dangled bait and he leapt at the hook. But as good as she was, Trump was more bad than Harris was good. Or maybe he was bad because she was good: That is to say, she wrong-footed him time after time after time in ways that President Joe Biden did not, throwing him off his game, staring him down, speaking directly to him, challenging him, saying ‘you’ and pointing right at him. She spanked him. Said Stephanie Ruhle, in a judgment Trump would consider crushing: ‘She beat him at the business of television.’”
Perhaps not since President George Herbert Walker Bush checked his watch repeatedly did an older president seem so distracted, exhausted, and out of touch. That three-way debate with Clinton and Perot took place on October 15, 1992, just over a month after I got married. My new bride and I watched the watch-checking with interest. Remember when checking your timepiece or wearing a tan suit was considered a scandal or a major faux pas? Nowadays being a 34-time felon will still earn a certain candidate more than 45% of the votes in the seven swing states.
Speaking of 1992, happy 32nd wedding anniversary to my lovely wife Kate! She took me out to dinner Saturday night. We saw the rare date as a sneak preview of what retirement might be like (years from now when we can afford to retire).
I, in turn, presented her with an anniversary poem. It started in my poet’s notebook with a line about her eyes and then was assembled backwards from there:
Thirty-Two Years with Kate: A Sonnet
We’ve organized our lives around family ties.
You customize meals that vitalize and energize.
When I write, you revise; when I fall, you empathize.
My gorgeous wife, muscular, framed by California blue skies,
You are recognized, prioritized, and frequently visualized.
When I hold your hand, our interlocking fingers harmonize.
All the contours of your face have been memorized.
I languidly appraise your long and lithe form: first prize.
Even though you’d rather cocoon with me than socialize,
Sometimes you propose that we improvise.
When we walk or swim, or any exercise, we synchronize.
Every day when I hold and behold you, I realize
How your every touch never fails to galvanize,
That after 32 years, your eyes, they still hypnotize.
I’m a lucky husband. If you are trying to figure out the rhyme scheme, it is AAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Good luck to us lasting for another 32 years, and good luck to Mark Palmere tomorrow on Jeopardy!
Please plan to partake in the Pub Quiz festivities this pleasant and not overheated evening at Sudwerk in Davis. Bring your team to the beautiful outdoor patio where the misters are misting and where we have room for almost everyone. The jollity will be unfiltered. As Ralph Waldo Emerson allegedly said, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” I encourage you to come early to snag a table. We filled the restaurant and patio last week, and I expect that we will continue to do so throughout September and beyond. Also, tonight I plan to move the quiz along quickly — the entire quiz is only 989 words long!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on U.S. states, Jessica Lange, forgotten rockets, adorable horses, point guards, California towns north of Davis, wolves, first names, siblings, Pythagoras, questions of ownership, stalling after takeoff, Taylor Swift, famous stories, enlistees, religious figures, counties, handshakes, higher education, scientific branches, the U.S. Census, nice views, population discrepancies, health reasons, machines, multiple retirements, people without slogans, halls of fame, expensive children, bar dropouts, American centuries, Native Americans, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. Sometimes a question is substituted at the last minute because of the day’s news.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscriber Sophie! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank, such as Janet, Carly, and Joey. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the scintillating Mavens who carefully take note of casual adjectives and precise pronunciations, and others who support the Pub Quiz on Patreon(where I am also sometimes sharing drafts of poems). I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of supporters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Find here three questions from last week!
- Pop Culture – Music. In 1969, who famously interrupted The Beatles’ final live performance on the rooftop of Apple Corps headquarters in London?
- Sports. What Eastern Time Zone city’s professional teams have won four Major League Baseball championships, three NBA championships in three different decades, four NFL championships in the pre-Super Bowl era, and 11 NHL championships spread over 72 years?
- Science. What is the most common bird of any type in the United States?
P.P.S. “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.” Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.