Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I hope you can join us again tonight, for we have such fun at the Pub Quiz, especially in the summertime when so many old friends can return to Davis from their other jobs and responsibilities to explore frivolity. We set aside a couple hours on Monday evenings to separate ourselves from the world – no cellphones! – and to take a break from our responsibilities. The Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus reminds us that “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” So it is at de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis! Epictetus also inspired David Mamet’s “Practical Aesthetics” acting technique, so in honor of the two, we should expect at least two theatre / acting questions on the Pub Quiz this evening.
In order for the Pub Quiz to revitalize participants after a long Monday at work, I feel that it should celebrate those local, national, and global forces that might uplift us, rather than returning to the tragic and sensational that we might find in many subgenres of television news. I keep this in mind when writing pub quiz questions; I also need to be careful not to inadvertently stumble into some controversy or newsworthy calamity. For example, in today’s quiz I had planned an anagram that had included the phrase “unfit ace” and actors who play failed airmen. Now that we are discovering that pilot error and inexperience contributed significantly to Saturday’s Asiana Airlines plane crash at SFO, I decided to save that anagram for another night (and opted instead for something light about Nazi labor camps). Perhaps a better pub quiz topic would be the heroic flight attendants who saved so many lives on the tarmac Saturday.
As a Quizmaster who writes his own questions, I am limited by (and saddled by) what I know. Those who have attended the Pub Quiz for years might have figured out how to attune their own reading, research and receptivity to my limited ken of understanding, so I find myself obligated to ask questions about silly celebrities and internet memes, as well as expected topics, such as Irish playwrights and my favorite American artists. If you ever notice a significant absence in the covered Pub Quiz topics, please inform me of the oversight so I can make adjustments on future quizzes. That said, if a typically winning team asks for more questions on nautical terms or album rock music from the 1960s and 70s, I may just nod politely and misplace that mental note, for I like to see everyone in the winners’ circle, sooner or later.
Tonight the winners will be those who can answer questions about search engines, princesses, Longfellow, US Presidents, Alps, primates, fitness, teenagers, Colombian exports, yearly agricultural festivals in California, pitchers among my ancestors, fruit production, crescents, people born in San Francisco, wild swine, men who carry axes, Buzz Aldrin, hot gnomes, pre-history, human anatomy, the lessons of fear, proper gentlemen, rebirths, ripening, true or false questions about lawyers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, American energy sources, horrific heroes, people named Zod, that which is extinguished, actresses born in 1948 who are not Georgia Engel, political punch lines, spiders, funeral services and other transitions, the Chicago Bears, and Shakespeare. Speaking of political punch lines, I regret to inform you that there will be no questions tonight about Texas Governor Rick Perry, who announced today is intention not to run for re-election as Governor. One can only hope that he tries for the presidency again.
See you tonight! Come early to claim a table, for I expect another sold-out show.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. What company started using the commercial slogan “Leave the Driving to Us” in 1956?
- Internet Culture. According to its trademark application, what will be the likely name of the wrist-mounted computer to be released by Apple, Inc.?
- People Named Roscoe. The American silent film actor, comedian, and director who mentored Charlie Chaplin, and discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope, had the first name of Roscoe. What was his last name?
- Sports. How many of the top six all-time scorers in the NBA once played for the Los Angeles Lakers? Is it 3, 4, or 5?
- The Science of Food. What is the name of the protein composite found in foods processed from wheat, barley and rye that gives dough its elasticity?
P.S. Theatre in the Arboretum again this coming weekend, thanks to Common House Productions.