Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Those of us who seek to defend the civil rights of gays and lesbians seem much more interested in marriage than we were one or two dozen years ago. Some young radicals who read and understand history feel disappointed that they missed their opportunities to march for women’s suffrage during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, to march for civil rights with Dr. King during the presidency of John F. Kennedy, or to march for gay rights with Harvey Milk during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Today, many of those young radicals – including many of my students – have found their time to heed the call for social justice, and thus earn their progressive bona fides, by marching for the expansion of marriage, thus ensuring that gay and lesbian friends can enjoy the same marriage benefits and privileges as anyone else.
One irony with all this progressive talk of marriage is the perception of marriage as a conservative institution. Created originally to solidify alliances between competing groups, and then to preserve or improve the financial stability of the participating families, marriages at one time reflected the needs of the older generation, rather than the young participants. Thomas Cranmer, the architect of English Protestantism, helped to create the basis for the modern wedding vows with the Book of Common Prayer way back in 1549. I think the same-sex marriage movement has so many conservative allies – one thinks of Dick Cheney and Ted Olson, among many others – because of the opportunity of gays and lesbians to participate in a centuries-old institution that has as its goals monogamy, families, stability, and, by extension, responsibility.
I’ve been thinking about marriage this week for two additional reasons. First, this summer marks the one-year anniversary of the first marriage that I have officiated (as Rev. Dr. Andy), and this past weekend marks the 21st anniversary of my marriage to my lovely bride Kate. My marriage is now old enough to drink, and tonight Kate and I shall drink a toast to it. We’ve appreciated all the kind messages and “likes” that we’ve received from faraway friends, mostly due to the quality of the photo of the two of us taken by our youngest, Truman. Talking about how our life has changed over the last 21 years, Kate and I also remarked that while we don’t often see our friends and family who joined us in that park in Hinsdale, Illinois back in 1992, the support that our current community shows for our marriage has been both strengthened and more widely distributed through the medium of Facebook. While Facebook seems like the medium of so many interactions these days, we should make sure to sit down for a meal and a drink with our local friends from time to time; that way, our people can support us in person, rather than only through our myriad screens. I suppose that’s one reason why we gather together for a Pub Quiz on a Monday evening with new and old friends, with our little devices turned off for an hour.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the following topics. The great white north, Michigan, Simon and Simon, the Latin names of animals, sportfishing, Mozambique, other people’s sports, geometry (Hi Elaine!), classical music, television co-hosts, silly celebrity actresses, poetry, the summer of 2013, Knavish kolas with automatic weapons, short stories, impervious mystics, exports, secret agents, geographic subregions, favorite continents, performances before the glitterati, Agatha Christie (indirectly), Nobel Prizes, Margaret Hughes, authentication, snowfall, US presidents, and Shakespeare.
I watched Return of the Jedi with my sons while finishing this newsletter, and managed to avoid including even one Jedi question this week. Look for Star Wars questions later in the year.
I hope you will join us tonight after our rare Monday break. The Pub Quiz is always more fun with you there.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from our last quiz:
1. Great American States. In 1820 Maine voted to secede from what US state?
2. Unusual Words. What word beginning with I means “A surface forming a common boundary between adjacent regions, bodies, substances, or phases”?
3. Fashion. A dinner suit in British English is referred to as WHAT in American English?
4. Pop Culture – Television. Peter Dinklage gets paid $150,000 per episode of what TV show?
5. Another Music Question. What musical group’s first top 10 hit was a 1979 song titled “Don’t Do Me Like That”?