Photograph by Hillel Eflal
Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Are you standing on a platform? If not, people may have trouble hearing you.
Once upon a time you did well to know some journalists if you had a message to share. There were limited media – newspapers, radio, television – and only people with a lot of money, or who were friends with journalists, could access the audiences who depended upon those media.
The media were an important part of my life as a child in Washington DC. My father appeared on local television most weeknights just before Walter Cronkite. TV station WUSA and radio station WTOP were his platforms. Looking for the most trusted man on television, Washingtonians tuning into CBS every night would incidentally encounter my dad as he reviewed a movie or play, and they would often be perplexed or amazed at his uniquely energetic yet substantive approach to discussing the cinematic and performing arts. No one else on TV incorporated magic tricks or torn up index cards into their movies reviews.
One devoted follower of Davey Marlin-Jones told me years later that he thought my dad must have owned the station, for why else would he be allowed to carry on like that at the end of Eyewitness News? His movie reviews were the primary reasons we owned a TV. Although he didn’t write a book during those years, my dad benefited from his platform of followers in DC and Detroit, the vast majority of whom he didn’t know.
Today people with platforms are expected to connect more personally and individually with their online friends, fans, and followers. And today those platforms have to be built, plank by plank, by the performing talents themselves, rather than being bestowed to a lucky few by the corporations who owned the media, or by who financed the media through commercial advertising. As my Austin friend Rusty Shelton explains in his March, 2016 book, Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset, each of us who has a message, service, or product needs to start thinking like media moguls, and hatch plans to control our small media empires. Costs and other barriers to participation have been lowered dramatically, for most of us could access the tools we need from home, though building a successful platform requires planning, consistency, investments of time and energy, and attention to detail.
But is every creative professional with a message or a product willing to do all that work? Not usually. I sometimes help authors and other creative thought-leaders with platform-building strategies. But like any of us, I also appreciate the attention of those older consumers of information that embody the occasional blessing of traditional media. Such was the case Friday (online) and yesterday (in print), for none other than the San Francisco Chronicle recognized and shared kind words about our de Vere’s Davis Pub Quiz. Here’s the final paragraph of the article titled “Davis a town of understated genius” by Peter Fish:
Evening entertainment? The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, on the UC Davis campus, is a world-class venue for world-class musicians. This spring’s headliners include Aimee Mann (with poet Billy Collins) and Yo-Yo Ma. For a lower-key night out, hit the Varsity Theater, which boasts cool Midcentury Modern architecture and a neon pink marquee and shows art-house and indie films. Or test your mental acuity in a popular Davis evening event: the bar trivia contest. Numerous downtown watering holes run these, but the pinnacle is probably the Monday night contest at De Vere’s Irish Pub, led by UC Davis English prof Andy Jones. The good news is that if you lose, you can always find solace in a pint of Guinness.
I would have appreciated some mention of the highest-quality ingredients in the food at de Vere’s, the excellent wait staff, or the scintillating newsletter available via https://www.yourquizmaster.com, but perhaps someone will mention those excellent parts of our Mondays together online in the comments section. I enjoyed reading online newspaper comments that sought to celebrate local resources rather than inflaming anger with a flame war. Check out the entire San Francisco Chronicle review of our hometown at http://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Davis-a-town-of-understated-genius-6921943.php, and thanks for helping me make our Pub Quiz noteworthy to that little newspaper with the big circulation to the southwest of our town of understated genius.
Speaking of generating buzz, I hope you will consider attending my Avid Reader book release party on Friday, April 8. My book In the Almond Orchard: Coming Home from War can already be found at The Avid Reader, and soon will be purchasable in paperback and online form for a mere $10. Money from book sales will fund The Charles Ternes Prize, a creativity award for Veteran Students at UC Davis.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on spectator sports, video games, trips to Cuba, NPR, cynicism on stage, people named “Ryne,” metric measurements, summer hits, people who move to California to write books, understanding metals, the EU, doctor distinctions, unknown beasts, peaks and valleys, Pulitzer Prizes, circulation, green zones, local attractions, mathematics, Legos, Star Wars, vibrating pouches, ambitious rebuilding projects, the British spelling of “Baptise,” previous batches of TV shows that I have never watched, the ways that we talk about the word, missing youths, crime tales, Kris and Ernie, embassies, lightning strikes, living to 80, America’s sweethearts, percentages, odd takes on The Wizard of Oz, New England, shoes, and Shakespeare.
Attracted by the newspaper, will we have a bunch of newbies join us tonight? Or back for spring break, will we have former Blue Devils filling our booths and tables? And when will we see the return of Bob Dunning or Lucas Frerichs? These and many other important questions will be answered tonight at the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz!
See you at 7. Bring an extra $10 if you want a signed copy of my new book.
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
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Here are four questions from last week’s quiz:
- Four for Four. Which of the following, if any, are among the California’s top-three most valued agricultural commodities for 2014? Almonds, Macadamia nuts, Pistachios, Walnuts.
- Pop Culture – Music. According to Billboard Magazine, Michael Jackson’s biggest hit of all time was a duet with Sir Paul McCartney. Name the song.
- Sports: Baseball. What switch-hitting all-time Major League leader in outs (10,328) recently signed a baseball to Donald Trump, inscribing the words “Please make America great again”?
- Science. The section of the brain called the hippocampus was named after its resemblance to what small marine fish?
P.S. Enjoy your spring break. For those of you who are struggling, know that people care about you, and are willing to help.