Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Last week I told you about a Pub Quiz book that I have been working on: Your Quizmaster’s Book of (Pub) Quizzes: Trivia for Smart People. The rough draft is finished, and now I am rewriting questions that were perfect for 2014, but which a broader audience (in time and location) might find too regional or dated. I also have to write an introduction, explain the rules and how the book might be used, and stick in some (attempted) humor among the answers. A few of you will then be asked to give feedback, perhaps the only time that you are invited to argue with the Quizmaster.
My second book is a guide to Davis culture. “Will it be a pamphlet?,” asked someone who will not be invited to the book release party. Har har. Actually, Davis offers more culture, broadly defined, than most small towns in America. Because of our many theatre troupes, our galleries and public art, and our premier performing arts center on campus, one could argue that Davis is a cultural Mecca.
Of course, not everyone sees us that way, or at least not yet. One might reasonably argue that Davis needs more music venues, more urban culture, a poetry center (I’m working on that, too), and more people willing to donate to the organizations that work so hard to connect Davisites to their artsy enthusiasms. Like any city with aspirations, we can do more, and we shall.
Speaking of aspirational projects, I invite you to visit the website of my book, The Guide to Davis: An Exploration of the Cultural Offerings of California’s Most Relevant City. Find it at http://www.guidetodavis.com. The table of contents presents our main areas of focus, but no doubt we have neglected something or someone. We opted to include hotels and realtors, because such businesses help to bring new culture-lovers to Davis, but not banks or acupuncturists, for their connection to our main categories of artistic entertainment – visual, theatrical, literary, musical, and kinetic – is less causational. When I proposed that we should include martial arts studios, one of my helpers insisted, then, that we include yoga studios. This will ensure that L Street is sufficiently represented in the book.
On the website you can also see the introduction to the project, sample book sections (write-ups too short to be called “chapters”) on Logos Books and Newsbeat, as well as a selection of Frequently Asked Questions and, most importantly, an invitation to participate. I am hoping that Pub Quiz regulars will offer a long remembrance, a review of a restaurant or retail shop, or some opinions on what else makes Davis notable and welcoming. Anyone who contributes something substantive will receive a copy of the e-book when it is published, as well as a short bio in the book. I hope my Davis Guide will not only be about my hometown, but will also represent the voices of that town. If not, mine will have to do.
Regular Pub Quiz participant John suggested connections between this Guide to Davis, the Pub Quiz book, our weekly Monday meetings, and our need to revisit our common cultural literacy, as recently reviewed in an Atlantic article by Eric Liu. I appreciate this attempt to broaden and deepen the context of my summer projects, and I will see if I can work this into the introduction of one of the two books. Thanks, John!
The paperback of the book should be out by early next year, perhaps as early as the holiday shopping season. I will let you know.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will test your knowledge of America and her heroes. We had such fun with the Hamlet question from last week’s quiz that I will ask yet another such question tonight. Perhaps you have time to reread the play before then? Expect also questions about Australia, Noam Chomsky, P standing for a place, Anglo-American poets, oil, extra innings, musical instruments, Alfred Hitchcock, nitrogen, mafia travels, keeping kosher, sailing trips, Academy Award nominees, British cities, Oklahoma, completing the local library, Captain Kirk’s earthly discoveries, antiheroes in charge, hard woods, minimal occupancy, groups with top-selling hits, Spain and Portugal, meanies, speaking from the gut, whistling for pigs, Harlem, abject and public failures, high regard, unemployment and, as I already mentioned, Shakespeare.
Come early tonight to claim a table inside! I will see you then.
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Newspaper Headlines: New Revelations Edition. Living from 1884-1962, what American liberal icon used to pack a 22-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol in her purse?
- Girls Named Elsa. According to data released by the Social Security Administration, 1,131 girls were named Elsa in 2014, up from 528 the year before. What F word accounts for the big jump?
- The Eiffel Tower. When it was built in 1889, The Eiffel Tower became the tallest structure in the world. What American structure had previously been the tallest since being completed in 1888?
- Great American Cities. In what decade did Davis become the first in the nation to vote via municipal referendum to divest from Apartheid South Africa?
- Unusual Words. What E word do we use to refer to a weasel or stoat with a winter white coat?
P.S. The next Poetry Night is August 20th. Mark your calendars now!