Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
This quarter I’m teaching a class on the Cultural Offerings of the City of Davis, and thus leading students to Friday afternoon discoveries of local art galleries, theatres, radio stations, cafes, museums and performance spaces. The true cultural discoveries can’t be limited to the schedule of any particular class, however, so often I find myself in situations where I tell myself that “my students should really see this.”
Such was the case yesterday/Sunday afternoon at 5 in Central Park, colloquially known as “Farmers Market Park.” On the south wall of the new public restroom built across the park from the Hattie Webber Museum the crowd had found a huge curtain and the artist herself, Heidi Bekebrede. Heidi is well known in town for her tireless work with children at the Davis Art Center, and for her distinctive ceramic work that can be seen in tile form at Crepeville, and in various forms at the Artery on G Street.
Sunday Heidi treated us to “The Davis Song,” which she had written way back in 1987. Are you familiar with the lyrics?
The Davis Song
By Heidi Bekebrede
16 miles from Sacramento, heading west on 80.
You will find an oasis where avenues are shady.
Laid out on a grid of alphabets and ordinal numbers,
You’ll find merchants selling pizza, cars, groceries and lumber.
Folks go ped’ling to and fro, to work, to shop, to classes.
Others sit and chat at cafes, clinking ice–chilled glasses.
Some would rather jog about, or do some skateboard jive.
Yes I guess, I really must admit, some people drive.
The city I sing of is DAVIS.
It’s the place the UC Regents gave us,
Over hundred summers are the norm I better warn ya.
D–A–V–I–S C–A Spells Davis California.
Aggies, bikes, tomatoes, Picnic Day, green belts and vet school,
Farmers Market and the Rec Pool
Amtrak stops here umpteen times a day,
What more could a person ask for, what more can I say? Oh!
Pu-tah Creek, the Ar–bor–ee–tum, Cen–tral Park, you just can’t beat um.
Solar homes and a sloooow freight train through town,
I don’t understand how any one can put it down.
The city I sing of is DAVIS. Where the peace of mind I crave is
If I ever move I know I’m gonna mourn ya,
D–A–V–I–S C–A Spells Davis California
Some may laim we’re in the sticks…please write 95616
…And now that we are oh so great, we’ve added 95618.
Written long before the de Vere family dreamed of a pub in our fair city, I wonder if Heidi would have included our Pub Quiz site if she were to write the song today. In any event, after singing us her song (which I had previously heard sung both at a Pub Quiz and at a Poetry Night event), she pulled the corner of the curtain to reveal to us a beautiful new mural for all of the assembled fans and citizens to ooh and aah at, as we will do throughout our years in Davis. I encourage you to bike over to the park to check it out. As you read each individual tile in order, you might even find yourself singing our city song. Congratulations Heidi!
I’m sending out this week’s newsletter extra early this morning because I am scheduled to discuss politics and media with Beth Ruyak on KXJZ’s Insight at 9. Tune in if you are so inclined.
One of my friends, the Davis poet and essayist Joe Wenderoth, has referred to Davis as “Canada.” Is that fair? Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on Canada. If you know something about Canada, this may give your team an advantage. Expect also questions about Wolfram Math World, tasty snacks, worn threads, astronomy, addiction, kidnappings, a cultural comparison between Oakland and San Diego, crime, small islands, the most famous “exit” of all, Harry Potter, introductory fights, children’s music, baseball, five-syllable “ology” words,” defamation, anniversaries, famous weapons, identifying colors, heartthrobs, things that make us proud, going home, salary silence, early explorers, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., underwater adventures, people who are neither German nor Irish, announcements of losers, cultural capitals, states with vowels, murder jokes, basketball, rutabagas and Shakespeare. Did I already mention Canada?
I hope to see you tonight. Bring a new friend (or team) to the Pub Quiz!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
1. Mottos and Slogans. Fill in the blank from the slogan of the top-selling spring water brand in America: “BLANK Spring. What it means to be from Maine.”
2. Internet Culture. What magnate recently revealed that control-alt-delete was a design mistake?
3. Newspaper Headlines. For the first time in 34 years, last week a US President spoke on the phone with the leader of what country?
4. Four for Four. According to Stuart Laycock’s book All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To, which of the following countries, if any, has Britain invaded? Cuba, Iceland, Tajikistan, Vietnam. If you rarely score in the top ten, I have a bonus hint to share.
5. Another TV Show I Never Watched. Six of the characters on the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air have the same last name. What is that last name?