Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Like many longtime residents of the city of Davis, I saw Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth at the Varsity Theatre on 2nd Street. The owner of that theater, Sinisa Novakovic, told me that the Gore film was doing better in Davis than in most other cities. Some might consider us a city of scientists. The highly educated and aggressive citizenry of our hometown understood the importance of climate change, and appreciated the vice president’s exhaustively presented evidence that we all needed to be concerned.
Of course, not every city was as receptive to this message. When An Inconvenient Truth was released, we were in the minority. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the release of that film, we can look around and see that many more people agree with Al Gore today than did a decade ago. The wild and sometimes destructive weather that the earth has endured over the last decade has helped to convince many of the precarious state of our planet, and the role our energy policies have in bringing about these climactic causes for concern.
Although climate change talks in Copenhagen in 2009 failed for a variety of reasons, the world still made more progress there than they had with the Kyoto Accords, partially because the United States and other top polluters such as China and India would not agree to ratify any treaty that legally bound them to cut carbon dioxide emissions. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Paris Accords were successful because of geopolitical changes in attitude about climate change, and because of all of the immediate evidence of coming climate calamities. The Times article also commends French diplomacy for getting the hundreds of participating countries to the table, and keeping us there until there was something for us to sign.
National Public Radio pointed out that the French president commended the early work of Al Gore, who was present for the announcement. When Al Gore stood up to be acknowledged, representatives from many countries cheered and applauded wildly. Many Davis children have added “World Peace” to their Christmas request lists for Santa. Although that possibility seems less and less likely these days, at least we have made some steps to fend off an equally dire threat to our planet. I hope our current and future leaders will have the imagination and fortitude to uphold the Paris Accords and future climate change prevention agreements.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on one of the topics raised above, as well as snow crystals, Olympic gold medals, national teams, starting gate success, Battlestar Galactica, vitamins in unexpected places, longtime allies, Irish heroes, happy countries, popular films, the difference between lightning and the lightning bug, mutant horses, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, celebrated rotundity, elfish delineations, high school musicals, rapid-fire questions, mathematics, witty remarks, the legacy of racism, medical conditions, grand slams, Santa Claus, the youngest of nine living siblings, Star Wars, musical problems, Facebook, the effect of black Friday, beloved poems, and Shakespeare. Make sure to have a member of your team reflect on each of these topics.
Speaking of Pub Quiz teams, I ran into one of the members of the perennially contending Moops at the Davis public library on Saturday. Somehow I imagined that he was conducting research for a pub quiz that I had not yet written. Unlike your Quizmaster, that quiz participant was thinking about library fines and a recent trip, rather than conducting research. What is your favorite way to prepare for a trivia contest? It’s important to read ahead, but this is not exactly an exam that one can cram for.
I hope you can join us tonight at the Irish pub.
Your Quizmaster
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I hope you enjoyed all the H place questions last week. Some of you had forgotten about Hanoi, but almost all of you remembered Halifax. Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mexico. Two creatures appear on the Mexican flag. One is an eagle. What is the other?
- Pop Culture – Music. What perambulating band’s most popular hit has been the 2014 song “Shut Up + Dance”?
- Sports. Born in 1935 and still alive today, Willie O’Ree broke the color barrier in what sport?
P.S. A Pub Quiz book should have questions and answers, certainly, but what else? How might a book best represent the fun we have Monday evenings? Send your ideas to yourquizmaster@gmail.com. Thanks!