Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I wrote the entire Pub Quiz between 8 and 9:30 this morning. Sure, people send me question ideas, and sometimes complete questions, and I collect ideas in a Google Doc over the course of a week, but most of what you enjoy this evening came from my head this morning. Let’s see if tonight’s experience suffers because of my attempt at quick-witted trivia velocity.
You see, I was up late last night watching the Academy Awards. I come from a film household (I read weekly Variety as a child), so we treat the Oscars the way that some American families treat the Super Bowl. We try to watch most of the nominated movies. Kate takes Truman to all the age-appropriate films, and I catch up where I can. For example, I finished Joker and The Irishman just last week, both streaming.
If you are waiting for my take, Parasite was my favorite film of 2019. 1917 was more impressive in many ways, but I don’t think it provokes as much thought as the Bong Joon-ho masterpiece that we were treated to last year. The World War I film made me wonder why biplanes were not used to drop messages, thus obviating much of the action of the story, but as with the eagles in Lord of the Rings, we find that the most logical strategy (having the lead eagle just fly the ring to where it needs to go) is not the one that would reward the filmgoers.
We were reminded of a Martin Scorsese quotation last night, “the most personal is the most creative,” and this is probably an important reason why Parasite took the top prize. That South Korean film introduces us to characters that we grow to care about, if perhaps not identify with, making personal Bong Joon-ho’s concerns about economic inequality, an important theme for both the films and the presidential race of 2000. I hope my family cheers as loudly on election night as we did as the end of Oscar night!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight expect questions about South America, fuel that is not gasoline, medieval leapers, bulldogs, things that are light and unstable, automobiles, the color “cerulean,” Yolo bypasses, crops, places to find gentlemen, heart advice for difficult times, sharks, kidnappings, differences between Alaskans and Californians, turnout, moving memoirs, winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, metals, value in the 1990s, unexpected additions, meanings of pool, birth decades, countries that border each other, runners-up to the energy sector, forests, beauty and lunacy underwater, new shows, onetime resort towns, Cole Porter, and Shakespeare.
I saw a few of you at Poetry Night on Thursday! Thanks for joining us. Our next event with John Brantingham is February 20th.
I hope you can join us this evening. Come early to secure a table inside so you can be safe from today’s blustery winds!
Your Quizmaster
P.S. Here are three questions from last week, this time with answers!
1. Newspaper Headlines. What State did Donald Trump use Twitter to congratulate after yesterday’s Super Bowl? Kansas
2. Four for Four. Which of the following countries, if any, border Ukraine? The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Uzbekistan. (NYYN)
3. Know Your U.S. Senators. Mark Warner is the richest U.S. senator, and the second and third-richest senators comes from Warner’s political party. Is Warner a Democrat or a Republican? Mark Warner, Diane Feinstein, and Richard Blumenthal are all Democrats
P. P.S. “Compassion is the basis of morality.” Arthur Schopenhauer