The View of San Francisco from our Hotel
Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz!
San Francisco! I’ve been there since Thursday, giving or moderating around ten talks at the San Francisco Writers Conference, as I have done now for the past 11 years. I enjoyed three moments among my conferees the most.
The first happened right at the start: Thursday afternoon I was getting ready to enjoy a presentation by Sam Horn on turning a non-fiction book into speaking opportunities, when I received a text from one of the conference organizers. Evidently the road closures associated with President Obama’s stay at the Fairmont Hotel across the street from us had shut down the famous cable cars, thus delaying one of the speakers. The texted question: Could Dr. Andy give this missing presenter’s talk, starting right now? Of course I would. As I walked into the room, I just asked one question before beginning my remarks: What was the title of my talk?
My second favorite moment was welcoming Kate to the conference. This was the first time in 11 years that she could join me, so I really relished the opportunity to introduce her to my dozens of friends there, many of whom I have enjoyed yearly reunions with for five years or longer. I also loved watching Kate experience the majesty of the city through her eyes. I know the area around the International Mark Hopkins Hotel pretty well by now, but Kate the photographer helped me see it anew. She pointed out contrasts between the jagged landscape and the faraway water, the glorious illuminated sky at sunset, and the need to take all photographs in portrait mode, so as to capture the unreasonable hills and perched skyscrapers. Her photographs suggest why Wayne Thiebaud finds such inspiration in the painted urban mountains of this great city.
My third favorite moment was the dancing.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature an appearance by the team of one of the keynote speakers of the San Francisco Writers Conference, our own John Lescroart. I’ve even added the mention of a Lescroart title to one of the questions, though I don’t think this will advantage his team unduly. I should have asked five questions about books or the book industry, considering everything I learned over the weekend, but instead I went in a historical direction, in homage to my son Truman the history buff, who included a sinking Titanic on his valentine’s day card to me.
Also expect questions about multinational companies, empowerment, bats, the golfing Union of Ireland, the two big cities named Portland, plasma, VH1 hard rock favorites, right fielders, famous living Brits, St. Valentine’s Day, pitcher debuts, numbers that are multiplied by 365, hunters, first lines of poems, presidential endings, the rise and fall of big cities, Irish history, trinities, chambers, women who take charge, silver certificates, coed strippers, that which is lost, Cuba, ribbons and other decorations, people who proclaim their names, plant-based food, the many mickeys, Irish culture, and Shakespeare.
With Lescroart and his team claiming a table, and all the Lescroart fans coming for a glimpse or autograph of the New York Times bestselling author, we will surely sell out tonight. Plan accordingly, so that you needn’t sit outside. There will be time enough for that once it warms up significantly, such as later in February.
See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster
http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster
Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. Sports apparel company Adidas used a commercial slogan that tells us that “Impossible is WHAT”? Some of you rewrote this slogan to say that “impossible is possible.” Adidas used something much more definitive.
- Internet Culture. What city of 837,000 people is home to the headquarters of the transportation company Uber?
- Newspaper Headlines. Which of the following is closest to the percentage of late Hall of Famer Dean Smith’s athletes who earned their undergraduate degrees at University of North Carolina? 40, 60, 80, or 100%.
- Four for Four. Which of the following US States, if any, is home to one or more of the 25 tallest waterfalls in the world? Alaska, California, Hawaii, Wyoming. Speaking of Wyoming, this past weekend I enjoyed a ten-minute conversation with former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson and his wife. One of their daughters owns an art gallery in Cody.
- Wisconsin Republicans. What is the name of the Wisconsin governor who scored first in the recent Iowa poll of Republican presidential hopefuls?
P.S. Katie Peterson, a recent hire at UC Davis, will be the featured poet at Poetry Night. You should really join us Thursday night at 8 at the Natsoulas Gallery.