John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston
Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
During a long and exhilarating concert in Wooster, Massachusetts, in 1986, I got to see Billy Joel play many of his best hits, including his first, “Piano Man.” My favorite sections from this song details the variety of characters that the fictional piano player would encounter at the Executive Room bar in Los Angeles.
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he’s talkin’ with Davy, who’s still in the Navy
And probably will be for life
And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinkin’ alone
Sometimes the lyrics of this song return to me as I walk the hallways of the International Mark Hopkins Hotel for a weekend every February. Having presented and participated in the San Francisco Writers Conference in the same hotel every year for the last 12 years, I’ve become friends and collaborators with most of the regulars.
Vicki is a retired lieutenant colonel novelist, who finally did make time for her wife. She and her wife just celebrated their anniversary (as so many do) on Valentine’s Day, and are doing a great job parenting their two children. Brian is a CEO poet who ensures that everyone is having a good time at the after party. Saima is a mystical poet who has a black belt in Brazilian ju-jitsu, while Dawn is a Canadian born now Baja surfer who volunteers at the conference while finishing a memoir. Retired professor Mary publishes a book of poetry or fiction every other year, and should be out with her 22nd book at next year’s conference. A leader in social media and content marketing, Rusty is taking a break from the conference this year to welcome home his third child and first daughter, sharing photos with all of us of a wife who looked remarkably composed and fit while loading their little one into the SUV for the first ride home. Lissa has written a book about using book fairs as fundraisers, and has been selling out copies of her illustrated chapbook about her children.
Unlike the barflies that congregated around Billy Joel’s Piano Man, these folks are creative, vibrant, evolving, and full of direction and projects. When I first started attending this conference in 2005, I most looked forward to my presentations and talks (and over that time I have given over 50 talks at the conference alone). Soon thereafter I most anticipated learning about writing, publishing, and publicity from the other speakers. While all of these still sustain me, now I most anticipate the reunions with my friends, and getting them to sign the books that seemed lofty and impractical dreams when we first started sharing at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. And this year and last, my wife Kate joined me at the top of Nob Hill, an added Valentine’s Day bonus. February is always a highlight of my year, as I hope is the case for you.
Today is Presidents’ Day! Today I overheard some of the following dialogue between my ten-year-old Truman and his mom.
Truman: Hey, Mommy, I thought of a good Pub Quiz question for Daddy to use for Presidents’ Day: what was John F. Kennedy’s mother’s father’s nickname? Is that too easy?
Kate: Uh, definitely not too easy….
Truman: And here’s another one: how many square feet was the schoolhouse where President James K. Polk sent his children?
Kate: So, I don’t know if many people…
Truman: The answer is this: trick question! James K. Polk didn’t have any children.
Kate: Haha – that would stump the entire pub!
Truman: Yeah, you’re right. Maybe he should ask about the First Ladies. I read that Betty Ford once admitted she drank too much.
I don’t know if you could consider these suggested questions from Truman to be hints, but they might trigger some relevant research.
Expect also questions on the following: Reptiles and amphibians of southern Africa, the pastoral, members of the Football Hall of Fame, reclusive novelists, cute nicknames for people that are otherwise not cute, villains, benzodiazepines, Solano County and other counties, Oscars, the example of Job, embryonic stem cell research, bachelors, prolific authors, people with the same last name, big audiences, free gate fairs, Africa, speakers of the House, the hose, thumbing, unpronounceable names, the place of joy, the Olympics, knights, the act of understanding, Texas laws, things that should be said, congressmen, things that start with K, lotion, and Shakespeare.
We have some guests visiting from out of state tonight, so our table may be even louder than usual. I hope you can also join us this evening for the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz. Some of the Swag will come from the San Francisco Writers Conference!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. Starting with the letter R, what website uses the slogan “The Front Page of the Internet”?
- Internet Culture. Steve Ballmer was the CEO for what tech company for more than 14 years?
- Newspaper Headlines. Yesterday in an interview, President and Michelle Obama said that their daughters are annoyed with something about the White House, and that Obama hopes to have it fixed before his successor takes over. What’s annoying the first daughters?
P.S. Thursday night at 7, we will celebrate the life of Francisco X. Alarcon. Join us at the Natsoulas Gallery on February 18th for this important event.