Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
When I asked a friend what we should see at Apple Hill, he warned us to bypass the first and most popular orchard, the one with the train and the huge crowds. But once we spent an unexpected extra hour in slow-moving traffic, the children impressed upon us their hunger for apples, or the experiential gratification that they represent on an October Saturday, so that first orchard was right where we stopped. Of course, my friend was right: the train ride was underwhelming, and the crowds smothering. We found too many things to buy, none of them of any value. Somehow the “redneck wind chimes” made up of Budweiser cans hanging from twine and banging against one another did not appeal to us. Having overdressed for a natural walk in the foothills, we found the October heat oppressive, and before long we hurried away from the commercial throng.
Down the road we found smaller crowds at an orchard that was less initially impressive; thankfully, it had no train. We bought a freshly-made pie there that our “party” of five divided up and devoured. The dog pulled at her leash as we were finishing, so we took her down to the “nature walk” with low expectations, wondering if this experience might be as prefabricated as the “lake” that the expensive little train encircled earlier in the day. Instead we found hilly paths through deep forests, a quiet brook with what Truman called “the world’s smallest waterfall,” and clean and cooler air. We slowed our pace, delighted in that green sensory data, and reflected on our good fortune. Pictures were taken, the dog imagined herself in heaven, and laughter echoed among the Douglas Fir trees. Sometimes one must leave the beaten path in order to find the right path.
I’m sure you plan to beat a path to de Vere’s before 7 tonight for tonight’s Pub Quiz. In addition to geography, trees, and apples, tonight’s Quiz will feature questions about sewing with needles, monkeys, Lake Yosemite, Facebook and other social media, the habits of teenagers, specific kinds of rings, barges, fossils, the first names of friendly people, American geography, lively water, predilections, advice that you might receive on a train, left-handed people. Petroleum, voting rights, beer, Beatles history, people born to prattle, aridity, potent potables, literature of the 1820s, primates, wrenches, snowmen, geometry, Frenchmen, missing appendages, silver oars, beauties (hello, Kate), and Shakespeare.
See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company that uses the slogan “Changing BLANK” where the blank is a metabolic disease that 18% of Americans 60 or older have. Name the disease.
- Internet Culture. What American multinational software corporation acquired the Nokia mobile unit in 2013?
- Newspaper Headlines. Speaking of phones, according to Bloomberg, what company is taking out full-page ads in newspapers worldwide in a bid to convince carriers, consumers and partners that they shouldn’t abandon the struggling smartphone maker?
- Four for Four. As you probably know, the largest land-dwelling species of the weasel family is the wolverine. Which of the following three are among the AKA names of the wolverine? Carcajou, Quickhatch, Skunk Bear, Wolf Weasel.
- Explorers. What was the name of the Portuguese explorer who named the Pacific Ocean the same year that he was killed in The Philippines? Bonus newsletter hint from Jerry to George: “So I guess it’s fair to say you’ve set different goals for yourself than say, Thomas Edison, [Portuguese explorer name], these types of people.”