Sample Round

This is last week's "On This Day" round, which is the one round we're not going to be using elsewhere at some point. See how you do. (You can leave answers in the comments.)


On This Day: May 24

1. On this day in 1870, The American lawyer and judicial theorist Benjamin Cardozo was born. The Benjamin Cardozo School of Law is a part of which smaller New York City university?

2. Happy birthday to Priscilla Presley! She played the part of Jenna Wade on which 1980's prime time soap opera?

3. On this day in 1911, the New York Public Library officially opened. There two Lions that guard the main branch's entrance on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. What are their names? I'll give half marks for one.

4. Today is the 39th birthday of this rapper, born Dwight Errington Myers, who aside from his albums may be best known for recording the theme songs to In Living Color and Mad TV. What's his stage name?

5. May 24th is a national holiday in Canada (as well as pretty much every other Commonwealth country). It commemorates the official birthday of which English Monarch?

6. On this date in 1959, John Foster Dulles died. He served as Secretary of State under which President?

7. Today would have been the 263rd birthday of Jean Paul Marat, the scientist and French Revolutionary who was best known for his odd murder at the hands of Charlitte Corday. Madame Tussaud herself cast his corpse in wax where it lay. Where did Jean-Paul Marat's corpse lay?

8. Happy 107th birthday to Suzanne Lenglen! Still considered one of the greatest tennis players to ever pick up a racket, ten years ago, they named one of the courts where they hold the French Open Tennis tournament after her. The rest of that tennis complex is named after what early French Aviator?

9. It's Gary Burghoff's 63rd birthday today. Of course, he's best known for playing Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H. What was Radar's actual first name on the show?

10. On this date in 1883, The Brooklyn Bridge was opened. At the time, it became the longest suspension bridge in the world. (Now, it's the sixth longest suspension bridge in New York City.) Before 1883, what inland American city had the longest suspension bridge in the world? (A hint: this city is not on the Mississippi River.)

5/24 Recap

You should have been there. I got there and Prince Harry was dancing on the bar, screaming like a banshee, his tie around his forehead like a fratboy, unsuccessfully trying to get Colin to change the channel to the final episode of American Idol. "I've got a thousand on that old bloke!" He kept saying, and if I watched a minute of that show myself, I have no doubt I'd know what he's talking about.

Then the taps ran dry, and everyone started drinking from the bottles, and then the water and electricity got cut off and someone brought in a million candles and we all drunkenly sang Police songs until we all got hoarse, and then we all played naked twister in the dark, and everyone who was there will never, ever, ever forget it. Well, maybe they'll have forgotten parts of it.

* * *
Okay, a big wedding reception or something came in around 8:30, and we knew they were on their way, so between that and the American Idol and Lost hysteria, as well as it being the first hot Wednesday of the year, the 15 or so of us who came for trivia decided to chill out. Shame, too. Lindsay was there spelling for Amy on wait service, as she will next week.

I'll post the On This Day round for yesterday in the next posting tomorrow. Hope you enjoy your long weekend, and if you've not come out recently, do us a favor and come on out. (We've picked up an additional sponsor, I think. Details on that when we confirm, which should be this week. Watch this space.)

Preview

Prizes tonight will include:

• Japanese snacks (back by popular demand), as well as...


• books by a certain over-the-top CNN Host and someone named Ruby Ann Boxcar (*turn your speakers down, midi alert!) who's apparently been dispensing wisdom from her trailer park for years. Who knew? (Also, she looks fabulous!)

Also, a birthday boy will figure prominently in tonight's festivities. That's a hint. Now, go have fun.

5/17 Recap

We made a valuable technical discovery tonight: the microphones work on the same broadcast channel as the jukebox. This explains a lot of what we previously thought of as supernatural phenomena right there. Electric things baffle us. We plug in the blender, press a button, and out comes margarita. Some things I'm not sure I want to know.

1. On This Day In History

2. Audio round: Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen/Give me down to there, hair! - Janet got her highlights done today, and so it seemed entirely appropriate. (I also included Professor Longhair's "Bald Head," because sometimes, late at night, when I'm typing trivia recaps all alone and listening to Jethro Tull really loud and drinking and crying, I secretly wish I had a big Samson-like mullety mane.)

3. Cartoons Named After People - in which the works of Matt Groening figured prominently. I considered making an all-Simpsons version of this round, as every character on that show is named for someone, but then that would leave Yogi Bear, Hobbes' Leviathan and Bullwinkle out. (Wait, I didn't ask the Bullwinkle question! Shit! Well, actually, there was a reason for that; the question was ass, and I couldn't confirm the answer being right. I won't even include it here. Forget I said anything.)

4. Supersize This Round - They say everything's bigger in Texas, but Morgan Spurlock (and Greta Garbo, and the rest of the people who were featured) would disagree. Janet may be three feet four inches tall, but she can Bring The Big.

5. True/False - The Current Miss Universe is Canadian, though she was born in Russia; and apparently Amy, our sweet and uncommonly beautiful waitress, lived near a Route 100 in a previous life, even though it says here and here that no such place has ever existed. (There's only one way to settle this. That's right: field trip.)

• If you came early, you noticed two things: One, that the second-last song played before we started was also the first song in the audio round (Beck, Devil's Haircut), and two, Colin the Bartender walking about the bar in just a wifebeater and shades. It was, of course, a good look for him.
  
  
• The True/False question about Glengarry Glen Ross felt kind of like a dirty trick. It's won a Tony and a Pulitzer for sure, but the soundtrack didn't win a Grammy that I know of, it's never been mounted Off-Broadway, so it never qualified for an Obie, and the National Book Critics' Circle doesn't even do plays, I think. Still, it's a great play. Instead of $25 for first place, $15 for second, and $10 for third this week, we should have substituted the appropriate prizes. Though parking that Cadillac would be a pain in the ass.
  
  
• I just want to officially welcome back The Drunken Inquisition. They used to come every week during the old Drinking and Thinking days, and it was good to see them come back and finish their customary fourth. I don't know what to tell you, guys.
  
  
• The private function that was supposed to happen today, um, didn't. We are available for other trivia-related functions. Contact us through the comments or here.
  

Did I miss anything?

Need More Trivia In Your Life?

Because we know you can't get enough of that live trivia action, and because we know our endorsement goes really far (these days we've got milk-crates-full of credibility that's just piling up in the corners of DSO HQ, and we can't close the door to the walk-in closet anymore), may I recommend two other places to go if you want to get your trivia on and it's not Wednesday:

• Every other Monday, you can head down to Last Exit Bar on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Eric, Julie & Katherine put together a hell of a fun night, and there are actual cash prizes (everyone pays $5 into the kitty, and someone else takes it all home. Just like the government!). They too have cheap beer, a working karaoke machine they sometimes bring out in case of tiebreakers, and an intermittent Canadian fetish that works in my favor.
  
  
• And every Tuesday, our sister bar, the Baggot Inn, continues to hold the trivia night that got me involved in this whole sordid scene myself. Caren has been running this night for a long time, and with rotating hosts, you never know what kind of questions you're going to get.
  

Representatives of all three groups got together last night, and we talked about some most excellent (and possibly even workable!) plans, so watch this space as we work shit out, but in the meantime, please feel free to patronize these other fine establishments on the appropriate nights.

5/10 Recap

Aside from misstating which week the weird function is and then grabbing a quick nap before dropping off my rent check and finding myself too exhausted to ride my bike all the way down and getting stuck in the worst traffic I've ever been in in a cab (at least this week), the night was very low key. Everyone seemed to want to congregate in the back corners of the rooms, but that was okay, as the Red Sox were playing the Yankees and god love you for coming out anyway, you national-pastiming freaks.

1. On This Day In History - featuring questions about John Wilkes Booth and Mark David Chapman, but not Sigmund Freud, who turned 150 yesterday. He'll be 151 next year. Maybe we can do a rum tie-in of some kind. ("Your subconscious wants you to take off your pants and buy the table another round of shots!")
2. Audio round: 3-letter bands - with ELO, Cub and Mr. T, but not LFO, NWA or DOA. Maybe next time.
3. Mothers - here's a short sporting interview with featured mother Jane Kaczmarek.
4. Name That Candy Bar - it turns out every candy bar currently on the market was invented between 1919 and 1935. Go figure.
5. True/False

• The Scrabble Solution Question involved how much merchandise Winona Ryder shoplifted that fateful day four long years ago. Now that we've addressed this necessary issue, it is my sincere hope that we can put that sordid incident behind us, and get to rather more contemporary issues, like which indie rocker she's schtupping. (I'm still holding my place in line, thanks for asking.)
  
  
• Amy, the new waitron, performed admirably in her first day. I don't believe she cried once. You-all are losing your touch. Either that, or Lindsay taught her well. Just saying.
  
  
• Nine teams tonight, which seemed like a pretty slow night. Best team name: Upton Sinclair Lewis Carole King Friday. Those overlapping pun things always get me.

Oh, if you wanted a candy bar and didn't get one tonight, there is of course always more. Come on back next week. I'll detail the prizes tomorrow.

Did I miss anything?

Reminder/Fair Warning

**CORRECTION: This is happening next week, not this week. That mistake is all mine. Everything runs regularly this week. Shop as usual, and avoid panic buying.

We're going to be hosting a private trivia-related function earlier next Wednesday afternoon (May 17th) which, as far as I know, is supposed to end around 7:30. If you get there early enough (6:30 or so), you might be able to kindasorta play along with an extra few questions, but there'll be a full house of people, some (but not all) of whom will be staying over.

It's gonna be a weird night, but it could wind up being very cool.

5/3 Recap: A Farewell To Lindsay

This week:

1. On This Day In History
2. Audio round: The Ten Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever, as chosen by VH1 (It was actually Numbers 1 through 11, as I didn't have #2. You're welcome.)
3. Foods Named After People
4. Empire State Building/It Happened in 1931
5. True/False

• My favorite team names: Hey, You, Get Out Of My Palm Tree and To Suri With Love. I'm as sucker for well-placed topical humor.
  
  
• There were only eight teams, but somehow there were twice as many people at the end of the night as were there at the beginning. I'm not sure how that happened, but it wound up being okay.
  
  
• What wasn't okay was that it was Lindsay's last night waiting for us. Amy will be your waitron next week, and like Frieda, she has naturally curly hair. She seems fine and willing, and she's cute as a button, but I miss Lindsay already.
  
  
• Next week, there will be a short semi-private function happening before trivia which Janet & I will be hosting. If you come early, you'll have to hang out at the bar until it's done. (We will be asking some trivia questions for them, but you guys can't play along. At least, not officially. We'll work something out.)
  
  
• Other plans are also in the works, including a possible partnership with another major trivia night outside the Dempsey's/Baggot Inn Axis, and I'm starting to think about the summer, and how things are changing then.
  

Any ideas? You can email me directly or leave a comment.