Trivia: Another Third Place Finish

Will and Kevin were studying for finals, so Joel, Mary and David braved trivia alone this week. Haley and Margaret arrived after halftime. Looks like Michael would rather draw than play. Several strong teams were absent, including Bama and the team of Tech grads and art majors. With the six of us crammed into the little window table, I was able to bother trivia-master Erin all night.

1. What disco dance song used arm motions to spell the title of the Village People’s greatest hit? YMCA. Five points.

2. What does the fairy godmother magicically turn into a coach to carry Cinderella to the ball? A pumpkin. Three points. I handed another piece of paper to Erin with an appropriate joke, which she dutifully read to the crowd: Why wasn’t Cinderella a good basketball player? She had a pumpkin for a coach!

3. What is Charlie Brown’s dog’s name? Snoopy. One point. I made sure Erin knew Snoopy’s brother’s name: Spike.

4. What state hosts the launch of the space shuttle? The state where Erin was born: Florida. Five points. I asked if Xanna was also born in Florida, but she was not.

5. What martial art begins with the letter K, and whose name means “empty hand”? Karate. Three points. I didn’t even think about kung fu.

6. What is the only state to grow coffee? Joel wondered about Florida. I asked Erin if she’d been born in that state. We went with Hawaii. One point.

7. What French art museum has an entrance under a glass pyramid? Joel didn’t know. I did, thanks to The DaVinci Code: The Louve. I even wagered five points.

8. What name is given to domesticated cats who escape and live in the wild? Joel knew: Feral. I told Erin the answer was “Dead”.

9. Which was the southernmost of the original 13 colonies? Again I asked Erin if she’d been born in that state. Of course, the answer was Georgia. One point.

10. Name the common term for the following bones. Joel and Mary knew all but one.

…cranium…skull

…clavicle…collarbone

…carpals…wrist (not knuckle). Our only first half miss.

…patella…kneecap

…mandible…jaw

Competitive game. At halftime we were tied for third. The Striped Sweaters had a perfect score.

11. What ranch hands from the days of the American cowboy gave their name to a brand of jeans? Wranglers. Six points.

12. Which country shares Lake Titicaca with Bolivia? We didn’t know…a two point miss.

13. What rock star was the inspiration for Johnny Depp’s characterization of Captain Jack Sparrow? We turned to David: Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones.

14. What vitamin do sufferers of scurvy lack? I told Erin the answer was our missed answer from the last vitamin question: Vitamin C. Four points. I gave Erin another joke: When a door-to-door purveyor of nutritional supplements knocks on your door, what should you do? Vite him in!

15. Which part of the cinnamon tree becomes the spice? After some discussion, Joel answered correctly: The bark. Since Psychology was the next category, I advised Joel to wager four. It turned out to be a wise decision.

16. What is dentophobia the fear of? The obvious answer was Dentists. I wondered out loud: could it be the fear of being bitten? Joel and Mary went with my answer, which turned out to be wrong. A two point miss.

17. What mythological creature was born from the blood when Perseus chopped off Medusa’s head? We didn't see Clash of the Titans. Margaret felt strongly about answering “sea serpent.” It was Pegasus. Our third straight two point miss.

18. What soft drink had its birthplace in Waco Texas? I was 99% sure: Dr. Pepper. Six points.

19. What three word political party did Nelson Mandela represent in South Africa? We didn’t know. Haley had heard it in the Matt Damon soccer movie, but couldn’t remember. As we debated, Margaret wanted to know: Are we into halftime yet? Mary wanted to give a funny answer, but I was too brain dead. This frustrated Joel, who mourned ”We can’t even think up a good FAKE name!” It was the African National Congress. A four point miss. Before the final question we remained in third place, nine points behind the leaders.

20. Name the five most visited websites of 2011. We were the only team to get four of five: Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, and Wikipedia. Fourth was Live.com (aka Hotmail). Twitter was 16, and Amazon somewhere after that.

Still, we finished a point out of second place…six points out of first.

Erin’s musical theme was Broadway, which included songs from the following musicals: Fiddler on the Roof, Wicked, Grease, Annie, Cabaret, Sound of Music, and The Book of Mormon.