August 9th Trivia

With Will off at UGA, I still went to trivia on August 9th. Joel and Willis were on a team in the back. Isaac joined them. I played with all five Hansons and the two Hurt girls. Alyssa took care of writing down the answers. With Xana asking questions, it would be a bad showing. Toward the end there was grumbling, and I tried to make sure everyone’s opinion was heard before answering.

1. In the musical Grease, what was the name of the gang of girls? Margaret and Emily knew: The Pink Ladies.

2. What kind of flowers did Mary Poppins wear in her hair? The girls knew: Daisies.

3. On the Periodic Table, what element is represented by Cu? Elizabeth and Margaret knew: Copper.

4. What is the only bird that can fly backwards? The hummingbird. Every team answered correctly.

5. What musical is based on the play Pygmalion? My Fair Lady. We didn’t know…a one point miss.

6. What was the main name given to bars during Prohibition? A Speakeasy. As we brainstormed, Denise mentioned it, but we went with Haley’s Public House. A three point miss.  

7. In the Parade of Nations during the Olympics Opening Ceremony, which country goes first? Greece. Easy.

8. Which superhero sidekick is known as the Boy Wonder? Robin.

9. Based on land mass, which country is second largest? Emily was insisted that Russia was first, and Canada was second. She scoffed at any other answer. And she was right.

We aced the halftime question, which involved naming the TV shows pictured in the handout (I Love Lucy, the Brady Bunch, Andy Griffith, Boy meets World, and Sister Sister). Our 33 points placed us in the middle of the pack. Joel’s DoorHinges only missed a one-pointer, and were one point out of first.   

10. What was the name of the gypsy girl who fell in love with Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame? Some of the girls knew: Esmeralda. Six points.  

11. Which particular kind of animal is on the California state flag? We knew it was a bear, but what kind? Cal is the Golden Bears, but that’s not a real bear. Craig and I thought it wasn’t a grizzly…but it was. Elizabeth and I wanted to wager two, but we went with four. Bad choice, but it would hardly matter.

12. What was the name of the first manned mission to land on the moon? I knew: Apollo 11.

13. Which John Steinbeck novel is about a migrant family of farm workers? We’d had this question before. Confident from my Apollo 11 answer, I went with “Of Mice and Men.” It was The Grapes of Wrath. A six point miss. I think some of the girls knew the right answer.  

14. What country was Adolph Hitler born in? Alyssa knew: Austria. Since the next category was Acronyms, we only wagered two points. Another bad decision. This would turn out to be our last correct answer.

15. What does HTML stand for? Uh, durn. A four point miss. Hyper Text Markup Language.

16. What country completely owns three of the ten largest islands in the world? We said the United Kingdom, but it was Canada. Two of the islands are Baffin and Victoria. A two point miss. Only one team got it right.

17. What is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust? Aluminum. We said iron, which is the most abundant element in the earth’s core. Crust was the key word. A four point miss. Again, only one team got the answer right.

18. In 1952, what country offered Albert Einstein its presidency? Israel. Craig said it, during our deliberations. A six point miss. Before the final we were in last place.

19. Name the five most populous US states, in order. California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. We missed on Illinois, and remained in last place. The DoorHinges tied for fourth.

The previous week Xana had taken musical requests. She liked my request, and played it early on in the evening: Neil Diamond’s “I am the Lion”.