Night 9: May 29th, 2006

Category 1: Current Events
1. CBS settled out of court with which radio personality, following a breach of contract dispute?
A: >Howard Stern<
2. Angelina Jolie gave birth Saturday to a baby girl. To what country did she and Brad travel in order to avoid the paparazzi?
A: >Namibia<
3. Which famous site in Poland, where he spoke and led prayers, was Pope Benedict’s last stop on his tour of the country?
A: >Auschwitz<
4. The prestigious journal, Science, published two papers last week describing theoretical methods for creating what kind of sci-fi-seeming device?
A: >Cloaking device<
5. Barry Bonds is now ranked 2nd in career home runs in the major leagues. Who is ranked first?
A: >Hank Aaron<

Category 2: Puppets
1. What famous puppet made his first appearance in 1955 on a TV show called Sam & Friends?
A: >Kermit<
2. What show consisted largely of two sock puppets, voiced by Matt Crocco & Liam Lynch, having bizarre and meandering conversations, interspersed with recurring segments such as Rock Facts and A Word With Chester?
A: >Sifl and Olly<
3. What satirical British program, which ran from 1986 to 1994, showed often scathing puppet caricatures of public figures?
A: >Spitting Image<
4. What are the names of the two old men who sit in the box seats on The Muppet Show and heckle the performers? (2 points – one point each)
A: >Statler and Waldorf<
5. Which Sesame Street character has a pet worm Slimey, a pet elephant Fluffy, and lives in a garbage can?
A: >Oscar the Grouch<

Category 3: Prize winners
1. Who won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the photoelectric effect, helping to further explore the wave-particle duality of light?
A: >Albert Einstein<
2. Which actress has the most Academy Award nominations, with 13, and two wins (for Kramer vs Kramer & Sophie’s Choice)?
A: >Meryl Streep<
3. Which Hugo & Nebula award winning African-American writer was the first sci-fi author to receive the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant?
A: >Octavia E. Butler<
4. Which actress surprised many in 2005 by accepting in person the Golden Raspberry, or “Razzie”, award for Worst Actress while also clutching her 2002 Best Actress Oscar?
A: >Halle Berry<
5. Which humourist won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988?
A: >Dave Barry<

Category 4: Celebrity Anagrams
1. Narcoleptic (music)
A: >Eric Clapton<
2. Docile or paranoid (acting)
A: >Leonardo DiCaprio<
3. Presbyterians (music)
A: >Britney Spears<
4. No aliens, darling (acting)
A: >Gillian Anderson<
5. No real charm beneath (acting)
A: >Helena Bonham Carter<

Category 5: Memorial Day
1. What is the earliest date in May that Memorial Day could be observed?
A: >May 25th<
2. The town of Waterloo in what state is generally considered the birthplace of Memorial Day?
A: >New York<
3. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day and honoured soldiers killed during which war?
A: >The US Civil War<
4. Memorial Day is a US holiday - many other countries honour their war dead on Remembrance Day. What date does it fall on, the same as Veteran’s Day in the US?
A: >November 11th<
5. A Congressional measure to return Memorial Day to its previously fixed date of May 30th has been introduced repeatedly since 1999 by Senator Daniel Inouye, the senior senator from which state?
A: >Hawaii<

Category 6: Chemistry
1. Freezing, for example, is the change of state from liquid to solid of a compound. What state change occurs in deposition?
A: >Gas to solid<
2. Which chemist won two Nobel Prizes – one jointly in Physics in 1903 for research into radiation phenomena and the other in Chemistry in 1911 for the discovery of the elements polonium and radium?
A: >Marie Curie<
3. If a solution is acidic, will it have a high or a low pH?
A: >Low (<7)<
4. Which element gets its symbol from the Latinized Greek word hydrargyrum, meaning “watery silver”?
A: >Mercury<
5. How many carbon atoms are found in a molecule of butane?
A: >4<

Category 7: The 50 States
1. What is the capital of Michigan?
A: >Lansing<
2. Which state’s nickname is the Granite State?
A: >New Hampshire<
3. Which state is the most populous, based on 2005 US Census estimates?
A: >California<
4. How many states share a land border (including rivers, not including lakes) with Canada?
A: >11 (WA, ID, MT, ND, MN, MI, NY, VT, NH, ME, AK)<
5. In which state is the geographic center of the 50 states?
A: >South Dakota (just west of Castle Rock)<

Category 8: Songs with Whistling
1. Walk Like An Egyptian
A: >The Bangles<
2. There It Go (The Whistle Song)
A: >Juelz Santana<
3. Patience
A: >Guns N’ Roses<
4. Games Without Frontiers
A: >Peter Gabriel<
5. Winds of Change
A: >The Scorpions<



The best average score was 22 points for a team of 2 people and was won by Katie & Kat. The second place team was Vrooooooooom with 29 points. First place was won by MC Escher with 30 points. Congratulations to the winning teams and thanks to everyone who played!

Night 8: May 22nd, 2006

Category 1: Current Events
1. Which is the only Canadian team in the final four of the NHL playoffs?
A: >The Edmonton Oilers<
2. Which new double-decker aircraft arrived safely at Heathrow airport last week for its first flight into the UK?
A: >The Airbus A380<
3. Barbaro’s injury overshadowed Bernadini’s win in which Triple Crown race, run on Saturday?
A: >The Preakness<
4. Who won the mayoral election in New Orleans?
A: >Ray Nagin<
5. Which singer kicked off her world tour, titled “Confessions,” on Sunday night at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California?
A: >Madonna<

Category 2: Astronomy
1. What is the Latin name for the constellation also known as the Big Dipper or the Plough?
A: >Ursa Major<
2. Which is the closest star system to our solar system?
A: >Alpha Centauri<
3. Which of the following stars is brightest when viewed from Earth: Betelgeuse, Rigel, Sirius or Vega?
A: >Sirius<
4. Which Western astronomer is generally credited with reviving the theory of heliocentrism in the 16th century?
A: >Nicolas Copernicus<
5. What astronomical unit is defined as the distance from the Earth to a star that has a parallax of one arcsecond and is roughly equal to 3.16 light years?
A: >A parsec<

Category 3: Name that show
Name the TV show in which each of the following characters appear:
1. Bender
A: >Futurama<
2. Chrissy Snow
A: >Three’s Company<
3. Margaret J. Houlihan
A: >M*A*S*H<
4. Luke Danes
A: >Gilmore Girls<
5. Wilbur Post
A: >Mr. Ed<

Category 4: African geography
A map of Africa was provided with 5 countries marked 1-5. Participants were asked to identify the countries.
1. Sudan
2. Ivory Coast
3. Algeria
4. Kenya
5. Angola

Category 5: Sports cities
I’ll name a team, you tell me what city they’re associated with.
1. The Red Bulls
A: >New York (MLS)<
2. The Flames
A: >Calgary (NHL)<
3. The Falcons
A: >Atlanta (NFL) – also, Newcastle (Rugby)<
4. The soccer team Lazio
A: >Rome<
5. The Shock
A: >Detroit (WNBA)<

Category 6: The Military
1. Which rank is higher in the US Army: Captain, Colonel or Major?
A: >Colonel<
2. Which country has the largest number of active troops (as of 2004)?
A: >China (with 2,255,000)<
3. What is the highest military decoration awarded in the US?
A: >The Medal of Honor<
4. Who is Colonel-in-Chief of several military regiments, including the Royal Dragoon Guards, the Black Watch, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, and The Royal Winnipeg Rifles?
A: >Prince Charles<
5. Which Central American country was the first to constitutionally abolish its military?
A: >Costa Rica<

Category 7: Video games
1. Which video game featured the characters Johnny Cage, Raiden & Sub-Zero?
A: >Mortal Kombat<
2. In which early video game does Mario need to jump over barrels thrown by a giant ape?
A: >Donkey Kong<
3. Which video game system had Bonk, the “Cave Dude with an Attitude,” as its most visible and principal character?
A: >Turbografx 16<
4. Which video game consists of Samus Aran infiltrating Zebes and attempting to destroy Mother Brain?
A: >Metroid<
5. According to Strategy Analytics, which company dominates the worldwide video game console market with a 66% share?
A: >Sony<

Category 8: Music - Grunge
Name the artist.
1. Verse Chorus Verse
A: >Nirvana<
2. Hunger Strike
A: >Temple of the Dog<
3. Rusty Cage
A: >Soundgarden<
4. Touch Me I’m Sick
A: >Mudhoney<
5. Nearly Lost You
A: >Screaming Trees<



The best average score prize was won by Driving While Asian, a team of two with a total score of 30. First place was awarded to Tractorhead with a score of 34; California, Here We Come finished second with 31 points. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who played!

Night 7: May 15th, 2006

Category 1: Current Events
1. Which country recently elevated two bishops without papal approval, widening the rift between the country and the Vatican?
A: >China<
2. Which singer, widely expected to win this year, was surprisingly voted off of American Idol last week?
A: >Chris Daughtry<
3. Which gas-guzzling vehicle did GM announce they would be retiring with its 2006 model?
A: >The Hummer H1<
4. What girl’s name was, for the 10th year running, the most popular name given to daughters in 2005?
A: >Emily<
5. Apple Corps Ltd, the Beatles’ record company, sued Apple Computer for allegedly breaching a 1991 agreement between the two companies and the judge’s verdict was handed down recently. On which company’s side did the judge rule?
A: >Apple Computer<

Category 2: Season Finales
1. Malcolm In The Middle showed its series finale yesterday. Which university is Malcolm headed to?
A: >Harvard<
2. As The West Wing came to a close, which character was sworn in as the new president?
A: >Matt Santos<
3. Who was the winner of this season’s Survivor: Panama?
A: >Aras Baskauskas<
4. Will & Grace will end its run this week after how many seasons on the air?
A: >8<
5. Which two characters kissed to close the season finale of The Office?
A: >Jim & Pam<

Category 3: Company Origins
1. Which Japanese company, whose name roughly translates to “three water chestnuts” and is now most famous as a car manufacturer, was established in 1870 as a shipping company?
A: >Mitsubishi<
2. What US airline was formed when Boeing Air Transport was split off from its parent company due to the Air Mail Act of 1934?
A: >United Airlines<
3. Which tobacco company started in the 1860s by a London tobacconist selling hand-rolled cigarettes under the brand names “Oxford” and “Cambridge Blues”?
A: >Philip Morris<
4. Which Japanese electronics company was founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards?
A: >Nintendo<
5. When the French car company Peugeot was founded in the late 19th century, what did they manufacture?
A: >Bicycles<

Category 4: Spelling!
Spell the following words: (note: this is not particularly effective online - it's better if you hear me say them) :)
1. They’re; as in “It’s Thursday morning and they’re going to the market.”
2. Cemetery; as in “We’re going down to the cemetery to do some grave rubbings.”
3. Misspelled; as in “That word is commonly misspelled.”
4. Supersede; as in “The needs of the many supersede the needs of the one.”
5. Minuscule; as in “The portions at that restaurant were minuscule.”

Category 5: Natural disasters
1. In 1931, a natural disaster in China killed up to 4 million people, making it the deadliest natural disaster in recent recorded history. What type of disaster was it?
A: >A flood (of the Yellow River)<
2. Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, killing approximately 92,000 people. What country was that in?
A: >Indonesia<
3. The town of Parkfield is very popular with seismologists because earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and greater regularly strike every 22 years or so. Directly over which fault line does the town sit?
A: >The San Andreas Fault<
4. Which ocean is most prone to producing tsunamis?
A: >Pacific<
5. With what term would you describe a tropical cyclone that developed in the northwest Pacific with wind speeds of 95 mph?
A: >A Typhoon<

Category 6: Miscellaneous sports
1. Which baseball team turned a triple play last night, the first in the majors for over a year?
A: >The Chicago White Sox<
2. Name one of the NHL teams that will be playing in the Eastern Conference championship.
A: >Carolina Hurricanes & Buffalo Sabres<
3. Which is the largest US city without an NFL franchise?
A: >Los Angeles<
4. Which NBA player broke the record for number of 3-pointers in a season, with 269?
A: >Ray Allen<
5. What sport does the Berlin Thunder play?
A: >American football<

Category 7: Writer’s follies
1. Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan has been accused of plagiarizing which author in her book, “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, And Got A Life”?
A: >Megan McCafferty<
2. James Frey was torn to shreds by Oprah for lying in his memoir, “A Million Little Pieces”. What is the name of the equally fictional follow-up to that book?
A: >My Friend Leonard<
3. Jayson Blair resigned from which newspaper in 2003 after it was discovered that he had repeatedly plagiarized and faked quotes in his articles?
A: >The New York Times<
4. Writer Harlan Ellison won a suit against James Cameron in which he alleged that one of Cameron’s movies plagiarized episodes he had written for the TV show, The Outer Limits. What movie was Ellison referring to?
A: >The Terminator<
5. William Swanson wrote a book called, “Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management,” which was found to have been largely plagiarized from other sources. Of which company is Swanson CEO?
A: >Raytheon<

Category 8: Music – Solo Artists
Bonus point round! Name the artist (one point) and the group that they were a part of prior to going solo (one point).
1. Crazy Train
A: >Ozzy Osbourne (from Black Sabbath)<
2. Look At Me
A: >Geri Halliwell (from the Spice Girls)<
3. Walking on Broken Glass
A: >Annie Lennox (from the Eurythmics)<
4. Let Me Ride
A: >Dr. Dre (from N.W.A.)<
5. Irish Blood, English Heart
A: >Morrissey (from the Smiths)<




The best average score tonight was achieved by Empty Thought Balloons with 26 points divided among 3 people. Second place was 31 points by Scratchel, Rajagolesco and Kearney, LLC and first place was 32 points by Yellow Submarines. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who played!

Night 6: May 8th, 2006

Category 1: Current Events
1. What is the name of the horse that won the Kentucky Derby this year?
A: >Barbaro<
2. In a recently released report, which pharmaceutical company – the world’s largest – was found to have illegally tested an unapproved drug on children in Africa?
A: >Pfizer<
3. Who announced his resignation as director of the CIA on Friday?
A: >Porter Goss<
4. Which baseball team has the best win-loss record so far this season?
A: >Chicago White Sox<
5. Which South African archbishop will be appearing in Seattle this week?
A: >Desmond Tutu<

Category 2: Cartoons
1. What was the name of Barney & Betty Rubble’s adopted child?
A: >Bamm-Bamm<
2. What legendary voice actor voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat and many others?
A: >Mel Blanc<
3. In 2005, Forbes released a list of the 15 richest fictional characters. Which was the wealthiest animated cartoon character (in third place): C. Montgomery Burns, Richie Rich, or Scrooge McDuck?
A: >Richie Rich (Burns was 5th and Scrooge McDuck was 6th)<
4. Who was Dudley Do-Right’s archnemesis?
A: >Snidely Whiplash<
5. On what show did The Simpsons get its start as a series of animated shorts?
A: >The Tracey Ullman Show<

Category 3: Parallels and Meridians
1. Through which three South American countries does the equator pass?
A: >Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil<
2. Is the Pacific island nation of Kiribati located east or west of the International Date Line?
A: >West<
3. Does the Tropic of Cancer pass through any portion of the US?
A: >Yes – through Hawaiian waters<
4. The area north of the line marking the Arctic Circle is known, obviously, as the Arctic. What is the area immediately to the south known as?
A: >The Northern Temperate Zone<
5. Through what English town does the Prime Meridian famously pass?
A: >Greenwich<

Category 4: Bond villains
Using the photos provided, name the villains from the James Bond movies.
1.
A: >Auric Goldfinger<
2.
A: >Jaws<
3.
A: >Dr. Julius No<
4.
A: >Ernst Stavro Bloefeld<
5.
A: >Odd Job<

Category 5: Celebrity marriages
1. Who was Julia Roberts’ first husband?
A: >Lyle Lovett<
2. To which director/writer/actor has Jamie Lee Curtis been married since 1984?
A: >Christopher Guest<
3. How many times was Elizabeth Taylor married?
A: >8<
4. How many wedding ceremonies did Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale have in 2002?
A: >3 – At an Anglican church in London; at the home of Jimmy Iovine in Los Angeles; and in an L.A. cathedral.<
5. Musician Tommy Lee has been married three times. To whom was he married the longest?
A: >Heather Locklear (1986-1993)<

Category 6: Name that poet
Name the author of each of the following excerpts from poems.
1. “Let us go then, you and I / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherised upon a table.”
A: >T. S. Eliot (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)<
2. “I met a traveler from an antique land / Who said: - Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert.”
A: >Percy Bysshe Shelley (Ozymandias)<
3. “it may not always be so;and I say / that if your lips,which I have loved,should touch / another's,and your dear strong fingers clutch / his heart,as mine in time not far away;”
A: >E. E. Cummings (Sonnets – Unrealities XI)<
4. “’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimbal in the wabe: / All mimsy were the borogroves, / And the mome raths outgrabe.”
A: >Lewis Carroll (Jabberwocky)<
5. “It is an ancient Mariner, / And he stoppeth one of three. / `By thy long beard and glittering eye, / Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?”
A: >Samuel Taylor Coleridge (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)<


Category 7: For the Birds
1. In biological taxonomy, what class do birds belong to?
A: >Aves<
2. What is the collective noun for a group of ravens?
A: >Unkindness, murder and conspiracy are all valid.<
3. What is the Washington State bird?
A: >The Willow Goldfinch (aka the American Goldfinch)<
4. What jazz saxophonist was nicknamed “Bird”?
A: >Charlie Parker<
5. Which is the largest flightless bird?
A: >The ostrich<

Category 8: Goth
Name the artist for the following song excerpts.
1. Love Will Tear Us Apart
A: >Joy Division<
2. March of the Pigs
A: >Nine Inch Nails<
3. Love Song
A: >The Cure<
4. Kiss Them For Me
A: >Siouxsie and the Banshees<
5. Bela Lugosi’s Dead
A: >Bauhaus<


The winning team tonight was Flying Vomit Things That Attack Spock with 27 points. The second place team was Where's Tim with 22 points. The best average score went to Celtic United, a one person team with a score of 8.

Congratulations to the winning teams and thanks to everyone for playing!

Night 5: May 1st, 2006

Category 1: Current Events
1. What is the name of the holiday that falls on May Day, commemorating the Haymarket Riot of 1886?
A: >International Worker’s Day<
2. Nintendo announced that it was changing the name of its upcoming console from “Revolution” to what? Spelling counts!
A: >Wii<
3. Katie Holmes gave birth to a baby girl who she and Tom named “Suri”. What does Suri mean in Persian?
A: >Red rose<
4. Woodland Park Zoo recently had to euthanize what kind of animal due to advanced, age-related kidney disease?
A: >Snow leopard<
5. Which CBS soap opera won the most Daytime Emmys this year, with 4 awards?
A: >Guiding Light<

Category 2: Oscar-winning movie taglines
I’ll give a movie tagline – you tell me what Oscar winner it’s from.
1. “Love is a force of nature.”
A: >Brokeback Mountain<
2. “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”
A: >Schindler’s List<
3. “With the right song and dance, you can get away with murder.”
A: >Chicago<
4. “Brace yourself for Melvin.”
A: >As Good As It Gets<
5. “In search of wine. In search of women. In search of themselves.”
A: >Sideways<

Category 3: Media
1. What newspaper’s slogan is “All The News That’s Fit To Print”?
A: >The New York Times<
2. Which media conglomerate is the world’s largest, owning HBO, CNN, New Line Cinema, and People magazine, among many, many other companies?
A: >Time Warner<
3. Which network made the first coast-to-coast colour broadcast, showing the Tournament of the Roses parade on January 1st, 1954?
A: >NBC<
4. Which American newspaper has the largest circulation?
A: >USA Today<
5. Which company owns the most radio stations in the US?
A: >Clear Channel<

Category 4: Science
1. Carbon can appear in three elemental forms, one of which is Buckminster Fullerene. What sport ball does the structure of Buckminster Fullerene resemble?
A: >Soccer ball<
2. What was the name of the discredited science for determining character and personality traits based on the shape of an individual’s head?
A: >Phrenology<
3. In the equation E=mc^2, what constant does the letter c stand for?
A: >The speed of light (~3x10^8 m/s)<
4. What is the name for the dangly mass of tissue that hangs down the back of your throat?
A: >Uvula<
5. What is the molecular formula for common table salt?
A: >NaCl<

Category 5: NFL draft
1. Prior to the NFL draft, college players perform physical and mental tests as part of a three-day showcase called what?
A: >The Combine<
2. In which city is the NFL draft held?
A: >New York City<
3. Which three time Super Bowl MVP was the 82nd pick in the 1979 draft?
A: >Joe Montana<
4. Who was the first pick in this year’s NFL draft, signing with the Houston Texans on a six-year, $54 million contract?
A: >Mario Williams<
5. John Elway was the number one pick in the 1983 draft. Which team selected him?
A: >Baltimore Colts<

Category 6: Hai-clue
1. Red-headed actress / She really enjoys her flute / Yells “Say my name bitch?”
A: >Alyson Hannigan<
2. Before Tony Blair / There was a different PM / Now what was his name?
A: >John Major<
3. I would like to know / A fact about Syria / What’s its capital?
A: >Damascus<
4. From Washington state / How many folks represent / Us in the Congress?
A: >11 (2 Senators, 9 Representatives)<
5. There is a movie / Called Gorillas In The Mist / Who is it about?
A: >Dian Fossey<

Category 7: The US Constitution
1. The first amendment guarantees five freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances are three of them. What are the other two?
A: >Freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.<
2. How many amendments are there to the Constitution as it currently stands?
A: >27<
3. Which amendment forbids the use of “cruel and unusual punishments”?
A: >The 8th.<
4. Which state cast the greatest number of “Nay” votes for the ratification of the Constitution?
A: >Massachusetts<
5. The first three articles of the Constitution establish the three branches of government. Which article describes the executive branch?
A: >Article 2<

Category 8: The Moog Cookbook
All songs are covers performed by The Moog Cookbook. Please name the original artist. A movie file (~3.7MB) with excerpts from each of the songs is available here.
1. >Green Day<
2. >R.E.M.<
3. >Pearl Jam<
4. >Neil Young<
5. >Soundgarden<


A two-person team, FTY won the "best average score" prize with 11.5 points per person.

After 40 questions, two teams (The Teuchters and 250 Sharp Teeth)were tied for first with 33 points. Two members of each team were nominated to participate in a run-off challenge. The players were asked a question, could deliberate for a moment and then each had to whisper me an answer. If both or neither team had the correct answer then another question was asked.


Run off:
1. Who voiced Jessica Rabbit in the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”?
A: >Kathleen Turner<
The Teuchters answered this question correctly and were awarded first place. 250 Sharp Teeth received second.


Congratulations to all and thanks for playing!