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!