Friday, May 25, 2007

Serves Me Right for Skipping British Lit

A second-place finish for my trivia team ("The Curse of Rick Pitino") last night, as we missed a couple of easy ones, talked ourselves out of at least one correct answer, and couldn't remember a key film in Samuel L. Jackson's filmography. Next week, league play starts, and then I can really get my nerd on.

1. In the Canterbury Tales, how many husbands did the Wife of Bath have?
2. What legendary ballplayer was the last player-manager in Major League Baseball?
3. The Oval Office set used on The West Wing was originally constructed for what late-90's Hollywood film?
4. Which nation has bred the most Miss Universe winners?
5. In what year did Vanna White first appear on Wheel of Fortune?
6. The halftime category this week (and for the next several weeks, apparently) is "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." Connect Samuel L. Jackson to Kevin Bacon in six (or fewer) steps. Do it in at most two steps for full credit.
7. Where in the human body are the only nerves that continually regenerate?
8. Below what depth in the world's oceans does no sunlight reach?
9. What is the oldest city in the U.S. that serves as a state capital?
10. What is the most earthquake-prone U.S. state?
11. What famous 19th-century American was fired from his U.S. government job for "writing an immoral book?"
12. What regal name did Jermaine Jackson bestow on the son born to him in 2003?

5 comments:

anne57 said...

3. I'm pretty sure the set was originally built for Dave (early 90's), but also used in The American President (late 90's) from which came The West Wing.
6. Kevin Bacon was in Sleepers with Robert De Niro who was in Jackie Brown with Samuel L Jackson.
8. 100 meters?

Shuttsie said...

1.3
7. the skin
9. Tallahassee
11. Melville

J. Bowman said...

1. 5
2. Pete Rose
3. It was, indeed, Dave, and it was also used in The American President, which is what just about everyone answered. The Sorkin connection, no doubt.
4. Iceland
5. 1982. Happy 25th Anniversary, Vanna!
6. Another way to connect in two degrees: Samuel L. Jackson was in True Romance with Brad Pitt, who was in Sleepers with Bacon. There are several others, most connecting through True Romance or, oddly, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I.
7. The nostrils. Ew.
8. 3280 feet (1000 meters, give or take)
9. Santa Fe, New Mexico
10. Alaska
11. Walt Whitman
12. Jermajesty. Ha!

anne57 said...

So the question for number 3 is flawed since it says 'late '90's' and Dave is an early '90's film.

J. Bowman said...

Indeed it is, and I realized it at the time, but didn't really feel it was worth pointing out. There have been much bigger errors at Trivia Night - for example, the time they said Halle Berry was the first black woman to win an Oscar.