Thursday, April 1, 2010

Trivia Night

When I lived in Marin, I was the host of a monthly Trivia Night at the local library.  Tonight, my last night in California, I attended the program as a participant.  It was almost as much fun as being in charge.

The Iron Eagle, 89 years young this week, was our Team Captain.  Former mayor, life-long town resident, member of Boards and Commissions and Foundations, proud grandfather - he makes me smile every time I'm in his presence.  He's also really really smart.  Artess and Keith's mom and I made up the rest of our team..... our winning team.

The first question I ever asked when I ran Trivia Night was this:
Elizabeth Taylor was married 8 times.  Name the men who were waiting at the end of the aisle.
Can you do it?  Without the use of Google Search, please.

I learned to do powerpoint for the programs, and my favorite slide had animated ocean liners sinking as I asked:
Name the steamship company which sailed the Titanic.
When I left for Arizona, I handed the program off to Mr. Steve, who did an admirable job until life interfered with his ability to show up on a regular basis.  So, Ms. Janis took over for him. As a regular participant (with her husband and 2 kids - who started in middle school and continued through high school, bringing their dinner burritos with them more often than not) she had a vested interest in the continued existence of the event.  And she does a great job.

I'm going to cheat and use some of her questions to finish this post -- vacationing and blogging are a tough combination sometimes.  The answers will be tomorrow's post, and I will be back, with photos and further ruminations on Marin hiking, San Francisco farmers' markets, restaurants, sons and friends on Monday morning.

Here are the questions.  Let's see just how trivial you are.  And remember, no internet searches allowed.

1. On what South Pacific island does more than half the population carry the surname Christian?

2. What were their birth names:
       Che Guevara
       Baby Doc Duvalier
       Golda Meir
       Malcolm X

3.  How many points are on the maple leaf on the Canadian flag?

4.  What car lost 96% of its sales in the 5 years after the publication of Ralph Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed"?

5.  What was the name of Henry Ford's only son?

6.  Where are the adrenal glands located?

7.  On which side of the body is the spleen located?

8.  What were the final titles of the books whose working titles were:
The Incident at West Egg
The Last Man in Europe
A Jewish Patient Beings His Analysis
 9. No male actor has won 3 Oscars as Best Actor.  9 men have won 2 Best Actor awards.  Name them.

10.  Ten of the U.S. presidents preceding President Obama served less than one full term in office.  Name them.

Answers tomorrow.....




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