Tag: michael jackson

[Pub quiz] “I’m not an animal! I’m a pub quiz round!”

16-August-09 / James Callan

Featured as round 1 at the Old Pequliar on July 7, 2009

Every question has something to do with elephants.

1) What elephant, named by London zookeepers, probably got its name from the Swahili words for “hello” or “chief”?

2) For a half point each, name the two Dr. Seuss books starting Horton the elephant.

3) What song from the album Elephant was the White Stripes’ first #1 single in the US, and includes the line “I’m going to Wichita”?

4) In 1985, what talk show host visited Sesame Street to report on the first time grownups ever saw Mr. Snuffleupagus?

5) In the movie Animal Crackers, Groucho Marks claims to have shot an elephant where?

6) What animal do Pooh and Piglet decide to capture using a Clever Trap â€” specifically, honey at the bottom of a pit?

7) In 1903, Thomas Edison filmed the execution of the elephant Topsy. How was the elephant killed?

8) What general won the Battle of Ticinus in 218BC?

9) In the Rudyard Kipling story “The Elephant’s Child,” what does the title character get from the “Crocodile on the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River”?

10) Michael Jackson dances with the bones of the Elephant Man in his video for what song?

ANSWERS (no peeking)

16-July-09 / James Callan

TODAY’S QUESTION

What game are you playing â€”probably online â€” if you stumble across patterns including Spaceship, Puffer Train, Glider, Methuselah, and Garden of Eden?

Make your best guess in the comments. Your prize? Public glory.

PREVIOUSLY

That question, again: The Sycamore Valley Ranch in Californiaâ€™s Santa Barbara County is better known by what name?

Quiz: Zombies

13-August-08 / James Callan

Round 5 at the Old Pequliar on August 12, 2008
Average score: 6.55/10 (11 teams)

1) According to a chatty zombie in Return of the Living Dead, what’s the only thing that gets rid of the pain of being dead?
2) The classic 1943 film I Walked With a Zombie was partly inspired by what classic 1847 Gothic novel?
3) What 2006 comic book by Robert Kirkman features brain-craving undead versions of Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, and more?
4) There are many recipes for the zombie cocktail, but they all involve what liquor?
5) In 1994, what Irish band asked “What’s in your head?” in their international hit song “Zombie”?
6) George Romero’s Land of the Dead features cameos by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, the creators of what zombie spoof released the year before?
7) British pop group The Zombies landed three singles in the US Billboard top 40 between 1964 and 1969. Name any one of them for one point.
8) What music video begins with this disclaimer from the artist: “Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in theoccult”?
9) The phrase “klaatu barada nikto” turned off Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still. In what 1992 horror sequel does a mangled version of the phrase raise a legion of hostile zombies?
10) The hilariously gory 1985 film Re-Animator, which brought a whole new meaning to the term “giving head,” was based on the story “Herbert West: Reanimator” by what American horror author?

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Quiz: Triangulation

12-May-08 / James Callan

Round 5 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 8.33/10 (12 teams)

My ode to Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages. Find the word that fits all three descriptions.

Example:
a planet, a candy bar, and a fictional Veronica: Mars

1) a Saturday Night Live character, something a baker does to a cake, and a unit of butter
2) a Stephen King novel, something Clara Bow had, and someone you try to avoid at recess
3) something done to stomachs, part of a traditional diet, and something that used to be common in Playmates
4) a pharmaceutical term, a shade of blue, and something you seek out at Whistler
5) a particular kind of fiction, something done to prices, and someone who played guitar for Michael Jackson
6) a Sondheim musical, a kind of taxi, and a resident of the Satellite of Love
7) an after dinner cocktail, one of the few kosher insects, and a pop cultural synonym for padawan
8) a resident of Narnia, something women wear, and a typewriter key
9) a chapter of the Qur’an, a Harvey Keitel movie, and something you do to salmon
10) someone who just doesn’t get jazz, a popular intersection in a city, and a carpenter’s tool
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What do these songs have in common?

16-December-07 / James Callan

What do these songs have in common?

“Black or White” (Michael Jackson), “Buddy Holly” (Weezer), “Jack and Diane” (John Mellencamp), “Let’s Go Crazy” (Prince), “Live and Let Die” (Wings), and “You’re Beautiful” (James Blunt)