Tag: new york (Page 1 of 2)

[Pub quiz] Americana: See the USA

16-August-09 / James Callan

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

1) Get a look at the Transamerica Pyramid, drive the “crookedest street in the world,” and eat dessert in Ghirardelli Square in what city?

2) Tour the Molly Brown House Museum, Coors Brewery, and a branch of the US mint in what city?

3) To take in the Tech Museum, tour the Winchester Mystery House, and see the original state capitol of California, you need to go where?

4) SEE the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Historical Site! The original Erie Canal Harbor! And Niagara Falls! All when you visit what city?

5) You can catch a live show at First Avenue and 7th Street Entry, stop by the largest literary and book arts center in the US, and watch the North Star Roller Girls tear up the track in what city?

6) Where should you go to tour the World War II destroyer USS Kidd, visit the Shaw Center for the Arts, and see the tallest state capitol building in the US?

7) If you’ve toured historic Quapaw Quarter, see the Central High School National Historical Site, and stroll along President Clinton Avenue, where have you been?

8) If you want to see the Sedgwick County Zoo, the original Pizza Hut, and the birthplace of Cessna, were do you need to go?

9) If you want visit the western edge of the Great Basin to attend a hot air balloon race and see the birthplace of Harrah’s Entertainment, what city is your best bet?

10) Visit the Hayden Planetarium, the International Center of Photography, and Grant’s Tomb in what city?

ANSWERS (no peeking)

21-July-09 / James Callan

TODAY’S QUESTION

The Times Square ball drop takes place every New Year’s Eve on the roof ofÂ One Times Square. When the building opened in 1905, it was the headquarters of what company?

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

PREVIOUSLY

That question, again: Grace Kelly met her future husband Prince Rainier in 1955 while she visiting in France. What event was she attending that brought her within photo-op range of Monaco, anyway?

Trivia quiz: Americana

7-June-09 / James Callan

Featured as round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 2, 2009

Ten questions on various and sundry items related to “America.”

1) Shooka and Nala are dogs that belong to the Gosselin family, featured on what TV show?

2) Many of Houdini’s props, including the Chinese Water Torture Cell, were bought at auction in 2004 by what successor?

3) Where can you find Fallen Astronaut, an aluminum statue commemorating astronauts who died furthering space exploration?

4) What subsidiary of GM entered administration — the equivalent of filing for bankruptcy — on February 20 this year in a Swedish court?

5) What magazine announced that it will stop publishing its Spanish-language version, Selecciones, in the US?

6) What’s the second-most-populous city in New York state?

7) The run-up to what annual event was documented this year on the reality series Countdown to the Crown?

8) Who’s the only one of the five main Simpsons not named after one of Matt Groening’s family members?

9) The Big Gulp is to 7-Eleven as the Thirst Buster is to what store?

10) What Nashville theme park, known as the “Home of American Music,” was closed in 1997 and demolished in 1999?

ANSWERS (no peeking)

Trivia quiz: 10 Questions inspired by the Mona Lisa

11-May-09 / James Callan

Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on April 7, 2009

1) The Mona Lisa’s eyes peek out from the cover of what 2003 mystery, the second-best-selling novel of 2004?

2) To create his piece L.H.O.O.Q., what did Dadaist Marcel Duchamp draw on a postcard of the Mona Lisa?

3) Mona Lisa is one of the craters on what planet, where most of the large craters are named after women?

4) The song “Mona Lisa” was a 1950 hit for what jazz vocalist, who last hit the charts in 1991, 26 years after his death?

5) After the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911, police questioned what artist, who now has a museum in Paris dedicated to him?

6) In 1800, what world leader moved the Mona Lisa to his bedroom?

7) In 2005, “emotion recognition” software calculated that the Mona Lisa was 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry, but 83% what emotional adjective?

8) Mona Lisa Overdrive is the final book in the Sprawl trilogy. What seminal cyberpunk novel was the trilogy’s first book?

9) When the Mona Lisa came to the US in 1962, you could see it in which two East Coast cities? (Half point each)

10) What did the countess of Bearn add to the Mona Lisa back in 1906, which remains with the painting until this day?

Quiz: Britney Spears

9-July-08 / James Callan

Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.94/10 (17 teams who know quite a bit about Ms. Spears)

1) The Daniel Edwards sculpture “Monument to Pro-Life” depicts Britney doing what?
2) Spears won a Worst Supporting Actress Razzie for her appearance in what documentary, where she encouraged us to “trust our president in every decision he makes” and “be faithful in what happens”?
3) Rumor has it that Justin Timberlake sang about Britney cheating on him in what 2004 Grammy-winning song? (Arthur Hamilton’s 1953 song does not involve Ms. Spears, however)
4) “My baby is my religion,” declared Britney in 2006, adding that she no longer studied what practice that she was introduced to by Madonna?
5) Before she became a Mouseketeer, Britney competed as a singer on what television series?
6) Britney’s first two albums include what punctuation mark in their titles?
7) Curious, Fantasy, and Believe are the names of three of Britney Spears’ what?
8) Newsstand sales for what 150-year-old magazine took a nosedive when they put Britney on the cover of their April 2008 issue?
9) Britney took two of her favorite places and combined the abbreviations for them to create what four-letter name for what Manhattan restaurant that she opened in 2002?
10) “Easy, boy,” says what Viagra spokesman, calming down his dog at the climax of a commercial where Britney sings an ode to the joy of Pepsi?

Quiz: Geography

5-July-08 / James Callan

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.29/11 (17 teams)

1) What country does the Onion’s Our Dumb World atlas describe as the “Nobel Prize Winner for Great Cheekbones”?
2) Seven Seattle streets are named for members of the Denny Party who arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. Other than Denny Way, name one street for one point, or three streets for 2 points. (Don’t write down more than 3 answers!)
3) The Three Gorges Dam is under construction on what river?
4) The Helium Capital of the World, the Execution Capital of the World, and the Live Music Capital of the World are nicknames for three cities in what state?
5) What’s the most populous US state with a Democratic governor?
6) What South American country, one of two that doesn’t border Brazil, is the world’s leading exporter of bananas?
7) If you’re visiting scenic Zanzibar, you’re in what African nation?
8) What’s the most populous city in a country that was a member of the Warsaw Pact?
9) What Asian nation’s name means “land of the pure” in Urdu, its national language?
10) Bailey Peninsula in Lake Washington is entirely taken up by what Seattle park?

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Quiz: Triangulation

4-July-08 / James Callan

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008.
Average score: 6.13/10 (16 teams)

1) the Segway, one of the Spice Girls, and a castaway
2) a DC Comics supervillain, a children’s television show, and a kind of camera lens
3) a fruit-based dessert, a geologic term, and something a baseball player wants to avoid
4) Beatrice’s cousin, a role playing game system, and what they call a grinder in New York
5) a sign in the Chinese zodiac, something you’d find at a mall, and Splinter
6) a monster that lives in a maze, something funky you might see on TV, and a Whoopi Goldberg film
7) a women’s basketball team, a Peggy Lee song, and something to starve
8) an episode of the series Rome, an automotive company, and a Conan O’Brian character,
9) a recent celebrity autobiography, a truly creepy Japanese horror film, and an Adobe software title
10) a baseball stadium, a jazz-era synonym for hunky-dory, and the alligator man

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Quiz: Vending Machines

14-May-08 / James Callan

Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 6.33/10 (12 teams)

1) In Toy Story, the little green aliens who live at Pizza Planet believe they’re destined be chosen to go to a better place — by what?
2) If you’re using a MetroCard vending machine, you’re probably planning to take public transit in what metro area?
3) “I hitched a ride with a vending machine repair man” is the opening lyric to what 1996 Sheryl Crow song?
4) If you travel to Japan to indulge your buru-sera fetish, you might be disappointed to discover that it’s against the law to stock vending machines with what?
5) Contestants competed to create the best amuse buche using $10 worth of ingredients from vending machines on an episode of what reality show?
6) You can buy black-and-white photos wrapped in cellophane from the original Art-O-Mat machine, a vintage vending machine that originally sold what?
7) AltaVista’s translation service takes its name from what small, yellow, highly improbable creature sold in vending machines in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
8) What 1927 Edward Hopper painting is set in a restaurant where you could buy an entire meal from vending machines?
9) In the movie Airport, just before boarding an airplane with a bomb in a briefcase, D.O. Guerrero buys what from an airport vending machine?
10) Last week, over 700,000 people watched a video on YouTube of Hillary Clinton attempting to do what with a machine in a convenience store?

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Geography

16-April-08 / James Callan

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 3.78/10 (too hard!), 9 teams playing

1) Two cities have been among the 10 largest in America every census from 1790 to 2000. Name them both.
2) The Mackinac Bridge connects the cities of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City in what state?
3) What’s the only part of Arizona that observes Daylight Saving Time?
4) What city on the Black Sea is the largest port in Ukraine?
5) What national capital straddles the Han River?
6) What country launched Operation August Storm on August 8, 1945, invading Manchukuo?
7) It’s part of the Arab League and the Francophonie, but one African country does not belong to the African Union. Which one?
8) According to the 2007 Global Peace Index, what European kingdom is the most peaceful nation in the world?
9) What’s the most populous city in New England?
10) What Seattle suburb was founded as the town of East Seattle in 1904, but renamed itself in 1924 after an early settler?

Quiz: Marvel Comics

11-April-07 / James Callan

1) Marvel Comics had its first major success in 1961 with an issue detailing the origin of what super group?
2) What scrappy X-Man first appeared October, 1974, brawling with the Hulk?
3) The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created in the same accident that created what Marvel superhero?
4) What word, also the state motto of New York, did Stan Lee end most of his Bullpen Bulletins with?
5) What iconic superhero was recently shot to death in front of a federal courthouse?
6) Which of these Marvel characters was not co-created by artist Jack Kirby: The Black Panther, The Hulk, Spider-Man, or Thor?
7) Name two of the five founding members of the Avengers.
8) If a Marvel comics fan pointed out a mistake in an issue and came up with a plausible explanation for it, what did he win?
9) What occupation do the secret identies of She-Hulk and Daredevil have in common?
10) Which mystical Marvel character is most likely to say “By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth”?
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