TODAY’S QUESTION:

Former Velvet Underground members Lou Reed and John Cale reunited to collaborate on the 1990 album Songs for Drella.

The easier question: “Drella” was a nickname for who?

Harder question: What two well-known names from pop culture were smooshed together (that’s the technical term) to create that nickname?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER:

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Round 3 at Post on October 20, 2008

The third round of trivia for the Yes on Seattle Prop. 1 fundraiser focused on local pop culture. Some of these appeared in other quizzes, though much is new.

Special tip of the hat to Jen Koogler at Scarecrow Video for tracking down the info for the tiebreaker question this round. Merci!

1) For Hump! 4, this year’s amateur porn contest, filmmakers could get extra credit by including what political candidate in their movie?
2) The Coryell Court Apartments at 1820 E Thomas became famous because of what 1992 release?
3) KUOW alumnus and former Seattleite John Moe currently hosts what weekly radio program produced by American Public Media?
4) In September, local band Heart asked the McCain campaign to stop playing what song at their events?
5) The notorious Led Zeppelin “shark episode” took place during their 1969 stay at what local hotel?
6) “Songs From a Parallel Universe,” an album of cello compositions, was recorded in 2003 aboard what ferry, which is now located in Tacoma?
7) Chris Wedes is much better known in Seattle by what name?
8) What article of clothing, worn by Richard Hatch on Survivor: All Stars, was originally made from a pair of green military field pants?
9) Mistress Matisse, Shannon Kringen, Elisabeth Eaves, and Victoria Langley have all worked at what famed local landmark, originally known as the Sultan Theater?
10) What local band was originally named Mookie Blaylock until legal concerns forced a name change?
11) How many laserdiscs does Scarecrow Video still have in its rental inventory?

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Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 5.95/10 (11 teams)

Given the famous spoiler or plot twist, tell me what work it comes from. (Spoilers ahead, naturally.)

1) (movie) Keaton wasn’t the mastermind after all — it was Verbal all along.
2) (graphic novel) The bad guy destroys New York City to avert nuclear war. But as one of the heroes reminds him, “Nothing ever ends.”
3) (movie) Katherine is her sister and her daughter. And her father-slash-babydaddy gets custody.
4) (TV) Number 1 is a chimpanzee. Or Number 6. Or maybe the screenwriter. It’s open to interpretation.
5) (book) He finds himself back in the desert where it all began, but this time he’s carrying the Horn of Eld.
6) (TV) She moves to New York, becomes a photographer, and dies in 2085 at age 101.
7) (novel) Each of the 12 suspects stabbed Mr. Ratchett once.
8) (play) Technically, he says he could have asked for the moment to go on forever — so he gets to go to heaven after all.
9) (movie) When Diane — or maybe she’s Betty — finds a blue key, she shoots herself. No one agrees what it all means, though.
10) (web series) Captain Hammer gets hurt, Penny gets killed, and the main character gets his wish: joining Bad Horse in the Evil League of Evil.

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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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What do these directors have in common?

Darren Aronofsky
Larry Cohen
Costa Gavras
Fritz Lang
Tim Blake Nelson
Oliver Stone

Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.24/10 (17 teams)

1) Speaking of Britney Spears, before the release title was settled on, what 2002 drama was known as Untitled Britney Spears Project and Not a Girl?
2) What 2006 satire features Luke Wilson, the smartest man on earth, pointing out that it may contain electrolytes, but Brawndo isn’t as good for crops as water (not necessarily from the toilet)?
3) What 2006 romantic comedy features one of the stars requesting “the Telly Savales” at a waxing salon?
4) In December 2007, John C. Reilly performed seven concerts in character to promote what movie, produced by Judd Apatow?
5) Lindsay Lohan won a Kid’s Choice Award for her performance in what 2005 film that revived a famous Disney character from the ’70s and ’80s?
6) What 2005 comedy, inspired by Clerks, focuses on several characters working a shift at the fictional fast-casual restaurant Shenaniganz?
7) Jonathan Frakes called Patrick Stewart and told him he “must not miss” what 1999 comedy, insisting that he see it “on a Saturday night in a full theatre”?
8) What 2001 horror film takes its title from a popular song first recorded in 1938 by Louis Armstrong?
9) What 2007 action film, based on an article from Wired magazine, inspired local film critic Vern to say “don’t be Ellis” to the studio executive who required that it get a PG-13 rating?
10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?

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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?

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Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008
Average score: 7.06/10 (16 teams)

1) The novel Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, published last week, continues the adventures of what famous hero?
2) Gerald Posner’s book Killing the Dream argues that James Earl Ray acted on his own when he assassinated who?
3) Six US presidents have been named James. Which two served consecutively?
4) In the Brady Bunch episode “Bobby’s Hero,” Bobby unsettles his parents when he starts to idolize who?
5) A 1991 techno song by the group L.A. Style declared that what musical icon “Is Dead”, though he didn’t actually die until 2006?
6) What song, the only Billboard hit for the band James, begins “The bed is on fire with passionate love, the neighbors complain about the nosies above, but she only comes when she’s on top“?
7) In 2006, who became the first British artist since Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997″ to achieve a Billboard #1 single with his song “You’re Beautiful”?
8) When he wrote the book Pragmatism in 1907, which American philosopher established himself as a leading proponent of the theory of pragmatism?
9) The poem “Disobedience,” about James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree, comes from the collection When We Were Very Young by what British author?
10) Who played a fictionalized version of reclusive author J.D. Salinger in the movie Field of Dreams?

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1) A speech in Henry V supplied the title for what nonfiction book and the HBO miniseries based on it?
2) At the climax of “Scott Tenorman Must Die,” the South Park episode inspired by Titus Andronicus, Cartman tricks his enemy into doing what?
3) In 2006, the best-selling album in the United States was the soundtrack to what TV movie, a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet?
4) Spurred by a joke in a 1991 movie, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing have been translated into what artificial language?
5) Two Gentlemen of Verona inspired “Two Gentlemen of Capeside,” an episode of what TV drama?
6) In 2000, what novelist and New Yorker contributor published a prequel to Hamlet called Gertrude & Claudius?
7) One clue that Paul is dead: Lines from King Lear, including “O untimely death!”, can be heard in the background of what trippy Beatles song?
8) In Neil Gaiman’s comic series The Sandman, Morpheus, the king of dreams, commissions Shakespeare to write two fantastical plays. Name one of them.
9) The 1992 hit “Stay” was the biggest hit for what band, which took its name from a 1985 song by the Smiths, which was inspired by a section of Virginia Woolf’s essay A Room of One’s Own?
10) Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas play comical variations on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in what movie loosely based on Hamlet?
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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 4/10 (8 teams)

1) What 1997 comedy, which shares its name with a fast food restaurant, includes an Academy Awards ceremony where the Best Actor nominees include Paul Newman in “Coot”, Clint Eastwood in “Codger”, Michael Douglas in “Primary Urges” and Steven Seagal in “Snowball in Hell”?
2) What 2005 satire, which takes its name from an early REM song, did David Denby describe as a “dirty-minded poison-pen letter to a country swollen with self-esteem” and compare to Election, Heathers, and Mean Girls?
3) What 2005 horror film, a remake of a John Carpenter movie, concerns the fate of the crew of the Elizabeth Dane?
4) In Ocean’s Twelve, Topher Grace says he “totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie.” What 2004 movie is he talking about?
5) What 2004 film featuring a raunchy version of the hokey pokey was director John Waters’ first film rated NC-17?
6) What 2001 comedy was adapted into a musical starring Laura Bell Bundy, which debuted last year in San Francisco before opening at the Palace Theater on Broadway?
7) What 2002 Cameron Diaz comedy, which shares its name with a U2 song, did film critic Charles Taylor declare “one of the flattest, stupidest, unfunniest sex comedies — as well as one of the worst all-round pictures — I’ve ever seen”?
8) Indie pop band Belle & Sebastian composed the soundtrack for what 2001 Todd Solondz film?
9) What 2004 film based on a comic book character did Guillermo del Toro direct between Blade II and Pan’s Labyrinth?
10) Who appeared in all nine of these movies?

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