TODAY’S QUESTION

What author created the fictional family that gave the Urban Legends Reference Pages their popular nickname?

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PREVIOUSLY

That question, again: What 2007 movie had its world premiere in a small town in Vermont, rather than Massachusetts, Missouri, Illinois, or any of 9 other states?

That would be The Simpsons Movie, which did indeed come out two years ago already. Bill was both correct and horrified at the fleeting nature of time.

Springfield, Vermont, was chosen as the Springfieldiest of all Springfields and won the right to host the world premiere of the movie at their local movie hall, complete with yellow carpet.

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)

1) Jon & Kate Plus 8

2) David Copperfield

3) the moon

4) Saab

5) Reader’s Digest

6) Buffalo

7) Miss America pageant

8) Bart

9) Circle K

10) Opryland USA (accepted Opryland; did not accept Grand Ole Opry)

Average score in the pub: 4.29/10 (14 teams)
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Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on May 5, 2009

Superlatives! Some of these contain a superlative in the question, some in the answer.

1) Many journalists writing about bad news in April call it “the cruellest month,” a literary cliche lifted from what poem?

2) “With Burt and Dolly, this much fun just couldn’t be legal” is the tagline for what musical?

3) Some people call them The Veterans, some call them the G.I. Generation, but Tom Brokaw calls them what?

4) The Netherlands’ De Afvallers, Mexico’s ¿Cuánto quieres perder? and Israel’s Laredet Begadol are versions of what US series?

5) U2′s “The Sweetest Thing” was the B-side to what single from The Joshua Tree, later covered by Pet Shop Boys?

6) What fumble-fingered actor was The Shakiest Gun in the West?

7) “They’re giving you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? If anything, you owe them.” Comic Book Guy responds with what three-word phrase?

8) The 1962 film The Longest Day gathered “42 international stars” to tell the story of what event?

9) Paddington Bear arrived at London’s Paddington station after emigrating from?

10) According to Life.com’s count of popular tags, what European capital is the most-photographed city on Flickr?

ANSWERS (no peeking!)

1) “The Waste Land”

2) The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

3) the Greatest Generation

4) The Biggest Loser

5) “Where the Streets Have No Name”

6) Don Knotts

7) “Worst episode ever.”

8) D-Day (or invasion of Normandy)

9) Darkest Peru

10) London

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on April 7, 2009

Trivia meets wordplay. I’ll give you three definitions. You tell me what word or term all three of them could define.

Example: an after-dinner cocktail, a kosher insect, and a synonym for padawan? Grasshopper.

Got it? Here we go:

1) a kind of Republican, a presidential birthplace, and something you might put on pancakes

2) a sketchy version of the lottery, a crime drama, and a book of the bible

3) Barbie’s younger sister, an employment agency, and a shade of green

4) one of Pee-wee’s friends, a kind of chick, and what Alabama is the heart of

5) something a bird does, a Lonesome Dove character, and to name the pocket you’re shooting for

6) a Yahoo! website, a haircut, and something the Simpsons might drink

7) a boxing measurement, a measure of audience size, and a toothbrush

8) one of Beetle Bailey’s brothers in arms, a bet in roulette, and a white fudge candy bar

9) an obsolete Chrysler car, a Carpenters album, and Alaska’s sister

10) Morse code for “e”, part of a URL, and an Animaniac

ANSWERS:

1) log cabin

2) numbers

3) kelly

4) Dixie

5) call

6) buzz

7) reach

8) zero

9) horizon

10) dot

Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on March 3, 2009
Average score: 8.5/10 (14 teams)

1) In 2003 cafeterias in the House of Representatives changed the names of two menu items: French fries and what else?

2) In 2006, the French Minister of Culture awarded the Légion d’honneur to whom, calling him the “French people’s favourite clown”?

3) Although Inspector Clouseau is the star of the Pink Panther films, he’s not actually the Pink Panther. Who or what is?

4) What famous romantic stars in the Looney Tunes shorts “The Cats Bah,” “Odor-Able Kitty,” and “For Scent-imental Reasons”?

5) What fictional family claimed to come from Remulac, a small town in France?

6) What insult coined on The Simpsons and popular with the National Review crowd was dubbed as “singes mangeurs de fromage” on the French version of the show?

7) Immediately after a French taunter says “Fetchez la vache,” what is flung at King Arthur and his knights?

8) What 1974 song by Labelle had a cover version hit the charts in 2001, reviving a famous French come-on?

9) In Pulp Fiction, right before revealing what they call a Big Mac in France, Vincent also notes that in Paris you can buy what beverage at McDonald’s?

10) The French have a reputation for passion, so what do we call the thing they refer to as embrasser avec la langue or rouler une pelle?

ANSWERS:

1) French toast

2) Jerry Lewis

3) a diamond

4) Pepé Le Pew

5) the Coneheads

6) cheese-eating surrender monkeys

7) a cow

8) “Lady Marmalade”

9) beer

10) French kiss

Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on August 12, 2008
Average score: 7.09/11 (11 teams)

1) On Einstein’s 72nd birthday, photographer Arthur Sasse took a picture of him sitting in the back seat of a car doing what?
2) In a 1993 play, Steve Martin tells the story of Einstein meeting what artist, mentioned in the play’s title, at the Lapin Agile?
3) E=MC2 is the title of an album released earlier this year by what pop diva?
4) In 2000, Michael Paterniti published Driving Mr. Albert, a memoir with the subtitle “a trip across America with” what?
5) Leo, June, Quincy, and Annie are the main characters on what Disney Channel animated series?
6) In the Australian comedy Young Einstein, Einstein falls in love with what fellow scientist?
7) Like the fictional genius Sherlock Holmes, Einstein played what musical instrument?
8) The Albert Einstein Memorial, a bronze statue by Robert Berks, is located in what major US city?
9) What frequent guest voice on The Simpsons was born Albert Einstein but changed his name in the late ’60s when he started working as a comedian?
10) In 2000, Time magazine named Einstein the Person of the Century. For one point each, name the two men Time name as runners up.

Answers:

1) sticking out his tongue
2) Pablo Picasso
3) Mariah Carey
4) Einstein’s brain
5) Little Einsteins
6) Marie Curie
7) violin
8) Washington, DC
9) Albert Brooks
10) Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Mohandas Gandhi

What common bond unites all of these people?

Steve Allen, James Brown, Johnny Carson, Bob Denver, John Entwistle, Stephen Jay Gould, George Harrison, Bob Hope, Linda McCartney, George Plimpton, Tito Puente, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Johnny Unitas, Barry White

(I won’t claim this list is comprehensive, but this definitely includes most of the available candidates.)

And guess where I cross-posted it?

7/7: Edited to add a couple of names.

All of them guest starred on The Simpsons as themselves, and are now dead. Anyone want to argue for a curse?

I’ll name a famous pet. You tell me the famous person who owned it. For example: Snoopy the beagle? Charlie Brown.

1) Santa’s Little Helper, the greyhound
2) Bruiser the chihuahua
3) Socks the cat and Buddy the chocolate Lab
4) Eddie the Jack Russell Terrier
5) Quincy the iguana
6) Cuff and Link, turtles
7) Asta the wire-haired terrier
8) Blondi the German Shepard
9) All Ball, Lipstick, and Smokey, the Manx cats
10) Tinkerbell the chihuahua

1) the Simpsons
2) Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)
3) Bill Clinton (or the Clintons)
4) Martin Crane (Frasier)
5) Jason Fox (Fox Trot)
6) Rocky Balboa
7) Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man)
8) Adolf Hitler
9) Koko the gorilla
10) Paris Hilton

(Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on June 26, 2007.)

1) Who is the mayor of Springfield, hometown to the Simpsons?
2) Who was mayor of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit?
3) What epic novel and long-running musical center around the hidden past of the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer?
4) In a 1989 movie, Da Mayor gives Mookie this piece of advice: “Always” what?
5) Mayor McCheese was dropped from McDonald’s advertising campaigns because of a 1973 lawsuit that found him too similar to what Sid & Marty Krofft character?
6) What British new wave group had their biggest US hit with the 1989 single “Mayor of Simpleton”?
7) Rudy Giuliani would become the first former mayor in the White House since 1923, when what former mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts, became president?
8) Mayor Richard Wilkins III was a memorable villain on what television series?
9) In 1910, Emil Seidel became the first Socialist mayor of a major US city. What city was it?
10) Who was mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, from 1986 to 1988?

1) Joe Quimby
2) Ray Nagin
3) Les Miserables
4) Do the Right Thing
5) H.R. Pufnstuf
6) XTC
7) Calvin Coolidge
8) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
9) Milwaukee, WI
10) Clint Eastwood

Round 3 at the Greg Nickels fundraiser quiz night on April 26, 2007.