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Trivia

October 26, 2007 12:05 AM

he combination of being unemployed, bored, and sick means that I've had pretty much nothing to blog about. So I decided to come up with a little trivia challenge. The first one to get a perfect score without the help of the internet or anything like that gets a prize. I guess we'll use the honor system. Also, feel free to try to stump me in the comments.

Music


  1. Back in the glorious days of Napster, a very popular bluegrass version of "Gin & Juice" was going around. It was commonly--and erroneously--attributed to the band Phish. What band actually sang it?

  2. Ringo Starr is an absolutely terrible drummer. What is his real name?

  3. On what day did Kurt Cobain kill himself? (You automatically lose credit for advancing a "Courtney did it" theory.)

  4. Why is The Postal Service called that?

  5. Who's better: Fat John Popper or Skinny John Popper?


Movies

  1. What actress was in both Rushmore and X-Men 3: The Last Stand and what part did she play in each?

  2. In Pirates of the Caribbean, why was Will Turner's dad called Bootstrap Bill?

  3. In the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie, what order do the children die in and what is the cause of each child's death?

  4. What movie--other than the recent Across the Universe--featured a soundtrack that consisted entirely of Beatles covers?

  5. In the first two Terminator movies, on what date did Judgment Day occur?


Television

  1. On South Park, why is Butters called that?

  2. On The Wonder Years, do Kevin and Winnie end up together?

  3. Name all of the Law & Order spinoffs.

  4. On Seinfeld, what did Jerry put on Elaine's knee during George's girlfriend's recital that made her keep laughing?

  5. On The West Wing, where did Sam Seaborn go for law school?



11 Comments


Santi said:

Music 2: Richard Starkey
Movies 4: I am Sam
TV 1: I feel very ashamed for not knowing this one :(
TV 2: Nope
TV 3: SVU, CI, Trial by Jury, and I'm not sure if Crime & Punishment would be considered a spinoff or not so I'll list it anyway
TV 4: Bugs Bunny Pez Dispenser

October 26, 2007 10:33 AM



kristin said:

Movies:

2. Because he was tied to a cannon by his bootstraps and thrown over board after he refused to participate in the mutiny against Jack and sent one of the cursed coins away to his son.

3. The children do not die. However, the order of disqualification is: Augustus Gloop falls into the chocolate river and is sucked up a hydraulic tube (he is retrieved); Violet Beauregard chews the three-course meal gum and turns into a blueberry (she is juiced); Veruca Salt tries to grab a golden-egg-laying goose and is sorted into the "bad egg" chute (her father goes after her); and Mike Teavee tries to teleport himself with Wonkavision and ends up miniature (he is stretched in a taffy machine).

The only difference in the (inferior) new version and in the book is that Veruca tries to steal a squirrel and is thrown down the garbage chute for being a "bad nut."

Television

5. I think it is Duke. I do not know from watching the show, but I do remember some very drunk people shouting that Duke didn't suck because Sam Seaborn went to law school there.

October 26, 2007 11:17 AM



tRJ said:

Oh I didn't realize we could do partial answers. I only know music trivia.

1. The Gourds
2. Richard Starkey
3. April 5, 1994
4. Because they mailed each other bits of songs back and forth.
5. Fat Popper.

October 26, 2007 11:58 AM



Ismael Tapia II said:

Santi,
I expected you to know all the Beatles ones, of course. Although I, too, am shocked that you don't know why Butters is called Butters. As for the Pez dispenser, that's very close, but you got the character wrong.

Kristin,
I figured either you or Mr. Vice would get the Bootstrap one. I'm shocked, though, at your ability to recall the order and method of the kids' deaths. I didn't see that one coming. Also, I totally agree that the new version was completely inferior. Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka was infinitely better than Johnny Depp's--Wilder's was scary because he was insane; Depp's was scary because he probably molested you.

You're also correct about where Sam Seaborn went to law school, although I'd like to hear you elaborate on how you knew.

tRJ,
You're of course correct on all counts, as I expected that you would be. The only minor quibble is that Cobain might have died on April 4--it's not completely clear, although the 5th is the accepted date.

The question about Judgment Day is still out there, in case anyone wants to take a stab at it.

October 27, 2007 1:52 AM



ShakenNeighbor said:

It has always annoyed the piss out of me that people thought that Phish did that cover of Gin and Juice. Phish sings songs with lyrics so dumb that a retarded four year old wouldn't write them (that could also be due to the fact that retarded four year olds probably can't write, but that's not my point). I'm also annoyed that The Gourds came to town a couple years ago, and I didn't go see them. They would have had to play that song right? Then forever more I could have told people I saw them play that song, and it was AWESOME. Now I'm just another loser. Son-of-a-. . . .

October 27, 2007 12:14 PM



Santi said:

Aha! Tweety Bird?

October 28, 2007 11:11 AM



kristin said:

I think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of the best children's books of all time and is one of my two favorite books by Roald Dahl (the other being Matilda). The Gene Wilder movie is also amazing and the Johnny Depp movie is not, for exactly the reason you said. Although, as I pointed out above, I refuse to accept the premise of your question because the children do not actually die.

October 28, 2007 1:56 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

kristin,
I fucking love Matilda!

Of course you're right that the kids don't actually die, but Mr. Wonka allows us to believe that they do, and I think that's great. Let's face it: those kids deserved more than just to not get the chocolate factory.

October 29, 2007 3:59 AM



kristin said:

Those kids and 99% of the other kids in existence.

Now who has the last few answers? I am especially curious about Butters and I don't want to cheat - or do any work - just know!

October 29, 2007 10:42 AM



Wade Garrett said:

Music

1) The group's name is The Gourds. I still have that on a burned cd somewhere.

2) Richard Starkey

3) Cobain's suicide note quote Neil Young's "My My, Hey Hey" in saying that "Its Better To Burn Out Than To Fade Away." Apparently he killed himself because he didn't want to become old and lame like Sir Paul McCartney, who's gay little smiling face on the cover of his new Starbucks-only compact disk must have John Lennon rolling over in his grave. Of course, there were other reasons, but that was the reason he gave.

4) They're called The Postal Service because Ben Gibbard and Jim Tamborello were never in the same city - they recorded their own part, then sent the tapes to the other person so that they could record their part, then repeated the process until they had "Give Up."

5) John Popper and Blues Traveller both suck.

Movies

1) Olivia Williams, who was Ms. Cross in Rushmore and Dr. Moira McTaggart in X-Men 3. (Great casting in Rushmore, pretty bad casting in X-Men).

2) I forget. Was it because, when he was thrown overboard, he was tied to the cannon by a bootstrap?

3) The kids don't die, they're just . . . eliminated from the competition for being too greedy. I forget all of the details; to be honest the Gene Wilder movie sort of traumatized me. Great book, though.

4) I Am Sam (which I consider to be nothing mroe than a cynical attempt to nab a cheap Oscar)

5) August 29, 1997 (my buddy's 18th birthday)

Television

1) Because his last name is Scotch!! (and because he has blond hair)

2) No. Winnie goes to study art at the Sorbonne, and though they keep in touch they never get married or anything like that.

3) Law & Order Criminal Intent, Special Victims' Unit, and Trial By Jury

4) A Bugs Bunny Pez dispenser (one of the all-time classic episodes)

5) Same went to college at Princeton and to law school at Duke. At Princeton, he was the recording secretary of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

October 29, 2007 10:28 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

Mr. Garrett,
You really hit it out of the park for most of the music questions. Unfortunately, you missed both 3 and 5.


You're completely correct about everything you said about Cobain's suicide note. Too bad I asked "when" and not "why." Half credit for that display of music-nerd bravado, though.

As far as John Popper, not only did you ignore the premise of the question--even if both skinny and fat John Popper suck, one must suck more--but you also said that Blues Traveler sucks, which is just blatantly incorrect. I beg you to reconsider. I recommend you listen to "Hook," "The Mountains Win Again," and "But Anyway." Seriously, they're awesome.

You were completely correct about all of the movie questions--including Judgment Day, which I sort of thought no one would get.

As for TV, I knew that if I waited long enough, someone would get the Butters question: Leopold "Butters" Scotch is called Butters because, well, that way, he's Butters Scotch. Butterscotch. Get it? Yeah, it's awesome.

I'm concerned that you're the second person to say that it was a Bugs Bunny Pez dispenser. I'm pretty sure that it was Tweetie Bird, but I could be wrong. Anyone have any photographic proof?

And, seriously, way to show off your Sam Seaborn knowledge. Here's an extra credit question: when Sam left to be a Congressman and he recommended Will Baily for a job at the White House, he gave Toby a note. What did the note say?

October 30, 2007 1:22 AM



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