Hey remember how I was going to share my trivia with you?! I think it’s about time! So, I did post all of these questions on twitter, one at a time (back in March-April), but now here they are all in one place for your nerdy trivia enjoyment. I put way too much time into this, planning out all the rounds, designing the themes, writing the questions… so I’m excited to share it all publicly and hopefully it will reach out to some trivia fans beyond Zach’s and twitter…
Since everything’s already been out there, and because it’s so easy to find the answers online, there won’t be any prizes for getting the answers here – except for one chance! No one ever got this bonus question on twitter, so I’ll put it out there for you (and I’ll even raise the prize amount!) – the first to comment with the answer gets a $5 coupon code for my knitting patterns:
In round 3: Ten Degrees, each answer is connected to the next through an actor (as explained in the category intro) – list all 10 actor connections for the bonus win!
So, beyond that, feel free to comment with answers to questions/categories you like, for fun! The questions are listed here with no answers, so if you want to play with friends or anything, don’t scroll down to the spoiler-filled comments… I will post all the answers as comments sometime next week, just to give you some time to have fun with it first.
And fun news for trivia fans on twitter: I hosted my second trivia night last week, which means I have a whole new batch of questions! This month is a bit crazy, and I’ll be out of town for a chunk of it (more on that later) so I’m planning to start twittering those questions, just like last time, at the beginning of June.
(Those photos were taken at trivia nights that Pete hosted, by the way.)
And here we go!
Round 1: Well Rounded People
Note: All clues are written to be gender non-specific, so keep in mind when I say “actor” that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a man, and some quotes used have minor edits to keep the neutrality.
1. This chef, author and television personality is “best known for culinary and cultural knowledge, as well as often biting observations of the world’s most exotic dishes,” to quote the Travel Channel website.
2. An American singer/songwriter loved by the Beatles, who, in addition to 16 albums released between 1966 and 1980, did the songwriting for the film Popeye, and wrote songs which were recorded by The Monkees, Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Shangri-Las, The Yardbirds, and Three Dog Night.
3. Television personality, author, magazine publisher, designer of home furnishings and other products; two TV movies were made about a brief stint in prison, starring the same actor in both.
4. Born in 1960 in London to a Scottish father and an Australian mother, this actor has worked with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, acted in a performance art piece in London and Rome, appeared in many British films including several with director Derek Jarman, many American films with directors such as the Coen Brothers, Spike Jonze, Cameron Crowe, Danny Boyle, Jim Jarmusch, and David Fincher, as well as multiple Italian films including the latest which premiered in the US in 2010.
5. A major cast member in multiple TV shows from early childhood on, in the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 2000’s, this Hollywood Icon has been writing and directing films and television since 1977, producing since 1980, and won the Academy Award for best director in 2002.
6. This filmmaker has written+directed movies and television with lines such as:
“Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!”
“Oh Diane, I almost forgot. Got to find out what kind of trees these are. They’re really something.”
“There’s a man… in back of this place. He’s the one who’s doing it. I can see him through the wall. I can see his face. I hope that I never see that face, ever, outside of a dream.”
“This is a story that happened yesterday. But I know it’s tomorrow.”
7. This American born in 1897 has been played in movies by Diane Keaton, Sharon Lawrence, Amy Adams, Hilary Swank, and Jane Lynch, though Lynch’s scenes were cut from the film.
8. This German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director’s films include Even Dwarfs Started Small, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Encounters at the End of the World, and the filmmaker’s first 3-D documentary premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
9. With occupation on Wikipedia listed as “poet, civil rights activist, dancer, film producer, television producer, playwright, film director, author, actor, professor”, this well rounded individual is best known as being the writer of autobiographical books and of poetry, and most recently has released a cookbook called Great Food, All Day Long in December of 2010.
10. Australian actor who has played the roles of both of two cousins in the film Coffee and Cigarettes, Bob Dylan, Galadriel of Middle Earth, and an English Monarch.
Round 2: Making Stuff
I’ll list 5 terms that relate to the making of something… you tell me what the terms all relate to. Some terms may apply to different things, but there should be just one answer that all the terms have in common. And, the answer could be a specific thing – like, for example, coffee, in which case your answer could be “coffee” or “coffee-making”. Or it could be a type of making, like weaving, for example, which could be used to make lots of different things (like scarves, blankets, clothes, etc), and your answer would just be “weaving,” not the actual thing that it’s making.
1. autolyse, biga, gringe, poolish, proofing.
2. cassette, fork, frame, headset, stem.
3. cockling, fresco, gesso, impasto, scumbling.
4. baste, boning, dart, ease, shirring.
5. annatto, labneh, rennet, slurry, starter.
6. anchor, CSS, PHP, script, SQL.
7. awl, endleaves, headband, mull, signature.
8. bolt, cloche, damping off, thinning, tilth.
9. back post half double, chain, extended single, gauge, slip-stitch seam.
10. chuck, dado, furring, pitch, scarfing.
Round 3: Ten Degrees
Each answer is the name of a movie – each movie is connected through an actor to the previous and the following movie. So, answer #2 has an actor in common with answer #1 and another in common with #3 (like the game Six Degrees). In the live trivia that I hosted, I had players write the actors that connect the movies for an extra 1 bonus point per connection. For you, win a $5 coupon for my knitting patterns if you’re the first to correctly list all 10 actor connections in the comments – connect each answer to the next, and then #10 connects back up with #1 for 10 total actors.
1. Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, this film includes lines like “Joel, hide me in your humiliation!” and “I love being bathed in the sink – such a feeling of security.”
2. A story of the making of the musical Red, White and Blaine, which features the musical numbers Nothing Ever Happens on Mars, A Penny For Your Thoughts, Covered Wagons, Open-toed Shoes, and Stool Boom.
3. A quote from imdb of this film’s plot description, altered to change giveaways, reads: “A 9-year-old is left alone in New York City with enough cash and credit cards to turn the Big Apple into his very own playground. But he won’t be alone for long. The notorious Wet Bandits are bound for New York too, plotting a huge holiday heist! The kid is ready to welcome them with a battery of booby traps the bumbling bandits will never forget!”
4. This 2002 film about a 17-year-old misfit includes characters named Sookie Sapperstein, Mimi Slocumb, Bunny, Mrs. Piggee and lines like “I think if Gandhi had to spend a prolonged amount of time with you, he’d end up beating the shit out of you, too,” and “His conception was an act of animosity, why shouldn’t his life be one as well?”
5. Baz Luhrmann’s updated classic was accompanied by a popular soundtrack, with tracks by Garbage, Butthole Surfers, Des’ree, The Cardigans, Radiohead, Everclear, and The Wannadies.
6. This 2008 comedy directed by David Wain about 2 energy drink salesmen, which involves a ton of live action role playing, includes bits of dialogue like “No, venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn’t mean large. It’s also the only one that’s Italian. Congratulations, you’re stupid in three languages.” and “No, I like to rock n’ roll all night and *part* of every day. I usually have errands… I can only rock from like 1-3.”
7. This television series about LA caterers, which aired on the Starz network and was sadly canceled after 2 short seasons, was co-created by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, and shares many other writers, producers, and actors from that show.
8. A 2009 comedy set in 1987, with characters James Brennan, a recent college graduate who majored in Comparative Literature and Renaissance Studies, Joel, a college student of Russian literature and Slavic languages, and Mike Connell, a maintenance man and part time musician who claims to have played a gig with Lou Reed.
9. Noah Baumbach’s 2005 critically acclaimed film which was named after an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
10. This 2000 film’s one-line synopsis on imdb reads: “A single mother’s life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely-seen younger brother returns to town.”
Round 4: Music Mash-Ups
I will describe an imaginary concert lineup with 2 bands or musicians, which are mashed up as pop-culture-mashups, or before+after. For example, if the question reads – “The Swedish indie rock band well known for their 2006 hit single Young Folks time travels to open for the legendary singer from The Beatles, who plays some of his solo songs like Imagine and Give Peace a Chance” – the answer would be Peter Bjorn and John Lennon.
1. A show that starts with crowd favorite song Joey, sung by frontwoman Johnette Napolitano, ends with Debbie Harry’s excellent dance accompaniment to Atomic.
2. Will Oldham is first to play this mismatched lineup, under his stage name, opening for Leslie Sebastian Charles – though he too goes by a different name when performing his hit song Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car.
3. The singer of 80’s band ‘Til Tuesday goes solo, and after contributing to soundtracks for PT Anderson films, acting in The Big Lebowski, and appearing as herself in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she plays a show with a questionable surf rock band that’s known for using theremins, tesla coils and sound bites from forgotten science fiction films and TV shows.
4. The venue is packed to the brim with ultra-hardcore fans when these 2 bands play together – first up are Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew, who delight their followers with tracks off some older albums Fakebook, Painful, and Elecr-O-Pura; and headlining is the band that made history by being the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts, reaching number one with their debut album, Beauty and the Beat.
5. It’s a weird crowd tonight at this show that opens with I Wanna Sex You Up and All 4 Love, and closes with songs from the About a Boy soundtrack and lots of Damon Gough’s famous storytelling between songs.
6. This show starts hard with glam metal hits off the album Look What the Cat Dragged In, before the hair band closes their set with Every Rose Has Its Thorn to slow things down for headliner Mark Kozelek to play his signature mellowed-out covers of Modest Mouse songs with his band, along with their own tunes from the album Ghosts of the Great Highway.
7. Fans of this beloved singer/songwriter from Tacoma, Washington, get nostalgic when her set – featuring songs like I Wish I Was the Moon, Hold On, Hold On, and This Tornado Loves You – is followed by a Swedish pop band they are embarrassed to have loved many years ago, and they can’t help dancing to Don’t Turn Around.
8. It’s an all-English band lineup tonight, starting with the indie pop beats led by singers and childhood friends Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, performing singles VCR and Islands off their debut album from 2009, and ending with the New Wave band responsible for singles The Mayor of Simpleton, King for a Day, and Senses Working Overtime.
9. After a month in a psychiatric hospital, Stuart Leslie Goddard opens this show under his solo performer name, playing fan favorites from the 70’s and 80’s just like he did at his huge 2010 show The Pirate Metal Extravaganza, and is followed by the band of a fellow Brit, whose musical genres are listed on Wikipedia as “Chamber pop and Dark Cabaret” and whose 2005 album includes guest appearances by Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, Boy George and Devendra Banhart.
10. Brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb play a diverse set of hits from the 1960’s through 2000’s, then the mood changes when the headliners, led by brothers Jim and William Reid, open with the single Blues from a Gun off their 1989 album Automatic.
And that’s that! Comment with answers if you want to, play with your friends if you want to, and enjoy!
(This trivia was written by Lee Meredith, posted here only for your own personal enjoyment, thanks!)
