22 August 2007

For the first time in quite I while I was out playing bar trivia last night, thought not at the Elephant and Castle. A guy at work plays with some friends at the Applebee's in Danvers, and after a few weeks of being pestered I decided to go over.

It was pretty different from the E&C. There were six rounds, one of which was a bonus round of 10 questions (for this week, name the movie for which a listed actor won their first Oscar) and a theme round chosen by the previous week's winner (the team I was on won last week and went with Seinfeld, a solid choice). All questions were worth one point, with the final question allowing team to bet any number of their points. The emcee read the five questions and then played one song, which I think I like better than the one question, one song model.

Questions were pretty good. They may be a little easier than the E&C's, though I got stumped by enough of them.

We wound up winning, earning $25 or $30 restaurant credit. Which I'd be more excited about if I liked Applebees more. Still, they do have some decent apps, so no complaints.

It was kind of funny playing with a team of mostly strangers. My co-worker had mentioned that he worked with a guy who was on Millionaire, so there was much rehashing.

Anyway, some questions for you:

What is the name of the character you play as in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Tommy Vercetti (Greg) - I was surprised that no one on my team knew this, given how many of my teammates were males in their mid-20s. That seems like just the right demographic.

Why can't snakes shut their eyes? They don't have eyelids (Chris) - this is an example of one of the dodgier questions, as I don't know if we'd have gotten credit for giving an alternate correct answer, like Greg did. I think we would have, but it's hard to say. In any case, we had a snake owner on our team who got this. He's also apparently good friends with the guy who runs the game, which I can't imagine hurts any.

What is the birthstone for September? Sapphire (Greg) - you think I'd have this list down cold by now. I don't. It's like the order of the Presidents; I know the ends pretty well but lose track in the middle. Which makes sapphire the Rutherford B. Hayes of birthstones.

What was the occupation of the virgin Jerry dated on Seinfeld? Closet organizer (Greg) - We knew this, but I figured it was more interesting question than Jerry's apartment number. Which the team also knew. This was good round for me to take a break.

What two companies have advertising signs on top of the Green Monster? Volvo and The Sports Authority (Chris) - we had kind of a mini-Sox themed round here, as there were questions on the distance from home plate to the center field triangle and the number of consecutive saves Eric Gagne put together as a Dodger. Definitely more of a series of questions you can ask a local crowd rather than the mix of locals and business travelers the E&C usually has.

For what film did Robert DeNiro win his first Oscar? The Godfather Part II (Greg) - there was talk about this, but we wound up going with Raging Bull. This pissed me off less than missing Denzel Washington's win for Glory, where I though he had happen what actually happened to Morgan Freeman.

Who has appeared on the greatest number of Sports Illustrated covers? Michael Jordan (Greg) - this was the final question, and we were pretty confident about it. The only other person I could think of who'd be close was Muhammed Ali, but I was pretty sure MJ had passed him a while back.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Tommy Vercetti
They have clear protective skin over their eyes
Sapphire
Closet organizer
coca-cola is one.
The Godfather part II
Michael Jordan

The Grim Reaper said...

Greg's right - but I'm guessing you were looking specifically for they don't have eyelids.

Green Monster is "adorned" by those coke monstrosities, Volvo and... Sports Authority, I think.

For want of anything better to post, here's a breakdown of if I've been to the most populous 100 cities in the US, and if so for how...