Month: March 2011

5 Fun Facts You May Not Know About Liz Taylor

An American icon died yesterday, and needless to say there will be a few questions about her tonight at quizzo. In the meantime, here are a few things you may not have known about Liz Taylor.

  • Liz’s Hollywood acting career was begun in part by World War II. The Taylors were living in London when Liz was a little girl, as her father was an art dealer there (Liz was born in London and had joint UK/US citizenship) but when the war broke out, they moved back to the United States. Since Liz’s mom had family in Los Angeles, they decided to move there. (Source: wikipedia.)
  • Taylor was born with a mutation that gave her two sets of eyelashes. (Source: Washington Post)
  • Liz Taylor was the voice behind Maggie’s first word on The Simpsons. The word was “Daddy”, but because Taylor repeatedly said it too sexily for a baby, they had to record 24 takes. Finally, Taylor said “F*** you” to Simpson’s creator Matt Groenig and walked out. They went with the best one they had. (Source: NY Daily News)
  • Liz and her final husband, Larry Fortensky, met at the Bette Ford Clinic and were married at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. A parachuting papparazzo landed 20 feet from the wedding gazebo during the ceremony. (Source: People Mag.)
  • Taylor tried to renounce her US citizenship in 1965 in an attempt to shield her income from US taxes, but lost her nerve and refused to renounce “all allegiance to the United States of America.” (source: Mental Floss)

Question of the Week

The curious smile on the Mona Lisa was an example of this style of Renaissance painting technique, which da Vinci described as “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.”

Note: JGT is very excited to be hosting a Leonardo da Vinci quiz this Friday at the Franklin Institute at 8 p.m.

Scores of the JGTSpI After Two Weeks

Here are the scores from the JGTSpI. Teams in yellow are in the Top 10 and are in the running for the $100 prize bonus drawing. Teams in green would probably qualify if the Invitational ended today (depending on venue). Teams in blue would be on the outside looking in. Of course, almost no-one has taken advantage of the physical challenges. Two have expired, but the easiest one is still available until Wednesday, and your team can earn up to 4 points by having people wear their school colors. They’d also be the frontrunners for the $50 bonus prize that goes to the top physical challenge team. In addition to the online physical challenges, I will be doling out some bonus points at quizzo this week. So bring those 1970s nickels. Two great chances to earn points tonight, at the Khyber at 7 p.m. and Westbury at 9 p.m.

All-Music Quizzo Tonight!

Koob and Kristy will be hosting an ALL MUSIC QUIZ tonight at the Khyber at 7 p.m. Furthermore, let me say this about the Khyber: I had a fried green tomato BLT sandwich there last week that was hands down the best BLT I’ve ever had. Great beers on tap, and terrific beer specials during quizzo. Action starts upstairs at 7 p.m.

On to the Westbury at 9 p.m. While the quiz will not be All-Music, Mike has assured me that there will be no basketball round tonight, so as to stave off revolt. There are also rumors of a Saved by the Bell round. My team (the Anti-Popes) proved last week that Group W is beatable, particularly if you poach one of their best players. Both bars offer a great shot to score JGTSpI points. There is no front-runner at the Khyber, and Mike will be giving out bonus JGTSpI points at the Westbury. Hope you can make it out tonight.

MAAC Attack Leads Brackets After First Week

Maac Attack has established itself as the pace car in this year’s JGT Brackettacular. (You can view entire scoreboard here.) Meanwhile, the complete meltdown of the Big East has left many brackets in tatters, even some teams in the Top 10. Basket Nihilist is in 4th place but had Pitt winning it all. Odabashian and Bo is a Bum are tied for 6th but had Syracuse and Pitt winning it all, respectively. As for me, my bold pick of Notre Dame as National champs makes me look like a jackass. Notre Dame is horrible, as is the entire Big East. 11 teams in the tourney, and only 2 make the Sweet 16? Embarrassment. Of course, the battle for 50th rages on as well, as 3 teams are tied for 49th and 6 teams are tied for 52nd. Remember, the 50th place team gets a $50 gift certificate to Plough and Stars. Here’s the Top 10 after week 1.

  1. MAAC Attack 50
  2. Eobphilly 47
  3. Dry Your Eyes Guys 45
  4. Basket Nihilist 44
  5. Pickle Sniffers 44
  6. Free Brandon Davies 43
  7. Odabashian 43
  8. UPSETALERT 43
  9. Waldo 43
  10. BO is a bum 43

Da Vinci Quiz Next Friday! (and other quizzo news)

Hey kids, gonna have a very fun quiz next Friday night the 25th that you should check out. It is $15 to get in, but that includes admission to the museum, admission to the Da Vinci exhibit (Tix are normally $24.50 to the exhibit alone), and quizzo. There will be a DJ, raffles, and yes, there will be booze. Gonna be a very fun night, and a cool way to check out one of the city’s coolest spots. Hope you can make it.

It’s all about Quizzo, Philadelphia’s pub quiz game. Local teams (Sofa Kingdom) and celebrities (Johnny Goodtimes, the Bob Barker of Quizzo hosts) involved with it are showcased in this entertaining documentary.

  • The JGTSpI is now through week 2. Scoreboard coming Monday. There is currently a very easy physical challenge that can earn you some points. Just wear an article of clothing with a team in the tourney on it (see post below). And don’t worry if you haven’t scored yet. This one is gonna run a little longer than in the past, so you’ve still got plenty of time.
  • If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest the catheter videos I posted earlier this week. I really think you’re going to enjoy them.
  • As for next week, the best place to get a win is definitely O’Neals. Been really quiet there the past few weeks. Hanging out there right now, watching some NCAA hoops with Koob (Steak Em Up) and Todd, Steve, and Greg (The Savage Ear.), and Hunter (Todd and Lil). Life is good. Enjoy the weather and have a great weekend everybody!

A Super Easy Way to Score Points in the JGTSpI

In case you folks haven’t noticed yet, there is a super easy way to score some points in the JGTSpI that you are not going to want to pass up. All you need to do is to get a picture of yourself in a piece of clothing with a name or logo of a team that is in the NCAA tournament on it…and considering that Temple, Nova, and Penn State are all in the tourney, it shouldn’t be tough to do. Just post the pics to the JGT facebook page. You can earn up to 4 points this way, and with a couple of other physical challenges up right now as well, you can earn a total of 8 points by friday. When you keep in mind that a) there will be a sweet prize for the team with the most physical challenge points and that b) the top 10 teams in the JGTSpI will be eligible for a $100 bonus prize drawing, this physical challenge is a must do. If you do no have facebook, you can still earn points by shooting me an email (johnny@johnnygoodtimes.com) with the picture in it.