Quizzo Bowl Round One

This explorer, poet, and aristocrat was freed from the Tower of London on this date in 1616, but still got beheaded two years later.
What are the last three words of the song, “Over the Rainbow?
This great Norwegian writer, born on this date in 1828, wrote A Doll’s House, The Wild Duck, and Hedda Gabler.
Barry Manilow has only won one Grammy, for a disco song he recorded in 1978. What is it?
What two teams are tied for most Final Four appearances, with 18 each?
This phrase meaning “discuss the most important matter” dates back to 1920s movie editing.
What is reality tv’s Michael Sorrentino better known as?
You might find trimethylxanthine in a couple of your favorite drinks. What is the more common name for trimethylxanthine?
Ridley Scott directed the Share the Fantasy ads for this popular perfume.
What island is the only current US possession that Chris Columbus visited?
What prime time soap opera, which aired from 1981 to 1989 and made it to #1 in the ratings in 1985, took place in Denver?
According to boxofficemojo, what is the highest grossing documentary of all time in the US? (That doesn’t include IMAX movies or reality TV movies like Jackass.)

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Quizzo Tonight

We are back in business tonight at both the Locust Rendezvous and the Black Sheep. The Vous continues to be the most competitive bracket in the field, so better bring your A-game. Meanwhile, Black Sheep is the quiz with the most parity, but be forewarned-you’ll have to knock off the 2nd place team at Quizzo Bowl to take the win. Duane’s World defends their silver medal at 8 p.m. Hope to see ya tonight!

P.S. All of Quizzo Bowl questions will be posted tomorrow, so if you missed it you can see how you would have done, and if you were there, you can relive the fury you felt when I announced the 50/50 round.

No Duane? No Problem! Wins at Vous

First Place : No Duane, No Problem 105

2nd Place: Inglorious Barristers 100

3rd Place: The Jams (repped by the Corrs) 95

Lambda Wins at O’Neals

First Place: Lambda 108

2nd Place: Ivan’s Trivial Ear

3rd Place: Senator T. Longsessions 80

Pics of Last week’s winners

Ok, so I’m running a bit behind here and I’m trying to catch up. But the following photos are pics of last week’s winners. Oh, and I think I’ve already got a venue for Quizzo Bowl VII. And we’re aiming for February 19th. I’m sick of stressing during March Madness. Hope to have the band lined up soon as well. And lesson learned about the preferences of you geeks: we’ll return to jamming to cheesy 80s tunes next year. Promise.

More Details on Saturday Quizzo

As I posted yesterday, I’m hosting a quizzo at Whole Foods on Friday night and at Bridget Foy’s on Saturday. A little bit more info on the Foy’s quizzo, because it’s a little different than usual: max team size is 5. Why? Because I’ve got 5 Phillies tickets to the Mayor’s box for the winners, as well as a 5 minute photo op with the Mayor at some point in the future. Holler at me this week if you’re gonna play. Seating is limited.

Question of the Week

This man, a senior editor at Harper’s Weekly, claims to be the inventor of the flash mob.

Flash Mobs: Settle Down, White People

For the past few days, there has been lots of talk about flash mobs. Some of it has been constructive, but most of it idiotic drivel. And my question is: is this thing being blown a bit out of proportion? As far as I can tell, the end result of the flash mob on Saturday was one fight. Thousands of people descend on South Street, and the end result is one fight. There was almost a fight at Quizzo Bowl. And yet there are all these people posting on Philadelphiaspeaks that we need to call in the dogs, that the city is seized by fear, and that they are thinking about moving out of the city.

A bunch of teens descended on South Street. I suspect that most of them were doing the exact same thing you did when you were 16: looking for the party. The party was on South Street. They went. Yes, it was on a public street, and therefore it is a public nuisance, but it’s not exactly the biggest problem in Philly right now, only the latest fad in things to be horrified by. (H1N1, anybody?)

Of course, when you have any large crowd, you’re going to have a few bad apples who were raised by wolves and they are going to spoil the fun for everyone else (ever been to an Eagles game, folks?) That is the problem with flash mobs, and I understand the fear that eventually someone is going to get shot. I’d be all for a return to mounted police on South Street for crowd control, and I hope that these things are broken up more quickly in the future.

Yes, there have been big fights at previous flash mobs, and innocent people have gotten hurt. But again, there are numerous fights at every single Eagles game and it doesn’t seem to be a major cause for civic concern. I suspect that 98% of the kids out on South Street on Saturday night were merely exercising their right to go where-ever all the members of the opposite sex were, not looking for trouble.

As for a simple act of civil disobediance such as holding up traffic on a street where everyone in their right mind knows not to drive on Saturday night anyway, well, it doesn’t really signal the apocalypse for me, especially since it broke up peacefully as soon as the cops showed up.

Is it a bit scary when a large group of teenagers congregate without any sense of order? Sure. But I think that a couple of officers with a twitter account could nip these things in the bud pretty quick, and once the kids realize that their mobs will always be greeted by police, it’s going to be seen as a waste of time and get old quick. And then us old white folks can go back to complaining about the important things, like that dumbass Cliff Lee trade.

Two Special Quizzos This Weekend!

Hey kids, just wanted to let you know that I am doing a couple of fun events this weekend, one in Dirty Jersey and one on South Street. (Two things that are hot on South Street right now: Johnny Goodtimes and flash mobs.)
First of all, on Friday night, I’ll be at Whole Foods in sunny Marlton, New Jersey, doing a fundraiser for their Whole Planet Foundation. All questions will be food and environment related, and all of the money raised goes to a great cause. That will run from 7-9 p.m. on Friday.

Then, on Saturday, I’ll be hosting a census quiz at Bridget Foy’s on South Street. The goal is to encourage people to fill out their census forms. Gonna be a great quiz for you American history junkies, as we’ll be looking at how America changes every ten years. Action starts at 7 p.m. Hope to see you this weekend!