2008_05_01_Pub_Quiz

General Knowledge 1

• The Akira Kurosawa film Throne of Blood is based on which William Shakespeare play? [ANSWER]
  Macbeth
• Which Oakland-born rapper whose albums include Seasoned Veteran and The Game shares his stage name with a Harvey Comics character? [ANSWER]
  Richie Rich
• What was the name of Beaver’s best friend, played by child actor Rusty Stevens, on the TV show Leave it to Beaver? [ANSWER]
  Larry Mondello
• Who was the last person to join Major League Baseball’s 40-40 club by stealing 40 bases and scoring 40 home runs in a single season? [ANSWER]
  Alfonso Soriano (joining Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Barry Bonds)
• In 1904, The City of Truro became the first steam locomotive to break what speed record? [ANSWER]
  Go 100 miles per hour.
• Who is the only two time winner of the Booker Prize for his novels Disgrace and The Life and Times of Michael K? [ANSWER]
  J.M. Coetzee
• In atomic physics, what name is given to the principle that electrons fill orbitals starting at the lowest available energy states before filling higher states? [ANSWER]
  Aufbau principle
• What technique developed in 1884 allows one to distinguish between different categories of bacteria by comparing the absorption of dyes into their cell walls? [ANSWER]
  Gram Staining
• Attractions in which state capital include the home of President Franklin Pierce and the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium? [ANSWER]
  Concord, New Hampshire
• Nervous Australian thief Ahmed Jalloul was convicted last month of robbing a post office in Adelaide on the basis of what unique piece of evidence? [ANSWER]
  his own vomit (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/14/wsick114.xml)

Theme Round

• In which film does Alfred Hitchcock make a cameo as a man trying to board a railroad passenger car while carrying a double bass? [ANSWER]
  Strangers on a Train
• Who hosted the recently cancelled NBC show, The Singing Bee? [ANSWER]
  Joey Fatone
• Which National Hockey League team plays its home games in the HSBC Arena? [ANSWER]
  Buffalo Sabres
• Who got into a feud with the Dixie Chicks over his 2002 song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)”? [ANSWER]
  Toby Keith
• According to VSEPR theory, what is the molecular structure of boron trifluoride (BF3)? [ANSWER]
  trigonal planar
• What is the formal Latin name for the extinct genus of cats including the saber-toothed tiger? [ANSWER]
  Smilodon
• The Hero Twins Hunapu and Xbalanque were major figures in the mythology of what civilization? [ANSWER]
  Mayan
• What Edward Arlington Robinson poem describes the story of a wealthy, seemingly successful man who for unexplained reasons goes home one night and puts a bullet through his head? [ANSWER]
  Richard Cory
• In what European mountain range could you find ski resorts named Somport, Vallnord, and Formigal? [ANSWER]
  The Pyrenees
• In the Mario Kart series of video games, what item shrinks every other character when it is used? [ANSWER]
  The Thunderbolt (acc: lightning)

General Knowledge 2

• Against what land agent of Lord Erne did the Irish Land League refuse to tender services in 1880, resulting in a modern English word? [ANSWER]
  Charles Boycott
• The "Thin Red Line" and the charges of the Light and Heavy brigades occurred during what battle of the Crimean war? [ANSWER]
  Battle of Balaklava
• Florence Balcombe was once the girlfriend of Oscar Wilde but later married what other author of The Lair of the White Worm, The Primrose Path, and a work featuring the characters Wilhelmina Murray, Jonathan Harker, and Lucy Westenra? [ANSWER]
  Bram Stoker
• What catalyst is named for the German chemist who developed a technique for polymerization of ethylene at atmospheric pressure and the Italian chemist who extended it to other olefins? [ANSWER]
  Ziegler-Natta
• What former shortstop for the Negro League Indianaopolis Clowns broke Babe Ruth's home run record on on April 8, 1974 with 715 home runs? [ANSWER]
  Hank Aaron
• What video game company created the games Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle, The Dig, The Curse of Monkey Island, and Tie Fighter? [ANSWER]
  LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• The Shahnameh by Ferdowsi is the national epic of what nation? [ANSWER]
  Iran / Persia
• Capriccio espagnol and Scheherazade are orchestral works by what composer of "The Flight of the Bumblebee?" [ANSWER]
  Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
• In what novel would you find the duke and the dauphin, the Wilks family, the Grangerfords, and Jim? [ANSWER]
  Huckleberry Finn
• What Norwegian artist painted The Frieze of Life, which included the paintings Melancholy, Jealousy, and Ashes? [ANSWER]
  Edvard Munch

Mystery Round

• In the 1995 film Election, who plays teacher Jim McAllister, who attempts to sabotage Reese Witherspoon's character's narcissistic drive to power? [ANSWER]
  Matthew Broderick
• On Futurama, who won an election over Fingerlican John Jackson and Tastycrat Jack Johnson after buying Bender's discarded metal body? [ANSWER]
  Richard Nixon
• In Philip Roth's book The Plot Against America, who becomes president in 1940 and subsequently launches the "Just Folks" campaign to round up Jews? [ANSWER]
  Charles Lindbergh
• What group of super heroes faced off against Graydon Creed, founder Friends of Humanity, who was assassinated while running for president? [ANSWER]
  The Uncanny X-Men or the X-Factor
• On the West Wing, who played Arnie Vinick, the California senator who lost an election to Santos in the final season? [ANSWER]
  Alan Alda
• Travis Bickle becomes obsessed with Cybyl Shepard's character who's working on the campaign of Charles Palantine in what Scorsese film? [ANSWER]
  Taxi Driver
• Winston Noble defeats Hubert Hoag in an election in what dystopian novel with main character Guy Montag? [ANSWER]
  Fahrenheit 451
• What president during Day 2 of 24 was assassinated by Conrad Haas during Day 5? [ANSWER]
  David Palmer
• On the Simpsons, when Kang impersonates Bob Dole, he promises abortions to some and what to everyone else? [ANSWER]
  miniature American flags
• On what TV show did Tommy Carcetti become mayor of Baltimore after beating Royce in the primary? [ANSWER]
  The Wire