Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Spin Off Into MADNESS!


I was watching Better Call Saul, the much-better-than-I-worried-it-would-be spin off from Breaking Bad the other night, and I saw a mention of the upcoming spin-off of The Walking Dead.  

I actually enjoy TWD, and watch it every week.  Unfortunately, the show has a tendency to act like me in high school, and fails to live up to its potential. Somehow I had high hopes for the new series, which will start with the zombie outbreak, but instead of the thousands of miles of woods in Greater Metro Atlanta and Arlington, it will focus on Los Angeles.  So far, so good.

Recently, AMC revealed the name of the new show:

Fear The Walking Dead.

Really.

It could still be good, but I don't have high hopes.
Of course I will watch it.

Tonight's non-booze question:



I can think of at least 4 TV shows that produced at least THREE spin-off series.

Name 2, and all their spin-offs.

In person, by 7:45.

(I mean scripted, acted, LIVE ACTION shows, that are true spin-offs.  This means they took place in the same universe, with shared settings or characters.  Galactica 1980 is a spin-off of the original Battlestar Galactica, but the recentish Syfy reboot is not.)



For a chance to win drinks, check out the quiz on Barmacy's facebook page.
 
(Coming in a few minutes.)

(Also - You know we give hints to the Last Call quiz each week through this link, right?) 


Rob


Your weekly link roundup:
Last Call USA NEOhio - Facebook
Last Call Productions - Facebook
Last Call USA's Weekly HINTS
Last Call USA's Trivia League
check LEAGUE SCORES here.
ROB at Last Call
You are HERE.
Our company store.

I published a book!  


Does this help?



NOT RELATED, but seriously - check it out.
Now streaming on Netflix.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Honoring Our Trivial Heroes

from here.

trivial hero
I host for Last Call in Akron Ohio.  
I got into hosting because I genuinely love performing, showing off, and I have always been skilled at recalling odd facts.

Sometimes it pays off.  

Sometimes it’s just good for annoying friends and family.

I often get asked “How do you remember all this stuff?.”
 (Well, it’s usually phrased as “Why do know all this random crap?!”)

There are a ton of web pages that offer advice and insights into this.
People who are good at trivia have a wide range of interests. They vary, but if you speak with any of them, or read through the articles I linked above, you can see one common thread: to “know random crap” and be able to recall it, you must stay curious – have a genuine interest in the world, and don’t be afraid to find out more.

In the past two months, three individuals died who clearly fit into this ideal.  All of them used their interests and passions affect the world, and generated more than their fair share of trivia questions to boot.

Trivia Heroes

Sam Simon helped shape comedy for a generation as one of the driving creative forces behind The Simpsons.  
He had been living with terminal cancer for the past few years.  
He left his $100+ fortune to charity.

Trivia Heroes

Leonard Nimoy was Spock.  
Also a gem of a human being.  
Read this interview with George Takei for just one example.

Trivia Heroes

Most recent was Sir Terry Pratchett, author of a tonne of wonderful books.  If you have read him, you know how hilarious, biting, gentle, empathic, caring, humane and wise he was. And genuinely pants-wettingly funny.  If you have not read him yet, you are in for a treat.

Next time I host, I am going to have a toast to these folks, because of how much they have meant to me.

Tell me who *your* Trivial Heroes are, either in the comments, or by dropping a line to: rob@akrontriviators.com.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The Trivia Alert! Superfriends - To the Rescue!

The "Super Friends" cartoon show was loosely based on DC Comic's Justice League.  Most of the cast (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, should be pretty familiar to you, even if you only have a passing interest in superheroes.


Pretty standard superheroic line up, plus two new characters - Wendy and Marvin - the original Wonder Twins.  

Although *technically* the only White American members of the main crew are Batman and Robin, (Aquaman is Atlantean-American, Wonder Woman is a diplomat from the Greco-Hellenic Paradise Island, and Superman is an illegal alien) the argument was made that it was a pretty pale looking cast.

DC Comics didn't have a great stable of multi-ethnic characters at the time, but the producers made a conscious decision to make the Super Friends look as if they came from all of the planet, not just the paler sections:



Okay, they look as if they are a construction worker short of re-uniting the Village People, but at least Hanna-Barbera was trying!


Tonight's non-booze question:
Name any two of these heroes.

In person, by 7:45.



For a chance to win drinks, check out the quiz on Barmacy's facebook page.
 
(Coming in a few minutes.)

(Also - You know we give hints to the Last Call quiz each week  through this link, right?) 


Rob


Your weekly link roundup:
Last Call USA NEOhio - Facebook
Last Call Productions - Facebook
Last Call USA's Weekly HINTS
Last Call USA's Trivia League
check LEAGUE SCORES here.
ROB at Last Call
You are HERE.
Our company store.

I published a book!  



Super Friends Character Reference sheets:

 












e.


Monday, March 23, 2015

There’s Only One Way to Win Trivia!

from here.

memory

We all get those emails.
  • CLICK HERE FOR BIIIIIIIIIG TRIVIA SKILLS!
  • “Please your trivia host with correct answers ALL NIGHT!”
  • “ENHANCE YOUR BRAIN POWER!”
  • “Grow your MIND into a TRIVIA TORPEDO!”
  • “Answer questions that are HARDER! FASTER! LONGER!”
  • “Create a BRAIN BULGE that that will arouse JEALOUSY on the league score page!”
  • “The most defiant fillies will strive for riding your new big CRANIAL STALLION!”
  • “I am Nanga Eboko, assistant to the Finance Minister of Cameroon.  I have US$839 million dollars that I need your assistance in liberating from my corrupt government.”
(That last one is probably legit – I sent him my social security number and bank account information just in case.  He seemed so nice.)

But what about the rest of those?

Do “herbal supplements” have any real measurable effect, beyond the placebo effect?  Can you really do better at Trivia by swallowing a handful of pills? 

Will you grow intellectual girth by guzzling chemicals?

Let’s take a look at one herb things that are typically bandied about as a mental “performance enhancer.”

GINKO BILOBA

This herb comes from a large tree, most often found in China.  The tree is often referred to as aliving fossil” – there are examples have been dig up that are 270 million years old.

People have claimed it’s effective in treating Alzheimer’s and dementia for years, and also take the next step to assert it will boost memory, recall and cognitive function. Supplement mills, brain hackers, and snake-oil salesmen promote it as a personal trainer for the brain.

Two a day, and you’ll remember the name of that guy who was on the original Star Trek who had a part in that movie where Tom Hanks was an astronaut .
Ginkgo Biloba has been shown to produce some interesting effects.  It’s been found to cause tumors in rats, seizures, nausea, diarrhea and gas.  But will it help your trivia game?

In a word (and several links): no.

If you don’t want to click through, the summary is that in 2009, Dr. Steven DeKosky, dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia published a study on the “miracle herb”.  His researchers followed 3000 people for 6 years and tracked a plethora of mental functions.

There was no difference in the Ginkgo group vs. the control group.

If you are looking for a way to improve your game, you should just stick with the old reliable:

Practice, practice, practice.
 
Although, there has been a promising development in recent news.
This column has not been evaluated by the FDA.
This column is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
This column is not intended to take the place of your personal physician’s advice.
Discuss this information with your own physician or healthcare provider to determine what is right for you.
All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions.
We can not and do not give you medical advice. If you are taking medical advice from a humorous column on a trivia website please consult a mental health professional.
Do not taunt happy fun ball.
 
Trivia: What kind of brain does Igor bring back to the doctor in Young Frankenstein?

Send all guesses to: rob@akrontriviators.com. First 3 correct guesses will be recognized in a future edition!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Póg Do Tábhairne, Tá tú daoine an-deas!! Happy St. Pat's at Barmacy - Tonight! Ná a Bheith Ina Lem Balbh, Teacht Ar An Chógaslann Barra!



Happy St. Maewyn Succat's Day! 


After landing on the Emerald Isle, Maewyn went native and took on the nom de l'église of Patrick. 

(Or a little more correctly, something closer to Pádraig or Pádraic.) 

The Republic of Ireland has two official languages.
What are they?



Correct answers in person after 7:45 tonight!

Remember, this is the NO-BOOZE WINNING quiz.

For a chance to win drinks, check out the quiz on Barmacy's facebook page.

 
(Coming in a few minutes.)

(Also - You know you may obtain hints for the Last Call quiz each week by clicking here, right?) 


Rob

Your weekly link roundup:
Last Call USA NEOhio - Facebook
Last Call Productions - Facebook
Last Call USA's Weekly HINTS
Last Call USA's Trivia League
check LEAGUE SCORES here.
ROB at Last Call
You are HERE.
Our company store.

I published a book!  




Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Thinking - Trivia Tonight - 8 @ The Barmacy!



Sam Simon died this week.

If you are a fan of comedy, or simply of the Simpsons you may know why he was important.  If not, the links above will give you a better insight than I will into who he was, and the impact he made.

He'd been publicly sick for a while, and made huge charitable bequests in his will.

He was also know for his art collection.  One thing that jumped out at me while reading this article (from a 60 minutes interview in 2007) is that he owns a cast of The Thinker.


You know The Thinker.  You've seen it hundreds of times.  Parodied thousands of times.

Did you know that there is no single Thinker? Rodin cast dozens of them.

They are all over the world.

We have one less than 50 miles from here.

(If you are in Greater Akron, that is.)

And because we can't have nice things, some assholes tried to destroy it in the 1970s.

This weeks quiz:

Where is Ohio's Thinker?
Who tried to bust it up? (Or, at least according to the best guess of the police.)


Correct answers in person after 7:45 tonight!

Remember, this is the NO-BOOZE WINNING quiz.

For a chance to win drinks, check out the quiz on Barmacy's facebook page.

(Coming in a few minutes.)

(Also - You know you can haz hints for the Last Call quiz each week by clicking here, right?) 


Rob

Your weekly link roundup:
Last Call USA NEOhio - Facebook
Last Call Productions - Facebook
Last Call USA's Weekly HINTS
Last Call USA's Trivia League
check LEAGUE SCORES here.
ROB at Last Call
You are HERE.
Our company store.

I published a book


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The Quiz with Two Brains - Tonight!






The depressing news from last week got me thinking about some of the GREATEST Spock episodes (even from the cartoon).

Which led me to the worst.










That, combined with this interesting article got me thinking about brains in cinema and television.



Which led me to thinking about zombies.





What was the first film that introduced the concept of zombies hungering for sweet sweet brains?



Correct answers in person after 7:45 tonight!

Remember, this is the NO-BOOZE WINNING quiz.

For a chance to win drinks, check out the quiz on Barmacy's facebook page.

(Coming in a few minutes.)

(Also - You know you can haz hints for the Last Call quiz each week by clicking here, right?) 


Rob

Your weekly link roundup:
Last Call USA NEOhio - Facebook
Last Call Productions - Facebook
Last Call USA's Weekly HINTS
Last Call USA's Trivia League
check LEAGUE SCORES here.
ROB at Last Call
You are HERE.
Our company store.

I published a book!