October 4, 2010 question: Trivia on Strike

The frosting's on the punkin muffins, too.

The Cubs' season is over. The Bears' fantasy is over. And the frigid part of fall season is officially upon us. The frost is on the punkin, people. It's time for spices and Cool Whip and sweatshirts and early-morning ankle sensitivity. The leaves, they are a changin'.

Today's Question
Sports
Which is farther: the distance from the foul line to the head pin in bowling or the distance from the pitcher's plate to home plate in baseball?

Previous Question
And the people who knew it
The movie in question with the earth-saving humpback whales was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Here's who knew, more or less: Micaela, Laurie, Kyle, Paul C (the C stands for Contact), Steve J (the J stands for James Tiberius), John H (the H stands for Holla back, Spock!), Karen M (the M stands for Monday needs a whale named after it, too), and Heather M (the M stands for Maybe the Fail Whale could be Monday's sea mammal). Congrats to all of you, condolences to the rest of you, and kudos to three of you. You know who you are.

September 29, 2010 question - Hump (back) Day

It's Wednesday. Hump day. The day everyone realizes the week is half over and they should probably get to work. Excuse me for interrupting. But before I leave you to the sweet relief that Friday is near and the shocking realization that the end of your to-do list is not, please take a moment to appreciate this bit of random knowledge that won't help you in the least.

Today's Question
The Animal Kingdom . . . no, wait, Movies


In what film do two humpback whales named George and Gracie travel into the future and save the world?

Previous Answer
And the People Who Knew It


Steve J ( the J stands for Joad Family) and Karen M (the M stands for Make My Salad A César) knew that César Chávez founded United Farm Workers of America. Their trivial reign may never end, because who knows when the next question will go out. Congrats!

September 28, 2010 question - Mr. Snark Goes to Washington

A guy with a sense of humor, or any sense for that matter, has no place in Washington.
Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Stephen Colbert makes a pretty decent living making fun of politicians, but apparently they don't like it when he shows up at their workplace to do it. When the crown prince of Comedy Central appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday, its chairman, Rep. John Conyers D-Mich, asked the comic to submit his written statement and leave so that people who actually knew what they were talking about could take the floor. "I don't have a problem with a little levity, but you have no expertise in the matters we're most concerned about," Conyers chided. "Your style of comedy draws attention only to yourself and away from the very serious topic of . . . um . . . whatever it is we're supposed to be talking about."

Today's Question
Labor Unions
Who founded the United Farm Workers of America?

Yesterday's Answer
And the People Who Knew It
Cap'n Crunch's first name is Horatio. It says so on the Limited Edition Collector Card on the back of my throwback cereal box. Eat that, America. Seriously, it stays crunchy in milk and is delicious.

September 27, 2010 question - Welcome Back

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not me.

I know what you're thinking: Adam stopped sending trivia because he doesn't like me. It's personal. He doesn't care. He's got more important things to worry about. He's also a slacker, an ingrate, a sociopath, a bad dancer, a heretic, an Elton John impersonator, one of the people who got confused by the butterfly ballot, the one who let the dogs out, stinky, selfish, and also not much good. 


Well I'm writing today to tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that several of those things are debatable. But the real reason trivia has come to be more of a semiannual affair instead of a daily one is that you people know everything. In the infotainment age, it became almost impossible for me to come up with any questions you didn't know. So, like Willy Wonka withdrawing into his subterranean Oompa-Loompan sweatshop to perfect his ideas,  I have secluded myself in the bowels of the trivia monster to . . . wait, that's gross. I have sequestered myself in the nether regions of knowledge to create the . . . okay, also gross. I'm in my basement trying to do better, okay? Here's the question.

Today's Question

Breakfast Cereal

What is Cap'n Crunch's first name?

Previous Answer

And the People Who Knew It

The only Sesame Street muppet with five fingers is Cookie Monster. Nobody knew it. Wait, Adam, doesn't that make everything you said above just a horrendous lie? Also, I knew it! Okay, let's not analyze the situation to death. Let's just let trivia be trivia, you dig? And sure, you knew it, but I don't want to make the others feel bad. It will spoil the trivia renaissance.

March 8, 2010 question - 5-finger Trivia

So, it's been awhile since the trivia office sent anything over the wire. Don't worry. Everything's okay. Our fax machine is broken. Our coffee machine is in dire need of a replacement. And our calendar is still on February. But don't worry. Your trivia is important to us, and we're sorry about the wait. Also, we aren't really we. We're just me. But it sounds more official to pluralize myself. We know, we're pretentious.

But let's catch up on what we've missed. Happy Halloween! Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy President's Day! Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Casimir Pulaski Day! Oscars! Happy International Women's Day! Aw, it's Monday. Booo. Let's get to the question, which I just had fed to me by my Sesame Street friends.

Today's Question
Sesame Street
Who is the only Sesame Street Muppet with five fingers? (the rest have four)

Previous Answer
And the People Who Knew It
Little Richard was the guy James brown credited for bringing funk into rock 'n' roll. I'm pretty sure Jason knew. That was 6 months ago.

September 9, 2009 Question - Out of the Funk

Trivia Funk
Brought to you by George Clinton
I've been in a funk. But today, I'm coming out of it. Here is my trivia pledge:

• I will send trivia out today. I will try to do it again tomorrow.
• I will limit my funk to bouncy, heavy-handed bass lines, the emphasis on the down beat, and spasmodic dancing.
• I will shower.

These are my goals. They are not as lofty as some might expect, but they are not as simple as they seem.

Okay. I'm getting a call on my other brain, so I need to cut this short. Here's some trivia for you.

Today's Question
Funk
Who did James Brown credit as being the first to put the funk in the rock 'n' roll beat?

Previous Answer
And the people who knew it
I think the answer was Cornell. I'm giving credit to the entire month of August. Sorry, August. It wasn't personal.

July 30, 2009 question - Stupidist

Racism or Intellectualism?
Obama's "stupid" comments costing him; but why?
Barack Obama said that the police officers who arrested Harvard prof William Henry Gates acted "stupidly," a word he later wished he had calibrated differently.

Now the news is out that the way he handled his comments (and the comments about the comments about the comments) are costing him where it hurts a president most: his approval rating.

Most reactions seem to categorize this flap as a matter of racism. I see it as something different. Stupid is not just a bad word for kids to say anymore. Now the president can't even say it. If he had calibrated his thoughts as, "The police would have been wiser to approach matters differently," Obama probably would have been okay. But he called the police "stupid," and that will land anybody in time out.

Yeah, I think Obama's big mistake was offending stupid people. While that may be fun here at trivia, the White House isn't just supposed to defend Harvard professors. The Constitution begins, "We the people," not, "We the smart people."

Let's not use stupid as an insult any longer. Don't judge on mental might. Everybody has the potential to improve their intellect; even the prez.

Today's Question
History
What is the youngest school in the Ivy League?

Previous Answer
And the people who knew it
Karen M (the M stands for My Prince Better Be Tough) alone knew that the Grimm Brothers' princess didn't kiss the frog; she tossed him against the wall to transform him. Congrats! (And frogs, look elsewhere for a smooch.)