January 30, 2009 question

AAA has been around since 1902. Yeah, it was probably needed most critically when automobiles were still heavily outnumbered by horse-drawn carriages. Charles came closest with his guess of 1914, and although it's 12 years off, he still could have gotten a membership at a really good introductory rate at that time. Way to go, Charles!

Speaking of close, how about that Illinois Senate vote, huh? Seeing as though they're usually split down the middle on cut-and-dry topics like the bill to legalize bribes applied to the senatorial profit sharing plan, the 59-0 vote to axe Rod was a little overwhelming. Don't worry about Blago, though, he'll be back on his feet soon enough. Word is he's slated to sub for Elisabeth Hasselbeck during her maternity leave from The View.

Now, here's a question about this important political topic:

In what year did The View premiere on ABC?

January 29, 2009 question

Okay, so I eased up on you with the American Automobile Association, but the trivia pedal is gonna hit the trivia metal today. Here's the question:

In what year was the American Automobile Association formed?

And here's who knew better than to succumb to the non-trick trick question:

Heidi
Steven F (the F stands for Ford Anglia)
Gopal
H. E. (the H E stands for Hudson Essex)
Diannalee
Nancy K (the K stands for K-Car)
Lee
Mike K (the K stands for Kei Car)
Frislem
Karen M (the M stands for My Father's Oldsmobile)
Steve J (the J stands for Jag-You-Are)
Heidi

Vroom.

--  Adam Kellogg adam@adamkellogg.com 219.762.9396 

January 28, 2009 question

WAGDA is A) Washington State Geospatial Data Archive, as three of you knew: Karen M (the M stands for Geographic Information Systems Expert), Karen H (the H stands for Holistic Surveyor), and Heidi. What you may not know is that all of the selections were moderate variations of real acronyms:

WAGD: Waste Anesthetic Gas Disposal
WAGER: Weekly Addiction Gaming Education Report
WAGES: Women's Action to Gain Economic Security
WAGE: World Affairs and the Global Economy

So don't worry, you weren't fooled by my creativity. You were fooled by the avalanche of available acronyms (AAA). Hmm . . . that probably won't stick either, will it? Here's today's question:

What does the acronym AAA* (The Triple-A Membership that offers roadside assistance, maps, travel discounts, and much more) stand for?

It should be noted that this particular acronym holds upwards of 150 legitimate meanings, but I think you know the one I'm talking about.

January 27, 2008 question

I would have asked you which states have never produced a Miss America, but since there are 21 of them (including the Virgin Islands, who have only been competing for four years now) the big winners California, Ohio, and Oklahoma stepped into the trivial spotlight. Nancy K (the K stands for Kansas) was the only one to correctly name two.

Hmm . . . I guess there's a reason they pulled this show off network TV, because anything not known by this group of trivia seekers isn't really worth knowing. Well . . . you know.

Right now I'm just excited about the recent study showing that it would take 1,000 years to reverse the global warming trend, even if we reduced our CO2 emissions to zero. Of course, that would require us all to stop breathing, so . . . I'm going to go ahead and keep driving my car, thank you very much. Can we stop putting "green" on the labels of every product imaginable now? I'm ready to go out and buy a bottle of "We're All Gonna Die Anyway" turbo-charged, industrial strength, lead-based laundry detergent. Okay, here's today's question:

The existence of what organization (WAGDA) will likely prevent me from patenting the initials of my new brand, We're All Gonna Die Anyway?

A) Washington State Geospatial Data Archive
B) Waste Anesthetic Gas Disposal Aggregate
C) Weekly Addiction Gaming Designers Association
D) Women's Action to Gain Diversified Advancement
E) World Affairs & Global Development Alliance

January 26, 2008 question

Britney has about 90 million Web sites calling her name, but Barack Obama is in the 110 million stratosphere. Interestingly enough, there is trivial controversy over which number is more disturbing. I won't try to settle it, since disturbance and controversy are always welcome here.

I will move on to the best news of the weekend, that Miss Indiana is now, for the first time ever, Miss America. (Also, the Miss America Pageant happened . . . who knew?) As a lifelong Hoosier, I'm proud that the leading propagator of world peace is finally from the finest state in the Union. To celebrate, here's more Miss America trivia for you in today's question:

Representatives from what three states have won the Miss America pageant six times each, tied for the most for any state?

Also, big sparkling tiaras to all who knew last Friday's question:

Paul C (the C stands for Connecticut)
Charles
Kyle
Steve J (the J stands for Jersey)

January 23, 2009 question

Here are the five previous husband-wife tandems to earn best acting Oscar nods in the same year:

Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne (both for The Guardsman in 1932)
Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester (both for Witness for the Prosecution in 1957)
Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor (both for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1966)
Frank Sinatra (From Here to Eternity) and Ava Gardner (Mogambo) in 1953
Rex Harrison (Cleopatra) and Rachel Roberts (This Sporting Life) in 1963

Somehow Emma Thompson & Kenneth Branagh, Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise, and Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward managed to stagger their nominations. But here's who knew Burton & Taylor: Charles, Elena, Gopal, Heather M (the M stands for Married Or Not, Brangelina Must Not Take Home the Gold), Karen M (the M stands for Marriage Never In Question For Liz), Nancy K (the K stands for Knight Should Have Been Nominated For Best Picture).

And here's today's question:

Whose name yields more Google results: Britney Spears or Barack Obama?

January 22, 2009 question

Cordelia is one of the moons of Uranus. You all guessed either Saturn or Jupiter and totally forgot about Uranus.

Oh come on. Like you didn't start thinking up jokes the second you saw what the answer was. But let's turn our minds to higher, more noble, more edifying subjects . . . like Oscar nominations. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger's Best Supporting bid is the only big nomination for The Dark Knight. I haven't checked the rules, but apparently my watching a film completely excludes any movie from Best Picture contention. (My condolences go out to Speed Racer and his family.)

However, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were both nominated in the Best Actor/Actress in a Lead Role categories*, because the voters of the Academy didn't think the rest of the world was quite jealous enough. Here's today's question:

Aside from Pitt and Jolie, name one of the five other married couples who received acting nominations in the same year.**



*How enlightened is it to segregate the actor and actress awards? Why are the men competing against the men and the women against the women? Is there a different range of difficulty or something? Just wondering.

**Okay, I admit, that's really not a question. It's more of a command, which seems kind of rude, I guess. "Name one. Now!" You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sure you understand.