Trivia answers. . .

Matt Szymaszek came through with a David Ortizesque performance at around 10 a.m. this morning to tie Mike Ma and Canadian Mike with a score of 12/20. In any case, here are the answers. In a few responses, some people actually gave their reasoning for picking what they did, so I may reference others' responses. . . .

1. I had a tape in my car that I listened to regularly for three months, even though I never told anyone I was even a fan of this artist, which album was it?

Theresa wrote. . . ."b)Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill (This one, because it IS driving music, it's singing music AND my middle name is Mary Jane . . . ." This was the correct answer. I literally almost go into convulsions of annoyance when I hear Shania Twain, and while I actually think Jewel is decent, it's not driving music. Example:

She's a pretty girl, does she make you think nasty thoughts?
She's a pretty girl, do you want to tie her down?
She's a pretty girl, do you call her a bitch?
She's a pretty girl, did she sleep with your whole town?
Pretty girl, pretty girl, do you hate her'Cause she's pieces of you?

Yeah, I'm not listening to that in the car. . . . next Q

2. I went to elementary school with Susan, and recently I got back in touch with her again. She said she is a big Red Sox fan. I asked her if her favorite baseball player was Johnny Damon like all the other girls. She said she never really took a liking to him. Who is her favorite player?

c) Jason Varitek. If Susan does not like Damon because she never took a liking to him, it demonsrates a counter-cultural female perspective that one's favorite player should be independant of looks. Therefore, Susan has knowledge of baseball, which should eliminate Kapler. For the skeptics, I have met at least three women who have said there favorite player is Kapler, while probably 0 men in the entire state of Mass. would pick him as their favorite. Manny is obviously great but he lives in a "see-you-later world." Varitek is a solid player and consummate professional.

3. I got made fun of for like a half hour from my coworkers for saying I thought she was one of the top five hottest women. Is it??

b) Rose McGowan. The decoy answers were a and c. George picked a. and said "alternative waif girls are your wheelhouse." I think that means something along the lines of "My tastes overvalue alternative waif girls." In any case, I am growing away from that trend, but also I have been pushing the new Fiona album to people, since it is very, very good (kelly clarkson grammy? HUH?) Also, everyone knows I am/have been a fan of the wonder years, so the second most popular answer was Winnie Cooper. As Theresa noted, "however, Winnie Cooper was girl-next-door high school hot. I think that the male taste for hot has evolved from 70's frock-wearing babes to the more scantily clad Maxim-type ladies." There was a time and a place for Winnie in my life, and that was when I was like 14 or 15, comparing her to scuppahs with big, poofy hair in middle school. I like Rose because. . . I have no idea. Maybe because I find her incredibly attractive and she would probably turn down a Maxim spread out of priniciple, and she was with Marilyn Manson even though he's a dork. . . .

4. The legendary Chuck Klosterman said this band produced the best minute and a half of 80's rock. . .

a) Guns and Roses. I'll just quote the paragraph:

"Bono was able to morph himself into whatever his fans needed him to be: He could be angry, brooding, vulnerable, or romantic-and sometimes at the same moment. Rose is the same kind of shape shifter, but for a different, less stable audience. His style is even more schizophrenic. He swings from being openly violent and mysogynistic (like on "it's so easy") to acting hopeless (such as the brilliant closing two and a half minutes of "Rocket Queen," my vote for the finest 171 seconds of 80's rock). In the video "Don't Cry," emotional juxtaposition is pretty much all Axle does. But unlike Bono, Guns and Roses never played "college rock." It was never specifically directed at smart people. GNR wrote for a younger audience-the kind of people who still slammed bedroom doors and huffed gas in the garage."

Btw "Fargo Rock City" is a great book. His muscial insight is endless. On the GNR tip, he later compares Axle to Allen Iverson, as well as an incredible comparison of the last four songs of "GNR Lies" to the new testament, no joke. . .

5. I vacationed to Prague with my friend George while we were both doing our spring semester in Paris during our junior year in college. He wanted to go there to visit a girl he met in Paris named Pam. He was staying at her place one night when her Russian ex-boyfriend angrily came to visit her. Although she wanted to resist answering the door at first, he hears her voice and wouldn't give in, so she had to answer the door. How long did George end up spending uncomfortably wedged between her bed and wall?

The answer was 3 hours. This question was about George, and he knew the answer and wrote "Three hours ( scariest wake-up ever)" He got an 8/20 btw. Maybe I downplayed the threat of violence, but her bf was an angry ex-bf, and since Pam spoke like 5 languages (Chech, Russian, Spanish, French, and English), he heard arguing in foreign languages. Anyways, he managed to fall asleep at some point. He showed up at like 3 a.m. and after a while he fell asleep and left at 6. . . .

6. The first time I played Texas holdem in a casino, I played 3$/6$, limped utg with which sooooted hand, eventually calling a raise, only to flop top and bottom pair and check-call a bet on every street on my way to victory, only to crack KK?

a) Jc4c. Matt S. actually believed this hand didn't happen, since he couldn't believe I would ever do something like this ever, even the first time I played. But, I saw suited cards with a paint. Limp it up! This one was a gamble, only c. could be eliminated if one looked at probablility. Since I cracked KK, Kd4d would have had to make a flush or quad 4s. If anyone guessed that, it's ok bc the legendary Steven Guifre did as well. . .

7. At what age did I drink my first full beer?

Trick question. Like 3/25 got it right. It was 18. Perhaps now that I am not as much of a square, a lot of people got thrown off. George, who also knew this question yet still only got 8/20, said "> 7. c. (and you’ve been making up for lost time ever since).

8. The worst thing a girl ever said to me, at the time, was. . . .

Only like 3 people got this one too. It was "b. You're just like you're father. . . " Everyone else pretty much said c. I am not sure if it's because that is the worst of the three options or if everyone really thinks I am emotionally devoid. In any case, c. was said to me, but it didn't bother me because I knew it was ending, and I was being standoff-ish, so it didn't bother me whatsoever. . . .

9.Which dvd do I not own?

c) Little Nicky. Yeah, this was tough. the other two I got at Blockbuster in a buy 3 for $25, where I saw 2 I wanted and just picked a random one. Usually all the movies suck besides the ones you want. In any case, Undercover Brother is kind of funny at times, really. . . .Ali is prob one of the worst movies ever, though. . .

10. How long has the celery in the picture below been in my refigerator?

c) 3 months. Susan said, "I hope I am wrong about number 10." But, she wasn't. . . . George said, "> 10. c. (easiest qeustion in the quiz)"

11.11. I work with a guy named Brian. His four favorite bands at the moment are probably Guns and Roses, CCR, Wilco, and Pavement. When we were watching the Red Sox game tonight after work, which song came on that made him break out and sing like he was singing it live for an audience?

The answer was c. If I broke out in song, it could have been any of the three. I wished I had a picture of him for this q, but given his musical tastes, I think c. should have been the logical answer, and it was the most popular. Others were tricked by my trickery answers. . . .:P. . .

12. Where did I run my first rack of nine ball?

c) Paris. Right outside of the La Motte-Piquette stop. That flowed. . ."The La. . "

13. What tv show did I tell my sister I loved and she simply would not believe I was not messing with her? Like, I kept telling her I thought it was funny and she would have none of it. . ..

It was a. Just shoot me. We were having a conversation and she said "omg David Spade is so annoying!" I told her I thought Just Shoot me was a good show, which I think it is. Honestly, we went back and forth for 10 minutes and she thought I was fuckin' with her. . .

14. There was an annoying girl on the Bates Campus when I was there. My nickname for her was. . .

75% said Billygirl. It was b. Big Girl Bad Girl. Theresa wrote "a) Big Red - too shortb) Big Girl Bad Girl - too longc) The Billygirl - just right!" Geroge said. . "14. b. Big Girl Bad Girl (if that’s not right, can I borrow it?)" I think I came up with Big Girl Bad Girl because she tried so hard to fit in with the guys. she was playing wiffle ball with the people in my dorm freshamn year and she sucked real bad, like (apply Francis Begby accent from Trainspotting) "could't hit a ball if she triiieedd." She had tons of team spirit and wouldn't quit, even though she couldn't come within a foot of a wiffle ball floater. Even though it sounds like I am making fun of her for her athletic skills, she was just annoying in all aspects of life. . . next

15. I played some 3-cushion billiards for like 8 months. My high run was:

a) six. I'm not that good, or 3-cushion is really hard, which Canadian Mike may attest to. Even in my run of six I dumped two of the shots (I got lucky and made the shot by virtue of a "kiss" or accidental hit off the third ball. I did, however, make one expert shot for shot number five.

16. When I was like 10, I got fed up with my parents strict rules. I packed up a few shirts and pants - and no extra underwear obviously - as well as 17 dollars in change. How far did i get away from my house before I returned home?

b. 2 miles. Then I walking and my best friends' mother drove by and asked if I wanted to go back with her to hang out with Aaron - my best friend. I said yes and then my mother picked me up later in the day. She had no idea I ran away and I played it off like I didn't, because I genuinely didn't care anymore. Duke was upset by this and said, "Man, I had confidence you would get eleven miles." Maybe I would have. . .

18. My best friend Andy, when we were like 13, prerecorded a cinemax softcore porn before he went to bed one night. The next day, I asked to borrow it. He said "I'll let you borrow it, but it will cost you. . . " How much did I pay to view the movie?

a). $7. Thersa wrote "b) $10 - kids only think in round numbers." That's true, but kids also engage in extremely petty bargaining processes. . .

19. My favorite Neutral Milk Hotel song right now is. . .

a) Matt said "No way you use that many words on an incorrect answer." Good instincts, Matt. Theresa responded: b) Holland, 1945 -". . . this one for the beeat," noting it was the only one not about her burial. And, it is true, Holland 1945 is prob the best song, followed by "oh Comely," But a. is the answer :). . .

20.My favorite comedian is. . .

b. Steven Wright. Yah I like both the others, but, in perspective, I like his 80s humor about microwave ovens and rotary phones. . .

I am going to follow soon with like an 8-12 q tiebreaker for the 3 champs. . .