Thanks to everybody who came out for our Birthday (George Washington's, too). In case you couldn't make it, or just want to relive the magic - check below for the questions and answers!
Congrats to our winners, STOP THE BUS; Second place team, SOMETHING INAPPROPRIATE; winner of best team name, FEMINIST SELFIES; and bringing in the finish, NERD ALERT (taking home the booby prize).
ROUND 1: TRIVIA
1) The Seattle Seahawks roundly beat the Denver Broncos earlier this month, winning Superbowl XLVIII. The last time the Emerald City could boast of a men's professional league national championship was 1979. For a point each, what was the sport, and what city did they face? Extra points: name the teams that played in the final round of that championship (you must be era-specific).
2) In Paris, where would you find Franklin D. Roosevelt, Victor Hugo, and George V?
3) Colloquially, the holiday celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in February is known as Presidents' Day. What is the official name of the federal holiday?
4) The 22nd Winter Olympic Games are closing in Sochi tomorrow night. In what year was the first modern Winter Olympiad held? Bonus point if you can name the host country.
5) Granny, Monkey's Fist, Pratt, Windsor, and Cat's Paw are all types of what?
6) What is the name of the largest moon of Jupiter?
7) Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde haunt what classic video game?
8) Which book by the Austrian, Felix Salten was made into an animated motion picture in 1942?
9) Together, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; the Horse and HIs Boy; The Magician's Nephew; and the Final BAttle are known as what?
10) The Yucatan Chanel, or Straits of Yucatan, is a 120-mile strait in the Gulf of Mexico between Mexico and which country?
11) The sport of curling uses stones or rocks conventionally made of what material?
12) What does 'Vodka' mean in Russian?
13) Who reportedly said "at least I can wear high heels now? after breaking up with her then-husband?
14) According to the classic narrative, who, or more specifically what, protected the Jews of Prague from the anti-Semitic policies of the Holy Roman Emperor in the 16th century?
15) Using petroleum jelly and coal dust, what product did Tom Lyle Williams pioneer in 1915, initially for his sister?
ROUND 2: VISUAL
Name the Presidents
:: ANSWERS ::
ROUND 1
1)
BASKETBALL, WASHINGTON D.C., SUPERSONICS V. WASHINGTON BULLETS
Seattle was home to the Sonics from 1968-2008, when they were sold and became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Seattle defeated the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1. The Bullets have been known as: the Chicago Packers, Chicago Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, Capital Bullets, Washington Bullets, and now, Washington Wizards.
2)
THE PARIS METRO
They are Metro Stations
3)
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY
The federal holiday was initially implemented by an Act of Congress in 1879 for government offices in DC. It was expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices. It was originally celebrated n Washington's actual birthday - February 22 - but on January 1, 1971, it was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which affixed "Presidents' Day", Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day to their respective Mondays.
4)
1924, FRANCE
The Games were held every four years from 1924-36, after which they were interrupted by WWII. They resumed in '48 on their previous 40year cycle until 1992. Up to that point, the Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, but, in accordance with a 1986 decision by the IOC to place the Olympiads on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, the next Winter Games after '92 were held in 1994 in Norway.
5)
KNOTS
A Monkey's fist, or paw is so named because it looks somewhat like a small bunched fist - it is tied at the end of a rope to serve as a weight, making it easier to throw, and also as an ornamental knot.
6)
GANYMEDE
7)
PAC-MAN
Despite the seemingly random nature of the enemies, or ghosts, each were designed with its own distinct personality in order to keep the game from becoming impossibly difficult or boring to play. Blinky, the red enemy, chases Pac-Man; Pinky (pink) and Inky (blue) try to position themselves in front of Pac-Man's mouth - their character names translate respectively as 'ambusher' and 'fickle'. Although the orange enemy's behavior is supposedly random, a careful analysis of the game's code reveals that it actually chases Pac-Man most of the time, but also moves toward the lower-left corner of the maze when he gets too close. Clyde's Japanese character name, unsurprisingly, translates as 'stupid'.
8)
BAMBI
Based on the book
Bambi, A life in the Woods, it is the fifth in Walt Disney's Animated Classics Series. For the movie, Disney took the liberty of changing Bambi, his father, the Great Prince, and his unnamed mother into North American white-tailed deer, instead of their original species: European Roe Deer, which were less familiar to an American audience.
9)
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
The Chronicles were written by C. S. Lewis between 1949-1854. The inspiration for the series is taken from multiple sources. In addition to adapting numerous traditional Christian themes, the books freely borrow characters and ideas from Persian, Greek, Anatolian, and Roman mythology, as well as from traditional British and Irish fairy tales.
10)
CUBA
11)
GRANITE
Curling was invented in medieval Scotland, with the first written reference to a contest using stones on ice from an Abbey record in 1541. Originally, the playing rocks were simply flat-bottomed river stones that were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower, unlike those of today, had little control over the stone, and relied more on luck than on skill and strategy.
12)
LITTLE WATER
13)
NICOLE KIDMAN
After her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2001
14)
THE GOLEM
To protect the Jewish community, the local rabbi constructed the Golem out of clay from the banks of the Vltava River, and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations. the only catch: the Golem couldn't be alive on the Sabbath. As legend has it, one Friday, the Rabbi forgot to deactivate the Golem by removing its name plate. He was eventually able to do so, and stored the resting Golem in the Old Synagogue to be reactivated if the need ever again arose.
15)
MASCARA
His sister's name was Mabel, the namesake of his makeup company, Maybelline. Maybe she's born with it... or maybe its gooey coal dust.
ROUND 2: VISUAL
1) Theodore Roosevelt
2) Grover Cleveland
3) Dwight D. Eisenhower
4) Franklin Pierce
5) Martin Van Buren
6) Chester A. Arthur
7) George Washington
8) Harry S. Truman
9) John Quincy Adams
10) Richard M. Nixon
