The Collective Trivia Quiz: Final War!

Posted October 28th, 2010.

First of all, congratulations to last week’s top players, both newcomers to the quiz from the ranks of the illustrious CNOF:

In SECOND PLACE with 250 points, CARRIE PFEFFERKORN!

And in FIRST PLACE with 550 points, DAN OLSON!

And without further ado, The Rules of the Game:

• You can use any resource to find your answers: Google, Wikipedia, books, magazines, crystal balls, bribes ... it’s all good to me. Especially the bribes part
  
  
• Points are scored on a pari-mutuel basis. Each question is worth 100 points, divided by the number of correct answers for that question (rounded up
  
  
• Do NOT post your answers here to the comment section of this blog! People will steal your answers and laugh at you. EMAIL your answers to me at mailto:ivigilante407@gmail.com. Please make sure you number your answers correctly to correspond with the questions. Also, please send all your answers together in one email! (Otherwise, only the answers in the first email I get will count.)
  
  
• You do not have to answer ALL the questions to enter. Feel free to answer as many as you know or just guess. If you want to find out the answers, you’ve got to enter. The answers will be emailed to everyone who enters after the contest is over.
  
  
• The contest will end in seven days (one week) at 11:59pm on Thursday, November 4th, 2010.
  
  
• And please remember that only you can prevent Forrest Tucker!

And here’s this week’s quiz: The Not-Quite-Monster-Themed Quiz!

(Why? Simply because I know monsters better than I know Halloween, and Not-Quite because I did it on the fly.)

1. What television show almost always closed with the phrase “keep your stick on the ice”?

2. What is the first and last name of the major league baseball player who is guaranteed to receive a 2010 World Series ring no matter which teams wins the Autumn Classic?

3. What is the name of the gentleman featured in the photograph below?

4. According to radio spots, what company allows you to “save as much as inhumanly possible”?

5. This monster movie begins in the year 1999, after the United Nations Scientifc Committee has established an exploratory base on the surface of the moon. Unknown to Earth, the moon also has a base for an alien race. The alien race has a secret base near Izu. What is the name of this all-star monster movie?

6. What is the name of the comic book character featured in the picture below? Please be exact.

7. Bill Cosby used to relate a tale of his youth in his stand-up routine in which he and his brother Harold were frightened by the telling of a story. This story had actually been broadcast on radio shows in the thirties and forties several times, and is still regarded as a somewhat of a horror classic. Who was the original writer of that terrifying tale?

8. According to a 2010 Limited Edition Card, what member of Cap’n Crunch’s crew weighs 64 pounds and plays the harmonica? Please give the character’s name as it is on the card.

9. A music video features a commercial venue with a number of oddly-named but stereotypical shops. The viewer sees plenty of these as one of the singers rides around the venue on a Segway. These stores include Taco Tustle, the Shoe Palace, Toaster Town, VHS Memories and Teen Dump. The venue also includes a guitar store. What is the name of that store?

10. What is the name given to the monstrous creature in the picture below?

As always, good luck to everyone who plays! And Happy Halloween!

The Tubes at Penn’s Peak (Jim Thorpe, PA) October 15th, 2010

My wife and I went to see the Tubes play up at Penn's Peak for the fourth time on Friday night. They've been there five times over the past decade, but we hadn't even known the place existed until the first time we saw them there, back in 2007.

The weather was slightly inclement, but it always seems to be something when the Tubes come to town. The first time we saw them, my wife was sick and we had just rescued a bunch of kittens that had been left under a bush in the yard. The next two times it rained horribly before and during the concert, following up with dense fog on the way home. This time, it was much colder and windier than we had expected.

This was the most sparsely attended of any show I've been to while here in Pennsylvania. There were only about 200 people in attendance, and there seemed to be seating available for about double that number. It did mean a much more personal show than usual, I think, especially since there were very few children in the audience. I only saw perhaps two teenage kids. Apparently people have been doing a little research and realized that "She's a Beauty" is not necessarily representative of the band's oeuvre.

There was also no opening band. This was a very pleasant surprise, since Penn's Peak tends to pick bands that don't meld well with semi-headliners like the Tubes. I remember one year there was a very depressing duo on guitar and zither. Last year was the exception, with a band called Night Wind that really had the right chops to open a show.

The show itself was fantastic as always. The previous year, Roger Steen had led the band in "Up from the Deep" sans Fee Waybill on stage, who then came out in costume to segue into "Out of the Business." This year, "Prelude in Black" led into "No Mercy"and "No Way Out", with Fee wearing a preacher's collar (which he soon showed was just a piece of folded paper).

Fee introduced "TV", a song off their new album "Mondo Birthmark", and talked about his obsession with certain parts of Annette Funicello as a kid. One could definitely tell he was playing to an adult audience this time around. Roger then led the group in an excellent rock version of the theme from "I Love Lucy." A quick costume change and "TV is King" was ready to go with Fee wearing a TV set adorned with a black lace bra and panties.

This year Fee's yellow jacket, green shirt and Herb Tarlek pants were from Monty Hall's yard sale (last year it was Howie Mandel) and he's one of the only people who could wear that get-up and still look cool. Naturally, this was the set-up for "What Do You Want from Life?" which was the Tubes' perennial game show theme.

While Fee was changing, Roger led drummer Jonathan Mover and bassist Atom Ellis in a "Rumble." It was one of those numbers that you could tell everyone on stage was having a helluva good time playing. Fee then came out in a green mohawk and Misfits shirt for "I Was a Punk (Before You Were a Punk)" and the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There."

Next up was "Fee Brown" with a medley of funky hits (including "Out of Sight", "Get It Together", "There was a Time" and "Sex Machine"). I'm pretty sure Fee Waybill is the only white boy legally allowed to dress up like James Brown. He didn't bother changing to sing "Tip of My Tongue."

Another quick change into a 1950s white tee and jeans for a trio of songs off "The Completion Backwards Principle" album: "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman" (which I had not heard performed live before), "Amnesia" and "Don't Want to Wait Anymore" (which is one of my wife's favorite songs).

Roger sang "Up from the Deep" while Fee changed, and soon it was again time for Sir Quay Lewd to prance out for our enjoyment. I was only disappointed that he didn't throw in another "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" number this year, but "Boy Crazy" and the ubiquitous "White Punks on Dope" where showstoppers as usual. There were way too many people not singing along though. Remember it's the damn law! You sing the choruses of WPOD, damn it!

Two encore songs this year: "She's a Beauty" and "Talk to Ya Later" (which closes pretty much every Tubes show).

Once again, the band had a meet-and-greet after the show. I have to say that Fee and Roger always seem to be able to talk to everyone like they're completely normal non-rock-star folk. It's almost off-putting how normal these guys seem when they aren't up there blowing our eardrums out. Fee was gracious enough to once again let me get a pic with him. And I asked Roger about who their bassist was (Atom Ellis) and he explained how Rick Anderson was ill and Atom had his blessing to work with the band. I didn't even really know what to say to Jonathan Mover ... he gave one of the best drum performances I have ever seen. As always, autographs abounded.

This was another memorable concert with the Tubes. Every show we've been to has had something different, something original in it. I've now heard them perform everything from "Bali Hai" to "Sex Machine." And I know me and my wife will continue to go to their shows as long as they keep coming to this area. If anyone reading this has the opportunity, get out and see the Tubes when they come to your town. You won't be disappointed ... the Tubes are one of the few bands left that seem to actually have fun when they perform.

The Collective Trivia Quiz: The Year We Make Contact

POSTED OCTOBER 17th, 2010

The Rules of the Game:

• You can use any resource to find your answers: Google, Wikipedia, books, magazines, crystal balls, bribes ... it's all good to me. Especially the bribes bit.
  
• Points are scored on a pari-mutuel basis. Each question is worth 100 points, divided by the number of correct answers for that question (rounded up).
  
• Do not post your answers here to the comment section of this blog! People will steal your answers and laugh at you. EMAIL your answers to me at vigilante407@gmail.com. Please make sure you number your answers correctly to correspond with the questions. Also, please send all your answers together in one email! (Otherwise, only the answers in the first email I get will count.)
  
• You do not have to answer ALL the questions to enter. Feel free to answer as many as you know or just guess. You never know when you'll pull the proverbial flying monkey out yer butt and get it right!
  
• By the way, if you want to find out the answers, you've got to enter. The answers will be emailed to everyone who enters after the contest is over.
  
• The contest will end in seven days (one week) at 11:59pm on Saturday October 23rd, 2010.
  
• And please remember that only you can prevent Forrest Tucker!
  

And here's this week's quiz, courtesy this week of Terry Wiegert:

1. The wording of this catchy 1976 ballad about a tragedy has been modified at recent live performances by its original writer/singer due to questionable accuracy of the original lyrics. Name the song.
   
2. Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger as governors, Sonny Bono as a mayor and Clint Eastwood as a sewer commissioner are obviously all natural fits as celebrities in office. But which football legend, at age 54, ran an unsuccessfully bid to become governor of the state in which he played his entire NFL career?
   
3. After the sewer explosion on Himrod Street, Ed is taken to Bushwick Hospital where Ralph graciously offers type A blood if a transfusion is needed. What room did Ed stay in?
   
4. What's the name of this Wisconsin born actor who had a short boom of stardom in the 1980's?
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Froot Loops with Sprinkles cereal challenges you to "crack the code" to find out which Froot Loops® is like a "book". What's the nine letter code you've cracked when you've finished the game?
   
6. What controversial 1983 film opened on "Highway 74, twenty miles from Oklahoma City and four miles from Crescent"?
   
7. What two famous actors attended 4th grade together at Illinois' Evanston Elementary?
   
8. The guy pictured below was the first US born player to achieve what specific NHL milestone?





9. In November of 1986, what employee won $5000 in a contest for coming up with the name for their recently merged company beating out nine others who submitted the same name but later?
   
10. What's the name of the Mutual Network radio program, launched in 1948, that teamed a studio audience player with a home listener by phone to win up to 3 prizes for answering quiz questions correctly?
    

Good luck to everyone who plays this week!

Blog #1

I've decided to finally break down and do a little blogging. Like most bloggers, I have precious little of note to actually say, of course. So, I'm gonna simply talk about things I enjoy. This week's topic: Old Time Radio!

If you're in the United States, I'll bet that most of you young whippersnappers out there probably don't even remember when AM radio wasn't primarily all talk and when FM radio wasn't all crappy pop music and whatever rap/hip-hop is supposed to be. I think everyone knows that before TV, radio was the way most people got their entertainment. From around 1928 to 1950, radio was the major medium for households everywhere. It also launched the second phase of celebrity (the first being the advent of Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and their fellow silent screen stars). People would stop everything they're doing and tune in to a Bing Crosby broadcast; movie theatres would halt the picture so the patrons would stay to hear the adventures of Amos 'N Andy over the sound system. If there would've been Q-Ratings back then, some of these performers and shows would leave modern shows softly weeping in the corner over their massive popularity.

I've been a fan of the Old Time Radio (OTR) genre since I happened to latch onto a double-album of the original broadcast of the legendary "War of the Worlds" show with Orson Welles. That is the nigh-mythical show that showed how hapless and non-attentive a good portion of the general public was even back then. Quite a few folks thought that, for a brief time, we were under attack by Martians. I have to say that when I first listened to the opening half of the show, I could understand why. The performance was riveting ... I still can "see" Carl Philips being turned into toasted reporter by the aliens' heat-ray mirror. That lone radio operator at the end of the live portion was haunting. After the break, Orson Welles' Professor Pierson began his walk into a well-written adaptation of the second half of the classic novel. It didn't have the same gravitas as the "live" half, but it was still very good.

Since then, I've been grabbing OTR shows wherever I could find them, usually on cassette tape. With the advent of the internet and CD/DVD, it's been much easier to assemble near-complete runs and storylines on many of the popular shows of yesteryear. We all have our favorite shows and performers, and here's a few of mine:

• "The Mirth Parade." The "what" you say? Well, the Mirth Parade was a syndicated show that was recorded back in 1933 and lasted (to my knowledge) for only 26 weeks. It was a fifteen-minute show (including locally-added commercials) that featured comic skits and music on a single subject, like farmers, toreadors, or alarm clocks. Bob Burns, the original Arkansas Traveler and Bill Comstock (portraying Tizzie Lish) played numerous characters. The show was hosted by Don Wilson, who would later gain fame (and weight) as Jack Benny's announcer on his radio and television shows. It's a very simple yet very funny show. The quality of the writing and the ad-libs by the cast are excellent.
  
• Fred Allen. The esteemed Mr. Allen is probably best remembered for his long-running and popular feud with Jack Benny, one of the most memorable events of the golden age of radio. Fred was one of the more erudite and intelligent comedians of the era, and tried his best not to talk down to his audience. This, of course, impaired his popularity, which never reached the heights of Benny or Abbott and Costello. His shows were also quite topical and haven't aged well for that reason. But intelligent humor is timeless and Fred Allen's shines through on every broadcast.
  
• "Dimension X/X Minus Zero." "Dimension X" was a half-hour drama devoted to adaptations of science fiction tales of leading authors of the day. The works of Jack Williamson, Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Robert Heinlein and even Stephen Vincent Benet were featured. The best known show is probably "Mars is Heaven", which made the rounds of the cassette tape dealers in the seventies and eighties. My particular favorite is "Knock", in which the narrator describes the story as being only two sentences long ("The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door."). "X Minus One" continued along the same lines, using many of the same scripts for stories. "Cold Equations" is one of the highlights of that series for me, as a pilot on a rescue mission has to make an unthinkable decision about a stowaway.
  
• Bob and Ray. Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding were the radio comedy team by which all others should be measured. The vocal duo had a plethora of recurring characters, such as man-on-the-street reporter Wally Ballou, Lawrence Fechtenberger, Interstellar Officer Candidate, Mr. Science (explosively predating Mr. Wizard), all of which used a variety of off-the-cuff humor that you don't see often today. Sure, every episode of Mr. Science ended up with a massive explosion, but it was hilarious getting to it. Listening to Bob and Ray is like watching SCTV or the good years of Saturday Night Live.
  
• "Lum and Abner." Don't ask me why, but I love this show. It's basically about a couple of hicks who run a store in Arkansas, or at least that's the way you'd probably find it described in one-line in a book. But it's really far more - the 15-minute installments get truly engrossing after a while, and there's so many available out there that you can really get a feel for the inhabitants of the town. Think of "The Beverly Hillbillies" if Jed hadn't been shootin' for some food, and then double the IQs of the writers. Think comedic soap-opera. Or don't bother to think and listen to a couple. I recommend the 1935 season, the June 4th, 1942 episode and any of the Christmas shows.
  
• Jack Webb. I'm sure everyone's watched "Dragnet" on TV, especially for the episodes with the freaked-out kids on drugs that are so stupid and so hilarious. "Dragnet", while always being a proponent of law and order, was once a fine noir detective show, and was definitely as noir as you can get on radio. But the reason I put Jack Webb on this list of favorites wasn't for that show. It was because of his comedy work. Yes, Jack Webb, the stoic, stone-faced Joe Friday, did at one time smile, laugh, giggle and make us do the same with the best of them. Unfortunately, there aren't many of those particular shows existing anymore, but there are two episodes of "The Jack Webb Show" in circulation, as well as one episode of "The Little Man Inside." His eponymous show was more of a surreal skit show along the lines of Stan Freberg (in fact, when I first heard it, I thought it was the Freberg show, with someone doing a fantastic Joe Friday-impersonation). The second show featured Jack as the voice inside the head of an average white-collar working man that revealed the inner monologue we all have as we go through our daily activities, being sardonic and almost poignant at times.
  

If you're interested in any of these programs, check out archive.org or otrrlibrary.org to find some of these old shows to download and listen to at your leisure. Believe me, it's worth the time.

Okay, that's all I can really milk out of this right now. I'll think of something to write later when I get bored.

The Collective Trivia Quiz Goes to Monte Carlo

POSTED ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 10th, 2010

And now, please stand for our National Anthem, and The Rules of the Game:

• You can use any resource to find your answers: Google, Wikipedia, books, magazines, crystal balls, bribes ... it's all good to me. Especially the bribes bit.
  
• Points are scored on a pari-mutuel basis. Each question is worth 100 points, divided by the number of correct answers for that question (rounded up).
  
• Do not post your answers here to the comment section of this blog! People will steal your answers and laugh at you. EMAIL your answers to me at vigilante407@gmail.com. Please make sure you number your answers correctly to correspond with the questions. Also, please send all your answers together in one email! (Otherwise, only the answers in the first email I get will count.)
  
• You do not have to answer ALL the questions to enter. Feel free to answer as many as you know or just guess. You never know when you'll pull the proverbial flying monkey out yer butt and get it right!
  
• By the way, if you want to find out the answers, you've got to enter. The answers will be emailed to everyone who enters after the contest is over.
  
• The contest will end in seven days (one week) at 11:59pm on Saturday October 16th, 2010.
  
• And please remember that only you can prevent Forrest Tucker!
  

And here's this week's quiz:

1. Historically, what has the "M" in "Shazam!" stood for when the magic word was spoken by Mary Batson?
   
2. It's clobberin' time! The gentleman with the unfortunate skin condition in the picture below was featured on the poster for what low-budget science fiction/horror film?
   

   
   
   

3. Who was the first major league baseball pitcher to throw a no-hitter both during the regular season and during post-season play of the same season?
   
4. What was the name of the venue where the 20th anniversary party of big screen characters Fibber McGee and Molly was going to be held?
   
5. What was the title of the album that was the first spoken word recording released in the compact disc format?
   
6. If you were to see the following image on television, what is the name of the program you would be watching?
   

   
   
   
   
   

7. What is the name of the fictional character that is based on fictional character Katherine Beckett?
   
8. What was the first and last name of the fictional character who promoted Nerd-Care Bleaching Lotion (which came in pale, whiter shade of pale, and minty green)?
   
9. This comic book character had a very strange ability. Every time the character died, the character would be resurrected with a new and usually different super-power. For a while, the character also had a giant robot sidekick, but ended up working with two groups of almost-completely useless characters at the end of his career. What is the name of this fictional character? Please give the character's code-name, and not his given name.
   
10. What novel opens with the line "I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar"?
    

Good luck to everyone! And may the Farce be with you!