Riddle Me This: What Do 2013 And 1987 Have In Common?

I saw an interesting fact on BoingBoing today, leading me to produce this riddle: What do 2013 and 1987 have in common?  Your first thought might be, "They're both 13 years away from 2000", which is obviously true.  But the answer I'm looking for is more interesting than that, and here's a clue: they're the two most recent years to have something very specific in common, numerically-speaking.

If you haven't seen the answer to this elsewhere, then please feel free to leave your guess(es) in the form of a Comment to this post.  After a few days I'll post the answer as a Comment myself, in case anyone's waiting for it.  In the meantime, put your thinking caps on, all!

Your Trivia Answers

Thanks to Vicki, Tammy, Boneman and Jimmy Hinckley for playing our Trivia Game this holiday season (and shame on the rest of you who didn't!). They all did well, given the eclectic nature of the questions. Jimmy picked up 8 Blog Points for his 16 correct answers, Tammy and Vicki each got 7 BPs and Boneman wasn't far behind with 6 BPs (including a small bonus for making me laugh). Leaderboard standings should be updated momentarily.

For those who'd like to know the actual answers, I've provided them below:

1) Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, told his aides he was "hiking the Appalachian trail" while he headed down south to Argentina for a tryst with his girlfriend there (his wife would later leave him). (2 of the 4 respondents got that right, to some degree)

2) It was the Texas Rangers, formerly owned by George "Dubba Ya" Bush, who lost to the Giants in this year's World Series. (2 right answers)

3) DC Comics' Green Lantern was front and centre for this year's Blackest Night event, just in time to get prepped for his leading man role in next year's GL movie. (2 right answers)

4) I'm currently - almost literally so - playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. Too easy! (4 right answers!)

5) It was poor Rascal who had to be put down this fall. (3 right answers. "Patches", Boneman? Really?!?)

6) I currently have just over 28,100 comics, so 28,000 is the winning answer here. (only 1 right answer to be found)

7) Pi is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. (4 right-ish answers, although part marks were deducted for misspellings of "pie" and "pii")

8) KTD = Kill to Death, as everyone knows who reads this blog. (4 right)

9) It was Roy "Doc" Halladay who pitched a no-hitter this October in his first ever postseason appearance, of course. (1 right)

10) Arsenic and old lace go together, but who knew that arsenic could be a building block for Life? We do, now! Well, some of us do, anyway. (1 right)

11) 2011 is the year of Thor, Green Lantern and Captain America movies. (2 right)

12) Robin's secret identity is apparently very secret, as no one knew that Damian Wayne (illegitimate son of Bruce Wayne) is currently wearing the costume. (0 right)

13) Back to back shutouts for the respondents here, as nobody seemed aware that the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic is just around the corner, since it went down in April 1912! (0 right)

14) Chris Nolan's first film, which Vicki and I watched not too long ago, is called Following and is quite the weird little gem. (1 right-ish, although Vicki got the title partly wrong)

15) Only one Star Wars fan knew that The Hidden Fortress is the Kurasawa film that George Lucas borrowed so heavily from for Episode IV. (1 right)

16) Branding apparently works: everyone knows who Brown is: UPS! (4 right)

17) I guess only a comic fan would remember that Tony Stark's father's name is Howard, although after he appears in next year's Captain America film, maybe more will. (0 right)

18) The Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, despite being blogged about here not long ago, confounded all but one of our respondents. To quote Boneman, it's "when you are in a sitcom for one episode, and only ever referred to from then on" (hey, close enough!). (1 right)

19) Not surprisingly, nobody recalled that Pedro Martinez started off as a Los Angeles Dodger, before being traded to the Expos and making his name there. (0 right)

20) On the other hand, everyone knew that James Ford took the name "Sawyer" after a con man by that name caused the murder-suicide of his parents. (4 right)

21) Only one true film buff named Roman "Hey little girl, wanna party?" Polanski as the director of Chinatown. (1 right)

22) Much to my amazement, no one tagged 1919 as the year of the Black Sox! (Maybe we'll get another scandal of similar proportion in 2020?) (0 right)

23) Probably the toughest question of the lot involved the given name of Captain "Sully" Sullenberger. Jimmy came closest with "Chester", for which he got part marks. Right answer? Chesley! (1 right-ish)

24) Surely only surly Sean Connery could deliver the line about bringing a knife to a gun fight, as two of our respondents knew. (2 right)

25) Steve Rogers has better name recognition than I'd expected, as everyone ID'd him as the Star Spangled Avenger, Captain America! (4 right)

26) Who could ever forget the 5 notes that the aliens played for us in Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Well, apparently some could, as only half the people got that right! (2 right)

27) Almost everyone (surprisingly) knew that Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird! (3 right)

28) When do we get a leap year? In any year that's divisible by 4 but not divisible by 100 unless it's also divisible by 400, of course! So 1944, 1996 and 2000 each got an extra day for their troubles! (3 right)

29) What kind of people don't remember that it was Doomsday that killed Superman back in 1992? Apparently your kind of people, as no one got this right! (0 right)

30) And last but not least, it's of course my lovely wife Vicki and my wonderful walking buddy Julie who join me for frequent Movie Nights, as most of you knew. (3 right)

I hope you all enjoyed the trivia, even if you didn't take part!

Time's Running Out For Trivia Answers

Remember: you only have until midnight tomorrow to get your guesses in for the Holiday 2010 Trivia Contest. I've gotten results from 4 people so far, but I'm sure there are others out there who'll want to get in on the action. So don't delay too much longer!

Here's a teaser for when the submitted answers are revealed: Boneman provided a very original guess for anything he didn't know! I just might award him an extra half a Blog Point for the act of making me laugh!

Holiday 2010 Trivia (3000 Posts Later!)

Hey look, it's my 3000th blog post!!!

As promised, here are some trivia questions to help us all celebrate the milestone. Please answer from memory, rather than looking things up. Provide your answers in the comments. I've turned comment moderation on, and will hold off publishing any relating to this contest until after it closes, at midnight on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. If nothing else, this should provide some pre-holiday distraction and shake things up a bit on the Blog Point Leader Board.

And so, without further ado, here are 30 questions in random order, spanning a wide range of topics. Each correct answer will be awarded a 1/2 Blog Point:

1) Which American politician inspired the recent euphemism for stepping out on your spouse, now immortalized as "hiking the Appalachian Trail"?

2) Which team lost the 2010 World Series?

3) Which DC Comics superhero was at the center of the company's Blackest Night event in 2010?

4) What video game am I currently spending much of my free time playing?

5) What was the name of the pet that Vicki and I had to euthanize earlier this year?

6) To the nearest thousand, how many comic books do I currently own?

7) What symbol represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter?

8) What does KTD stand for in First Person Shooter games?

9) Who began his professional postseason career in 2010 with a no-hitter?

10) What element surprisingly formed the basis of a new life form discovered in Mono Lake recently?

11) What three big name superhero movies are scheduled to be released in 2011?

12) What is the secret identity of the Robin currently appearing in the main Batman titles published by DC Comics?

13) In what month and year did the Titanic sink?

14) What is the name of Christopher Nolan's first feature film?

15) Which Kurasawa classic is said to have provided inspiration to George Lucas in creating Star Wars?

16) Never mind figuring out "What Brown can do for you?"... who the heck is Brown?

17) What is Tony Stark's father's given name?

18) What is the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome?

19) On which team did Pedro Martinez begin his Major League Baseball career?

20) Why does James Ford go by the name "Sawyer" on the TV show Lost?

21) Who directed the 1974 film Chinatown?

22) In what year did the infamous Chicago Black Sox scandal occur?

23) What is Captain "Sully" Sullenberger's given name?

24) Which Academy Award winning actor slammed his on-screen opponent for bringing a knife to a gun fight?

25) What is the superhero name that Steve Rogers usually operates under?

26) How many notes comprised the initial musical message offered up by the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

27) Who wrote the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

28) Which of the following were leap years: 1900, 1944, 1962, 1986, 1996, 2000?

29) Who killed Superman back in 1992?

30) Who are the two women with whom I enjoy Movie Nights?

Good luck to all!

Coming Up This Weekend: Trivia!

As hard as it is for me to believe, the very next post here will be this blog's three thousandth! That's a mind-boggling amount of blathering to have produced over a 50-month span, and yet it's true.

So keep your eyes peeled for a bunch of trivia questions coming your way over the weekend. You'll have a few days in which to provide answers in the (temporarily moderated) Comments section and earn truly (un)valuable Blog Points! I hope this can at least provide a momentary bit of distraction as we all brace for the coming Christmageddon 2010!

Something To Look Forward To

I'm now only 7 posts away from 3000, counting this one. At Tammy's suggestion, I think I'll post a long overdue trivia quiz to mark that occasion. (The Blog Point Leader Board at the top of this page hasn't changed in ages, so it's clearly time to do something about that.)

Therefore, keep an eye out for post # 3000, sometime between now and Christmas. When I run it, I'll turn Comment Moderation on so that any and all readers out there can submit their guesses - without spoiling it for anyone else - and be awarded invaluable Blog Points! Invaluable does mean "not valuable", right? Yeah, I thought so! :-)

Well, That Sort Of Figures, Doesn't It?

In a summer that's featured a wrecked pool liner and dying air conditioning, the loss of a beloved family pet as well as the return of a health issue that's sidelined my swimming for a month now, it stands to reason that the 2010 edition of the Chicago Comic Convention would be a complete and utter bust, doesn't it? And sure enough, this year's trip to the Windy City was the worst waste of time we've ever experienced there. It seems the programming for the convention has attempted to follow the San Diego model by filling a lot of panels with movie and TV celebrities (e.g. Linda Hamilton, William Shatner, Brent Spiner) at the expense of any comic topics. When we got there on Friday and I scanned the agenda for the three day span, it was like I was looking at something made up for a Sci Fi get-together, rather than a comic one. If there was one comic-related panel each day, we were lucky. And while I like SF as much as the next guy, I don't like having to line up for hours to get into panels for it. (For most comic book panels, you can arrive a few minutes before they begin and get a reasonably good seat.)

It didn't take long for us to realize we were witnessing the end of an era, and to decide that one day would be enough to take in what little there was for us. I spent a few hundred dollars on some old Thor comics, bought a few gifts, met and got to chat with Rich Johnston (from Bleeding Cool) and came home with most of the money I'd taken with me to spend. We saved over $150 by not staying in Chicago through tonight but wasted $50 by paying for the full weekend at the Con when single day passes would have sufficed. Oh well... it was a nice run while it lasted!

(Oh, and in case anyone cares: No, the Silver Age Trivia Panel wasn't scheduled for the convention, but I knew that before I left. Just one more change for the worse, if you ask me.)

A Tale Of Two Summers

I think I've mentioned before now that I quite like comics, yes? And perhaps I might have dropped a hint from time to time that I've got a reasonably good memory for trivia, as well, right?

Well, back when I was just barely out of my teens, Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin was one of my favourite comics. It seemed to be the pinnacle of comic greatness back then, and maybe it even was. I just know that my tastes have changed over the ensuing decades, and now I find that material overwritten and crudely drawn. I suppose that's to be expected, as so many highly-regarded childhood artifacts fail to hold up when scrutinized from the vantage point of time. That's just one of the many sad realities that goes hand in hand with growing up and getting older.

But that lowered opinion of those old X-Men comics still didn't stop me from getting a big chuckle out of one of the two covers for this week's Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 35, for a reason that should be fairly obvious by now: Yes, it's an homage to Uncanny X-Men # 138's cover, shown above. Interestingly, both of the big figures on the right side of the cover are named Summers: Scott "Cyclops" Summers and Buffy "Vampire Slayer" Summers! I wonder if they planned it that way? (Vicki had the nerve to ask me, "How did you know it was an homage? Did you read it on the Internet?" Please. I immediately spotted it for what it was, sitting on the shelf in the comic store on Wednesday! Mind for trivia, remember?)

Fun stuff like this is sometimes all that's holding my interest in the comics field anymore...

Test Your Watchmen Trivia

If you're so inclined, take the test at Rotten Tomatoes and see if you can beat my score... of 19 out of 20! ;-)

It's an interesting mixture of movie and comic trivia related to Watchmen, and of course the one question that tripped me up was about a previous, aborted film treatment. I'd have been stunned (and slightly embarrassed) if a non-comic site had been able to stump me on the original material, but you never know. Most of the answers seemed obvious to me, but that'll happen when you've read something that many times. There were even two questions where I could almost make the argument that the correct response is "None of the above" but I knew what they were trying to get at and answered accordingly.

A Minor Brain Teaser

One of the books that I'm reading made mention of "the three box puzzle" that I've encountered once or twice in the past. It seemed like a fine subject for a post on this blog, and so here we are.

For those not familiar with it, the scenario is as follows:
You are presented with three identical boxes, one of which contains a prize of some sort. You aren't told which box has the prize, but the PuzzleMaster knows, and he invites you to pick one of the three boxes as your guess. Once you've made your selection, he doesn't tell you whether you're right or wrong in your choice. Instead, he chooses one of the other two boxes and shows you that that box is, in fact, empty. He then asks, "Would you like to change your pick now?" What should you do?

From a probability point of view, there's a right answer to this puzzle (in other words, an answer that will give you a greater likelihood of ending up with the prize). I'm going to turn Comment Moderation on for a day or two so that people can post their responses, if they like, and not influence, or be influenced by, each other. Then I'll add the correct answer as a Comment for all of us, and future generations of blog readers, to enjoy...

Christmas Trivia Answers Are Now Provided

I've updated the original Christmas Trivia post to include the answers, but I've placed them under white-out Spoiler space for those who like to think about the questions before seeing the answers.

I only received two sets of answers in the form of Comments so I guess most people were just too busy over the holidays to stop by and get the treat that I'd left for them (and which I'd foreshadowed a week ahead of time). Oh well... better luck next year!

[Update: Vicki got 42 of a possible 101 answers right and thereby added 21 Blog Points to her total. Shane T picked off 50 out of 101, including an awe-inspiring 17 of 20 in the category of Sports! He boosted his Blog Point total by 25 as a result. The leader board is now updated.]

Reminder: Only 9.5 Hours Left To Post Answers

If you want to scoop some Blog Points on the Big Christmas Trivia Contest, or simply show off what you know, you need to get your answers in (by Commenting on the post itself) before midnight tonight.

Tick tock, tick tock...

Merry Christmas! Have Some Trivia!

To celebrate the 2000th entry at this blog of mine, here is some trivia for you to enjoy. Please use the Comment feature to respond with your guesses/answers sometime on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Comments won't show up until Dec 27th thanks to the magic of Comment Moderation.

Update: Answers are now posted below, but with Spoiler white space around them so that you can reveal them at your leisure by dragging the cursor over that area. Congratulations to those who picked up some Blog Points by submitting their guesses!

Part A: General Information
A1) Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. as a gift? (Answer: France)
A2) According to a time-honoured saying, what is "an ounce of prevention" worth? (Answer: A pound of cure)
A3) Who said, "Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the rest"? (Answer: Winston Churchill)
A4) What unique characteristic is found in a hermaphrodite? (Answer: Includes both male and female sex organs)
A5) Which Bob Dylan song has seen cover versions of it released by Jimi Hendrix, U2 and Neil Young, among others? (Answer: "All Along the Watchtower")
A6) The Periodic Table symbol for platinum is "Pt". What is the corresponding symbol for copper? (Answer: Cu)
A7) If the air temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit, what does that correspond to in Celcius? (Answer: 23 or 24 degrees)
A8) Arrange the following units of distance in ascending order: mile, league, furlong, kilometre. (Answer: Furlong, kilometre, mile, league)
A9) How many electoral college votes are currently required in order to win the U.S. Presidential election? (Answer: 270)
A10) Who went into hiding after death threats were issued as a result of his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses? (Answer: Salmon Rushdie)
A11) Which Canadian city was the scene of history's largest accidental explosion, in 1917? (Answer: Halifax)
A12) What are the only two root words in the English language containing "uu" in them? (Answer: "Vacuum" and "continuum")
A13) Who wrote the 1957 novel, Dandelion Wine? (Answer: Ray Bradbury)
A14) How many times was Richard Milhouse Nixon the Republican candidate for President of the United States? (Answer: 3)
A15) What is the actual name of the title character in Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame? (Answer: Quasimodo)
A16) At what hugely-historic event were author George Plimpton and former NFL player Rosey Grier both famously present, in June of 1968, and what did they do? (Answer: The assassination of Bobby Kennedy; they wrestled the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan)
A17) What are the names of the two feuding families in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet? (Answer: Capulet and Montague)
A18) According to the Canada 2006 Census, how many Canadian cities had a population of one million or more in 2006? (Answer: 6)
A19) How many men have walked on the moon? (Answer: 12)
A20) In what year did Hawaii become America's 50th state? (Answer: 1959)


Part B: Sports
Note: The "four major American professional sports leagues" below refer to the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
B1) Where was Plexico Burress carrying the gun that resulted in his injury and suspension from the NFL this season? (Answer: In his sweat pants)
B2) Which of the four major American professional sports leagues currently has the most teams? (Answer: The NFL, with 32)
B3) How many yards long is the field of play in a regulation CFL football field? (Answer: 110)
B4) What score constitutes a perfect game in 10-pin bowling? (Answer: 300)
B5) Whose 1961 home run total of 61 was almost always referred to as having "an asterisk beside it in the record books"? (Answer: Roger Maris)
B6) How many consecutive Super Bowls did the Buffalo Bills lose in the 1990s? (Answer: 4)
B7) In which two European cities did the NHL kick off their 2008/09 season? (Answer: Stockholm, Sweden and Prague, Czech Republic)
B8) How many Stanley Cup Finals series went the full 7 games in the 1990s? (Answer: Just 1, the 1994 Rangers/Canucks series)
B9) What's the difference between a no-hitter and a perfect game in baseball? (Answer: No-hitter = no hits allowed; perfect game = no batter reaches base)
B10) Who are the current defending champions in each of the four major American professional sports leagues? (Answer: MLB = Philadelphia Phillies, NBA = Boston Celtics, NFL = NY Giants, NHL = Detroit Reg Wings)
B11) Which MLB team currently holds a 6-0 record all-time in post-season play? (Answer: Florida Marlins)
B12) Which pitcher served up the Joe Carter home run ball that won the 1993 World Series? (Answer: Mitch Williams)
B13) In what year will the Toronto Maple Leafs next win a Stanley Cup? (Answer: Any prediction will suffice)
B14) Across the four major American professional sports leagues, the state of California has an amazing 15 franchises. Three other states have 8 or more franchises across the 4 leagues. Name them. (Note: Where team names directly conflict with location of home games, go with the team names.) (Answer: New York has 9 (Mets, Yankees, Knicks, Bills, Giants, Jets, Islanders, Rangers, Sabres), Florida has 9 (Marlins, Rays, Heat, Magic, Buccaneers, Dolphins, Jaguars, Lightning, Panthers), and Texas has 8 (Astros, Rangers, Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs, Cowboys, Texans, Stars))
B15) Which former NBA all-star claimed in his book, A View From Above, that he'd had sex with 20,000 women? (Answer: Wilt Chamberlain)
B16) What's the difference between a "safety squeeze" and a "suicide squeeze" in baseball? (Answer: Safety = runner on 3rd waits for batter to make contact; suicide = runner on 3rd leaves with the pitch))
B17) In terms of series wins and losses, what is the Chicago Bulls' record in the NBA Finals? (Answer: 6-0)
B18) What is the fewest number of games, from the start of an NHL season, in which 50 goals have been scored by one player? (Answer: 39, by Wayne Gretzky)
B19) Which franchise has lost the most NBA Finals series? (Answer: LA Lakers, 15 times)
B20) Who captured the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in a thrilling overtime win? (Answer: Kansas University Jayhawks)


Part C: Movies
C1) Who directed Batman Begins and The Dark Knight? (Answer: Christopher Nolan)
C2) In which U.S. state does the 1996 film Fargo take place? (Answer: North Dakota)
C3) Which actor delivered a special gold watch to a young boy in a memorable scene in 1994's Pulp Fiction? (Answer: Christopher Walken)
C4) What character did Samuel L Jackson play in his cameo appearance at the end of Iron Man? (Answer: Nick Fury)
C5) According to a bit of Hans Solo dialogue in the original Star Wars movie, what are parsecs a measure of? (Answer: Time (rather than distance, which is what they really measure))
C6) For which movie did Steven Spielberg win his first Academy Award for Best Direction? (Answer: Schindler's List)
C7) In which 2002 horror film did Naomi Watts play a journalist investigating a videotape that supposedly caused people to die shortly after watching? (Answer: The Ring)
C8) Name the six actors, in descending order of their # of appearances (highest to lowest), who've portrayed 007 in the 22 official James Bond films. (Answer: Roger Moore (7), Sean Connery (6), Pierce Brosnan (4), Daniel Craig (2), Timothy Dalton (2), George Lazenby (1))
C9) Who directed 2008's Miracle at St. Anna? (Answer: Spike Lee)
C10) Which western won the 1992 Best Picture Academy Award? (Answer: Unforgiven)
C11) Name three films written and directed by John Sayles. (Answer: Any three will do, with some of the better-known ones including Lone Star, Eight Men Out, Limbo, The Secret of Roan Inish, Passion Fish and even The Brother From Another Planet)
C12) For which film did Cher win her only Best Actress Academy Award? (Answer: Moonstruck)
C13) Who plays Harry Lime, in 1949's The Third Man? (Answer: Orson Welles)
C14) How did Alfred Hitchcock make his traditional cameo appearance in the 1944 film, Lifeboat? (Answer: In the "Before & After" photos of a Weight Loss ad in a newspaper)
C15) Who was the lead actor in the 1990 comedy, Quick Change? (Answer: Bill Murray)
C16) In what chronological order (oldest to newest) did the following three classic movies debut: Casablanca, Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz? (Answer: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), Casablanca (1942))
C17) What's the latest installment released to date in the Michael Apted 7-Up series of documentaries? (Answer: 49-Up)
C18) In which movie did Jack Nicholson tell a diner waitress that he'd like her to "hold the chicken" for his chicken salad sandwich? (Bonus Question: Where did he eventually tell her to hold it?) (Answer: Five Easy Pieces; Bonus: between her legs!)
C19) Which TV star of the 1950s, 60s and 70s terrified audiences in the title role in 1951's The Thing from Another World? (Answer: James Arness, star of Gunsmoke)
C20) Where was the missing money said to be hidden in the film, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World? (Answer: Under a giant "W" in Santa Rosita)


Part D: TV
D1) What was the name of Norm's never-seen wife on Cheers? (Answer: Vera)
D2) Which program featured such characters as Count Floyd, Sammy Maudlin and Mayor Tommy Shanks? (Answer: SCTV)
D3) How does Spider-Man catch crooks, according to the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon's theme song? (Answer: "Just like flies")
D4) On what date in 2009 is the "digital TV transition" occurring in the United States, after which no analogue broadcasts will be made by the networks? (Answer: Feb 17th to 18th)
D5) Which longtime member of the St. Elsewhere cast went on to big screen aclaim, including in such films as Glory and Philadelphia? (Answer: Denzel Washington)
D6) Which of ABC, CBS and NBC is the oldest television broadcaster? (Answer: NBC)
D7) To which weeknight will Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles be moving in early 2009? (Answer: Fridays)
D8) According to Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll centre of a Tootsie Pop? (Answer: 3)
D9) From which hugely-popular sitcom was The Jeffersons spun off? (Answer: All in the Family)
D10) Name any two of the four lead actresses in TV's The Golden Girls. (Answer: Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty)
D11) With which other CBS prime time program did CSI cross over in October of 2007? (Answer: Without a Trace)
D12) Which of the following shows debuted first: Fantasy Island, Laverne & Shirley or The Love Boat? (Answer: Laverne & Shirley)
D13) With what image does the pilot episode of Lost open? (Answer: Jack Shepherd's eye)
D14) Which lead actor from the original Battlestar Galactica has a recurring role in the current version? (Answer: Richard Hatch)
D15) Who plays the "Mac" role on the "Hello, I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" commercials? (Answer: Justin Long)
D16) Who was the spokesman for Alpo dog food who originally claimed in a TV ad that it was so good that he fed it to his own dogs? (Answer: Lorne Greene, as readers of my 2nd AgileMan book know!)
D17) What was the name of Steve Austin's boss in The Six Million Dollar Man, as played by Richard Anderson? (Answer: Oscar Goldman)
D18) Which ficitional character implored shoppers, "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!", in numerous TV commercials? (Answer: Mr Whipple)
D19) With whom did Tom Davis famously team up, as both writing and performing partners, in the early days of Saturday Night Live? (Answer: Al Franken, possibly the next Senator from Minnesota!)
D20) Name either of the actors who filled the titles roles in the 1976 TV mini-series, Rich Man, Poor Man. (Answer: Richard Strauss and Nick Nolte)


Part E: Comic Books
E1) Which X-Men member claims to be "the best at what I do, and what I do ain't pretty"? (Answer: Wolverine)
E2) Who is Marvel's "Man Without Fear"? (Answer: Daredevil)
E3) Which Marvel character was featured in the first comic I ever bought? (Answer: Captain America)
E4) Which one of the following was not a founding member of the JLA: Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman? (Answer: Green Arrow)
E5) What was DC Comics' big fall event (comic mini-series and crossover) for 2008? (Answer: Final Crisis)
E6) On what day of the week was Solomon Grundy born? (Answer: Monday)
E7) What was Marvel Comics' big summer event (comic mini-series and crossover) for 2008? (Answer: Secret Invasion)
E8) What device does a Green Lantern use to charge up his ring every 24 hours? (Answer: His power battery)
E9) What were the heroes fighting each other over in Marvel's Civil War? (Answer: The new law requiring all superpowered Americans to register with the U.S. government)
E10) Who were the two main villains when Superman met Spider-Man for the first time? (Answer: Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus)
E11) Who were the two young men who originally came up with the concept for Superman? (Answer: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
E12) What is Thor's mortal identity? (Answer: Dr Don Blake)
E13) What were the two biggest deaths in Crisis on Infinite Earths, in terms of character name recognition? (Answer: Supergirl and the Flash)
E14) Which former DC Comics superhero has operated under the name of "Oracle" for the past decade or two? (Answer: Batgirl)
E15) Which two muck monsters (one Marvel, one DC) were introduced within a month of each other in 1971? (Answer: Man-Thing and Swamp Thing)
E16) Who was a sidekick to both the Hulk and Captain America back in the 60s? (Answer: Rick Jones)
E17) Who is the female lead character in V for Vendetta? (Answer: Evey)
E18) Name the planet-eating entity responsible for transforming Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer. (Answer: Galactus)
E19) Who killed Gwen Stacy? (Answer: Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin)
E20) In which Marvel miniseries did Spider-Man's black costume debut? (Answer: Secret Wars)

Coming Up Next: Post # 2000

In just a few minutes, I'll be putting the 2000th entry on this blog out there for everyone to read over, think about, and even respond to... which I think you'll want to, once you see it!

I've prepared 100 trivia questions across 5 categories: General Information, Sports, Movies, TV, and of course, Comic Books! Some of the questions are simple; some are hard; but each is worth a half of a Blog Point, so get your thinking caps on! As usual, though, this isn't a test of how well you can Google the answers... You either know the stuff or you don't, and so research is strictly forbidden! And remember: bragging rights are on the line here! Now's your chance to, in the finest Homer Simpson tradition, finally achieve your life's ambition and make it on to the Leader Board at the top of the blog!

I'm about to turn on Comment Moderation for the next couple of days, so that people can provide their answers in the form of Comments without them showing up right away. I'll take responses right up until the end of Boxing Day (Dec 26th), after which the Comments will start appearing and I'll post the complete set of right answers. Hopefully you'll find some time to participate over the next 48 hours of holiday goodness.

2000 posts, and still going strong... who'd have thunk it, eh?!

Longest Playoff Drought

Correction! The stats shown by Fox Sports were obviously bogus, which shouldn't surprise me, considering the source. What they may have been showing were the longest droughts by league, although that wouldn't explain why they had 2 NHL teams on their list! Anyway, I'll re-word it to be more clear:

Which team in the four major professional sports (NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL) currently holds the longest playoff drought (longest time since they were last in their league's postseason)? Teams that change cities shouldn't be considered (what do you expect, when you move your franchise, anyway?) The correct answer is a team that's not changed cities or names over this period, and it's quite a long stretch.

I'll provide the answer as a comment to this post in a few days. 2 Blog Points to anyone who gets it right. And don't bother posting an answer that you looked up on the Internet, please. This is for people to think about, not just click the right answer.

P.S. As a Jays fan, you'd think I'd have remembered that they haven't been in the playoffs since 1993! Sheesh...

Time To Brush Up On Comic Trivia

With the annual Silver Age Comic Trivia contest set to unfold in Chicago near the end of this month (early this year), now's as good a time as any for me to prime my brain by posting some comic book trivia for Blog Points. Each correct answer posted by 9:00 p.m. ET on Monday, June 9/08 will receive a Blog Point. I'll add the official answers as a Comment to this post tomorrow night, after 9:00.

1) Who is the Iron Man villain who wears a different type of ring on each of his 10 fingers?

2) Which superhero was also a professor at Ivy Town University?

3) In the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie, a character named Leonard Samson will apparently appear. In the comics, by what more famous name is Leonard known?

4) In which comic series did Doctor Stephen Strange first appear?

5) Who did the Justice League of America fight in their debut (in Brave and the Bold # 28)?

6) Which two DC series featured the first inter-title crossover (in which the story began in one title and ended in another)?

7) Name any four members of the Inhumans.

8) Which Batman comic regular was revealed to actually be the villain, The Outsider?

Book News And Book Reviews

It's been a good last couple of days for The Real-Life Adventures of AgileMan (Lessons Learned in Going Agile). After nearly two weeks with no sales, Vicki arranged one yesterday when she went to visit a consulting company that she's gotten work through before, and today I had a peer at work indicate that he wanted to buy a copy (we just need to connect, which given both of our schedules right now, is going to take a miracle!)

Last night I found out that the Silver Age Comic Book Trivia Contest at this year's Chicago Convention is happening, and when I mentioned to the organizer/Quiz Master that I actually had written a book - with some comic book overtones - it was suggested that I bring a few copies along as someone there might want to buy one. Not exactly a guaranteed sale, but even being able to proudly introduce myself at the panel as the author of a book is enough to give me a minor little buzz!

And finally, I visited my chiropractor today, who I'd given a copy to, last time I was there. She's an avid reader, and we've spent many an adjustment talking about books that one or the other of us had been reading. Therefore it had been a thrill to give her my book, even though I had to admit, "It's kind of work-related so you may find it boring..." In today's session, all she could do was gush about how much she was enjoying the book, and how amazed she was that she'd actually find something "computer related" to be interesting! Having someone who's completely unrelated to what I do for a living rave about the book was really rewarding, and made it seem less like a "novelty" item than it has at other times. She even called me "the author," which was nice.

Silver Age Comic Trivia XXXV

Our final question (and my favourite of all the ones asked over the years in Chicago): Amazingly, only once, between Avengers # 3 and Avengers # 66 - a 5-year span of time! - did any character speak on the cover. Who was that loud mouth? (Answer to be provided by me next time I have Internet access, as a Comment to this post).

Yesterday's Answer: As at least one of you knew, the first Superman-Flash race ended in a tie. Not only was it a draw, but it was an intentional one (the heroes made sure they tied) because two warring gangs of criminals were wagering on the outcome and the racers wanted to spoil their plans.

That wraps up 5 straight weeks of daily Silver Age Comic Trivia. The contest in Chicago is tomorrow afternoon, meaning that soon it'll all be over except for the crying! Thanks to everyone who played, and to those who just read along.

Silver Age Comic Trivia XXXIV

In this, our penultimate entry, simply ask yourself: who's faster, Superman or the Flash? More specifically, who won the first race between the two?

Yesterday's Answer: As at least two of you knew, Galactus not only stripped Norrin Radd of some of his cosmic powers in Fantastic Four # 50, but he also erected a barrier around the Earth such that the Silver Surfer could never leave his new home. This was clearly pique on the part of Galen, since there was no logical reason why his former herald couldn't have returned to Zenn-La and lost love, Shalla Bal. But you don't turn against and defy ol' Hockey-Stick-Head without suffering some payback, as the Surfer found out, to his dismay.

Silver Age Comic Trivia XXXIII

Besides stripping him of some of his cosmic powers, what else did Galactus do to the Silver Surfer by way of punishment after the Surfer betrayed the devourer-of-worlds to save the Earth?

Yesterday's Answer: By issue # 74, Batman had taken over ownership of DC's Brave and the Bold series, and would remain there throughout the rest of the Silver Age and beyond, teaming up with different characters each month. Therefore, Aquaman and Atom, who got together in # 73, had the honour of being in the last non-Batman issue.