Monday, August 20, 2007

Answers to last week's Secret Theme rounds

For the first time, the two Secret Themes were related. This will rarely if ever happen in future. In fact it's completely pointless unless you play both nights, which no one did. If there's any general complaint it's that I don't ask enough pop culture. It doesn't get much more pop-trivial than this. As always, the links provided are a fantastic way to learnjoy yourself.

Ray's:


The theme was nicknames given by New York to her himbos in the first season of I Love New York. Nicknames follow the slash.

1) What 1984 movie starred Michael Douglas as Jack T. Colton? Romancing the Stone / Romance
2) What 1989 action/comedy paired Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell? Tango & Cash / Tango
3) What blues guitarist introduced his influential solo style (it had an impact on rock'n'roll) in his 1942 recording "Mean Old World"? T-Bone Walker / T-Bone
4) What Caribbean island has been known in previous centuries as Boriken and San Juan Bautista? Puerto Rico / Rico
5) Owing to a ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States, to which state does most of Ellis Island belong? New Jersey / Jersey
6) The first NBA franchise in Florida began play in 1988; which one would that be? Miami Heat / Heat
7) What's the Virgo birthstone? Onyx (or sardonyx..?)*** / Onyx
8) Which character did Peter Sellers portray in the 1979 movie Being There (there are two related acceptable answers for the character's name)? Chance the Gardener, a.k.a. Chauncey Gardiner / Chance
9) What was the first American city with a subway? Boston /Mr. Boston
10) Who played lead guitar in the band KISS? Ace Frehley / Ace

Frank's:

The theme was nicknames given by Flavor Flav to his bimbos in the first season of Flavor of Love. Nicknames follow the slash.

1) What famous painter wrote a play titled Desire Caught by the Tail? It was awful, and therefore performed only three times; actors included Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Pablo Picasso / Picasso
2) Which of the original 13 American colonies was established last? Georgia / Georgia
3) The band Oasis originally named themselves after a Beatles B-side. Name that song. "Rain" / Rain
4) What's the only US state to host the Winter Olympics twice? New York; in fact both times at Lake Placid (link to a YouTube "Miracle on Ice" live call), 1932 and 1980 / New York
5) Finish the Jonathon Swift quote: "It was a bold man who first... ate an oyster." / Red Oyster
6) Who does Linus van Pelt wait for each Halloween? The Great Pumpkin / Punkin
7) What Australian actor/director was born Greg Pead, and legally changed his name to what we know him as now in 1980? Yahoo Serious / Serious
8) Who is Kate Hudson's famous mother? Goldie Hawn / Goldie
9) The longest-running American public service ad campaign has featured the same fictional character since 1944. Name the character. Smokey Bear / Smokey
10) What 1994 award-winning Steve James documentary tracks the lives of two young men, William Gates and Arthur Agee? Hoop Dreams / Hoopz

*** Want to be seriously confused? Throw the words "birthstone" and "onyx" into Google! I found at least I have two almanacs which disagree on the matter as well - I based the question in the first I referenced, not knowing at the time that there's no board of standards for these things. That's not including the added confusion of "ancient" and "modern" lists, "zodiac stones," "sun stones," etc. It seems a hard thing to pin down, especially as this is "woo-woo" belief and no Actual Science - but a lot of marketing - is involved. One of the teams at Ray's challenged me on this last week and I believe I have to credit them with at least part of the 5 points on the question in the next quiz they arrive at. The one thing I can say in my defense is that "Onyx" is the only birthstone which fits the New York/Himbo theme.

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