Welcome back to this series in which we look at the works referenced by Watchmen, at least according to version 2.0 of The Annotated Watchmen. As always, proceed at your own risk of spoilage.
The references come fast and thick in the first part of these annotations, and in fact today’s episode takes us no further than one sentence past our previous exploration. That one ended with a mention of “the popular Gunga Diners”, a ubiquitious chain of Indian food restaurants in the Watchmen universe. The next sentence goes on to explain the reference:
(The name is a rather tasteless reference to Kipling’s poem “Gunga Din”, in which a faithful Indian servant brings water to British soldiers fighting in India, at the cost of his own life.)
Tasteless? Hmm, I’m not sure. “Gunga Din” portrays its Indian title character quite heroically, in contrast to the white British soldiers that surround him — its famous last line (“You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”) makes this point explicitly. Perhaps it’s in poor taste to name a chain of restaurants after a somewhat stereotyped Indian character, but it doesn’t strike me as particularly bothersome. Maybe it trivializes Din’s nobility to make him into a mascot, though it seems to me he’s already rather a mascot, even in the poem. In fact, you could argue (and many have) that parts of the poem are pretty tasteless to begin with. Why not read the whole poem and decide for yourself? It’s only 85 lines.
Let’s return to Din’s heroism, since that topic is highly relevant to Watchmen. In fact, I would suggest that an important goal of both works is to explore the nature of heroism. In the poem, Din is subaltern as a native of the colonized India, and subordinate to the white army men, serving as lowly water carrier for them. His clothing marks him as alien, and he endures constant abuse from the men whom he serves. And yet, the narrator names him “the finest man I knew” (albeit among the “blackfaced crew” — he’s not on the same scale with the white soldiers, though more about this later) and praises his speed, his bravery, and his endurance. When Din sacrifices his own life bringing the narrator to safety and medical attention, he incontrovertibly cements his place as the hero of the story.
Does any character in Watchmen match this level of heroism? Certainly not the Comedian, whom we never catch in anything remotely resembling a selfless act. In fact, if anything the Comedian is more like the white soldiers, undertaking the work of slaughter on behalf of a swaggering government. Dr. Manhattan is similarly employed, though quite differently motivated. Nevertheless, he’s still quite removed from any concept of heroism. He’s not interested in saving lives, what with life and death being unquantifiable abstracts and all. As for self-sacrifice, the concept hardly has any meaning in relation to him — as far as I can see, he can’t die or be killed, and he has infinte resources, give or take a few tachyons. How could he sacrifice himself for anything, even if he wanted to?
Nite Owl II’s heart is in the right place, at least compared to the last two, but he’s far from the tireless servant who “didn’t seem to know the use of fear.” I suspect that with him, it’s mostly about those wonderful toys. (Well, that and his personal feeling of power when he’s “under the hood.”) Silk Spectre I was mainly into superheroing for the attention and publicity, while Silk Spectre II was just trying to please her mother. Silk Spectre II does indeed “tend the wounded under fire” (albeit a different kind of fire), and her actions are brave and heroic, but not self-sacrificing. Nite Owl I is even more noble, writing that he “feels bad unless he’s doing good,” and as far as we can see, he does plenty of genuine good in the world, both as a cop and as a masked hero.
But when it comes to the extremities Kipling describes, to making the ultimate sacrifice and never surrendering, there’s only one character worth considering: Rorschach. It is Rorschach, from the beginning, who is trying to save his companions, despite his rather offputting approach to doing so. It is Rorschach who exemplifies the tireless drive of the bhisti, with his frequent repetitions of “Never despair. Never surrender,” and variations on that theme. And it is Rorschach whom the book most closely identifies with the Gunga Diner. His name is superimposed over the diner’s first appearance, and he makes one his headquarters, after a fashion anyway. He sits and watches from its window for the action at his trash can “mail drop”, as New York opens its heart to him.
Like Din, Rorschach comes from a despised class and chooses to rise from it as a protector, and even a public servant of sorts. Like Din, Rorschach endures endless abuse in the course of fulfilling his role, but soldiers on nevertheless. And like Din, Rorschach is killed in the pursuit of that role, by nearly as impersonal a force.
Kipling’s narrator writes of Din, “An’ for all ‘is dirty ‘ide / ‘E was white, clear white, inside / When ‘e went to tend the wounded under fire!” Racism permeates the poem, as it did colonial culture, but in Din we find one in whom the black and white existed side by side, a soul of “white” purity and faithfulness inside a skin that triggered instant abhorrence in his English masters. For Rorschach, it’s not about race, but that union of opposites is very much present. He’s literally dirty — the story makes reference to his body odor numerous times — but he wages a tireless battle against the darkness, at least as he perceives it. “Black and white. Moving. Changing shape… but not mixing. No gray. Very, very beautiful.”
There are a couple of irony-drenched differences though. While Din is drilled by an unexpected battlefield bullet, Rorschach meets his doom head on, tears streaming down his face. Moreover, according to the poem, Gunga Din’s fate ends in fire, as the heathen is consigned to Hell upon his death: “‘E’ll be squattin’ on the coals / Givin’ drink to poor damned souls.” Rorschach, though, meets his end in the coldest place on earth. His afterlife is the last thought the story invites us to consider.
I went to Austin again this year, to attend Geek Bowl VII. Bottom line: our team (Fifty Shades Of Grey Matter) didn’t win, though we did manage to land in a 4-way tie for 8th place. (Yes, 8th place rears its head in my life again.) Nevertheless, a fine showing considering that there were 144 teams playing. We’ll get back in the money one of these years!
As with last year, I had a great time in Austin. It’s a really fun place, not to mention a nice respite of warmth from the Colorado winter. We made some return visits — to Chuy’s and Waterloo Records. We hung out in a Taco Cabana where I quizzed teammates from the 70’s section of a Rolling Stone Rock Trivia book. We checked out a pre-party at Scholz Garten, before wandering out to play Buzztime Trivia at a 6th street bar while having our ears blasted off by a Gin Blossoms soundalike. We spent some time with the charming Valerie Thatcher once more, and hung with Ed Toutant for a bit. (I also got to see Rob Wheeler and Jan Fall on Sunday, which was FANTASTIC.) We even Sporcled in the lobby, as it were.
Sidebar: Sporcle In The Lobby was tossed around as a candidate for a future team name, and it’s got potential. But an even better one came along as we were having some pizza on 6th street and trying to recover our hearing after Buzztime. We’re standing there talking and some dude starts winging random crap at us — napkins, plates, etc. This got our attention, which was apparently his aim, and he wandered over trying to start a conversation, or a fight — hard to tell which. He’s complaining about how it’s Friday night and there’s nothing to do. (Which is weird, given that he was on a long street full of inviting doorways full of lights, music, and even more alcohol than he’d already had.) After a few minutes of this, he takes a closer look and susses out the situation, which he summed up as follows, disgustedly: “You guys are too old to be drunk!” And then he left. Too Old To Be Drunk really needs to be a team name in the future, methinks.
As for the main event itself, I thought it was the best one ever. Over the years, Geeks Who Drink have stripped away more and more of the pieces that feel amateurish or self-indulgent at the Geek Bowl, and replaced them with material that’s funny, interesting, and professional. Geek Bowl always has an opening number, and in the past this has been a little cringeworthy, but this one started with the mayor of Austin proclaiming unofficial Geeks Who Drink day, followed by a straightforward explanation of the rules, which then suddenly rickrolled into a very funny event-specific parody of “Never Gonna Give You Up.”:
Scoring breaks had live music and, at one point, an awesome (albeit HIGHLY SPOILERIFFIC) “In Memoriam” montage. I’ll put that in a little later. You know, to break the tension.
Then there were the questions. I thought they were clever and challenging, and lived up to the hype. As with last year, I’m presenting my reconstruction, from memory and notes, of the Geek Bowl 7 questions. I worked a deal out with the Geeks about this after my 2012 post — they’re cool with having the questions posted as long as there’s at least a week’s distance between the event and the recap. I consider it an advertisement for their quality, and a fannish tribute, but that said, please keep in mind that these questions are NOT verbatim as they were asked at Geek Bowl. It is very likely I have removed lots of clever turns of phrase and precise hinting, and possibly introduced some errors as well. Where something is crappy in them, blame me, not the Geeks.
If you need a reminder of the format and the rules, check the 2012 post. I’ll put side comments about our team’s experience in [square brackets.] And now, the questions of Geek Bowl VII…
Round 1: Get Off My Ass, a category of things you might find on your ass, either literally or figuratively.
1. In MAC cosmetics, shades of this include Lickable, Cockney, and Politely Pink. [Thanks to teammate Lori for this one.]
2. The D7, Bird of Prey, and Negh’Var are all warships belonging to what sci-fi race?
3. In 1969, The 5th Dimension hit number one for five weeks with a medley of songs from what musical?
4. This is the medical name for the condition known informally as “cottage cheese skin” or “hail damage.”
5. This Russian duo released the faux lesbian schoolgirl masturbation fantasy “All The Things She Said” in 2002. [Teammate Brian nailed this, though that may not be a point of pride.]
6. In November of last year, Starz cancelled this drama starring Kelsey Grammer and Connie Nielsen.
7. Rebus time! Take the northernmost peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland, and add the last name of the singer who hit number one with “My Ding-a-Ling” in 1972.
8. This 3-letter term is the Latin word for “with.”
[We did well this round, getting all 8 answers correct.]
Round 2 – Music round: Numbers, Lucky and Otherwise
[Round 2 is always a music round in Geeks Who Drink, and always worth 16 points, 1 point each for naming the artist and title. Austin being the “Live Music Capital Of The World”, GWD brought in 8 different artists to perform live cover versions of the songs in the round. The “numbers” theme, they made clear, meant that either the artist or the title in each answer had a number in it. They also helped by having the projection screen give a clue or two, usually the year of the song’s release. Hat tip to Ed Toutant for capturing most of the artists’ names so I can link to them.]
1. First out was an opera singer, who sounded amazing singing some a capella lyrics. “How do I say goodbye to what we had? / The good times that made us laugh / outweigh the bad. / I thought we’d get to see forever.” [Unfortunately we did not recognize them at all. We thought maybe it sounded like a Taylor Swift song, and for a second I got excited, remembering Taylor Swift has a song whose title is a number. Then the screen told us that the song was from 1991. So not Taylor Swift, then. We ended up guessing “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, since that has a number and felt like it was around the right era.] Turns out it was “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday”, by Boys II Men. (Get it? II?)
2. Next up was That Damned Band, an accordion-driven steampunk band playing “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s.
3. Harpist Kristen Smith playing “One” by Metallica on an electrified harp. [Which was, by the way, awesome. In fact, teammate Larry had just seen her play the previous night at a club.]
4. Surf rock band The Poi Pounders playing “1985” by Bowling For Soup, without vocals. [Brian nailed this, thankfully — it turns out I am terrible at name that tune when lyrics are removed.]
5. Beatboxer Maestro doing “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation. [Ever heard of this song? I hadn’t, but it apparently gets played at lots of sporting events. In fact, most of the people on my team recognized it, though none of them knew the title or artist. According to Lori, this is the song that gets played right before Ralphie the Buffalo is released at CU football games. Teammate Dave had a vague memory of it, but the closest he could get was “Alien Nation.” We ended up guessing Alex Clare as the artist, since somebody said his music gets played at a lot of sporting events.]
6. Irish band The Tea Merchants playing “Pop Song 89” by R.E.M.
7. Americana band 2 Hoots and a Holler playing “One More Night” by Maroon 5, without vocals. [Once again, we were a little mystified, but when the screen told us it was a 2012 song, we guessed “That’s What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. If only we’d known about this 2012 song with a number in the title and the artist!]
8. I don’t know how to describe this band. Dixieland, maybe? There was a marching bass drum, a snare, a trombone, a trumpet, maybe some other horns. Oh, and they were all dressed as zombies. Anyway, they’re called Dead Music Capital Band, and they played “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers.
[This was a disappointing round. We’re usually very strong in music, but the Boys II Men slipped through our generation gap, the Maroon 5 through our inattention gap, and we just plain didn’t know Zombie Nation. Needless to say, we didn’t joker, so we earned 10 points, for a total of 18. (If you don’t know or don’t remember, you can “joker” one round in GWD to double your points.)]
Round 3 – Multiple choice: Things You Shouldn’t Put In Your Mouth
[Round 3 in GWD is often a slightly different format — true/false, multiple choice, speed, or other variants. This one was a multiple choice round, followed by a speed round, for a total of 16 possible points.]
1. When the elusive McRib makes its appearance, does it usually show up in July or November?
2. According to BBC Food and Alton Brown, which of the following should not be included in an authentic haggis: heart, kidney, or oatmeal?
3. Which shroom will make you trip balls, Copelandia or Reishi?
4. In 1919, 21 Bostonians met their deaths in an explosion of what old-timey treat, custard or molasses?
5. The durian is the king of smelly-ass fruits. In what country is it banned from all public spaces, Jamaica or Singapore?
6. Which can you legally bring into the US: 2 dozen green and black poison dart frogs, or a cooler of African bushmeat?
7. How many of the Olive Garden’s endless breadsticks would it take to get you to your recommended daily allowance of 2,000 calories: 7, 14, or 21?
8. The slumber party game and YouTube meme “chubby bunny” involves talking with a mouth full of what: marshmallows or cotton balls?
On top of the multiple choice round, there was a speed round, in which we were given two minutes to answer the following question: The Joy Of Cooking is a cookbook first published in 1931. The meatloaf recipe in the sixth edition, published in 1975, had only eight ingredients besides the meat itself. Name them.
[We ended up doing surprisingly well in this round, but our confidence was not high. As it turned out, this was the round we should have jokered (though see the note at the bottom of round 8), but we didn’t, because it seemed far too chancy to risk it when so many of our answers were guesses. So we got 13 points, for a total of 31.]
Round 4: A Round About Surrendering
1. The Battle of Bataan ended with the largest U.S. troop surrender in history. To what nation did they surrender?
2. Earlier this year, Lance Armstrong finally gave up his fight against an agency with what 5-letter acronym?
3. [This was meant to start with a video clip, but there was a technical problem, so it didn’t.] In Searching For Bobby Fischer, Josh offers a draw to Jonathan Poe before beating him, but first he learned from a street chess hustler played by what Pee-Wee’s Playhouse alum? [This question may be pretty different from how the Geeks asked it — I was a little confused and disoriented when making the notes.]
4. The clothing line Tapout once had its own MMA reality show on what network, now known as NBC Sports Network?
5. Jack Kevorkian was present for his own death, in what state where he lived and worked? [Larry nailed this.]
6. Winston Churchill’s famous 1940 speech ending with “We shall never surrender” is often used as an opening for the song “Aces High” by what London metal band? [My mind went immediately to Motorhead, before remembering that their song is called “Ace Of Spades,” not “Aces High.” George wisely talked us out of being distracted by that, and we ended up guessing the correct answer.]
7. [The film clip was successful on this one, so it started with this, ending right after you see “Surrender Dorothy” in the sky.] The character who wrote that message in the sky was played by what actress? (And no, smartass, not her stunt double.)
8. Finally, we couldn’t do a surrendering category without mentioning France, so: the French turned Paris over to the Nazis and signed a pretty heinous surrender agreement in what year?
[We aced this round as well, for another 8 points, bringing our total to 39.]
Round 5 – Visual Round: Family Business (Give the last names of these real or fictional families.)
[Round 5 of GWD is always a visual round. At the regular pub quiz, that means a half-sheet of paper for each team with pictures of something or other to identify. At the Geek Bowl, it means pictures of something or other projected on the big screens around the venue. This time, with the family theme, what they seemingly did was to take the faces from various famous families and photoshop them onto the bodies of typical family photo shots, perhaps from Awkward Family Photos, though I’m not sure about that part.
In any case, if I have any quibble with Geek Bowl 7, it would be this round. It was a cute and clever idea, but it went wrong in a couple of ways. First, the pictures went by SUPER FAST. They ran through them twice, but still, I don’t know that any picture even showed for a total of 10 seconds. That added a major challenge on top of the already challenging aspect of extracting faces out of context, which made it basically a visual speed round — something I’m not sure the Geeks intended. Finally, we were seated in a way that made the faces mostly visible, but I’ve heard from other teams that for them the details where just too small to figure out, based on either their seats, the size of the screen near them, or both. In any case, the families were:]
1. Corleone (from The Godfather)
2. Partridge
3. Vanderbilt [We recognized Anderson Cooper right away, but because they went by so fast (and because we had others to debate), we just put down “Cooper.” If we’d had 15 or 20 seconds more with this one, I have no doubt we would have gotten to “Vanderbilt.”]
4. Tudor
5. Lannister (from A Game Of Thrones) [We were clueless here, and spent most of our time debating it. We guessed “Steele”, thinking perhaps it was Joan Crawford and her fourth husband, Alfred Steele.]
6. Addams
7. Osmond
8. Bluth (from Arrested Development)
[So 6 out of 8 on this round, for a total of 45.]
Round 6: The Fabric Of Our Lives… And Slavery
1. Cotton candy was invented by a dentist, who called it “candy floss” and debuted it at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in what city?
2. [This movie clip showed.] Name this actor, who played Cotton Weary in 3 Scream movies.
3. Analogy time! Cotton is to the cotton plant, as linen is to what?
4. “I wish I was in the land of cotton / Old times they are not forgotten.” What are the next two words? (And the next two words, and the next two words after that.) [Almost my entire team was all over this. Apparently they sang it in school? I was grateful, because somehow this song passed me by completely.]
5. In a game held in 1966 at the Cotton Bowl, the Cowboys hosted what Western Conference champion that went on to become NFL champion? [Hooray for Dave and Larry knowing this one.]
6. Name the New Englander who was responsible for over 400 books and pamphlets, most notably Magnalia Christi Americana.
7. [This video clip showed.] This often-misquoted speech was given by Sally Field after she won the Oscar for playing cotton farmer Edna Spalding in what 1984 movie?
8. Who invented the cotton gin? No, not really, we’re kidding. Here’s the real question: Eli Whitney was an Eli in more ways than one, having graduated from what university? [Dave even knew their fight song!]
[Another perfect round — too bad it wasn’t happening on any that we could joker! We now had a total of 53 points.]
Round 7 – Video round: Celebrities (That We Could Get!)
[Round 7 in a normal GWD quiz is generally another audio round, often of movie clips or some such. Though according to fellow Geek Bowler bobb x ha, video-capable venues have been having video rounds for a while now. Lucky! In any case, in Geek Bowl, Round 7 is generally a video round, and this time around, it was THIS. Go watch it. Seriously. It’s awesome. For posterity, in case this video ever gets taken down…]
1. Doug Stanhope: On Newsradio, Joe Rogan’s character was originally meant to be played by what comic who soon went on to headline his own successful sitcom?
2. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, aka Katee Sackhoff: Katee played a nemesis to fellow cyborg Jamie Sommers in a 2007 reimagining of what ’70s show that was itself a spinoff?
3. Andrew WK: Andrew WK’s first album cover was censored due to a photo of fluids streaming from what body part?
4. Peter Sagal: What Chicago landmark was home to Obama’s first election party, and is now the permanent home of Lollapalooza?
5. Will Shortz: Spelling question! Founded by two guys named Richard and Max, what big publisher debuted with the first crossword puzzle book?
6. Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg: Hosea’s winning dish included what French/Cajun condiment that’s often served with French fries?
7. Dan Savage: What was the name of George Bernard Shaw’s pet Socialist organization, which came from the same Latin name as that Italian model from the romance novels?
8. Wil Wheaton: Wil Wheaton’s first feature role was providing the voice for a non-rate character in what classic Don Bluth film?
[We had great teamwork on a lot of these, tossing answers back and forth until we had one we felt good about. And we got them all! That brought us to 61 points.]
Round 8: Random Knowledge
[Round 8 of GWD is always “random knowledge”, and it really is random. In Geek Bowl, the Round 8 points tend to be more evenly distributed than in a regular quiz, and this time was no different — there were exactly two points per question.]
1. The first and last wives of Henry VIII shared a first name. Who were they?
2. What two natural seasonings are mentioned in the lyrics to Aerosmith’s “Love In An Elevator”?
3. What are the titles of the two sequels to that fine piece of literature, Fifty Shades Of Gray?
4. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played a king and queen (not the same king and queen) in what 1988 and 1994 movies?
5. Give the civilian professions of these two superheroes: Daredevil and She-Hulk.
6. Name the science guys played on kids’ TV shows by Don Herbert and Paul Zaloom.
7. First, the Danish manufacturer of Lego brand toys insists on what ridiculous plural of Lego? Second, what is the name of the larger version of Lego made for younger kids?
8. Canada’s northern border touches Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, the Arctic Ocean, and what two seas?
[We got 12 of these, and since we hadn’t jokered yet, we used it on this round. 61 + 24 = 85, which by my reckoning was our final score. Now, the official score listed at the Geek Bowl 2013 standings page gives us 84, else we would have been tied for 6th rather than 8th. Thanks to eagle-eyed Ed Toutant, I think I now know the problem: we missed the “besides the meat” part on the meatloaf question, and therefore would have lost a point for listing “meat.” Interestingly, that means that in fact round 8 and round 3 were equivalent uses of our joker. ]
Let’s take an intermission with this excellent video, which I warn you once again is spoilery. Specifically, it spoils part of the Avengers movie, and the most recent seasons of: The Walking Dead, True Blood, Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Sons Of Anarchy, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men. Especially Walking Dead. Hoo boy.
And now…
THE ANSWERS
Round 1: Get Off My Ass, a category of things you might find on your ass, either literally or figuratively.
1. In MAC cosmetics, shades of this include Lickable, Cockney, and Politely Pink. Lipstick
2. The D7, Bird of Prey, and Negh’Var are all warships belonging to what sci-fi race? Klingon
3. In 1969, The 5th Dimension hit number one for five weeks with a medley of songs from what musical? Hair
4. This is the real name for the condition known informally as “cottage cheese skin” or “hail damage.” Cellulite
5. This Russian duo released the faux lesbian schoolgirl masturbation fantasy “All The Things She Said” in 2002. t.A.T.u.
6. In November of last year, Starz cancelled this drama starring Kelsey Grammer and Connie Nielsen. Boss
7. Rebus time! Take the northernmost peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland, and add the last name of the singer who hit number one with “My Ding-a-Ling” in 1972. Dingleberry
8. This 3-letter term is the Latin word for “with.” Cum
Round 2 – Music round: Numbers, Lucky and Otherwise
[Answers are in the questions.]
Round 3 – Multiple choice: Things You Shouldn’t Put In Your Mouth
1. When the elusive McRib makes its appearance, does it usually show up in July or November? [Teammate George knew this one cold. Er, warmed by heat lamps, I guess.] November
2. According to BBC Food and Alton Brown, which of the following should not be included in an authentic haggis: heart, kidney, or oatmeal? [We debated this one a lot and ended up guessing “heart.” Which was wrong.] Kidney
3. Which shroom will make you trip balls, Copelandia or Reishi? [We thought Reishi sounded slightly familiar as an ingredient in Japanese cooking, so we guessed “Copelandia.” Which was right.] Copelandia
4. In 1919, 21 Bostonians met their deaths in an explosion of what old-timey treat, custard or molasses? [George apparently saw a story about this on the History channel!] Molasses
5. The durian is the king of smelly-ass fruits. In what country is it banned from all public spaces, Jamaica or Singapore? [We theorized, correctly as it turns out, that Singapore has more weird laws.] Singapore
6. Which can you legally bring into the US: 2 dozen green and black poison dart frogs, or a cooler of African bushmeat? [We thought perhaps that safari spoils might be more tightly regulated than live animals.] The frogs (The screen showed a close-up of a poison dart frog saying, “Sleep tight, America!”)
7. How many of the Olive Garden’s endless breadsticks would it take to get you to your recommended daily allowance of 2,000 calories: 7, 14, or 21? [Lots of napkin math here — we decided that the breadsticks were more likely to be 143 calories apiece than 286.] 14
8. The slumber party game and YouTube meme “chubby bunny” involves talking with a mouth full of what: marshmallows or cotton balls? [Brian, for some reason, totally knew this.] Marshmallows
Speed Round: The Joy Of Cooking was a cookbook first published in 1931. The meatloaf recipe in the sixth edition, published in 1975, had only eight ingredients besides the meat itself. Name them.
[I think we somehow missed the “besides the meat” part, so we ended up guessing: meat, bread, onion, garlic, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.] Breadcrumbs
Eggs
Onions
Ketchup
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Round 4: A Round About Surrendering
1. The Battle of Bataan ended with the largest U.S. troop surrender in history. To what nation did they surrender? Japan
2. Earlier this year, Lance Armstrong finally gave up his fight against an agency with what 5-letter acronym? USADA
3. In Searching For Bobby Fischer, Josh offers a draw to Jonathan Poe before beating him, but first he learned from a street chess hustler played by what Pee-Wee’s Playhouse alum? Laurence Fishburne
4. The clothing line Tapout once had its own MMA reality show on what network, now known as NBC Sports Network? Vs.
5. Jack Kevorkian was present for his own death, in what state where he lived and worked? Michigan
6. Winston Churchill’s famous 1940 speech ending with “We shall never surrender” is often used as an opening for the song “Aces High” by what London metal band? Iron Maiden
7. (Film clip, ending right after you see “Surrender Dorothy.”) The character who wrote that message in the sky was played by what actress? (And no, smartass, not her stunt double.) Margaret Hamilton
8. Finally, we couldn’t do a surrendering category without mentioning France, so: the French turned Paris over to the Nazis and signed a pretty heinous surrender agreement in what year? 1940
Round 5 – Visual Round: Family Business (Give the last names of these real or fictional families.)
[Answers in the questions.]
Round 6 – The Fabric Of Our Lives… And Slavery
1. Cotton candy was invented by a dentist, who called it “candy floss” and debuted it at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in what city? St. Louis
2. [This movie clip showed.] Name this actor, who played Cotton Weary in 3 Scream movies. Liev Schreiber
3. Analogy time! Cotton is to the cotton plant, as linen is to what? Flax
4. “I wish I was in the land of cotton / Old times they are not forgotten.” What are the next two words? (And the next two words, and the next two words after that.) Look Away
5. In a game held in 1966 at the Cotton Bowl, the Cowboys hosted what Western Conference champion that went on to become NFL champion? Green Bay Packers
6. Name the New Englander who was responsible for over 400 books and pamphlets, most notably Magnalia Christi Americana. Cotton Mather
7. [This video clip showed.] This often-misquoted speech was given by Sally Field after she won the Oscar for playing cotton farmer Edna Spalding in what 1984 movie? Places In The Heart
8. Who invented the cotton gin? No, not really, we’re kidding. Here’s the real question: Eli Whitney was an Eli in more ways than one, having graduated from what university? Yale
Round 7 – Video round: Celebrities (That We Could Get!)
[Here is the video with all the answers, and you should totally watch it. But if that ever goes away…]
1. Doug Stanhope: On Newsradio, Joe Rogan’s character was originally meant to be played by what comic who soon went on to headline his own successful sitcom? Ray Romano
2. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, aka Katee Sackhoff: Katee played a nemesis to fellow cyborg Jamie Sommers in a 2007 reimagining of what ’70s show that was itself a spinoff? The Bionic Woman
3. Andrew WK: Andrew WK’s first album cover was censored due to a photo of fluids streaming from what body part? Nose
4. Peter Sagal: What Chicago landmark was home to Obama’s first election party, and is now the permanent home of Lollapalooza? Grant Park [Well done Larry.]
5. Will Shortz: Spelling question! Founded by two guys named Richard and Max, what big publisher debuted with the first crossword puzzle book? Simon and Schuster
6. Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg: Hosea’s winning dish included what French/Cajun condiment that’s often served with French fries? Remoulade
7. Dan Savage: What was the name of George Bernard Shaw’s pet Socialist organization, which came from the same Latin name as that Italian model from the romance novels? The Fabian Society [Dave had a great pull on that one.]
8. Wil Wheaton: Wil Wheaton’s first feature role was providing the voice for a non-rate character in what classic Don Bluth film? The Secret Of NIMH
Round 8: Random Knowledge
1. The first and last wives of Henry VIII shared a first name. Who were they? Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Parr
2. What two natural seasonings are mentioned in the lyrics to Aerosmith’s “Love In An Elevator”? Sassafrass, Honey [This was the one I was happiest about contributing to.]
3. What are the titles of the two sequels to that fine piece of literature, Fifty Shades Of Gray? Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed [We knew “Darker,” but not “Freed,” guessing “More” instead.]
4. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played a king and queen (not the same king and queen) in what 1988 and 1994 movies? Coming To America, The Lion King
5. Give the civilian professions of these two superheroes: Daredevil and She-Hulk. Lawyer, Lawyer [George, Brian, and I are all Marvel guys, so we were all over it.]
6. Name the science guys played on kids’ TV shows by Don Herbert and Paul Zaloom. Mr. Wizard, Beakman [We knew Mr. Wizard, but Beakman slipped through our generation gap.]
7. First, the Danish manufacturer of Lego brand toys insists on what ridiculous plural of Lego? Second, what is the name of the larger version of Lego made for younger kids? “Lego Bricks”, Duplo [We got the second but not the first, as I suspect was the case for lots and lots of people.]
8. Canada’s northern border touches Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, the Arctic Ocean, and what two seas? Beaufort, Labrador [Cheers to George for coming up with “Labrador.” We didn’t get Beaufort, though, guessing “Bering” instead.]
But when it comes to the extremities Kipling describes, to making the ultimate sacrifice and never surrendering, there’s only one character worth considering: Rorschach. It is Rorschach, from the beginning, who is trying to save his companions, despite his rather offputting approach to doing so. It is Rorschach who exemplifies the tireless drive of the bhisti, with his frequent repetitions of “Never despair. Never surrender,” and variations on that theme. And it is Rorschach whom the book most closely identifies with the Gunga Diner. His name is superimposed over the diner’s first appearance, and he makes one his headquarters, after a fashion anyway. He sits and watches from its window for the action at his trash can “mail drop”, as New York opens its heart to him. 
