My opponent, Dave Shukan, earned himself the six-pack with these questions, and, well, I sure as heck did not. I let a couple of shoulda-had-ems slip by me, but no way was I ever going to get all six, so it doesn't matter.
1. Since the 1989 film Batman, the title hero has been played on the big screen in the Burton/Schumacher and Nolan series by Michael Keaton, George Clooney, and Christian Bale. Who is missing from this list?
A gimme for all the wrong reasons: Watching Batman Forever, with Val Kilmer as Batman and Jim Carrey as the Riddler, was one of the most appalling experiences I have ever had in a movie theater. That movie is an unwitting parody of everything that is wrong with Hollywood.
2. This U.S. President had a number of notable accomplishments while in office (initiating civil service reform, naval modernization, etc.), but is mostly remembered today for being shot in the abdomen by Charles Guiteau.
Something I should know, but sadly did not. If only I was more familiar with Sondheim's Assassins, this could have been another back-door theater question! But I'm not, so I said Pierce instead of Garfield.
3. The Red Room and The People of Hemsö are novels from what playwright and novelist, considered the father of modern Swedish literature?
A playwright! I know playwrights. So I should know this. Let's see… Ibsen was Norwegian, so that's not right. That means it has to be… um… I'd like to say the answer is right on the tip of my tongue, but in fact it's nowhere to be seen. I've got nothing. Phooey. The answer: August Strindberg. Ah, right. Back in my theater days, I knew a lot of people who went gaga for Strindberg, but he never really did anything for me. Apparently he made even less impact than I thought.
4. Who is the best known fictional bullfrog referred to by name in the lyrics of an early 1970s hit song?
Jeremiah was that bullfrog. Is there a second-best known fictional bullfrog in 70s pop music?
5. What is the name of the medical subspecialty which focuses primarily on the treatment and study of malocclusions?
I'm glad I didn't spend too much time on this, as I had zoomed in on the wrong part of the head, believing malocclusions to be something more severe than concussions. In fact, it is the scientific term for what is more generally known as "screwed-up teeth," and as such is the domain of orthodontics.
6. The dessert known as pound cake takes its name from its traditional preparation, consisting of one pound each of four ingredients. What are those ingredients?
I kept staring at this question, waiting for that strange Twilight Zone feeling to fade. I had believed for the longest time that pound cake was so-named because it contained one pound of THREE different ingredients: Butter, eggs, and flour. So now it's four? Had it always been four? Or had I slipped into a parallel universe where certain things are slightly different, and this was one of them?
Well, nothing for it but to try to figure out that last ingredient. It had to be something simple — it's not going to be, I don't know, a pound of lemon confit. I briefly entertained the possibility of water, but that seemed odd. Sugar, then? That's certainly something you can measure by the pound, and it's as basic a cake ingredient as you can get. Wouldn't a pound of sugar give you a tooth-achingly sweet cake, though?
I finally went with it for lack of any better ideas, and it was right: Butter, eggs, flour, sugar.
