DON'T STUMP the OTHER guy with average knowledge

Well, per the rules of cmyk’s very fun thread I have won the dubious honor of having my own ignorance displayed to the Dope, and the world.

The rules for this are simple: The goal is to ask me trivia questions that I can answer. Assign a point value for each question, based on its difficulty, from one to ten.

I will use no outside resources to answer your questions: No Googling, no asking friends, no going to reference books. Just my unaided walking memory.

If I get the question right, you get that point value added to your score. If I get it wrong, that point value is subtracted from it. The goal, of course, is to get as high a score as one may. Post your scores in green if they’re positive, and red if they’re negative.

The person with the highest score will get a properly appropriate SDMB prize. (I’m thinking of a Get-Out-of-Goating-Free, card) The loser… well, let’s just say that I see no reason to be kinder than cmyk - the loser gets to start his or her very own thread.

Now, in case you’re not familiar with my background - I’m a 39 yo caucasian male. (With spelling that’s tolerable, at best.) I am going to be proven nearly ignorant of popular culture or sports very quickly, so I’ll suggest that you avoid those topics.

Well, let the questions begin!

So, with that caveat, who is playing in the World Series this year? (2pts)

Oddly enough I can answer this one. I’ve got a friend who is a die-hard BoSox fan. And she made sure I knew that they were playing against the Rockies.

Yay! 2.

Uh oh - from one to ten, or one to three like the last thread? I’ll do 1-3 for now, and revise if necessary.

Well, you asked questions on myth before, so maybe you’ll get these.

3 points: Who is Odysseus’ wife?
2 points: Who is Artemis’ brother?
1 point: Who is the queen of the Greek gods?
3 points: Who are Zeus’ parents?

  1. Nausicaa is Odysseus’ wife

  2. Apollo is Artemis’ twin brother, IIRC

  3. Hera was the often powerless queen of the Olympians

  4. I’m less sure of this, but wasn’t it Chronos and Gaia?

Aiee! 2 and 3 are right, but Penelope is Odysseus’ wife - Nausicaa is just some girl he met along the way. He didn’t even sleep with her (unlike pretty much all of the other girls he meets along the way). Cronus (so close!) and Rhea are Zeus’ parents.

-3

Let’s try some history:

For four points:
Name the last ten presidents (including the current one) of the United States.

For eight points:
Name the last ten vice-presidents (including the current one) of the United States.

(I’m assuming that we are indeed doing 1-10 points. Otherwise adjust point levels to 2 and 3, respectively.)

Rats. Rats. And Rats again. I really thought that Nausicaa and Penelope where cognomens, like Odysseus and Ulysses.

OK, for two points, who first broke the sound barrier? Hint: it was in an airplane. :slight_smile:

Hey, I’m impressed you knew that name at all. It’s a sophisticated level of confusion, at least. I’ll try to redeem myself (or possibly guarantee myself my own thread). Again - do you want the 1-3 scale or the 1-10?

1: How many provinces and territories are there in Canada?
1: Which province is furthest west?
2: Who is Canada’s prime minister?
3: Up or down 5 million, how many people live in Canada?

Last ten presidents… This could get tricky

George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George H. W. Bush
Ronald Reagan
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
Lyndon B. Johnson
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Dwight David Eisenhower

Vice Presidents… I know I’m going to mess them up, but let’s try:

Dick Cheney
Al Gore
Dan Quayle
George H. W. Bush
Walter Mondale
Spirow Agnew?
Gerald Ford
Hubert Humphrey
Lyndon B. Johnson
Horace Q Placesetter?

Wasn’t that Chuck Yeager?

Presidents: exactly right.
Vice-presidents: oh so close! You reversed Agnew (Spiro, not Spirow) and Ford (not that I would have counted it against you) but you missed Nelson Rockefeller, Ford’s vice president.

So, plus four, minus eight, leaving me at -2.

I don’t mind a 1-10 point scale. Of course, I’ll probably blow the ten pointers.

  1. Hooo boy. I’ve even lived in Canada. I think there are 14. Don’t ask me to name them all

  2. I want to say The Yukon, with a small possiblility that British Columbia has protrusions further west.

  3. er… I’ve actually known that in the past. Right now the name is completely escaping me. I’ve even read some of the threads about complaints about his treatment of gay rights, I think it was, in Ontario. But this is a complete miss.

  4. I’d say 27 million people. ISTR that it’s about 10% of the population of the US.

Two points,Dude!

Ahh HAH! It’s so nice to be on this side of the barbed-wire fence. You’re doing a great job so far.

OK… and for the wind-up:

3 points (on a difficulty scale of 1-10): What’s the brightest star in earth’s sky (besides the sun)?

D’oh!!!

You got the edit in there just in time.

I believe Sirius is the brightest distant star.

Oh man, I’m sunk. 13 provinces and territories, Yukon isn’t a province and therefore the wrong answer (BC was it), Stephen Harper and - the worst - 33 million, just 1 million off the 5 mil margin of error.

It’s a good thing I didn’t use the 10 point scale. I’m already at -10 points! I’m retiring for the night.

Whoo hoo! Nice job, starting out in the green.

cmyk = +3