We're Famous...Well, Sort Of

Thanks to Shea for writing us up the McNeese Contraband. See full article here


Last semester on occasional Tuesday nights, a group of McNeese faculty took over Rikenjaks for their own devices. Now the group, Drink n Think, offers trivia competitions every other Tuesday night. Professors Alex Scorpan and Josh Finnell put on an entertaining four round show where competitors pay three dollars to test their knowledge on subjects ranging from local events to Russian utopian literature. The winning team receives two thirds of the collected fees. The Romanian Trivia Czar, Scorpan, verbally assaults players with witty humor injected into questions. Students of McNeese, here is your chance to show the faculty members that attend this event that you actually do possess the ability to think and express yourself intelligently.

Next Drink'n'Think: September 2nd

Congratulations to the Dirty Briefs for taking home the pot yesterday after several, I mean several, tries. In addition to winning for the first time they also managed to set a Drink'n'Think record for most total points scored (41). Well done. Thanks to Shea for being our first ever Drink'n'Think intern and for writing us up in the paper! Of course, as always, thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting D'n'T.

Questions from last night:

ROUND 1

[HISTORY] Born in Cypress on this day in 1963, he is best known as Jesse from the band “Jesse and the Rippers.”
(John Stamos)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] What is the world’s largest body of water?
(The Pacific Ocean - 155,556,651 sq km)

[SPORTS] This Cincinatti reds outfielder was recently traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three minor league prospects.
(Adam Dunn)

[LITERATURE] This Russian novelist, dramatist and historian, whose most popular work was the Gulag Archipelago, passed away on August 3rd.
(Alexander Solzhenitsyn)

[POLITICS] In an August 8th interview with Bob Woodruff, this former presidential candidate admitted to having an extra-marital affair with former campaign worker Rielle Hunter?
(John Edwards)

[MUSIC] This former Pantera guitarist, who was killed onstage at a Damageplan show on December 8, 2004 in Ohio, recently received a tribute at Ozzfest.
(Dimebag Darryl)

[CURRENT EVENTS] One of The Original Kings of Comedy and co-starring in Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, he died on August 9th from complications of pneumonia.
(Bernie Mac)

[CINEMA/ TELEVISON] This man tight-roped walked across the top of Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louisiana Superdome, and the Twin-Towers (before their destruction) and was recently featured in the documentary “Man On A Wire.”
(Phillip Pettit)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] Earlier this month, Louisiana became the last state to outlaw what? A move that enthusiasts say marks the end of a rich rural tradition.
(Cockfighting or rooster fights)

[MISCELLANEOUS] The scholarly study of flags is known by what term?
(Vexillology)

ROUND 2

[HISTORY] What former beekeeper scaled Mount Everest?
(Sir Edmund Hillary)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] What religion was Adolf Hitler raised in and was reported to profess?
(Roman Catholicism)

[SPORTS] Who did Bobby Fischer beat to win the world chess championship in 1972?
(Boris Spassky)

[LITERATURE] Whose books include Breakfast of Champions, Cat’s Cradle, and Slapstick?
(Kurt Vonnegut)

[POLITICS] In his new book “The Way of the World,” released on August 5, what journalist claims that George Bush knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and ordered the CIA to forge documents linking Saddam Houssein to al-Qaeda?
(Ron Suskind)

[MUSIC] Best known for his work for the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft, he passed away August 10th at the age of 65.
(Isaac Hayes)

[CURRENT EVENTS] On the opening day of the Olympics, Russia invaded what country – claiming a humanitarian intervention.
(Georgia)

[CINEMA/TELEVISION] What television show starring Claire Danes ran for only 19 episodes in 1994 before being cancelled?
(My So-Called Life)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] What singer, scheduled to play at the Rosa Hart Theatre on March 13th, yelled over the microphone at Woodstock: “The New York Thruway is closed, man!”
(Arlo Guthrie)

[MISCELLANEOUS] What book was Mark David Chapman carrying when he shot John Lennon?
(Catcher in the Rye)/ He was recently denied parole for a 5th time this last week.

ROUND 3

[HISTORY] What plan to rebuild Europe was unveiled on June 5, 1947?
(The Marshall Plan)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] A toxic food additive, what does MSG stand for?
(Monosodium Glutamate)

[SPORTS] How many lanes does an Olympic swimming pool have?
(8)

[LITERATURE] Who was Don Quixote’s sidekick?
(Sancho Panza)

[POLITICS] The third of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies passed a resolution last week calling for this president to step down or face impeachment.
(President Pervez Musharraf)

[MUSIC] What song features the lyrics, “And my time is a piece of wax fallin on a termite
That’s chokin on the splinters”?
(Loser by Beck)


[CURRENT EVENTS] He recently won the 2008 PGA Championship, becoming the first European to do so in 78 years.
(Pádraig Harrington)

[CINEMA/TELEVISION] What musician did Cate Blanchett play in the 2007 film, “I’m Not There”?
(Bob Dylan)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] This team become the first United States team to earn a berth in the 2008 Little League Baseball World Series by rallying for an 8-7 extra-inning win over Lamar American earlier this month.
(South Lake Charles)

[MISCELLANEOUS] What suspect in the game of Clue teaches college?
(Professor Plum)

ROUND 4

[HISTORY] What was stormed in Paris in 1789?
(The Bastille)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] What’s destroyed in Genesis 19:24?
(Sodom and Gomorrah)

[SPORTS] What U.S. female gymnast competed in Bejing with a broken ankle?
(Chellsie Memmel)

[LITERATURE] What country lifted a ban on Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Dickens on February 11th, 1978?
(China)

[POLITICS] How many days did Bush stay at the Olympic games in Bejing?
(4)

[MUSIC] This musician has garnered much interest from the press for his "Fifty States Project", his aim being to complete an album about each of the states of the United States.
(Sufjan Stevens/ he has only completed Illinois and Michigan)

[CURRENT EVENTS] He turned 82 last Wednesday, still a world and national figure even though he has not been seen in public since falling ill two years ago.
(Fidel Castro)

[CINEMA/TELEVISION] Who’s Warren Beatty’s sister?
(Shirley MacLaine)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] This town in Louisiana is known as the “Frog Capital of the World.”
(Rayne)

[MISCELLANEOUS] What is the square root of one-quarter?
(one-half)

Next Drink'n'Think: August 19th

Thanks to a small, but loyal, group of competitors last night at Drink'n'Think. Congratulations to Etc. for emerging from a dual with the Dirty Briefs to claim the pot. We have survived the summer and look forward to swelling crowds with the return of the McNeese hopeful.

Here are the questions from last night:



ROUND 1

[HISTORY] On this day in 1962, what famous actress was found dead in her Los Angeles home?
(Marilyn Monroe)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] Over the centuries several Bible Scholars have concluded that this fruit, a product of non-sexual reproduction much like Eve, was the real forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
(Banana)

[SPORTS] What cyclist won the 2008 Tour de France?
(Carlos Sastre)

[LITERATURE] Winner of 8 Oscars, Gone With the Wind was adapted from a novel written by what author?
(Margaret Mitchell)

[POLITICS] Last week, Israel’s Prime Minister announced he will stand down in two months, saying that a corruption case involving him is hurting his family. What is his name?
(Ehud Olmert)

[MUSIC] "Pass the Dutchie" was a hit song for this group in the year 1982?
(Musical Youth)

[CURRENT EVENTS] At a farm in Mexico last week, U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found what vegetable contaminated with a rare strain of Salmonella bacteria?
(serrano peppers or chili peppers)

[CINEMA/ TELEVISON] Appearing along with Elijah Wood, what movie did Scarlett Johansson first appear?
(North)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] The Louisiana Swashbucklers concluded the first perfect season in Intense Football League history with a 66-35 victory over what team in Intense Bowl IV last week?
(the Corpus Christi Hammerheads)

[MISCELLANEOUS] How many U.S. states start with the letter “m”?
(8 – Michigan, Minnesota, Main, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Maryland)

ROUND 2

[HISTORY] Tipping the scales at over 300 pounds, this U.S. President often got stuck in the White House's bathtub.
(William Howard Taft)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] How many lenses are in a dragonfly’s eye? a. 3,000 b. 30,000 c. 300,000
(30,000)

[SPORTS] Recently, the New York Yankess acquired what outfielder form the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade?
(Xavier Nady)

[LITERATURE] in 1971, this Chilean Poet won the Nobel Prize in Literature, dying two years later in 1973.
(Pablo Neruda)

[POLITICS] Last week, what republican senator from Alaska appeared in federal court to answer charges that he lied about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from an oil services contractor?
(Ted Stevens)

[MUSIC] Control is a 2007 black-and-white biopic film about the life and death of what former lead singer of Joy Division.
(Ian Curtis)

[CURRENT EVENTS] Just before the Olympics are about to start, seven athletes from what country have been provisionally suspended for doping offences?
(Russia)

[CINEMA/TELEVISION] Care Bears live in their kingdom in the clouds, called what?
(Care-a-Lot)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] Closed since Hurricane Rita struck, this building located on Kirby Street is undergoing a rebirth of sorts as work began last week to reopen the 52-year-old building.
(the YMCA)

[MISCELLANEOUS] It was the need to protect cigarettes and hard candies from moisture that led to the development of what common kitchen product in 1903?
(Aluminum Foil, developed by Richard S. Reynolds)

ROUND 3

[HISTORY] Which became a state first, Alaska or Hawaii?
(Alaska became the 49th state in 1958, Hawaii the 50th in 1959)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] In 2004, Golden Palace Casino paid $28,000 in an Ebay auction to purchase what item, bearing an image of the Virgin Mary.
(a toasted cheese sandwhich)

[SPORTS] On Saturday, this seven-time pro bowl cornerback from the Washington Redskins was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.
(Darryl Green)

[LITERATURE] Ernest Thayer wrote what famous baseball poem subtitled, "A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888"?
(Casey at the Bat)

[POLITICS] Last month President Bush approved the execution of Ronald. A. Gray. This is the first execution in 51 years for someone of what type of classification?
(Military personnel or soldier)

[MUSIC] Taking place in Chicago, Illinois over the weekend, this music festival featured Bloc Party and Radiohead.
(Lollapalooza)

[CURRENT EVENTS] According to the New York Times, The United States has significantly underreported the number of what each year, with a recent study showing estimates to be 40 percent higher than previously thought.
(new H.I.V. infections occurring nationally)

[CINEMA/ TELEVISOIN) In the television show “Arrested Development” this woman who plays Gob's accidental wife is, in fact, Will Arnett's (the actor who plays Gob) wife.
(Amy Poehler)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] This man, born in Baton Rouge on June 23, 1956 is best known as a judge on a popular reality television show.
(Randy Jackson)

[MISCELLANEOUS] Al Capone's business card said he was what kind of legitimate business man?
(A furniture dealer)


ROUND 4

[HISTORY] This man’s reward-seeking cousin, Robert Ford, shot him in the back of the head on April 3, 1882 – at the age of 34.
(Jesse James)

[RELIGION/SCIENCE] On August 1 what was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada, Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China?
(a Solar Eclipse)

[SPORTS] This coach will try to lead the USA basketball team to gold for the first time since 2000 in the upcoming Olympics.
(Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski)

[LITERATURE] What female poets’s home can be visited at 280 Main Street, Ahmerst, Massachusetts?
(Emily Dickinson)

[POLITICS] Last month, in an attempt to end a 15 billion dollar budget crisis, this state’s governor fired 22,000 state workers and cut the pay of 200,000 more.
(Arnold Schwarzenegger – California)

[MUSIC] Before forming Megadeath in retaliation, Dave Mustaine was kicked out of what band?
(Metallica)

[CURRENT EVENTS] Last week, Vietnam's capital absorbed the neighboring province of Ha Tay, tripling its area and doubling its population. What is the name of the capital?
(Hanoi)

[CINEMA/TELEVISION] This 2007 animated feature is a coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.
(Persepolis)

[LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] Donning an LSU football jersey, this rap star recently made a cameo appearance at a Rotary Club Meeting in Baton Rouge with Les Miles
(Snoop Dogg)

[MISCELLANEOUS] This television duo was named after the cop and the taxi driver in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
(Bert and Ernie)