Music
A favourite of my father's and mine, which British-Australian trio still holds the record for top-selling movie soundtrack of all time? (Name the trio and the album)
The Bee Gees, 'Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack' (22.1 million copies)
DAILY DOUBLE! Francis Ford Coppola released not 1 but 2 critically-acclaimed films in the year of my birth (1974). Name either of them.
The Godfather, Part II & The Conversation
We HAD no good technology in the 1970s!! So let's talk about TV! A popular 1970s TV show, 'The Six Million-Dollar Man' was about Steve Austin, an injured austronaut revived with implants that give him super strength, speed, vision, hearing, etc. What was his OTHER name? A) The Cybernetic Man; B) The Bionic Man; D) The Autonetic Man; or E) The Atomic Man
B) The Bionic Man
I have visited several former Olympic cities. But one of them I never made it to because my brother and I were so badly behaved in the car, my parents turned around and came back! Was it: A) Montreal; B) Calgary; C) Lake Placid, New York; or D) Nagano, Japan.
C) Lake Placid, New York (...I suspect we didn't miss much!)
In my kindergarten/elementary school, the librarian (who was also a Japanophile) kept what kind of exotic pet in the library? A) A snake; B) A ferret; C) A pair of rats; or D) an iguana
One of the first albums I ever owned, for how many years was Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' [1982] on the billboard charts? A) 3 years; B) 5 Years; C) 7 years; D) 11+ years
D) 11+ terrifying years!!
Often cited as the WORST Star Trek film, 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' [1989] is a sentimental favourite of mine because it coincided with the only time I ever did what? A) Dressed up as a Star Trek character for Halloween; B) Had a chance to see the original Star Trek cast on the big screen; C) Attended a Star Trek convention; or D) Cried during a Star Trek film!!
C) Attended a Star Trek convention
In the '80s, I was fortunate to go to a school where we got to try out the latest technology. What cutting edge new technological toy did we start playing with in 1984, when almost no one had them at home? (Hint: Be specific!)
The Apple Macintosh computer
My family never travelled much when we were kids, as we had no money! So, what was my first 'big' trip, by which I mean requiring more than 3 hours of travel? A) Quebec City; B) Buffalo, New York; C) Winnipeg; or D) Science North (Sudbury, Ontario).
A) Quebec City (...our glamorous Grade 6 school trip)
DAILY DOUBLE! When I was in grade 4, a talented Vietnamese classmate taught me to dance (or tried to!) like which pop star of the day? A) Madonna; B) Boy George; C) Michael Jackson; or D) George Michael?
B) Boy George
In 1994, I met and kissed the hand of this celebrity (in a failed attempt to get on TV!), known partially for 'her' music career, but much more widely for 'her' pioneering work on reality TV!
RuPaul Charles
DAILY DOUBLE! One of my favourite actresses, she is the only woman to have won Oscars for BOTH Best Actress [1993] and Best Adapted Screenplay [1996]. Who is she? (Hint: She's British, fabulous, and still active today!)
EMMA THOMPSON - Best Actress, 'Howard's End' (1993), Best Adapted Screenplay - 'Sense & Sensibility' (1996)
I used to do traditional chemical photography, but I stopped in the late '90s because: A) My camera broke and I couldn't afford to fix it; B) Digital photography eclipsed it; C) I didn't have access to a darkroom; or D) I bought a video camera and got interested in that instead?
A) My camera broke; but also D) I didn't have access to a darkroom in Vancouver, where I was living at the time
In 1995, I took my first ever airplane flight. Where did I go? A) New York City; B) London; C) Boston; or D) Paris? (Hint: I went to with a friend who was applying to attend a famous school)
A) New York City (...to attend my friend Simon's audition at Julliard)
DAILY DOUBLE! What year of university was I in when both River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain died? A) First Year; B) Second Year; C) Third Year; D) Fourth year?
A) First year (1993/94)
Of the following musical artists, which have I seen in concert TWO or more times, at least once in the 2000s? A) Eurythmics; B) Peter Gabriel; C) U2; D) Bjork; E) David Bowie; G) The Cure; H) R.E.M. - (HINT: Two of them are correct)
D) Bjork (1997, 2014); E) David Bowie (1997, 2002) (...I've seen U2 four times, but not since 1997!)
One of my favourite movies, 'Adaptation' (2002) is arguably one of the crowning achievements of THREE careers: the DIRECTOR, the SCREENWRITER and the lead ACTOR, Nicholas Cage, who plays twin brothers. Name the DIRECTOR or SCREENWRITER.
Director: Spike Jonze; Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufmann
D) De-age myself (...well, I have removed a few rolls and wrinkles, but that has less to do with aging than with bad poses!!)
Which Japanese prefecture did I live and work in from 2007 - 2010? A) Yamaguchi; B) Aomori; C) Kanagawa; or D) Saitama?
D) Saitama
In early 2000, I was unemployed (and collecting EI) for 2 or 3 months. So, among other things, I used the time to read all of which author's works? A) William Shakespeare; B) Franz Kafka; C) Milan Kundera; or D) J.K. Rowling?
A) Shakespeare, of course!!
Which musical artist have I NOT seen live in the 2010s? A) Of Monsters and Men; B) Half-Moon Run; C) Feist; D) Martha & Rufus Wainwright; D) Joni Mitchell, or E) Celine Dion?
C) Feist
'Toni Erdmann' [2016], one of Peter's favourite movies of the past 10 years, is a tender (if bizarre) father-daughter comedy from Germany. It was to have been remade with Kirsten Wiig and which Hollywood legend? A) Jack Nicholson; B) Al Pacino; C) Dustin Hoffman; D) Robert De Niro
A) Jack Nicholson
I kind of hate social media, but... during the pandemic, I joined Instagram to better keep in touch with former students. I deleted it several months later after becoming addicted to WHAT kind of content? A) ASMR videos; B) BTS videos; C) Cute cat, dog, rabbit, hamster &/or teacup pig videos; or D) Trump-related content!!
B) BTS (...not proud, but true!)
Which of the following European countries have I NOT yet visited: the UK, Germany, Hungary, Italy or Spain?
SPAIN
Approximately how much money, total, have I earned from writing in my lifetime? A) 0 dollars!!; B) $200; C) $650 dollars; D) $1300
C) Approx. $650 (...early retirement, here I come!)