Hey everybody and welcome back to Brainiac Trivia here at the Griggs Street Pub in Allston! I’m your host, Pete, and as many of you know this is my last night at Griggs Street for reasons that the owner, Mindy Banks, has asked me not to get into because you all might get upset and boycott her fine establishment. Okay, those weren’t her exact words. Besides, you’re not at the bar tonight to hear about me, you’re here to show off your knowledge of random facts and compete for a $20 gift card to lure you back next week.
Let’s get to it.
The first round’s categories are Literature, Movies, Science, TV, Food, and Space. You can wager 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11 points with each answer.
You also get free points if you buy me a shot. Or a beer. Or have some advice on what to do when your beloved pet gets evicted from his favorite dusty shelf in a seldom-used closet that he technically has squatters rights for, but we can talk about that over whiskey later.
No need to glare at me, Mindy. I always start with pre-game banter.
Anyway, question 1 in Literature: Sherlock Holmes frequently battled his nemesis Professor Moriarty in the continually-popular stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the animated feature film The Great Mouse Detective, based on the children’s series by Eve Titus, who fills the role of Moriarty to Sherlock stand-in Basil Rathbone?
Please include only your team name and answer on your response cards. I really don’t need editorial comments on what constitutes “literature” from a group called “My Drinking Team Has a Trivia Problem.”
Moving on! The answer is “Professor Ratigan,” who was so affected by anti-rat sentiments that he insisted that he was a large mouse. We could all consider how much such childhood films contributed to our own overly negative feelings about rats. My landlord certainly has some prejudices to work out.
Question 2 in Movies: What 2007 animated film wowed audiences with its nuanced treatment of an often-reviled species and made Americans fall in love with a French dish that originated in Nice?
That is the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille, featuring Remy, the character from whom my best friend rat gets his name. I would introduce you all to Remy, but Mindy says he’s no longer welcome here.
Fine, he was never technically welcome. And yet every Wednesday in June is “Pups on the Patio” night. Dogs are just as likely to carry diseases as rats. Stop shouting, “Tequila Mockingbird,” you get to yell at me when you come up with an original team name.
Okay, Question 3 in Science: In the classic 1971 novel, later made into an animated film in 1982, Mrs. Frisby is a field mouse who encounters a society of technologically advanced rats. The rats had been the subjects of tests in a lab at which real-life medical research organization?
I don’t need your guff, “Quiz Pro Quo,” I decide what counts as a science question.
The answer is the National Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH. Remy and I have a lot of thoughts on how rats should be treated. Mindy apparently doesn’t have the same standards and gets angry when someone innocently nibbles on a box of breadcrumbs. Did any of you even order the mozzarella sticks? I’m almost positive they’re the least popular appetizer on the menu.
Could that have contributed to Remy’s unfair eviction from the storage shelf and the termination of my Pub Trivia hosting duties? I’d ask Mindy but she’s not really one to explain her decision-making processes.
Question 4 in our TV category: In the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the turtles’ beloved guiding figure Splinter was what type of animal?
Raise your glasses, you all got that right. Splinter was a rat. He lived in a sewer with four teenagers, which seems pretty rough. He probably would have liked a cozy home in an empty mini-keg, munching on leftover peanuts and the dregs of a pitcher of Blue Moon.
I’m just saying that you can still change your mind, Mindy.
Okay, okay, Question 5 in Food: In New York City, what is the maximum number of rodent-related violations a restaurant can have and still maintain its A rating?
Thirteen! The answer is thirteen, which means that if a perfectly normal bar and restaurant in Allston, Massachusetts only saw one rat one time, and it wasn’t even when the health inspector was here, we’re probably doing even better than Per Se, aren’t we? Health inspectors also don’t check the alcohol content of each rat, so it’s not even a problem, Mindy!
Anyways, we’ve reached our final category in the round, Space: Does anyone know of someone looking for a roommate in a pet-friendly apartment? Remy and I always pay rent on time when our landlord isn’t a raging asshole who says that only cats, dogs, and iguanas count as pets.
The category is Space, “Quiz Pro Quo,” not Astronomy. Get off my back. Also I’m docking any team that submits “Craigslist” as their answer.
Really, “Tequila Mockingbird”? “The shelf in the back storage closet sounds free.” Too soon, dudes. Too fucking soon. You’re banned from the Movie Round.