i wanna pop! i wannaaaaaanswer!

Today at work, this guy Steve asked me if I had seen The World Series of Pop Culture on VH-1. He then told me that next year he, I and his buddy Antonio should definitely do it. A few months ago the three of us journeyed to Las Vegas together (the trip was somewhat chronicled in my entry called malja' mIqta') and chatted about movies the entire time. We also poked fun at how stereotypically Star Trek geeky some of our co-workers were, while we quoted some obscure Star Trek references ourselves (keep in mind this is the same trip where I bought a tribble and a Klingon dictionary). Steve and Antonio are pretty die-hard movie buffs (as well as die-hard filmmakers), so it's quite an honor to be (possibly jokingly) invited to be on the team (probably because their other friends aren't as geeky).

The fact is, The World Series of Pop Culture pays out $250,000. Kind of low end for game shows these days, but not chump change by any means (and you don't even have to eat any live stink spiders or anything). I've spoken with friends and roommates about this too. Just yesterday, on The Abel Hour I spoke with pop culturist extraordanaire, Scott Johnson, about it.

The World Series of Pop Culture might be something I have to be a part of.

Tonight I decided to see how well I'd do. I tuned in to the semi-final bout between two teams called Velvet Rope Revolution and Boeghy Bunch. I'm not going to say that I did well, but I will say that I did better than either team in the freaking finals of the freaking World Series of Pop Culture.

Round 1- high school movies

I swept this category. The first three answers were "Jeff Spiccoli," "In Your Eyes," and "Chet" (feel free in the comments section of this post to give me the questions). One of the teams missed the Clueless term for the actor family used as an adjective to describe a hot guy (my correct answer: "Baldwin"). The next question amazed me: "What is the dangerous ski course Lane Meyer skis on one ski in the movie Better Off Dead?" That question stumped both teams! The answer of course is "the K-12." Everyone I associate with knows that.

End of round 1.
Both semi-finalist teams in The World Series of Pop Culture: 3
Me, lying on my parents' couch: 5

Round 2- Seinfeld

The correct answers to the first five questions were: "Cosmo," "Soup Nazi," "Junior Mint," "Dolores" and "Jon Voight." Provide the questions please (most people I respect shouldn't have a hard time). The question that stumped the girl from Velvet Rope Revolution asked about the name of Jerry's favorite yellow shirt (my correct answer: "Golden Boy")

End of round 2.
Both teams: 8
Me: 11

Round 3- movies in a nutshell

In this round they gave a synopsis of a movie and the contestants named which movie was described. The first five answers were: "Throw Momma from the Train," "Fatal Attraction," "Bend it Like Beckham," "Soul Man" and "Harry and the Hendersons." The one I missed was at the very end and it was for the movie called Gotcha! Personally, I feel the flick was far more obscure than the rest of the bunch. Gotcha! only received 1,782 votes on imdb.com (compared with 19,839 votes for Bend it Like Beckham). Soul Man, I suppose is in nearly the same level of obscurity at 1,835 votes, but Gotcha! is still the most obscure one. I guess I'm being a little bit technical because this was the only question in the game that I actually missed. I don't feel too bad, though, because the contestant missed it too.

End of round 3.
Both teams: 13
Me: 16

Round 4- alternative music

Answers we all got: "Talking Heads," "Morrissey," "Rock Lobster," "London Calling." The question both teams missed was: "What single-word Depeche Mode album contains the singles "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence?" Yes, you heard me right. BOTH teams missed this question. I just re-bought this cd a few days ago. I was going to actually write a blog entry on doing just that (perhaps I will later). The answer, of course, is Violator.

End of round 4.
Both teams: 17
Me: 21

Round 5- animated tv

Correct answers: "Chef," "Scrappy-doo," "The Great Pumpkin," "propane" and "Malibu Stacy" (which had the funniest question of the night with "What Simpsons doll had as one of its catchphrases 'Let's buy make-up so the boys will like us!'") The question the guy from Boeghy Bunch missed was "What band's name does Beavis sport on his t-shirt?" The guy guessed AC/DC, giving the Velvet Rope Revolution contestant a chance to steal. He guessed Metallica because he knew that Beavis and Butthead sported those two bands, but he couldn't recall which was which and the other contestant eliminated the alternate for him. Could I recall Beavis' shirt without the elimination? Yes.

End of round 5.
Both teams: 22
Me: 27

The last round actually ended in a tie between the two contestants. They went into a tie-breaking round that consisted of naming off as many celebrities from Dancing With the Stars as possible. I must admit that I didn't do well. The only one I could immediately think of was John O'hurley and that was only because I associated it with his dancing on Seinfeld. Both contestants on the show got four apiece, so in the tie-breaker they would have skewered me (of course it wouldn't have come to a tie-break if I were playing).

I began watching the next game of semi-finals. The first round was 80s movies I think and it was very profitable for me. I got two questions right that stumped both teams. The answers were "Marty Moose" (once again, guess the question) and "'Chopsticks' & 'Heart and Soul'" (this one is a little bit trickier). I would've finished watching it, but the first episode of Futurama was on the other channel. Enjoying pop culture is way more fun than watching other people get stumped by it.