2 Warps to Neptune

Congrats to Eric Self, Charles Nilsen, and Don Gates, the first, second, and third place winners (respectively) of 2 Warps to Neptune’s second quiz!

Eric got a perfect score—30 out of 30. He guessed on a few, he says, and it helped that the Thriller CD has been in his car since last October. Charles got 23 out of 30, and Don got 19 out of 30. Thanks for playing, everybody. Next time I’m going to do something a little different, so stay tuned.

Here’s the answer key to quiz part deux:

1. b (Donkey Kong Jr.)
2. a (Belloq in ceremonial robe)
3. Pyromania by Def Leppard
4. c (Cthulhu Mythos) Note: as Glen B. pointed out via email, it was actually the third printing that was missing the Cthulhu Mythos.
5. a (Krull)
6. b (Ronin)
7. f (Atari 7800)
8. c (Five)
9. b (Gorf)
10. Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl
11. e (The Pick-up Artist)
12. c (The Fall Guy)
13. b (Micronauts Rocket Tubes)
14. Aliens
15. b (Parker Stevenson)
16. f (Tom Savini)
17. g (Camelot 3000)
18. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Baby Be Mine, The Girl is Mine, Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Human Nature, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing), The Lady in My Life

Don’t be this guy.

You’ll need to turn in your quiz before 8:00pm (PST) on Sunday, February 8th to be in the running for a prize and/or cred. The quiz, rules, and prizes are here.

Step on the gas!

Please grab a copy of today’s Pop (Culture) Quiz and start your mental engines. I think I said at some point during the first quiz that I’d make the second one easier. I lied.

THE RULES:

1. No cheating. You are not allowed to use the internet during the quiz. You are not allowed to talk to your friends and neighbors during the quiz. It’s just you versus the questions on the page. Don’t be lame.

2. If you want to be in the running for a prize and/or props, you must submit your answers to 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com before 8:00pm (PST) on Sunday, February 8th. The winners will be announced soon thereafter. In the event of a tie, contestants must answer a series of tiebreaker questions until there is a winner.

3. Please don’t leave hints, answers, or partial answers in the comments section.

THE PRIZES (Click to enlarge images):

1. The Lord of the Rings Key Ring (1978) I first posted here. It’s beautiful. Untouched, as far as I can tell.

2. An unopened Skateboard Poster Pen Set from 1977. Skateboard is one of the first movies dedicated to the emerging sport and stars Leif Garrett and Tony Alva. The markers are in there, but they’re not going to work.

3. Before they were Space Raiders, they were Robot Erasers. Choose one pack only. Both are unopened.

4. Various coloring books. One of the ESB books has minor marks inside. All others are clean.

Important: First place will choose his or her prize from the above. Second place chooses from what’s left. If there are a ton of entries, I’ll think about giving away one more item to third place. I will ship prizes to the U.S. and Canada only.

Good luck!

Congratulations to Mike Moore and Jay McDowell, the first and second place winners (respectively) of 2 Warps to Neptune’s very first Quiz!

Mike got 22 out of 30 (including all 5 Breakfast Club answers), and Jay got 17 out of 30. Good work, guys. And a giant thank you to everyone who played. The questions weren’t a walk in the park, I know.

I had a lot of fun writing the thing, and I’ll do another one at some point next year. Keep your minds and pencils sharp!

Here’s the answer key to #1:

1. Abraham
2. a (Pencil)
3. b (Conquest)
4. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
5. a (The Keep on the Borderlands)
6. Brain: had a gun in his locker; Athlete: taped Larry Lester’s buns together; Basket Case: had nothing better to do; Princess: ditched school to go shopping; Criminal: pulled the fire alarm (“What if your home, what if your family—what if your dope—was on fire?” “Impossible, sir. It’s in Johnson’s underwear.”)
7. c (Conan the Barbarian)
8. Mansion, Apartment, Shack/Sewer, House
9. Gyruss
10. Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel
11. c (The Man from Snowy River)
12. Duran Duran (eponymous)
13. Magic Realm
14. Big Trouble in Little China (Friend J. missed this one and was rightly, heartily ashamed. We watched the movie almost every weekend.)
15. Bruce Springsteen
16. c (Wisdom)
17. The Cure
18. c (Wolverine)
19. Battlestar Galactica
20. E.T.
21. BONUS QUESTION: The Day After

There seems to be some confusion among the masters about will and its relationship to goal achievement. T.S. Eliot once said, about writers, “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” Yoda, on the other hand, on the question of raising an X-wing fighter out of a swamp with one’s mind, said, “Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”

My money’s on Eliot. Logically, as the chart above illustrates, one can’t do a damn thing—we’re talking about conscious effort here—unless one tries to do that thing. Probably Yoda realizes the truth, but, confronted with Luke’s incessant whining, was forced to give him a rhetorical kick in the ass. I don’t really know, to be honest. Little guy’s a fucking puppet.

What I’m getting at here is that I want more quizzes! I’ve only got 10 so far. I promise, the next one will be easier. But for now, get the questions you can get, and guess on the rest (friend J. guessed Lion-O and Panthro were Thundarr’s companions). Forget about Eliot and Yoda after all, and embrace the immortal words of Yo Gabba Gabba: “Try it, you’ll like it” [Italics mine].

The Pop Culture Quiz is here.

Send your answers to 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com by Monday, November 25th.

Please grab a copy of today’s Pop Culture Quiz and sharpen your #2 pencils. Dig deep. There are prizes to be won and geek cred to be flaunted.

THE RULES:

1. No cheating. You are not allowed to use the internet during the quiz. You are not allowed to talk to your friends and neighbors during the quiz. It’s just you versus the questions on the page. Period. Don’t be lame.

2. If you want to be in the running for a prize and/or props, you must submit your answers to 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com before 8:00pm (PST) on Thursday, November 21 Monday, November 25. Ideally, the winners will be announced on Monday, December 2nd. In the event of a tie, contestants must answer a series of tiebreaker questions until there is a winner.

3. Please don’t leave hints, answers, or partial answers in the comments section.

THE PRIZES:

1. Three unopened packs of The Black Hole trading cards (1979), and two unopened packs of E.T. trading cards (1982). Each pack contains 10 cards, a sticker, and a stick of gum. I advise you not to eat the gum.

2. The Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) novelizations by Alan Dean Foster, and TRON: The Storybook (1982). Alien is in good condition, with wear on the spine. Aliens looks unread. TRON: The Storybook is in very good condition.

First place will choose his or her prize from the above. Second place gets what’s left. If there are a ton of entries, I’ll think about giving something away to third place.

Good luck, programs.