1. For ten points each, name these people who didn't accept their Oscars in person.

1. This man missed out on his Supporting Actor award for Hannah and Her Sisters because he was busy filming Jaws: The Revenge.
   Answer: Michael Caine
2. This director was on a World War II bombing mission filming the documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress and so was unable to accept his Best Director award for Mrs. Miniver in person.
   Answer: William Wyler
3. This Pulitzer Prize winner for The Young Man in Atlanta failed to show up at the ceremony because he was sure he would not win for his screenplay adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.
   Answer: Horton Foote

2. For ten points each, name these things from Ferengi culture:

1. "No good deed goes unpunished" is the 285th and final of these guidelines, the first of which was described by Gint.
   Answer: Rules of Acquisition
2. Gint was the first to hold this leadership position also held by Zek.
   Answer: Grand Nagus
3. Ferengi are fond of this sensual massage of their ears.
   Answer: oomox

3. Shuffling deck chairs or establishing a new order in the NBA? for 5 points each given a player name their new team for the 2009-10 season

1. Shaquille O'Neal
   Answer: Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Vince Carter
   Answer: Orlando Magic
3. Ron Artest
   Answer: Los Angeles Lakers
4. Emeka Okafor
   Answer: New Orleans Hornets
5. Shawn Marion
   Answer: Dallas Mavericks
6. Richard Jefferson
   Answer: San Antonio Spurs

4. This highly-touted show failed to succeed during a trend of American shows based on British ones. For ten points each:

1. Name this show whose UK and US versions shared the lead character first names of Susan, Sally, Jane, Steve, Patrick, and Jeff.
   Answer: Coupling
2. Perhaps the best known member of the American cast, this portrayor of Susan Freeman had previously been on Just Shoot Me!
   Answer: Rena Sofer
3. In the original unaired pilot but replaced in the role of Jeff by Christopher Moynihan was this actor, who chose to star instead in the somewhat less short-lived Married to the Kellys.
   Answer: Breckin Meyer

5. Given a brief description of a band whose hit songs sound like they were recorded in a different era of music history than was the case, name the self-consciously retro act for ten points each.

1. Brian Setzer led this group of rockabilly revivalists who scored several hits in the early 1980s, including "Sexy & 17," and "Rock This Town."
   Answer: The Stray Cats
2. One of the most prominent groups involved with the short-lived swing revival of the late '90s, this North Carolina band scored an unexpected hit single with "Hell" from their 1996 album Hot.
   Answer: Squirrel Nut Zippers
3. This Australian band, whose 2006 self-titled debut album includes "Woman" and "Love Train," are often ridiculed for wearing their early '70s influences of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Blue Cheer, on their sleeves.
   Answer: Wolfmother

6. For ten points each, name these people who played amputees.

1. This actor was the legless Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump.
   Answer: Gary Sinise
2. This actor cuts off his possessed hand and later does battle with it as Ash in Evil Dead II.
   Answer: Bruce Campbell
3. After Kim Basinger paid $8 million to drop out, this actress took over as the title character kidnapped by Julian Sands in Boxing Helena.
   Answer: Sherilyn Fenn

7. Name these solitaire games which your parents might spend far too much time playing on the computer for ten points each.

1. Cards are dealt into 8 cascades. The top card begins a tableau, which must be built down by alternating colors. Foundations are built upwards by suit. Any card on top of a cascade can be moved, as well as any card in one of the four title locations.
   Answer: Free Cell
2. Windows includes a version of this game, which starts off with ten piles of cards which build down by rank and can be moved when they're the same suit.
   Answer: Spider solitaire
3. Playable with one hand with a normal deck of cards, it involves spreading cards in a line that is a continuous loop and adding the value of cards together, removing them when they total 10, 20, or 30.
   Answer: Decade

8. Sometimes folks lose more than just pounds when diet plans go wrong. For ten points each:

1. American Home Products, later Wyeth, heavily marketed this anorectic in the 1990s after the remarkable success of the two-drug combination. Unfortunately, pulmonary hypertension turned out to be one of the side effects.
   Answer: Fen-phen
2. Iovate Health Sciences Inc. issued a recall for this dietary supplement after the FDA issued a May 1, 2009 warning that some products containing it were linked to liver damage and at least one death.
   Answer: Hydroxycut
3. The South Bronx Parasite diet ended badly for this character, who, after losing an unhealthy amount of weight and some organs, ends up being split in half by the parasite responsible for his weight loss.
   Answer: Carl Brutananadilewski

9. For ten points each, answer these questions about non-country songs being redone in a country context.

1. This Ontario-based teen trio whose most recent album is Blue on Brown garnered airplay with their version of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida."
   Answer: Abrams Brothers
2. While it's often attributed to Phish or Barenaked Ladies, a 2000 cover of this Dr. Dre/Snoop Dog song brought Austin-based bluegrass band The Gourds online fame.
   Answer: Gin and Juice
3. This artist's 2002 album, the first to include credit for his band the Dancehall Doctors, closed with a cover of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
   Answer: Tim McGraw

10. Name these magazines that figure in Dave Eggers' A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius.

1. Much of the narrative describes Eggers' co-founding of this twentysomething humor magazine which went out of business in 1997.
   Answer: Might
2. Might shared space with this 'neurozine' edited at the time by Mark Frauenfelder and Carla Sinclair, now a blog also featuring Xeni Jardin.
   Answer: Boing Boing
3. Eggers desperately attempted to get this publication, started in 1993 and headed by Kevin Kelly and backed by Nicholas Negroponte, to back Might. Frauenfelder became an editor here.
   Answer: Wired

11. Answer the following questions about the musical Kiss of the Spiderwoman for ten points each.

1. The musical is based on the novel of the same name by this Argentinian author.
   Answer: Manuel Puig
2. Valentin is the cellmate of this gay window dresser in for corrupting the minor, Gabriel.
   Answer: Molina
3. Molina passes his time in prison by fantasizing about this vampy film star, who shares her name with a Disney princess.
   Answer: Aurora

12. For ten points each, name these new NFL defensive coordinators for 2009:

1. With the firing of Brian Stewart, this head coach is pulling double-duty as defensive coordinator in Dallas.
   Answer: Wade Phillips
2. In order to institute a 3-4 defense, Green Bay hired this man who previously was the head coach for Carolina in the '90s and Houston from 2002 to 2005.
   Answer: Dom Capers
3. He had two lackluster seasons as head coach of Kansas City after Marty Schottenheimer resigned. Now, this German-born coach has the thankless task of improving the worst defense in the NFL for the Detroit Lions.
   Answer: Gunther Cunningham

13. It grew out of a CBS radio program called Take It or Leave It and was the top-rated show in the US in 1956, before eventually collapsing under the weight of scandal. For ten points each:

1. Name this Revlon-sponsored quiz show, hosted by Hal March, that ran from 1955 to 1958 and gave out a five-figure top prize.
   Answer: The $64,000 Question
2. The spin-off The $64,000 Challenge was inspired by the success of this contestant and future celebrity psychologist. Despite her demure demeanor, she proved to be an expert on boxing.
   Answer: Dr. Joyce Brothers
3. Before finding fame as Get Smart's Agent 99, this model-turned-actress hit pay dirt on The $64,000 Question in the category of Shakespeare.
   Answer: Barbara Feldon

14. Answer the following about the heritage of the title King from The Return of the King.

1. For ten points, name this King of Gondor, known as Elessar among the elves and Strider to Frodo.
   Answer: Aragorn son of Arathorn
2. Aragorn is a descendant of the rulers of this utopian island.
   Answer: Numenoreans
3. Debased and wicked descendants of the Numenoreans, these piratical distant cousins have their ships stolen by Aragorn in The Return of the King.
   Answer: the Corsairs of Umbar (prompt on Black Numenoreans)

15. Answer the following about controlling games... with your BRAIN!

1. Atari developed the 'Mindlink' in the 80s, a headband that read muscle tension, to be used to control a version of this game, whose premise was that an astronaut needed to destroy obstacles to return home.
   Answer: Breakout
2. Uncle Milton is currently marketing a product that purports to train this skill from apprentice to master, by allowing you to use EEG waves to cause a sphere to rise to the top of a clear 'training tower'
   Answer: The Force
3. Neurosky's 'Mindset' system offers this game, which allows you to use telekinetic powers to throw furniture and set things on fire.
   Answer: The Adventures of Neuroboy

16. For ten points each, name these holdings of Warren Buffett's highly diversified Berkshire Hathaway.

1. This apparel company boasts brands such as BVD, Underoos, and the defunct Pro Player.
   Answer: Fruit of the Loom
2. In 1987, Berkshire Hathaway's Dairy Queen acquired this shopping mall mainstay, allowing it to build "Treat Centers" offering a choice between Blizzards and this brand's Vitamin C-laden treats.
   Answer: Orange Julius
3. Bought in a handshake deal with the centenarian Russian immigrant founder, this Omaha-based company boasts of having North America's largest home furnishing store.
   Answer: Nebraska Furniture Mart

17. For ten points each, answer questions about shows within a show for the Tween set.

1. This Saturday morning entry on CBS has an eponymous helpful blonde give crafting tips to the fourth wall while helping her ditzy possession-obsessed Asian-American friend with her "problems".
   Answer: Cake (also accept the how-to show-within-the-show CakeTV)
2. Miranda Cosgrove stars on this Nickelodeon hit as a web-cam producer-star with the help of her aggressive blonde friend and the boy who is crushing on her.
   Answer: iCarly
3. Demi Lovato stars in this Disney show that features a sketch comedy show called So Random, which may be a veiled stab at former Amanda Bynes Nickelodeon vehicle All That.
   Answer: Sonny with a Chance

18. Answer these questions about the contributions of the Netherlands to the American pop charts for ten points each.

1. Perhaps the most long-enduring Dutch act to cross the Atlantic is this band whose songs "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone" are still found on classic rock playlists.
   Answer: Golden Earring
2. Three years before "Radar Love," the Shocking Blue was the first Dutch act to top the Billboard Hot 100 with this international hit about a "goddess on a mountain top," which resurfaced in a chart-topping 1986 version by Bananarama.
   Answer: "Venus"
3. A former member of Golden Earring directed this group of studio musicians to turn strings of popular songs into medleys with a constant disco-like tempo, kicking off a medley craze in the early 1980s. The first one of these includes several Beatles songs as well as a portion of The Shocking Blue's "Venus" and, because it lists all the songs included, is the longest-titled song ever to top the Hot 100.
   Answer: Stars on 45 (also known as Starsound)

19. The Three Colors trilogy of the 1990s sought to express the French ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. For ten points each:

1. Name the Polish director of the three films.
   Answer: Krzysztof Kieslowski
2. This woman played the survivor of a car accident in Blue before winning an Oscar for The English Patient.
   Answer: Juliette Binoche
3. This Swiss actress played a model named Valentine in Red. Kieslowski had previously cast her as the title character in The Double Life of Veronique, for which she won a Best Actress award at Cannes.
   Answer: Irene Jacob

20. The 2000's have had their share of post-season flops in pro sports. For ten points each name these west coast teams from clues.

1. Despite a 14-2 regular season record in 2006, this team lost a home playoff game to the Patriots costing Marty Schottenheimer his job.
   Answer: San Diego Chargers
2. This team won 116 games in 2001 but were thumped by the Yankees 4 games to 1 in the ALCS.
   Answer: Seattle Mariners
3. Despite a major re-tooling that brought them the 2008-09 President's Trophy, this team lost to eighth-seeded Anaheim in the playoffs.
   Answer: San Jose Sharks

21. Selling to the captive children. For ten points each answer questions about debatable enterprises in public schools.

1. This TV programming and advertising source has introduced Anderson Cooper, Maria Menudos, and Serena Altschul into the Media.
   Answer: Channel One
2. This audio-only service ceased operations in September 2009 under complaints from Obligation, Inc. and campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
   Answer: Bus Radio
3. This long-running sales tool remains in schools under the guise of enhancing recreational literacy, but, has gotten protests for including video game sales in recent years
   Answer: Scholastic Book Club

22. For ten points each, name these musicians who releaased two albums on the same day:

1. After concurrent September 14, 2004 releases, his Sweat and Suit debuted in the top two spots on the Billboard album chart.
   Answer: Nelly (or Cornell Haynes, Jr.)
2. March 31, 1992 saw him release both Human Touch and Lucky Town.
   Answer: Bruce Springsteen
3. On May 16, 2000 she released the more acoustic Beautiful Creatures and a louder album subtitled "Total System Failure".
   Answer: Juliana Hatfield