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06:08 - 10 September 2004
-SAN FRANCISCO QUIZ!!!!!
Are you the type who might argue that although Lombard is known as "the crookedest street in the world," it might not be the crookedest in San Francisco? Do you know that Barry Bonds and Super Bowl star Tom Brady went to the same San Mateo high school (Serra) or that boxing champ Max Baer (father of Jethro from "The Beverly Hillbillies") grew up on a Livermore farm? Or that the last song the Beatles performed at their last concert was "Long Tall Sally" at Candlestick Park? If the trivial is of utmost importance to you, here's a game of 30 questions. And no, if you get them all right, you don't get a prize -- you can pat yaself on the back. There are weird questions, but no trick ones. All have something to do with the Bay Area. We checked them as thoroughly as possible, so people wouldn't debate the answers the way they do about whether Lombard is crookeder than the stretch of Vermont Street south of 20th Street -- or even whether "crookeder" is a word. Here goes!!! 1 Even casual movie fans know that Clint Eastwood is the title character in "Dirty Harry." But who was originally supposed to be the San Francisco police inspector? 2 While we're at it, the villain in "Dirty Harry" was loosely based on the Zodiac, one of the most famous killers in San Francisco history. According to the most generally accepted police estimate, how many people did the Zodiac kill in San Francisco? 3 Before Sacramento became the state capital in 1854, the capital shifted among three Bay Area cities. Name them. 4 Where can you find the world's oldest working lightbulb? 5 What 6-foot-2-inch girl captained her basketball team at the Branson School in Ross in 1928 and 1929? 6 We all know where Tony Bennett left his heart, but where is the heart of San Bruno? 7 What young comedian was heckled so badly during an appearance with Barbra Streisand at San Francisco's hungry i in the early 1960s that, as the San Francisco Examiner put it, "He was reduced to something pale, quivering and not quite human, his back to the audience, elbows on the piano, mumbling material to the brick wall"? 8 Thirty years ago, the Eugene O'Neill Foundation helped to save the Tao House in Danville from being demolished. Why? 9 What does San Francisco author Amy Tan have in common with bestselling authors Stephen King, Scott Turow and Mitch Albom, plus syndicated columnist Dave Barry and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening? 10 What's the easiest way to walk from San Francisco to Alameda County without crossing a bridge? 11 Where is Wyatt Earp buried? 12 What is unique about Tuffy, one of the dogs buried in the Benicia Army Cemetery? 13 Why would Mill Valley's 2AM Club look familiar to fans of Huey Lewis and the News? 14 What was Li'l Folks? 15 "Foul Play," a 1978 comedy starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, there's a plot to assassinate the pope in San Francisco. Who portrayed the pope? 16 Which current Bay Area resident was the youngest performer ever to win an Oscar? 17 Which San Francisco mayor became a Union general in the Civil War? 18 Where did Charlie Chaplin make several films, including "The Tramp"? 19 Why was the name of San Francisco's Pacific Street changed to Pacific Avenue? 20 What city's motto is "Climate Best by Government Test," and what the heck does that mean? 21 In San Francisco, a couple of streets just west of St. Mary's Park are in an unusual shape. Why? 22 In the 1969 graduating class at Redwood High School in Larkspur, who was voted "Least Likely to Succeed"? 23 On Memorial Day 1977, a large protest was held to support installing suicide barriers on the Golden Gate Bridge. Which key speaker in support of the barriers ended up becoming world famous? 24 In Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," one crucial building was Bodega Bay School. What's the school's real name, and where is it? 25 Who were Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions? 26 What brothers were part of the Blue Velvets, entertaining classmates at El Cerrito's Portola Junior High and El Cerrito High in the late 1950s and early 1960s? 27 TV trivia from the 1980s: The mansion in "Dynasty," the winery in "Falcon Crest" and the hotel in "Hotel" are all in the Bay Area. What are their real-life names and locations? 28 San Francisco used to be referred to as the Barbary Coast. Why? 29 What was the original name of the Oakland Raiders? 30 More Oakland sports: When the A's had their glory years in the early 1970s, they had famous players such as Reggie Jackson and Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers. But the most famous person from the team turned out to be a ballgirl, Debbie Sivyer. Why? Here are the answers to the trivia quiz 1 Frank Sinatra. According to the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com ), Sinatra injured his hand and had to back out, then the role was rejected by John Wayne, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman before Eastwood accepted it. 2 Just one: Taxi driver Paul Stine, at the corner of Cherry and Washington streets in 1969. The Zodiac also is suspected of killing three people in Vallejo and one near Lake Berryessa. In letters, he claimed far more victims, but these are the only five police have linked him with. 3 San Jose, Vallejo and Benicia. 4 The lightbulb is at the Livermore Fire Station, 4550 East Ave., and has been burning since 1901. It has been recognized by ''The Guinness Book of World Records,'' and even has its own Web cam at www.centennialbulb.org/photos . htm. 5 Julia McWilliams, who later married and became far better known by her married name: Julia Child. 6 The streets around Cupid Row, which are in the shape of a heart. 7 Woody Allen. 8 O'Neill wrote his most famous plays there, including "The Iceman Cometh." 9 Tan and the others have all been members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock music group. And no, they're not quitting their day jobs. 10 the far west end of the Naval Air Station sticks so far into the bay that it is technically in San Francisco. So from there, it's not exactly hard to walk to Alameda County. 11 Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Colma. Earp's wife, Josephine Marcus, was Jewish, and her family had a plot there. If you just can't get enough trivia about where various people are buried, check out www.findagrave.com . 12 Tuffy might well have been the only dog in Army history to be court- martialed. On patrol during World War II, Tuffy went after a girl who was running across the street and tore her trousers. After behaving himself for months, however, he was reinstated -- and eventually was buried with full military honors. 13 The 2AM Club, one of Lewis' favorite hangouts, is on the cover of the group's popular "Sports" album. 14 A comic drawn by Charles Schulz that was the precursor to Peanuts. When United Feature Syndicate picked up his work, it wanted to change the name because there were already strips called Little Folks and, of course, Li'l Abner. A collection of the Li'l Folks strips is available through the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. According to the museum, Schulz never liked the Peanuts title. 15 Cyril Magnin, nicknamed "Mr. San Francisco," notable bon vivant and the city's chief of protocol years ago. 16 Woodside resident Shirley Temple Black. According to Guinness World Records, Shirley Temple was 6 years and 310 days old when she earned a special Oscar in 1935. If you just can't resist playing "Six Degrees of Separation," you wouldn't need much to connect Magnin, who appeared in only two films, with Temple, whose last major movie was in 1949. Billy Barty was in "Foul Play" with Magnin and in 1933's "Out All Night" with Temple. And in the real world, Black has been an ambassador and White House chief of protocol and has attended all sorts of Bay Area functions, so she would have crossed paths many times with Magnin, who died in 1988. 17 John Geary, San Francisco's first mayor. 18 Niles, the historic district of Fremont. 19 Because of its brothels and saloons near Kearny and Montgomery streets in the bawdy old days, Pacific Street was nicknamed "Terrific Street." Residents who lived in less colorful blocks wanted to be separated from the scum, so the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in 1871 naming the section west of Larkin Street as Pacific Avenue. As the years went on and things cleaned up, the whole street eventually became Pacific Avenue in 1929. 20 Redwood City. According to the city's Web site, the U.S. and German governments evaluated meteorological data and identified that Redwood City was at the center of one of the world's three best climates (the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean coast of North Africa are the other two). 21 St. Mary's College used to be there, but eventually left the city, first for Oakland and then for Moraga. As a couple of streets were developed, they were put in the shape of a bell. What, you've never heard of the bells of St. Mary's? 22 Robin Williams. 23 The Rev. Jim Jones, the same man who ended up leading a mass suicide in Guyana 18 months later. 24 It's the Potter Schoolhouse, now a private residence, and it's actually in Bodega, several miles inland. 25 According to Janet Bailey's "The Great San Francisco Trivia & Fact Book" (Cumberland House), that was the first band that Jerry Garcia formed with Bob Weir and Ron McKernan -- before the Grateful Dead. 26 Tom and John Fogerty, who later went on to fame as part of Creedence Clearwater Revival. 27 The Filoli estate in Woodside, the Spring Mountain Vineyard in St. Helena and the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. 28 Deanna Kastler, the office administrator for the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, says the most common theory involves a toast between two men during the Gold Rush era in the bawdy area around Broadway and Pacific. "Here's to the Barbary Coast," one said. "If the whiskey don't get you, the harlots and hoodlums will." The toast was because of San Francisco's similarity to the notorious Barbary Coast of northern Africa, a longtime haven for pirates. 29 The Oakland Se�ors. By the time they played their first game, though, the name had already been changed. 30 Debbie Sivyer married a Portola Valley investment adviser named Randall Fields. In 1977, she opened Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery in Palo Alto. And the rest is cookie history.

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