Good Job, Brain! - 292: Vacation Mode

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

Set your status to OOO because we're going on vacation! Destination: the scenic and plaque-filled paradise, Trivialand. We got planes, trains, and automobiles covered in Colin's travel quiz. And for all you movie buffs, we're heading over to Walley World for Chris' epic National Lampoon's Vacation franchise challenge. Take Karen's celebrity audiobook narrator quiz, and find out why do we even have summer vacation? For advertising inquiries, please contact [e-mail]! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast. Hello, daring, darlings, dark-siders, and darts, starting around Darwin Awards and Darude. Welcome to Good Job, Brain, your weekly quiz show and off-beet trivia podcast. This episode is 292, and of course, I'm your humble host, Karen, and we are, your zany zoo of zippy xenomorphs zealous about Billy Zane. I am Colin. And I'm Chris. A little bit of housekeeping before we start the trivia, a fun time here.

People got big mad, man. People got big mad, Colin. Oh, no. All right. All right. I mean, this is my biggest fear. Every time we record is like, did I make someone mad? You know what? I'm on everybody's side.

You know, I understand all of the sides. Okay. Matthew writes. Okay, so it's pronounced Appalachian. Oh. When Colin said Appalachian. You know, oh, man. You know what?

This is one. Oh, whoa, hold on. Yeah, okay. All right, go ahead. Matthew's also twisting the knife and saying, a small part of my soul left me forever. No, that's never coming back, Matthew. I'm sorry. I'm sure this is one that someone has told me before.

I am so sorry to everybody. I got to find a way to remember this one. It's like, you know, it's like the Nevada, Nevada, Colorado, Colorado. It's like you got to know how people who live there say it. So it's not Appalachian, Appalachian, latch the door, latch the mountains, I don't know, Appalachian. That's good. That's good, Karen, as always. Well, my deepest apologies to Matthew and everyone else whose soul may have left them.

Maybe is coming back. maybe is, you know, somewhere in transit. I will do better. Thank you, everybody who has been spamming us with complaints. We will do better. We will do better. All right. Let's get down to business.

Let's get down to business. Time for our first general trivia round. Pop quiz, hot shot. You guys have your barnyard buzzers. And today, just for a little bit of a variety. variety. We're not doing a random trivial pursuit card from a box. We are doing this. I'm holding it up. It is the Jeopardy calendar. Question of the day. Question of the day. Okay. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Like my dad's sick and he just started radiation and then we had a lice

scale. Oh, we just went through that too. And both my kids are in the same center. It's terrible. My husband's bald, so he's safe. Yeah, we went to the, there's a dedicated lice treatment center, not far from our house. We walked in, we had an appointment. So, like, my daughter sat down. They started, you know, we're working through her hair. My wife, like, she sat down. And I'm like, and what about me? You guys want to take a look at me? And they're like, take your hat off. And I had my beanie on, as I often do. I took my beanie off. And, like, from across the ribloat, and I'm like, no, you're fine. It was like, oh, it's like, the lice don't even, it's not, I'm not even worth their time. The eggs are up on the hair strand. It's not on

your scalp. So like when you don't have hair for them to grab on. Yeah. It's really amazing to find out just what a profoundly useless creature they are. Like they can't, they're not fleas. They can't jump. They can't run. They don't move well. Their only trick that they do is just they can, they can stick to that hair really well. Yeah. They can just glue that little egg exact the hair. Yeah. Tough week. I've been behind on my on my jeopardy calendar, but I figured I can share with you guys here. Have your barnyard buzzers. Let's answer some jeopardy calendar questions. They're kind of random. Sometimes they stick to a category. Sometimes they don't. You'll give us the category though, right? Yeah. So, okay, all right. Category is words that look like

they rhyme. Okay. They have $2,000. Mm-hmm. A slang term for money and a word meaning not easily chewed. What are dough and tough? Yes, correct. Doe and tough. All right, next one. The periodic table of the elements that are not a solid at room temperature, it has the shortest name in English.

Oh, room temperature. Not solid has the shortest name. I have a guess. I mean, I can think of two syllables. Neon? I like that. I like that. My guess is neon.

Okay. It's a guess. It's short. Yeah. What is neon? Correct. Okay, great. I was thinking, don't just as long as air is not an element that I thought about.

My first thing is like, short has got to be tin, but that's awesome. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. The path of my brain took to Karen. TIN. Wait, no, don't say that out loud. Next category. Women, right on.

Right is writing as a writer. Nope, I don't get it. Women write on. $200. Before The Hunger Games, she helped Clarissa explain it all as a writer for Nickelodeon. Oh. Hmm. Chris?

Who is Suzanne Collins? Correct. Who is Suzanne Collins? Who knew? I did not know that. Well, I'll be. Next one. Also, women write on $600.

Things were hopping. for this author after she published the tale of Peter Rabbit. Oh, no. Colin? Oh, man. Who is Beatrix Potter? Correct.

Beatrix Potter. Couldn't think of it. All right. Next question, algebra. Category is algebra for $400. To cube a number is to raise it to this power. Chris. What is the third power?

Yes, what is three, parentheses, third, correct. Category is Canada. Hey. Five of the 13-2-letter postal abbreviations for Canadian provinces and territories start with this letter. This is your beat, Chris. Yeah. I have a guess. Chris.

What is N? Correct. Is N. New Finland. Oh, yeah. Yep. None of it. None of it.

None of it. I don't want to have none of it. Ontario. Our fantastic mnemonic, Billy and South. made our queen nervous playing near needles. It's like, and, and, and, all right. All right, last two here. Good guys for a thousand.

On being offered roles that could win him an Oscar, Samuel L. Jackson said, no thanks. I'd rather be this Marvel hero. I mean. Oh, okay. Colin? Nick Fury. Who is Nick Fury?

Yes. Oh, thank you. But I just, I hesitated with hero, but I'm like, you know, don't overthink it. He's not super. Yep. Don't overthink it. Yep, yep, yep. All right.

Last question here with a Jeopardy Calendar. Not so good guys, right? Good guys, not so good guys. 1,200. Answer. In 2002, a doctor in Massachusetts left a spinal surgery to go to one of these. That's not what the FDIC insurance is for. Huh.

In 2002, a doctor in Massachusetts left a spinal surgery to go to one of these. That's not what the FDIC insurance is for. Colin? What is a bank? Yes, what is a bank? Oh, I see. He just, he went to, he or she left, just went to the bank. He just went to the bank, okay.

Oh, okay. Cool story, bro. You know, I'm sorry, hoomst among us. Yeah. Has not been elbow deep in somebody's spine and really, They needed 20 bucks. All right, let's continue. We've been doing this for the season.

We've been doing these TV buff cards. Let's just do one more card for Pop Quiz Hot Shot. Do it. Random TV buff. All right, here we go. First question on TV buff, which is a quote. Identify the show. I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

Whoa. Colin. I believe that is Kent Brockman from the Simpsons. Yes. Okay. And no wonder you guys buzz in so quickly. I was like, Kemp Brockman, is he the news guy? Yes.

Oh, look at me. Next question. The final series of comedy series, Dairy Girls, featured surprised cameos from which two famous faces? Dairy Girls, Nicola Cocklin, on Netflix, about the 90s in Ireland. I did not see the answer, so I was kind of there. I got nothing. Could not tell you. I mean, Mike.

Bono? Pair, what is it? A pair of famous faces? What did it say? Two, just two famous faces. Okay, two famous faces. I feel like they have to be Irish. Bono.

It's Irish show. Bono. That's a good one. The edge. And Lucky the Leopardy. Oh, Colin Farrell? All right. The answers are Liam Neeson and Chelsea Clinton.

Oh, okay. Okay. All right. More 90s than Irish. Right. Next question. Documentary series giving behind the scenes access to the Formula One World Championships.

Ooh, also on Netflix, I believe. Oh, it's like a speed pun. It is. It is. Oh, yeah. It is. Formula One, drive to survive. Really great documentary.

I recommend it. And, you know, I don't even drive. I don't even know how to drive. Let alone Formula One. Next question. Which showrunner is responsible for Veep, the thick of it, And I'm out of Partridge. Um.

A deep. Oh. Colin? Uh, is that, uh, Armando Ionucci? Yes. Wow. Good pool. No idea.

Armando Ionucci. Wow. Wow. Wow. So impressed. Uh, next question. Which rapper and actor had his own show called In the House? Oh.

Chris. Is this, is this iced tea? No. No, he did have a reality show. He did. Ice tea and cocoa. It is. Lady loves cool James.

Oh, cool James. Last question here. Which actor links the Big Bang Theory and the flight attendant? Chris. Kaylee Cuoco. Kaylee Cuoco. Good job. Thanks.

Who is? We mentioned earlier, the show. show that Chris went on a Disney cruise. Yes. And I'm about to go on a Disney cruise. My first one, my first cruise, I'm super excited. And Colin, you actually suggested this week's topic. I did.

I did. It was vacation time. Vacation. We are all in one way or another, out of office at some point, taking trips. Where are you going? My family, we are going to Europe with my dad and my sister. big family trip. It's going to be a lot of fun. You're in Europe. Yeah. We're going to be going to Paris. Paris. Yeah. Yeah.

Crescents. Oh, you know it every day. Oh, happy guy. Yeah. But, yeah, I figured we're all taking a lot of trips. You guys taking the same trip. So we got a lot to talk about. So this week, we're going on vacation mode. I will start us off. I have put together a grab bag quiz for you all. We're going to have a little bit of planes, a little bit of trains, little bit of automobiles, all that stuff, a little bit of seafaring travel, perhaps. This quiz is titled, I'm out of office. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Let's do this as a buzzer quiz. Okay. God, the baby took the buzzer again. Hold on. Baby took the buzzer. Baby took the buzzer. Where is it? I can't find it, but I do have a Maraca.

Oh, all right. So we got the rooster and the Maraca. Yes. Okay. All right, let's say you just want to start with seeing, all right, where's everyone else going? You know, I don't know where I want to go. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization,

what is the most visited country in the world? old. Ooh. The most international tourist visits. Mm-hmm. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Most people from outside this country coming to this country, what is it? Karen, Karen's got a guess. What do you got? It's got to be a place where a lot of countries are together, like close together. So it's like either going to be Europe or Asia. Okay. Um, Asia is generally more affordable for, for travel. Um, I think, you know, everybody and their mom is going to Japan recently. But like, I think that's just a recent thing because they kind of opened up the border. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They update this data throughout the year. It's, it's very current. I'm going to guess. Thailand. All right. Chris, you want to take, you want to take a guess here? Or should I go with Japan? No, I'll go with Thailand.

I'm going to go with United States of America. It is, in fact, France. France is the most... Really? Yes, yes. And Karen, I think part of your reasoning is certainly correct, Karen,

that France is very central to many other countries, easy to get to from many of the countries. And, of course, on top of that, is, you know, just a beautiful country and very romantic for many other people around the world. Yes, it is, in fact.

Honeymoons, you know, it's dream, like, honeymoon destination. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. The current longest nonstop commercial airline route clocks in at an average time of 18 hours and 40 minutes. All right. For two points. For two points. What two cities does this flight connect?

And I can give you some hints if you like. No, I'm just going to. I'm just going to go for it. All right. What do you got? New York City, Sydney, Australia. Karen, what's your guess? New York City and Singapore.

You, Karen, have got it on the nose. I've given two points to Karen. I'll give you one point, Chris. Yes, that's right. Singapore, New York, JFK to be specific. You know why I know that? Why do you know that? Because I'm in communities where they're trying.

to maximize travel and keeping funds low. And so people use a lot of points or miles to redeem. And a hot ticket is this flight because it's so long. It's incredible. I'm going to redeem a business class. Sorry, I'm just whipping my Morocco around. It's been the longest flight on the books, I guess, for the last three years. So yeah, I guess the community has had enough time to learn this one.

So, Chris, I was telling you before the show, I have an open tab for Google flights. I was Googling this very flight from JFK to Singapore. Right now, it's quoting me a brutal 19 hour, 15 minute nonstop flight. Oh my gosh. Yeah, at a at a lean $9,900. Use some point and mileage redemption or some tricky upgrades. And it's Singapore Airlines, right? That's right.

Singapore Airlines, which is a nice airline by all accounts. Yeah. If you've done this flight, let us know. We want to hear. you enjoyed it. All right. Covering distance is the theme here. There is no direct flight between these two cities,

the world's northernmost capital city and the world's southern most capital city. Oh, capital. Jeez. For two points, for two points, what's the furthest north by latitude? What's the furthest south by latitude? Karen, strong. I'm going to take a guess with the south. All right, okay.

New Zealand Yes Oh it is okay What's the capital Auckland Oh yeah It's Wellington You have it on your lips

I saw the WVing it is It is in fact Wellington Yes All right Wellington Beef Wellington right Wellington What's the north Oslo

You're you're You're right To the right part of the world Okay all right It is Reykjavik Iceland Oh Wow Reichen

Yeah technically The capital of Greenland, Nuke, is slightly further north. Danish. It is, it's right. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a autonomous region. Not, yeah. I would have accepted it if you had pulled that out of your hat.

I would have given it to you, but yeah. Well, what's the capital's name? Nook. N-U-U-U-K. Yes. Whoa, Newk. Wow. It's moving to, to road trips here.

As we get out on our travels with our loved ones, perhaps to escape our loved ones, we have to eat. This was once the largest. restaurant chain in the United States, famously employing the slogan, Landmark for Hungry Americans. Landmark for hungry Americans. This was a major slogan of theirs for the height of their powers. What's the biggest restaurant chain in the United States? Yes, yeah.

At the height of its power. Do you count fast food as restaurant? I would count fast food as a restaurant. Chris, what's your guess? Howard Johnson's You got it, Chris, Howard Johnson's. That's right, it was. Yeah, yeah.

Because that was everywhere, and it's like, oh, let's stop at Howard Johnson's. It's really not much of an exaggeration to call them landmarks, yeah, in those sort of that classic era of American road trips. Yeah, you know, I mean, broadly defined as post-World War II through the 1960s into the early 70s, yeah, they really were everywhere. I thought Hojo was like hotel. They are, were. The brand has sort of, you know, it's an IP now.

The original chain closed. The last restaurant, the last restaurant actually hung on and surprisingly late. I didn't realize the very last restaurant was open until 2022. Yeah, so they had the restaurant and then they had the hotel. All right, for a bonus point, what is the current largest restaurant chain by number of locations in the United States?

Ooh. Oh, you guys, I'll give you each a guess. Karen, what do you got? Do you count Starbucks as a restaurant? They serve food. I do. I'm going to guess Starbucks. That's what I was also going to guess.

All right, all right. Good, good guess. The top three, number three McDonald's. Number two, Starbucks. Number one, by a sizable margin, subway. Is it still Subway? It is, yes. I had known that it was Subway.

I thought that Starbucks had finally supplanted them, but it's still subway. There are more than 20,000 subways in America, yeah. They don't need to necessarily cook anything. I guess they bake the bread. They don't need that much like, you know, like kitchen space. You know what I mean? You know, you rarely have ever seen a standalone subway. Like they're always like in another building.

They have a very kind of small footprint compared to a lot of other chains. Yeah. All right. Well, I didn't need to work this into the question because you guys talked about it at the top of the show here, but pretend we didn't. Karen and Chris, I know you are both fans of the pleasure cruise. And in fact, I believe you're both traveling on a Disney cruise this very year, separately, you know, with your families. Well, we were hoping to go on the same cruise, but then our travel plans didn't align. We're going to figure it out next time.

That's good. It's going to be great. And you guys are going to be ex-ploid. You're invited, too, Colin. You can come on the district. I've never been on a cruise. I never have here. I'm surprised it took you this long, Karen, given that they have the Disney brand increase.

I mean, I understand cruise ships are very large, but I do have a rough problem with motion sickness. Okay. Really rough. So we'll see. On June 29th, 1900, the Victoria Louise widely considered the first true cruise ship set sail for her maiden voyage. in what German city was her home port? Oh. Do you know anything at all about German shipping, voting?

Karen, what's your guess? I'm just going to guess Dusseldorf. Okay, all right. I don't even know that's by water. It is not Dusseldorf. It is Hamburg, which is the largest port city in Germany, one of the busiest in Europe as well. The Victoria Louise, it was the first luxury.

ship built to be a cruise ship, meaning it wasn't a converted freighter or a converted merchant ship. And, you know, for sure, the early freighter and, you know, maritime shipping businesses did, did experiment with adding on, sort of bolting on some luxury features so they could capitalize a little bit on the down season. Yeah, it was, it was not until first proper in the modern sense, like made to be a cruise ship. In January, the TSA, that's the Transportation Security Administration for our international listeners, they released their annual list of the top 10 best catches for the previous year. They did this, you know, in statement and a video.

I would say that it covers novel and or egregious attempts to evade airport security. How about that, all right? So, for example, right, I'll give you a couple examples here. At number five in Portland International Airport, Oregon, someone had a gun wrapped in foil stuffed inside of a teapot that they... What is this gun-shaped foil blog? Inside your... Oh, it's a block of tea, officer, obviously.

In New Hampshire, at Portsmouth International Airport, someone tried to smuggle meth, stuffed inside. inside crutches, you know, I get maybe thinking like they're not going to examine the crutches or, I mean, they're going to examine the crutches if you're acting suspicious. So here's the question in all of this. Coming in at number three at Miami International Airport, TSA agents found what live animal hidden in a passenger's pants trying to come through security? They were not one but two of this animal. animal in this person's in this person's trousers. So little Noah Zark in his pants. Squirrels. Snakes. Oh, you got it.

Karen. I feel like it's got to be like body hugging. Slim animal. Yeah, they were actually quite slim. They were two little snakes and they were in a pouch inside the travelers. They're going to do that skin. They're going to see it. Yeah, they're going to see it, man.

Oh, my God. Yeah. adventurous vacationers who love taking long train rides might enjoy the Reunification Express, the colloquial name for the train that connects the northern and southern parts of what country? The Reunification Express. Oh, north and south.

North and south of what country? Chris? Vietnam. You got it. Vietnam. I was trying to think of what used to be split into north and town. Yes, yes. You got it.

That's right. Officially it is just the north-south railway, but it is the train lifeblood of Vietnam. And it runs from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City over 1,000 miles. It is more than a 30-hour-long train ride. It has sort of, you know, become a checklist item for, you know, travel bloggers and certain people. It's a long ride. Despite the name Express, again, it's not official, but it does stop at many, many, many stations along the way. 30 hours.

It's a long time to be on a train. I love train ride. I don't know if I love it 30 hours much. In 1947, the Shannon Airport in County Clare, Ireland became the first airport. to offer what to international travelers? In what year? 1947. 19447.

Wow, right after World War II. It was the first airport to offer what to international travelers. A service or amenity or a facility. Chris, what's your guess? Currency exchange. Oh, good guess. That's a good one. That's a great guess.

Like an in-airport. It is not. But no. Fantastic guess. Yeah. Oh. Karen. Airport lounge?

I am looking for duty-free shopping. Oh, okay, sure. Duty-free shopping. Interesting international. Yeah, the brainchild of Brendan O'Regan, an Irish businessman. Irish invention. The primary target was travelers on transatlantic flights between the U.S. and Europe that had to stop for refueling.

and what better opportunity to sell booze and cigarettes and luxury items without the duties on top smash hit travelers loved it other airports were jealous the concept spread from there yeah I mean and today most every major international airport is going to hit you up with the duty free for sure because again it's still a good idea

suppose after all this you throw your hands up and you end up just taking a vacation to the beach you will no doubt see your fair share of Speedo Swimsuits. Yes. The Speedo Company, of course, makes a full line of swim apparel, but is so well known for their men's swim brief that it is practically synonymous with the company name. In what country was the Speedo Corporation founded?

Oh. Karen. I thought it was Italy. It is not Italy. Oh. There is a hint in the company. logo that I did not even pick up on until I was interesting this quiz swim mad country swim mad country country that loves to swim Chris United Kingdom not not terrible guess I'm

looking for Australia it is Australia I did I did not know this I learned this if you look at the Speedo logo what I always thought was kind of like a go fast arrow is in fact a boomerang is what that part of a logo is meant to be a nod to their Australian. Well. Yeah. Hiding in plain sight. The swim brief made his debut in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics. That was the debut.

Oh, so it's like designed for professional speed. It was. It was. And that was, yeah. And they won eight gold medals that Olympics, the Aussie men's team. Yeah. Yeah. And they have a history of Olympic breakthroughs.

I was reading like, Going back a little bit earlier in their history, at the 1932 Olympics, they debuted a racerback women's swimsuit. Claire Dennis, a 16-year-old Australian swimmer, apparently was almost like she got in trouble for showing too much shoulder. Like it was too immodest a swimsuit for the time. What were they wearing before? Kind of like halfway down the arm.

They were much more modest. She's had a world record four years later in 1936. I laughed at this, was the first time an Olympic men's swim team went shirtless. But they only had swim trunks on. All right. And last question. In 1908, the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana became the first hotel where each guest room had a copy of a Bible provided by what Christian organization? Chris.

The Gideons. You got it. That's right. The Gideons International, which is a Christian evangelical association that is hands down. The number one thing they do is get Bibles into hotels. And other places. They provide them to schools and military and things like that. But hotels was their stroke of genius, if you will.

Yeah. Yeah. And their process is basically... Here's a palette of Bibles. They will approach a hotel, typically when it's opening and say, hey, we're, we're willing to offer these Bibles if you'll place them in the rooms and the hotels will go along with it or they won't and yeah, they'll let you put them in in the drawers. A lot of people wonder, can I take the Bible? They do not mind if you take the Bible. Yeah, if you're in a position

in your life where you need to take the Bible, they're not going to shame you for taking it. That's right. Conversion rates. That's right. Conversion rate. You got it. KBIs. They estimate that 25% of their Bibles get looked at is what they estimate. Active user sessions. Active user sessions. Engagement minutes. Yeah. Engagement minutes.

Okay, good job, guys. I know you would do it here. I think Karen edged it out by one point, but you guys are both savvy travelers in my book. Snakes, man, snakes and pants. Gave me that one point. All right. Look, I am not like Chris. I don't read books.

I don't have, I don't know how to read. No, Chris reads like voraciously. I really like getting into a book, but it's just hard to find a nice block of time to do that. So, of course, vacation is the time to read some books or listen to some books. Here, I have a quiz about celebrity audio book narrators. First part of the quiz is going to be question to answer, and then we have some, audio clips later in the quiz that we have to identify some people. So here we go.

Get your Barnyard Buzzers ready. Let's jump in. Michael C. Hall is the narrator, a very good narrator, for Pet Cemetery and for other Stephen King books. And it's fitting considering he played a creepy serial killer for eight seasons on what show? Colin. That's Dexter. right? That is, Dexter.

Cool but chilling. All right, next question. Here you go. Speaking of Stephen King, who narrates the Carey audiobook? If you had to guess, Chris? Cissy Space.

Correct. Oh, awesome. It's one of those like, well, if you're asking. Yeah, you know. Famously, Carrie in the very memorable Carrie movie adaptation when she was young. And yeah, and she is the narrator for the audiobook for Carrie. That's great. All right. Next question. People were hyped when Britney Spears released her autobiography titled The Woman in Me in 2023, so pretty recently. People were even more

hyped when they learned that what Oscar nominated actress was going to narrate the audiobook? I have an extra clue here. Okay, all right. I do not remember this. So in interviews, the actress said she could relate since she, too, shot to fame as a teenager when she starred in Dawson's Creek. Oh, Chris. Katie Holmes. Incorrect.

Okay. That was my guest, too. I was going to say Katie Holmes. It is Michelle Williams. Michelle Williams. All right. Next question. Beloved British comedian and actor, Stephen Fry, is the voice behind what two popular ursign works?

Colin? Winnie the Pooh? Correct. And two, is this a different series, a different character? It's a different Ersine. Paddington Bear? Paddington Bear. Wow.

and fry. A lot of people disappointed that he didn't make any cameos in the Paddington movies, but yeah, he is the voice of the books and all, you know, for generations and also for Winnie the Pooh. I can see that. It's so comforting, just hearing those in his voice, yeah. All right. Next question. A far departure from his voice work in Ratatouille. What comedian is the narrator for the traumatic childhood horror favorite scary stories to tell in the Dark. Chris. Patton Oswald.

Correct. Do you guys remember those books? I do remember those books. Scary stories tell him the dark. Oh my God. I see the cover and it like freaks me out. Right. You know, that actually reminds me.

I had a rat that was ratatooing me for a while. You know what I mean? But he didn't know how to cook or really do anything. So it was really just, it was just random. You know what I mean? It didn't, it did not work out. The worst. driver. I just honestly.

Awful. Awful. All right. Now, we're moving on to the audio clip phase of the quiz. I'm going to play you a clip narration from a famous book. I'll tell you the title. And you try to identify who is the actor narrating. So let's start with this first one. Oh, the places you'll go. Of course, a classic by Dr. Seuss is. This actor is in the headlines recently. Let's play the clip. I'm sorry to say so, but sadly, it's true that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickly perch, and your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a lurch.

Ooh, go for it. That sounds like John Lithgow. It is John Lithgow. Nicely spotted. I always associate him. with a third rock from the sun. And it just sounds like his character. He's kind of wacky.

Moving on, next clip. This is from Malcolm X's autobiography, as told to Alex Haley, who is the author of Roots. Can you identify what veteran stage screen actor is this? This explosively criminal condition has existed for so long it needs no fuse. It fuses itself.

It spontaneously combusts from, within itself. Oh, man. Sounds so familiar. Mm-hmm. Is it, is it Denzel? It's not Denzel. It's not Denzel.

Most recently on Blackish had a very regular role on Blackish. Before that, he was. Lawrence Fishburn? It's Lawrence Fishburn. Mr. Morpheus himself. Yeah. Now, now, yeah. And the last one.

I'll just tell you what works. It is Ready Player 1 by Ernest Klein, and it is narrated by whom. Play the clip. It was also time to elect the president and VP of the Oasis User Council. But that was a no-brainer. Like most Gunters, I voted to re-elect Corey Doctoro and Will Wheaton again. There were no term limits, and those two geysers had been doing a kick-ass job of protecting user rights for over a decade. Chris?

Will Wheaton. It is Will Whiten. Yes. Great choice for Ready Player 1 if we're talking about like 90s, 80s nostalgia. Of course, yeah. Will ween stand by me and also more memorably, very important character in Star Trek Next Generation. And he's mentioned in the book. Nice, nice segment there.

That was good. And that is my Celebrity Audio Book Quiz. Wow. All right. let's take a quick break and we'll be right back when planning for life's most important moments sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing where to start that's why we're here to help when you pre-plan and prepay a celebration of life with us

every detail will be handled with simplicity and professionalism giving you the peace of mind that you've done all you can today to remove any burden from your loved ones tomorrow we're your local dignity memorial provider find us at dignity Memorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of service corporation international. This is Jen and Jenny from ancient history fan girl and we're here to tell you about Jenny's scorching historical romanticcy based on Alarica of the Bissigoths, enemy of my dreams. Amanda Boucher, best-selling author of the Kingmaker Chronicle, says, quote, this book has everything,

high stakes action, grit, ferocity, and blazing passion. Julia and Alaric, are colliding storms against a backdrop of the brutal dangers of ancient Rome. They'll do anything to carve their peace out of this treacherous world and not just survive, but rule. Enemy of my dreams is available wherever books are sold. You're listening to Good Job Brain. Smooth puzzles. Smart trivia. good job brain And we're back

We're on vacation mode Chris Yes I have a quiz When I heard this show Was going to be about vacations My mind immediately Went not to any A vacation that I ever took with my family

But no To the The National Lampoon's vacation movie series was the first thing that jumped into my head. I'm proud to say that I have viewed

most of these films. No, I've only watched one of them. Okay, hopefully some of these questions will still be getable. Okay. Even if you have only

watched one of them. But it's a write-down quiz based on the vacation movie series. There are 10... No way. 10 questions.

Oh, as I said, there are 10 vacation movies. I was like, no, there are 10 questions. Okay. There's a total of 20 points. Okay. So we could really break away here. Oh, man. Everybody's getting there.

Writing implements ready. Colin, how do you feel about this? My knowledge definitely gets weaker as the series progresses, but I, I give myself a fighting chance here. All right, we'll see. All right. Question number one. National Lampoon's Vacation was based on a short story published in National Lampoon magazine titled Vacation 58, written by what writer-director best known for his teen comedy movies. National Lampoon's Vacation was based on a short story published in National Lampoon magazine titled Vacation 58.

It was written by what writer-director best known for his teen comedy movies. All right. 10 questions, 20 possible points. Just one possible point for this one. Let's see some answers up. Colin has written John Hughes. Karen has written John Breakfast Club. It is indeed John Hughes.

John Hughes. Point for Colin. The short story ends with Father Clark Griswold shooting Walt Disney in the leg and going to jail while the rest of the family flies home. Question number two, one point each. What are the make and model of the car that the Griswold family drives to Wal-in-Roy? You had a segment about this. Oh, gosh. It's a made-up name.

It is a made-up name. Maker is made up. The model is made up. Put your best guess. That's why it's a write-down. I want to hear some good guesses here. It's, I mean, it's a wonderful name. Pencils down.

Collin has written the Everest Bounder. And Karen has written the Wilson All-American Explorer. Both wonderful names. The make and model of the car, the Griswold family drives to Wally World. It is the wagon queen family truckster. Yes. Family truckster. Yes.

Right. Oh my gosh. We're really got to love this question. What is the color of the family truckster? What is the official branded? What is the color way of the family truckster as stated in the film? My answer is funny. The real answer is funny.

Oh, man. Karen says patriotic green, which would be a great color for the Wilson All-American Explorer. Colin says Moss Green. The car is green. That is not the official name of the color. For that I'd like to turn it over to Comedy Genius

Eugene Levy. I distinctly ordered the Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the CB and the optional rally fun pack. You didn't order the Metallic P? Metallic P? No Antarctic

Blue. I almost wrote Pee green. and I crossed off P-green. Still wouldn't have accepted it. It would have had a said. It's true. Metallic P. P-E.

Incredible. P-E-A. P-E-A, yes. I just really wanted to play that clip. All right. Maybe a getable one. Question number four. National Ampoon's Vacation soundtrack featured original songs by whom?

One very famous one that played in the opening credits. Mm-hmm. One less famous one that played in the closing credits, both by A Person. A person. Yep. A person. This is a... Oh, okay.

It's a very Chris Kohler question, Karen. Oh. Karen says, Wayne Donka-Shane. Wayne Donkishane. It is not Wayne Newton. Colin is putting the correct answer. It is the person to whom Karen once gave me free tickets to go see Lindsay Buckingham. Former frontman for Fleetwood Mac.

Question number five, another contributor. What painter best known for his illustrations of fantasy characters like Tarzan and Conan the Barbarian did the poster art for the first two films. What's his last name? I'm bad with last names today, man. Oh, my gosh. Oh, no. So Karen, so Karen says Drew S, as in Drew Zan.

Colin has written Frank Frazetta. You are both incorrect. No! It is Boris Vallejo. Oh, no idea. Well, I can't believe I came up with Drew S, though. He is the Indiana Jones Star Wars guy. guy, right?

Very good. Yep, yep, yep. Okay, now, Colin has two points. Karen has zero points. I don't get half for John? Karen has one half of a point. Coming up right now is a six point question. Oh, my goodness.

Because there are six films in the vacation series. Oh, my. Name them all. Okay. You can write down some abbreviations for your as long as you tell me what you've written down. You have 30 seconds. Some of these more watched than others.

They're six total in the series. One of them is a spinoff that featured a certain character, but did not feature Clark Griswold, Ellen Griswold, Beverly DeAngeload was not in it. It does, it does count. It's one of the six. It's going to be, if you get that one, it'll be very impressed. It was giving you the opportunity to pick up a possible six points.

If you're family, if you're driving in the car right now and somebody out all six. All right. All right. All right. Answers up. Karen says, I'm going to be very generous here. Karen says Christmas, family, Vegas, Wally World, college, and Christmas. Two.

Colin says National Lampoons Vacation, Christmas Vacation, European Vacation, Randy Wade vacation, and vacation. So, Colin, I'm going to, okay, so here are the six films. Okay. And you can grade each other so that I don't have to be the arbiter of this. The six films are National Lampoon's Vacation, National Lampoon's European Vacation, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Vegas Vacation

Vacation and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2 colon Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure Cousin Eddie That's right Eddie So now you can grade each other And just tell me how many points

The other person got I mean I'll grade myself I got three I would give myself four Vacation was just the most most recent one right That was the most recent one. Oh, that's my Wally, okay. Yes, all right, because get ready now for a five-point question.

Jeez. In five of those six films, I'll give you a hint, it's not National Impugn's Christmas Vacation 2, Cousinetti's Island Adventure. In the other five films, Clark Griswold's son, Rusty Griswold, appears in those other five films, played by five different actors. For one point each, name them. Oh, man. If you get one, you're very rusty with your rusty knowledge.

You're not rusty knowledge, it's rusty if you get one. If you get two, if you get two, maybe not so rusty, but, you know, you need to bone up on your rusty. If you get three, you're your average. You're doing average. If you get four, I'd say you're a rusty expert. If you get five, I'll be incredibly impressed because you will be a certified rusty connoisseur. A rustologist. Rustologist, certified rustologist.

All right, you got another five seconds to come up with your list of Rusties. Okay. In National Ampun's vacation, he was played by Teen Idol Anthony Michael Hall. Yes. In National Ampoon's European vacation, he was played by Jason Lively. In Christmas vacation, he was played by Johnny Galecki. Good call on that one, Karen. Big Bang.

In Vegas vacation, he was played. I knew Karen was going to get this one, Ethan Embry. Yes, Papa Georgio. And then, of course, in vacation where he's grown up with his own family, he's played by Ed Helms. Yes. For the office. Oh, I could have got Ed Helms. I forgot that that was.

That was the same universe. That's the curve ball. All right, here's another one. What daughter of musician Frank Zee? Zappa appeared in National Lampoon's European vacation, credited as Rusty's California Girl. Oh, Frank Zappa's daughter. Okay.

I know one of his daughters, so I'm going to go with that one. Let's, maybe it's probably that one. I hope so. Karen says Soleil Moon Fry. I think that's exactly, you were thinking about this, Karen. But Colin got it right. It's moon unit. Moon Unit Zappa

Question 9 The director of the original National Amphoon's Vacation Has a brief speaking part He is the voice of the robotic Marty the Moose But who is he? Who directed National Amputification? It's not...

Who did do that? Directed a couple of big ones in the 80s, directed a lot more in the 90s, wrote a whole heck of a lot of movies in the 80s All right. All right. Colin has written Joe Dante, but Karen has written the correct answer,

which is Harold Ramis, of course. From Ghostbusters. Yes. From Ghostbusters. That's the guy. And finally, question number 10, speaking of cartoon voices, in her final film role before her death,

actress May Questle played Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation. all right. She is best known for voicing what cartoon character from 1931 to 1938 and then voicing this character again in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Oh. Oh. Oh. I guess that put you guys over the top for that one. In her final film role before her death, actress May Questle played Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation, but she is best known for voicing what cartoon character from 1931 to 1938, and then again in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Karen and Colin have both written Betty Booth.

Karen and Colin are both correct. Wow. Wow. Not the original voice of Betty Booth. Very shortly after. She is the iconic original Betty Boop voice. Also, I had to really see. specify there because she was also, for a very long time, the voice of olive oil and

Popeye. Oh, my gosh, they're very similar. That makes sense. Well, I'm sure you're all wondering what the end result of this vacation quiz is. Colin had 10 points. Karen had 8 and 1 half points. Not bad. Very close there. That's not bad. Yep. Yep. Hope you enjoy it. If you'd known, if you'd have known Metallic P, you would have been, well, you still would have lost, but yeah. Steve Cubine and Man McNamara's podcast from Beneath the Hollywood Sign. Mary Astor has been keeping a diary. Mary writes everything down. And so this torrid affair with George S. Kaufman is chronicled on a daily basis.

In great detail. And Iph pulls out a box and gives McAllister a ring saying, here's something to remember me by. This article caused Daryl Zannick to hit the roof. Actress Ruth Roman followed that up with playing a foil to Betty DeL Davis in Beyond the Forest. I mean, if you can stand toe to toe with her, boy. And she does because she plays the daughter of the man that Betty Davis kills out in the hunting trip. And it's directed by King Vidor, so he's no slouch. How do you go wrong with that? Yeah. Speaking of the Oscars,

talking about what I call Beginners Luck, it's all about the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film. Get your fix of Old Hollywood from Stephen N on the podcast from Beneath the Hollywood Sign. All right, I have a last quiz. Before I get into my quiz, which is about vacation, I just want to explore something. For those of us living in the U.S. or in the Northern Hemisphere, you know, summer break is around the corner. Well, we're spring going into summer, right? Summer vacation.

Kids love summer vacation. You know, June, July, August, time for travel, time for camp. But have you wondered why? A, we need a long break from the school year. And B, why is it during the summer? Well, there's a lot of lore around this. There is a lot of lore. That kids in America would, you know, or kids rather, would return to the family

farm for the harvest. Right. They have to help out in the harvest, right? Yeah. That's the prevailing theory. Same thing with, we have like daylight savings, where our time change. And a lot of it is around like, oh, we need maximum sun time for our agriculture. our farming communities,

tent to plants and crops, yeah. And so that's one of the reasoning thrown around is more sun and daylight, so more advantageous for farming and children needed to help with farmwork. That is actually a myth. It actually doesn't make sense because farmwork is most needed in the spring,

tail end of winter, spring to plant the crops, and then work is needed in the fall when you have to harvest and sell what they were growing. So really, you know, a long time ago, rural schools often had school during the summer because summer and winter because those were the times when there was less of a need for labor. So you're like, okay, well, what about schools in urban areas? You know, we're talking like 1800s here, right? Back then, school wasn't mandatory.

School houses were open all year round. And kids went to school if they could, if they didn't have to work, a factory job, or, you know, like, they can show up whenever they want to. They want to sweep in chimneys or right, right. What was the thing that made summer vacation the norm? This sounds dumb, but I'm going to say it. This is the reason. Well, because summers are hot. Wealthier families would beat the heat by fleeing the city.

And hot summers combined with high population. in the urban areas, combined with poor ventilation plumbing infrastructure, it was not only uncomfortable, but it was a health and safety concern for teachers and students, overheating, but also spreading of diseases. So, in the late 1800s, education reformers were like pushing to standardize across rural and urban areas. Let's, hey, everyone, let's operate on the same darn school calendar, school schedule. And so the more urban leaning argument won out. And so the rural areas had to follow, which is you get summer off and you had to go to school pretty much during the rest of the year.

And when summer break became the standard, then travel in tourism industries, then had the opportunity to concentrate and target their marketing. Now it's like everybody's on the same schedule. So this is our time now. That makes a lot of sense. So here I have a quiz about vacations, a little bit grab back to you. We're going to talk about maybe a little bit of movies. Maybe I did leisure some questions because it was asked before. But here we go.

Let's end our vacation episode with more vacation trivia. This is write down quiz. Get your pens and paper back up. Here we go. If you're into traveling, you might want to visit all 175 trypoints in the world, which is a point where three nations touch. There are 175 tripoints, a lot of them in Europe, because a lot of smaller countries touching.

There are no true quadra point in the world. The closest we have is a location in town called Kazim Gula, where four countries almost touch each other, located in what continent? If you're into traveling, you might want to visit all 175 tri-points in the world, which is the point where three nations touch. While there are no true quadrupoint, the closest we have is a location in town called Kazangula, where four countries almost touch each other, located in what continent? One in seven chance. answers up Chris put Africa

Colin put Asia Chris is correct with Africa Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe and Zambia So the four countries don't touch at a single point

But it's two tripoints Not annoyingly But like Botswana's like in the middle Not making Namibia and Zimbabwe touch two tri-points and they're like 150 meters away. They should really, I mean, we should just all agree to just move those boundaries just to make it much more satisfying. Yeah, then we have one counterpoint.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, next question. Green Day, Madonna, Lil Nas X, and Weezer all have songs with what one-word title? Oh. That's related to the theme. I got it. Okay. Mm-hmm.

Okay. All right. Answer is up. Chris and Colin both put holiday. Correct. It is holiday. Holiday. Only one I need to know.

Oh. Next question. Let's cool down with something refreshing. Japan has Kaggi-Gori. Philippines has hollow-ho. Taiwan has twabing and Korea has what? Oh. Oh, let's cool down with something refreshing.

Japan has Kaggi-Gori, Philippines has hollow-hallow, Taiwan has Swapping, and Korea has what? What are these? Do you guys know what these things are? I think so, yes. I'm trying to think of the Korean word for it. Okay. All right, answers up. Okay, so Chris has put Bing Su... And then Colin has Bing Su, parentheses, shaved ice. It is Bing Su. Array!

You got it. You guys got it. Many cultures, not just these, but many cultures have their version of shaved ice. Bingu is like a fluffy shaved ice, very snow, like very powdery, very delicate and just loaded up with stuff. Whatever stuff, so much stuff. Once I had a, it was really hot. I had a Bingu, they took half a watermelon.

and they like hollowed it out and then put bingsu and put the watermelon back on oh and the condensed milk condense milk all over the whole thing next question in your best efforts to describe this as few words as possible because it's a write-down quiz what is a recursive island what is known as a recursive island how would you describe what a recursive island is your eyes okay it was doing really good all right Okay. Colin has made a flow chart. It says island, lake, island. And then, Chris, you put... I put an island that doubles back over itself. But I think Colin is right. It is, uh, yes, Colin is correct. It is an island that's in a lake that's on an island. And you might ask yourself, well, how many times does this happen? There are a lot of islands and lakes.

Even here in Seattle, we have something called Mercer Island. But it's got to have a lake in the island. Yes. So how far does it go? Documented places. There is an island on a lake, on an island, on a lake, on an island, on a lake, on an island, on a lake. By this point, my mind's like, what? I don't even know. So it's three sets of concentricness. Like nesting dolls. At this point, like, these islands don't really have names.

They're just like a big rock or like a landmass. mostly in volcanic areas. But yes, there's also recursive lakes where it's lake that's in the island that's in a lake. Oh, okay, all right. And it goes, yeah, it goes that way too. That's a great term. Yeah, recursive island. Next question.

What American film with a translated title in French, The Tree Has Balls. So again, what American film translated as the tree has balls in French has reached outrageous cult status in Quebec, with live theater screenings, with audience participation, a lot like Rocky Horror Picture Show. And for Youngens, quick explanation, Rocky Horror Picture Show is an old movie where they would play this movie at a theater like at midnight. People would dress up. They quote and they throw rice at the screen. There's like traditions, not sing along, but like an act along. Wow.

The tree has balls. What era is this movie? 80s? What is the theme of our episode? Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, okay. The tree has balls. I don't know, okay, man. People dress up, yell at the screen, it's like a whole cultural moment.

80s, okay, all right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say, all right, what do you got, Chris? Colin put. Harry and the Henderson's. Harry and the Henderson's, Chris put, Christmas vacation. The answer is, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Wow. has reached an unbelievable cult status in Quebec. People dress up.

Oh, my gosh. Incredible. It's great. The French title, The Fur Tree Has Balls. All right. Next question. Vacation is often, as I said before, when people get to do some leisure reading. Tell me, what is the name of Reese Witherspoon's book club and media company?

Rees Witherspoon, a runaway success with this book club. Part of the business model is that they'll promote a book that they like, but they also have the first right of refusal and option to turn it into a movie. All right, answers up. Colin put spoon fed, and Chris put Reese Wither books. That's good. That's good. Reads Wither books. Oh, I should have been.

Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's crossed that. Reads Wither books. It's great. You get an star. The answer is, Hello Sunshine.

Hello, Sunshine is her company. Making a lot of, a lot of bucks from adapting a lot of these projects. They say that a Hello Sunshine Book Club book, once it's picked and kind of promoted, would perform in the fiction category, 700%. Right. So it's, so it's, so it's the new Oprah's Book Club. Yes. I mean, Oprah's Book Club is still going too. I think a lot of people have tried the Celebrity Book Club route, but yeah, Reese books really, really. Reeds wither books. She nailed it. All right. Next question. We talked about summer, but let's

Let's talk about snow. What country has the most number of ski resorts? Oh. What country? What country? Hmm. Really? Interesting.

Yeah. Most ski resorts. Yeah. Country. Yeah. Here we go. Answers up. Chris has put United States America and Colin has put Canada.

The correct answer is China. Ah, cool. Population theory. Yep, yep, a lot of space. The snow sports vertical has exploded in China. Number two is Japan. Wow. I'm not a snow expert, but they do say their snow quality is very good.

There's a name for it called Japao. Real sweet Japo. But yes, China with 700, Japan's like around 500. last question here wrapping it up please name two of my all-time favorite rom-coms

with very similar titles one stars Queen Latifah taking a now or never vacation to the Czech Republic the other one stars Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz

who switch houses over Christmas break they have very similar titles one stars Queen Latifah taking a now or never vacation to the Czech Republic. Also Timothy Hutton is in it. Gerard de Purdue's in it. Alicia Witts in it.

John Carl Esposito is in it, I think. Is he in it? Yes. Okay. The other one stars Kate Winslett and Cameron Diaz who switch houses over the Christmas break. Their love interests were played by Jack Black and Jude Law. Curious to see what

the answers are. Oh, dear. I'm so mad. All right. Here we go. All right. Answers up. Chris shakes his head, no answer. Colin has put bucket list and list my bucket. I don't know. I'm talking about the last holiday and the holiday.

Oh, man. If you're not a rom-com person, those are pretty cool. Would not have known. Okay, yeah, good time. Yeah, all right. Because you don't really see Kate Winslet in a casual kind of rom-com movie, and she's great. All right, and that is my vacation quiz. Reads wither books.

Reeds wither books. Someone must have thought of that. I don't know. Someone must have that. Zero Google results for reads wither books. Oh, my gosh. Should we? Should we reserve that domain too along with LundiceMeets?

All right. Loosemeats.com. Good job, bryan.com. Reads wither books. All right. If you can get it before we put the episode up, we can put the little, just redirect their Good Job Brain. I'm just going to redirect it to Good Job Brain, just like Loose Me.

For now. All right. Well, that's our show. Thank you guys for joining me and thank you all listeners for listening in. Hope you learned stuff about vacation movies, about travel, about audiobook narrators who are famous and reads wither books. You can find us on all major podcast apps and on our website, good job, brain.com. This podcast is part of Airwave Media Podcast Network.

work, visit airwavemedia.com to listen and subscribe to other shows like History of Everything, nature nerds, and history tea time. And we'll see you next week. Bye. loans? How did a set of trembling hands end the Soviet Union? How did inflation kill moon bases? And how did a former president decide to run for a second non-consecutive term? These are among the topics we deal with on the My History Can Beat Up Your Politics Podcast. We tell stories of history that relate to today's news events. Give a listen. My History Can Beat Up Your Politics wherever you get podcasts.