It seems like half the bars in the area have quiz nights these days, but the event at Nellie's Sports Bar really stands out.

The questions at the Wednesday event cover everything from Derek Zoolander's favorite Starbucks drink (orange mocha frappuccino) to the locations of the world's tallest volcanoes (South America). You may also have to identify one-hit wonders of the '90s based on 30-second audio snippets or identify photos of a dozen celebrities and then figure out the common thread. (In one recent case, they all had the same names as the characters on "The Brady Bunch.")

The quiz night "is the result of a lifetime spent gathering meaningless facts, watching un-funny sitcoms, listening to awful hair bands and engaging in otherwise unproductive activity," says Andrew Grossman, a lawyer who plays regularly.

A game consists of three sets of six questions each, plus a special round. Tension ratchets up in the final "wipeout round": Get one answer wrong and none of your correct answers matter.

While answers are being scored, the sound system plays pop songs related to the questions you answered. During a recent game, host Andy Austin asked which song Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson were performing at the Super Bowl when the "wardrobe malfunction" occurred. A few minutes later, groans rose from surrounding tables when "Rock Your Body" came on and teams realized they'd gotten it wrong.

Winners knock $30 off their tab; two runners-up receive $20 and $10 off, respectively.

Get to Nellie's early to stake out a table and you can partake of the rotating happy hour drink specials, which run from 5 to 8. During trivia, buckets of beer are $11.95.

-- Fritz Hahn (February 15, 2008)