The BQT in L.A.: Land of prizes!

I embark in—geez—just about 12 hours for that land of dreams, Los Angeles, where I will be overseeing the Big Quiz Thing's L.A. debut at the fabulous El Cid. A hot time is absolutely guaranteed, of course. This will be only the third BQT event in history not quizmastered by yours truly—my ace West Coast surrogate, Daniel Halden, is the man. But the content is pure Big Quiz magic, and we'll be bringing a little trivia sunshine to California. Boo-ya and all that.

And we have an especially excellent slate of prizes. Behold…

—The traditional BQT grand prize of $200. We play for keeps, you know.

—Two vouchers, each good for brunch for two at The Glendon Bar & Kitchen. I think it's hard to deny that brunch is the greatest meal ever invented, wouldn't you say, and this excellent place has all your favorites. Yes, their mimosas have no bottoms. Glendon also has fantastic lunch and dinner menus, plus a lovely bar and dessert selection. 1071 Glendon Avenue, glendonla.com.


—Two pairs of tickets to Re-Animator: The Musical, one of underground L.A.'s most acclaimed shows (and damn, underground L.A. has to be nearly as freaky as underground NYC; probably more these days). Featuring live rock & roll and based on the seriously-messed-me-up-when-I-was-a-kid film (itself based on a story by the master, H.P. Lovecraft), this is the rare "hey, wouldn't it be crazy if we made a musical out of this movie that isn't very musical-like" theatrical productions that gets it right. And get this: If you sit in the right seats, you get splashed with blood and guts and other good stuff. Theater is awesome. It plays Fridays—Sundays at 8pm, with some select Friday midnight shows, through August 14, at the Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood; reanimatorthemusical.com.

—Four tickets to the Outdoor Cinema Food Fest. "The Ultimate Picnic," they call it, and it sounds like: the genius combination of food trucks, movies, live music and being outside in California, all awesome things. It's every Saturday all summer, at various locations, though the most common one seems to be Exposition Park, where this Saturday you can catch The Terminator (extra resonance in California, of course), along with short films courtesy Funny or Die, music by Montë Mar, and a mess of trucks, including something called The Munchie Machine. You know what to do, Scooby.

Plus, some books and DVDs. Wednesday night, 6/22, at El Cid; doors 7:30, show 8pm, a cheap-cheap $10. Tell your fabulous friends.