A lot of people ask me why I annoyingly pay homage to Vanilla Ice in this column and I have to try and explain to them the concept of a side-bar name.

A side-bar name is like a foot note to your real name. It is usually the one thing you are supposedly known for. Everyone has a Johnny “keg stand” or Johnny “womanizer” in his group of friends.

A side-bar name can also associate you to someone else. When you think of Luke Perry you think of James Dean. When you think of Vanilla Ice you think of me.

Side-bar names can be good or bad. Bad when every time “Ice Ice Baby” comes on and I am expected to break out into the entire routine, but good when my friends find some sort of Vanilla memorabilia and buy it for me.

I have collected all sorts of cool Vanilla things — his “Yo MTV Raps” card, his movies and rare recordings — stuff like that. A couple weeks ago a friend from high school scored me my second Vanilla book: “Modern Publishing’s Unauthorized Biography of Vanilla Ice.”

It is by far the poorest written book I have ever read, but does include a quiz about Vanilla.

Now, I realize finals are right around the corner and the last thing anyone wants to do is take a quiz, but I figured now is as good a time as any to test the V.I. IQ of my readers.

The following quiz is printed in the back of “Vanilla Ice” complete with a list of the correct answers. If you think your V.I. IQ is worth testing, give the quiz a shot and drop it by my mailbox at 108 Hamilton Hall.

The winner will be announced in next week’s Moss Pit and will win a taped copy of the very-rare Cool As Ice soundtrack.

True or false:

__ 1. “Ice Ice Baby” first received airplay at a radio station in Florida.

__ 2. Vanilla Ice was born in Oakland, Calif.

__ 3. Ice choreographs his stage shows and videos.

__ 4. Ice produced the single “Ice Ice Baby.”

__ 5. Ice and his school pals started a cheering squad called the Pep Busters.

__ 6. Ice’s first tour was opening for Janet Jackson.

__ 7. To “bust-a-rhyme” means to dance. (If you miss this one you need to stop now.)

__ 8. Ice is self-conscious about seeing his videos on TV.

__ 9. Ice’s fade (hairstyle) is three different shades of blond.

__ 10. Both Ice’s album To The Extreme and his debut single, “Ice Ice Baby,” went all the way to No. 1 on the pop charts.

Fill in the blanks:

1. Ice’s real name is ________ ____________.

2. ____________________ is Ice’s first love.

3. ____________________ is (was) Ice’s manager.

4. VIP stands for ______ ______________.

5. Ice’s birthday falls on this festive occasion: _____________.

6. The flip side (b-side) to “Ice Ice Baby” is _________________ _____________.

7. ____________________ is the name of the club where Ice’s professional career was launched.

8. Ice has a role in ____________________, his feature film debut.

9. Often at Vanilla Ice concerts the crowd can be heard chanting, “____________________.”

10. (At the time this book was printed) Ice is (was) the third white rap act that has made it. The other two are ____________________ and ____________________.

“My (rap) style is a lot more sophisticated than most rappers. I’m also more musically inclined.”

— Vanilla in “The Unauthorized Biography of Vanilla Ice”

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Corey Moss is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.