Thursday night at the Lion & Crown in Allen turned out to be pretty raucous with the
addition of some newbie teams. A rowdy bunch calling themselves We Thought We'd Do
Karaoke occupied the table front and center keeping Quiz Master Lou on his toes the
entire evening. They did pretty good, too, considering they came in fourth out of the
eight teams that played. If they didn't get into the winner's circle they certainly
won top prize for loudest laughter. Remember Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow's wild
laugh as he cut through Romney Marsh? Times ten... X 10.
Team Rockafeller won the day by pulling into the lead in Round Three with a well placed
Double-or-Nothing and keeping it cultivated throughout. Street Smarts chased them all
night threatening to overtake and earned a hot second while Pickles on a Plate slid into
third.
We had another great question set that bamboozled yet satisfied. The inspired Picture
Round asking to identify famous folks whose names were also a beverage created quite a
rush of imagination as teams struggled to pinpoint the historical portrait of famed
Scotsman Rob Roy. The roster of drinks named after 17th century personalities grew in
size just to get a valid guess in. (Quiz Master Lou never knew there was a Louis XII
brand of cognac. Turns out there isn't. It's Louis XIII!) The most mirth came in the
last round calling for teams to name 10 of Shakespeare's 12 tragedies. The dearth of
drama majors among the various brain trusts became evident when the guess list included:
Dante's Inferno
Count of Monte Cristo
Lion King
Rocky VI and...
Westside Story (although that is actually R&J dressed in fifties togs!)
Have a great weekend everybody!
Quiz Master Lou here, reporting on Thursday night's King Trivia Pub Quiz at the Lion &
Crown in Watter's Creek. Eight teams participated including a duo calling themselves
Mardi Gras Mambo. A great name for a trivia team, but unfortunately, they had to cut
out early, leaving the heavy lifting to the regs. We're always looking for young bloods
at the pub, everyone!
Stealth Texas stole the thunder with a phenomenal Double-or-Nothing in the Find-the-
Connection Round, probably by virtue of the fact that Jason actually knew the title to
Cecil B. DeMille's 1953 Best Picture Oscar winner. That move propelled them into the
lead where they stayed until game's end with a 66 point victory. (They got their kicks
on score 66!) Beer Logic, enjoying the glow of the winner's circle lately, came in
second with 57 while Deadly Alliance (aka Blood, Bath & Beyond) claimed third. DA seems
to have a semi-permanent seat in the winner's circle lately. Though rarely blue ribbon
winners, it's almost as though they're using frequent flyer miles to stay in first class!
Oh well, consistency is also the quality if a winner.
Some interesting queries from our quiz writing overlords at corp HQ included the Theme
Round's Coffee motif. The crowd at the pub obviously don't hang in coffee houses because
their guess at what the ingredient was in a Red Eye offered whiskey, tabasco or Red Bull.
Ah well, that's Texas for you. Another oddity (but a great trivia question) concerned
the withdrawal of the USA from the International Coffee Agreement in 2018. Well gosh!
What a scandal! Because, you know... International coffee cartels NEED the support of
the world's biggest superpower... To, umm, enforce... Like, global coffee superiority,
right? I mean, don't you want a bunch of coffee importer/exporters writing public policy
for you locally? Makes sense, right? Perhaps the best round was our Round Seven two
parter. The first part was to name the five universally accepted senses of taste. Most
teams got bitter, salty, sour and sweet, but only a few in the know knew about Kikunae
Ikeda's discovery of glutamic acid, which he re-named "Umami". Umami? No, you mommy, me
daddy! He brother, she sister. We go home now. The second part of the round was naming
the five countries other than Germany which officially spoke German. Style points went
to the team that put down Argentina!
Have a great weekend everybody and don't let that Coronavirus get ya!
Last night's King Trivia Pub Quiz was at the Lion & Crown, but it might have been the
Lion & Love, or the Love & Crown, or maybe even the Lion in Love (although it was cold
enough to have been the Lion in Winter!). Due of course, to it being one of the days
adjacent to Valentine's Day, therefore many of the questions were geared towards that
genre we know as Romance. Even though we now acknowledge that Valentine's Day was a
manufacturer's lobbyist plot to boost greeting card and candy sales, diminishing its
intrinsic value (its abbreviation, VD, has another connotation entirely after all),
credit must be given at least to the idea of celebrating the concept that changed the
world a couple of thousand years ago. A lot of people don't want to be reminded of
that fact for some reason. The real Saint Valentine was a priest of the early Christian
church who defied empirical Rome by marrying young couples. At the time, polygamy was
still the standard and monogamy was frowned upon. He was arrested, tortured and put to
death. But that sentiment doesn't play well on a card. Which is understandable. Love
is a good thing after all. But the love thing has been perverted by time and greed. Sex
sells and Valentine's Day has become synonymous with lusty hearts and gift baskets of
pink bubble bath, cheap champagne and a pair of handcuffs. Commercialism has massacred
Valentine's day. (See what I did there?) Therefore, Quiz Master Lou would like to take
this opportunity to remind you all that love, unfettered by reason or respect, is often
tragic. (Romeo & Juliette, Sid & Nancy) Love is a drug. (Bryan Ferry) Its dosage
needs to be administered sparingly and wisely. As Ambassador Mollari once said, "Earth
marriages are too happy. On Centauri Prime, they are somber affairs, entered into with
great solemnity. How can a marriage live up to all that joy afterwards?" My advice:
Respect the one you love.
Rockafeller won the day (talk about love and money!) with a 59 point squeaker, just
barely edging out the Ninja Turtles with 58! Whew! Newbie's, The Johns (Wow, talk about
a theme night!) got into third place with 52. Now with a registered team, we hope to see them back.
Quiz Master Lou wishes you all a romantic weekend with lots of respect!
