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It seems quizzes are very common in England.  Pubs, also very common, tend to have quiz teams.  Teams compete with other teams, both with individual question rounds and group rounds, answering general knowledge questions.  In addition to the quiz leagues that generally compete one night a week for the ultimate winner of the season, there are also friendly “quiz nights” in which a group of people get together to answer questions as a team and win prizes for the night — generally chocolates and beer.  Those quiz nights are less formal, as people can be part of a team one week and not another.

Derry has participated in both types of quiz teams for years and is what his quiz mates call “brilliant” at them.   It can be the most esoteric, left-field, odd-ball question and Derry will generally know the answer — not all of the time, mind you, but most.  I am on the extreme other end of the general knowledge spectrum. Derry has been reading me questions from weekly quizzes periodically for years, and I can tell you I absolutely stink at it.  If there is an English monarchy round, I guess, tossing out random Georges and Edwards, a Richard or two.  A round on English football (which we call soccer), I am a deer in the headlights.  I can even be useless at things I should know about.  All of that being said, I will participate in a group quiz if there are no individual question rounds.  Yes, team members immediately recognize that I’m dim, but I can proudly say that each time I attended a quiz during my visit I did get at least one answer that no one else knew.

The Woodcolliers pub.  This picture does the place no justice.

Roger, the owner/manager of the pub and “quiz master” – the person who creates the list of questions, asks them, and moderates.

Derry is also a quiz master for another group. I’ll add that Derry puts a lot of thought into his rounds, including making audio rounds such as “famous guitar solos – name the artist and the song” (I was pretty good on that one!).  Generally while on ichat, he’ll test me with a set of questions prior to presenting them during a quiz.  It’s extremely humbling as I say “I don’t know” more times than I care to admit.  I suspect he asks me his questions to gauge things, as in if I can get at least one correct in a round, then the least knowledgeable person in that quiz should do okay.

Derry and his mom Dee.  She and her husband were in England (both retired and now residing in Spain for most of the year)  and joined us for that evening’s quiz.

Quiz?  I’m there for the steak & ale pie and chips.  And that is why I always bring home a few more pounds (and I’m not talking money) than what I left with.

Except, ewww, a mushroom!

Here we are, studying the pictures for the picture round.  Pints all around, except for me.  I drink J2O, a delicious juice blend which I wish was sold in the states.

A smiling Dave, what a cutie pie! He and Derry tend to form a team each week, with others  joining in when available.

Everyone has note paper onto which they write answers, show the group, and discuss if correct before writing down on the quiz answer sheet.  Except that Derry will often write an answer down before anyone even discusses it because he is 100% sure of the answer.  Can you spell annoying?  My sheet tends to be blank or has lots of doodles on it.  However, my big contribution this week?  David Letterman.  The question:  Something about Tony Blair being on an American talk show discussing bla bla bla.  What was the name of the American talk show?  I said to Derry, Blair was on Letterman a week or so back, but I don’t remember them discussing that.  Then I saw the reaction in Derry’s eyes and immediately knew, daaa, that was the answer!  The other question:  In what city is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which Derry also knew.  But, I got something!  On my last quiz, I got the answer Bon Jovi to the question who does Richie Sambora play guitar for?  If this NJ girl got that wrong, I should be kicked out of the state!

Not only did they win three rounds (the boxes of chocolates, one box which they donated to another team), but the team was the first prize winners of the night — meaning three bottles of beer.  I suspect Roger gets tired of Derry and Dave’s team winning every week, but then he needs to ask questions that they don’t know the answer to.  Good luck on that one.

He’s happy. His team won.  I’m happy.  I’ve a full stomach and had my big Letterman contribution for the night!  I’ll add that his team won the week prior and the week after I took these pictures.  I came home with some chocolates.  When Rich saw them he asked, “Win at the quiz?”  Well, yes I was on the winning team.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 11:23 am and is filed under Misc. Personal, Photos - UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.