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Hello Everyone,

I was talking with Marc Michael's earlier this month about winning a chance at $25,000 playing a fun game of trivia with friends.  I looked up the website and went over to a location in Huntsville to play.  They weren't having it there any more, but I would like to Thank Steve W. and Mark Ray for joining me in a last minute decision on playing.  It was a lot of fun to sit and have dinner with these guys even if I didn't get to play trivia.

 It meant a lot to me that they showed up on such a short notice (couple hours notice at best).
After I went home for the night, I talked with Marc some more about other locations. Then came up with a plan to play at the Honest Pint in Chattanooga, TN.  It's only a few hours from here and granted it is a bit of a drive for a Sunday night.  The good news is, the 3 of us who were able to go, didn't have to work the next day.  So Herman, Myself and Steve all met up and rode off into the sunset....oh wait, that is a different blog....
We arrived at the Honest Pint about 45 minutes early to give us time to order some dinner before the game.  We settled in at a table near the stage area and ordered up some Bonny Scot & Sully’s Nachos to get us started.  If you are ever in the area, stop by and order you some.  They serve some mouth watering good food. Here's the link: Honest Pint

Now let me introduce you to Marc and Bryanna who were Amazing hosts for the entire evening.

Upon their arrival, they quickly set up and the game was underway!  Marc did an outstanding job of keeping everyone entertained while keeping score as well.  I loved that they have the double point questions.  That's a bit different from the trivia we play in Huntsville and I loved the change!  Now if I were to ask you what color group you would find Cobalt in, of course you would know that it's           .  The next question I enjoyed for many reasons, not just because we knew it.  It was a very well done song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1981 on the album Hard Promises.  It never made it to the number 1 spot on the Hot 100, but it did get all the way to #19.  So if you would like to take a trip down memory lane, here's your chance:  The Waiting
To end round 1 with a perfect score, We knew that the first Nuclear-Powered aircraft carrier was:

Hold on a second, this can't be right.  I'm certain of the name and I know the ship was commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned last year in 2013.  Yes, it was non other than this beauty here:

USS Enterprise

We moved on to round 2 and only missed the 3rd question.  I thought Japan was the country who caught the most fish.  Turns out that as far as "catching" fish, we beat out Japan.  However, China is the number 1 country for catching the most fish and also consuming the most fish.  Japan does more importing than I realized when I looked it up tonight.  who know?  Here is the link for China tops world in catching fish.

Our 3rd round brought us questions from Advertising, Science and States.  Who has the slogan "Unleash the Beast"?   That would be non other than the toxic MONSTER energy drinks.  That by the way is my opinion and not that of the FDA.  Next time try some Arbonne Energy drink instead.  While I'm putting out opinion's,  here is an interesting one that I came across and had not heard before:  Could it be the mark of the beast? HA  (I don't support the idea, just sharing what I find)

We missed the states question because we didn't know that the Pocono Mountains were in Pennsylvania.  That is a state I have not yet visited, so it's on my list of must see places.  So looks like I will be making a trip to the Pocono Mountains for a bit a vacation time. Or as they say in London,  While I'm on Holiday :)  Here is a wonderful website to check out when you have some time off.  Beautiful Pocono-Mountains You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter and several other social media locations.

Half time at last!

Name 4 of the 6 movies that Brad Pitt starred in that have a number in the title?  (I'm writing this blog from memory and a few notes, however that question isn't entirely worded correctly, yet my brain can't replay the words to get it right.  So I'll give you the correct answers:  

Se7en  (1995)

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

(Banned from entering China because of his role in) Seven Years in Tibet  (1997) 

Oceans Eleven (2001)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas  (2003)

12 years a Slave  (2013)   

If you have not watched 12 years a Slave, it's a movie everyone should see.  You need a box of tissues!

Now at the end of half time, we are in 3rd place.  For a team of only 3 players, we are doing very well against all the regulars who play each week at this location.  There are 8 teams who are all playing to get qualified for the semi finals coming up on February 9th and 16th.

During the 2nd half of the game, Steve scored another round of beer that can't be sold in Alabama due solo upon the name on the label.  Next on the list of things I will recommend he try. (only if I'm driving home)  is the Double Arrogant Bastard.  It has an ABV of 11.2%, yet he must wait until it goes on sale again in November for it's seasonal sales.  

Commercial is over, Now back to the game....

 We answered all 3 of the next questions correctly.  That would also include what a Pirate Spiders main food source is.  Just 2 more rounds and then the Final Question is coming up.
We aced the next 2 questions and missed the Business question.  We knew the story about George Zimmer being fired as CEO of a company that him and his roommate started in 1973.  I use to watch the commercial and it always ended in "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.".  
However knowing all that did us no good because we couldn't recall the name of the company.  I'm sure by now you all know that I'm referring to Men's Warehouse.

Due to the fact that we live in the South and have a few ginneries in the area, we knew that the product they produce is Cotton.
Now we missed the next 2 questions.  One of them simply because we were over thinking it.  If only we had gone with the first answer and not changed it....oh well, we still entered the Final question in a qualifying position.  I will tell you that one of the questions we missed was "what is the only land locked country in south east Asia"?  We named it off and then dismissed it for another answer. We should have gone with Make sure you think about it before clicking here.

Our Final Question was to Put these 4 things in order from greatest to smallest:  (this is written in the order it was read)

1. Number of Crime Families in NYC
2. Lowest Jersey number retired
3. Number of land locked countries in South America
4. 2nd prime number

The correct order is as Follows:

There are 5 Crime Families 

3 is the 2nd prime number

Only 2 land locked countries in South America

The #1 is the lowest Jersey number to be retired

We were pretty sure on the order and decided to bid 20 points and hope that we had enough to bring home a winning place in the semi finals.  

We all wait for the song to end and Marc to finish up which teams get to walk away with a gift card tonight and a chance at $25,000 in the March game coming up.  The top 3 winning teams for tonight (January 12, 2014)  Challenge Entertainment Trivia in Chattanooga, TN goes to:     1st Place with a score of 129 goes to Neighborinos Reloaded (This is Brandon Ables team)   2nd Place with 115 points was yours truly, The Romero's Rejects.  3rd place with 104 points was We skipped church for this.  

Well everyone, that is it for this night of trivia and fun.  We stayed around and hung out with Marc and Bryanna for a bit.  It's always good to see them.  You have to love the laughter they bring with them everywhere they go.  So here's to another enjoyable night with good food, Great Friends and one super night of fun!

 Now this last picture I want you to look closely to see the beauty in it.  For those of you who know me, it's going to stand out even at a glance.  For those of you who don't, it might take a bit.  Enjoy the smile I had on my drive home.

It's time to Fly away now and get some work done in my office.  Until next time, stay warm out there!

Starting 2014 off with a WIN

Tonight we had a lot of fun playing trivia out at Las Trojas on hwy 53.  We missed seeing several friends who usually play on our team.  Maybe they will be back with us next week.  We had 6 on our team for the first game back this year.  Steve, Owen, Mark, Billy, Herman and myself.  I was looking forward to seeing everyone.  While we had played trivia on New Year's Eve, it was very difficult to hear that night.  Paul did a good job hosting, it was just so many people standing near the door who wouldn't shut up during the reading of the questions or answers.  OH well, I digress.  It was great to see the team and the food was good as always.  Before the game started, we were able to present our hosts with a couple gifts they should have received during Christmas.

Now they have a cell phone lock up for cheaters!  Or just what ever they want to use it for.  I loved it because it talks and "arrests and sentences" your phone to jail for a timed amount.  Even has an alarm if you try and open it before the timer expires.  I found it at Bed Bath and Beyond, if I'm not mistaken.  

Once it was 7:00, the game was underway and right off the bat we missed the first question.  Now I'm not into a lot of kid shows of today.  Knowing who the Duncan's are and what the name of the show is was not going to happen for us.  We now know that Good Luck Charlie was the correct answer.

 We moved on to Spelling Bee:  Our word was Privilege.  We wrote it out several ways and were so close, however since we weren't playing with hand grenades, close didn't count.  We were able to get the 3rd question correct and had saved our top bid point for that.  

Moving into round 2, we enjoyed the categories.  Some how I don't think any team missed that the Talking Tuna was named Charlie.  The movie question was who played President Snow in the Hunger Games movie.  That would be Donald Sutherland from Canada.  The sports question was up to the guys, however they did know that the answer was Charlie Strong.

Next round was Weather, movies and tv.   Do you know the answer to this one on your own?  What would 0 degrees fahrenheit be in celsius?  If you don't figure it out before the end of this blog post, I'll give you the correct answer then.  

On to movies.  Winters Bones was the next answer, to which Herman had watched it on his flight back, so we knew that one.  TV was the Host for NBC "The Voice",  that would be Carson Daly.

Now this brings us to half time with being given the top 3 largest states.  We had to name the next 5 largest.  We knew it was Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and we missed the last one. It should have been Colorado.    

By the time half time was over, we had moved into 2nd place.  We really want a first place win, so we decide to kick it up a bit and spent the next 2 rapid rounds getting a perfect score on each of those.  Even with the sudden change of the sports question.  We managed to get that Piscator was a fisherman and the band who did "This love, She will be loved and moves like Jagger" were all done by Maroon 5.  Go ahead and click that link, you know you want to hear it.

Everyone in the Rocket city had to get the next answer of Mike Collins.  

National Parks was the final rapid round.  We all knew that Yellow Stone was the first park in 1872.  I can't remember how the question was worded, however you get the idea here.  Now I was very surprised when Owen said the next answer was The Great Smokey Mountains.  I didn't think that could possibly be the most visited National park.  I mean come on, doesn't everyone know how breath taking the Grand Canyon is?  Yet he was correct and we are thankful he held to his knowledge on that one!  Last answer in that round was Montana.  Where the Glacier National Park is located.

Entering the final round for tonight was the category of Folk Heros.  What country folk lore is William Tell associated with?  We talked it over and thought the best answer was England.  However we were not feeling real sure, so we only bid 12 points.  Turns out that we did good by not bidding more than 12, because the correct answer was Switzerland.  You can find the story HERE .

We closed out the game with Clemson Tigers taking 3rd place. 

 We held our own and Romero's Rejects claimed 2nd place.  

Guss Malzoff's didn't know the answer, yet had bid 0 to keep holding the 1st place spot.  For a team of 2, hats off to them for the knowledge they have built up.  

That will do it for tonight my friends and I learned that I need to go home and watch "The Usual Suspects".

It's been fun and I hope to see everyone again real soon.

Our 2013 Best Hosts of the Year

Hello Everyone,

It's time to reflect over the past 12 months.  Trivia has played a very important part in my life this year.  It's been one of the highlights of each week.  I've missed a few times playing due to either work, travel or overlapping duties.  However I think it's important to let each and every one of you know that I've loved meeting the new people and getting to know each of you.  I haven't gotten to keep this blog in order like I wanted.  Yet I keep working on it as I can.  Well that's enough about me and this blog, on with the real story here!

Our team has played in many locations this year and with several different hosts.  This current report is only on the Hosts of Brain Blast Trivia.  We have played with some other hosts from different companies and loved them as well.  So let me get right to the point here.  We enjoy all the hosts and the way they conduct the games.  However for our personalities and enjoyment of the game, we decided that Steve & Summer are Amazing at hosting and keeping the cheaters out of the game.  They are friendly to everyone and always there early.  Now I didn't mention there last names because not everyone wants their full names plastered all over the internet.  However if you want to go and check them out for yourselves, just drive on over to Las Trojas on HWY 53 on Tuesday nights.  You will find them with smiles on and supplies ready to go!



For those of you who don't know, this is Steve.  He is a Boston Red Sox fan.  Loved his last trip to Vegas, we know this by the smile he brought back with him and that there are very few pictures.  Except for the ones on the security cameras that can't be shown...LOL.

He enjoys smoking Rocky Patel or Melanio to relax.  I'm sure the drinks help as well :)

His greatest treasure is his son whom he spends a great deal of time with and always has the biggest smile when he talks about him.

I learned a lot about Steve when I ask him to answer 21 simple questions.  Half of them are silly trick type questions, the others were the important ones and also surprised me on a few of his answers.

At the end of this blog you will find his answers to the 21 questions. 

Now let me introduce you to Summer.
She is quite most of the time. Loves Hot Chocolate, Kayaking, playing trivia and watching Big Bang Theory. Oh and let's not forget Music!

 I'm going to have to ask her in person if she plays the guitar or not, can't seem to work that one out on my own.  Yeah, I'll just ask when I see her :)

She had "smurf" skates when she was a little girl. 

Summer's birthday is 1 day different than my own (except she is several years younger).




This was her 1st car....How Awesome is that?  I'm not sure what year she got it and the story, maybe she will share that sometime.

"Interesting fact #153 - I went to a christian high school. 93-94' we had an off-site school sponsored event and the entire group of us sang along to this song at the top of our lungs while a couple of guys played guitars. The teachers stood around and watched. I always wondered what they were thinking. Can't believe they didn't stop us. haha"



Here is one of her favorite Soul Coughing songs. Janine

 Steve chose to celebrate his Birthday with the whole crew of Las Trojas and all the trivia teams.  Now that is some dedication for sure.  As you can see from the picture, he was having a Blast!  I've been expecting to see him with a Texas Cowboy hat on soon.

I'm going to sign off with the 21 questions that I sent our Hosts of the year.  I loved reading some of the replies and chose the number 21 because of the game.  Thanks for joining us this year and see you all soon!

What's the #1 most played song on your iPod? The Tequila song that I always play as an intro at Trivia is the #1 song...however, I listen to a wide variety of music...when I'm at work, I usually have Beethoven playing since it helps me channel and focus in my writing.

20 pigeons sat on the branches of a tree. A man shot 1 pigeon with his gun. How many were left on the tree? Instantly, there were none, as the shot pigeon fell to the ground and the 19 others lifted in panicked awareness...however, as with most chaotic events, time eroded the negative memory and 21 pigeons eventually returned.

Where were you raised, and how has that influenced the person you are today?

I am a member of a military family.  Lived in Germany til I was 7 then moved back to the Massachusetts where we lived til I was 13, when we moved to San Antonio, Texas.  My father was originally from Boston, so this was very much "home" for me, even after we moved to San Antonio.  After I graduated high school in San Antonio I eventually entered the military myself.  Once I got out of the military, I moved a lot while working in the restaurant industry.  As a whole, the fact that I have lived all over the country has given me a sense of awareness of people and cultures.  I have come to appreciate with great passion how similar everyone is, yet how uniquely different we all are at the same time.  I can call anywhere home pretty quickly, and feel I am extremely flexible and adaptive to many different environments due to my experiences.

 Where do fish keep their money?

In their Eel Skin Wallets of course. This was a good answer, I was looking for RiverBank

If you could do anything at all with your life (money & responsibilities are no issue), what would you do? I would move deep into the mountains and chronicle life as a modern day frontiersman.  I believe we have lost a lot of "knowledge" in basic existence and are far too dependent on "modern day conveniences.

Which is heavier a ton of gold or a ton of silver?

Yes

What is your favorite board game?

I have always and still do love to play Monopoly...that game captures the pure essence of a free market society

How many time can you subtract 10 from 100?

ummmmm....perhaps the better question is how many times can you NOT? Only 1 time, the next time it will be from 90

Aside from food, water and shelter, what one thing could you NOT go a day without?   

The love of my son

Adam's mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child's name?

Hopefully it is Adam, otherwise Adam has more serious issues than any of us may be aware.

What would you name the Autobiography of your life?

The Uniforms of My Life

If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

As usual, always chasing the person in the first place (now I'd be in 2nd place)
If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?

tough question to answer....um, I seem to be centralizing on the concept of being Jay Gatsby from the Great Gatsby...even though, he was in the end a bit deplorable, his perseverance and willingness to succeed at any cost for the pure sake of gaining the love of a woman is uniquely admirable.


It goes in dry, it comes out wet, the longer it's in the stronger it gets. What is it?

Must be a tea-bag.

What songs are included on the soundtrack of your life?

Most definitely the entire album Ten by Pearl Jam, Stay by Lisa Loeb, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Ode to Joy by Beethoven, Pachelbel Canon in D, Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner, and topped off with a little Justin Timberlake

What's black when you get it, red when you use it, and white when you're all through with it?
Charcoal

What is your favorite food?
Having been in the food and wine forever, this is a very tough question to answer, however...at the end of the day...I am always seeking the perfect mac and cheese

What goes up but never comes down?

a persons age

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

this was tough....but I think the answer is Corn on the Cob

What travels around the world but stays in one spot?

Both the sun and the moon.  A stamp

What game has 21 questions, lasts just over an hour and is fun for all ages?

and don't forget free to play.....of course....none other than the Best Trivia in town...Brain Blast Trivia

Looking forward to 2014 with some friendly competition and great hosts. 

2014

I'm working tomorrow at the Alabama Spy Shop out near Jeff Rd.  While I'm looking forward to my first day back at work in almost a month, I'm also trying to figure out what I plan to do with this new year.  Stay in the current field I am in, switch to something more steady for money or make a total career jump into something else completely?   Who knows at the moment.  What I do know is that I'm finishing up the blog about last years trivia hosts by Sunday night and posting it on here.  I am looking forward to keeping this a bit more up to date this year as well.  So I will say Happy 2014 to each of you and I wish you all the fun and happiness that your heart desires.

So make a wish and let it float away into the night.  Only time will answer the questions in your mind.

Be safe and see you all soon.