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.

November 5, 2013

We played at Las Trojas.  It was Mike, Angie, Mark, Steve, Owen, myself and Nasir joined us for the first time.  It was a pleasure to meet and play trivia with him.
Round 1 went very well with the categories being: Toys, State Capitals and Beverages.
Moving on to Round 2, we are still holding a perfect score.
Round 3 proved to be no challenge at all for a cheering team going into half time.
Half Time was a Sports theme, it's not something we do a lot of, unless it's Alabama Football or in Mike's case, Notre Dame. So we were able to get 2 out of 5 on the half time.
In Rapid Round 4 we had Bodies of water, World Capitals and Rivers.  We maxed out the points for this round and were feeling very proud going into Rapid Round 5.  After all how hard can the categories Disney Theme Park, Food Show and Colors really be?  Now let me think on that one, we missed the Disney Theme Park question and the Food show was tough.  I had seen the clue earlier in the day and looked up all about the man "Guy Fieri".  I had done my homework and could run all the things over in my head.  Yet when the question came up, I knew if was to the far right side of what I had seen earlier and at the end, I could not recall it.  Talk about upset with myself!  So we moved on to the color Taupe.  We knew it was a beige looking color, but what do you mix to get it?  I'm going to let you look that one up yourselves, as we missed it!  We were very close, but since we weren't playing horseshoes, it didn't matter.  That took some of the cheering out of the group, however, not to worry, a shot or two of Patron put the cheers right back :)
We went into the Final round with 58 points and the category was Automobiles.
Now here is the question of the night for everyone:  What was the top car sold in the U.S. in 2012?
We decided that since we could not be certain that it was the Toyota Corolla, that we should hold our bid to 0, yes, that is correct, we thought it best not to bid.  When Steve read the answer out, we were pleased with our choice not to bid anything and we took the 3rd place winning seat.  Hey, it's better than not winning at all :)
Here for Beer took 2nd place with only 3 points more than us. And way out in front was the Barreto Supreme's with 89 points and the 1st place Title for this week!

See you all Next week for more Fun Trivia!

November 19, 2013

Looks like things are getting hotter for the Romero's Rejects.  We played again tonight at Las Trojas on Hwy 53.  I picked up Steve and we arrived early so we could get a good table.  Not that there are any bad tables in the whole place, but we enjoy not having so far to walk after a long day.  Then Mark arrived and shortly after that Mike came in and Angie too.  We placed our food and drink orders and readied the table with pens and napkins for writing down the questions.  We kicked off Round 1 with how many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, counting Rudolph.  Now I bet every one of you are running through the names right now.
 “Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!  There you have it for a total of 9 as the correct answer.  
We enjoyed messing with Owen who had arrived late and telling him that we totally blew the 6 point question and put down 7 instead :)  
Our team loves to joke around with each other and after playing together for a couple years now, we do very well on team spirit.  
I think it was the first time we had a Movie category that we all had no idea what the answer was.  Who knew that there was a movie coming out called "Frozen"?  Not any of us, we are all waiting ever so patiently for 

'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' 

http://movies.yahoo.com/video/hobbit-trailer-2a-150141871.html

However, given that the question was for Frozen, here is you a link to this cool looking movie as well:  http://movies.disney.com/frozen

It did make us laugh that after we missed the question, we see the advertisement for it on the corner tv, but a little to late to help us out.  

Round 2 we were sure to know

 Ron Rivera, the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.  He also appeared on screen shortly after the question was over.  At least this one we knew!

In Round 3 we knew all 3 of these. 

I think there was some confusion as to who

Leif Ericson was and who Erik the Red was.  Below is my understanding that it is Father and Son.  Which is not the same person as some teams thought.

Leif Ericson

Leif Ericson was a Norse explorer regarded as the first European to land in North America, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

Born: 970 AD, Iceland

Died: 1020, Greenland, Denmark

Full name: Leif Ericson

Parents: Erik the Red, Thjodhild

Children: Thorkell Leifsson, Thorgils

Nationality: Icelandic, Norwegian

 It took a bit of math for us to get the UNO question correct, yet we pulled it off.  Having at least 3 or 4 sets of UNO cards here and something that I play with our family often, it was just a matter of adding.  A deck of Uno cards consist of 19 blue cards, 19 green cards, 19 red cards, 19 yellow cards, 8 draw cards, 8 reverse cards, 8 skip cards, 4 wild cards, 4 wild draw cards. All together that is 108 cards

In classic Films, the question was who played the Tinman in The Wizard of Oz?

  This was none other than 

John Joseph "Jack" Haley (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in the now-classic film The Wizard of Oz. In the same film, he also played Hickory, one of the three farmhands that Dorothy, in her "dream", imagines as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

Moving on to Rapid Round 4, we picked up another 10 points for knowing who Moose is. 








In Rapid Round 5,  we gained yet another 15 points with the correct PEOPLE answer and THINGS.  Now as for the things category,  That was the iRobot Roomba.

 Everyone will love this little machine.  I bought one years back and turned it on just before going to bed.  This was both good and bad.  Having fallen asleep before it made it's way into the hallway near the bedrooms, the bumping of the door almost scared me to death.  Once I had figured out it was just the robot cleaning up the floors, I was okay.  I must admit, it is one of the best inventions for clean floors!  Here is a link for anyone looking to find one of these little genies http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=irobot%20roomba&sprefix=irob%2Caps%2C209


We went into the final round in 3rd place.  The category was : Oh Canada so we were all in with 20 points.  Owen knew the answer by the time the question was being read.  I just smiled because I was sure that we were going to place tonight.  

Here was the correct answer to the Final Round winning us 1st place for a 2nd week in a row!!!

Manitoba

Canadian Province

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province. The province, with an area of 649,950 square kilometers, has a largely continental climate, with thousands of lakes and many rivers.

So there you have it.  Romero's Rejects taking the lead with 81 points.  

And in 2nd place with 74 points is the team "Suck It Trebek".  I've noticed the name now for a few weeks.   Learning fast they are, be careful we must (said in my best Yoda voice)

I'm going to leave you all with this last comic strip.  Until next time my Friends