Tonight: Spelling Bee In Brooklyn

We are always down with spelling bees, and given how the last year-plus has gone, that will probably never change as long as there is breath in our lungs and twenty-six letters in our alphabet of choice.

To that end, they're throwing one tonight at Freddy's Backroom to benefit a new play, The Late Education of Sascha Wolff, which they're workshopping for some festival. Having thrown a few benefits like this in our time (and we will again, maybe soon, just to give you a heads-up), so you kids get on with yourselves.

Also, given the line of work we're in, we're always pretty much down with anything involving alcohol and "education" too, so there you go.

In Which Ken Jennings And A Bunch Of New Yorkers, Including A Small But Fervent DSO Posse, Beat The Intellectual Crap Out Of Some Belgians

The Transatlantic Quiz went down on Saturday morning, and it was a real treat. 240 questions (generally harder than our Wednesday variety) in eight categories, in a boardroom at the New York Athletic Club.

I don't think I had nearly enough coffee beforehand.

We got to the 10th floor boardroom, and they ran the thing kind of like an exam, with cover sheets and sixty-minute halves. I'll post some of the questions at some point (I got an extra sheet); since the test was going on simultaneously in a dozen or so American cities, as well as in Canada, across Europe (well, the UK, Norway and Belgium) and in India, the questions were pan-continental to reflect that. My Canadian-American upbringing finally served as a plus, as they asked questions about such cultural esoterica as defunct hairstyles of the rich and ethnic and the Crazy Canucks!

It was kind of a preliminary event, as less than 20 people were there (and only three women, including Kari (represent!)), a few of whom had flown in from other parts of the country to participate. And true to form, the New York chapter of this worldwide thing did pretty good; I haven't seen the truly final numbers yet, but it looks like we put a half-dozen people in the top 20 (possibly including your humble correspondent, which I'm kind of happy about if only because I don't get to actually answer questions all that much these days).

After two hours of answering questions, everyone was thirsty and exhausted. We left the palatial Central Park south opulence and wandered over to Kennedy's on West 57th street, where a bunch of Scots in kilts were running off some tunes on bagpipes (Oh, it was the Tartan Parade on Saturday, which is plumb unfortunate for everyone concerned, weatherwise.)


It was a gas, and these people are very cool. I hope some of them come out on Wednesdays and mingle with the rest of you fine people, and make it harder for us to do our jobs as quizmasters.

Oh, and they'll be doing it all over again on Saturday, June 2nd, this time with recruiters for game shows and other showbizzy types in the house. (I hope to rub shoulders with some of the greats.)

Oh, and I like Ken Jennings' idea of holding this stuff in Barbados next year. Sign my pasty self up for that action.


**** Update: The North American Results are up; I finished 11th, which I'm fine with. (Kari finished 3rd overall in the "Lifestyle" category. Yess!)

Knowing Esoteric Crap Is Its Own Reward

Ellen Barry of the New York Times did a nice piece on last weekend's Panorama quiz, as attended by our friend (and substitute host) Vidiot.

As a bonus, it seems he & Kevin Walsh of Forgotten NY are the central point of the story, and as the victors, they get a double-plus tribute from one of the other contestants:

The night in Queens — being near the true masters — had been thrilling, he said. Here was another lesson: “Living in New York, you have to get used to being around people smarter than you are.”

So this fine, glorious Springtimey Monday morning, I raise a glass of Kenya's finest with my sopping monsoon-wet arm to you, Vidiot, a true master of New York arcana.

Queens Museum Panorama Challenge: Update

If you didn't go to the Panorama Challenge on Saturday (I had a last-minute hockey-related issue that could not be avoided), it sounds like it was a pretty cool time. Vidiot was there to recap the festivities, and what a shock, he did extremely well.

I seriously am looking forward to the next time they do this.

Good. Friday.

I am a pud.

I don't know what I was thinking yesterday. I took the scoresheets, questions and notes out of my bag and then left them at the office, so there shall be no recap until Monday. A thousand apologies to the various stock markets around the world who peg their indexes to the number of teams and quality of the puns in the team names (best team name this week was "...Off In The Shower," as they finished last, so on Wednesday last, everyone beat ...Off In The Shower.)

As a feeble replacement, here's a Seattle Times article with some background on the interview process to get on shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Deal Or No Deal and the Big J. The entry process is straightforward, but there are a lot of people looking to get on the teevee and get their asses kicked by midwestern College Professors. You might have guessed that.

[via the quite-relevant-to-this-blog Bob Harris]

This Saturday Night: Beer and Purty Pitchers!

This Saturday at the Queens Museum of Art, the good people at Unique New York are hosting The Panorama Challenge, an evening of New York-themed visual trivia to benefit the City Reliquary, a museum in Williamsburg dedicated to memorabilia and artifacts of everyday city life through history. It's really a cool place, and now that they have an actual space to display things, it's time for them to start ramping up their notices.

Our museum collection displays thoughtfully arranged artifacts of New York City’s rich history, which entice viewers to learn more about the five boroughs. Some of the highlights of the collection include architectural remnants of city buildings, Statue of Liberty memorabilia, a geological display of New York’s underground composition, and a 1939 World’s Fair exhibit...

A central part of our mission is to plan and host public events, which provide neighbors and visitors with a place to meet, exchange ideas, and celebrate the diversity of our community. Some of our annual events include Bicycle Fetish Day, Collector’s Night, and The September Tribute to Our City. We maintain a commitment to neighborhood beautification and restoration at and around the City Reliquary Museum as a way to provide a pleasant and safe place for people to gather, relax, disseminate information, and enjoy the camaraderie provided by a city of over eight million people.

Basically, the amazing panorama of the city (which you should see anyways if you haven't yet; I know it's in Flushing, but the extra 20 minutes on the 7 train is good for you) will be the backdrop for a series of trivia questions about the city. Sounds pretty straightforward, actually.

It's $25 for tickets but that includes two free drinks (Brooklyn Brewery is also a sponsor), and hey, it's a Saturday Night. You were going to shell out that much for a good time anyway.

Details and ticket information at the Reliquary's website, or you can call them at 718-R U CIVIC.

Edit: [via vidiot]

For Advanced Trivia Folk, or Those About To Rock

Never let it be said that you don't have options for the upcoming weeks.

Item 1:

On April 14th, a worldwide competition called The Transatlantic Quiz is being held at the New York Aquatic Club, as well as a string of other places around the US, Canada and England, all at the same time. The sample questions are a little harder than ours (or for Jeopardy's, for that matter), and it doesn't look like there are any actual prizes past doing a big ole trivia test and bonding with fellow quiz dorks across the English-speaking world, but frankly, what more do you need? (If a few DSO folks wanna go in on this, we'll make a day of it. Email me or leave a comment with some kind of contact info.)

What's exciting about this (aside from the obvious) is that it apparently leads into a worldwide quiz on June 2, sponsored by a group called the Game Show Congress. It would seem the opportunities to geek out on quiz programming, in all its myriad forms, from East Village piss-ups to travelling the world as the bastard spawn of the Great Trebek and Ken Jennings, are virtually unlimited.

(** Update: Ken Jennings is apparently going to participate in this thing himself. Further details in the comments.)


Item 2:

In other (equally esoteric) news, the U.S. Air Guitar Championships will be at the Bowery Ballroom June 7, and they're still accepting entrants, if you wish to get your freak on beside the likes of William Ocean, the Rock Ness Monster and the (let's face it, totally sweet) Björn Turöque:

If the questions seem easy, that's probably a good sign, Part 1

This isn't exactly trivia-related, but... while we Yanks are wrestling with the finer points of trying to mentally best your average nine-year-old at textbook trivia, in Canada they're taking it to a whole different level.

CBC's Test the Nation will be the biggest survey ever conducted to see just how smart Canadians are. In this live two-hour special, the whole country can participate in a real-time interactive IQ test. Viewers can take the test in the comfort of their own home, on the internet or with pen and paper, while our seven teams - Tattoo Artists, Millionaires, Fitness Instructors, Surgeons, Mayors, Talk Jocks and Celebrities - are exercising their grey matter in our Toronto studio.

It's more of a straight-up IQ-type thing, and if you've taken the SATs, well, it's a little easier than that, but they have a new test every week, and if you're close to the Canada-US border (or, heaven forbid, over it for some reason), you can play along for the next few weeks.

Thought I'd share.

Tonight!

If you're one of those squares who doesn't even have party plans for a snowy Monday night, our friends at Last Exit Bar in Brooklyn are having their High Roller night, where the winners get an awful lot of cash money, instead of the usual reasonable amount of cash money.

Everyone pays $20 to get in, and the winning teams split the pot. It's pretty sweet, and they're good people, even if they never come out to Dempsey's and see how many questions I brazenly steal from them. (I kid, I kid. Although the Scrabble Solution is an amped-up version of something I first saw there, and the Dead/Canadian/Both/Neither question last week is a straight lift from them, as I believe I mentioned at the time.)

I'd come out if I could (if a freak dusting of snow alone were to stop me, I'd have to turn in my Canadian Club Card), but I have to pack for the land of the sun-leathered republican retirees. Three thongs a day times three days equals... I'm going to have to pack a bigger suitcase.

Attention Sports Trivia Nerds

Tonight (that's Tuesday, if Presidents' Week has messed with your delicate innards) at the King's Head Tavern (222 East 14th Street), an outfit called NYC Sports Trivia is hosting something called the Jeffrey Leonard Invitational, which sounds not unlike our little thing, but they've specialized, and they do have as a special guest quizmaster Will Leitch of Deadspin.com.

From the breakdown on their blog, their plans for the evening look kind of ... familiar. Anyone wanna come down and explore a little further?

(Oh, and I've added this to the ever-growing list of trivia night on the Google NYC Trivia Calendar. If you have Gmail, well, you know what to do.)

Tonight

If you're interested, DSO Friend Kory Skeete is hosting the last night of his trial run of trivia at Mo Pitkins' House of Satisfaction (34 Avenue A, between 2nd & 3rd Streets). There's a $6 cover, but winners get $50 in cash, and who doesn't need that during this crucial season.

Anyone care to maybe join me for a drink? I'll go if someone else is up for it.

Can't Get Enough?

Just to reiterate: We will be hosting the DSO trivia through all of December (Decemer 13, 20 & 27), just like normal, so if you're in town for the holidays and at loose ends, come on down and hang out. We will not be skipping any weeks. Trivia continues apace.

And if for some reason Wednesdays don't fully scratch your trivia itch, there are a few other nights out there, which I recommend you give a look at, should you be so inclined. (I don't think of these people as competition for our business; first of all, they're all friends of ours, the city is big enough for all of us, Wednesdays are pretty much our night at this point, and I happen to like our brand of trivia best, and if you disagree, well, commenting is on for a reason.)

Anyway, I've set up a rolling public New York trivia calendar on Google system. (If you have a gmail account, you can subscribe to it here.) If you run a trivia night that isn't listed on that calendar, it's simply because I don't know about it; post a comment or email me and we'll fix that right up.

(Although... if you go to one of these other nights, and you see something we can do better, don't be afraid to tell us.)

Need More Trivia In Your Life?

Because we know you can't get enough of that live trivia action, and because we know our endorsement goes really far (these days we've got milk-crates-full of credibility that's just piling up in the corners of DSO HQ, and we can't close the door to the walk-in closet anymore), may I recommend two other places to go if you want to get your trivia on and it's not Wednesday:

• Every other Monday, you can head down to Last Exit Bar on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Eric, Julie & Katherine put together a hell of a fun night, and there are actual cash prizes (everyone pays $5 into the kitty, and someone else takes it all home. Just like the government!). They too have cheap beer, a working karaoke machine they sometimes bring out in case of tiebreakers, and an intermittent Canadian fetish that works in my favor.
  
  
• And every Tuesday, our sister bar, the Baggot Inn, continues to hold the trivia night that got me involved in this whole sordid scene myself. Caren has been running this night for a long time, and with rotating hosts, you never know what kind of questions you're going to get.
  

Representatives of all three groups got together last night, and we talked about some most excellent (and possibly even workable!) plans, so watch this space as we work shit out, but in the meantime, please feel free to patronize these other fine establishments on the appropriate nights.