After the somewhat anti-climactic end of the marathon Jolly Farmers league, The Hound have been kicking their collective paws and doing a number of distinctly untraditional midweek activities in place of the week on week slog of quizzing.
Variously we have been on holiday, had an evening at Epsom races, drunk beer in a number of new boozers and, memorably, won the only actual other quiz we've entered. Although that suggests our victory should have been a collective highlight the quiz (at the Earl of Eldon) was such a farcical shambles that by the time the winners were announced, at way past 11pm, no-one present could actually have cared less.
Slowly but surely our collective appetite for quizzing has been returning though and a (distinctly unergetic) search has been underway for a few weeks to identify a new kennel in which The Hound can rest its quizzing head.
To which end three Hounds out of four pitched up on Thursday evening this week to The Windsor Castle in Carshalton. We were without Daren Hound who was 'celebrating' eight years of marriage (at least I think it's eight) to Mrs Bear - a fact that the remaining three of us toasted continually throughout the evening.*
The Windsor Castle promises an alternating General Knowledge quiz followed the next week by a Pop Quiz and so on. This week was a Pop Quiz. Robson Hound put himself on a leash and walked the 4 miles across country to arrive first, yours truly was dropped off outside the door and Inter-Company Peterkins Hound arrived via the gift of the 407 bus.
The first round was a picture round - traditionally a strong suit for The Hound in the same way that Seb Coe was good at putting the shot and Fatima Whitbread was unbeaten over hurdles. This challenge proved to be no exception. There were 20 photos, each one apparently depicting a 1990's pop band - all fairly straightforward you'd think. Well; we confidently guessed at Blur, Steps (!), New Kids On The Block, Shakespeare's Sister and The Chemical Brothers - punted at most of the rest and had no idea (couldn't even raise a sensible guess) about two of them.
We ended up with 10/20 correct which turned out to be not so bad - from memory that had us two behind the lead in joint second.
Second round was ten musical clips around the theme of 'Up' - point for each artist and another point for each song title - 20 on offer - 40 if we decided to play our joker and double the tally for the round. It transpired that we were good at the 'Ups' - played our joker and ended up with 38 out of 40 points. I think that put us joint top.
Third round was same again but on a 'Dreams' theme. Again we were solid - 17 or 18 out of 20.
Final round was a different kettle of early birds altogether. Good breadth of questions covering current singles and album chart through to giving us two names (which escape me now) and expecting us to identify that they were respectively the original keyboard player in Status Quo and Boston's songwriter! We weren't good - got fewer than half the available points and, of the nine competing teams, finished joint second with one other but 10 or more points behind the winners who took a £22 pot.
There was one final, 'scribble-your-answer-down-and-get-it-to-me-as-quick-as-you-can-for-the-money' question which we didn't have a clue about and was won, somewhat unsuprisingly by the team sitting within arm's reach of the question master.
At that stage we were up against it as far as return bus timetables were concerned so it was a case of rapidly supping up beer, collecting fags and heading off for our own versions of rows in Slough.
Overall an enjoyable evening. The quiz was more than competently produced and it's clear that some effort is put into it - I'd do it again. The guy asking the questions was a tad drawn out but got it finished by 11 and it does seem to be the nature of the beast. He doesn't chair the alternating General Knowledge quiz and I think it would be well worth our collective visit back there for at least one of them. There was football on the tele in the background, Robson and ICP reported that the beer was better than the Farmers - for my money the 1664 was 1664 and the bar-staff were attentive. Which was nice.
* this isn't, strictly speaking, true but he'll never know if we don't tell him...
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Saturday, 3 July 2010
The Crazy Hound (with SPECIAL GUESTS:Magic D&R)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: peter barnett [mailto:peter-barnett@blueyonder.co.uk]
Sent: 02 July 2010 12:14
To: Holmes, Robin
Subject: Hound Report
Hi Robin,
It was another barmy hot and sunny mid-summer's evening and we ventured to our usual airless and smelly pub, where the open doors provide a combination of smoke and exhaust fumes and the occasional waft of male toilet! Daren did not sit at the usual table, as it was covered with a few old glasses and a half eaten sandwich, which had probably been there since lunchtime.
I arrived at around 6.40pm and Daren kindly offered to buy me a drink. He was quite grumpy; he'd not had a great day at the MoJ. Anyway, we both went to the bar and watched 4 people walking around the bar aimlessly whilst we stood there waiting to be served. Daren now getting more grumpy!! I'm sure it must have been about 10 minutes before somebody noticed that we wanted just one pint of beer!! We got back to our seats and found that our usual table had been cleared, so we moved to our usual place.
Emma had phoned me earlier to say that she would be attending, which was good, because we were a little short on numbers - just Daren and I, with Robin turning up later after yet another run at Epsom. Robin was due to arrive at 9pm. Emma texted me to say ask me if I would be MAD if she didn't attend. I said in my usual effusive text style "No". However, she did turn up about 15 minutes later and we prepared ourselves for the evening ahead. Emma was still voiceless and this was mixed with the odd cough, which has been keeping me awake for the last 2 weeks!
Looking around the pub, the usual teams were arriving and we greeted them. The special needs people were at the bar doing their usual rocking backwards and forwards to any particular song that seem to take their fancy; there was no Bob Marley though! In the corner of my eye I had noticed that the mentalists had decided to enter for the quiz, they had the papers and sat down at a table by the toilet. Then, oh my god, they came and sat by us and asked us if they could join our team. Daren's face was an absolute picture!!
We tried all we could to get rid of them politely, but of course, they were having none of it! Our main excuse for them not joining our team was that Robin would be coming later and we wanted to be on our own. This excuse was indeed a feeble one and they moved their chairs around to make room for the late coming "Wobin".
Having a conversation with these guys was becoming a little stressful; we didn't really know whether to laugh or cry, so Daren went out for a cigarette and the big black mamma kept asking Emma if she'd been to see the Doctor. There were lots and lots of questions from them and one word answers from us. Daren returned to start the quiz and we had to complete the first round with the mentalists. Daren helped them through and wrote down the answers for them, often putting in their first answer irrespective of whether it was right or wrong. The other teams looked at us with a mixture of sympathy and confusion. Daren by this time was starting to lose it, but I reckon he did really well and should consider transferring from the Civil Service to Social Services. I particularly remember one question where we were asked to say whether a female or a male duck quacks. We put down a male and Magic D&R put down female. The correct answer: Female!
Then, Robin arrived and the mentalists really did go mad!!! Of course, poor Robson, sweaty and sticky from his race, had no idea of what had happened and was greeted with a chorus from the mentalists of WOBIN, WOBIN, WOBIN, WOBIN. I just could not stop giggling! The look on Robin's face was again an absolute picture, Emma was trying to be serious and Daren was now in total despair.
We managed to persuade Magic D&R to sit at the next table and do the next round themselves and we (Daren) would try and help them through. We waited anxiously for the first round scores. Magic D&R some how cobbled together 22 points and we made 27 points - I don't think either of these scores were correct, but were in line with Theo's scoring policy of having 3 points in it between most of the teams after the first round.
On to the 2nd round and I think, from my faded memory, that we did reasonably well and we were still in with the leading pack. According to Daren, Magic D&R were just writing down anagrams of the same word during the 2nd round and they then disappeared, much to our relief!
We got to the end of the quiz and Robin correctly got the 1 word anagram answer (ensnared) and we got about 2 or 3 right on the true or false - think we did pretty well on everything else as usual, so we were expecting to come in our usual 3rd place! However, Mr Theo decided that this week it was time for a tie break between 5 of the teams all having achieved 105 points. I remember the question vaguely as being how many people died in a major disaster or accident in a town or city in China. I think the answer was around the 2 million mark. We were miles out with our guess anyway.
It was funny how Magic D&R had not even attended the last round, but according to Theo, Magic D&R made 101 points!!!!! How so? This distressed Daren still further and he was in need of some serious counseling at the end!
Our suggested solution to all this mayhem was to change venue and we have provisionally agreed to attend the quiz at the Cricketers in East Croydon, which is at the same time every Thursday. At least they might have better beer, so that I don't have to keep visiting the toilet on Fridays!
From: peter barnett [mailto:peter-barnett@blueyonder.co.uk]
Sent: 02 July 2010 12:14
To: Holmes, Robin
Subject: Hound Report
Hi Robin,
It was another barmy hot and sunny mid-summer's evening and we ventured to our usual airless and smelly pub, where the open doors provide a combination of smoke and exhaust fumes and the occasional waft of male toilet! Daren did not sit at the usual table, as it was covered with a few old glasses and a half eaten sandwich, which had probably been there since lunchtime.
I arrived at around 6.40pm and Daren kindly offered to buy me a drink. He was quite grumpy; he'd not had a great day at the MoJ. Anyway, we both went to the bar and watched 4 people walking around the bar aimlessly whilst we stood there waiting to be served. Daren now getting more grumpy!! I'm sure it must have been about 10 minutes before somebody noticed that we wanted just one pint of beer!! We got back to our seats and found that our usual table had been cleared, so we moved to our usual place.
Emma had phoned me earlier to say that she would be attending, which was good, because we were a little short on numbers - just Daren and I, with Robin turning up later after yet another run at Epsom. Robin was due to arrive at 9pm. Emma texted me to say ask me if I would be MAD if she didn't attend. I said in my usual effusive text style "No". However, she did turn up about 15 minutes later and we prepared ourselves for the evening ahead. Emma was still voiceless and this was mixed with the odd cough, which has been keeping me awake for the last 2 weeks!
Looking around the pub, the usual teams were arriving and we greeted them. The special needs people were at the bar doing their usual rocking backwards and forwards to any particular song that seem to take their fancy; there was no Bob Marley though! In the corner of my eye I had noticed that the mentalists had decided to enter for the quiz, they had the papers and sat down at a table by the toilet. Then, oh my god, they came and sat by us and asked us if they could join our team. Daren's face was an absolute picture!!
We tried all we could to get rid of them politely, but of course, they were having none of it! Our main excuse for them not joining our team was that Robin would be coming later and we wanted to be on our own. This excuse was indeed a feeble one and they moved their chairs around to make room for the late coming "Wobin".
Having a conversation with these guys was becoming a little stressful; we didn't really know whether to laugh or cry, so Daren went out for a cigarette and the big black mamma kept asking Emma if she'd been to see the Doctor. There were lots and lots of questions from them and one word answers from us. Daren returned to start the quiz and we had to complete the first round with the mentalists. Daren helped them through and wrote down the answers for them, often putting in their first answer irrespective of whether it was right or wrong. The other teams looked at us with a mixture of sympathy and confusion. Daren by this time was starting to lose it, but I reckon he did really well and should consider transferring from the Civil Service to Social Services. I particularly remember one question where we were asked to say whether a female or a male duck quacks. We put down a male and Magic D&R put down female. The correct answer: Female!
Then, Robin arrived and the mentalists really did go mad!!! Of course, poor Robson, sweaty and sticky from his race, had no idea of what had happened and was greeted with a chorus from the mentalists of WOBIN, WOBIN, WOBIN, WOBIN. I just could not stop giggling! The look on Robin's face was again an absolute picture, Emma was trying to be serious and Daren was now in total despair.
We managed to persuade Magic D&R to sit at the next table and do the next round themselves and we (Daren) would try and help them through. We waited anxiously for the first round scores. Magic D&R some how cobbled together 22 points and we made 27 points - I don't think either of these scores were correct, but were in line with Theo's scoring policy of having 3 points in it between most of the teams after the first round.
On to the 2nd round and I think, from my faded memory, that we did reasonably well and we were still in with the leading pack. According to Daren, Magic D&R were just writing down anagrams of the same word during the 2nd round and they then disappeared, much to our relief!
We got to the end of the quiz and Robin correctly got the 1 word anagram answer (ensnared) and we got about 2 or 3 right on the true or false - think we did pretty well on everything else as usual, so we were expecting to come in our usual 3rd place! However, Mr Theo decided that this week it was time for a tie break between 5 of the teams all having achieved 105 points. I remember the question vaguely as being how many people died in a major disaster or accident in a town or city in China. I think the answer was around the 2 million mark. We were miles out with our guess anyway.
It was funny how Magic D&R had not even attended the last round, but according to Theo, Magic D&R made 101 points!!!!! How so? This distressed Daren still further and he was in need of some serious counseling at the end!
Our suggested solution to all this mayhem was to change venue and we have provisionally agreed to attend the quiz at the Cricketers in East Croydon, which is at the same time every Thursday. At least they might have better beer, so that I don't have to keep visiting the toilet on Fridays!
Friday, 18 June 2010
The Hound's Jubulanis
Another early start this week, this time we all went to the same place and settled in the Rectory for some cricket and football watching. I had some very fruity cider which proved to be about the best drink of the evening.
Onto the JF and after some musical chairs, the Hound table became free and we pounced. The first pint offered was some very vinegary Pride, the next was an improved Youngs but still not spot on. Pete's certainly felt the worse for wear later and I was forced to switch to Guinness. Anyway, we disgress, onto a generally successful Round 1, we correctly identified it was CK Obsession which attracts big cats and that Meryl Streep played Karen Blixen in Out of Africa and Justin Timberlake kicked things off in N'Sync. Scores ranged from 25 to 28 with us just first.
Onto music and Daren pulled a stormer identifying Sixpence None The Richer. More difficult to identify were "Darlin'", the singer of "Don't Upset The Rhythm" and the usual 70's disco number, we put the Drifters, it was the Tavares. Whatever. Scores ranged from 56 to 64, offering hints of a slightly more objective scoring system with Hounds poised on 62.
Onto the last round and I've forgotten all the questions but we didn't do badly. We bagged all the last ten, four out of five of the true or false and I think only three wrong on the whole round. Not bad and hopes were high but somehow we managed to finish joint 3rd, again. Bah! Anyway, we'd gone long on the raffle with only four keys but unsuccessful there as well, as was the winning ticket though he did get £20 for his trouble. Can't remember what we talked about afterwards but it kept us there until about a quarter to twelve.
Onto the JF and after some musical chairs, the Hound table became free and we pounced. The first pint offered was some very vinegary Pride, the next was an improved Youngs but still not spot on. Pete's certainly felt the worse for wear later and I was forced to switch to Guinness. Anyway, we disgress, onto a generally successful Round 1, we correctly identified it was CK Obsession which attracts big cats and that Meryl Streep played Karen Blixen in Out of Africa and Justin Timberlake kicked things off in N'Sync. Scores ranged from 25 to 28 with us just first.
Onto music and Daren pulled a stormer identifying Sixpence None The Richer. More difficult to identify were "Darlin'", the singer of "Don't Upset The Rhythm" and the usual 70's disco number, we put the Drifters, it was the Tavares. Whatever. Scores ranged from 56 to 64, offering hints of a slightly more objective scoring system with Hounds poised on 62.
Onto the last round and I've forgotten all the questions but we didn't do badly. We bagged all the last ten, four out of five of the true or false and I think only three wrong on the whole round. Not bad and hopes were high but somehow we managed to finish joint 3rd, again. Bah! Anyway, we'd gone long on the raffle with only four keys but unsuccessful there as well, as was the winning ticket though he did get £20 for his trouble. Can't remember what we talked about afterwards but it kept us there until about a quarter to twelve.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
10th June 2010 - Terry & June's Hound
With the World Cup starting the following day The Hound did the obvious thing and turned to a distinctly average late 1970's BBC sitcom for the inspiration for its name this week - thus Terry & June's Hound comprised myself, Daren, Robson and Pete.
Regular readers of this blog could almost write for themselves the report of the actual quiz proceedings...
In the first round scoring we were given an accurate 26 and were joint second one behind the leaders. We had a better than average music round and were out on our own in the lead by one as we started the last round, during which, despite four out of five on the True/False and getting the anagram correct (MATRICIDE) we slipped to equal third, one point behind second and a point behind the winners. We'd bought seven raffle tickets between us and needless to say weren't even close in that either.
As a quiz evening it was a flat affair - as a warm-up to the Hound's World Cup Shenanigans two evenings later it was a success.
Regular readers of this blog could almost write for themselves the report of the actual quiz proceedings...
In the first round scoring we were given an accurate 26 and were joint second one behind the leaders. We had a better than average music round and were out on our own in the lead by one as we started the last round, during which, despite four out of five on the True/False and getting the anagram correct (MATRICIDE) we slipped to equal third, one point behind second and a point behind the winners. We'd bought seven raffle tickets between us and needless to say weren't even close in that either.
As a quiz evening it was a flat affair - as a warm-up to the Hound's World Cup Shenanigans two evenings later it was a success.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Three Hounds On My Shirt
Bit of an unusual start this week. Pete stipulated a 5.30 meet to "get things going", then overlooked that the pre quiz meet was in the Rectory to catch some cricket at then didn't get there until 7pm. No matter, we were in situ at the usual table in good time for the start. After a brief flirtation with "Hounds On The Rampage" to achieve topicality, we settled on the slightly less controversial name above.
With last year's cash to be handed out it wasn't a normal week. It turned into a bit of a love-in with the pub's gaffer getting on the mike and thanking Theo, Theo thanking us etc. We just wanted the cash.
Given the not entirely scientific nature of the scoring, I was expecting a fairly even distribution of funds, in actual fact the Usual Suspects took £500 and, on our behalf, Daren accepted an envelope with 5 £20 notes inside. I've been reassured it's a sufficient budget for the end of season Hound-do.
Onto the quiz and a middling first round. USA is the largest exporter of wheat (don't they eat it all themselves?) and Usain Bolt only holds two world records, the 4x100m clearly not counting. We were, as usual, in the pack.
Onto music and Theo caught the mood with unleashing all his favourites. So we had Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and Britney. We took all those in our stride but found the Detroit Spinners and Ne-yo less recognisable. Food had also been provided for the quiz teams and, despite my pre-quiz curry, it was very welcome.
Onto the 3rd round and was it John Travolta or Bruce Willis who appeared in both Pulp Fiction and Three Men and a Baby? Daren and myself were divided, Pete had the casting vote and incorrectly went Willis. He made up for it though with the anagram of RANTED. Onto scoring and the, now inevitable co-third ensued. So a low-key start to the new season but something to build on.
With last year's cash to be handed out it wasn't a normal week. It turned into a bit of a love-in with the pub's gaffer getting on the mike and thanking Theo, Theo thanking us etc. We just wanted the cash.
Given the not entirely scientific nature of the scoring, I was expecting a fairly even distribution of funds, in actual fact the Usual Suspects took £500 and, on our behalf, Daren accepted an envelope with 5 £20 notes inside. I've been reassured it's a sufficient budget for the end of season Hound-do.
Onto the quiz and a middling first round. USA is the largest exporter of wheat (don't they eat it all themselves?) and Usain Bolt only holds two world records, the 4x100m clearly not counting. We were, as usual, in the pack.
Onto music and Theo caught the mood with unleashing all his favourites. So we had Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and Britney. We took all those in our stride but found the Detroit Spinners and Ne-yo less recognisable. Food had also been provided for the quiz teams and, despite my pre-quiz curry, it was very welcome.
Onto the 3rd round and was it John Travolta or Bruce Willis who appeared in both Pulp Fiction and Three Men and a Baby? Daren and myself were divided, Pete had the casting vote and incorrectly went Willis. He made up for it though with the anagram of RANTED. Onto scoring and the, now inevitable co-third ensued. So a low-key start to the new season but something to build on.
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