Reason #5: Quiz Night

While taking a break from stacking wood (quickly becoming my #1 reason NOT to move to NZ) I am pondering the fun that was quiz night at the Rose and Shamrock last night. While not a NZ phenomenon, quiz nights are incredibly well-attended here in Havelock North. The Rose and Shamrock is not a small pub, and it was packed full of people of all ages (over 18, of course.) We had to bring in the plastic chairs from the patio so that we could sit down. The teams with the most points win bar tabs, which would have been pretty darn cool. We all agreed to drink the tab immediately should we win.


Our team was Sarah, her partner Nick, our Irish friend Aoife, Michael and I. The categories for quiz night last night were:


1) Famous name changes
2) Plays and Playwrights
3) Monarchs
4) Geography
5) Sport
6) Music
7) Inventions
8) Trivia


Needless to say, Team Green did not win. There were some pretty obscure questions, and the music category consisted of the announcer playing a 70s disco song, and you had to list the artist who sang it.


My two best answers of the night were the ones my team voted me down on:


Longest ruling British monarch? Victoria, of course! But the queen's subjects at my table all thought it was Elizabeth I, so naturally I acquiesced to them. Why didn't they listen to the American?


The author of The Importance of Being Earnest? Oscar Wilde was my first answer. But Aoife insisted it wasn't him, and since he was an Irish bloke, I had to go with her.


Answers I almost got: which race started in 1903 and goes for over 2000 kilometers? I answered the Iditerod. As it turns out, the Iditerod didn't start until the 1970s, although its roots are older. The answer: The Tour de France!!! How did I miss that one???


And what did Colonel Schlick invent? I said the safety razor, which we amended to disposable safety razor. He actually invented the ELECTRIC razor.


Of course, at least I knew Monopoly was based on Atlantic City, which from the groans in the pub, was an answer few teams got right.


All in all, an entertaining evening. And I owe Aoife a beer.