Note this!

Today is Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday.
It will be a fun day, fun day.........

Awww heck!! Who am I kidding? It's Wednesday. It's the middle of the work week and I'm tired.

If you have been following my blog you know that I hosted trivia last night at the Baggott Inn. This was enjoyable.

I was in charge of three categories; general knowledge, top ten list, and the audio round. I guess I can post the questions. That would be the best way for the reader to get a feel for what happened. So here it is. My general knowledge round......

1. In what city is the Taj Majal located?
Agra, India
2. In filmdom, there is a legendary couple named Nick and Nora Charles. They were the title characters of the Thin Manmovies. What was the name of their dog?
Asta
3. What is the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet?
Epsilon
4. What is the French word for born often used to indicate a woman's maiden name?
Nee
5. In what popular tourist wine growing region will you find the towns of Calistoga, St.Helena, Oakville, Rutherford and Yountville?
Napa Valley
6. Volcanologists study, monitor and write about this volcano more than any other in the world. Name it.
Mt. Etna
7. She's been acting on Broadway and in movies since 1938. She won two Tonys, one of them for the role of Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", and has most been recently been seen guest-starring in "Oz." But she's best known as the co-founder, along with her husband Herbert Bergdorf, of HB Studios, an acting school in the West Village. Who is she?
Uta Hagen
8. They are the only brothers to play three at a time in the same team's outfield -- the San Francisco Giants in the 1960s. Who are they?
Alou (Felipe, Jesus and Matty. Felipe manages the Giants now)
9. 362 billion of them have been sold since 1912 making them the best selling cookies of all time. What cookie am I talking about?
OREOs
10. What abbreviation is given to faster-than-sound passenger aircraft such as the late, not-so-lamented Concorde?
SST

I fashioned the questions around answers you often find in crossword puzzles.

My top ten list was to name the 10 first ladies after Eleanor Roosevelt.

My audio round - well, here are the answers to that......
1. The Blue Danube - Strauss
2. The Messiah - Hallelujah Chorus - Handel
3. The Moonlight Sonata - Beethovan
4. The Valkyrie - Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner
5. Romeo and Juliet - Capulets and Montegues - Prokofiev
6. The 1812 Overture - Conclusion - Tchaikovsky
7. William Tell Overture - Rossini
8. The Flight of the Bumblebee - Rimsky Korsakov
9. Requiem - Mozart
10. The Four Seasons - Vivaldi

Caren, the master of ceremonies, took on the current events and Visual rounds. Her visual round consisted of 10 city maps, which the players had to identify.

A few people came up to me afterwards to compliment me on the classical music round. Usually the music is more contemporary (70's and 80's) so I thought it would be interesting to shake things up a bit and it worked out well. A couple of people tried to argue that Ride of the Valkyries was indeed "Flight", but I double and triple checked and I was indeed right. Indeed, the title of this movement from Wagner's Valkyrie is Ride of the Valkyries. So, if you were thinking about complaining, feel free, but you would be wrong.

All in all, this was a highscoring game, which didn't surprise me. Last night's group was very bright.

Next week's co-host is excellent. I don't know if he wants me to mention his name on line so for now I'll keep him listed as "next week's co-host". But I can guarantee you that you will feel challenged, smart and popular by the end of the evening. What more could one ask for in an evening's entertainment?