The 'Ark and The Quiz

Mrs The Millbrooker and I both forgot, what with the excitement and all, to take any photos last night at The 'Ark. So, I'll just have to try and illustrate this posting using a bit of 0h-so-hard-to-come-by imagination.

We had a pretty decent turn out for the first event in aeons; some of the old teams from days of yore when Mrs The M and I used to compile and present these evenings were there. It was great to see Syzygy (featuring The Sump) back in the saddle.Two Ronnies tribute team the Fork Handles were there as well (apparently they become Four Candles when they have a full team of four - there were only three of them last night);

Cassy turned out with a team called Bethany Cottage Bevy (no, I couldn't find a suitable photo); Dong and Shazzerooneypoos teamed up to make their habitual fearsome foursome, Spitfire. Dong never struck me as being a fan of classic cars, but who am I to question? Oh. yes - I'm the quiz master.Phil, The Gnome, Frankenkeith and another Phil joined forces to become Now We Are Six, proving that they can't count, but also showing that they are probably closet Steeleye Span fans, seemingly naming themselves after the 1991 album by said folk-rockers. Or am I being silly? I suppose they could be closet Winnie the Pooh fans...

Dozybean and The Wizzers of Soz did eyelash fluttering to entice J.Edgar and Dan "Bent Tube" Hillman to make up a team and christened themselves Mimble Wimble. I've done a modicum of research to find that Mimblewimble is a magic word in JK Rowling's best known works (should've guessed, Dozybean can quote Potter volumes one to four hundred verbatim and does so ad nauseam).This was the first quiz at The 'Ark that we've hosted in just over two years; last time we did it, it was still legal to smoke in the bar. This time we went home smelling fresher than from quizzes in days gone by. Huzzah!

All the teams seemed to be having a good time and Mrs The Millbrooker and I certainly did. Here's to hoping that the bar take made it worth Dick and Megan's while as well.

The results for anyone who might be interested in such trivia:

In pole position: Syzygy with 82 out of a possible 100.

2nd (after a nail-biting tie break): Spitfire with 73 (plus tie break win)

3rd: Fork Handles with 73 (lost tie break for runner up position)

4th: Bethany Cottage Bevy with 71

5th: Now We Are Six with 70

6th: Mimble Wimble with 54

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A couple of sample questions for anyone who wasn't there but wants to see if they're up to it...

Which show features in its cast all of the founding fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel?

Can you name any two of the teams that competed in this year's (2009) IPL?

Which musical instrument, invented in 1919 and named after its creator, does not have a keyboard, pedals nor strings and is neither woodwind, brass nor percussion?

In which decade did the Battle of the Beanfield take place?

On which 19th century novel was the 1922 film Nosferatu based?

What part of a pig is the delicacy "Bath Chaps" made from?

There, if you could answer 3 or 4 of those without too much head scratching, you could have been a contender (now, where did that quote come from...). Answers are in "comments" - just click below.

Hope to see everyone again (and some more, please!) next time; watch this space.