My first quiz-out for 2010 started on a funny note. I met Pierre (who’s gonna be my kumpare soon he-he) on the Magallanes MRT station and his opening lines were “Pwede ka ba?” said in jest like some streetwise fag looking to pick up in the dimly lit corners of Quezon Circle. That was good for a laugh considering his build and all. It’s just “”Di bagay pare!”
If it was a real fag, I’d surely plant both my fists in his nose, although that’s the last thing I’d do if I meet an aggressive fag the size of Pierre who can also deliver a mean roundhouse kick. See, the only thing more dangerous than an aggressive fag is an aggressive fag who knows martial arts. Such creatures, boys and girls, are what we call “Barumbadings.”
I’m not homophobe by nature but there are lowlifes out there who’d resort to tactics subtle and otherwise just to relieve the devil’s itch in their loins. I should know. Heck, I’m not good-looking but I’ve had a few brushes with such monstrosities who obviously try to make a pass. Such individuals give even the most respectable members if the third sex a bad name. Thankfully, not all gays are like that. In fact, I have friends from the LGBT group who won’t stoop down to such abysmal levels.
Anyways, we spent the next few minutes standing between the station’s stairs and elevator waiting for Richard. Whiling the time away, we found ourselves talking about how a child in-utero’s sex is determined. Pierre explained about how there are male and female sperm cells, and how each differ in terms of endurance and speed. The conversation was really getting animated and it was a good thing that Richard came huffing and puffing along (like a male sperm cell) because the ladies boarding the elevator are starting to give us weird looks.
When we asked how far our pub quiz venue is from EDSA, Richard said it’s too far too walk but too near for a ride. The lazybones in us made us choose the latter so we hailed a trike and got there in 100 milliseconds.
The place was decidedly dabbed in red and black hues. It was spacious, perhaps enough to accommodate 80-100 people at a time. It also has a balcony to allow smokers to exercise their lungs without air conditioning. The crowd was dominated by, well, yuppies, expats, half-breeds and a healthy smattering of PYTs or Pretty Young Things that had Atty. Alas and the rest of the boys switching to Meerkat mode.
Soon, Atty. Chito, Imelda, Bong and Dave arrive and before long it was decided that the group’s name will be THINKAHOLICS.
It was my first time to join the said quiz and as such, I learned the rules only when the game was well underway. A unique feature of the game was the double points and stealing power which you can only use twice for the entire game. The rest of the rules were kinda vague. There were no set number of questions for any given category. Each group huddled around a table or two were provided mini-whiteboards and markers to write down their answers. Answer boards are raised while the scores were tabulated. We were all in agreement that such rules run the risk of making the game arbitrary and capricious.
As can be expected, the questions were quite informative but NOT geek-friendly or hardcore quizzer-friendly. We survived the category about vegetables but we ate dust after the shoes category was finished. Then came the category about rocks and the Beatlemania both of which were aced by our group. Three-quarters down the game, we were firmly in second place with 37 points while the leading group notched 38.
And then the unthinkable happened.
The next category was about 2010 movies – and their OPENING DATES. Double points were awarded if the teams can provide THE exact date. Now, we had movie enthusiasts in our fold and they can answer almost any question you throw in their direction about the old classics and such but OPENING DATES?!
To add insult to injury, they featured like 15 questions for this category, almost double the number for the previous categories. WTF!. That’s how something in the bag got away from us. And it doesn’t help that we saw some people hiding their iphones or whatnot under the tables — promptly pocketing them when someone looks their way — in blatant violation of the contest rules. I dunno if the owner just doesn’t know it or simply looks the other way because he knows these people personally. The fact that some of these folks can answer the most impossible questions including MOST if not all of the EXACT opening dates of movies like SHREK, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, TRON, etc, would make you question reality as it is. uh, whatever.
But then again, in fairness to the owner of the bar, it’s his place and he runs the show. He does what he thinks is good for his business. Pub quizzing in itself is a risk. Too much hardcore trivia can drive away the young and beautiful boys and girls of Makati, even perhaps the smartest ones.We have to face the fact that hardcore quizzers and game show veterans like us are ALWAYS WELCOME TO JOIN BUT NOT WELCOME TO WIN the pub quizzes hereabouts.
I think it’s time someone puts up a bar that does REAL pub quizzes using REAL informative questions a la Jeopardy. As for me I think it’s gonna take a long while before I swing by another pub quiz.
Our Balaclava
Chito is the Walrus
Imelda with a gracious L
Richard getting soused on the Red Horse Drink off
Bong making a point
break time!
Happy Teeth
white bored
crowd snapshot + richard dozing off
Thinkaholics anonymous
Thinkaholics
L-R: Imelda, Alas, Pierre, Bong, Dave, Richard, Me and Chito
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