Electric Pigs lost to Albert

Solid win for Albert as they pick up after last week's blip

Mike regrets no longer having his keys tickled

Apart from the high score the most remarkable feature of the quiz was the rapid pace; no hanging about here talking things over.  The question which caused most hilarity concerned the appalling quality of Brentford nylon, although fans of other West London football teams would find nothing unusual about something cheap and nasty being associated with Brentford. It was almost enough to make me get over the passing of Jimmy Cliff; I can see Deidre now Lorraine has gone. 

For most of the evening I was left in peace while the rest of the team got on with the task of scoring points.  I felt like an old harmonium covered in cobwebs in the corner of the parlour because some ancient deceased great aunt is no longer around to play hymns on it.

(R2/Q4)

Ethel Rodin beat Charabancs

At last Ethel seem to be getting into their stride with a comfortable win

Damian cops the Montparnasse revenge question

The 'Curse of the Second Half' struck us down yet again.  Just two points behind at the halfway mark and then finishing ten behind at  the conclusion!  We led in just one round (the first), drew in two and conceded the other five to our opponents.  How about we scrap second halves and just have two firsts in future?

In any event, we continue our inexorable slide down the table after such a commanding start to the season.  Alas, it's rapidly becoming a fading memory! 

Tonight's proceedings was a real points-fest though.  With a combined score of 88 and, judging by the high scores everywhere else, this must be the highest scoring paper of the season so far.  Congrats to Ethel for notching up their highest score of the season to date, just short of half a century - but trust them to do it at our expense!  They led in twos scored by 15 to 11, steals by three to one and left the only two unanswered questions to us.  I guess we might try and claim Historyman Ivor's excuse of bad seating arrangements but the fact of the matter is, as the stats showed, Ethel were just by far the better team on the night.  

I had to smile at the round on French boulevards with Montparnasse cropping up again after Bard Tony's blurt from last week.  Unfortunately that one fell to me after I blurted Père Lachaise as the spot where Serge Gainsbourg and other worthies are buried.  I'm sure Opsi Mike was relieved that there was no mention of Montmartre or Pigalle this time!  Trying to recall the name of the girl who sadly died after taking ecstasy way back in 1995 was a bit of a pinch but our opponents' superior memory for drug related tragedies of yesteryear snapped that one up too, so I guess we can't complain too much. Congrats again to them and back to the drawing board for us (as usual). 

(R3/Q8)

History Men lost to Prodigals

The Prods just edge a very high-scoring tussle

Ivor marvels at the setting skills of the Bards

This was one of our best performances ever.  We were always tantalisingly just behind after Round 2 and despite going into the last round only three points adrift we could make no further progress.  The Prodigals were prodigious tonight and they will be hard to stop in their pursuit of a consecutive League title (and perhaps a consecutive WIST cup).  As always they were delightful company too and, although we were runners-up we were happy to have played our parts in what might be the highest combined score of the season.  We came close to the magical 100 (has that ever been broken in our league games?).  

There were only two unanswereds (both falling to the Prodigals) and only three steals (1-2).  There were 35 twos scored (16-19).  Vanessa was tonight’s MVP with 7 twos and it would have been eight had she not been cautious in deciding between Moore and Hepworth.  It looks as if Auntie Anne’s mantle has passed to niece Vanessa just as Elijah’s passed to Elisha (Miss Turkington’s RE class has brought that metaphor to mind again).

With Guy in the QM seat the quiz fairly rattled along and there were only a few questions requiring prolonged thought, usually fruitless for us (an Arsenal footballer and yet another Tube station); but congratulations to Richard who worked his way through the world’s nations to identify No 88 in the Rugby standings.  We always enjoy run-on rounds so plenty of teasers in those two rounds tonight.  Sadly I failed on mine having confused Joy Division with The Teardrop Explodes.  I also failed my drug test in Round 7.  Thank goodness for confers with knowledgeable team mates.  The quiz ended so early there was plenty of time for chat including comparing pictures of cats; Anne has a Maine Coon, huge and not yet full grown; Michael’s cat is the fluffiest ever seen; my daughter’s cat, only two months old, has the sleek appearance and agility of a potential killing machine already. 

QotW: the run-on featuring a Liverpool player and the capital of Madagascar.  Malagasy names are long and hard to start with, but to run it with a hard to say Irish surname produces a word that would be hard to say even if completely sober (as few of us are going into Round 8).  At least it was well paired with the equally difficult Mexican actor and 80s/90s pop band.  Tony informs me that Jim usually takes on the responsibility of moderating and balancing questions in the final compilation of Bards’ quizzes.  If he has done this tonight he has produced a masterpiece of the setter’s art.

Michael learns of long-haired cats, Japanese yuk and Parisian hotels

A hugely convivial evening at the Parrswood, where I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time on Wednesday evenings lately.  Luckily, and surprisingly, they have quite a nice Rioja and a good MPA. 

Anyway, in the vast and cavernous spaces of the back room, quiet as it should be, we snuck ahead early against Ivor's mob - probably our favourite opponents - and just about kept our noses in front all the way through. On the highest-scoring evening that I can remember, Vanessa was the MVP with a brilliant seven 'twos'. 

Afterwards, Ann and I discussed our love of long-haired cats, Young David showed us something of the frankly disgusting things he was offered at Japanese restaurants, and Jimmy recounted some of his insalubrious experiences of Parisian hotels (and cemeteries) during the 1998 World Cup.