Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 19/11/08

SPW continue on their way - but so do Snoopy's and the Charabancs; meanwhile the History Men's inevitable surge gets delayed even further

The Results

SPW beat Albert at Fortress Griffin by a comfortable margin

Charabancs of Fire kept up their winning run defeating the History Men at the Stadium of Murk - Damian writes with some alarming news:

"A most convivial evening Chez Swan which was chiefly notable for our introduction to the room with the Dart Board, since our normal quiz room was full of decorating equipment! I leave you to pause for breath whilst I repeat that phrase slowly....y-e-e-s-s, d -e-c-o-r-a-t-i-n-g e-q-u-i-p-m-e-n-t!! And no, don't ask...just don't!!!

The change of venue did nothing to dampen our spirits as we faced one of our favourite opponents, the History Men (with Anne, as usual, counting as an honorary man). Apparently Peter (he of the eye-lids resting fame) has decided to retire from Withquizzing because the Men have only managed one win so far this season. (Ed: I dearly hope Peter's decision is merely temporary - he'd be sorely missed.)"

Getaways crashed at home to high-flying Snoopy's Friends

Electric Pigs let victory slip from their grasp in Rounds 6 & 7 against the Opsimaths

X-Pats edged ahead in Rounds 7 & 8 in a low scoring match at home to TMTCH

....and just to dispel the question-mark left hanging over last week's results.......

Ethel and Snoopy's will play their postponed match on December 10th at the Stadium of Murk using the paper set by the Stockport league for the WIST Champions Cup Quarter Final matches being played on the same evening

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....and finally....

If you're a man (or even a History Man) you will be down at St Caths this weekend (from Friday evening onwards) at the Great Didsbury Beer Festival.

The Paper

"Although generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past. He was schooled traditionally, took a craftsman-like approach to his work, and desired academic recognition. Sculpturally, he possessed a unique ability to model a complex, turbulent, deeply pocketed surface in clay.

Many of his most notable sculptures were roundly criticized during his lifetime. They clashed with the predominant figure sculpture tradition, in which works were decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic. His most original work departed from traditional themes of mythology and allegory, modelled the human body with realism, and celebrated individual character and physicality. He was sensitive to the controversy about his work, but did not change his style, and successive works brought increasing favour from the government and the artistic community.

From the unexpected realism of his first major figure - inspired by his 1875 trip to Italy - to the unconventional memorials whose commissions he later sought, his reputation grew. By 1900, he was a world-renowned artist. Wealthy private clients sought his work after his World's Fair exhibit, and he kept company with a variety of high-profile intellectuals and artists. He married his life-long companion, Rose Beuret, in the last year of both their lives. His sculpture suffered a decline in popularity after his death in 1917, but within a few decades his legacy solidified.

Oh, and by the way, what was the name of his elderly aunt?"

Well of course we all know the answer because this week the paper was set by none other than Ethel Rodin herself.

The Fletcher Moss is not such a noisy a pub but getting through some of the lengthy questions keeping all 8 quizzers focused on the subject matter proved quite a challenge for our QM. Perhaps the longest debate came in Round 5 for the question that won this week's QotW award (see below). The word 'century' had been missed out of the text on our copy of the paper and the QM quite reasonably assumed that Ethel were seeking the name of the 20th US President rather than a 20th century US President. This caused major mind blockages as 8 aged brains tried to count back from Barack Obama (who I think is about to become the 44th President).

Overall the verdict from around the venues seems to have been 'a bit of a struggle'.

Ivor comments:

"Fairly hard quiz - 14 unanswered questions. QotW? The one about the originator of the phrase 'the silent majority', though Mel Blanc’s gravestone epitaph runs it a close second"

and the verdict from the other side at the Stadium of Murk comes from Damian:

"In our humble opinion, Madame Rodin (who was either too modest or too cowardly to identify herself anywhere by name on the quiz paper) produced an interesting variety of questions that ran the gamut from the sublime to the, well.... not so sublime! Some lovely stuff about Ulrike Meinhof and Hernando Cortez, but has anyone ever actually heard of British physicist, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett?

Of the 'sublime' questions, the Charabancs' popular choice for QotW was R7,Q5: 'What appropriate phrase appears on the gravestone of Mel Blanc, the voice behind Bugs Bunny and many other Warner Bros cartoon characters?'"

From the Sun in September John Brennand writes:

"First 6 rounds were a bit of a struggle - hence the low scoring. General opinion was that the early rounds contained too much obscura of little interest."

Kieran's feedback from the Griffin was none too complimentary. On the Enya/Kraftwerk pair in Round 5:

".....pairing Enya's latest self indulgent torpid wailings with Kraftwerk's genius meisterwork - just shows that Ethel know nothing about music"

I am assured by Roddy that the music pair to which Kieran refers was set by the league's least music-savvy member (well, that has to be Roz!) who clearly has not swotted up on Kieran's personal musical tastes. Well shame on her!!

...and on the statistical side of things? The average aggregate was low but not the lowest of the season so far.

The Question of the Week

This week the vote from the History Men goes to Round 4 Question 5:

Which 20th century US President popularised the phrase "The Silent Majority"?

For the answer to this and all the week's questions click here.

Chatterbox

A note this week, via Opsimath Brian, from a researcher who is planning Series 2 of TV's Battle of the Brains. She writes:

"Thank you for your interest. I have attached some information below and if you have any questions feel free to give me a ring and I will answer them.

We are in production of the hit BBC2 series of the quiz show Battle of the Brains and are currently looking for teams of 7 quizzers to take part.

In each Show two teams will face each other in a tense and exciting battle of wits. The team captain chooses six of their friends to form their team, sending them into battle against an opponent’s team in a series of exciting one-on-one rounds. It's down to the skill and judgment of the captain to assemble an intellectual fighting force to win the game. Teams will be challenged in a range of subjects, such as the Arts, Entertainment, History, Sport and Culture.

If you have an existing quiz team who you think would like to be considered for the series, or would like to assemble a group of keen and informed colleagues, friends or family then we would like to speak to you further. We will be filming around the 17th-23rd December, but the sooner you get your application back the better.

You can email the completed application form back to myself, alternatively you can post it in, or you can apply online at www.battleofthebrains.tv.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Many thanks for your time and best wishes,

Sinead Dockery

Researcher - Battle of the Brains

SHINE North

Suite 302, Barclay House

35 Whitworth St West

Manchester M1 5NG

Direct dial: 0161 233 2125

Switchboard: 0161 233 2100

http: www.shinelimited.com"

If anyone wants to avail themselves of this chance for 15 minutes of fame, I (Mike Bath) have the (lengthy) application forms.

Fr Megson

Mike and Alice up against the Viaduct

(Father Megson is under papal suspension at the moment for refusing to hand over the sharpened coins that were recently thrown into his pulpit. In his absence Mike makes a point of order and dedicates it to Alice, a long serving Opsimath who is currently enjoying a richly deserved sabbatical)

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Sorry but I can't confirm this week's league table yet as a legal team representing Snoopy's has challenged the validity of the answer about the number of bricks used in the construction of the Stockport viaduct.

Yes, I know this question has little bearing on things, as it came up over a year ago in a friendly match, but you know what he's like and he has the whole of the judiciary behind him - not to mention that henchman of his, Eric. I saw what he did to that German battleship with one hand. Just imagine what he could do if he wasn't holding a drink!

Anyway, to keep them sweet, myself and Alice have undertaken a recount. In all honesty it's going to take longer than we first envisaged. We initially thought it would be child's play but unfortunately we had overlooked an obscure regulation still in force in the Kafkaesque corridors of power that is Stockport Town Hall, that prohibits adults from sending children to the top of railway viaducts to count bricks. Honestly some of these H&S restrictions are enough to make you want to bang your head against a brick wall - though it wouldn't surprise me in the least if this was also frowned upon by the Safety Executive. Talk about PC gone mad. Is it any wonder that this once proud and sceptred isle is no longer capable of rebuilding its empire?

"We are in receipt of your written application to stuff some mutinous Indian sepoys into the barrel of a cannon and shoot them over the city ramparts. Please be aware that permission for this undertaking cannot be given until you have submitted the requisite number of risk assessments. Please also enclose a cheque for £250 payable to The Treasurer, Lucknow Town Hall."

God, all this pettifogging officialdom makes you want to puke, doesn't it?

Another thing that makes me absolutely livid is when somebody takes my copy of The Daily Mail into the downstairs loo without my permission and doesn't even bother to fold it properly when they have finished with it......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

We have now reluctantly resorted to plan B. I have undertaken to do all the groundwork preparation. Due to the complexity of such a task and the responsibility it carries I felt that this was best left to a man, which in this instance was moi.

Obviously the task allocated to Alice is an awful lot simpler but no less useful for all that. All she has to do after my many hours of careful planning is to scamper up the side of the viaduct and, starting from the top (obviously), mark each brick with a piece of chalk and simply log each number into her laptop (pre-programmed by me of course - I'm actually quite good at doing laptoppy things). Then she must semaphore down to me the ongoing number of bricks counted.

Clever stuff obviously but I must admit I find the whole exercise mindnumbingly dull. Despite this though there have been a few exciting moments such as yesterday morning when Alice got caught up in some rapid air currents generated by a passing Pendolino. I suppose it could have been quite dangerous if she had been sucked in under the Pendolino. Fortunately, as I had correctly calculated in my risk assessment (which I also did on my trusty laptop) it blew her outwards. Even so, Alice seemed quite concerned about the eventual outcome as she flew through the air.

Though, of course, she needn't have worried her pretty little head. Just as my excellent risk assessment had predicted the propulsion was forceful enough to ensure that she had a soft landing slap bang in the middle of the Mersey. She came out a little wet and smelly but with nothing injured apart from maybe her pride. I told her not to be silly, that it could have happened to anyone, and that she had plenty of time for an unscheduled cup of tea before going back up. I always think that you get a lot more out of your team if you are able to chill out and bend the rules occasionally.

Anyway Alice has just semaphored me to say that she has ticked off brick number 978. Good girl Alice. We should be finished any week now.