Trivia Recap: 6/22

My apologies for not posting this sooner, but Phil sent it to my Gmail and I didn't check that today and when he wrote to me to find out if I'd gotten it, I was at a Weezer concert (future blog post, for sure!) and now it's 1:13 on Saturday morning and I'm just now posting Phil's recap from Thursday. So sorry! Enjoy! -Hannah

Have you ever arrived late but realized that you are actually early because the host of the party has less respect for adherence to a schedule than you expected?

Have you ever walked into a familiar place but all the faces have changed?

Have you just wanted a solid Hazy IPA but the menu is full of bullshit fruit experiments masquerading as the latest hotness?

All these experiences and more can be had when you show up 15 minutes late for trivia at FourScore Beer Company.

June 22, 2023, an evening like many, I arrived at a cramped table full of pent up trivia energy. I placed my number on a stick at my spot (this is how FourScore identifies where to deliver my DC-priced provisions) and slowly sipped on some Oh Jeeee.

The usuals were in attendance, DG, BK, HM, MMcD, and BS. I use their initials to protect their identities as most of them are involved in the heinous crimes that we all associate with “the trivia crowd.” On this evening I believe at least one of them was involved in what I will refer to as “polite arson” but that is just speculation.

As I prepared to listen to the host, Adam, read the categories, there was an odd lack of anticipation at the table. It felt like it was time to start but nobody was in the “let’s go!” mood. It was then it struck me, the question category is now pre-filled on the answer sheet. As science has shown, anticipation is often a greater joy than an actual event. In fact, anticipating a future event has been shown to have a positive effect on mental health. Based on the fruit beers, it is no surprise to me this establishment would shun mental health. Clearly depression and diabetes were on the menu this evening.

It was time for round one.

We were presented with a wonderful menagerie of categories. Frankly, when I think about the joy we could have shared had these been revealed one by one, it reminds me of other things that have been taken from me by this cold senseless world. For example, the ability to feed a group of 6 for less than $20 at Taco Bell, gone but not forgotten… While multiple categories brought forth conversations and discourse of interest, it is Toys & Games and Alice in Wonderland that brought us joy. All credit to BK with the clutch Wiffleball, a game named after a nickname some youths created for a strike. To a certain BS, with confidence! BS knew the croquet “mallet” was actually a flamingo (fun fact, their color is related to diet, their diet must be rich in carotenoid pigments otherwise they turn a shade of “sad grey”) in Alice in Wonderland. And just like that, round 1 was over and we had what is known only as a PERFECT SCORE.

Well… like most beautiful things in this world, it was time to destroy the perfect to create division so that the retirees have a reason to hate their neighbors and post it to facebook. That was round 2… We quickly picked up on “Tuesday” as the similar word in the song titles. A certain “me” not only had the assist there but also knew the next 2 questions. It was then we needed to reach into the depths of mathematical knowledge, Italian Poetry, for DG to pull out the clutch poet Dante. Finally, we were faced with the biggest fear known to all trivia groups, space exploration. While we can name all the Supreme Court Justices, the name of the various Mars Rovers evaded most of us. Those who knew, were wrong… And so, just like that, we lost a point. Goodbye perfect game… hello criticism from the retired neighbor.

Halftime happened, or maybe it didn’t. Frankly, at this point morale was so low I have no idea. Thankfully, an old friend HF showed up. HF was like the rest of us except completely worthless when it came to trivia. Like hardcore worthless. He didn’t even offer to buy me a beer. I saved him a seat. Seriously…

So after halftime comes the 3rd round. BORING! However, MMcD killed it by remembering Breaking Benjamin. I was impressed by BK and his knowledge of state nicknames. I did find it challenging to care at this point as perfection was already gone but admittedly these moments were still cheerful and the company was good.

There is this thing that happens between rounds 3 and 4 called 6-4-2. It happens after round 3 but before round 4. As I was accustomed to, it did happen at the appropriate time, immediately following round 3. It was refreshing to once again feel something familiar. I loved embracing the comfort of the known. Thankfully, some things are still sacred.

There was a fourth round and it was clear that most of the participants were extreme racists when the second question was answered. For the sake of protecting the identity of the most racist member of our group, I will not reveal how the fruits of his racism pretty much locked down this game as a winner for us. When the fourth round ended it was ours to lose.

We had a quick discussion about the final question. It was determined that although my answer was pure shit, nobody could come up with better shit to offset my shit suggestion. We turned our shit in and guess what, we were wrong. Guess who else was wrong? Everyone.

That’s how you do it kids. That’s how you win trivia.

Hits of the 1999s for the category start next week. I listened to a 1999 playlist on Spotify on my way home. Ouch… What a horrible year for music.