We played our first ever outdoor trivia game at Powell’s Pub Monday night, with the trivia teams assembled in its “outdoor beer garden.”

Though our picnic table was a bit warped, it proved to work OK as a writing surface!

It was interesting seeing the different things people did to adapt to the outdoor surroundings – one player brought a citronella candle in from his car, another was wrapped in a University of Michigan blanket…and we used our cell phone/tablet as occasional paperweights to keep our notes/score sheet from blowing away! For the record, the bugs didn’t “really” start biting until well after the game was over, but once they discovered me, the bugs got all excited and told all of their bug friends – because I REALLY started to get bitten, which forced us to adjourn inside (maybe bring my Deep Woods Off! next time)! Stay tuned for a related blog about bug repelling tips (coming soon)!
As for the game, we finished second for the night with a $20 gift certificate, 53 total points before the final question. Everyone seemed to have a “unique” reason for knowing the answer to this one! Before getting to the final question, how about typing up the other questions first?
Round One
1. Songs – What is the name of the song that serves as the national anthem to the United States? 5
2. World Capitals – What is the capital city of Canada?
3. Time – 20:40 in “military” or “24 hour time” is what time on a 12-hour clock (must provide a.m. or p.m.)? 3, easy first round…
Round Two
1. U.S. Government – What is the first and last name of the current Speaker of the House? 5
2. Tennis – Who won the September, 1973 “Battle of the Sexes?” Had to dig in my brain a bit for this name, but got it for 3.
3. National Parks – “Old Faithful” is a geyser located in which national park? Easy second round…, got them all, got this for 1.
Round Three
1. Soup – Giving the dish its distinctive color, what is the main ingredient of borscht? 5
2. Cable TV – William H. Macy plays the character Frank Gallagher on what HBO series which shares its name with the British version of the same series? nope for 1. Someone on another team queried aloud when the answer was revealed, “Is that show still on?” I’m guessing not!
3. Geography – Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean, belongs to what country? I remembered having this as a question before, and I said to Mike, “It’s not one of those ‘obvious’ countries, and wrote down what my first guess was. Which wound up being correct, but unfortunately, it was not the country we wrote down…miss for 3.
Halftime – “O Captain, My Captain.”
Identify the TV show, book or movie associated with the following fictional captains.
1. Captain Ahab
2. Malcolm Reynolds
3. Jonas Grundy, aka “Skipper”
4. Merrill Stubbing

Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds with Inara, whom, if you are familiar with the D&D harlot chart, would be considered a “haughty courtesan.” Know your harlots! My favorite harlot on that chart is the “saucy tart.”

Got them all.
Halftime scores: Says Who, 28; Golden Yaks, 29; Dan Smith, 30; One is the Loneliest Number, 32; ‘Pods/Ham Wallets, 33; Bordering on Crass, 36.
Round Four
1. College Baseball – In what U.S. state is the College Baseball World Series held every year? FB clue, 6.
2. Words – What does something have two of if it’s “bicephelus?” Francis said, “Isn’t it kind of unfair to ask this question when your team is playing?” LOL, got this for 4.
3. Internet – What does the letter “M” stand for in HTML? We put a lot of thought into this, but missed for 2.
Round Five
1. Animal House – What was the name of the fictional band playing at the frat party in Animal House? Jeez, I’ve only seen the movie maybe twice in my life…not a clue, miss for 2. The movie PCU is kind of like Animal House for the Gen-X generation! Ask me anything about THAT college movie!
2. Professions – What product does a cordwainer make? Mike had a good guess, but missed for 4.
3. Singers – Late American singer Henry John Deusendorf was better known by what stage name? So obvious when the answer was revealed…and it should’ve been lodged SOMEWHERE in my brain, but missed for 6. Ouch…
Round Six
1. Flags – Represented by a solid blue field and and yellow circle of stars, how many stars are on the flag for the European Union? We tried to come up with the number of nations in the EU (and in our efforts, we were only off by 1), unfortunately that was not even close to the correct number…miss for 2.
2. Star Wars – What are the first names of Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope? Guess what guy was wearing his shirt with the Millennium Falcon on it and handed THIS in right away? 6
3. Anatomy – Glaucoma is a group of diseases affecting what part of the human body? 4
Scores heading into the final: Says Who, ???; One is the Loneliest Number, ???; Golden Yaks, 51; Dan Smith, 52; ‘Pods, 53; Ham Wallets, 56; Bordering on Crass, 62;
Final Category – U.S. States
What U.S. state has the largest number of man-made lakes, is home to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the first parking meter?
I came up with right guess right away, but had to “convince” my trivia “pardner…” Which I did.
Final Standings: Golden Yaks (won a third place tiebreaker over Dan Smith which asked what year Michigan entered the union); ‘Pods, and Bordering on Crass. Did not write down the scores. Until next time, which will be a “special” engagement tonight…”Face the Music” at the ROC in Plymouth. If I do any recap of that game, it won’t be a regular recap since it’s an all audio clue type of game! But I’ll probably try to do SOMETHING! Next trivia game is Thursday…as always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Julie the Cruise Director!