“Hey, they’re going to be doing weekly trivia nights at Corner, we should get a team together and meet for those.”

And with that e-mail from our longtime friend Sam in 2012, thus begun the ‘Pods “origin story” of our trivial adventures at the “Corner Brewery,” known officially as Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery, located in the former training building for the Motor Wheel company.

Weekly trivia games weren’t a hard sell for us! We’d previously played a few games at Wolverine State Brewing Company, but not with any real regularity. Beginning in February 2012, we played weekly games at “Corner” with a cast of characters rivaling the numerous guest stars on “The Love Boat.” I’ve made the joke before that our team has had more “guest stars” than that show! I’ll never forget the trivia game where we had to lean on our “elder statesman” Brad to help us answer a question about “The Love Boat!”

For our 800th trivia game, why not play where it all began? It was kind of a last minute decision – and just my husband Mike and I would be playing. Normally if we plan to play at Corner, we arrive about two hours early to get a table (no joke). This time, we arrived about an hour before the game, and there were NO tables available, even in the bar area. So we sat at the bar for a bit, and waited for something to open up. We got a four-top that was nowhere near the screen showing the questions, so we knew we’d have to have one of us take pictures of the questions (quite a lot of players were doing this since we can’t look at the questions on our phones – even the players answering the questions). Around 8:30, a large party sitting at a table JUST close enough to be able to see the screen decided to leave, and we snagged it before the staff could even clean it.

As for this championship game, the winners for a second season in a row were You’re Resume Sucks. They managed to sit atop the leaderboard all season, so this was not to be a night for dark horse contenders or upsets! We’ve competed against them too many times to count, and when we actually had a team with actual humans, we could hold our own! Congrats to you all!

Speaking of upsets, the biggest upset we ever witnessed at this bar was in October, 2015 – when Two Trivias to Paradise wound up winning first place in the venue tournament, giving them their first ever shot at “the big dance” (aka league championship tournament). We were right behind them in this game, and used a second chance spot a few days later with (wait for it) a “guest star” to help us out (it wasn’t Charo). My apologies if these pop culture references are a tad too old for ya! The animated series Archer also had a lot of guest stars, if that’s a better pop culture reference for you! Burt Reynolds was arguably the most awesome guest star Archer ever had (fight me)! He was also a great guest star on “Burn Notice…”

We finished in 13th place for the night and flunked both final questions.

Game One/Round One

1 Kids Books – What literary title character, introduced in 1957, lives in a cave on Mount Crumpit, which is located north of Whoville?

2 Societies – What international society founded in Oxford, England in 1946, is the oldest high-IQ society in the world?

3 TV Kids – Name two of the three children of Claire and Phil Dunphy on the TV series Modern Family. Nope, never watched this, miss.

4 Title Characters – What actress played the title character – a flight attendant – in the 1997 film Jackie Brown? FB clue, but we would’ve known this (great film)!

Mystery Round One – Quickfire

Name four of the five seas on Earth with English names that are also a color.

Eight points, yay!

Round Two

5 Hall of Famers – What is the last name of the Hall of Fame basketball player known as “Clyde the Glide,” who played in the NBA from 1983-1998?

NERD POINT – He played college basketball at which school?

I actually made the right guess at his last name (yes really), but no idea where he went to school…

6 Country Music – What classic country singer is known for the songs “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry?” We started writing our own mournful country song here we were so sad at missing this (LOL)!

7 Sauces – What family of fish is used as a traditional ingredient in Worcestershire sauce?

8 Ships – What is the two-word avian term for the lookout platform situated near the top of a ship’s mast?

Mystery Round Two

So “Far” Away

The correct answer to each clue includes the letters FAR in order.

M1 Actress who is “Unqualified,” according to the title of her podcast

M2 A specialist in the foot care of horses

M3 Company for which actor J.K. Simmons has appeared in commercials as a character named Professor Burke

M4 Style of comedic and satiric composition that includes The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare and Noises Off by Michael Frayn, among other examples.

Anyone else bingeing Moonlighting now – and has watched the Taming of the Shrew episode? Missed #1.

We had 46 points going into the final. We bet it all on the category of:

1990s Movies

Final Question One:

In the 1990 film Pretty Woman, the characters Edward and Vivian see a performance of what opera, which is thematically similar to the film itself?

We put down Madame Butterfly, neither of us had ever seen the movie, nor are we opera experts! Isn’t that opera about a sex worker or something (Iook how politically correct I am, LOL)!

The closest I’ve come to seeing Pretty Woman was a scene in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion where Lisa Kudrow’s character (Michele) is binge eating and watching Pretty Woman. She breaks into tears during the scene “Where they finally let her shop.”

Game Two/Round Three

9 Singers – Gwen Stefani was the lead singer of what band from 1987-2004, and again from 2009-2015, following a hiatus?

10 Spin-Offs – What drama series that debuted in 2005 has spawned spin-offs subtitled Suspect Behavior and Beyond Borders? This would be one of two doctor cop lawyer TV questions we’d get correct on this night (yay)!

11 Supreme Court – In 1967, what civil rights lawyer became the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court?

NERD POINT: Within one, in what year di he retire from the court?

Missed the bonus…

12 2010s Films – Audio clue of a 2012 animated film involving a red-headed character whom is a Disney princess.

Mystery Round Three – Before and After

M1 Nintendo plumber who wears red AND waterway that forms a large part of the border between Texas and Mexico

M2 Current first lady of the United States AND actor known for his role as Detective Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue

M3 Capital of Denmark AND blacksmith character played by Joe Dempsie on Game of Thrones

M4 Thin strip of metal used as a lockpicking tool AND Disney character who sings “When You Wish Upon a Star”

Missed #3.

Round Four

13 U.S. Cities – What is the most populous U.S. state capital city with a name that begins with the letter “L?” We were torn between two, picked the wrong one…

14 Anatomy – What is the term for the smallest blood vessels in the human body which are typically five to ten micrometers in diameter?

15 Video Games – What 1982 video game published by Activision features a playable character named Harry, with the goal of navigating him through the jungle in search of treasure? Mike walked away with treasure here, woot.

16 Companies – The DC-3, a revolutionary airplane model noted for its speed and comfort at the time, was manufactured by what company that merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967? Miss.

Mystery Round Four – Visual

Ouch, we were so desperate we almost put “Jim Thorpe” as every answer! We just put him for one our our guesses, thank the gods it was the right one (missed the rest). Man, I

We either had 41 or 43 points going into the final…

Final Category – Royal History

Final Question Game Two:

The most recent known instance of regicide took place in 2001, when the Crown Prince Dipendra killed King Birenda of what Asian country, where his rule began in 1972?

Man, I’m sorry I didn’t know about this story – assassinations and tragic events are kind of my thing!

We’ll be playing “for reals” in the bar championship Sunday at the YpsiAlehouse. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Hank Williams!