granite state trivia: another lousy tee shirt

Estranged from the other HGS, I participated in pub trivia at the 103 restaurant in Rochester, NH this past Tuesday. I was picking up the slack on a team that has regularly placed in the top 3 (according to team leader, MFS). Our team was comprised of four NH Eye-talians. We took an early lead and pretty much kept that until the end. The questions were fairly easy, and seemed to speak to each of our strengths. Teamwork, as we have stated, is key.

The prizes were hats and tee-shirts from beer companies. Oddly, I had to go all the way to NH to get a miller lite hat. It says "Ireland" on the brim. Take a moment and consider the juxtaposition of these three details: a Miller-Lite Hat, that is adorned with the Irish flag and a shamrock, won in New Hampshire. I wore it home.

The Height of Knowledge, the Abyss of Ignorance, or: I went to Bremen Cafe Pub Trivia last night and all I got was this lousy tee shirt

So last night parenthesis (girl), GTA Feghoot, and someone we'll call Mr. ARO attended for the first time the weekly Pub Trivia competition at the Bremen Cafe, presided over by a fairly affable young woman who seemed as equally interested, if not more so, in intoxicating herself and in plugging some film about punk rock in Arkansas (she even had tee shirts to give away) as she was in hosting the trivia game. Needless to say, the atmosphere was laid back, and, surprisingly, the drinks were inexpensive. However, the evening activities were somewhat tarnished by the newly-implemented house rule that allows for only two members per trivia squad. We inevitably participated individually, and ultimately H.G.S. suffered for it.

Obviously, the reputation of the Hot Grad Students preceded us, and the utter fear in the other competitors' faces was undoubtedly present as the three of us sat there confidently, answering questions on small squares of paper and eating our Big Polish sandwiches. This pub trivia was a challenge to us--not in its level of difficulty, but in its attempt at destroying the integrity of the group. Pub Trivia is a team sport. And while many if not most of our adversaries would stop at nothing to cause a rift in our group's chemistry, they have simultaneously underestimated us by focusing on how HOT we are and not on how GRAD STUDENT we are. The conspiracy against us is transparent. We are way too smart for that.

Mr. ARO, as an individual performer, was the most successful, winning one of the aforementioned tee shirts the host was giving away as prizes for victory in a round. Despite GTA Feghoot's plea that Mr. ARO throw it back, alas, we are grad students, and we cannot afford to look a gift tee shirt in the mouth. He kept the shirt, most likely only to wear it to other trivia competitions in order to strike fear in the hearts of other teams.

While the Bremen Cafe tried to crush our collective team spirit, the events of this past Sunday have only united us more in our determination to win. As stated above, Pub Trivia is a team sport. I believe it was Henry Adams who discussed the value of working as a team in Pub Trivia: "They knew nothing themselves. Only by comparison of their ignorance could the hot grad students measure their own."

dead weight

i heard that the Hot Grad Students took first place in pub trivia last week. of course, i wasn't there. i'm thinking that the two are probably related in someway. although, i'm usually good for one or two key points (remember Africa!). since i'll be in wicked awesome new hampshire for a few weeks, i'll be attending pub trivia here in the granite state, representin' the hot grad students in the land of libertarians, bringing in the critical analysis to the live-free-or-die-ers.

if the prize is cash money, i'll buy some cheap wine for our party. maybe a box - i don't know.

neurotic wonderboy Goes To A Bar

Neurotic Wonderboy walks into a bar and says, "Excuse me, I'd like a pint of beer."

The bartender serves the drink and says, "That'll be four dollars." Neurotic Wonderboy pulls out a twenty-dollar bill and hands it to the bartender.

"Sorry, kid," the bartender says, "but I can't accept that."

Neurotic Wonderboy pulls out a ten-dollar bill and the bartender rejects his money again. "What's going on here?" Neurotic Wonderboy asks.

Pointing to a neon sign, the bartender explains, "This is a Singles Bar."

The Milwaukee Pub Trivia Circuit

Schedule:

The Nomad: Sundays, 9pm.

Bremen Cafe: Sundays, 9pm.

Vitucci's: Tuesdays, 8pm.

Stonefly: Tuesdays, 10pm.

The Brit Inn: Wednesdays, 8pm.

Obviously, we'll have to alternate pubs on Sundays, but it seems feasible to do a doubleheader on Tuesdays. The way I see it: Hot Grad Students will be a farce to be reckoned with! Who's with me?

what's wrong with this picture?

English Graduate Students Go Bowling

A group of English graduate students takes a trip to the Landmark Lanes to bowl. It turns out that one bowling team is missing their best bowler, Dee (as usual, the graduate students employ their stripper pseudonyms when they bowl). Her alternate Michele (also a stripper name) only averages 80 points per game. The team is doing very poorly, having lost the first game of the match, when Dee finally shows up. The assistant captain is then bombarded by requests to take Michele out and to let Dee bowl, when she yells out, "Do not ask for whom Michelle bowls, she bowls for Dee!"