Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Living the Dream
One major shortcoming of life here at Old Ivy, beside the imposing reading load, is the general lack of entertainment in town. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of shops and restaurants, but by the time a typical grad student leaves the library most of those are closed. There's a movie theater, but it only shows two movies at a time, and if you've seen (or don't care to see) both then you're in a bit of a rut. Perhaps most disheartening for me personally has been the lack of a weekly pub quiz. Not that I always attended such activities on a weekly basis when I lived in a big city with multiple trivia related activities on any given night...but it was nice to know it was available.
Here there is one bar with a pub quiz and they hold it once a month. I've organized a history department team and we've done pretty well for ourselves. Unfortunately, the bar's quiz master retired last month and it looked like there would be no more pub quiz for the rest of the year.
This would have been cause for frustration, but a friend of mine let me know the situation and we came up with a plan. And now, tonight, after years of attending pub quiz events, he and I will be graduating---no longer will we be mere mere players...now we are the quiz masters. The theme rounds, the mystery theme rounds, the generally random knowledge...all under our control.
I'm quite excited, but have not been able to tell anyone. I figure if I tell my teammates that I won't be able to play, they may be less likely to attend because they think (WRONGLY) that I am solely responsible for our successes. So I'm going to just treat it like any other quiz night, send out my standard e-mail, and see who shows up. We'll see how things go after that.
The questions are written, the prizes have been purchased, and answer sheets are printed. Tomorrow will mark a return to general exam studying, but tonight is going to be a blast.
(Possible update on how things go forthcoming...)
UPDATE (4/18): The quiz went very well, and as a friend suggested afterwards it might have actually been the most fun I have had in months. I think I may actually like hosting pub quizzes more than playing in them, and not just because of the ready access to free beer. No, I enjoy the creativity involved in writing the questions, making sure that there's diversity in the subjects covered while simultaneously trying to strike a balance in overall difficulty. And I like reading the questions and bantering with the crowd. It reminded me of my old college radio show, only with more alcohol. I was informed after the game that people enjoyed the questions and the hosting skills of both myself and my co-quizmaster as much if not more than the previous holder of the position. And yesterday as I was walking to class, a random grad student greeted me with a friendly, "Hey, Trivia Man! You're a celebrity." To which I could only reply, "Thanks!" I'm already looking forward to next month's quiz. I almost wish I could host again next week. (I've already written the questions!) But with general exams coming up, it's probably best to hold off until next month to focus on my reading.
One major shortcoming of life here at Old Ivy, beside the imposing reading load, is the general lack of entertainment in town. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of shops and restaurants, but by the time a typical grad student leaves the library most of those are closed. There's a movie theater, but it only shows two movies at a time, and if you've seen (or don't care to see) both then you're in a bit of a rut. Perhaps most disheartening for me personally has been the lack of a weekly pub quiz. Not that I always attended such activities on a weekly basis when I lived in a big city with multiple trivia related activities on any given night...but it was nice to know it was available.
Here there is one bar with a pub quiz and they hold it once a month. I've organized a history department team and we've done pretty well for ourselves. Unfortunately, the bar's quiz master retired last month and it looked like there would be no more pub quiz for the rest of the year.
This would have been cause for frustration, but a friend of mine let me know the situation and we came up with a plan. And now, tonight, after years of attending pub quiz events, he and I will be graduating---no longer will we be mere mere players...now we are the quiz masters. The theme rounds, the mystery theme rounds, the generally random knowledge...all under our control.
I'm quite excited, but have not been able to tell anyone. I figure if I tell my teammates that I won't be able to play, they may be less likely to attend because they think (WRONGLY) that I am solely responsible for our successes. So I'm going to just treat it like any other quiz night, send out my standard e-mail, and see who shows up. We'll see how things go after that.
The questions are written, the prizes have been purchased, and answer sheets are printed. Tomorrow will mark a return to general exam studying, but tonight is going to be a blast.
(Possible update on how things go forthcoming...)
UPDATE (4/18): The quiz went very well, and as a friend suggested afterwards it might have actually been the most fun I have had in months. I think I may actually like hosting pub quizzes more than playing in them, and not just because of the ready access to free beer. No, I enjoy the creativity involved in writing the questions, making sure that there's diversity in the subjects covered while simultaneously trying to strike a balance in overall difficulty. And I like reading the questions and bantering with the crowd. It reminded me of my old college radio show, only with more alcohol. I was informed after the game that people enjoyed the questions and the hosting skills of both myself and my co-quizmaster as much if not more than the previous holder of the position. And yesterday as I was walking to class, a random grad student greeted me with a friendly, "Hey, Trivia Man! You're a celebrity." To which I could only reply, "Thanks!" I'm already looking forward to next month's quiz. I almost wish I could host again next week. (I've already written the questions!) But with general exams coming up, it's probably best to hold off until next month to focus on my reading.
Comments:
Post a Comment
