Popcorn and Plans

            Ah, the best laid plans.

            Yep, you know the rest of that, don’t you?  It’s the saying that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” 

            Taken from a Robert Burns poem and a John Steinbeck novel, the saying, of course, means that, sometimes no matter how hard one plans, things just don’t work out according to those plans.

            Here’s my newest “best laid plans” story:

            Iris, a really good friend, and I like to get together to play Buzztime Trivia on Wednesday afternoons.  This particular trivia game is played throughout the US and Canada in restaurants, pubs and other such establishments. 

            Iris and I usually go a neighborhood family pub (O'Lacy's) late on Wednesdays and then The Duppster joins us after work to play a round or two of trivia.  Typically, we’re out of there by 6 pm or 6:30.

            Last week, the two grandsons were staying with us.  They are just-turned-four (Harrison) and 17 months (Fisher.)  I didn’t want to tell them we were going to a pub or anything like that. 

            Since this particular pub has free popcorn, I told Harrison and Fisher we were going to the “popcorn place” where we could eat popcorn and have fun.  They were excited! 

            Iris was in on this temporary-name-for-the-business scheme.  She got to the pub a few minutes before I arrived with the two grandsons, so she told the owner what was going on.  When the boys and I walked in, the owner said, “Welcome to the Popcorn Place.”

            As is normal for late Wednesday afternoons, there weren’t many people there.  We all had popcorn while Iris and I played trivia.  Everything was working out just right.

            As we were leaving around 6 pm, several other people were coming in.

            That’s when Harrison exclaimed, “Boy, this bar sure is filling up fast!”

            This bar?

            So much for the Popcorn Place.

              ~                     ~                      ~

Tops in Trivia - Our Winners!

Congratulations to last month's top five scorers in "Do You Know" trivia.  What?  You're not playing?  The link for the daily game is on the right-hand column on this page.  Each day of the week has a different topic.  Only 10 questions each day.  Sometimes easy, sometimes medium, sometimes hard.  (I thought the one for today - 12/1 - was hard. Ugh!)

Top Three in Number of Daily Wins in November:

1.  gardener

2.  3M

3.  mvaughan

      Top Five Scorers in November:

1. 3M (134 points)

          2. mvaughan (131 points)

         3. gardener (123 points)

        4. nitebird2 (104 points)

         5. grandmacat (103 points)

 

Thanks to ALL of Our Recent Participants (in no particular order):

skullfullamush

 Kitopila
 grandmacat
DyreStraits

Cheesecat

Bud

gardener
mvaughan

sally

singz4fun2

xray2u
3M

BuddyP
Sherry
HLMeeks
Tippy

nitebird2

 THANKS to ALL Players!

* * * * *

 

Top Trivia Winners - Last Three Months

October

Top Five Scores (tie for 5^th place)
1. mvaughan (145 points, 6 wins)
2. 3M (144 points, 2 wins)
3. gardener (131 points, 2 wins)
4. nitebird2 (120 points, 0 wins)
5. HLMeeks (101 points, 9 wins)
5. grandmacat (101 points, 1 wins)

Top Three Number of Wins

1. HLMeeks – 9 wins

2. DyreStraits – 8 wins
3. mvaughan – 6 wins

September

 

Top Five Scores
1. gardener (147 points, 7 wins)
2. 3M (127 points, 3 wins)
3. mvaughan (125 points, 6 wins)
4. nitebird2 (107 points, 1 wins)
5. grandmacat (88 points, 0 wins)

Top Three Number of Wins (tie for 1^st place)

1. gardener – 7 wins

1. HLMeeks – 7 wins
3. mvaughan – 6 wins

August

Top Five Scores

1. gardener (133 points, 3 wins)
2. mvaughan (128 points, 7 wins)
3. 3M (122 points, 4 wins)
4. nitebird2 (118 points, 3 wins)
5. Kitopila (77 points, 3 wins)

Top Three Number of Wins (tie for 1^st place)

1. mvaughan – 7 wins

1. DyreStraits – 7 wins
3. 3M – 4 wins


Not playing?  Give it a try.  The categories change daily on a 7-day rotation.

Top Scorers in "Do You Know" Trivia

Thanks a bunch to all who continue to play "Do You Know" trivia on this blog.  Some of our categories are changing within the next few days. 


Our Top Five for August (so far) are:

1. gardener

2. mvaughan

3. 3M

4. nitebird2

5. Kitopila

And our recently daily winners are these brainy folks:

Date              Winner

Aug 25 11     DyreStraits

Aug 24 11     Kitopila

Aug 23 11     mvaughan

Aug 22 11     HLMeeks

Aug 21 11     mvaughan

Aug 20 11     gardener

Aug 19 11     mvaughan

Aug 18 11     mvaughan

Aug 17 11     Kitopila

Aug 16 11     mvaughan

Aug 15 11     DyreStraits

Aug 14 11     3M

Aug 13 11     grandmacat

Aug 12 11     Kitopila

Aug 11 11     3M

Aug 10 11     DyreStraits

Aug 09 11     DyreStraits

Aug 08 11     nitebird2

Aug 07 11     3M

Aug 06 11     3M

It's free, so c'mon back daily to play, okay?

                   -                  -                   -                     -

NOT a Trivial Matter?

Warning: This post is not for prudish or straight-laced folks.
You see, The Duppster has been at it again.

Here’s the story:
I host trivia at a local establishment on Thursday nights. We have loads of fun playing, but, quite often, we are faced with the realization of how much we used to know that we can no longer remember.

We also learn new things. I probably find out the most new information because I have to do a whole lot of research to come up with the questions. Those questions don’t just fall out of thin air, you know?

Since this is a blog for readers of all ages a/k/a a family-friendly blog, I’m changing one word to a phrase, but, otherwise, the final question that was asked last week in the crowded room was this: “According to studies, weight loss increases the size of a certain part of the male anatomy. What is the ratio of increased size in terms of inches gained to pounds lost?”

Bear in mind that I didn’t do this research and I don’t know how many people were studied.

No team had the correct answer on that particular question; perhaps that’s a good thing, huh?

Anyway, the right answer is 1 inch gained for every 35 pounds lost.

And when Dupp heard the answer, he immediately got up and started doing jumping jacks, right there in front of everybody!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
          *                           *                               *

WW: Triviaholics

It's an understatement to say that I'm a triviaholic.
Fortunately, I've got friends who fit into the same category and I've made new friends when playing trivia.
I play live or team trivia at some places and also participate in nationwide (and more) Buzztime Trivia. 

On most Wednesdays, some of us get together for team trivia at Firewater Grille.  Here are some of the other triviaholics.  (Actually, team trivia is played there every Wednesday; I am able to show up only most Wednesdays.)

On Thursdays, I host team trivia at Ivory Moon.  That's 6:30 - 7:30 pm.  Some of these same people join us on Thursdays as well. 

First is our funny trivia host at Firewater, Shane Griffin. 

One of the Wednesday teams is The Bill-Z.

 

Another regular team - The Mulligans:

Our team is regular but we can't decide on a regular name; we change every week:

And here's one shot with various members of some of the teams:

It's what you'd call competitive friendship!

WordlessWednesday participants are here.

Wordful Wednesday participants are here. 

                    * * *                      * * *

Leaders and Winners: Our Tops in DO YOU KNOW Trivia

Thanks to all who continue to play our daily "DO YOU KNOW?" trivia, no matter how frustrating and no matter the categories.  There are some real brainiacs out there. 

Here are the players with the top cumulative scores for the first 15 days of March.  Congratulations!  

Player

1. wavemama

2. DyreStraits

3. sally

4. jinxedu

5. gardener

6. cheesecat

7. par2323

8. singz4fun2

9. Papabear

10. Buddy

11. mvaughan

12. nitebird

13. Sand$

14. skullfullamush

15. 3M

16. Meme

17. fireatwill

18. mgburtonjr

19. grandmacat

20. Silky

 
 
 
These are our recent daily winners.  Kudos to you as well!
 

Date           Winner

 

Mar 15 10       wavemama

Mar 14 10       wavemama

Mar 13 10       DyreStraits

Mar 12 10       jinxedu

Mar 11 10       mvaughan

Mar 10 10       Silky

Mar 09 10       DyreStraits

Mar 08 10       mgburtonjr

Mar 07 10       fireatwill

Mar 06 10       Meme

Mar 05 10       DyreStraits

Mar 04 10       cheesecat

Mar 03 10       wavemama

Mar 02 10       DyreStraits

Mar 01 10       mgburtonjr

Feb 28 10       DyreStraits

Feb 27 10       Meme

Feb 26 10       DyreStraits

Feb 25 10       jude
Feb 24 10       sally

 
I know the "real" identities of some of you who play but there are others totally unknown to me. 
Again, thanks to all!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Trivia and This 'n That

Here are the TOP TEN in February's DO YOU KNOW trivia so far.  Congratulations - and thanks - to all who play, whether you play daily or occasionally! 

Rank    Player          Points

1. wavemama          106

2. skullfullamush       85

3. DyreStraits          78

4. sally                     75

5. gardener              72

6. 3M                      65

7. jinxedu                 64

8. Papabear             60

9. par2323              59

10. Meme               55

As a side note, I haven't quit playing DO YOU KNOW trivia and I haven't quit writing on this blog, at least not permanently.  I'm in the final two weeks of concentrated study (a/k/a stupor) preparing for the SC bar exam. 
 
 In the meantime, if you've seen any of the recent interviews with SC's First Lady, Jenny Sanford, I'd love for you to share your thoughts, comments and reactions here.

Why Do We Say That?

Have you ever wondered about some of our odd expressions.  Many of them are rooted in history.

Consider the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell. brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

-------------------------------------------------------

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.

Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"

----------------------------------------------------------------


In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.
Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.
They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over
the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Thus the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

-----------------------------------------------------------

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee

in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery........

if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor."

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford

to buy a pot...........

They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof.
When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Thus the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
--------------------------------------------------------------------

There was nothing to stop things from falling through the thatched roof.
This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.

--------------------------------------------------

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
Thus the saying, "Dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside.
A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh-hold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be either saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer...

Now, who said History was boring ! ! !

Our Leaders in DO YOU KNOW Trivia!

DO YOU KNOW trivia daily winners for previous 21 days:

Silky

Kitopila

Sally

Sally

Silky

Grandmacat

Wavemama

Wavemama

Silky

Silky

Silky

Meme

Silky

Skullfullamush

Cheesecat

Silky

Gardener

Papabear

Skullfullamush

Par2323

Cheesecat

TOP TEN SCORES for each month we've had DO YOU KNOW trivia here at EX Marks the Spot

November 09

33 players played during the month.

1. Silky (405 points, 9 wins)

2. par2323 (297 points, 2 wins)

3. sally (281 points, 2 wins)

4. fireatwill (255 points, 1 wins)

5. skullfullamush (240 points, 2 wins)

6. jinxedu (230 points, 0 wins)

7. cheesecat (229 points, 3 wins)

8. 3M (222 points, 0 wins)

9. Sherry (217 points, 0 wins)

10. wavemama (211 points, 2 wins)

October 09

35 players played during the month.

1. Silky (406 points, 5 wins)

2. jinxedu (332 points, 2 wins)

3. par2323 (320 points, 1 wins)

4. sally (316 points, 0 wins)

5. cheesecat (313 points, 3 wins)

6. fireatwill (274 points, 1 wins)

7. skullfullamush (265 points, 1 wins)

8. Papabear (245 points, 2 wins)

9. 3M (240 points, 0 wins)

10. gardener (225 points, 2 wins)

September 09

55 players played during the month.

1. Silky (411 points, 6 wins)

2. sally (328 points, 1 wins)

3. mvaughan (288 points, 2 wins)

4. jinxedu (280 points, 2 wins)

5. Papabear (269 points, 2 wins)

6. wavemama (269 points, 0 wins)

7. par2323 (266 points, 2 wins)

8. scmom (254 points, 4 wins)

9. skullfullamush (247 points, 2 wins)

10. Sherry (238 points, 1 wins)

August 09

67 players played during the month.

1. Silky (333 points, 5 wins)

2. Sherry (332 points, 2 wins)

3. sally (323 points, 2 wins)

4. cheesecat (313 points, 2 wins)

5. scmom (304 points, 0 wins)

6. nitebird (259 points, 1 wins)

7. par2323 (255 points, 3 wins)

8. gardener (250 points, 0 wins)

9. Betty (249 points, 0 wins)

10. Papabear (245 points, 0 wins)

July 09

63 players played during the month.

1. Silky (367 points, 4 wins)

2. sally (329 points, 1 wins)

3. Betty (292 points, 0 wins)

4. Papabear (276 points, 1 wins)

5. gardener (273 points, 1 wins)

6. Sherry (257 points, 1 wins)

7. cheesecat (255 points, 3 wins)

8. 3M (252 points, 1 wins)

9. rougebird (248 points, 0 wins)

10. par2323 (244 points, 3 wins)

June 09

42 players played during the month.

1. sally (331 points, 4 wins)

2. Silky (309 points, 5 wins)

3. cheesecat (281 points, 2 wins)

4. Papabear (258 points, 0 wins)

5. par2323 (255 points, 4 wins)

6. Sherry (247 points, 1 wins)

7. boobear (209 points, 2 wins)

8. 3M (206 points, 2 wins)

9. gardener (192 points, 0 wins)

10. Betty (190 points, 2 wins)

May 09

49 players played during the month.

1. boobear (300 points, 7 wins)

2. Sherry (279 points, 2 wins)

3. par2323 (275 points, 3 wins)

4. cheesecat (264 points, 3 wins)

5. Betty (243 points, 2 wins)

6. Silky (225 points, 3 wins)

7. emmaz (221 points, 2 wins)

8. sally (209 points, 0 wins)

9. Papabear (206 points, 0 wins)

10. skullfullamush (181 points, 1 wins)

April 09

43 players played during the month.

1. Coby (263 points, 7 wins)

2. par2323 (253 points, 4 wins)

3. Sherry (245 points, 1 wins)

4. Betty (206 points, 0 wins)

5. skullfullamush (192 points, 2 wins)

6. Papabear (183 points, 0 wins)

7. boobear (171 points, 4 wins)

8. emmaz (150 points, 2 wins)

9. singz4fun2 (148 points, 1 wins)

10. sally (139 points, 2 wins)

March 09

18 players played during the month.

1. boobear (111 points, 10 wins)

2. par2323 (102 points, 2 wins)

3. Sherry (100 points, 1 wins)

4. Betty (100 points, 0 wins)

5. singz4fun2 (84 points, 1 wins)

6. fred (64 points, 2 wins)

7. skullfullamush (41 points, 2 wins)

8. Coby (36 points, 2 wins)

9. Valentine (23 points, 0 wins)

10. nanny (18 points, 0 wins)

Keep it up!  I hope to post standings on a more regular basis from now on.  Thanks for playing!

Do You Know trivia winners! Hooray!

Hooray to our most recent daily winners in the DO YOU KNOW trivia

Oct. 31 - Meme

Oct. 30 - cheesecat

Oct. 29 - Silky

Oct. 28 - HLMeeks

Oct. 27 - HLMeeks

Oct. 26 - Silky

Oct. 25 - papabear

Oct. 24 - gardener

Oct. 23 - scmom

Oct. 22 - Silky

Oct. 21 - planetjimbo

Oct. 20 - wavemama

Oct. 19 - jinxedu

Oct. 18 - papabear

Oct. 17 - Sherry

Oct. 16 - Skullfullamush

Oct. 15 - Silky

Oct. 14 - emmaz

Oct. 13 - emmaz

Oct. 12 - jinxedu

Oct. 11 - singz4fun

TOP TEN for October (through the 30th)

Silky

jinxedu

Cheesecat

Par2323

sally

fireatwill

skullfullamush

3M

Papabear

gardener

Most Days Played in October

jinxedu

par2323

papabear

gardener

silky

sally

fireatwill

Highest average per game (playing at least 10 days in month)

Planetjimbo     14.6

Silky     14.0

Emmaz     13.7

Wavemama     12.7

Cheesecat     12.3

Jinxed     11.1

Par2323     10.9

Sally     10.9

Skullfullamush     10.6

Thanks to all who have played and who continue to play!  Keep it up!

Winners!

DO YOU KNOW trivia statistics:

Top Cumulative Scores for the Month of September

1. Silky

2. Sally

3. Mvaughan

4. Jinxed

5. Papabear

6. Wavemama

7. Par2323

8. Scmom

9. Skullfullamush

10. Sherry

11. Gardener

12. Fireatwill

13. Cheesecat

14. Singz4fun2

15. rougebird

Most Recent Daily Winners

1. Par2323

2. Skullfullamush

3. Silky

4. Scmom

5. Willy

6. Papabear

7. Fireatwill

8. Silky

9. Kitopila

10. Fireatwill

11. Jinxed

12. Silky

13. Betty

14. Sherry

15. Silky

16. HLMeeks

17. Silky

18. Jinxed

19. Scmom

20. Par2323

Congratulations to “sally” and to “papabear.” They are the only two who played all 30 days in September.