Contemplating a mini-marathon

Up until last night I was contemplating making an attempt at the 7 days - 7 quizzes marathon . If you've been following LAM since last summer, you might remember that I revealed my ambition to play in a quiz every night of the week for one week, although in the end I just managed Sunday to Thursday. Well, I did have potential quizzes lined up for Friday and Saturday this week, but in the end thought better of it. You see , as I said in a previous post, I'm question master in the rugby club this Thursday night. Yes, I know that this means I am still going to the quiz, still participating in the quiz, but its not playing in the quiz. What do you mean pedantic ? Its my game, and if we don't play by my rules then I'm taking my ball home !

So only three in a row this week. Sunday saw me venturing to Bryncoch, in a quiz I'd heard about a couple of years ago, but had been keeping up my sleeve for a while. I'd never been before, so I just assumed that if it was still running it would start about 9 pm. I took along my son Michael for company, and we arrived about 8:30 to be on the safe side. The barman said that , yes, the quiz was on, and it would start at 9. An hour later than scheduled, 10 pm, and it was just about to start. This was a Sunday Evening , mark you. Having said that, once it did get started, it was actually a cracking little quiz. 5 rounds of 10 general knowledge questions, and in each round at least one of the questions was a multiple question. I do mean general knowledge as well - there was a real spread of subjects too. I think this was a home made quiz, as you could see a bit of time and effort had gone into its construction. For example - here's a multiple question from the last round : -
"Who had UK hits with these songs - a) Banana Republic - b) The Banana Boat Song - c) Banana Rock ? "
In case you're playing along at home, I shan't put the answers until the end of this post.

Just out of interest though, the QM did ask one question -
Name the Island in the Caribbean, with a ten letter name, which is an overseas department of France.
Now, I wouldn't argue with the answer he gave which is "Martinique " However I am almost 100% certain that "Guadeloupe" fits the bill just as well, yet the QM insisted on just Martinique. Just one of those little errors that creeps into most quizzes, I suppose.

Monday night was the Pill Harriers Quiz in Newport. With a full team, and Gordon guesting for us we were never due any favours from the handicapper. It was actually an enjoyable tussle, and we did well to pull up to third place. Mark the Chaser looked a likely winner until one round from home, when a spirited run from the redoutable Herbie and his team brought them a win by one. I'll share one question from the quiz with you, if I may : -
The Beverley Sisters theme song was the song 'Sisters'. In which famous 1950s film did it first appear ?
I ask it because it was one of those questions where the answer pops into your head, apparently from nowhere. I haven't even seen the film - answer at the end of this post. Tell you what, here's another good one from Trevor's quiz as well : -
What links the 1977 Open at Turnberry with a 1940s western starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones and Lionel Barrymore ?

Then Tuesday night saw a return to The Duke of Wellington in Cowbridge. This is just a lovely pub in a really charming town, and John and I religiously stick to our policy of only going every other week so as not to dominate the quiz. But sometimes its hard. I could cheerfully go every week.
I may have mentioned before, but in case I haven't, the format of the quiz is two rounds of 20 questions with a break in the middle. Then there's the seperate Lucky 7 jackpot questions. The last question in Round one is always a 2 point pop music question. You're given a year, and a couple of lines of the lyric, from which you have to identify song and artist. Ready then ? Here it is , this from 1990 : -
Post Office clerks put up signs saying positions closed
And secretaries turn off typewriters and put on their coats
Janitors padlock the gates
For security guards to patrol
We failed to identify either artist or title - answers at the end. So normally, when we miss this one, then we end up 2nd or 3rd overall.
At the end of round two, the penultimate question is always a guess the year. This one was relatively simple : -
In which year did Jimmy Connors win his first Wimbledon Singles title ?
Then the last question is the multiple. Last time we went it was to name 5 inert gases. This time we were asked,
Name the 6 celebrities who have won Celebrity Big Brother
Its one of those questions where you can probably name 4 or 5 straightaway, but then the last only come right at the death. To cut a long story short, that's how it was for us. So we won, and the jackpot, and the raffle too for that matter. All I can hope is that the fact that we're unlikely to be back before the end of August or the beginning of September will curry some favour with regulars.

Answers
Songs - a) Boomtown Rats - b) Harry Belafonte ( although I think Shirley Bassey also may have done a version ) c) The Wombles
Sisters - "White Christmas"
Connection - "Duel In The Sun " - name of film, and also name given to battle between Watson and Nicklaus
Song Lyric - Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri
Guess the Year - 1974
6 celebrities - Jack Dee, Mark Owen , Bez , Chantelle Houghton, Shilpa Shetty, Ulrika Jonsson