Lots of excitement around here today. Our landlords are coming over this evening to check out the dampness problem in our hallway and some other issues, so I need to do a quick vacuum job before I go to work this morning. We want things to look spic and span, right?
Then I'm headed back to school to participate in our annual staff/faculty/parent Quiz Night. I've done it in years past but quizzing -- like everything else -- got derailed by the pandemic, so it's been a while. Another co-worker assembled our team and I'm not even sure who I'm playing with, but hopefully we have a young person. In my experience, that's what makes or breaks a quiz team. You need someone who knows questions about Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and Cardi B., and probably other even younger performers whose names I don't even know. I certainly couldn't name any of their songs.
Quiz Night will be a nice break from TV. I've lately been watching a show called "Capitani," a police drama from Luxembourg on Netflix. I was curious about a show from such a tiny country, and indeed it has been an interesting cultural experience. For one thing, I'd forgotten Luxembourg has its own language -- and I've even been there! It sounds to my American ear like a mix of French and German dialects. It's also interesting that part of the plot is insularity and/or snobbery among people from one part of the country toward those in another -- and this is a TINY country, slightly smaller than Rhode Island. It's so funny how we humans insist on dividing ourselves into ever-more fragmented tribal units.
Anyway, it's a pretty good show. I just started the second season.
We also watched a movie called "Lou" with Allison Janney, which had lots of violence and rain and thus reminded me of "Cape Fear," and we've started Amazon's "Jack Ryan" series.
And now I'm seeing that it's going to freeze on Sunday. Time to bring the plants in again. (Sigh.)
(Photo: Feeding the birds along the Thames, on Sunday.)
I did not know about the Luxemburg language.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you'll have sports expert too, quite necessary.
Quiz night sounds like fun. Fascinating about the show from Luxembourg and the social divide. What idiots we humans are.
ReplyDeleteI was in Luxebmourg when my sister lived a couple of hours away in Germany. I wanted to learn the language simply because I liked the name, Luxembourgish.
Quiz Night sounds like great fun. I would suck at the game however.
ReplyDeleteGood luck at the quiz!
ReplyDeleteIsn't "Spic and Span" an American cleaning product? The normal English spelling is - spick and span.
YP: An interesting question! Yes, "Spic and Span" is an American cleaning product, but as Grammarist notes, "the spelling spic and span existed before the product." I don't recall ever seeing it spelled with a K, though now Google and various dictionaries show that as the preferred spelling. Some years ago there was a controversy over the "spic" spelling because that word is a derogatory term in the states for a Hispanic person. I wonder if adding or emphasizing the K was meant to solve or avoid that problem. Or maybe it's British English vs. American English? Not sure. I would swear that spic and span is (or at least was) common usage in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty good with the Pop Culture but, yeah, some names and the songs they sing are foreign to me, too.
ReplyDeleteQuizzes, most trivia, are very current pop, and I'd need a prompter, an emergency phone call, and access to Google! You don't want me on your team!
ReplyDeleteLet us know what the upshot of the landlord's visit is. It's important to your future planning, we know.
That does sound like fun- going out to a quiz night. Or, as we say over here, "Trivia Night". It certainly helps to have a team made up of people with various interests. And ages.
ReplyDeleteSpic & Span is available at your local grocery and/or hardware stores!
ReplyDeleteI will be interested in hearing what your landlord has to say and if it means you two will be looking for a new place to live!
We will be waiting to hear how you did at quiz night! Hope you had fun!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was going to be another walk post - and that you'd walked from Quizzing to Luxembourg. Ha! I think maybe I need some more caffeine.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love the photo!
My pre-Covid quiz team used to win or come in second most times. Those times we came in second were always due to a high proportion of current pop culture questions and a younger challenging team.
ReplyDeleteThe strikes in the UK were all over the news last night but I'm guessing the teachers at your school were not part of that.
ReplyDeleteI watched a cute Scandinavian movie on Netflix last night called Dancing Queens. It was about a young girl who joins a troupe of drag performers. I enjoyed it. I also saw a documentary about the big scam to get rich kids into top schools called Operation Varsity Blues. It was very well done and quite interesting.
Good luck with Quiz Night. I'm looking forward to hearing how it went. And even more good luck with the landlords. Hope that goes well.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Rhode Island for about a year (1987-88) with my first husband who was teaching something there. I had no idea there was a country smaller than that very small state.
Quiz night sounds fun and yes, definitely need people of all ages for those pop culture questions.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with Quiz Night.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I passed through Luxembourg some 50 years ago, but I have no memory of their language at all! Had you asked me about it during Quiz Night, I would probably have replied French.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll tell us all about it tomorrow! Trivia games are always fun!!
We just finished season three of Jack Ryan. It was pretty good, except for the fight scenes went on a little too long. It seems like there must always be a car chase or an elongated fight. Did you ever follow the Inspector Morse series? There is now a prequel on Amazon Prime called Endeavor that traces his early years. It's pretty good, but you must pay attention, the plot is in the details.
ReplyDeleteI love Trivia/Quiz nights although, as you say, a mixed age group is best. I know nothing about current singers, rappers, actors, etc. I've never been to Luxembourg; the show sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteAll The Best On Both Accounts There Brother Reed
ReplyDeleteCheers
I don't have the patience any more to watch fictional series. Cooking and baking shows, yes, but otherwise I prefer one episode performances. My wife and I began watching "Dead Like Me" but I gave up on it after several episodes and she watched the rest and told me how it went when I questioned her. I know. I'm a jerk.
ReplyDeleteI used to love quiz nights. It's been years and years since I've been to one. I used to organise them for the Parents Association fundraisers when I was president. Great fun.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the landlords. Wishing for a quick, hassle free solution
-Caro
You also need an older person on your team who can answers such questions as "name the sons on the TV show Bonanza" and name the actors who played them.
ReplyDeleteI hope the damp issue gets solved and fixed quickly. Once mould gets a foot in the door it is very hard to get rid of.
Andrew: Yes, every team needs a sports expert -- though come to think of it we didn't have too many sports questions.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: It is a great (if cumbersome) name for a language! Humanity's tribal instincts, which probably helped us survive as cave people, will be our eventual undoing, I think.
Debby: It was VERY fun!
YP: See my answer above. :)
Bob: I am pretty hopeless at any pop music after about 2010.
Boud: I will definitely keep you posted on our anticipated renovations! (Probably more than you'd like! LOL)
Ms Moon: I always think of Hank while I'm quizzing! I wonder why it's not called trivia in the UK? That's a trivia question in itself.
Marcia: While reading up on the phrase spic and span (which I did to answer YP's question above) I learned that Spic and Span (the product) is no longer advertised on television because of sensitivity about the name. Can that be true?!
Ellen D: We triumphed!
Bug: "Quizzing" DOES sound like a British place name! LOL
Ed: Yeah, modern pop culture kills me every time.
Sharon: No, we're not striking. It's just public school teachers. I will look for those shows!
Robin: I think there are several, actually. San Marino, Vatican City and Liechtenstein are probably all smaller than Rhode Island as well!
Pixie: In the end we did have a pretty diverse team, thank goodness.
Colette: Thanks for the good vibes!
Kelly: It's subtle enough that if you don't know what they're speaking you might assume it's German with a French word thrown in here and there.
Allison: I LOVE "Endeavour" (as it's spelled here). It's been out for ages -- at least ten years. Weirdly, I've never watched Inspector Morse.
Margaret: Luxembourg is one of those places that you'd never visit without a reason.
Padre: Thank you! No treats for Olga today?!
Catalyst: Ha! Dave bows out of some of our shows. He gave up on "Capitani" and just does schoolwork while I watch it.
Caro: Did you have to write the quiz? Fortunately our school hires a professional quizmaster. That's 99 percent of the work, I think.
River: Yes! (I tried to name them myself and got two out of three -- I substituted Heath for Adam, but Heath was on "The Big Valley." I always get those shows confused.)
Good luck with the quiz night. You're right about a young person. I'm pretty good on Jeopardy -- till they get into trendy topics!
ReplyDeleteWe're in the deep freeze today -- double digit sub-zero wind chills and we might get to 6 later on! A good day to stay cozy. At least February is a short month! (And it's supposed to "warm up" in a few days!)