Last night Dave and I went to a quiz night with a group of work colleagues at a pub in Paddington. This is the view from a footbridge over the Grand Union Canal, looking toward St. Mary's Hospital. I was amazed I was able to convince Dave to go -- he's not really a party person and his quiz knowledge is scant on certain aspects of contemporary pop culture. But then, so is mine!
In the end we didn't do too badly. All three teams tied within half a point. We had a brief audience rebellion when the quizmaster asked which of four buildings celebrated their 50th anniversary this year, and then insisted the answer was the Eiffel Tower! No, no, a thousand times NO! I voted for the Sydney Opera House, which I'm certain is correct. I'm not sure how the quizmaster got the answers mixed up but at any rate she threw out the question. Maybe she was just trying to make sure we were paying attention.
We had an event in the library yesterday so I spent most of my time working on the shelves. I also sorted out repair plans for our dishwasher, which involved sending a video of the problem to not one but two people. It's a very boring eight-second video of flashing lights on the control panel. Now the repair guy is supposed to come on Tuesday. I hope he can fix our existing machine (which is about eight years old, if I remember correctly) but I suspect he'll be bringing a whole new dishwasher. Of course that comes out of the landlords' pockets, not ours. (Well, not directly, anyway!)
Here's my November "Florida Memory" postcard, from my mystery correspondent in Jacksonville. This shows the Mermaid submarine boat (whatever that is) at Rainbow Springs in 1955 or thereabouts. Rainbow Springs is west of Ocala near the town of Dunnellon, where I found the Blues Brothers years ago.
It's interesting how many of these old archival photos show Florida's rivers, springs and swimming holes, rather than beaches. Perhaps the emphasis on tourism decades ago was more about natural attractions, although I suppose Miami Beach was already a hot spot by then. It certainly wasn't about theme parks, which didn't even exist. Those were the days!
Your previous post about going to the musical is delightful! My bird used to whistle Totoro’s theme song incessantly, it is firmly lodged in my brain. That will
ReplyDeleteBe fun. Congratulations on not sucking at trivia games in the pub, I sort of enjoy watching “ pointless” at five every evening. The-questions can be so, welll, Pointless.
And I agree that those were the days, before the commercial madness.
I don't know if I would enjoy a quiz night although I did used to love Trivial Pursuit. And, yeah, it's pretty certain the Eiffel Tower is more than 50 years old (by 80+ years). I love the postcard and it got me googling “Rainbow Springs mermaid submarine boat.” I found great info and an interior photo at floridamemory.com.
ReplyDeleteOn numerous occasions I have encountered wrong answers at quizzes. Frustratingly, we always have to suck up the solution that is on the quizmaster's answer sheet. Invariably, pub quizzes in this country are produced by a small company based in Barlborough - not far from Sheffield - called "Red Tooth".
ReplyDeleteA submarine boat. That's a queer thing.
ReplyDeleteI note YP commented on your 2016 post. He must be a great long time friend to you?
Your Paddo photo is terrific. The canal area there is an amazing part of London.
Surely everyone knows the Eiffel tower is much older.
ReplyDeleteEiffel Tower is way off. Thatw oman should be barred for life! I kid.
ReplyDeleteLove the mermaid boat; we lived on a canal why living there and I didn't see one mermaid!
I like that first photo of the canal. Do people live on those long boats there or are they just passing through? It all looks so pretty with the lights at night.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a fun evening. Eiffel? 50? No way!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a new dishwasher! that's always a treat.
Have a terrific rest of the weekend. By the way, did you watch "This England" (BBC) with Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson -- six episodes about the situation with Covid in England at the time of Brexit and Johnson's tenure beginning. I'm mesmerized!
I believe the submarine boat had an underneath area with glass so that people could see beneath the water.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the dishwasher!
I wonder if that's a glass bottom boat. I rode in one somewhere in Florida, lovely experience to be safely dry while watching the fish darting about.
ReplyDeleteI've no doubt the repair people will start by unplugging and replugging the thing! As if you hadn't thought of that.
I wouldn't like to be a quiz master with a faulty answer sheet. But I think I'd check ahead to be sure not to commit that Eiffel tower goof.
all appliances are engineered to irreparably fail every 7 or 8 years these days. I dread having to replace our refrigerator when the time comes. I don't need one that delivers cold and hot water or ice or tells me what I'm out of or that I can program from my phone or gets up and dances and sings. I just want one that keeps the frozen stuff frozen and the cold stuff cold.
ReplyDeleteTrivia nights are fun.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved trivia nights and I've successfully argued my case more than once. It is much easier with an encyclopedia in my front pocket that looks like a smarter version of a cellphone!
ReplyDeleteOh, my, the Eiffel Tower? That's so far off as to be laughable! I used to do quite a few Trivia nights prior to the pandemic and haven't gotten back into it.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought it would be fun to have a local pub with the opportunity to participate in quiz nights - especially if it was within walking distance. (which nothing is where I live)
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Almighty Google, the Eiffel Tower is 133 years old and the Sydney Opera House is 64 so everybody failed that question. Unless, of course, Google made a mistake or two also.
ReplyDeleteLinda Sue: Our go-to trivia show is "Eggheads" on Channel 5.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: OK, I did the same Google search. NOW I see how it works!
YP: Well, in this case, she threw out the question rather than making us tolerate her answer, which I found admirable. I guess it wouldn't have affected the score since every team missed it anyway.
Andrew: YP has been around here a long, long time!
Tasker: Well, you would think so! But apparently not our quizmaster. I'd love to know what she read and where to make her believe the Eiffel Tower is only 50 years old.
Bob: Well, she did more or less admit her mistake, at least!
Ellen D: People DO live on them! In fact, in London, they're known as a relatively inexpensive housing option.
Jeanie: I haven't seen it but I've heard about it! We should put it on our list of things to watch.
Ms Moon: Since I wrote this post I've looked up pictures of the entire craft and yes, you're spot-on.
Boud: Yeah, we've tried cutting the power. Didn't do any good. The famous glass-bottom boats are at Silver Springs, and they're similar but they only show fish from above. The submarine boats actually bring people below the waterline to view fish from the side.
Ellen: Well, this one lasted exactly that long! It's so ridiculous and wasteful. I'm with you on refrigerators. Ours is more than ten years old so it's only a matter of time.
Red: They are! They're very popular in England.
Ed: A good trivia contest is written to avoid any need to argue a case!
Margaret: Right?! What was she thinking?!
Kelly: We have quite a few around here but we don't go to pubs very often. We just watch trivia shows on TV!
Catalyst: Hmmmm...the information I have shows the Sydney Opera House opening in 1973. Maybe it depends on whether you judge a structure's age by its opening date or the date it began construction?
You are correct. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973 and is marking it's 50th anniversary this year. Construction began in 1959.
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