Atheista -

Hosting quiz nights is a tricky business. As much as you want to go crazy and make it as difficult as a Jeopardy round, a host (and the person who makes the questions) has to realize that the quiz night was created to make the people in the venue enjoy the game. It’s really a fine balance of pleasing the crowd and making it challenging enough to foster some healthy competition.

I think I’ve done that tonight. I had a mix of fairly easy and basic questions along with some relatively hard ones. I gave gimmes as well as deceptively simple/ complicated queries as well.

Here are the questions I used for tonight’s rounds. Continue Reading »

Viewed 34448 times by 2296 viewers

Hey guys, I will be co-hosting quiz night this Wednesday at Capricciosa along Connecticut St. in Greenhills. It costs nothing to play – just show up and try out the good food that Capricciosa serves. They also serve great cocktails so you can also get your booze fix if that’s your thing.

If you’ve always wanted to check out quiz night, this would be the perfect opportunity. I’ve taken pains to make sure that my questions would be interesting and at the same time, fun enough to be appreciated by just about anyone. I’m not in liberty to share the categories right now I can share now that there will be at least two categories on pop culture.

Please call 744-0689  to reserve a table. The game starts at around 945. It’s an awesome time to spend the middle of the week. If you’re not doing anything, please consider coming to quiz night. Who knows, you might start a new Wednesday habit.

See you there.

Viewed 33241 times by 2393 viewers

There aren’t a lot of good podcasts around so it’s definitely a welcome development when a group of eloquent and smart individuals decide to record and publish a regular podcast. Urban Exchange is a *almost* weekly podcast recorded by members of  Urban Fervor (a sports team that specializes in competitive pub quizzes!) . The mainstays of the podcast include Vinny Tagle, Fabian Mangahas and Leloy Claudio. These three are easily among the best debaters of my generation so they definitely have the chops in terms of coming up with engaging topics and exciting discussions.

The latest episode (E05) tackles the recent Jeopardy IBM special, the Grammys and the post-mortem on Valentine’s Day. If you like smart talk with the customary Arnneow accent, you’re definitely going to love this podcast. All the episodes of the Urban Exchange have been pretty good so far and the topics have been really varied and the discussion has been great.

You may also follow the Urban Exchange Podcasters (along with their bloggers) on Facebook! Just click “Like” on their page to get updates on your feed whenever there’s a new podcast or blog entry.

Viewed 29131 times by 2179 viewers

My friends and I are going to Cebu in a few days to play trivia.

Yup, you didn’t misread that first line.

This is probably the first time that someone is flying out to Cebu just to sit in a bar and compete against other tables in answering questions on things that would be generally not useful in any other context. Cebu Trivia Night has been making waves lately and this is why they have generously invited Manila-based quizzers to take part in the first ever Manila VS Cebu face-off. I don’t know what to expect but I’m sure it’s going to be really competitive.

The venue for this historic battle seems very fitting. Anzani will be hosting the event Friday so even if some teams end up not doing well, at least the food and the wine would be great. I will be updating you guys on how well Team Manila fares against the best of Cebu. I must add however that our good friends from Urban Fervor will not be able to make the trip due to their prior commitments and busy schedules. Hopefully, Urban Fervor gets a crack at Cebu in the near future.

Wish us luck!

Viewed 21170 times by 2234 viewers

I’ve been going out to play trivia for over a year now and it continues to be a very good night out activity for me instead of simply eating out in a restaurant or drinking in a bar. I like learning new stuff and competing against people who also want to win so going to quiz night is certainly an exhilarating experience at times – at least during the times when my team has a chance to win.

Here are the quiz night venues that I usually go to:

121 Grille and Restaurant

TUESDAY

Alegro Center, Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City

(02) 8560529

Continue Reading »

Viewed 18077 times by 2515 viewers

Unless Tool decides to visit the Philippines any time soon, I am convinced that the Deftones concert that I attended last Saturday is bound to be the best concert that I’ll see in the foreseeable future. Deftones simply pulled out the stops and delivered a set list that was next to extraordinary.

The band has been traveling across the world since late last year to promote their new album Diamond Eyes and their tour schedule have been really tight and they’ve been playing marathon sets of 24 or 25 songs per city that they play in. The fact that Deftones manages to get themselves ready in between shows to deliver a killer performance is absolutely bewildering – there’s almost something superhuman with how they do what they do.

Continue Reading »

Viewed 15395 times by 2122 viewers