- First off, congratulations are in order for Quiz Night With Katie, who recently hosted her 200th quiz! It is one of my favourites, and at this point probably the longest-running quiz in town. May she host 200 more.
- Following up on the heels of their Harry Potter trivia night, The Biltmore is getting into the action with two quizzes this week: The second coming of Punk Rock Trivia, and a Game Of Thrones night, hosted by sometime–blog contributor IQ 2000.
- And speaking of IQ 2000, there's quite a bit of news coming from his direction. This Tuesday will mark the final quiz night at Mr. Brownstone. But fear not! Mr. Brownstone's is merely changing owners, and after a period of renovation, should be back with a new name and the same quiz.
- IQ 2000's Sunday night gig at Rowan's Roof has shifted venues, and you can now catch his impeccable slideshow at The King's Head in Kits.
- I got the chance to go to the Portside's quiz, and I'll hopefully have a review up in the next few weeks.
- Finally: Once again, I wrangled up a team of friends to head to Geek Bowl, North America's largest pub quiz. Geek Bowl IX was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was once again an excellent time. It was a white knuckle ride featuring the Dan Band, a Dance Round (!), and more beer than normal. In the end, we cracked the top 10, and came in ninth place out of 140 of the top quiz teams in North America. Don't believe me? Check out the official standings. Next year, we're gunning for a podium finish!
Showing posts with label Mr Brownstone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mr Brownstone. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Quiz Digest: Year of the Sheep edition
Happy new year, to those of you inclined to a lunar calendar! I've been quite busy lately, so I apologize for the lack of updates. The plus side is that I get to share a whole bunch of news with you today.
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Nobody Suspects A Thing
Canada Day is fast approaching, and what better way to celebrate than with a quiz? I suppose I can think of few, but they all involve extenuating circumstances, so let's just leave those off the table for now. So, as a gift to you, my fellow Canadian residents and transients, I present with two new quizzes! Or rather, two quizzes heretofore unknown to me. Although I am octopus-like in some respects, I can assure that I am a completely normal human being, and thus cannot be everywhere at once. Anyhow.
Vancouver Trivia Party (is now/has been for some time) running two weekly pub quizzes. You'll find one on Tuesdays at The Academic in Kits, and the other on Wednesdays, at the Blarney Stone in the loins of Gastown. Both quizzes advertise a 7:30 start time. I haven't had the chance to attend either yet, but given the name and the locale, it sounds like it will be a riotous occasion indeed.
Will your local quiz be running on Canada Day? Beats me! You may want to check ahead of time just to be sure though. I can tell you for certain that my local Tuesday quiz at Mr Brownstone will not be running Canada Day. If you fear you may suffer from IQ2000 trivia withdrawal, fear not, as Mr IQ2000 will be running a special one-off quiz at Rowan's Roof, in Kitsilano.
Vancouver Trivia Party (is now/has been for some time) running two weekly pub quizzes. You'll find one on Tuesdays at The Academic in Kits, and the other on Wednesdays, at the Blarney Stone in the loins of Gastown. Both quizzes advertise a 7:30 start time. I haven't had the chance to attend either yet, but given the name and the locale, it sounds like it will be a riotous occasion indeed.
Will your local quiz be running on Canada Day? Beats me! You may want to check ahead of time just to be sure though. I can tell you for certain that my local Tuesday quiz at Mr Brownstone will not be running Canada Day. If you fear you may suffer from IQ2000 trivia withdrawal, fear not, as Mr IQ2000 will be running a special one-off quiz at Rowan's Roof, in Kitsilano.
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Mr Brownstone
Head up: Mr Brownstone is no more, but I'm told the quiz will return at the same location once the new owners open up.
A quick word: The quiz at Mr Brownstone is run by IQ 2000 Trivia, a quiz company started by my friend Mike. If you were really paying attention, you would also remember when I said that he is the very same Mike who writes reviews for us here. I guess you could call this "Full Disclosure." Set you indignity level accordingly, and let's get started.
Where: Mr Brownstone Bar and Grill, 2904 Main Street
When: 7pm, every Tuesday. It has been pretty full the last few weeks, so showing up ahead of time would be a smart idea.
Web Presence: As mentioned the quiz is run by Mike Whitaker, aka IQ 2000 Trivia. Their (The royal Their) facebook page will keep you reminded of upcoming quizzes, drops subtle hints, and will keep you entertained with quiz questions throughout the week.
Team Info: I think there is a team size limit of seven, but it isn't too strictly enforced. There have been no 12 person mega-teams as of yet, so this rule has kind of been a technicality.
Format: Four rounds of 10 questions each. In practise it is more like 2 rounds of 20 questions each, with teams swapping papers to mark at the intermission after round 2. Slideshow accompaniment as well, which is nice.
Prizes: For a quiz with two official sponsors, the prizes are a pretty pedestrian pitcher of beer for the top two teams. Not that a gift pitcher should be looked in the mouth or... wait... Nope. Crossed my wires on that comparison, so let's move on. Last week 4 passes to the Scotiabank Theater went to the winning team, so it looks like the prize pool could be expanding.
Food and drink: I'd never given much thought to the food and drink at Mr. Brownstone before, but now that I've been there I actually like it quite a bit. Their tap selection is smaller than most craft beer bars, but it is well maintained with local beers and several interesting microbrews from the US. The food is good, and Tuesday is cheap taco night. I haven't had them yet, but all reports I've heard are that it is tasty.
Did you used to quiz a little, and then a little wouldn't do it, so you need to quiz more and more? Do you want to participate in a quiz on Tuesday, but can't be bothered to leave Mount Pleasant? Well, worry no longer - the fine people at Mr Brownstone Bar and Grill have heard the cries of the voiceless, and given us a great quiz to those of us who live South of Broadway and East of the Main.
I was curious to see how Mike (We remember him, right? I don't need to say that he writes for us sometimes again? I already did? Great!) would handle the transition from quizzer to host. Not that I doubted his ability for a second, but I was excited to see how he would synthesize his myriad opinions on quiz into an actual, living, breathing, hosted organism. The good news is that after a long and complicated labour, the result is a quiz that combines the best of most worlds. It is a fast paced, funny, and interesting quiz, accompanied by a multimedia presentation which, while a few steps short of spectacle, just may be the best in the town. It is pretty clear from the start that a lot of care went into the making of this quiz. The answers are often accompanied by short film clips, snazzy pictures, Goldie the singing waitress, and total system restarts from the high quality ASUS laptop running the slideshow.
So that's the show, but what about the questions themselves? You can't put lipstick on a pig, or so I'm told (though Google Image Search disagrees). The questions are quite good, traversing a wide range of topics, and spanning the spectrum of difficulty. The standard quiz topics you are used to make their appearances - Geography, Drinks, Sports and History, but you'll also see more questions that don't commonly get touched on - internet culture, video games, fashion, Canadiana and more detailed questions on TV shows/movies. It's a lot of fun to see people flexing their deep knowledge about Adrian Mole, or show that they were paying attention in between games of Street Fighter II, or recalling old Bob Newhart routines. IQ 2000 is not shy at all about throwing legitimately challenging questions in there, which I love. For the most part the quiz is fair and fun, but there are definitely a few questions that will separate the brains from the super-brains. After all, we can't have tiebreakers every week.
Kick him on down the line: A challenging and broad quiz that will be a lot of fun for everyone, from quiz maniacs to people just looking to have some fun.
A quick word: The quiz at Mr Brownstone is run by IQ 2000 Trivia, a quiz company started by my friend Mike. If you were really paying attention, you would also remember when I said that he is the very same Mike who writes reviews for us here. I guess you could call this "Full Disclosure." Set you indignity level accordingly, and let's get started.
 |
| It's not actually so easy |
When: 7pm, every Tuesday. It has been pretty full the last few weeks, so showing up ahead of time would be a smart idea.
Web Presence: As mentioned the quiz is run by Mike Whitaker, aka IQ 2000 Trivia. Their (The royal Their) facebook page will keep you reminded of upcoming quizzes, drops subtle hints, and will keep you entertained with quiz questions throughout the week.
Team Info: I think there is a team size limit of seven, but it isn't too strictly enforced. There have been no 12 person mega-teams as of yet, so this rule has kind of been a technicality.
Format: Four rounds of 10 questions each. In practise it is more like 2 rounds of 20 questions each, with teams swapping papers to mark at the intermission after round 2. Slideshow accompaniment as well, which is nice.
Prizes: For a quiz with two official sponsors, the prizes are a pretty pedestrian pitcher of beer for the top two teams. Not that a gift pitcher should be looked in the mouth or... wait... Nope. Crossed my wires on that comparison, so let's move on. Last week 4 passes to the Scotiabank Theater went to the winning team, so it looks like the prize pool could be expanding.
Food and drink: I'd never given much thought to the food and drink at Mr. Brownstone before, but now that I've been there I actually like it quite a bit. Their tap selection is smaller than most craft beer bars, but it is well maintained with local beers and several interesting microbrews from the US. The food is good, and Tuesday is cheap taco night. I haven't had them yet, but all reports I've heard are that it is tasty.
Did you used to quiz a little, and then a little wouldn't do it, so you need to quiz more and more? Do you want to participate in a quiz on Tuesday, but can't be bothered to leave Mount Pleasant? Well, worry no longer - the fine people at Mr Brownstone Bar and Grill have heard the cries of the voiceless, and given us a great quiz to those of us who live South of Broadway and East of the Main.
I was curious to see how Mike (We remember him, right? I don't need to say that he writes for us sometimes again? I already did? Great!) would handle the transition from quizzer to host. Not that I doubted his ability for a second, but I was excited to see how he would synthesize his myriad opinions on quiz into an actual, living, breathing, hosted organism. The good news is that after a long and complicated labour, the result is a quiz that combines the best of most worlds. It is a fast paced, funny, and interesting quiz, accompanied by a multimedia presentation which, while a few steps short of spectacle, just may be the best in the town. It is pretty clear from the start that a lot of care went into the making of this quiz. The answers are often accompanied by short film clips, snazzy pictures, Goldie the singing waitress, and total system restarts from the high quality ASUS laptop running the slideshow.
So that's the show, but what about the questions themselves? You can't put lipstick on a pig, or so I'm told (though Google Image Search disagrees). The questions are quite good, traversing a wide range of topics, and spanning the spectrum of difficulty. The standard quiz topics you are used to make their appearances - Geography, Drinks, Sports and History, but you'll also see more questions that don't commonly get touched on - internet culture, video games, fashion, Canadiana and more detailed questions on TV shows/movies. It's a lot of fun to see people flexing their deep knowledge about Adrian Mole, or show that they were paying attention in between games of Street Fighter II, or recalling old Bob Newhart routines. IQ 2000 is not shy at all about throwing legitimately challenging questions in there, which I love. For the most part the quiz is fair and fun, but there are definitely a few questions that will separate the brains from the super-brains. After all, we can't have tiebreakers every week.
Kick him on down the line: A challenging and broad quiz that will be a lot of fun for everyone, from quiz maniacs to people just looking to have some fun.
 |
| But they do get a free pitcher of beer! |
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Yet more quizzes?!?!
The boom cycle of quizzes in Vancouver continues - I'm pleased to have found out about 2 new quizzes tonight, one which is currently running, and one which will start up next week. First off, Displace Hashery is running a Monday night quiz, aptly titled "Quizplace" - weekly at 8:30PM. Secondly, The Locker Room Pub on Kingsway will be starting a trivia night on Thursday evenings as of May 1st. It will be hosted by IQ 2000, aka our very own Mike, who has seen some success at Mr. Brownstone in recent weeks. Speaking of that devil, look for a review of said quiz coming soon! Spoiler alert: it is a lot of fun. After that, I'll be doing by best to venture into deepest, darkest Kits to attend The Bimini's quiz night, which likewise sounds like a good time.
It is officially more work to go to every quiz night in the city than I ever thought it would be.
It is officially more work to go to every quiz night in the city than I ever thought it would be.
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
New Quiz Announcement(s)
<Professor Farnsworth.jpg>
It is always fun to be able to report on a new pub quiz coming out, and today I get to do it twice.
First off, the second annual North Shore Writers Festival literary trivia quiz is coming up next month on Friday, April 11 from 8:30-10 pm at the North Vancouver City Library (14th and Lonsdale). As someone who likes to look at words on pages, I'm quite excited. I hope to see you there. As an added bonus, it is hosted by none other than CBC's own Grant Lawrence.
Next up, is even better news - a new weekly pub quiz is springing up at Mr Brownstone Bar and Grill on Main Street. The first edition will run Tuesday, April 14th at 7pm, and I'm going to guess that it'll run onTuesdays after that. Good news, since the Mount Pleasant has been without a weekly quiz for a while, and better news, since Vancouver Pub Quiz's own Mike will be running the show! I promise I won't let him write the review for this one. He knows his stuff, and I expect it to be a fun time - I plan to be there.
The only possible downside, is that this new quiz only adds to the embarrassment of quizzes on Tuesday nights - baby makes 9. Hopefully the next few to pop up decide that Monday is also a perfectly good night for a quiz. We've only got 3, making our most quiz-deprived night of the week.
And if you've read this far, you may as well keep reading - the QuizUp app for Android was released a few days ago, and if you like trivia and haven't tried it yet, it's a lot of fun. If you want to play a game, hit me up - my user name is Vancouverpubquiz, appropriately enough. It is an excellent <strike>time waster</strike> study tool.
It is always fun to be able to report on a new pub quiz coming out, and today I get to do it twice.
First off, the second annual North Shore Writers Festival literary trivia quiz is coming up next month on Friday, April 11 from 8:30-10 pm at the North Vancouver City Library (14th and Lonsdale). As someone who likes to look at words on pages, I'm quite excited. I hope to see you there. As an added bonus, it is hosted by none other than CBC's own Grant Lawrence.
Next up, is even better news - a new weekly pub quiz is springing up at Mr Brownstone Bar and Grill on Main Street. The first edition will run Tuesday, April 14th at 7pm, and I'm going to guess that it'll run onTuesdays after that. Good news, since the Mount Pleasant has been without a weekly quiz for a while, and better news, since Vancouver Pub Quiz's own Mike will be running the show! I promise I won't let him write the review for this one. He knows his stuff, and I expect it to be a fun time - I plan to be there.
The only possible downside, is that this new quiz only adds to the embarrassment of quizzes on Tuesday nights - baby makes 9. Hopefully the next few to pop up decide that Monday is also a perfectly good night for a quiz. We've only got 3, making our most quiz-deprived night of the week.
And if you've read this far, you may as well keep reading - the QuizUp app for Android was released a few days ago, and if you like trivia and haven't tried it yet, it's a lot of fun. If you want to play a game, hit me up - my user name is Vancouverpubquiz, appropriately enough. It is an excellent <strike>time waster</strike> study tool.
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