poetry, friends, and another trivia night

work's fine, but i am a little on the tired side this week. must be my usual september low, i get that every year.

more poetry - though not as frantically writing as on the weekend, mainly because i have less time, i suspect. strange poems, too, that come upon me. i don't think i can be held completely responsible, it must be my muse running amok. ;)

finally saw our friend tom last night, he joined us at the crossfield's for another trivia night. unfortunately babs could not make it, though her boyfriend andi was there.

and for those who are in need of some brain gymnastics (or want to test their google skills *L*), here are last night's questions:

1. in what year did paul gauguin die: 1903, 1907 or 1910?
2. what is/was a dodo?
3. everyone has heard of SARS. what is it an abbreviation for?
4. anna mae bullock, daughter of a cotton picker, became famous under what stage name?
5. was robin hood real or was he a legend?
6. how did the greeks in the ancient world call corsica?
7. what is the capital of bosnia?
8. how many triple word scores are on a scrabble board?
9. name the hunchback of notre dame!
10. what are the colourfully dressed guards who protect the pope called?
11. on what date was elvis presley born?
12. when was the first album of the beatles released: 1961, 1962 or 1963?
13. when was the second album of the beatles released?
14. what game uses wickets, mallets and wooden balls?
15. in which musical do they sing about jellicle balls?
16. what song does the monty python film "the life of brian" end with?
17. the philippines count 7017 islands. how many of them are inhabited: 2000, 3000 or 4000?
18. which are the first and last letters of the greek alphabet?
19. what is "slowly" in italian?
20. what is a palindrome?

we got 16 right. could have been more. take SARS, for instance. we HAD the right definition, but discarded it because we though it did no sound right, not very scientific. go figure. we nearly got the island question right, but at the last moment wrote down the wrong number. and for some reason, our memory let us down re: scrabble triple word scores. and well, who on earth knows the old greek name for corsica? we got a consolation prize though, some drink served in what looked very much like test tubes. but hey, next week, next week we'll get you. especially those who got 19 out of 20 yesterday!

a letter from rachael today, my aussie friend - i love getting such chatty letters, it's lovely to sit down with a cup of tea to read. and she sent 2 cds too - tahiti80 and james blunt. so, since i am listening to that right now, i guess it's a james blunt day, music-wise. :)