Author: Johnny Goodtimes

Specific Jawns Pull Off Shocker at JGTSI

As my old hometown paper used to say, “A fine time was had by all.” Well, except perhaps for Steak Em up, who, after beating the Specific Jawns by 34 points on Thursday night, lost to them by 2 on Sunday night at the JGTSI. The quiz, which was also played in 6 other cities in across the US, and had Philly taking on those cities, was done in Denver style. That way, if Philly won, there could be no excuses from those Mile High morons who have quickly become our fiercest nerd rivals in the US. Final scores from other cities are coming soon. The Denver style quiz (which is a little heavier on pop culture and a little lighter on sports than mine) seemed to work out just fine for the Jawns, who played almost every week of the JGTSI without  getting a single win. But they brought their A-game on Sunday night, and when the dust settled, had a shocking 82-80 shutout of Steak Em Up. In addition to the questions, there was also a terrific performance from the Terrence Brown trio, and National Mechanics was a terrific venue for the event. I definitely want to do another event there soon. All of the scores are after the jump.

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Quizzo News and Notes

All the teams have received their JGTSI Summer Invitational invites, and Sunday at 7 p.m. at National Mechanics will represent Philly against our mortal enemies dear friends in Denver, Dallas, Albuquerque, Nashville, DC, and Austin. 8 rounds, 8 questions each, with the winning city accepting their trophy either in Austin or Philly, depending on who wins. We’ve got some top flight squads doing battle, and I’m hoping they all bring their A-game. We’ll average the scores of the top 5 teams and compare them with the top 5 teams in the 6  other cities to determine a winner. I’ll post the winning city on the site Monday. If you want to know instantly, follow me on twitter, as I’ll post it on the results the instant I get them on Sunday night.

New quiz starts Monday night! In addition to the bar tab prizes, I’ll have tix to give away and live music between rounds! Gonna be a great new quiz. Mondays at North Star Bar. If you have friends in the Fairmount area, spread the word please. Thanks!

Things We Learned at Quizzo…The Creepy Ghost Town of Pripyat

One of the questions last night at quizzo was, “The city of Pripyat is a ghost town because of something that happened in the 1980s. What was it?” Pretty easy question. The answer was Chernobyl. But while everyone knows the word “Chernobyl”, not everyone knows Pripyat. It was quite a bustling city, with 50,000 residents at the time of its evacuation (about the size of Harrisburg). There were schools, restaurants, cafes, playgrounds, a bus system, and even a ferris wheel (above). Of course, the accident didn’t just destroy the cities of Chernobyl (pop. 14,000) and Pripyat, but numerous nearby cities and towns. Ultimately about 350,000 people were evacuated (That would be the equivalent of evacuating Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.) And while it makes for an interesting trivia question, it is important to be reminded that all of those people had a story. Here is an excellent short film, called The Door, that reminds us of that. It is also worth noting that there is still a lot of controversy about what long-term effects the radiation had on first responders (known as liquidators), and how much money they should get from the government. Sound familiar?

Here are some incredible photos taken of Pripyat in 2006 by photog Tom Bossi. Well worth a look. Extremely creepy.  Speaking of creepy, check out this video of Pripyat before, during, and after the disaster.

A Few Notes About Sunday

Just a few quick reminders about Sunday. First of all, looking forward to hearing tunes from the great Terrence Brown Trio. Secondly, National Mechanics is hooking us up with some great specials. Here they are:

  • $2.50 Lagers
  • $3 off all pitchers (other than Lager)
  • $7 National Burgers (veggie or beef)

The quiz will start at 7 p.m., so I’d plan on being there a little earlier than that. We are doing a Denver style quiz. 8 rounds, 8 questions each. You saw how it worked a few weeks ago, but just as a refresher…don’t even think about jokering anything but rounds 2 and 8, since they are worth double the points. I’ll explain the rest that night. National Mechanics is located on 3rd, between Chestnut and Market. Great bar, great tunes, and at the end of the day, we’re going to make people in Dallas cry. What could be better than that?

3 Last Chances to Earn an Invite Tonight! (And ’80s Trivia w/ a Twist)

Well this is it. It’s all or nothing tonight. I’m going to open things up a bit, however. I am going to allow any team that finishes in the Top 3 tonight earn an invite to the City vs. City Smackdown on Sunday. And now that the smacktalk is starting on facebook, you might want to get in on this action. We are going to have a lot of fun with this.

There will be two 80s quizzes tonight. Koob and Kristy host one at Drinker’s West at 8 p.m., and I’ll be hosting 80s quizzes at Ugly American at 8 p.m. and Bards at 10:15 p.m. But there is a wrinkle in both. Mine won’t only be 1980s. There will also be questions about the 1880s, 1780s, 1680s, and so on. From Karate Kid to Krakatoa to Cornwallis, it’ll all be there. As for Koob and Kristy’s quiz, they’ll be hosting a round of 80s punk rock in addition to other questions about the 1980s.

And oh yeah, corn dogs are a buck at Ugly American, we’ll be giving away french fries at both bars, great beer specials at all 3, and the Phils-Giants game will be on the big screen at the Bards. Hope to see ya tonight!

Dallas, DC, and Terrence Brown Trio Added to City Vs. City Smackdown

Gonna be an early NFC East matchup on Sunday, as in addition to Albuquerque and Denver, we’ll also be taking on teams in Dallas and DC. Here’s how it will work:

Our top 5 team scores will be measured against those 4 cities’ top 5 scores. Whoever averages the highest will be the winner, and that city will receive the Cup, which will be presented at either Geek Bowl or Quizzo Bowl (depending on who wins). If Philly wins, we get to name the cup whatever we want, and we can defend it anytime we want.

The event starts this Sunday at National Mechanics at 7 p.m. The Terrence Brown trio will be entertaining between rounds. We had them perform a couple of years ago at an event at Urban Saloon and they were terrific. If you want to earn an invite, and have not received one yet, you can do so by either finishing first or second in one of our quizzes this week. You’ve got four more chances to be a part of the excitement and help bring the Cup to Philadelphia. If anyone has any questions, please post them below.