HLAD

And I knew who wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.  We worked out what a chukka is in polo; and the incomplete jerk who is Mitt Romney’s running mate.  I also worked out the name of the country which has LIETUVA on its stamps.

We weren’t perfect on every question.  I didn’t know at all who produced the recent albums 19 and 21.  I am not familiar with Adele’s portfolio at all.  With eleven rounds of four questions each we were consistently getting three out of four questions for most rounds.  It allowed us to come second.  A member from church provided a table of prizes from a box of unwanted gifts.  I took the toilet bag.  I don’t have one and it would be useful.   Somebody else took Josh Kronfeld’s autobiography and all the weet-bix All-Black bowls went.

That was fun.  We should do it again.

During the evening the PTA raised around £275 for the school.  A great start towards our target, which is to raise sufficient money to fund new interactive whiteboards for the school.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the evening such a success.

With inspirational quizmaster Ed Blackmore at the helm, assisted by ‘the lovely Heidi Norman on the old scoreboard’, success was assured.  And talking of success, first place went to Helen Myerscough’s Team ‘Girls & Boys Allowed’; but better still all the profits went to the charity Help for Heroes.   And if you’re wondering… Punch, Oscar Wilde, and Lisa Riley.

Maybe no gold, but there is certainly a JACKPOT at the end of this rainbow on Thursday night!

Over £260 is up for grabs at the Play Your Cards game at the Quiz Night on Thursday 18th October.

Strips of 5 numbers are £1 – if your number is drawn you get to play the popular game – Will it be “HIGHER” or “LOWER”.

The Quiz is free-to-enter and contains anagrams, picture and music rounds. A MEAL to be won for the winners!

Although I am a naturally restless person, I have been going a little bit crazy in the last few days waiting for everything to start. Of course, I have these wildly romanticized pictures in my head of how brilliant and perfect it will be, but I have trouble actually knowing where to start. Last night, though, I went to my first official New College event and discovered just how simple it is to make connections (both good and, well, not so good).

By the way, in case I haven’t explained before, I am studying at New College for the term and, along with being one of the largest of the Oxford colleges, it is also one of the most spectacularly built. I find myself laughing to myself every time I go there because of how ABSURD it is that I am actually going to school there.

But back to my surprising experience of the night. As an American, I am still amazed at the fact that every college has a full bar on campus and that there are drinks served at most introductory meetings. I’m learning that this is more of British thing than it is a college thing, but the way in which people drink is free and shameless, and I find it hilariously ironic. Following the information meeting for the rowing team, I went with one of my flatmates and our new British friend, Michael, to a “Pop Quiz” night in the New College pub. Forced by the lack of seating in the bar, we ended up sitting with the entire rugby team, a big group of loud and lively guys who also, conveniently enough, all happened to be members of the drinking club on campus. We all combined to form a team for the quiz (basically an assortment of questions in several categories, including science, art, literature, music, geography, and pop culture) and my highly competitive self couldn’t help but think that I had chosen the absolute worst table to sit at if I was to have any shot at winning.

This is where the irony begins.

Back in high school, I observed (with not much difficulty) that the standard for popularity was determined almost exclusively by drinking. Of course, there was always that super-elite group that had it all–money, good looks, good fashion sense, frequent and easy access to alcohol, etc–but even if you were not a part of the highest few, you were still a step up in the social heirarchy if you drank than if you didn’t. There was little else that separated the gods and the goddesses from the losers at table four. However, it was also understood that there was usually an inverse ratio between how popular a person was and how intelligent they were. This, in a cliche high school setting, gave the “losers” a leg up: even if they suffered from social isolation, at least they were smart. The “cool kids” were cool because they drank and partied on the weekends, but they were expected to be idiots. Neither side had it all together.

Sitting at a table with about 15 big, loud, and drunk rugby players, I expected what my American school experience had taught me; however, as soon as those quiz questions were asked, the table erupted with debate over answers about physics, literature, history, and medicine. All would go silent as each question was being read and then would explode with a combination of foolishnesss and incredible intelligence. It was absolutely hysterical to watch as two jocks verbally sparred over the technical name for a certain molecule or medication and chugged pints of beer with shots of Smirnoff in them at the same time. I could hardly contain myself. I suppose I should have known; all of them are Oxford students, after all. Regardless, by the end of the night, the carefully defined roles that made up the social hierarchy in my mind were completely shattered and I had laughed so hard that my stomach hurt.

For those of you who are concerned, no, I will not come back from this semester as a total drunk or as one who compromises who I am for the sake of a good time. But as an observer, I am more than happy to have experiences that inspire me to think about who I am, where I come from, and who I can be in the grand scheme of this enormous world. Though I was not drinking, last night allowed me to spend some time living outside of the social box, and for that I am appreciative. My world just got a little bit bigger.

Inn was packed and we saw some new faces. Our theme tonight was “Guess the Song”

FIRST
MicheyJones – 6 points

SECOND
Adara Tae
Sharon Scofield – both with 4 points

THIRD
Lotus Ceriano
Eye Nostram – both with 3 points

FOURTH
Midnight Saphire – 1 point

Do keep reading and commenting on the blog, and if you have a story to tell please just give it to Lesley, Magnus or myself.

Last night’s quiz lived up to it’s name and was truly awesome, if a little hard – or was that just me? It’s obvious that Matt put a lot of work into the questions – it’s a shame that the same can’t be said about the amount of work we put into answering them! I really hope that everyone that attended enjoyed the evening as much as me and the rest of Cash Office did. Matt did a brilliant job as question master and compere and I’d really like to thank him for all the effort he put into making the event so successful. It’s not easy trying to keep us all in line!

It was particulary nice to welcome a Gambian National, Alieu Badara Sowe a.k.a. Borom Nyari Jassiyi – try saying that after a few drinks (former Radio syd DJ in The Gambia) to the event.

The worthy winners Tom, Kev, Andy, Ian and Sarah were presented with trophies to mark their achievement.

Andy’s missing from this photo but didn’t escape altogether, all the team photos are below.

The proud winners with their trophies!

My team came second and were presented with runners-up medals, with the inscription – I was let down by my team so came 2nd! I think that says it all.

The runners-up

Here are some pictures of the teams involved

Tickets cost £3 per person.  You also have the option of including a fish ‘n chips dinner which will be delivered from Golden Plaice in Harpenden for an additional £4 per person.

Bring your own alcohol, soft drinks and nibbles.

There will be fun filled questions throughout the night on various subjects with a break halfway through for food, drinks and a natter.

It promises to be a really fun night out so line up your babysitters and come spend a highly entertaining evening at the school!  Family, friends and neighbours welcome – the more the merrier.

Teams of up to 6 people per table.  If you can’t get a team of 6 together on your own let us know and we’ll help put you into teams with others who are also short of numbers.  Likewise, if you can’t get babysitters why not have a mums/dads table while the other one babysits…

Prize for the winning team!    Raffle with great prizes!

Please return booking slips to the school office together with payment as soon as possible – tables are booking fast! Payment should be in a sealed envelope marked for the attention of the PTA.  (Cheques should be made payable to “The Lea School Association”.)

For more information contact: leaschoolpta@hotmail.co.uk or 07507 174 199 or speak to Vanessa Mason in the playground (Y1 mum).

Quiz Night Reply Slip

The quiz took place on August 18th.

Entry and buffet were free.

From the moment of their arrival our group was made to feel welcome. There were plates of nibbles on each table which was constantly being replenished and then after the quiz everyone was invited  to a buffet meal including lavish desserts.

Six teams participated in the quiz -

* St James Methodist Church were the well deserved winners.

*The home team (Church on the Rise) came second

* All Saints Famous Five consisted of Martin, Julie, Ian, Michelle and Theresa won a bronze

* Christchurch – two groups came 4th and 5th

*Last but not least was a local youth team.

A wonderful, fun evening was experienced by all who participated.

In this week’s newsletter:  School Reports , Quiz Night, PTA Meeting, End of Year Outing, ERO Visit, Annual School Survey, Friday Lunchtime, Sausages/Wheels Day, Gully Days.

‘Ludwig’s Losers’ took home the gold medal after a closely fought – but entirely jovial – contest.

As the photos below show, competition was fierce to get to the buffet too!

In this week’s newsletter: Reports, Quiz Night, Olympic Sports Day, ERO, Production, Pool Heating, Wheels Day, Friday Lunches, Gully Days, Signing In/Out, Fruit Break.

Volunteers will collect items from your house to sell twice a year – the first collection will be the weekend of 22/23 September giving you plenty of time to think about a clear out over the summer holidays!

• Quiz Night – Friday, 19 October 2012

The PTA will be holding a Quiz Night on Friday, 19th October. We thought we’d give as much advance notice as possible so that you can line up your babysitters and spend a highly entertaining evening at the school. Family, friends and neighbours welcome – the more the merrier.

The Quiz Night will take place on 22nd July at Mount Tabor from 7-9pm and is open to individuals and teams, so come on your own or bring friends and family and join in the fun. As well as the quiz we’ll be joined by Rachel Taylor and friends who be playing us some live music as we enjoy some refreshments. The quiz is free to enter but we will be making a collection on the night for Chaucer Schools own charity – the Ubunye Project which is planning it’s second expedition to Port Elizabeth, South Africa in February 2013.

So tell your friends …. and come join in the fun.