ShanRock's Triviology – Portland Oregon » 2009

Archive for March, 2009

Adventure Coming Your Way!

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

As some of you know, the good people that brought you Superbad are soon to release a new film set in the 80s entitled Adventureland. In support of its imminent release (4/3/09), the film’s promotion company has asked me to host an 80s themed quiz night, for which they will provide prizes (T-shirts and soundtrack CDs)! I’m still sorting out the details of the date and venue for this event, but it will probably be in a couple of weeks. I just might have time to knit myself a new pair of leg warmers!

Folks, you seemed to like my recent Peter’s picture ID round so much, that I’m going to do it again this Wednesday! In this round, I take advantage of the nice big plasma TV, combine it with my sweet digital camera, and challenge your knowledge of local sites. The winning team gets $25 to the bar, and everybody that plays trivia gets happy hour prices! To warm you up for the picture ID round, see if you can spot the trophy I awarded to TJ BrentBird at the Clash of the Trivia Titans in this photo (I’ve hidden it amonst his G.I. Joe collection, E.T.-style):

Speaking of local trivia, did you know that Portland has a great annual comedy festival? Indeed it does, and this year’s line-up of The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is pretty effing impressive, including dozens of great comedians at several southeast venues, including my soon-to-be-new-best-friend-forever-and-ever Janeane Garofalo! Check out the website, where you can view clips from last year’s comics, and buy your tickets now! And, if you’d like to find out how your trivia knowledge stacks up against some of Portland’s finest comics, do a “double-dip” on Sundays . . . for some reason, the Triviology double-shot of East Burn at 6:00 & Ladd’s Inn at 9:00 is when they like to come out to play.

Have a great Saint Patrick’s Day, everybody! No trivia on Tuesday, by the way – Sewickly’s will have their hands full on this drinker’s holiday! Oh, and ShanRock’s Triviology is on Twitter now, if you want to “follow” me, or whatever. I’m not sure what this new thing is that the kids are doing, but I’m giving it a try, anyway!

Here are the champions for the week of 3/8/09 – 3/12/09:

Sunday @ 6:00
East Burn
1800 E. Burnside
DR. SPACEMAN

Sunday @ 9:00
Ladd’s Inn
1204 SE Clay
WHERE’S JENNY’S PUSSY?

Monday @ 8:00
Hawthorne Hideaway
2221 SE Hawthorne
THE WHOLE SICK CREW: WEST

Tuesday @ 7:30
Sewickly’s
4901 SE Hawthorne
RELEASE THE KRAKEN

Wednesday @ 8:00
Peter’s 19th Hole
5701 NE Fremont
GRANDMASTER KARYN AND THE FIGHTIN’ FIVE

Wednesday @ 8:00
The Hutch
4606 NE Glisan
THE ADJECTIVE NOUN

Thursday @ 9:00
La Merde
301 SE Morrison
SUGARTITS

Thursday @ 9:00
Kenton Club
2025 N. Kilpatrick
THE BIO-MASS GENERATORS

Thanks so much for playing with me, everybody!

Your trivia jockey,

Shannon Donaldson
ShanRock’s Triviology: Willamette Week Best of Portland
www.shanrockstrivia.com
(503) 957 – 7806

“Materialism is a disease of the mind starved for ideas.” – Jacob Needleman

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Cookies & Beer

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Cookies & Beer isn’t a new ice cream flavor, it’s a description of the Ladd’s Inn trivia experience this Sunday! In addition to the standard prizes at this venue, I’m giving girl scout cookies and some fun Pabst stuff to the two highest scoring teams! Showtime is at 9:00.

I’ve finished uploading all of the videos from the Clash of the Trivia Titans, and you can view these on my MySpace page (by the way, I’ve also got a Facebook page now, though I’m still kind of figuring it out). Also, I’ve added some choice “favorite moments” to my website, culled from your responses to my recent survey. There’s some fun stuff in there . . . but I swear I don’t remember Kevin Costner coming to one of my quizzes. Oh well – maybe I drank too much that night and forgot. Thanks for the suggestions on topics you’d like to see more of at trivia. I must admit, it is true that I have largely neglected both “Degrassi Jr. High” and Ron Palillo‘s body of work – this will be remedied shortly.

I’m curious . . . now that smoking is banned in bars, what is the most smoke-friendly place for Triviology? In general, East Burn is a wonderful haven for smokers, with its beautiful and cozy heated patio, however, since trivia is downstairs in the Tap Room, it’s kind of a trek to get outside to grab a quick cigarette. What do you think, smokers? So far, you do seem to appreciate the venues where you can still see all the action while you’re gathering a breath of un-fresh air, like at Peter’s:

We had a fantastic turn-out at Kenton Club last week. Even if you don’t live in North Portland, this place is definitley worth checking out – the bartenders are great, and I understand that the food is delish. Also, somebody left a digital camera there on Thursday – if you think it’s yours, just give them a call and describe it: (503) 285-3718.

And, if you’re lamenting the lack of quizzery on the weekends, there’s other fun stuff to do – come check out Leprecon tomorrow (Saturday, March 7th)! We’re gonna dress in green, prowl around Lombard, enjoy many a libation, and play many a game. We like to start early, so we’re going to meet up at 1PM at The Tiny Bubble Room. If you’d like to join us later, just wander around Lombard – we should be pretty easy to spot. This is one of those friendly, everybody’s-invited kind of events, so please feel welcome to come play with us!

Here are the champions for the week of 3/1/09 – 3/5/09:

Sunday @ 6:00
East Burn
1800 E. Burnside
EAST SIDE RAMBLERS

Sunday @ 9:00
Ladd’s Inn
1204 SE Clay
THERE’S A CAT IN HERE

Monday @ 8:00
Hawthorne Hideaway
2221 SE Hawthorne
SMILEY BASTARDS

Tuesday @ 7:30
Sewickly’s
4901 SE Hawthorne
RELEASE THE KRAKEN
*This team takes a minute out from video crackin’ to make and take the trivia!

Wednesday @ 8:00
Peter’s 19th Hole
5701 NE Fremont
BLUE DARTS
*This rookie team kicked butt on the picture ID round – they really know Portland! It wasn’t all local trivia, though . . . here are a couple of examples. Can you identify this Portland business, and the video game from which this character hails?: