#dhkf

[awe247]

So, trivia at The Carrington for a change. I had to venture deeper into Surry Hills then I ever have had to before. It’s closer to the Brett Whiteley Studio but despite living in Surry Hills once upon a time, I had never been.

The pub seems fine. Trivia takes place at the back in the dining area where they also allow people to bring their dogs. Apropos of nothing, there was an odd moment where I recognised the lady walking into the bar ahead of me as Tony Abbott’s sister. The menu looks good but is pricey af and I’m a bit light on funds right now so didn’t partake. It worked out though because I happened to pass a Little Caesars.

Host was Hannah Conda (yes, to your question) who was also fine. Kept the game moving well although padded it with anecdotes and such. There was a paper plane contest in the middle of round 2 which I swear I would have won... had I not hit the disco ball hanging in the middle of the room.

We came equal third/second in the end and lost out in a tense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

[awe247]

I arrived first at our reserved table for tonight's trivia and let the team know, on WhatsApp, that we were sitting up the back again near the screens that are permanently tuned to the races at the Strawb. Neil jokingly (or so I had thought) asked me to put a fiver on number 4 in the next race. Turns out that Regal Bill went on to win that race at Albion Park which would have netted Neil a nifty $34 had I actually placed the bet. Because of course that would happen.

There weren't many teams present on this occasion. Even the staff were letting us know we were in with a chance. We certainly seemed to be nailing a good share of the correct answers and were equal first at the half way point. As a team of four old blokes in the end we were only bested by the team of four even older blokes, which may just have been our future selves time-travelling back for a trivia night. I didn't want to approach them lest the same matter occupy the same space and collapse existence. In any case, The Devil Hates Kung-Fu got $30 for a second place and we added a drinks voucher to that when I clued in to a "Who Am I?" simply because I knew Chris Hemsworth had been on Home & Away and also married a Spanish chick.

They cook the rump steaks nicely here and I was happy with my upgrade to sweet potato chips, but I let myself down by picking the red wine jus for the sauce. We weren't wanting for topics of conversation either. But I guess that's bound to happen when trivia night's run 3 months apart and Trump is in office.

[awe247]

I had cause to be in the city late for work and so thought it might be possible to rally The Devil Hates Kung-Fu to salvage my day. Bruce and Neil were able to answer the call and with a multitude of venues to choose from for Trivia on a Tuesday night we elected to try The Wild Rover. A self-proclaimed "Irish folk barn crossed with New York chic" and a touch of Sydney urban wankery thrown in for good measure. Their menu wasn't particularly exciting but this is probably because they put more focus on their whisky selection. However, they get major cool points for hiding themselves away in an old shirt shop in Surry Hills with no external branding other then a door lit with a green light. The place was pretty packed so it was definitely a good idea to book a table.

The host noticed me sitting by myself and made it known that Trivia at The Wild Rover isn't taken too seriously. Also adding that at the end of the night teams are able to wager any or all of their accrued points on the final question which is an interesting twist but put me in the mind of those shows like Good News Week or Have You Been Paying Attention? where nothing really matters. Later on Neil would repeatedly echo this sentiment throughout the night seemingly mired in nihilism (or Neil-ism as Bruce pronounced it).

We didn't perform badly as such. We only really dropped a few questions here and there and a perfect score was had on the Famous Faces sheet. In fact we were never out of reach of first place but it's just one of those places where the standard appears to be pretty high. Even after going all in with our total of 50 points on the final question and coming up with the correct answer of Pangaea, it still wasn't enough to pull a win out of the hat. Not a bad night in the end but we might stick with Wednesdays in future.

Here we are last night reppin for the DHKF.

[awe247]

Not the greatest outing The Devil Hates Kung-Fu has ever had. So close to most of the answers but seeming to settle on the wrong choice in the end.

The Strawb was fully booked for tables so Pete got there early and grabbed a free one by the betting screens. It was a little far away from the host (who got pretty surly if you wanted to ask him for any clarification) and we only had one chap come up to yell at his horse on the monitor, but it suited us fine. If anything we were having too good a time and had to be hushed by the table of fourteen next to us. We were second at the break behind that team but managed to falter to fourth in the final leg.

As always we came undone at the music and sports questions but the multi-point questions hit particularly hard this week. We agonized and strained to recall George Ezra's last name and it turned out the song was sung by Hozier. That about sums up our game.

I'm kind of over the menu here. It's standard pub fair, not too exe and it tastes fine but there's not much to get excited about.

Maybe it's time to try another venue and another night again? Next time.

[awe247]

Another fine trivia start to a new year, kicking it off in January at the Strawb, with a full compliment of Fu-ers and a convincing win on 59 points.

There seemed to be a lot of geography questions this time. One exception and a point of contention was the two highest selling mononymous, male singers of all time. Prince was one without a doubt but it came down to a vote between Sting and Eminem for the second. Democracy let us down, as it has all of us in recent memory, with Pete casting the deciding vote for Sting.

We were also two years shy of the jackpot, electing 1950 as the year that the schooner was introduced as the standard unit of measure for drinks in New South Wales.

Maybe we can get out a few more times this year? Our name doesn't seem to ring out as loud or as often. In fact, the host proclaimed victory for The Devil Hats Kung-Fu! I was sure I wrote it down correctly.

[awe247]

Six-months since the last outing and The Devil Hates Kung-Fu has returned to the Strawberry Hills Hotel with Trivia fire. Crushed it. Completely owned the night with 67 points all up. As usual there were a couple of multi-point questions in the mix but this time the full 7 or 8 points came our way for each of them. Quite a bit of time was spent mulling over one-word countries that contain a 'y' in the middle of their names (not at the start or end though).

I even made a contribution to the music questions which are normally best left to others, picking out My Chemical Romance's hit and recognizing Sia's voice if not the song itself. Then we made a few educated guesses like that the Dalai Lama made an appearance on Masterchef this year (and not Australia's Next Top Model like I had hoped). We even ended up only being one year out from the jackpot year, which would have netted us a nifty $50 pot, deciding on 1972 for when the PRC was added to the UN.

I had the Angus Beef Burger which was fine, but I do miss the cheapy meals.

[awe247]

First time for trivia at the Norfolk Hotel in Surry Hills. I was pretty excited by the promised $12 Southern Fried Steaks and this joint is right next door to an eatery called the House of Crabs which I will be returning to try at some point.

We didn’t have the best lead-in, failing to come up with a team name that was “less convincing than Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s video apology to Australia” and ended up sticking with the tried and true. Much to the hosts chagrin.

The trivia itself is pretty fun and is peppered with a few oddball questions and bonus rounds. Guessing the song that was being beat-boxed is the one that sticks in my mind. I almost had the celebrity behind the nachos but could only recall that he was Jon Snow. I always seem to forget the actors names from Game of Thrones. In any case, it opens many things up when you have screens around the bar to do these kinds of questions on. It was pretty refreshing and the host was like-able as well as keeping the pace up so we were wrapped up by 9:30 pretty much.

Kudos to Pete for getting Gone With The Wind in the Cinema Dyslexia question in the end. I had got as far as Thee Night Window. Its my wife who is gifted with solving anagrams.

[awe247]

Trivia accounts opened for yet another year. Where else but the Strawb. This place got pricey with their food but damn if that wasn't a delicious lamb burger. 

Bruce got the Who-Am-I question with Sinead O'Connor. Good thing too because our rounds were mediocre at best. My contribution of Piers Morgan as an answer to top 50 earners with initials PM was rejected. Good thing too because it was Dr. Phil McGraw.