A Stupid American update...

Some of my fellow international students scour the student specials for the very best dance clubs every night of the week.

My friends and I look for quiz nights.

Fortunately, this time we may have found the perfect one.

While walking in the campus bar last week, we noticed that the Student Union sponsors a quiz night.

Clear Advantage #1: No more of that 70s era music to get tripped up on. No more questions about B-list 80s celebrities.

Clear Advantage #2: Forget a free case of beer. Students win a free keg of beer.

So, on Tuesday night, the team formerly known as the U.Mass Debate Team plus two new Ph.D. students crowded around a table in the campus disco to prove we were not, indeed, Stupid Americans.

(We have a new theory about beating this system. If we find a weakness, we simply recruit a new member to the team. Victoria, for instance, knows British pop culture. Neill is a music master.)

We did much better -- coming in a respectable third place and I even contributed a correct answer (about music nonetheless). Still, however, we were more than 10 points behind the winning team (A bunch of long-haired boys in the back. Barry is convinced long-haired people should be banned from quiz night due to their obvious advantage. Yup, I don't get it either.).

Moral of the story is, if you are particularly random trivia savvy, we'll pay your accommodation fees if you'd like to join us next week.