Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Happy Labor Day! Happy end of the summer! Happy celebrations of workers! Happy day off to spend time with family, with a televised football game, and with your friends tonight at the Pub Quiz!
I am reminded of two sorts of celebrations every Labor Day. The first has been well-represented by Walt Whitman in his “varied carol” to America and its workers, that part of Leaves of Grass called “I Hear America Singing”:
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
This poem resonates for me for familial reasons, as well as lyrical. My grandfather, Marlin Jones, was run out of Oklahoma by hired strike-breakers who didn’t care for his union organizing activities. He heard one afternoon that he was to be roughed up, even killed, the next day, so he brought all the money he had to the bus station and asked how far he could go on what he had. The answer, Winchester, Indiana, ended up being the birthplace of my father and his sister. My father, who worked in a sporting good store and a glass factory before turning to a life in theater, would tell me that story at least once a year, often on Labor Day.
And then I am also reminded that it was 18 years ago this weekend that I had the good fortune to marry my wife Kate, with dozens of friends and family joining us in Hinsdale, Illinois. Tradition says that I should buy her something porcelain on our 18th anniversary. Of course, I don’t know that such a gift would work with the wind-tunnel décor of our home. I shall consider other options.
I hope you have left open the option of joining us this evening for the Pub Quiz. Tonight you can expect to labor upon the answers to questions on the following topics: citrus, telecommuting, Joan Baez, Cinderella, UC Davis, drums, NFL football teams that you’d sooner see on Sunday than Monday, rhinos, early American history, unusual one-syllable words that begin with the letter S, a famous suicide, reality TV shows (ones that, again, I have never watched), Marvel superheroes, a hormone jest, religions of the world, The Beatles, Kevin Spacey, Polish history, friends of Clinton, films that have been nominated for more than a half-dozen Oscars, Europe, young actors, mathematics, your favorite independent bookstores, the heroes of orioles, and a play by everyone’s favorite bard.
See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
P.S. You can also follow your Quizmaster on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster.
Friends of the Pub Quiz, and those curious about all the fun and fuss associated with the Pub Quiz, should come to de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis (217 E Street), the highly esteemed pub and restaurant that fills up every night because of the superb quality of food, drink and company that can be found there. The de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz takes place every Monday at 7pm, though players are encouraged to arrive early to claim a table. As always, find out more about the Pub Quiz by visiting https://www.yourquizmaster.com. For more on de Vere’s Irish Pub, visit http://deverespub.com/.