Club Melodi survives!

Right after I started as Mall Manager, I was approached, very cautiously, by someone I’d met at Demented Souls. I was about to log off one night, and Angelo asked if I might be interested in hosting at his new club. He put it slightly more politely, but basically I’ve got a big gob, and he wanted me to use it! I can do that.

My first night was a Wednesday, and I soon found out that the people there are very friendly and out to have fun. It wasn’t long (a whole week in fact) before we were organising our first trivia event. I wanted to make it a little different so I decided on alphabet trivia – each week all the answers will start with the same letter of the alphabet.

Me, (right) and Angelo (left) strutting our stuff with 2 party goers

I arrived on the Tuesday ready to spam away, only to find that group chat was well and truly and utterly borked! I don’t have rights to send notices on any group either. I wasn’t bothered for me, but I did want Angelo to have a few people down, so I was a little peeved shall we say. Thankfully Lotus is able to send notices, and she put one out over Sharons for me, and we did get a few people turning up. Lette arrived part way through, and I plucked up the courage to ask her to send one on Bucc bowl for me as well, and Josh picked this up and sent one on Trivia Fiends too. This is the kind of thing that makes you feel good about SL – the people. Thank you both for that. We ended up with a great crowd, all shouting out words beginning with A, and, I hope, having a great time. Angelo had lined up artists beginning with A, but in typical SL style, the stream kept breaking up, so he had to hand over to another DJ, who kept things going so smoothly no one really noticed the change.

For some reason the next letter was going to be S. The following Tuesday - oh what fun we had! We started off OK – the crowd arrived ready for fun, and answers were flowing. We got to half time, and Angelo did his new interval trivia – guess the artist. Then everything went grey, and off I went. I tried to log back in, and I got my favourite message – you are still being logged out so tough luck! I logged my alt in to try to get a message to anyone who was there, and quickly sent an e mail to Angelo. This was when I found out we all seem to have gone together. After a few minutes I got back but couldn’t tp. I got back to the club using the map, and then just stood there like a lemon. I couldn’t move, and everything I typed in to chat just disappeared. Now I know I talk utter nonsense, but as the one asking the questions, it’s a good idea to be heard. It felt like somebody had poured a barrel of treacle in to the Linden servers, and I was trying to wade my way (very unsuccessfully) through it. I didn’t want to log off again, but I had no choice. I managed to log back on and used the map to tp. After a slow start things rezzed, I could move, I could talk – we were off! Angelo was back – although I gather the music never stopped, and very slowly those who’d crashed with us all returned. A little shell shocked, but we all survived. Nice try Linden labs – but we’re born survivors!

Half an hour late – but we finally got the 2nd half underway – and a great big thank you to all of those who stopped and to those who came back! (Ok I understand one or 2 couldn’t tp away anyway, but thanks all the same;)

The survivors returned one by one and carried on regardless.

I’d like to think we broke the sim, but in all honesty this was good old Second Life doing what it does best – screwing us around. I’d heard people all day complaining that they quite simply couldn’t move, and things just weren’t right, and I think it was finally time for our sim to have it’s share. Be warned – this was exactly how it started the day SL broke – so we could well be headed for another day offline.

Starting next week, we will be doing Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday will be alphabet trivia, and Thursdays will be general knowledge, but paying first and second. Angelo will be doing his breaktime tunes, and let’s hope SL will do it’s best to leave us alone to have fun! This is a great club, with a great atmosphere, and I’m taking no credit whatsoever for anyone enjoying themselves. Angelo is a great DJ, and he and his hosts know how to make people feel welcome, and give them a good time. Me, I just shout out questions. I’m glad Angelo asked me to host – so far this has been a lot of fun for me.

Now, here’s a test to see who reads this blog. Over the last 2 weeks you’ve all shouted out lots of words beginning with A and now S. So far, not one of them has been one of the answers to any of the questions. So – starting this Tuesday (it’s R) – if any of the preguesses are any of the answers on my card (and as long as the question hasn’t already been asked) I will pay 10L. I also suspect that if anyone does preguess, then they will then keep guessing that word until they get it right.

Club Melodi is a great club, open Monday to Friday 11am – 5pm SLT. You’re always guaranteed a friendly welcome and good music with a nice group of people.

Double Standards gets a new Manager

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by Humm to be the Mall Manager at Double Standards. I didn’t need asking twice – that place has been like my second home since I started on SL.

Basically it involves making sure the shops are rented out, and organising events – something I’ve never done in SL before.

Well I have a stack of ideas for things to do and I find things all the time as I travel round SL - so be warned Double Standards – you’ll be hearing a lot more from me yet!

Well first thing was get some new shops – and I’m happy to say that we currently have an almost full mall with some great new stores in there – I’ve even been shopping myself. I did of course try to get all my favourite stores in there but to no avail.

I also wanted something quick and simple to keep the VIP’s interested during the slower summer. Although we’re not yet in the middle of summer, things are starting to slow down. Those of us who are left still want things to do! I’ve entered a few photo contests myself, so my first suggestion was for one of those. Humm came up with the idea of ‘Skimpy in the Summer’, and I wholeheartedly agreed (Gave me a change to perv men in thongs) We got a few entries almost straightaway, and with a little gentle nagging (something along the lines of 'I want more men in thongs' posted everyday) by the time the contest started we’d filled all available slots on the board! (and not all with men in thongs either) Ok, there are a couple of things which may be not quite right, but we learn from our mistakes, and next time ( we already have a theme) people will be able to vote for more than one photo at a time.

I also had the idea of a Greedy Greedy Contest. The VIPs do love their Greedy Greedy. This was a pay to enter contest, based on points won over 3 games. I decided to get this done over a weekend (!) and again, a little 'gentle' nagging got 10 contestants. Other people may have been able to enter had it not been for that dastardly thing called RL.

First heat and one of the contestants wasn’t even online- good start, but after a quick im (which must have gone to e mail) we were joined by a skeleton with a walking stick (yes Chad). The skeleton was very greedy indeed and lost all his points on his last go, and Catherine wasn’t having any luck either, so Honey won the points. 2nd heat was just as eventful –we had a full size lemming at the table with us and a woman in a top hat with rolling dice. Cinna, Reke, Carley and Shale went head to head and Shale got the points after a very close run game. Final heat of the day, and I was seeing spots before my eyes. Whoever decided to get the heats over with in one day needs their head examined (Oh hang on - it was my idea wasn't it!). Due to a slight technical hitch I had to make up the numbers for Lette and Lance. Just as well I wasn’t playing for real – I lost all my points when I got to 9600! Everything was merging in to one big dice by this time. All thanks to Lette for this heat – she knows what I mean. And thanks for Thornton for stepping in when her opponent suddenly had to leave. We were all disappointed when he had to drop out, so it was nice to have him help out with this heat at least.

A greedy skeleton getting Greedy Greedy

By now it was 1.30 am and I was dice tired. Next day – it was on with the semi finals. Cat just didn’t have the luck again, and Lette stormed through, while Shale just got Greedy to let Honey through. (When trying to get the most points, losing your points twice in one game is not a good ides:)) For the final we had a good crowd turn up to watch, as Honey and Lette played a very close game. At one point there were just 500 points between them on the last game, but Honey just edged forward to take the title.

We even had greedy lemmings, and I just couldn't help clicking the dice in Shales
hat - more dice (twitch)

Thanks to all who supported this, and a big thank you to everyone for taking part. This was the first event I ever really organised, and I’ve certainly learned a few things to take through to the next one. First one is – don’t run it over a weekend! My sanity hangs by a thread at the best of times, and I swear I've still got dots before my eyes. Next time the heats will be run over a week, which should mean everyone gets a chance to pick a time convenient to them, and the semi finals and final will be run at the weekend, or if need be beginning of the following week. This should give more peope the opportuniy to enter, and my poor tired brain won’t start twitching at the thought of looking at dice again.

Lette and Honey go head to head, watched over by a teddy bear!

I have other ideas to keep people amused, but I’m always open to suggestions. We can’t do everything at once, but hopefully we can find a few things to give everyone even more reason to hang around at Double Standards.

We will be running more fishing events, and our first 24 hour fishing marathon went off very well indeed. Thanks to all the 7 seas fishers who took part (and the Vips’ who came along too).

So – get used to it – you all know the size of my mouth – well it’s going to be nagging – er telling you about more events over the coimng months. There is no escape;)

A lot has happened in the last few weeks.

I decided to try my hand at something new after posing for a few photos for Humm, so I thought I'd try my hand at modelling. I never intended to take it seriously, as if I could, so I when I got accepted to an agency, I was happy to stay with that rather than apply to every other agency as well. By the end of the week, I was with 2 agencies, and I'd already learned just how hard some people work at being a SL model.

The first thing I learned is that, in SL as in RL, you have to be a 10 foot beanpole to model. No tits. No bum. Just straight. My av's 5' 9", definitely has the former, and also has the latter too. In other words - I'd need a complete makeover. Well Ok, in SL that's pretty easy, and as some designers require different looks it wasn't too much of a problem. I never quite worked out why I got chosen though, if I was too short, with tits and an arse that needed to be flattened.

The next thing I learned is that walking a catwalk isn't maybe as easy as you think. The first one I had to practice on had circular walks, and when they opened up they went back on themselves. Not easy, but I didn't fall off. The second one I practiced on had invisible walls. But for the others telling me, and telling me how to see them, I'd have probably spent the entire evening simply trying to get on it.

I also attended a couple of classes, and I did pick up a few tips which may help me as I go round Second Life. And I found out about various gadgets too. I mean, who knew I needed a boot fixer! Seriously, if you don't have one - you need it! I wear it all the time now. Face lighters aren't maybe quite as useful - they tend to light up your boobs rather than your face, and mine don't need anything to help you see them thank you:)

Me trying to look intelligent in my class

Models also learn how to make their own AO's. This is something I wish I'd found out about, but I didn't stop long enough. For those who succeed in SL modelling it's a full time job, and only the dedicated and intelligent will make it. They attend classes, practices and castings, and then have the stresses and strains of the show itself. Well, I say stresses and strains.................

One of the first things I was told about was the shows themselves. These are apparently extremely laggy, and it's not uncommon to see models walking off over the audience, only to suddenly whack back in to place, right in to the model behind them. I was told about one show where invisible walls were not in place, and the models kept falling off and landing in the swimming pool. The lady who told me had the right attitude, and she said she was sittting at her computer with tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks, as I would have had if it had been me. Some, I understand, were more than a little upset.

Me showing off some of the things I learned

I have to say, that like other areas of SL, it also has it's Diva's. The ones who've done a few things and think they're better than everyone else. I'm saying nothing - but just because my arse it too close to the ground - it doesn't make anyone better than me.

The one thing that really got to me, was that I would need to make my profile more grown up and serious. No chance! I love having my funny photos on there, and I'm proud of my typo I've got on there too! I would have done all this though, but for a change in circumstances, which meant I'd be working all the time on SL, so something had to go. For me the choice was pretty easy. Humm offered me the job as Mall Manager at Double Standards, and a few days later Angelo asked me to host at his new club. Now taking incessantly is something I do well ( which is why I was asked ), and nagging people I do pretty well too. So in order to get myself some time for me, the modelling had to go.

It was interesting to see a different slice of SL, and I've certainly got a new found respect for some of those who make it as models. I wish the owners of both the agencies I was with well for the future - I'm sure they'll both do very well.


Now - who wants to see this boot fixer! Trust me - you need it!!

Who broke SL?

Saturday 20th June 2009. It started like any other day on SL. First thing I noticed was lots of blue boxes as people on my friends list were logging on and off and on and off. Then I noticed that about 600 items had mysteriously disappeared from my inventory, including a couple of gestures. So I hit the SL website and read the status.

‘Some residents may now be able to connect to Second Life however to login process may take a while. If you’re unable to connect, please wait a couple minutes before trying again. For those who are connected, some services may not be working at the moment. These include teleports, the world map, display of L$ balances, search, inventory and purchases made inworld. Some regions may also be inaccessible or showing as offline.’

Update number 2 read ‘Approximately 8,000 regions are currently inaccessible. Our technicians are working to restore service to them and other Second Life services.’

I think that roughly translates as ‘it’s screwed’. Now although things were slow, we did manage to get to the Mystic Fair which was finishing over the weekend. We did quite well too. The sim was there. Things rezzed, and then Mael just vanished while he was following me upstairs. This isn’t unusual – he quite often tps off somewhere to get a landmark, but no sign of him anywhere. I then got an msn – he’d crashed, and couldn’t get in. So he was going to do something in RL for a few minutes. I then made a basic schoolgirl error. I decided to log off for a while!

I had some RL stuff to do but I have downloaded Slim, so anyone who was in World would be able to talk to me. I got a message come through from Mael, Asking if I was in World. I said ‘no’ but I could be in a minute. Yeah. Right.

After several attempts, I read the status, and it told me to try again after a few minutes. Now usually when you can’t log on you get a polite message saying that despite their efforts, they have been unable to log you on (ie tough). This one was telling me it couldn’t find a simulator. After a while I decided that if I ever got back in World, I’d have a whip round to buy LL some new simulators, whatever they are.
Eventually I checked the status again – logins had been re-enabled – for the last half hour. So why was I still out? I linked up to online help and a polite man told me to try again in a few minutes. When I told him I’d been trying to do that for the last half hour, he suggested that my Home was probably unavailable.

I never knew you could change your log in options while off line, so he told me how to change it so I could log in to the last place, and it actually worked. Then came the peril of the tp to get to where Mael was at the fair. Joy of joys - that worked too.

Throughout the day things slowly improved, but we still received notices about sims being down and events cancelled. Now I work on the theory that any one of us will only visit a very small proportion of the grid. So if a place we visit is down, that’s just bad luck. If 8-9 places we visit are down, then that adds up to one serious problem.

Early evening things were sufficiently improved to risk logging off again. Logging on again was a matter of seconds, and the tp to Demented worked just fine. (The sim was one which had taken a little holiday earlier in the afternoon, but it had returned refreshed) Unfortunately we only had 6 of us there, which included the host and the DJ, so we decided to postpone it to the next day, when SL would hopefully be a little easier to negotiate.

So we wandered off to go through various bits and pieces from the fair, and then decided to go to Zoo Bar. We don’t usually get to go because it clashes with Demented, so it was a rare chance to catch up. I went straight there, while Mael was joining me after visiting a sim he couldn’t get to earlier. I then got an msn – he’d crashed. He logged back in and sent me a tp. I had several im’s going on so I couldn’t really concentrate on the trivia so I said my goodbyes and hit the tp button. I then got another msn – he’d crashed and couldn’t get back. I was fine I said. I then realised I was standing about 50 feet in the air above sea. No ground had rezzed. In fact, nothing had rezzed. I just stood there, suspended above sea. I then got everyone’s favourite message. ‘You have been logged out of Second Life’. And I couldn’t get back again.

It seems the problems they’d been working on all day had re-materialised, so they had to start over. And that was it. We were all locked out. After a couple of hours I tried again. I was in! Unfortunately I was in a place with 50 other av’s and it seemed none of us were going anywhere. I attempted to tp and got the best message yet. ‘We have been unable to complete your request. You may need to re-log in to Second Life.’ I’d spent the best part of the day trying to log in – so not way was I logging out again! Then a group im from Chad – trivia at Zoo Bar. He sent me a tp – it worked – I was with human beings again. There were several other trivia ‘refugees’ there too, and thanks to Chad and Shale for providing us with somewhere to go. Apparently their sim had crashed just as I was leaving earlier.

Now, what to do when we are faced with a Saturday night with no Second Life! Well here’s a few tips, so that next time it happens, you’ll be prepared.

1 – Link up with your friends on msn. They have some interesting games you can play to pass the time, including one where you smack each other in the face with a wet fish! Not exactly the most intellectual of games, but it feels good when you whack them. There are a few other more interesting games, as well as some which are run by Linden Labs (ie – they didn’t work)

2 – Go out and but the DVD that you’ve always been meaning to get, and keep it in a drawer in the cellophane. Then, next time, just grab a drink or 2 from the fridge, put your feet up, and away you go.

3 – Sleep through it. Someone had been burning the midnight oil, so they went to sleep early evening, only to wake up late at night. They were completely oblivious to everything that had gone on, and then I told them what had gone on, they were even more happy that they’d missed none of their usual events. This method relies on timing on your part too, but as a way of coping with the loss of SL, it’s probably the best, and certainly provides the least stress.

Now make sure you are prepared – there’s bound to be a next time. Group chat is bad to non existent, and getting worse all the time. Chat lag, and lag in general are getting worse and the lag monster seems to be making more friends by the day. Those little blue boxes seem to flash up even more, as we all experience more crashes. LL are so concerned, that they’re concentrating on getting rid of camping chairs and sploders! The problems aren’t getting any better, and they won’t if that’s how they prioritise things, so be prepared. We could all be faced with another day without Second Life:O

Bucc Bowl

Saturday June 13th – time for cheap hair and no shoes. Yes – Buccaneer Bowl strikes again.

After the last 2 performances, I have to admit I didn’t have high expectations for this one, but we went along nonetheless. I was a little concerned about my speed as I hadn’t been going to much trivia, and the lag monster had made itself my very special friend over the last couple of days.

The scene of the crime - er event - before I said goodbye to characters

For me though, Bucc Bowl, like most things, isn’t all about winning. It’s about taking part and having a laugh. The last Bucc Bowl event I either looked at the questions and thought ‘huh?’, or I saw the question at the same time as 10 answers, so not much opportunity for me to take part. I figured this time had to be better, and I could only hope that the lag monster would find a few other friends to play with while we were there.

Apologies to all the teams there, but as soon as I get there it’s off with those characters so all I see is odd names and bits of ship. I was greeted though by a very cute player indeed. A little chipmunk called Devin came to greet me. She surely won the prize for cutest player on the day.

Devin attempting to put the opposition off by biting their ankles

It was nice to see some new players there – both new trivia players and old faces too, and thanks to early organisation from Lette we started pretty much on time. The puns had started before the event got under way, and much as we moan about them, it’s these puns that keep us going. And I’m sorry, but as long as Mael is on my team – bad puns or not - you can’t chuck him overboard until the end!

Unlike last time, I wasn’t the only one of Trumpton Trivia online at the start, Ana and Mael were also there - sadly no sign of Stiggs. Despite several frantic im’s hoping they would go through to e mail, he never actually made it. So we were down to just 3. And all Brits at that, so any US questions were right out for us.

Trumpton - ready and raring to go

Usually at these events I get 2 right – pretty average. First question – I got 2nd place – good start, it meant I faced the prospect of a pretty boring 2 hours. This however, turned out to be my best Bucc Bowl yet, and I got in the top 3 in 5 questions. I even scored in the question about US Presidents – unheard of!


Unlike last time, I did get to see the questions. I didn’t get to read them – but I got to see them. It was a case of ‘which volcano................’ and off everyone went with volcanoes. ‘Which brand of mustard .....................’ and off everyone went with mustard. I other words, pick out the obvious word and go for it – read the question afterwards. I also knew a few more of the answers, which made it easier to join in. It was nice to be able to do something other than watch text scroll up my screen. Although we only practically score points for coming in the top 3, I personally think it’s an achievement for anyone if they get in to the top 10. The time between the answers is miniscule – so well done anyone who got any answer into chat at all.


I did some post event calculations, and I worked out where my total put me on points for the day. I won’t say where I came but I am a very happy bunny. We pulled together as usual and managed a much better performance than our previous 2 contests. We managed 6th place again, but we did make some decent money this time, and I for one certainly enjoyed the day a lot more. I’d like to thank the lag monster for leaving me alone at least for those 2 hours at the weekend. Unfortunately he more than made up for it after the event, and I ended up re-installing Second Life altogether.


The only problem we seemed to have was the usual Group Chat. This has been particularly dire recently, and a few teams couldn’t even get a group im open. I gave up and opened a conference call, but I don’t think all 3 of us stayed connected. Hopefully for next time Linden Labs will have resolved the chat thing (As I write that last comment, I am surrounded by flying pigs), and that will make things run all the more smoothly.

Lette, Thornton and Lillian did a tremendous job as always, and thanks have to go to them for their time, and also their money.

Despite Lette offering to host Chaos trivia completely naked if anyone toppled the Triviators, they won again. They were tempted to throw the game but their competitive spirit took over. They did get some stiff opposition this time, so maybe next time someone will take their crown. Trumpton have won before – so who knows – maybe we’ll do it again!

Only in SL

It's amazing the things that can happen in this funny old World of Second Life.

It started nice and simply with some inventory sorting. We've all done this - we all hate this, but true to form you usually end up with the most amazing things. As I write this, I'm sitting on a sun lounger in a room filled with assorted rubbish, which includes 2 little aliens, a skateboarding teddy bear, a talking welcome mat, some torches, lots of blue flashing lights, and something that can only be described as a very large dog's bone! I had to take the pogo stick back after it ended up stuck in the ceiling.

I first found some roller skates - which I had to try to see if they were any good. These things were massive! I tried editing them, but they wouldn't reduce, so first of all I have those. Next up I found some clothing, so on went a rather small swimming costume. Quite convenient, because I also found water bombs, and of course before you delete stuff from your inventory, you have to check it. Mael was sitting in his meditation pod, which works as a good shield against water bombs, He decided to rez K-9 - who stunned me. I then found my lemming launcher, and attempted to stun K-9. Unfortunately, I was on roller skates, so every time I fired the thing I shot backwards. Except for the final time, when the lemming bounced back, and I went straight up and through the roof. I initially thought I would land on the roof - which I did. Thanks to the shape of it however, I slid straight off it.

We were at 3500m, so I'm only grateful that we always land with a thud but we're ok. I put my jetpack on but the button to fly was blanked out, so that wasn't much help. So we now have a mad woman in a small swimming costume and over large rolling skates and holding a lemming launcher - plummeting through the sky. I could only hope there was no one underneath. Mael was a great help and commented in im 'oops'. No tp back just -'oops'. I was in stitches as it was, and when I hit my neighbours parcel it got worse. They have these womderful ban lines, and as I hit 150m I hit the ban lines and bounced back up! I then hit them again and back up - just like an invisible trampoline in the sky. Somehow I managed to stop laughing long enough to push myself forwards on the bounce, and ended up on the roof of our balloon house - which I promptly fell off and slid down as well. To make matters worse, when I hit the ground someone was driving a bike round it, and must have witnessed it for themselves.

Me feeling very grateful that a fall of 3500m doesn't do us much harm and somehow wishing I didn't look quite so stupid!

Mael then decided to come down in the tardis, so I let him have it with the Lemming gun. Did I mention I was on roller skates? Mael and the Tardis remained intact - I shot backwards with such force that I went straight through our garden wall, rolled down a bank, and ended up in the middle of a parcel for sale!

Now I'm sure many of you have had some jolly old times with those inventories - but only on SL can a chore which seems so boring, become the thing that has tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks. I've said it before, I'll say it again - SL can bring you down, but it can also put you right back up again. When I resumed my inventory cleaning I was asked ' Why are you wearing a gas mask?' Well - it was in my inventory - why else!

Last weekend was time for the long awaited Smartastermind 2! This is a trivia contest like no other on SL, based on the TV series Mastermind. Each contestant was asked 10 questions on a subject of their choice, followed by 10 general knowledge questions. Any questions which the contestants didn't get right, were thrown open to anyone in the audience for the chance to earn a few Lindens.

Last time I was just a host, this time I decided to compete too. I chose the Carry On Films as my specialist subject, as I've been watching these since I was a kid.

The contest started on Friday, with Traian, who’d chosen the film The Breakfast Club as her specialist subject. She stormed through her questions, scoring 10/10 on her specialist round, and ended up witha grand total of 19/20. We were all ready to admit defeat there and then, but of course we didn’t.

I was first up on Saturday, and as my event followed Thorntons regular Saturday trivia, there were plenty of people there to watch me. I was extremely nervous to say the least, and on the very first question my brain froze! The first question asked ‘what was Jim Dales character in Carry on Cowboy?’ Now I knew he had a diploma from Chipping Sodbury technical college as a Drainage and Sanitation Engineer (first Class). I knew he couldn’t wear his gun belt too tight because it pinched his tummy, and I knew he shot 2 Indians with one bullet on the stagecoach to Stodge City. But could I remember the name! Well, naturally I did as soon as I’d passed on it. I managed to pull myself together for a pleasing 9/10. General knowledge was always going to be my weakest round, as my knowledge is just that – general. And of course, anything vaguely geographical and I didn’t stand a chance. I was determined, however, not to google any of the questions, and see just how well I did on my own. You only get a time limit of 5 minutes for all 10 questions anyway, so googling an answer could seriously eat in to your time. I actually scored 5, but I missed another one because my brain gave me the answer too late. This gave me an overall score of 14, which was good enough for 2nd place last time, so I was extremely happy.

Mael was next with his subject of the Gerry Anderson TV Series’. He scored an impressive 9/10 and followed up with 5 on his general knowledge, putting him equal with me.

Pomegranate Sorbet came next, and impressed everyone with his knowledge of the Boy Scouts of America, and after a good general knowledge round too, he ended up tied with Traian on 19 points. 4 contestants down and a tie for 1st and a tie for 3rd!

Last up for Saturday night was Thornton with the huge subject of World War II. I think everyone’s heart went out to him when he went through his Specialist round, and it just proves it’s not necessarily what you know – it’s what happens on the day. After a rallying himself in the general knowledge round he ended up with 9 points.

Sunday we were off again with WavingMarcel, who chose UK pop music 1960-1985. After yet another impressive specialist round, he amassed a total of 15/20.

Lotus was next, with the impressive topic of the Byzantine Empire. After a good general knowledge round, she ended up with 14, putting her equal with me and Mael.

Lette was up next, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After 2 good rounds, she ended up with 15

Then we had the best dressed duck on the trivia circuit, with Chad up with his topic of NASCAR. Again, he proved its not what you know, its what happens on the day, and ended up with a total of 13.

Last up was Sinnamon, with the subject of American Football. She needed a full house of 20/20 to win, or at least 19 to be in the tie break. After a slow start, she scored an impressive score of 9 out of 10, and ended up with a total of 18, which put her in 3rd place.

The tie break between Trai and Pom won't be held until next week, and I know we'll be there to cheer them both on.

The weekend seemed to go very fast, and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. I can’t vouch for any others but I felt my questions were pitched just right, and this is especially hard to do if you’re not an expert on a subject and you have limited time to set them. I know Chad commented that his questions were good, and I hope others felt the same.

I did not expect to win. I wanted to prove to myself that I can compete and that I do have a brain, and to come joint with Mael and Lotus, has proved that to myself. I am even more pleased, as I did not google. For me, the challenge was about what I knew or didn’t, and not about how quickly I can google the capital of Belarus (which I now now is Minsk). With only 5 minutes for 10 questions, and a bad case of nerves, googling just wasn't an option anyway.

I would like to commend anyone who had the guts to have a go. I know I was nervous, and Chad also commented he’d eaten a few too many butterflies for breakfast, but I thoroughly enjoyed he challenge, and I’ll definitely be competing in the next one. I hope a few others will also take part, now that they’ve seen how the competition works.

As a final word - thanks also go to Humm and the hosts for organising the weekend, and for keeping it running smoothly. I know I'm biased, but the hosts did a great job over the weekend. Not only did they give their time to ask the questions, and help organise the event, but they were all there supporting the contestants as well, RL commitments permitting.

I'm thoroughly looking forward to the next one, now I have my initial nerves out of the way. I hope a few others will also join in next time too. This is the only contest I know of where we get individual questions, and we don't directly compete with others to speed type the answer. It's also a good test of what we do and don't know, as opposed to who can google the fastest.

Smartastermind 3 - can't wait!