Dear Friends,
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, my mind journeys back to this week 40 years ago when, a high school junior, I took my first international trip. My father took my brother Oliver and me to London, England, so we could explore the city (and a bit of Stratford-upon-Avon) and see eight plays in seven days.
The Davis Joint Unified School District has long excused students from class for the entire week of Thanksgiving (this is likely one reason why school seems to start so early in the fall), but back in my day, as old people say, we just had Thursday and Friday off. As a result, I had to ask all my teachers for my assignments early (I would soon be applying to college, so I needed to stay ahead of expectations), so we could leave guilt-free on a Friday night.
As I look over the hotels near Euston Station to see which one jogs my memory, I keep coming back to “The Suites” at 31 Argyle Street. I remember being fascinated by the imposing iron fences that surrounded so many of the buildings in London, as if each home were its own castle or its inhabitants were still preparing for the next Viking invasion.
Speaking of invasions, one of the most memorable of the eight plays we saw was a production of Shakespeare’s Henry V that featured Kenneth Branagh in the title role, a role he reprised in the notable 1989 film. Famously, Henry V and his “happy few,” his outnumbered “band of brothers,” defeated the French at Agincourt on St. Crispin’s Day:
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say, ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
While I loved the play and was impressed with Kenneth Branagh, in 1984, none of us knew who he was. But I did recognize the name of Ian McDiarmid who played Emperor Palpatine in the biggest movie of 1983, Return of the Jedi, and likewise the name of Sebastian Shaw. In this case, Sebastian Shaw was coincidentally not the Marvel supervillain, but the British actor and poet who played the role of the unmasked Anakin Skywalker in that same Star Wars movie.
That week we also saw the premier of The Hired Man, a new musical that won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor (Paul Clarkson) in a Musical, and the premier of Starlight Express, a new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that featured all the actors performing in roller skates to portray really fast train cars, like a racy and glamourous Thomas the Tank Engine. We listened to the soundtrack for the next year.
40 years later, I am grateful for the time I got to spend with my dad and brother, and for the investment that our dad, Davey Marlin-Jones, made in our theatrical educations. Fast-forward to 2024, and my brother is a film critic whose daughter just starred in a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, while I put on my own very different shows six times a month.
I also became an Anglophile during that trip and resolved to return to London if I could. Just under three years later I returned to London as a resident. One of the first people I met was the person I initially nicknamed “my beautiful London roommate” to everyone in Boston or DC who would listen to my stories.
Thirty-seven years later, that woman, Kate, is still my roommate, and even more beautiful. We hold hands while watching new plays in Sacramento and Davis. I look forward to returning with her to the West End where we will again fill our theatre dance cards with wonderful productions and performances.
Thanks for your patience as I was finishing that story.
We had a full house at Sudwerk last week as everyone crowded indoors to escape the rain. Tonight we will have clear skies and cool temperatures. Bring an extra layer if you plan to enjoy the Pub Quiz outside amongst the towering heaters. Surely the jollity will be unfiltered as we welcome back former players who have been missing the quiz but can now return to Davis to partake in the fun. As Albert Schweitzer said, “Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it.” I encourage you to come early to snag a table. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly — the entire quiz is a mere 964 words long!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on cheese, animals, dancing, skiing, to-go food, golf hernia anagrams, rocker medical conditions, threads, The New York Times, greeting cards, namesakes, American stages, cat and mouse games, long-distance calls, speed demons, laundry, weirdnesses, moons, telecasts, Canadians, mountains, schoolchildren aptitudes, typefaces, festivals, helicopters, missed meals, trilogies, Islam, superheroes, hyphenated names, porridges, storytellers, proverbs, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscribers Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week:
- Books and Authors. The Brooklyn Public Library has 163 copies of the Caldecott Medal-winning book of 1963. Starting with the letter W, what is the title of the most checked-out book in the history of the BPL?
- Film. What 2005 animated Disney feature film starred Zack Braff, Joan Cusack, and Garry Marshall, and featured supporting roles voiced by Don Knotts and Patrick Stewart, all of them playing animals?
- Old Cities. Name one of the two U.S. states that were added to the Union during the U.S. Civil War.