Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

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Roadgeek Adam
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Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Roadgeek Adam »

So for Thanksgiving week, I am treating myself to a train trip of the Western United States (focusing mostly on California).

I will be staying in Santa Monica on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I am being bugged to go to O'Brien's. I am not exactly the greatest socialite in the world, blame autism for that, so what kind of atmosphere am I expecting?

I've heard the experience is great, but my 24 year old self in a bar doesn't go well anymore, especially being unable to drink due to medication.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by seaborgium »

There are several regulars who don't drink alcohol for whatever reason (for me, it tends to be a crapshoot whether I get a beer or soda), and besides which, the place serves food too. So don't let the pub aspect of pub quiz keep you away.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Roadgeek Adam »

seaborgium wrote:There are several regulars who don't drink alcohol for whatever reason (for me, it tends to be a crapshoot whether I get a beer or soda), and besides which, the place serves food too. So don't let the pub aspect of pub quiz keep you away.
It's not just that, Stefan. I will be all alone, I don't have any friends in Santa Monica and my concern is just being stuck alone in a pub trivia having to do all this on my own.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by triviawayne »

you could always ask the host to announce there is a solo player looking for a team.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by mahatma »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:It's not just that, Stefan. I will be all alone, I don't have any friends in Santa Monica and my concern is just being stuck alone in a pub trivia having to do all this on my own.
You could just call yourself 'I'm Going to Need a Bigger Team'.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

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Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by BigDaddyMatty »

caknuck wrote:Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
Are you calling pub trivia a stupid game?
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by MarkBarrett »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:So for Thanksgiving week, I am treating myself to a train trip of the Western United States (focusing mostly on California).

I will be staying in Santa Monica on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I am being bugged to go to O'Brien's. I am not exactly the greatest socialite in the world, blame autism for that, so what kind of atmosphere am I expecting?

I've heard the experience is great, but my 24 year old self in a bar doesn't go well anymore, especially being unable to drink due to medication.
The atmosphere will be loud, friendly and exciting with a lot of fun. I can vouch that the lemonade there was excellent and it's fine to have a non-alcoholic beverage of your choice. Yes, you can get food there as well. One check will come to the table at the end of the night and you can settle up for your portion of the tab then plus generous tip for the server.

In my one visit experience I rode over with a couple of J! champs from the studio, but their teams were already filled. I was able to find a place on another team in less than 2 minutes. There are enough O'Brien's regulars here on this board that someone should be able to help you get a place on a team ahead of your trip.

If not, you still would be able to check table by table for a possible open spot on the night. Getting there ahead of the start time would be a good move while teams would have a space for a free agent. Yes, it could be a little awkward and intimidating to exercise such social skills in an unfamiliar place. What will not happen is striking out 100% and being stuck in a corner playing solo.

At the end of the night you may not understand why the regulars do it every week, but you will be glad you had the experience at least once. Enjoy all the legs of your trip.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Rafferty Barnes »

I find trivia nights to be excellent places for people awkward at socialization, because the focus is on the questions so there's no need to come up with small talk. It will be loud and crowded. The teams at O'Brien's are ever-shifting and quite welcoming to adding solo players to groups with room in my experience.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by caknuck »

BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
Are you calling pub trivia a stupid game?
Nope.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Roadgeek Adam »

MarkBarrett wrote:
Roadgeek Adam wrote:So for Thanksgiving week, I am treating myself to a train trip of the Western United States (focusing mostly on California).

I will be staying in Santa Monica on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I am being bugged to go to O'Brien's. I am not exactly the greatest socialite in the world, blame autism for that, so what kind of atmosphere am I expecting?

I've heard the experience is great, but my 24 year old self in a bar doesn't go well anymore, especially being unable to drink due to medication.
The atmosphere will be loud, friendly and exciting with a lot of fun. I can vouch that the lemonade there was excellent and it's fine to have a non-alcoholic beverage of your choice. Yes, you can get food there as well. One check will come to the table at the end of the night and you can settle up for your portion of the tab then plus generous tip for the server.

In my one visit experience I rode over with a couple of J! champs from the studio, but their teams were already filled. I was able to find a place on another team in less than 2 minutes. There are enough O'Brien's regulars here on this board that someone should be able to help you get a place on a team ahead of your trip.
---
At the end of the night you may not understand why the regulars do it every week, but you will be glad you had the experience at least once. Enjoy all the legs of your trip.
I really shouldn't have brought up the drink thing because I've been to bars since drinking moratorium.

That said, being an unfamiliar atmosphere tends to shut me down, which is why I wish I had someone with me. I mean this entire trip is unfamiliar territory (I've never been to California!) and though I've gotten better at J! tests (37 in 2015, but didn't take the test), I don't think I'm exactly pub trivia quality machine. One of my friends hosts pub trivia and I write questions that usually end up being much too esoteric.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Robert K S »

BigDaddyMatty got the reference... Lyrics say "stupid game"...

As for Adam, if you're worried about being too out of your comfort zone or not finding any friendly faces there, I mean, there's no shame in skipping it, and there are a lot of other cool things to be doing in Southern California.

I'm only an occasional O'Brien's goer but I've had a whole gamut of different experiences. Sometimes the room is full of familiar faces, other times not. Sometimes the quizzes are terribly exciting, other times the evening feels like a slog. I'm fortunate that I've always found friends to team up with, but I can see how the night might not be fun if you don't know a soul and you're just kind of waiting for it all to end.

I usually get a Sprite and veggie burger or something and it's not like there's pressure to drink.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Vermonter »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:I really shouldn't have brought up the drink thing because I've been to bars since drinking moratorium.
You know what they say – if you have a question, odds are several others are thinking the same but are afraid to ask. Kudos to you for asking! You'll have a great time at O'Brien's, no matter who's on your team.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by BigDaddyMatty »

caknuck wrote:
BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
Are you calling pub trivia a stupid game?
Nope.
You must have a lot of downtime. ;)

For the record, I think Everclear has gone pretty much straight downhill since "Santa Monica," which is a fantastic song. We get it, Art. Your dad left. You're bitter. Find a new topic.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by seaborgium »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:
seaborgium wrote:There are several regulars who don't drink alcohol for whatever reason (for me, it tends to be a crapshoot whether I get a beer or soda), and besides which, the place serves food too. So don't let the pub aspect of pub quiz keep you away.
It's not just that, Stefan. I will be all alone, I don't have any friends in Santa Monica and my concern is just being stuck alone in a pub trivia having to do all this on my own.
Maybe you could post about it on a web site where O'Brien's-goers also post and see if you can find some teammates in advance.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by trainman »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:So for Thanksgiving week, I am treating myself to a train trip of the Western United States (focusing mostly on California).
Guess I need to go on a road trip in order to balance out the universe, then.
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by caknuck »

BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:
BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
Are you calling pub trivia a stupid game?
Nope.
You must have a lot of downtime. ;)

For the record, I think Everclear has gone pretty much straight downhill since "Santa Monica," which is a fantastic song. We get it, Art. Your dad left. You're bitter. Find a new topic.
No kidding. My wife asked me to put "Wonderful" on a mix CD, and I totally went Chandler Bing on her: "Have you EVER listened to those lyrics?!?"
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by Johnblue »

BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:
BigDaddyMatty wrote:
caknuck wrote:Afterwards, you can swim out past the breakers and watch the world die.
Are you calling pub trivia a stupid game?
Nope.
You must have a lot of downtime. ;)

For the record, I think Everclear has gone pretty much straight downhill since "Santa Monica," which is a fantastic song. We get it, Art. Your dad left. You're bitter. Find a new topic.

Spot on & then he left his kid too!
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Re: Will be in Santa Monica; O'Brien's

Post by patkav »

trainman wrote:
Roadgeek Adam wrote:So for Thanksgiving week, I am treating myself to a train trip of the Western United States (focusing mostly on California).
Guess I need to go on a road trip in order to balance out the universe, then.
HA!
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