Posted by MC Trouble on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 10:32 AM
What Makes a Great Book Club Meeting?
The SCORPS have been at it for two years now; we've had strong meetings and we've had a couple weak showings. This past week we had a subpar gathering - by SCORP standards - which got me thinking about what drives a good book club meeting.
Obviously the actual book selection is an important factor in a solid discussion. However, arguably the best SCORP-up to date followed our least sophisticated literary selection, MEG. And, to that point, the subject of this past week's lackluster meeting was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a whirlwind thriller with 590 action-packed pages to dissect.
The common theme that exists for our best sessions is that they were planned around some sort of event. And our poorest meetings (i.e., playing video lawn darts at arguably the lamest bar in town) have been thrown together last minute.
Our best assemblies, in my opinion, are as follows:
1. Location: Medieval Manor Book: MEG
This place advertised and delivered a cheesy theatrical performance, awful food (with no utensils), and endless pitchers of ale. The crowd is encouraged to get rowdy but no party reached the level of inappropriateness attained by the SCORPS. Inevitably an intra-table food fight broke out with vicious attacks occurring every time the lights were dimmed. The icing on the cake was a post-show, alleyway rumble that left the SCORP stamp on this venue.
2. Location: Manchester Firing Line Range Book: The Power and The Glory
Guns. Adrenaline. Guns. The interesting part about having a book club meeting at a firing range is that everyone is required to wear a headset, disallowing any verbal communication. Although we eventually discussed the book over a beer after the range, the conversation inevitably came back to the exhilaration of firing a semi-automatic firearm.
3. Location: Wonderland Greyhound Park Book: McMafia
The thrill of gambling on dogs combined with the hygiene of the track's patrons made for an entertaining evening. Although I don't believe any of us netted money, this was time well spent.
Whenever possible, SCORP-meets should involve some sort of event like a beer tasting, a casino, a rodeo, or strippers. This assures the energy level is high, the discussion is heated, and most importantly, the competition is fierce.
Posted by El Spaniard on Tue, Dec 08, 2009 @ 03:57 PM
It's early December. Kids are writing out their lists for santa, your girlfriend is dreaming of a ring and Scorp #8 is asleep in a gutter with a reindeer sweater and a black eye.
But early December also means another thing. For those not in polite society it means an official, sanctioned Scorpion book club meeting. Little did Shackleton realize when he picked The Raw Shark Texts written by Steven Hall on October 7th that the Scorps would break the existing time record from book choosing to book discussion. A lot has gone down in the past 2 months that has prevented the Scorps from gathering including, but not limited to:
- the spaniard losing his shirt in an underground poker game
- the undead killing his previous employer and starting fresh across town
- tanaka having an affair with tiger woods
But we're back and we are ready to go. We've already been contacted by Hall who is looking for the secret to joining in the un-space. Look for some pictures and stories in the next couple weeks. OR maybe we won't post anything. Either way we're meeting tonight and we'll be pouring the first beer on the ground for SLAYER who is with us no longer.