Saturday night was a Pole tradition: James Brown Bingo! James Brown is the head cook and has apparently been coming down here for a decade now. By 8pm a crowd gathered in the Galley (dining room). There was a feeling of expectation in the air. Each person gathered a few bingo boards, and the official ball roller set himself in a chair. At 8:04 a roar came up from the back of the room, and in strode James Brown! He was dressed like someone from Bravehart, with knee-high moccasins, a kilt, a sword, a crazy black wig that was sticking up everywhere, and facepaint to boot. Growling and sputtering and muttering, he sauntered through the crowd, waving to his adoring fans.
As the ball roller spun out balls from the golden cage, Brown would read each with a dramatic pause after each letter. "B…." "Six!" "Fifteen!" "Two!" the contestants would should with high hopes. "YES! B-two!" Brown would shout to a cacophony of cheers and groans. Specific numbers had specific catch-phrases that we were supposed to shout out when we heard them. "I-18" lead to a "That's what she said!" followed by a maniacal wide-eyed grin and a "Yeaaaaaahhhhh Baby!" from Brown. "B-2" "Bomber!" "B-1" "with the universe!" "B-4" "and after!" and the crowd favorite "O-69" which usually saw Brown sneaking up behind an unsuspecting victim and shouting the number in their ear to make them jump out of their seat!
There were eight rounds, with winning cards being everything from the classic row-or-column to a T, H, Z, Outside square, and the black-out finale. Prizes were quite good, being gift certificates to restaurants and bars in Christ-church, NZ. Whenever a contestant won, they would shout out "BINGO!" and walk up to the front of the galley. Brown would scowl at them, and check over the card. He would invariably say, "Oh-oh" pause, then say "Winner!" Twice however, people came up who had not actually won, and they were returned to their chairs with a loud booing from the crowd.
My friend Ross had stayed up far too late the previous night drinking, and looked like a drowned rat for most of the day. He went to take a nap at 6:30pm, and Tijmen and I made a bet as to whether or not he would show up for Bingo. I said yes, and Tijmen said no. The stakes were that if the looser of the bet won a card, he would give the prize to the other person. At 8:00pm, no Ross. at 8:01, no Ross. Tick, tock, tick, tock. At 8:03, Ross shows up! I am the winner of the bet! But the chances of Tijmen winning a card were so low, I forgot about the bet quickly. Then on round 3, Tijmen won! So guess what, I indirectly won a $30 gift certificate to a restaurant in Christ church!!
The peak excitement of the whole evening was the final round when O-69 came up. Brown took hold of a large wooden spoon - I am talking about a 3-foot paddle - and looked around menacingly. He strode across the Gally, and smashed to pieces the large ginger-bread house which had been there since Christmas! Howls from the crowd encouraged him as he raised the spoon in triumph.
The final blackout round ended with two contestants both clutching winning cards. Under the threat of a "dance your pants off" competition, the ultimate winner was decided by rolling out numbers until one showed up on one person's card and not the other's. A fireman ended up walking away with the grand prize, a $100 gift certificate.
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