Happy Birthday, Dear Paaaaaauuuuuulllll!

Here's Sheila with her birthday boy.

VFW: Still Blogging Lightly

I'm still swamped, so here's the digest version:

First place: We're No Biscuits
Second place: Room Two
Third place: Shitz and Giggles and Friends
Fourth place (tie): Chicks and Dicks (Theme choice: country music)
Fourth place: The Hackers (Theme choice: the New York Yankees) Welcome back to the Hackers, returning from winter in Myrtle Beach.

Reminder: the Take Me Out to the Ballgame Tourney begins next week; after three weeks, the top 7 teams with the highest cumulative scores will be thrown into a hat and get a chance to win four tickets to a Barnstormers game. See older posts for details.

Bube's: Blogging Lightly

I'm swamped right now, so here's the digest version:

First place: Slaughterhouse 5: The Nutsacks Crusade, or a Duty Dance with Death
Second place: Team Discovery Channel (five points behind)
Third place: The Stone Cutters (one point behind)
Fourth place: The Fool Monkey Ate Yeltsin's Liver (Theme choice: assassinations and attempted assassinations)
Fifth place: The Jelly Roll Mortons (Theme choice: condiments)

Reminder: the Take Me Out to the Ballgame Tourney begins next week; after three weeks, the top 7 teams with the highest cumulative scores will be thrown into a hat and get a chance to win four tickets to a Barnstormers game. See older posts for details.

Chuckles: No Clowning Around

A beautiful day outside was capped off with a beautiful night of trivia at Chuckles. Since it was Stephen King night, I should have included a question on Pennywise from "It" (pictured at right). But Chuckles has (thankfully) gone through a de-clowning phase, so I nixed that idea.

Doug and Nancy of The Army of Northern Virginia fame put in their first Chuckles appearance, but played under the name "Old and In the Way." The Grotty Little Wankers returned and came alive in the last round. Also having a great last round were the Talent Scouts, who aced 8 out of 10 to take the gold. Twelve points behind were the Lethal Amoebas, followed closely by the Price Is Right. Roughly one question behind were fourth place Skatoolah Malakas and fifth place Skirtland. They chose the cartoon "Transformers" and "fifties music" as their themes (you guess which team picked which theme), so we're spanning many decades.

Next week starts our "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" mini-tourney at Chuckles (see the previous post below for details). It will truly be a mini-tournament, since it will only be two weeks (April 29th and May 6th). Also, permanent substitute host Chris Ivey will be filling in for me next week, so please be kind to him (he bruises easily).

Earth Trivia Night at the Barnstormers!

As a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, I just purchased a bunch of tickets for the Lancaster Barnstormers/Newark Bears game on Monday night, May 21st. I'll be giving away sets of 4 tickets as the grand prizes in the Take Me Out to the Ballgame Mini-Tournament. The top 7 teams at each venue with the highest cumulative points will be eligible for a drawing for the tickets. (There will be three separate drawings for each of the three shows, Chuckles, Bubes and the Lititz VFW). Please come to the shows for the dates and details.

For Fans of Bad Historical Puns:

VFW: Little Questions, Big Headaches

At the beginning of the night Betty Jo was wondering if I was going to be doing a soliloquy, but I told her to wait until the witching hour of 7. Sure enpugh, by then we had 13 teams ready to do battle. Something was certainly in the air, since three players pulled their own numbers for the Trashbag of Deelite. And John of the B52s pulled down some instructions from his alien masters, since he almost nailed the "how far is it from the Earth to the Moon?" question.

In keeping with America's obsession with Sanjaya Malakar, fifth-place Chicks and Dicks chose "American Idol" as their theme for next week. Shitz and Giggles remained stuck in fourth and chose "golf." The B52s managed to win two trashbag prizes, along with third place. In second were the Robless KC and the Sunshines (Rob was last seen stuck in a little town called Jericho). And in the lead most of the evening was Room Two, led by Matt and misled by Jerry.

Bube's: I Never Sausage Competition

The Oracles, a team new to Bube's, are contemplating what to do with their individually wrapped Polish sausages. We gave them plenty to think about tonight, with a particularly brutal final round. The Soulmates (AKA The Wise Men minus Brent) and the Stonecutters were doing well until that round. When the dust settled, Nobody's Fool Monkey emerged victorious, beating Team Discovery Channel by 2 points. In third was Daisuke Nutsackzaka (whose name I continually butchered), who beat the Jelly Roll Mortons by 2 points. They chose Simpsons trivia, with the proviso that it be limited to Moe's Tavern. Chubby But Not Stubby almost bolted out the door before they realized that they were in fifth. They chose 20th century firearms. And the Jon Shober Gang chose a purple duck purse with a head wound as their prize.

Despite tanking in the last round, the Rolls still managed to grab fourth place.

Ladies and gentlemen: Daisuke Nutsackzaka. (Funny, they don't look Japanese.)

Team Polito (pronounced PoLEEEEEEEEto) enjoyed their gummi Care Bears.

Chuckles: Who the #@!& Are Mike and Amy?

That was the question on everyone's minds Sunday night as the dynamic duo of Mike and Amy dominated the first three rounds with a perfect score of 50. Alas, they stumbled in the last round, dropping to a tie for fourth. After some deliberation, they chose Stephen King as their theme for next week. Also in fourth were the Talent Scouts, who chose Philadelphia's hockey team as their theme (you remember when Philadelphia had a hockey team, right?) Besting them by one question was Ubersmack. The Lethal Amoebas took second and the Sofa King Great team returned to the top spot, thus allowing me to avoid writing theme questions about Gem the Jeweled Warrior.

Amy, by the way, absorbed many years of trivia from waitressing at Tobias Frogg's during Curtis' reign there.

Danielle says that the Sofa Kings are number one!

This is what you miss after the show.

VFW: Unbearable Drama

Mr. Dzubinski better watch out, because Janey's got a new Ted in her life. Janey and her teammate Cal left before the winners were announced, so they missed hearing how close the scores were. Chicks and Dicks made a last-minute comeback and scored 9 out of 10 to take home the gold. Three points behind were Room Two and two points behind Room Two were the Semi-Johnless B52s. The Foreplayers came in foreth, and chose national parks as their theme. There was a tie for fifth, and I let both teams pick themes, so we'll have three next week. D & M chose manned spacecraft and Shitz and Giggles went with reality TV queen Sheila's choice: "Little People, Big World." I'm also working on getting a special guest star for next week: Mustafa Nwenge.

Bube's: There's No Such Thing As a Tie

The Wise Men are seen here proudly displaying their Trashbag score: a yellow polk dotted triceratops (now we know why the dinosaurs went extinct). They tied with the Chubby Stubbies Booooo! team and insisted that they do a Captain Jack-off tie-breaker for bragging rights. After beating the Chubs, they chose UTEP football as their theme. The Chubs kept it sports-related and chose the Robert Redford movie "The Natural."

In third was the Nappy Headed Nutsacks, second went to the Toxisplosive Olivaries and First went to the Nappy Headed Fool Monkey. If I mention any more Imus-inspired names I might have to shut down the site for two weeks, so I'll just stop now.

The Virginia Girls had a fantastic time and said that they wished they had trivia back home.

The Hot Mamas took a break from their kids and menfolk to enjoy a girls' night out.

Chuckles: No Triva Tonight!

Don't forget that there is no trivia at Cafe Chuckles tonight. See you all next Sunday!

Bube's: Triviapalooza!

Another successful trivia extravaganza was held last night at Bube's with our host, Curtis Earth, returning from Florida for one special night. Here's Curt, thawing out from our Pennsylvania deep freeze and admiring Stacy's podium which he had commissioned.

Special thanks to Curt for a great show. It's always a blast to see him in action. If you're in Orlando, be sure to check out his shows. He has shows practically every day of the week, so check out earthtrivia.com for his schedule.

Thanks, too, to Sam Allen for providing us the opportunity to do this annual gig. The chefs outdid themselves this year, as we all enjoyed an Italian buffet. Following are many pix from the festivities:

Ladies and gentlemensas, tonight's winners: the Lethal Amoebas! And $250 is easily divisible by five, so their brains won't be taxed anymore tonight.

K.T. was our phenomenal hostess for the night, as she ran back and forth tending our needs. Thanks, K.T. for all your work. And thanks, too, to Shannon for working the door. (Shannon, being the vampiric sort, is hard to photograph).

They'll hire just about anybody at Bube's nowadays. (Thanks, Bill, for all your help!)

Here's a close-up of the Lethal Amoebas. Along with Bill and Marge of Out of the Vortex, Lorraine (left) has been with Earth Trivia since its beginnings at the Holiday Inn back in the last millennium.

Not only did the Amoebas win the grand prize, but they also won something almost as valuable: Art on Wood, Self-Portrait Series 2! In a strange coincidence, Jay and Lorraine had also won the first ever Art on Wood back in 1999.

Out of the Vortex's last-minute answer change proved costly, as they settled for second. But their prize was pretty spectacular: a feast for four at the Catacombs!

From all across America, the Electric Yellow Brain Bananas featuring the J.U.O. reunited and took third!

Candymaker/freelance writer/trivia host Kathy Blankenbiller and her team PhilNdeBlank took fourth and outfitted their team in t-shirts. Kathy is for hire, by the way :-)

The Four Orphans were cobbled together from several teams and managed some major team mojo to come in fifth.

The ever-travelling Talent Scouts continued their Easter weekend celebrating and took home some handy-dandy bottle openers.

You won't be able to miss this team from Harrisburg, All Jazzed Up, now that they're equipped with high-tech blinkers!

Team Cuscus, with new addition Helene (second from left). I took Helen's sister Val to my senior prom. I would post the pic, but I'm afraid my blinding pastel blue tux would scar your eyeballs.

Two-timing trivia Team Laffy Taffy (they play at both Chuckles and the Barn Door). I think MJ got a secret kick out of seeing Billy and I clearing tables.

The Outsiders are lost in thought, pondering the mysteries of trivia. From New York, via North Carolina and Great Britain, they discovered us via the power of the series of tubes known as the internets.

Bube's owner and long time trivia supporter Sam Allen proudly displays his vintage Art on Wood from 2001, a masterful portrait of monkey judge Mr. Shifferstein. Sam keeps it by his nightstand.

After Bube's, we headed to the Cove in Lancaster where good friend Damion Wolfe was wrapping up his gig. After some guy sang a cheesy version of Love Boat, Damion duetted with Curtis and his egg on "Me and Julio."

Hot Tub Jimmy was up way past his bedtime.

Later, in a special edition of "Mythbusters," Curtis disproved the notion that an eight inch plastic horse would be a choking hazard.

VFW: I'm Dreaming of a White April

Just like when the sparrows return to Capistrano, it's a sure sign of Spring when the Foreplayers return to the VFW (although it sure is hard to remember it's Spring when there are icicles hanging off your nose). Tonight's news was the start time referendum. Once in a while triva becomes a democracy as I step down as tyrant and let the people vote. The majority has spoken and the game start time will remain at 7 P.M. (No comment about me needing my beauty sleep, please).

On the competition front, Shitz and Giggle and Friends finally broke their fourth round curse and took first. In second, placing their highest score in a looooooooooooooong time, was Alice in Wonderland! Behind them were Chicks and Dicks. The B52s took fourth for the second week in a row and chose "anatomy" as their theme. In fifth (again) were Whatever (AKA Room Two); they chose "airports" as their theme

Trivia this Saturday: still open!

It's not too late! We still have some seats available for Saturday's $250 GRAND PRIZE Trivia Contest.

Here's a repeat of the details:

You can win big bucks this Saturday just by playing trivia. And you get to see the original host, Curtis Earth, in action. It's a chance for the trivia veterans (pre-2002) to re-connect with Curt and re-experience old times; and it's a chance for our "more recent" players to get to know his special brand of warmth and humor.

Curtis Earth, the founding father of trivia in Lancaster County, is returning to his roots and doing a special trivia show Easter Saturday night, April 7th at Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy.

The grand prize is (drumroll, please...) $250!!! (you read that right, it's two hundred and fifty dollars, not $25!)

Other prizes other than cash will also be awarded, in addition to the $250.00 Grand prize

Show begins at 8 P.M. upstairs in the Alois ballroom.

Price: $10 per person - price includes a light Italian buffet of ziti and pasta, salad and dessert (which will be served at 8:30).

Maximum team size: 8 players.

We need a head count ahead of time, so please e-mail me with the number of players on your team and we'll reserve you a table!

Please RSVP to me (mike.horn@fandm.edu) as soon as possible.

Bube's: You Don't Know Poop

It was horse and poop night at Bube's and everyone had a craptacular time. I was going to experiment with scratch and sniff picture round sheets, but it was too costly. Once the stench cleared, Total Disagreement came from behind, beating the Bunny Pellets and the Jelly Roll Mortons by one question. Then Nate of the Pellets (sort of like Tarzan of the Apes) bested the Rolls in a Captain Jack-off, and took second plpace. In fourth were Equus Nutsackus, with the returning Marie and Nathan. They chose Sports Tribonds as their theme. Following closely behind was English minor Tom, the sole rep of Team Discovery Channel. He chose the Romantic Poets (e.g. Keat, Shelley, Byron and all those weepy guys).

Speaking of weepy, it's with a heavy heart that I report that it was Melissa's last night as our server. (That's Melissa and Matt in the pic above). She is quitting Bube's to take a break and concentrate on studying and her other job. Best of luck to you and see you in court!

Here's Bob, sporting another of his Trashbag fashions, with owl pellet expert Randy in the background.

The Jon Shober gang had a good time, despite Jade's near-death encounter with the Trashbag of Deelite.

Josh and Sarah couldn't make it in time for the show, but hung out afterwards.

Chuckles: My Kingdom for an Answer!

King Edmond Ironside, son of Ethelred the Unready stopped by the show last night and was shocked to see that his mug was on the picture sheet. Alas, it was only a cruel April Fool's trick, since the real picture sheet had been withheld.

Tonight marked the debut of our new hostess, Sara's twin sister Anna. She got to see a nailbiter night, as last week's champs Easy Like Sunday Morning (they change their name weekly), tumbled in the last round. The Lethal ("Don't Hate Us Because We're Beautiful") Amoebas, took first. In second were The Price Is Marked Down and in third, once they finished with their morning wood, was Skirtland. The fourth-place Talent Scouts chose Spaceballs as their theme, followed by the Tidy Bowlers, who once again took fifth. They chose Amish culture. Laffy Taffy and the Sad Clowns almost made it, as did my favorite team name for the night, the Grotty Lil Wenkers.

Program note: don't forget that Chuckles will be closed on Easter Sunday, so our next show will be April 15th.

Rod was so taken aback by his marvelously practical individual Spongebob pizza slice plate that he gave it away!

The Price Is Marked Down recruited some members of the Millersville Alumni Association, Bob and Jean.