...Amy and Carol.

Christy was full of sushi and passed on the funnel cake.

Tariq wanted to know when the air conditioning would kick in.

A.K. and Josiah were about to put out an APB for Eric.

Gavn is putting the screws on Shannon's literary agent.

Jane brought her family along to represent the Earth Girls.

Cylo sitting on his (her? its?) butt, as usual.

Cat's from the Cradle

For you cat people out there, here's a touching video of a reunion story about a lion that was raised by humans then sent into the wild. Just turn off the sappy Whiutney Houston music and enjoy. Thansk to Bonnie for sending me the link.

VFW: Just Some Good Old Boys (and Girls)

Once again I Left my notes at home, so this is on memory. The Drunken Stepfathers merged with Room Two to take the grand prize. We then had the shortest Jack-off™ in history, with only three teeth pushed down. Carmen now holds the record, so Trivia at 8 got second and Chicks and Dicks third. In seventh was Alice in Wonderland, who chose card games as their theme. The other highlight of the night was The Foreplayers who played Russian jelly bean roulette.

Bube's: My Crabs Have Returned

It's always good to see the Crabby Dicks, who made a rare return appearance to Bube's. Traci, as always, asked for some extra tickets. There was no stopping the Nutsacks, who continuned their reign of terror. But they barely squeaked by the Ice Fly. A little farther back were the Toxic Olives, who managed to make it despite their leader's absence. Quietly Making Noise is quietly making its way up the leader board, too

A new team, Ice Fly, did extremely well, only one point behind the Nutsacks.

The Nutsacks are looking forward to watching the classic Timecop 2.

The Toxic Olives celebrated Craig and Kumiko's new home-ownership.

Quietly Making Noise's playlist got many favorable reviews. And they only missed the money by one question.

The Tony Danza Slap Loves Lance Mountain. Nuff said.

Puff n Suds had a most excellent night, winning the theme choice for next week (South Park), a half dozen chocolate-covered donuts AND bacon-flavored Spam.

Tom is a big fan of his Trashbag of Deelite prize: 7up marinade, now with extra high-fructose corn syrup!

Chuckles: VH1 for the Books

In this post-show shot, Paul is oblivious that Tim is hitting on a repulsed Trish, while Deric spends some quality time with his date (Pam, that is, not Duane). They just took home the gold, while Skirtland and the Intoxicated Intellectuals were right behind. A new team, Second Chance, almost made third place, followed by the Team With No Name and Out of the Vortex. The Tidy Bowlers, well rested from their vacation, took seventh and chose "Gilligan's Island" as their theme. Rabid Fox Syndrome, meanwhile, did a spectacular crash and burn and will be checking in to Celebreality Rehab.

Apparently Barrett has been weighing the Intoxicated Intellectuals down, since they had their best showing in a while without him.

The Celebration-bound Flo-Ridas spent their last night in Pennsylvania playing trivia and are looking forward to doing the same at Curtis' shows in Orlando.

The Black Knights, with a little help from Texas, are still waiting for the fifth round to finally make their move.

VFW: The Good, the Bert and the Crazy

Bert has gone a little crazy since last we saw her and the Foreplayers. Her team was mad for trivia and finally returned to the VFW. (Actually they returned last week, coincidentally the one week in the last five years when we didn't have trivia). They were a little rusty and didn't crack the top seven. Those honors went to Room Two, Trivia at Eight, Chicks and Dicks, Prius, the B52s, Mixed Company and the Zombies in that order).

Also, before I forget, a big thanks to new substitute host, the Other Mike!

Dave, the math teacher, was happy that he could easily divide his team's winnings with Frank and Kevin.

Greg and Chris were in shock that they came in fourth.

Just some good old boys (and girls): The Zombies were leading going into the last round, but ended up in seventh. They're going with "The Dukes of Hazzard" as their theme for next week.

Carmen convinced her mom, birthday girl Erma, to do her recuperating at the VFW

Brigid and Bentley were happy to have me back, until the final round.

Peter's Pals, despite missing the entire first round, did better than five teams!

Cheryl and Doug are doing a dramatic recreation of their life-saving disposal of a humongous beetle that had been trying to kill me. I felt something crawling on my neck and threw it into an ashtray. You should have seen the size of the thing! (Frank said it was trying to pick me up and fly me away). Cheryl and Doug then sprang into action and fricasseed the monster with their cigarette and cigar. The whole incident will be on the Discovery Channel's America's Most Daring Rescues in September.

Bube's in the News!

Co-owner and general manager Sam Allen and his wife, Jan Musser Allen, sit in the ballroom of the Inn

Here's a nice article by James Buescher about Sam Allen's new hotel rooms at Bube's that ran in the Monday Intell:

When it comes to visiting Lancaster, tourists have an amazing number of hotel choices: mega-resorts like Willow Valley or the Lancaster Host, for example, or more modest, family run establishments like the Revere Tavern.

Now, however, a local business owner is trying out a new concept in the heart of Mount Joy: the Inn at Bube's Brewery, a quirky, funky, urban-style boutique hotel that's being created from the remains of the borough's once-proud Victorian-era Central Hotel. (more...)

Bubes: The Return of the Whirlygigs!

(Warning: I left my notes at home, so I'm relying on my memory for this recap.) The Nutsacks Are Willing to Trade Josiah for Some Good Prospects were tonight's victors, one question ahead of The Flaming Moe-rons. A supersized Puff N Suds took the bronze, right ahead of the always formidable Linuscratchitt. There was a tie for fifth between Quietly Making Noise and Curryshits Vindaloo: The Trivia Guru, and the Tony Danza Slap got to pick next week's theme: skateboarding. That's them in the pic above about to poke their eyes out with the ever popular whirlygigs.

The Flaming Moe-rons enjoy a canister of reconstituted potato product.

Easy math: the third place Puff n Suds each got to take home one dollar.

Quietly Making Noise was hard at work coming up with next week's playlist.

Kevin is trying to decide how much the Stone Cutters can afford for a bribe.

Captain Jack enjoys a post-show snack.

Chuckles: Beware of Whirlygigs!

Sue demonstrates the proper way to bow down before an alien whirligig. Actually, her team, Suit and Tie, did no bowing down as they took first place on my first week back after vacation. A resurgent Skirtland was only 3 points behind, followed by a tie between Clowns McNutty and Ubersmack. Deric quickly went down and the McNuttys took the bronze.

The McNutty gang celebrates Amanda's victory.

Former Renaissance Fair actors The Lanes From Minnesota took a break from their Pennsylvania sightseeing to play trivia at Chuckles. It's a shame they're not locals, since they placed fifth. (even after missing the first round!)

While Trish and Dawn were on a biking excursion, Sue and Charlie of the Twin Roses decided to open up a business and incorporated themselves as C & S, Inc. The firm promptly went bankrupt at 10 P.M., making it one of America's shortest lived enterprises.

They're not giving their gang signs, they're indicating that they got the choice seventh place spot. After much deliberation (over an hour's worth, I think), Team 28 is going with VH1's Celebreality series of TV programs as next week's theme. Somebody alert Viewers for Quality Television!

Bube's: Born on the First of July

It was a super-patriotic pre-holiday show at Bube's as evidenced by Sam's team (I Actually Worked with a Guy Named Richard Stuck) and their red-white-and-blue approved Trashbag of Deelite™ gifts. Dennis made his semi-annual trek to Bube's and brought along his Mean Celine Machine to take the gold. Boy Wonder's Day Off: The Nutsack Edition took second, begging the question, if Boy Wonder had been on the team, would they have gotten first? The Toxic Olives bagged the bronze, followed by the Tony Danza Slap, If Wishes Were Ponies and Puff n Suds. The aforementioned Richard Stuck team got the coveted theme choice and are going with the Family Guy's favorite state: Rhode Island.

The Toxic Olives get ready to dispense some belated birthday cake after the show. They treated me and some of the remaining players to a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that Steve had smuggled in under his coat. Thanks, gang!

The Mean Celine Machine celebrate their victory after the show while the girls wait for their Amy Winehouse makeovers.

Ladies and gentlemen: The Return of Quietly Making Noise.

The Tony Danza Slap weren't at their regular table and lost their mojo, but still rallied in the end to come in fourth.

Ellen brought along Ed, who made a rare appearance at Bubes. He's normally travelling the world as soundman to the stars. Ellen also re-gifted her Elektra Barbie doll, so you expect to see the ninja assassin make an appearance in the Trashbag soon.