The Exploding Ovaries celebrate 25 years (of Jordan's life, not of exploding).

Chuckles: From the Halls of Montezuma...

...to the shores of Cafe Chuck, we explored Marine history and everybody's (at least somebody's) favorite TV show, "Saved by the Bell." (Although both avowed fans Ubersmack and the Talent Scouts bombed the stumper question.) Another stumper was the pic at right: that's a svelter Drew Carey back in his Marine days.

Tonight we celebrated Steve of the Price Is Right and Krista of team Happy Birthday's birthdays (how's that for good writing?). The guys from It's Trash Bag Time Again tried to bribe me with pop-tarts (think bigger next time). Snelly and Lisa would now like to be called Shelly and Laura, for some reason.

On the competition front Ubersmack beat The Price team to claim fifth and chose the Mets as their theme. Fourth place Out of the Vortex, aided by their former enemies Jack and Beth of the Army of Northern Virginia, chose Canadian provinces. The Talent Scouts almost took the top, but settled for third. Skirtland had a very impressive last round and took second, but The Lethal Amoebas came from behind to claim victory.

VFW: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

...Unless you happen to be Don. Don "Don't Call Me Stan" brought Sheila "Don't Call Me Jaime Summers," who is recuperating from a nasty spill and is now equipped with enough bits and pieces of metal to be Suspect Number One at airport security. The Shitz and Giggles team actually stayed past the picture round. D and M - 2 did well, despite all the pop culture questions. The Foreplayers also did well, despite not knowing Woody Herman from Benny Goodman. They came in fifth and chose geogrpahy as their theme. There was a tie for third, so Nick and Lisa faced the alligator, and much to Nick's delight, she lost. So she picked Vincent Price horror movies as her theme. That meant Mixed Company took third. Room Two's last-minute answer change doomed them to second and The Cunning Linguists, led by Fontmaster Frank, squeaked by them, winning by a pica.

Bubes: Wherever There Is Injustice...

...You'll find the Three Amigos, the favorite film of Missy of TDC. Alas, her knowledge of all things Nederlander only placed them fifth again. So they chose the Muppet Show as their theme. Next was the Fool Monkey, who chose Styx as their theme (thanks again to Charles for helping to correct a presidential question). Last week's champs, Linuscratchitt recovered from a horrible second round to take third. Then it was Chris and Brian of Eat it Raw, proving that tiny teams can do really well. Also doing well was the not-so-tiny Tesla Death Rays, who placed first. Special thanks go to the appropriately named Three Guys in the Dark, who huddled around their candle. Also: welcome to the anatomically-named Meatflaps and welcome back to the rusty Nutsacks. And thanks to Seth for helping me with the audio post-show. One of these days we'll figure it out.

Chuckles: Who Put the Bop In the Bop-She-Bop?

The Coach's Girls made good on their promise and transformed themeselves into The Steelers and One Lonely Eagle. Unfortunately, a painful picture round did them in. In fact, it almost did Out of the Vortex in, but they had a stellar fourth round and ended up in first place. The perennial bridesmaids The Price Is Right once again took second. Skirtland, aided by their doo-wop expertise, took third. The Talent Scouts vowed to take fourth and were good to their word. They chose Saved by the Bell as their theme, which tickled Tim of The Incredible Ninja Squirrels of Doom. Then The Unit 2 Meltdown Crew took fifth and chose the US Marines as their theme, which then tickled Billy Warmth (and I need to get that image out of my mind.) Props to Donny and Marie, who were doing well until the last round, along with the Lethal Amoebas who had a spectacular flameout. Favorite prize of the night: a clam knife.

Brew at the Zoo

Or, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. I took a day off from all my jobs to attend the Brew at the Zoo in Norristown. Mixing carniverous animals in cages with a bunch of beer drinkers sounds like a bad idea, but it was a very enjoyable time. My friend Ann particularly liked the sliding board.

Stampeding towards the last free samples of Blithering Idiot. (From my favorite brewery, Weyerbacher.)

Lititz VFW: Sharp-Dressed Men (and Women)

The Newlyweds did NOT want their Maypo, while Shannon and Kim wanted more Monty Python Tunes. Cindy had abandonment issues, so she joined the Incredibles. The Cunning Linguists and the Foreplayers had similarly themed names and similar scores, since they tied for fourth. Their theme choices for next week: the TV show Cheers and type-setting terms. Room Two was third, despite Matt's Tour de France knowledge. Dave and Lisa joined the Posse and transformed them into the more exotic-sounding Le Posse and took second. And the Comeback Kids, D and M + 2 nearly aced the last round and claimed victory!

Bube's: Nose Candy

Brad is modelling some of the Husky Milk Maids prizes: a stylish orange fuzzy purse, a 10 pack of melted crunch bars and a strap-on nose candy dispenser. Other prize-winners included Shari, who won a Paradise fireman's t-shirt; Brian of Eat It Raw, who played magic tricks on the traitorious Chris; and Jordan (of the Exploding Ovaries Surgically Removed to Cyprus team), who won some cinnamon bears (which was the last thing she needed, since she was pretty wound up to begin with). Team Emmy, meanwhile took home the five pound box of Swedish fish. The Phool Phonak Monkey placed fifth and chose U.S. Presidents as their theme. TDC lost the tie-breaker for third and chose the classic Three Amigos movie as their theme. Laura's Captain Jack skills came in handy, as the Toxic Olives took third. The Tesla Death Rays were second and we welcomed a new-to-Bube's team, Linuscratchitt, who claimed the grand prize.

Former Bube's drinkmaster extraordinaire John Devennie is in town for the summer before heading down to Sarasota. You can catch him playing in the mud at the Pennsylvania Rennaissance Fair.

Cafe Chuckles: The Littlest State

A great night with a packed house. Ubersmack brought some secret weapons from New Jersey. K-Cubed only missed the champ's circle by one point. Jason and Kristie from Dead Bear Baby in a Jar scoped out the joint. I Went to CV and I'm OK (Twitch, Twitch) had the best name of the night. The Coach Girls vowed to return with reinforcements. There were some strange noises coming from Skirtland's table as they took fifth. Rhode Island Marge (pictured left) of Out of the Vortex chose her home state as a theme and managed to come in fourth (again). The Toxic (Don't call them Tainted) Olives from Bube's made their first appearance and snagged third. A super-sized Price Is Right team, with guest star Rum-chugging Jean, once again placed second, bested by Gigi and the Drunken Stepfathers. Next week's themes: the Los Angeles Dodgers and '50s do-wop music.

Beans and Pineapples, Together at Last!

Dick from the VFW's Room Two is a bean connoisseur and he gave two big thumbs up to the baked beans I prepared for his team Sunday as part of their cookout prize for placing second in the May mini-tournament. The secret ingredient was crushed pineapple. You can find the recipe here. We had great time eating burgers, beans, potato salad, macaroni salad and Janice's delicious home-made peach pie while listening to Stu's jokes.

VFW: Boxers or Briefs?

Lisa and Carol, distaff members of Mixed Company, were brought on board to help their team with the underwear and hairdo questions. But their former teammates, the Cunning Linguists managed to beat them by one point to take first. Room 2 took third and In Zane in the Membrain once again placed fourth. They chose 70s NFL as their theme. Meanwhile, the B52s, with only two members, managed fifth and chose ZZ Top as their theme. So start growing your beards for next week's show!

Bube's: Here Comes the Rain Again

Once again we had a bad storm prior to the show and getting to Bube's was an obstacle course of fallen branches. Thanks to all who played. (The storm was so bad that it knocked out the power to the Cat's Meow, so fellow trivia host J stopped by for a special visit).

Here's a pic of Dead Bear Bay in a Broken Lebanese Clay Pot, who returned to Bube's after a month-long hiatus. They were a bit rusty in the early rounds, but rose from fifth to first in the finale. Eat It Raw continues their ascent, taking second, while the Hot Mamas took third. The Toxic Olives and the Exploding Ovaries were neck-and-neck throughout the night, but the O's lived up to their name and flamed out in the fourth. The Olives chose Disco as their theme for placing fourth. Meanwhile, Bill of the Fool Minkey beat Missy of TDC for fifth, and chose World Geogrpahy (non-US) as their theme. Also: welcome to Sarah, a new salty ball to add to the original Crabby Dicks; and a warning to our regulars: the selection of beers for the $2 draft special has been curtailed, so check with your server for which beers qualify.

These ladies, known as the Hot Mamas (Wooooooooo!) were enjoying a "girls night out" and played their very first trivia game. Their enthusiasm carried them into the winner's circle, since they took third.

Chrissy, Janet and Jack celebrate their second place victory.

Cafe Chuckles: Beam Me Up!

It was Star Trek night at Chuckles (much to the chagrin of Ubersmack), which helped the all-male version of the Rainmakers get third place. The Talent Scouts' amazing fourth round (9 out of 10 correct) helped them surpass the Price Is Right (by one point!) to claim victory. Out of the Vortex returned to Chuckles (much to the chagrin of the Rainmakers) and placed fourth. New Englander Margie chose Rhode Island as her theme. Last week's champs the Lethal Amoebas fell to fifth and had a long discussion about what their theme should be. They chose the good-old standby, alcohol. Skirtland won a wheel of cheese (as big as one dollar can buy), while Declan knew his punt from his pound. Meanwhile, the Tidy Bowlers were too stuffed with food to think.

VFW: Brenda Lee's Sorry

That's Anita Bryant at the left, looking sad that no one remembered her original rendition of the Marie Osmond classic "Paper Roses." It was early sixties night at the VFW, along with mixed drink trivia. And Dennis and Melanie and Rob and Louise (AKA D and M + 2) were the victors. Room Two was second, then it was the B52s (wishing good health to John, btw). The Posse had a new member who looked like Kirk after a sheep-shearing contest. They chose "undergarments" as their theme. Then it was Inzane in the Membrain, who chose "hairdos." So hopefully you'll have some members of the estrogen brigade on your team next week. Fartosaurus Frank and his teammates were led astray by John and tanked. And a special shout-out has to go to the Foreplayers who aced the picture round, which they usually dread with a passion.

Bube's: Out of Africa

Once I got over the shock that Bube's was temporarily out of Guinness, we had a great night. It featured the world's lamest puns on the picture sheet with the secret theme of Africa (Susan Sarandon + Dan Dierdorf = Sue-Dan).
Eat It Raw had their best showing ever, only two points off the money position. They chose Seinfeld as their theme for next week. They tied TDC, who chose "The Goonies." In third was Sausage and Coach (AKA The Wise Men), second went to the Flaming Moe-rons (pictured above) and first went to the red-hot Tesla Death Rays. The big trashbag winner was Jim of the Stonecutters, who won a talking Homer dashboard figurine (what are the odds of that happening?)

Missy thinks that Mike is "the best bartender ever." (Even though he's a Dallas fan). The fact that he just gave her a Steeler mug had absolutely nothing to do with that statement.