VFW: Hey, Good Looking!

No, that is not my high school picture. That is Hank Williams the Third's grandfather, AKA Hank Willams Jr's father, AKA Hank Williams (he sure had a lot of aliases). He was part of one of our themes, country music of the 50s and 60s. The B52s got swept away by the music as they, led by the warbling Paul, sung their way to the top spot for the second week in a row! (A team record for the B52s). Chicks and Dicks leapt from fifth to second, while D & M took the bronze. Next up was Shitz and Friends Minus Giggles (we wish a speedy recovery to Willie), who chose animated Christmas specials as their theme. We're Here for the Beer finished fifth and chose spelling as their theme. (Steve better watch out, since it looked like Darla, Sheila and Don were going to exercise their license to kill when they missed a James Bond question).

Reminder: There will be no trivia on Thanksgiving Eve. Instead, give your brain a rest and break out your dancing shoes, since the band Hotwired will be playing at 8:30. See you all in two weeks!

Bube's: We'll Stay for Just a Bit

Here we have the Depends Team, who were in town on a visit from Pittsburgh. They had no intention of staying after dinner, but with a little persuasion, they sampled the first round and stayed until the end, when they took home the imaginary Fifth Place trophy. They naturally chose "Pittsburgh landmarks" as their theme for next week, when all 12 of them will take the train in. The FJ Chubby Stubbies once again placed fourth and chose "Italy." Last week's champs, TDC settled for third and the dynamic duo of "Dirty Shame" took second. The Flaming Moe-rons (Go Flyers!), always contenders, finished strong in the last round to take first.

These two guys were the ringleaders of the steel curtain.

Janelle and Justin, AKA "Dirty Shame," came through in the last round to overtake TDC for second place!

Chuckles: A Tribute to Dad

Once again going on memory for this blurbage: Sunday marked the fourth-year anniversary of my dad's passing (that's him clowning around at right), so I chose questions that he would have approved of: Armstrong, the Steelers, Dairy Queen, Hee-Haw, etc. And the picture round spelled out his name. He was able to play trivia a couple of times when Curtis was doing the show, but was not able to see me host. But he always enjoyed hearing the questions.

The other themes for the night were Lincoln's cabinet (with which everyone did surprisingly well) and Hanson. Unfortunately, the mmmBop lyrics in the final round tripped many. Marge of Out of the Vortex, however, channeled her inner teeny-bopper and led her team to victory, squeaking by a last round surge by Skirtland. Ubersmack and the Amoebas tied for third, with the Meebs falling. They chose "Steely Dan lyrics" as their theme. The Laffy Taffy crew took fifth and kept it musical by picking Shania Twain lyrics. Props go to Bugman, who aced the picture round, Jackie and Brian of the Jelly Roll Mortons, who made it to two shows this week, and to Lori, who ably handled some drunken oafs who provided us with a halftime show. Team Zissou did extremely well, considering that they missed the first round. And Fonk du Jour CV Beat the Barons had one of their highest placings ever, almost making the coveted Top Five.

My First YouTube

Here's my first attempt at posting on YouTube. It's Damion Wolfe performing his song "Freestyle" at the Chameleon Saturday night. My camera only records three minute films, so the ending is cut off. Damion was phenomenal, and that other guy was pretty good, too ;-)

VFW: Slaughter in the Fourth

I don't have my notes, so this is from memory: My main impression of tonight was the carnage created by the last round. Room Two and Shitz and Giggles had been leading all night. But when the smoke cleared, it was the B52s who emerged victorious. And Nix Lix almost made the winner's circle, missing it by one point. They chose candies of the 1960s as their theme. Keeping us in nostalgia mode, fifth-place Chicks and Dicks chose country music of the 50s and 60s. (And you're looking at a picture of the present-day Frank Serpico, by the way).

Bube's: Dodging the Draft

Problems with the taps system did not deter the teams from a thoreauly rousing night of trivia. And neither did one of our stranger themes: transcendentalists. The Firkens (pictured above) were astonished to see that trivia is still going strong at Bubes, approaching its ten year anniversary. They placed sixth by almost catching up with the fifth place Tesla Death Rays. They chose the 1950s camp classic movie "The Bad Seed" as their theme. The two man team known as the FJ Chubby Stubbies did really well, placing fourth and choosing the Phillies for next week. The Olives were in second all night, but were usurped by the hard-charging Fool Monkey Wrench in the Electoral Works team. The Monkeys almost beat TDC, but they won by a mere whisper. Also: thanks to Rebecca for doing a bangup job on her first night as trivia server.

Pierce and Pierce may not have placed, but they did manage to win three Trashbag prizes (even though Sugar daddies are not their favorites).

The trivia virgins known as the Jelly Roll Mortons are seen here puzzling over the last round. They enjoyed it so much that they vowed to check out the Cafe Chuckles show.

Damion Wolfe Opening for Tim Reynolds

Songwriter-guitarist and huge trivia supporter Damion Wolfe will be playing this Saturday (Nov. 11th) at the Chameleon Club. He'll be opening for famed guitarist Tim Reynolds, who is well known for his work with the Dave Matthews Band. Surely a night not to be missed!

Chuckles: White and Nerdy

We have a musically diverse group at Chuckles, as evidenced by the themes. We've already had doo-wop and Bon Jovi. So this week, it was gangsta rap and next week it's Hanson (they sang the immortal "mmmmmCRAP!" - or something like that). Marge and the Notorious B.I.L. got in touch with their inner rappers and led the way until a meltdown in the last round. Joe's Team and Laffy Taffy, also, were not big fans of the final round. The Price Is Right took fifth, but since they will not be here next week, they gave their pick to the Tidy Bowlers. The Bowlers were taken aback by finally getting a choice and scrambled for a theme, so they chose the aforementioned musical trio. Skirtland placed fourth and chose Lincoln and his cabinet (Quick everyone, you have one week to read Doris Kearn Goodwin's Team of Rivals. C'mon, it's only 944 pages!) Ubersmack, led by Ole Boy Deric, came in third and the Lethal Amoebas featuring Lefty Lorraine came in second. And the big story of the night was the fourth round comeback of the Talent Scouts, who managed to make it to the top spot two weeks in a row.

VFW: Saddle Up!

In honor of our horse tack theme, the night came down to a shootout between four members of Room Two and D & M + 3, with rootin' tootin Clyde providing the key shots. Shitz and Giggles and Friends took third, followed by the B52s, who were in their comfort zone, fourth place. To change things up a little, Sheila chose cars of the 1960s as their theme. We're Here for the Beer took fifth and chose the Al Pacino flick Serpico as their theme. The Patty Melts enjoyed the new earlier start time of 7, while the Foreplayers took advantage of the nice weather to make a return appearance. We had a special grand prize of a giant Shrek doll, courtesy of yard sale shopper extraordinaire Renate. Paul was initially reluctant to accept the prize, but decided his grandson would enjoy it.

VFW: New Start Time!

Don't forget that tonight we begin starting an hour earlier, at 7 P.M.! (or else you'll miss the first two rounds) - Note this only applies to the VFW; Chuckles and Bube's remain at 8 P.M.

Bube's: Happy Hallow-ack-ack-ack!

You're looking at the winner of this year's Costume Contest. I'm still not sure if she was human or alien, since she stayed "in character" all night long. Don't know if the fifty bucks will do her any good back on Mars, though. She was assisted by the Wolfman (see below) and the scariest costumed one of the night, College Archives Assistant Man. A few teams had to bug out early to take the famed Bube's Ghost Tour, so they missed seeing the grand finale. Luckily the Smashing Squash team stayed, since they placed fifth and chose Neil Young as their theme. The Nutsack of Amontillado placed fourth and chose transcendentalism (yes, you read that right). M&M (AKA Mike and Melissa) played for the first time and tied for second with Where's Ainsley Hayes When We Need Her. But it was TDC's night for the first time in a good while. Just Me enjoyed her orange jello, Sexless in the City enjoyed their mild heckling and Cyainac really loved her Halloween Barbie. And lastly, thanks to Sam who provided some swag for our costumed winners.

Second place went to Kate and her interpretation of the term "Dixie Chick." (Those are Dixie Cups attached to her bodice).

Third Prize went to Nate "Is He Man Or" Wolf?

Fourth Place went to Dr. McSteamy (or is it Dr. Frankenstein?)

Bube's: Costume Contest Tonight!

Don't forget that I'm handing out 50 bucks to the best costume at tonight's trivia show! (You know you can do better than this guy!)

Thank you, Mr. Ivey!

Thanks to Chris Ivey for ably filling in for me this past week while I was performing at Appalachian Brewing Company's Halloween Radio Comedy show. This is his favorite time of year and he enjoys stepping back into the trivia pool from time to time. Hopefully no small children were frightened by him this year.