Oh gray and rainy winter, I was wondering when you were going to show up. Sean is going to make himself a hot chocolate and then come right back.

...

Okay, you thought I was being facetious, didn't you? Well screw you, you cynical bastard. I really did go make myself a hot chocolate. Don't be such a know-it-all. Save that shit for quiz night, like the Forecasters quizlings did. All 27 teams showed up ready to drink, quiz, and make some noise when they got an answer right. It was a great night to come back to.

Speaking of my triumphant return, big shout out to Matthew Moore who had my back and took over the quiz on short notice when I had to make a surprise trip to the hospital last week. Everybody had nice things to say about you, dude, so nice job.

Goddamn last night was a lot of fun. We have the sweet new wireless mic, you guys were awesome, there was a good mix of old and new teams, and I had an optimal amount of beer. If you want to have a good time on a Tuesday night, you should come hang with us. The more teams we have, the more fun it is.

Okay, enough of me being all giddy over last night. I sound like a college student who just tossed his damn shoes into a tree. Here's some pictures instead!

27 Scores!

The Unflushables	        68
Southern Comfort	        65
T & A	                        63 (won  tie breaker)
Parents' Night Out	        63 (lost tie breaker)
The Weakness	                62
Awesum	                        60
Diamond Ground-Frog Saints	60
Sarah & Lovena	                58
Mean                            56
Just the Tip	                55
Sorry About My Face	        54
Cobra Kai	                53
Ex-Quiz-It	                50
We Be Red Hookin'	        49
Strangers in the Night	        49
Werewolves on Wheels	        48
Insert Team Name Here	        48
Fraggin' N00bs	                48
Like A Fox	                48
Erick + Erin	                44
4 Play	                        44
The A Team	                44
Linoleum Blownapart	        39
AAAAEEOOOOO!!!	                37
Brain Trust	                31
Lucky Ladies	                20
Skydrol Nerds	                16

To quote from Derek, scorekeeper extraordinaire, "Redhook is now a smoking crater in what's left of Woodinville. We somehow ignited the kegs which caused a cascade reaction. CERN has nothing on breweries."

Sean disappears, the wireless mics don't work, and I can't remember whether The Last Waltz is a documentary. Everything is topsy turvy! I have the photos to prove it.

High fives to everyone for keeping your wits about you. And now, before I break into a verse of "Food, Glorious Food," the rest of the photos.

Finally, your two-time champeens, the ones to beat, the couple to unseat, Parent's Night Out.

Do me a favor and beat the pants off them next week.

Scores!

Parent's Night Out           62
RamRod                       58
More Green Beer              56
NEA                          55
Dirty Sanchez's              53
The Shuttlecocks             53
Smilebox.com                 52
Two Headed Gummie Snakes     51
Slim Chance @ Winning        50
Beer For Breakfast           49
Smokey Mongoloid Afterbirth  47
T&A                          46
Bas Relief                   45
Nacho Average Team           40
Turtle Me Bad                37
Tonto's Expanding Headband   36
Incredible                   31
The Ex-Quiz It               27

I love hosting birthday parties during my quizzes. I also love poorly rendered versions of Happy Birthday! We managed to get one half of Forecasters singing about... oh, five seconds behind the other half, like some horribly synced youtube video. And we were all flat as hell. I think team Ginger Fest 2010 appreciated the effort, though. Or maybe those were rictuses (Ricti? How the hell do you pluralize rictus?) of horror as opposed to smiles. Ken 40 were celebrating a birthday as well; I hope you guys had a grand old time.

Was that a pun? Shit, I'm punning, time to switch to pictures.

There are, of course, things going on besides birthdays. Mostly drinking! But also quizzing. Let's look at some shots of happy quizzing people!

It came right down to the wire this week. Parents' Night Out won by a single point, and only because they got the night's highest score (not counting Jokers) on round 8. Way to come through in the clutch, guys.

Here's some extra stats on perfection for you!
Only team with with a perfect hand job: Thevenin's Equivalent
Only perfect 40s or 50s round: The Unflushable's
Only perfect Rules mongers: I'm With CoCo
One point from a perfect music round: Parents' Night Out

Hmmm, looks like I can't blame the parental victory solely on the random knowledge round. Well played, parents!

Well played.

Your Scores, Sirs And Madams

Parents' Night Out    59
The Divots            58
Rearview Llamas       55
Low Expectations      54
Four Square Wheels    53
Pandemic at the Disco 53
Banana Hammock        52
I'm with CoCo         51
Beer for Breakfast    46
The Unflushables      46
Dynamo                44
Taebow                43
Army of Two           41
Thevenin's Equivalent 41
The Pleepleie         40
Turd Ferguson         39
Gingerfest 2010       38
King of Flashers      38
Ken 40                36
Kris                  33
Ram-Rod               33
Melissa & Randy       30
The Ex-Quiz It        29
Parkour               28

Man, what was my problem tonight? I was throwing elbows at my waitstaff like I'd joined the New Mexico ladies' soccer team. Is that still funny? The fast-paced world of the internet leaves me in the dust sometimes. I could make an All Your Base joke if that would be topical.

So, here's the story of the night. You all know Basil, the tiny corporate protester/action figure/mascot of the Unflushables, right?

I have no idea if that's how you turn 'fez' into a plural, and I refuse to look it up but because I would die of being ridiculous. Back to detailing the anthropomorphized antics of a tiny hunk of plastic!

Today, Basil marched back and forth along the table, toting a sign that stated simply "Four No More!" It fit in extremely well during our Three Word Chant! Three Word Chant! slogan round. The Unflushables have been barely edged out of the money round for three weeks in a row now, and fourth place was starting to look a little grim, not like the triumph it should properly be considered. Basil wasn't having it this week; whatever else happened, fourth place wasn't an option.

Let's see some photos of Basil's competition, shall we? Scores are down at the bottom.

But what of our valiant heroes the Unflushables? Was Basil's passive-aggressive disapproval enough that his dream of "Four No More" came true?

See you next week, quizzlings.

Four No More!

Cheesemongers	                 64
Standing O	                 56
Katie's Meatloaves	         51
Promethium	                 50
Cutting Buffalo                  43
Nema Toad	                 43
The Unflushables                 42
Tango & Cash & Brill	         41
Team Monarkh	                 39
3 of Tigers 'Girlfriends' 
   Boyfriends … and a pool girl	 36
Precor	                         36
Red Hookers	                 36
Pants on the Ground	         31
Rolly Dog	                 31
Brain Trust	                 26
Butterfly Kisses	         25
Head Coffin	                 22
Desastre Caliente	         21
Amazingly Awesome	         17
The Ex-Quiz It	                 16
Yota Monsters	                 14
New Team	                 14

Oh man, close quiz tonight! And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Our Booze took the win, but only because they got the high score for round 8 and Jokered it. If they'd gotten ONE less point on round 8, it would have gone down as a win for T&A. It seems like so many of my teams are old familiar faces these days! The Unflushables, Chinese Black Magic, Ex-Quiz-It, Sorry Mono, and others were returners. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy that you'd come to hang out with me each week. I know you're really just here because I give out delicious Redhook beer, but let me have my fantasy of camaraderie for a few minutes at least.

So many awesome pictures. Everyone say hello to the crowd at Forecasters!

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Booze…    61
T&A                                            60
Chinese Black Magic                            57
The Unflushables                               54
Brandon's Tacos                                49
Sorry Mono                                     47
Turned Tiger Down                              47
ANE                                            46
J+L                                            44
Better Than Them                               42
Army of Two                                    40
The Donkey(La La) Show                         39
It Squeaks When You Bang It!                   37
Rapidash                                       37
Collusion                                      36
It Sounds like a pyramid scheme but its not    35
The Ex-Quiz It                                 32