Excited to announce that there will be a Festivus quizzo at the Underground Arts on December 23rd. Gonna be a lot of surprises in store, and a very fun quiz. We had a blast at the World Cafe Live a couple of months ago and the guys at UA asked me if I’d like to do another one…this time on the actual holiday. My answer was simple: “Festivus yes! Bagels no!” Tickets are $5 and Doors open at 7:30. Hope to see ya on December 23rd, when we’ll engage in Feats of Strength and encounter numerous Festivus miracles!

Hey gang, gonna do a fundraiser on Saturday and wanted to see if a few of you could make it. Just a little post-Turkey Day trot to work off some of that turkey. It’s a 5k run (not a race) and we’re asking everyone who runs to donate $10 a pop. All of the money raised will go to Shelterbox, a wonderful organization that helps Syrian refugees with shelter, medicine, etc. City Tap House will have some drink specials for us afterwards. Hope to see you guys there!

A quiz about nothing coming up this Sunday, as I’ll be hosting a Seinfeld quiz at World Cafe Live. Already started working on it. Gonna be a very fun quiz, and a great Seinfeld inspired menu to boot. We’ll have The Big Salad, sandwiches on toasted marble rye, and pretzels to make you thirsty. We’ll also have drinks such as the Kosmo, the Combination to the Vault, and Serenity Now.

If you know your Seinfeld, do not miss this quiz. Doors are at 5:30, and quiz starts at 7. You can RSVP on Facebook. Looking like we’re gonna have a pretty decent crowd, so be sure to not wait until the last minute to get there. It’s free to play, and first come, first served on tables. See ya Sunday!

Finally, after 5 weeks, JGTAI scores are now live, so you can check and see if you’re team is in the mix. If they are, be sure to keep out ahead of the angry attack dogs that are nipping at your heels by earning some more points this week. If you need help scoring some points, there’s good news: there is an opportunity for easy bonus points this week. And of course you can also earn them the old fashioned way: winning some quizzes. Some great opportunities for a win tonight at O’Neals, Alla Spina, and City Tap House. As for the Big Event itself, it will be on November 13th. In talks now with a venue, hope to know something soon. See ya this week!

It was a dark and stormy night. Inside Alla Spina, 15 teams were going head to head to determine our 7th Annual Summer Invite champion. Among the teams were perennial powerhouses Duane’s World, Jesters of Tortuga, and JGTSPI champs The CGA. There were also several teams making their first majors appearance, including Fraid Not, Putin on the Ritz, and Teflon Don.

Things got interesting in Round Two, as we had a “Name that Candle Scent” round (funny that so many teams missed “unscented”). Round Four was a music round that stumped plenty of good teams, and headed into the final round, there was the potential for the biggest upset in a Major of all time…the Industry house team held the lead after 4 rounds, though Duane’s World was nipping at their heels.

But in round 5, Imaginary Pablo and the Goat, 12 down when the round began, scored 50 of a possible 55 points, and an insanely tight contest finished with them tied with Duane’s World atop the leaderboard at 126, with CGA falling by a single point, and Tempura House falling by a mere two points for the 2nd straight time in an invitational.

So we went into overtime. We had had a John Mayer question in the music round, so our question was, “How old is John Mayer?” Imaginary Pablo guessed 39. Duane’s World guessed 37. He’s 38. On to double OT. Our double OT question was “What is the population of Hawaii?” Duane’s World guessed 1.7 mill. Imaginary Pablo guess 1.5. The correct answer was 1.4, and we had a winner. Imaginary Pablo had won their first major.

In addition to the trivia, we also had three terrific sets from Riley O’Reilly and No One You Know. (We officially changed the band name midway through the event.) A very fun night all around. Thanks everyone for coming out. Scores are below.

1. Imaginary Pablo 126
2. Duane’s World 126
3. CGA 125
4. Tempura House 124
5. Putin on the Ritz 121
6. Teflon Don 120
7. Specific Schmur 118
8. There’s No I in 16th Place 117
9. Cracked Eggheads of Death 116
10. Fraid Not 114
11. Something About Anna’s Pussycat 114
12. Jesters of Tortuga 113
13. Synchronized Trampoline 109
14. Jitney Spears 93
15. Beard Tears 88

Excited about the band I snagged for the JGTSI this year. A local folk band called No One You Know, you can check out their latest album here.  Great stuff. You’re gonna enjoy these guys.

Here are our final scores…invites went out this morning, and teams in orange have already RSVPd. Teams in yellow have received invites (except for Teflon Don, I need an email address for you guys). Teams in black have declined their invites and record of their achievements have been destroyed and we will move forward as if they never existed.

If you didn’t make the cut, there’s still hope! This is wild card week, and any team winning this week gets an automatic invite. (Will 2-time JGTSI winners Popesack get in via wildcard this week?)

It’s gonna be a great show at a great bar. Excited to do it at Alla Spina.  Action will start at 5:30.

A storm of Biblical proportions hit the quiz at the Oval on Sunday, and no-one was spared its wrath. No seriously, it was nuts. It hit right after the final round ended, and it lasted for over an hour. It hit so hard and so fast that most of us didn’t have time to make it to cover, and huddled under the little shelter offered by the bar. (Sadly, it also destroyed several scoresheets, meaning we can’t declare a winner. First time it’s ever happened. I’m bummed.)

We had kicked off the quiz with a great crowd, and were having a fun, if fairly humid, afternoon.

Then, just as I asked the final question of Round 4, the skies opened up, and people went running for the scant cover offered by the bar.

Getting soaked at the bar? Might as well grab a cold one.

A few hardy souls saw the futility of standing under the minimal cover, and thought it would be a good time to play Jenga.

While others created makeshift shelters in an effort to stay moderately dry.

Several people who couldn’t find shelter under the bar or in the makeshift tents made use of what little protection they had from the elements.

As everyone was huddling together to try to stay dry, there was one rebel who didn’t seem to mind the rain at all.

All in all, a pretty memorable time for all involved. And since we didn’t have time to go over the answers for the final round, here they are:

1. What fruit flavor will you find in abundance in a crepe suzette?

Orange

2. What was the name of Anthony Bourdain’s first book?

Kitchen Confidential

3. Lake Champlain lies between what two states?

New York, Vermont

4. What actresses breakout role was as Tony Montana’s wife in Scarface?

Michelle Pfeiffer

5. What candy bar was named after the inventor’s family horse?

Snickers

6. What is the Turkish word for fate?

Kismet

7. What’s the capital of Oregon?

Salem

8. The inventors of Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper all had the same profession. What was it?

Pharmacist

Stumbled across something awesome recently: an 1849 guide to dens of ill repute in Philadelphia. It formed the basis of most of our podcast this past week (how much would you need to pay us to travel back in time and sleep with the toothless Ms. Hamilton?) You may also want to give it a read. The intro is great: snarky and completely disingenuous. The reviews are amazing: “Beware of this house, stranger, as you would the sting of a viper.”

I also found this interesting, and we discussed it in the podcast:

In the nineteenth century, a woman who owned property, made high wages, had sex outside of marriage, performed or received oral sex, used birth control, consorted with men of other races, danced, drank, or walked alone in public, wore makeup, perfume, or stylish clothes — and was not ashamed — was probably a whore.

Here’s the latest episode, and it’s very funny. We discuss Hillary and Donald Trump undergoing a Trial by Fire, we use the word “defenestration” as much as humanly possible, and we get in a huge argument over whether it’s considered cheating if you make out with someone in a different decade after traveling through time. And if you haven’t listened yet, you may want to check out last week’s episode, where Marilyn Monroe sings “Happy Birthday” to Nat the Truth at Madison Square Garden, and Nat’s wife isn’t invited to the party.

And Sixers fans, should the Sixers draft Simmons or Brandon Ingram? Should they trade Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor? And which is a bigger violation at a baseball game: cowboy boots or flip flops? We discuss on the latest Jawnville podcast. 

Ray Didinger has been such a great friend to the store in our first couple of years that we wanted to pay it back. So this Saturday is Didi Day at the store, with 40% of all in store proceeds going toward the production of Didi’s new play, Tommy and Me, a play he wrote about his lifelong friendship with Eagles great Tommy McDonald. I love it when a brilliant guy like Didinger decides to go out of his wheelhouse and tackle something new (In this case playwriting), and I’m really excited to see the final product.

The best news for you as a fan is that Didinger will be in the store on Saturday at 4 p.m. to discuss his play and his thoughts on last week’s draft. Wanna hear what one of the best sports writers in America thinks about Carson Wentz and the Eagles decision to trade that many draft picks? Be sure to come by the store on Saturday. For those of you who have come by to see him before, you know what a cool experience it is and what a terrific speaker he is. If you haven’t, and you’re a football fan, you really owe it to yourself to do so. Just a really neat and intimate experience. Hope to see you Saturday!