Trivia at the Moose

I had to go to the Moose tonight...because I missed last night. You see ....last night I had to take Billy to the special Olympics in Dubuque. The Hopper was mad and so was the Puzzler because I told them I would be there. But Billy rang up my cell phone and told me about the Olympics and how he would be real good in the luge event......Well we headed for Dubuque.....actually it isn't a bad ride with the divided highway and all and we were looking forward to the sledding and all.......well i t all took place indoors and to say Billy was disappointed would we a huge understatement. We trucked home ...mostly in silence as Billy had the headphones "glued" to his ears most of the way, whilst trying to figure out the latest Wuzzle book.

I digress....So tonight I was able to go to Randyland aka the Moose.....The Hopper didn't show because he can only do one night in a row. Actually it is mostly unknown that the Hopper is a gourmet chef. He spends his free evenings glued to the Food Network. I suspect he was home preparing a soufflé. The Puzzler, a new spousal member of Elmcrust had to do a tour of the facility.....like he didn't know how to find the restroom or bar.....he was at both of them this noon.

Bernalidio and Deb were there....so was Big Al the Vegas odds maker. Also present was Electric Brian and Tom the interior decorator.....but my camera was in the car at that time.

I am a direct descendant of Christian Metz...the founder of the Amana Community in Iowa. He was the charismatic leader who become inspired from time to time and I am a lot like him in that respect. At certain times I become inspired to do a post to my blog and when Randy took charge of the group and suggested various trivia topics and started buying rounds of drinks....I became inspired and took note with mental recording and digital photos.

Jack the pill pusher was there, as was Rich the mortgage broker. Kirk the former roofer and Lowell in search of a recliner...made the round circle. the first trivia question was , "If you could party with any celebrity, who would you like to party with?" Mortgage broker began with Chicago....the band ...not the city and soon the rules committee established that it had to be individuals. Next the question came up as to whether living or dead.......it was determined that one or two dead people could be included. It should be noted that the cell phones were humming in an effort to get the trivia answers.

Andrea, the Moose's newest and very adept barkeep, kept us well watered and we were ready for more trivia.

The new categories included, "If you were in the center seat of an airliner and had to choose your two sidekicks for a lengthy flight, who would they be?" We also had a long animated discussion relating to Andy Griffith. Where was Steve Smid when we needed him?


Here are the answers...you make up your own hypothetical. Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Anna Nicole Smith, Charlie Gibson, Burt Reynolds, Jack Nicolson, Hugh Heffner, Hillary Clinton, Alan Greenspan, Diane Sawyer, Dominica Davis, Alisyn Camerato, Courtney Friel, Julie Banderas, Tiger Woods...........

....but no Brian Kilmeade

Post Caucus Partum

The post caucus blues and or celebration....it just dosen't matter. Its causes people to do strange things. People are now watching television again due to the fact that the political ads are virtually gone...I say virtually as I heard a Ron Paul ad yesterday....go figure.

Another strange sighting...the Puzzler slurping copious amounts of Tequila. This is strange just for the fact that his tastebuds have been shot for years. He can't tell the difference between a onion and a apple, gin or vodka, sugar & salt...you get the idea. There he was at Randyland with this fishbowl of a Margarita in front of him.

Another strange thing....it seemed like it was New Years Eve or the end of WWII at Times Square with all the smooching going on. Maybe there was a full moon.

Billy's financial Guru, Sylvia was there with her color corodinated eyewear. Billy's hair stylist (Only for photo ops), Stephie stopped by to say "hi".

After there were no more Margaritas to be had; it was determined that some food was in order and since the door to the Diner on First is barricaded (we suspect there must be a hostage situation in progress) we zoomed over to Who's On First, where the Puzzler had reserved a private smoke free and noise free room for us. We had our own dedicated personal server, Amanda. Amanda is studying to be a barrister and has a gift of gab...actually she should be in direct sales....maybe alluminum siding or used cars.

Cleavage Night

Once a year Randy throws a party at Christmastime for some of his best customers and some of his favorite customers. A lot of times they are one in the same. Anyway the Who's Who of Moosedum attends. It's as predictable as Detroit's Devils night or Beggar's night for the kids at Halloween and is sort of a cross between the two.....I call it Cleavage Night. Two of Randy's favorite things.

Billy's God parents were invited this year and Carol called me to ask what was suitable attire for the affair. Without missing a breath, I advised her to find a pushup bra and wear some top with a Vee neck or otherwise plunging neckline.... of course she showed up with a turtle neck sweater over another sweater. Must be the school marm in her...but why did she ask?

The Moose Christmas party is the equivalent of Oscar night in LA. Same fancy cars, fancy gowns...only no red carpet or commentary by Melissa Rivers. We drove up in a Mercedes S600 but there was no valet and this carpet was a sheet of ice. The food buffet was put together by Phil of the Diner on First and it rivaled any buffet you would find at any of the upper crust country clubs that are dominant in Cedar Rapids. I took hundreds of pictures and sadly did not get a shot of the buffet. I was too busy shooting pics of the party theme.

Absent patrons of note were Cheryl, Tracie and Diana...all venerable cleavage people. Their absence was sorely missed.

Maybe they were drinking Tom & Jerrys at Elmcrust.

Moose Rites

Right before a major holiday like Thanksgiving, frequently the Ex club guys and Ex club wannabes might be found all gathered around the conjoined tables at the Moose to settle a last minute world crisis or talk about a sporting event which already occurred. Favorite topics are deaths in the news or news about some grave illness which has plagued someone we know. Most often the discussion leads to religion or politics.


In the old days the subject matter might have been the opposite gender....if you know what I mean.

This particular evening it was about the pizza baron's doctor visit that afternoon. Gary was celebrating the good news with his trademark Funnie. Mary was all smiles, knowing that her sex life would not come to a screeching halt and the rest of them could care less. It was only natural that the discussion shifted to politicians.

To the people outside of the state of Iowa and in foreign countries who follow my blog, you may not realize how equally divided the state is. However, amongst our group, it is way lopsided and we occasionally have to import a democrat to give their view.

We do have a token Liberal, Naked Gun, but he spends his winters in Key West fantasying about Festivals and trying to control the chicken population. Naked Gun has won the agitator award many times. In his absence the Gentleman Farmer, Donnie A and the retired Advertising Executive, Tommy W. will fill in for him.

The Hopper usually leads the charge on the conservative view. The Hopper is a mild mannered, low keyed, laid back gentleman who has hot glued his caps lock key in the upper position. A memo from The Hopper LOOKS SOMETHING LIKE THIS. The Hopper drives a Ford Expedition with the Gas Guzzler Tax declarationn proudly displayed next to his Boston Red Sox decal and his Mitt2008 placard. The Hopper was a runner up in the Sexiest Red Sox Fan competition for Peoples Magazine. Click here for more information. He has the "I donated to the Police Dept Fund Drive" strategically placed on the drivers side window where a cop would surely see it in the event he was pulled over for a traffic infraction. The Hopper was in premed for a short time and now works for a local doctor, who shall remain nameless.


This particular evening, the table adjacent to the 'fountain of knowledge' was occupied by group of chicks who were celebrating a birthday. They were hitting on to the Ex Club guys, but the discussion had already escalated.


They could come back for Ladies Night, but the sign in the men's room(how many ladies are going to see it there) indicated it had been canceled due to the impending holiday.













[Bloogers Note this post would have published in a timely manner, but I was flat on my back for the past 36 hours fighting a nasty bug]