A couple of years ago, I rode Barfly's annual Back To School trivia bus.  My team, No Wire Hangers, dressed as Mommie Dearests, which made us first in style, even though we only took second place in the actual trivia challenge. 

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted Barfly's annual trivia bus.  In a rare glimse inside the private correspondence of Miss Jen Lane, here is my post-bus debriefing to her (she thought you'd like to share the experience).  And so, with a few minor edits to maintain an "R" rating, here is the story of the little bus that could . . .

Sewickly's: Excellent choice to start here.  Plenty of room for everyone to gather and mingle, and they were great about bringing us plate after plate of free appetizers, all the better to lay a solid foundation for the forthcoming bacchanalia.

XV: A great venue for mobile triviology. Even though our busful of boozehounds were scattered all over both rooms, they had no trouble hearing me - lovely acoustics in here.  Also, there was plenty of room for teams to spread out on tables to write their answers.  Staff was very friendly and accomodating.

Tube: Not such a good location for a trivia bus.  Partially because there weren't nearly enough places for teams to sit or tables to write on, and also

Matador: Yet another good spot for making the trivia.  The shirt guy team got TOTALLY busted cheating, though!  Team Titty Titty Bang Bang, who were sitting next to them, had already suffered through many "The Todd" style jokes and sexual double-entendres, and were thusly quick to call shenanigans when they noticed them spell checking "Czechoslovakia" on their phone (as a bonus point for a geography question).  The perpetrator was so drunk that he didn't even notice me walk straight up, bend over his phone, and read "C*Z*E*C*H*O*S . . ." on his phone, plain as day.  Anyway, we all pointed and laughed, calling them out as cheaters, and I grabbed a fistful of Dum Dums to bestow upon them.  Perhaps they used illicit means because they weren't doing so well; at the previous bar, they complained that the questions were "too hard," even though I had "drunked down" my material for the bus (sample question from the "too hard" round: a multiple choice question about the toddler board game Candyland). 

Horse Brass: Very good trivia venue (unsurprisingly, as it is was the site of Portland's original pub quiz, "The Keg Quiz," courtesy of Drew Marcus).  In a thrilling conclusion, at the end of the last round, two teams were tied for first place, so I had a short tie breaker between Serious Bidness and . . . the team that won.  The victors, and recipients of the coveted $100, was a charming couple of gents called Freaks of the Industry, whom Titty Titty Bang Bang affectionately called "Pinky and The Brain.".