Get a CLUE at the Tanners 2007

[Tannerman]

Recently, we held our 2nd annual "Clue Night", a time where we invite a bunch of friends over and play multiple versions of the boardgame, Clue. You will recall we first did this last year at our condo, after a "beta test" previously at our apartment shortly after we got married.

We own many, many different versions of Clue!

As I explained recently, Amy and I really like to play Clue, but the game requires at least 3 people to play (without heavy modification of the rules, which we've tried... it's not as fun.) Thus we looked forward to the chance to compete against some friends, share some good food and conversation, and figure out who in the world killed Mr. Boddy!

Jason questions our sanity

This time around we were excited to have 12 enthusiastic players. Just like in the 1985 film Clue, we drew lots to see who would be paired up at each game. (Except in our case, I used broken spaghetti!) Two gameboards were selected: Haunted Mansion Clue and The Simpsons Clue. Both are based on the core gameplay, with the exception being that The Simpsons version has two dice vs. the standard single die found in most versions. I think that may be to speed the game along... and in our case, it worked.

Caption This?

My sister Karen drove up from Indianapolis to join in our game night. Why? I'm not really sure. It was obvious that her boyfriend was out of town that weekend. (Just kidding, sis! Thanks for coming!) Karen got a kick out of some of the party favors we provided, including "authentic" pipes for the would-be inspectors. OK, so maybe authentic isn't the right word. "Cheap plastic junk from China" probably fits better!

Karen won "Clue The Haunted Mansion"
(Minnie Mouse with The Skeleton in the Mausoleum)

In any case, maybe the plastic "float the ball up in the air" pipe worked in Karen's favor, as she was victorious in the Haunted Mansion Clue game.

Melissa and Keith ponder the suspects

Our friends Keith and Melissa Black also joined us during the game. It was Melissa's birthday... and for some reason, she decided she wanted to spend it with us. Why? I'm not really sure.

Happy birthday, Melissa!

But we made her a fall-themed cake (pumpkin spice!) and had a great time sharing her celebration. I'll take this time to plug Melissa's blog and note that we're going to be joining her during an insane bike ride in November... I hope it doesn't snow!

Jason won "The Simpsons Clue"
(Waylon Smithers as Mrs. White with the Saxophone in The Android's Dungeon)

Some friends of mine from my Participate.com days, Jason Steele and Brad Watson, also joined in on the sleuthing fun. Why? I'm not really sure. But when Jason proved victorious in his game of Clue, I'm sure that was a good feeling. Incidentally, Jason represented one of the many "media folks" we had in attendance. He writes a weekly column for the RedEye, the hip and edgy spin-off of the Chicago Tribune. Meanwhile, Brad was busy stumping me over in the other game. I didn't play very well, that's for sure.

Kara and Brad prepare to make suggestions

Speaking of media folk, our friends Greg and Kara Miller thought they would try their hands at some Clue action. Kara writes and produces as a freelancer for our local NBC O&O (WMAQ, Channel 5) and is up for two Chicago Emmys. Nice job Kara!

(For those interested in the nitty-gritty, she's nominated in the "Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program – Specialty Report/Series: Education" category for producing a segment entitled "Growing The Brain" ...AND... in the "Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program – Specialty Report/Series: Religion" category for producing a piece entitled "Faith In Dieting") Having spent some time in the world of television production, I have to admit, I'm way impressed.

Greg questions why he's here;
Bill is looking for more food in his notebok

Greg... well, other than looking puzzled in the photo above (hey, sometimes Clue makes you go nuts!)... he's a Senior Acoustics Consultant at Talaske. Isn't that one of the coolest titles you've ever heard? (Get it, heard?!)

Nick, Theresa, and Amy look so serious
(well, maybe not Theresa... c'mon, she's smiling!)

While we're talking cool things, our loyal friend Nick Rosario was also in attendance. He too is nominated for a local Chicago Emmy as part of a larger production team. What for? Do you remember that Nude Hippo 10th Anniversary Show taping Amy and I attended back in April? Turns out it's in the running for "Outstanding Achievement for Entertainment Programs – Arts/Entertainment Program - Program Series".

I'm not sure what my sis is doing here...
but it appears Bill has found some food!

I was also honored to have a coworker from Kidology, Theresa LaPage, in attendance with her husband Bill. I work pretty closely with Theresa, as she's our Resource Director, which we often joke that no one really understands what that means. In English, she manages everything in our online Store... which is huge! Without her, however, my life would be so much more insane. In any case, it was fun to hang with then in a non-work capacity... even if I always seemed to find Bill with some sort of food in his hand!

Overall, it was a fun time and I'm glad we were able to share our somewhat obsessive passion for Clue with some friends. Why? I'm not really sure.

[henryjz]

You guys are so awesome! I want to be like Steve and Amy when I grow up and host fun parties.

[Mommymeepa]

I had a blast!! Thanks for the pumpkin spice cake. I know you don't know why I wanted to spend my birthday with you guys, but I know. Your parties are a blast. Thanks again for a great time. I will win next year.

Thanks again,
Melissa

[FernLaplante]

Thanks again, it was a lot of fun.

Incidentally, I do NOT photograph well.

[spudart]

I love Clue! Making all these secret little notes on this super tiny sheet of paper. Your black folders are GREAT!

[mxwp]

Sounds like it was fun! Sorry to have missed it this year, but thanks for the invite. I was participating in my own game of getting a clue... but a clue in figuring out these database interfaces for class. My old brain is not as sharp as it was back in the day. How can these people in their 60s go back to grad school or law school or some such?

[Lapcity]

Are you in chicago? I love this game and would love to join and play