"It's hard to get it if you're not in the house, the riffs and the inside jokes," said Marty R. Thiry '00, who himself had donated a "Dinner at the Lampoon Castle (no underclassmen)."

Indeed, few in the audience were not members of the House.

Many Cabot seniors who attended the auction opted to miss a popular Senior Bar event known as the "senior stumble"--a moniker for the traditional pub crawl that tours nine Cambridge and Boston drinking establishments.

"I had two options tonight, the stumble or this," said Carlos A. Monje '00, who is also a Crimson editor.

The most anticipated moment of the night was the so-called "lambing." For new members of the House, the event remained a mystery until the event itself at last occurred.

"I don't know if they hit them with [the lamb] or rub it all over them," one audience member admitted.

But audience members were enlightened when House Committee Chair Mellissa M. Mueller '00--chosen to participate in the event at last year's auction--appeared on stage and stripped down to her two-piece lycra sports suit. Her three roommates, who had paid for the privilege, then massaged Mueller with the hallowed lamb, which was marinated in a mysterious dark sauce.