The Cobourg in Toronto

Last Saturday was a day that will live in our minds for years to come, and as Delant would say 'It will be sung by the Mountain people' - or something like that. Anyway, for posterity sake, I wanted to ensure we kept a record of what happened that fateful day and ask that you all advise if corrections need to be made.

- Guerns picks me up in Lambeth and we hit the road
- Pick Delant up a little late - let's say 12:15 - we switch cars and drive into the big smoke
- We end up spending more time in the 3kms of the Lakeshore than on the entire ride from Milton to Toronto
- Check in, drop bags, quick pint (Guerns's was really quick) and hit Fionn's patio
- Pink Sweater
- Cobourg boys arrive after they quench their thirst in Choo Choos
- Unfortunatly have waiter - seriously, you think someone would have said 'Hey, there's 8 guys sitting overthere...we want them to stay and drink...why don't we send over Candi? Nah, let's send over the metrosexual'
- Off to the rooms for a nice nip of scotchy - Thanks to Bax for that treat - a few extra beers and getting suited up. Broc - you tie a great knot.
- The highlight - The Cobourg - Can't say enough about it. Small, warm, great furniture, great back room, suberb martinis, the first round of Carbombs and not a bad bartender. Send a guy and a girl a drink, meet the owner - all class boys, all class. My only regret is that we didn't stay there for the rest of the draft.
- Gretzkys - no Bea - so we get saddled with Jason Atkinson's brother Doug (only a few guys will get this joke.) Wheels are beginning to fall off at this point. Not sure what I ate, but I do remember having my first glass of water, followed by the second round of Carbombs. The draft starts up, and I think I picked some players who may be in the NHL this year. Broc starts to get agitated, needs to move - he's a shark. Talk him off the ledge for about 3 rounds, hand my picks and his to Trav and take Broc outside where he waxed poetic for about 15 minutes.
- Went to the Brant House, where we promptly turned around after hearing about the $260 bottle service - jumped in cabs and headed back to Fionns
- At some point Trav jumped ship
- Fionns - good band - 3rd round of Carbombs, a few pints on the patio - we lose Broc
- Cabs to the Downtown Eatery (not really - what ever the undercover name for that place is).
- Ran into Janet - seriously - how does this happen?
- Upstairs to some 'Duke of *$&)' bar - more water, then pint for me. Apparently I remind Janet of Vince Vaughn - has to be the height
- Broc calls my cell phone 'Where are you guys? I'm in a cab' - 'We're at the corner of Yonge and Charles - we'll wait for you' - Broc proceeds to yell at the cab driver, then hangs up. We wait for 45 minutes, where by each guy takes turn checking to see if Broc somehow sneaked past us and hit the 'Rail.
- Street meat - not a good idea
- No Broc, so we start to head back - some girl looks alot like Portia De Rossi - she doesn't know who Portia is...kids these days.
- Guerns is all excited because we see 1/2 dozen prostitutes on our walk down Jarvis
- Gord calls - needs to know the location of the hotel.
- Gord sleeps in his suit
- Found Broc - sweet Jesus - that is not a good sight
- Who knew, Guerns likes to cuddle.
- Breakfast of champions
- Some other stuff happend

That's the highlights - any more in your opinion?

By the way - do you think this has anything him being rich and famous?

Wednesday - Time to start thinking about a Martini!

In the TV series M*A*S*H, characters Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John McIntyre and B.J. Hunnicutt distill gin for martinis in their tent ("the Swamp"). Hawkeye declares, "actually, I'm pursuing my lifelong quest for the perfect, the absolutely driest martini to be found in this or any other world. And I think I may have hit upon the perfect formula." Trapper responds, "five-to-one?" Hawkeye replies, "Not quite. You pour six jiggers of gin, and you drink it while staring at a picture of Lorenzo Schwartz, the inventor of vermouth." (Vermouth was actually developed by Antonio Benedetto Carpano.)

In the television show The West Wing's episode "Stirred", President Jed Bartlet asks, "can I tell you what's messed up about James Bond?" "Nothing," his aide Charlie Young replies. Bartlet ignores him. "Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it."

Those Past Friday Nights

Take yourself back 10-12 years ago...back before marriage, before kids, before mortgage payments and deciding if a good nights sleep was better than sex. Back to those Friday nights....

Not sure where the nostalgia came from - it may have just been driving home last Friday listening to an old James song, but I started to think how things were simpler back then, how less complicated the decisions were....it wasn't necessarily a better time, just less complicated.

Somehow I would almost always be working at the Bay and Bloor branch of Knowledge Alliance each Friday - thank you scheduling team! If you have ever been to a training class, you'll know that the days sometimes drag on. What you may not know, is that the instructors have just as much (if not more) anxiety on getting out early. Put that together with a class full of Government of Ontario workers, trainers scheming in the 'bull pen' about getting some beer and suddenly you have a 3PM quiting time each and every Friday. Well, there was the matter of setting up for the next Monday's class...and of course Boudrey. Brian Boudrey could talk about Lotus Notes longer than anyone I have ever known. He would finish late and his class would be the most difficult to setup for the next week...remember trying to get the Notes Domino server to work?!

Eventually the crew would role...in the warmer days, right over to Hemingways or Remys. If it was cooler, over to Delant/Cochranes basement.

My mind is not quite clear about where exactly we would be the beer/alcohol - did we shoot down Spadina to that walk in Beer Store? I do remember the Dominion on the south side of Bloor - it had a bank machine as I remember - may have picked up a few chips there as well.

Random thoughts - please add more:

• for some reason I remember the futon store on the north west corner
• ordering pizza - by far the best moment - maybe top 10 - was getting Beaudry to answer the door and yelling in the back ground "Is he cute Brian? Is he cute? Is he clean? If he is invite him in." Beaudry was mortified and speechless - it was priceless
• Beaudry is still the only person I know who has passed out with his head fully resting on a pint glass
• Sundin is a Swedish person
• Did we through salt & pepper shakers out of the 3rd floor of the Maddie?

I'm sure there are more - all I'm saying is this....keep on keeping on.

Give me some memories of past Friday nights.