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.
3 comments:
Funny how one word can have different meanings at different stages of your life. Take for example the word proud. My daughter Hannah went skating for the first time last week and took to it without fear or trepedation. She was skating (walking really) on her own after 10 minutes. She said to me I want to be a great (ok maybe she didn't say great) hockey player like you daddy. Wow, I was proud. Flash back 11 or so years, when I was downtown Toronto after drinking at Delant and Cochrane's we decided to go out. I remember Pete being there too but pretty much the rest is fuzzy. Anyway we were wandering Queen St. looking for a place to (go figure) drink some more. We went into a place called the Bohemian Sex Club (I think) based on the speakers outside blasting The Cult "Electric". Iniside we immediately went to the bar and ordered too much alchohol including shooters to "get us going". This repeated itself for several rounds. We were all feeling pretty good when a guy with 2 goregeous women on each arm came over and asked us if all the empty glasses of beer and shooters were ours. Yes we all answered. Well I am the owner, and if you guys are drinking that much I need to buy you a round. Wow, was I ever proud...and drunk. Good times boys.
well done on memory lane boys - if only I could remember it.
in many ways we were before our time, and here is just one more - a watering hole in Toronto call The Cobourg. I hope we get to it before it closes.
a couple of links:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060909.TALK09/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/
http://www.martiniboys.com/Toronto/The-Cobourg-nightlife.html
come to think of it, Beaudry is also the only guy I know who passed out in the middle of a story about passing out (true story)
speaking of passing out, Gordo, standing up behind a door, "anyone seen Gordo?"
Paupers pub, before they replace the piano bar with a dance floor, but they kept the roof top patio
Duplex ave, where you can always get your water boiled
Ticket girl and tours at Fenway
and a long list of various public transit systems I have openly consumed alcohol on.
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