31.8.04

The week in review- Aug 23-30

Last I left you was Tuesday with the car deciding to fall more into disrepair.

That night I hit Salon Daome for more crunk and funk- was slightly crunked this time- met some interesting people, including some of JGirl's friends.

I was meant to recuperate on Wednesday but I couldn't sleep after work-I was supposed to have a beer with a woman I had met a few weeks ago. She works for the CBC, though, and had to work late.

When I got home- my roomie informed me that Lana was coming over for drinks- she showed close to midnight- and I got to bed at 2 in the AM.

Thursday ROCKED- met Turbo after work at the St. Laurent street fair, in front of In Beat Records- started my official Birthday drinking! Ian showed, Lana and her GF walked by and I dragged them into the fun. I also chased down Mary on her way back home- she's moving out of the 99 party house (Yan, Sabs and Steph- and soon add Hadden). She's looking forward to it- Sabs says I should think of dating her- I'm not sure- she's cute and all, and smart, but she's ten years younger than I am and I'm not sure there's any chemistry there...

Follow up a few hours of that with drinks in the park with Manouso, JGirl, Mary, some guy (God- I'm horrible at names!) and MamaThang! And then off to Stereo Bar for the U-da-ho party.

Which sucked ass- lots of it- the bar was dead and everyone who was there was drunker than us already. Alki was in good form- slutted up quite nicely in a black slinky dress and peroxide blonde wig.

Sabs was wearing her black dress with the never ending cleavage. Everyone looked fab- the music was good but there was not much dancing- so some of us went to Circus :)

This time Circus was pretty packed- Eric Simon was DJing and the crowd of 150 or so was half die-hard afterhours people, or newbies (one guy was holed up in a corner, sweating and holding himself in a semi-fetal position). Security Janet was there from Stereo- and "the Amazon Blonde" who has caught my eye at Stereo over the months was there- I introduced myself- her name is Mary-Anne- her English is passable, and she is quite nice- we danced a bit together- but I'm going to have to decide how I want this to go.

More later.

30.8.04

September at Stereo

I'm only going to go twice this month:
18 La Vie en Stereo Big Al & David Moralesand

24 Reset XTended Fred Everything

After Fred Everything was the saving grace of the last Reset night I went to, I must show him the proper respect by partying it out with him on the 24th.

26.8.04

Monday- part 2

After the Go-Go we made a quick jaunt to Euro-Deli and then off to Juice. Turbo is a big fan of clubs that have some sort of House/ Techno music. Me- I like crowds. Juice was more of a Turbo thing- over designed, no seating, big dance floor- EMPTY- but with R&B style tunes. Two over priced Heinekens later and we were back on the street- looking for something.

The only two bars with any number of customers were the Go-Go (which was nearly full at this point) and the Biftek St. Laurent. Biftek it was!

Only slightly less of a health and safety risk than the Miami- we settled in to drink some Boreale Red and watch Olympic coverage on the CBC. The crowd was a mix of punks, baqdly dressed McGill students and old geezers.

Turbo and I finally decided to wrap it at midnight. Tonight at Salon Daome should be much better.

Happy B-day music

Sondre Lerche Virtue And Wine
The White Stripes Fell In Love With A Girl
The Postal Service Suddenly Everything Has Changed
10,000 Maniacs A Campfire Song
Bastone & Burnz Lude
David Guetta Just For One Day (Heroes) (Radio Edit)
Travis Somewhere Else
Guided By Voices Tractor Rape Chain
The Crystal Method True Grit
The Tragically Hip Ahead By A Century
Hole Pale Blue Eyes
Billy Bragg A New England
Radiohead Kid A
The Sugarcubes Motorcrash
Various Artists The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand)
Talking Heads The Good Thing
Thievery Corporation Gus Gus Polyesterday
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Brompton Oratory
Jethro Tull Glory Row - Previously Unreleased
The Pixies Bone Machine

Check out mtlanglo's station on Launch by doing a member search, or click here (this usually doesn't work!!) http://launch.yahoo.com/lc/?rt=0&rp1=0&rp2=1415579368

25.8.04

Monday on My Mind

How much is there to do on the Main on a Monday night? Not a whole hell of a lot!

Met Turbo for drinks at Reservoir at 6- which got stale pretty quick. Don't get me wrong, we had lots of catching up to do after his Amsterdam/ Geneva trip- and he has the following day off of work----so we decide to make an adventure of it.

After leaving the relative safety of the Reservoir we decide to look for some snow- we look in for Tony at some fo his haunts- no go, it's not even 8 PM yet. So, we are puzzled when we notice we are standing in front of the Miami- which Brian has never been too. Not that it is a great bar by any means, but it is totally a Montréal landmark and the completely sketchiest, sleaziest dive on the Main.

In we go- the pool table is empty and stained, a few cigarette burns on the felt- the bar looks like it was handmade out of wood lot remnants by Cro-Magnon man. The waitress is suitably attired, yet has that late afternoon heroin-chic look down pat. Her casual disinterest in us is almost seductive. Two Boreal Blonde. One game of pool. A brief stint on the patio (which now sports a 6 foot tall fence, too dissuade "jumpers")

Next- stop in at a friends- where I am plied with a quick joint- we almost get sucked into watching "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas", but we resist, and continue our mission.

The Go-Go lounge is as pretentious as the Miami is unassuming. It is made up of low sung plastic seats that were designed more for looks than for comfort- poor lighting, expensive faux martini's and surly, inept waitresses who make a living being professionally size 3.Mind you- the drinks are good. And we run into someone- Allan from Stereo. Allan was with Anne the first time I met her on the mountain. He's a nice enough guy- he's forgotten my name- he's with two thin little teen-age girls. He's trying to pick one of them up- he keeps giving me the look to stop talking about partying (he is trying to explain she doesn't do drugs)

They split- Turbo and I get smashed sitting in the window seats. They've installed two metal/wire cords across the window opening, supposedly to keep drunks like us from dashing on our tab.

We proceed to take note of some great one liners- Turbo threatens to use them on the message boards:
"How come no one is walking close enough to spank?"- blkshrt
"I lost my moral compass at Beach Club"- blkshrt

I can't remember them all right now...we knew this would happen but the waitress thing would not give us a pen, or anything sharp for that matter.Stay tuned- part 2 coming up.

23.8.04

Jack- the four hour mission

Oh- I nearly forgot!!

After going to Unity and Circus on Thursday night I slept 2 hours and was awoken by buddy Jack. We had pre-arranged for me to go over to Cote-St. Luc and pick up his old BBQ as his fiancee had bought him a new $800 BBQ that is off the wall!

So- off I go- I stop in at the Starbucks and get my usual- but they are confused: I am three hours later than usual and look like I'd been beaten about the head with a wet sack of flour. The staff are afraid- I've put them off-balance.

Problem one- I have no idea where Jack lives- he is trying to give me directions when- in a moment of clarity- I ask him to meet me at work- which is about as far West on the island as I can get to under my own power (except Sumi's- bizarrely enough).

Jack is pulling up at work in synch with me- so off we go. The BBQ is huge. We first fix my trunk lock which has been mysteriously busted for a month now. Then we simply hoist the BBQ in upside down, strap the whole thing down- and we are off!

Driving to my house is uneventful except for the guy I run onto the curb whilst changing lanes with no rear view visibility(trunk open+BBQ= no way!)- we get it up-stairs, we have a smoke- then the fun really begins.

You see, Jack's lease on his KIA-mobil is done and he needs to drop it off and then pick up his new Honda.

Off we go to Hochelaga-Maisoneuve (you would think I'd know how to spell these place names after living in MTL for 10 years, but not really- I'm kind of just a tourist in some ways; waitresses never ask me if I want feves au lard or creton when I have le petite dejeuner. I blame the school system). The KIA place is right under some train tracks, under a bridge, almost- and I have to park right around this blind turn leading onto a throughfare. Jack seems to take forever getting his shit together while I am sitting in the car waiting for some tool to come around the corner in an SUV and ROLL OVER MY HEAD.

Which- at this point in the morning/yesterday night- would have been a relief.

Then it's of to the town of St. Leonard- which is appreciably more North and East in Montreal then I have been for any reason, even whilst driving to New Brunswick.

Finally- Jack has his new car, we've had lunch at Harvey's (that will stay down long given my diet of booze and pills!) and I am free to get home at 3:30 in the afternoon- four hours later.

I go to bed- set my alarm for 8:30. Pre-party at Sabrina's, don't ya know? Club opens in 11 and a half hours....

18.8.04

Muffler troubles

Well, no- the muffler is too hot and starts melting the handle of the umbrella.

Solution- in the back of my car is a collection of half-full water bottles from various weekend after-hours.

Unscrew- spritz muffler with water, grasp with hands- yank off.

Works well- but the muffler is very dirty, and two of the hooks on the assembly are quite sturdy (despite the fact that the pipe leading to the engine seems to be rusted completely in half, and there is a fist sized rust hole in the muffler itself!) I have to get some sort of tool to loosen the rubber mountings around the U-bolt that is preventing me from getting to work.

I consider just not going to work.

I look in the car for said tool- seems the fucker who got my wallet and cell phone also found my leather-man in the side compartment of my driver door...

So I grab the underside of my rear bumper, test my weight, and kick the muffler off with my sandaled feet. Fun! Put muffler in my trunk, notice a slight burning smell on my way to work- ignore it. Park in the underground lot. Hope the car catches fire, explodes, building burns down so I can leave and get some sleep.

16.8.04

The Velocity Death Trap

Is a vintage 1990 Toyota Corolla I bought a year ago from my pal Mike. It is a 4 door, 5 speed rust on gray sedan that has had to have periodic visits to the cut rate mechanics I know who view the thing as a challenge.

No matter what needs to be done to it to keep it on the road, I have always insisted that I pay less than $250. This is precisely exactly HALF of the 5 bills I paid for the thing.

But, today, I think, the rule will be broken. I decided I will keep the bloody thing through this winter for the comfort and convenience of myself and various friends. This will require:
1 new snow tires, since the snow tires that came on it have been run year round for 2 years now and are akin to nice, smooth balloons
2 some sort of shocks or struts- I know not which
3 some sort of welded or riveted plate over the rusting aperture that was the sun roof, at some point. (This is commonly referred to in the rain as the car's sprinkler system)

And, today- late for work already after a long line at Starbucks- 8:35 AM the tape player becomes unstuck and ejects the Billy Bragg cassette that has been lodged in there for 2 weeks (I promptly flip it over and insert it back in- works fine now!) when I hear a bumping and grinding noise.

Turn off tape, slow down to let nearest car pass me... then the sinking feeling that"Hey, that's MY car that sounds like it is causing harm to the asphalt!"

FUN!!

I'm not sure many people have tried to remove a half-detached muffler and pipe assembly from under their car in morning rush hour on Cote-St-Catherine with their bare hands before. It is not advisable, really.

The muffler is hot, for one thing, since all the heated exhaust from the COMBUSTION ENGINE (note the word: combustion, meaning: burning) is being forced through a maze of sheet metal so your neighbours can sleep okay.

The tail pipe should also be hot- as this is the last point where the super-heated gas is ejected into the smoggy haze that surrounds the Decarie Auto Route for 6 blocks on either side.

Having no gloves in the car in the middle of August, I turn to what has not been stolen from my car recently- a long cane style umbrella with U shaped handle.

This should work well? No?

3.8.04

wrecked weekend

The weekend was great to a point- went out with Sumi and the gang on Friday to Stereo for Tom Stephan from NYC- this was a crazy, beautiful night! The music was nasty- funky- pure house! I couldn't believe how great it was!

Went back to Phil's place for the after party- slept a bit then Sumi got us into Gravity on the guest pass- POWERFUL system there- too bad my legs were rubber and I didn't have anything in me. DJ was abit up and down, too but Sumi really liked the music- so did Anne.

Then off to Stereo for gay house anthems with Steve Travolta for Pride week. I like Stereo when it is packed but not like this- it was SUPER packed- I took my shirt off right when I got up the stairs- it was RETARDEDLY hot, 110% humidity and 98 degrees- like breathing warm water in there. anne and I wigged out at 9 or so and got ready for Beach Club where we got some more and I g'ed out around 5 PM in front of Brian and his friend Oliver from Ottawa- Anne was so great, talking to me and easing me into my g-nap :)

Once I was back up we danced until close- when we discovered that someone had stolen my backpack with my wallet, cell phone, and keys!! How stupid could I have been to leave that there! Oh well- no use crying over spilled milk!

Anne and Carol want to go to Ottawa on Saturday this week but it appears to conflict with Sumi's birthday celebrations. I'm going to have to talk to Anne about this...