Sharkboy

With the incredible weather we’ve had in Toronto these last few months it was hard to ignore Summertime and I found myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#04 = Summer of 1983

In February of that year, after 2 years of college, I decided to register at a private hair cutting school. For some reason, I wanted to become a barber, a men’s hairstylist, get rid of perms in the men’s world for ever… I had a mission. I wasn’t working and needed my dad to pay for my classes… With promises of free haircuts for the rest of his life, I got his blessing and there I was with my money and my next 9 months’ schedule. No summer vacation for me that year.

I immediately took to hair cutting, it felt comfortable, natural and I did graduate with the best grade of my class of 23 people (6 left during the semester). I wasn’t great at much, but I was very good at this.

That summer, half way through the class, I had made very good friends with some of my classmates and I would hang around the big city after school instead of taking the bus home on some nights. We’d go to movies, we’d go to some bars, we’d go shopping. We always had a good time. One Friday, while on our way to Sam The Record Man (the biggest record store in the city) I saw a guy with a great haircut and I stopped him to ask where he had it done. He gave me the info and I immediately said goodbye to my friends and went to that salon which was only a few blocks away. It was not your regular salon. Mixed coloured paints had been thrown on the wall to decorate, there was a big tricycle to sit on to get your haircut, the mirrors were covered with black paint and badly wiped before it dried off so you could actually use them as mirrors… LOVED THE PLACE… But most importantly the extended version of PERFECT from THE THE was playing when I walked in. I was so sold. After waiting a little bit, some guy came to see me, I told him I had just talked to a guy and I described the haircut and said I wanted something similar and could he do it now… Must have been my lucky day as he said that he could but I’d have to wait a couple of hours… So I patiently waited my turn on the tricycle. When he was ready, he called me over, draped the cape on and he started… Clippers buzzing, scissors snipping, razors shaving… and bam it was done… so fast and so fucking cool.

He had buzzed the back of my head to a near shave and had used scissors to design a tic-tac-toe type design… I was freaking, I loved it so much… I couldn’t wait to go back to school on Monday to show everyone.

In the meantime, I had to go back home… Yep, my mom freaked out, she used all the different swear words she could grasp in one breath… and came back for more. My dad didn’t really say anything. My friends at home liked it enough… but I was disappointed my mom hated it so much…

By the Monday, I was used to it and didn’t really care what stares I got when I took the bus to Montreal. Once I arrived at school, I got the best reaction… My teacher sat me down to look at it, my classmates freaked with glee… I was the shit. The best compliment I got that week was when some guy came in and ask me to do the same haircut on him…

This was my favourite song that summer:

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#05 = Summer of 1974

In 1974, I was sad to see the school year come to an end, I actually had some good friends in my class for once, in particular, 2 girls I really enjoyed hanging out with. Both of them lived on the same street but quite far from where I resided, so we basically saw each other at school only. On occasions, my father would drive me to their neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon so I could spend time with them and he’d picked me up again before dinner. From my home, it was probably a good 20 minutes drive. Way too long for a walk and also too dangerous for bicycle ride as it was main streets and boulevards all the way. I had just turned 10 after all.

The 3 of us continued our friendship through telephone calls… loooooooong telephone calls that would drive my mom crazy.

One very nice summer day, after talking to one of them on the phone, I decided that I’d go and take the local bus and go visit her. It meant walking off the island to a bus stop on the main boulevard. It would take me at least 30 minutes to get there. I went into my piggy bank and took out a handful of coins for fare. As I was leaving my home, a neighbour friend of mine asked where I was going. I told him and he decided he’d walk with me to the bus stop. We got there and waited for the bus to come… Waited and waited. Finally it came, I said goodbye to my friend and climbed on the bus, took a whole bunch of coins from my pocket and paid the driver. I sat near the front as to not miss my stop, I had been a few times by car, I knew I’d recognize where to get off. And I did. In fact my two friends were waiting for me at the corner.

The girls and I spend the afternoon together, one of them had a playhouse built in her backyard. I remember we played boardgames and barbie. We also helped picking up tomatoes in one of the girl’s veggie garden. All of a sudden, one of the girl was called inside the house and a little bit later came out looking sad. Apparently my mom was on the phone and wasn’t very happy… I had to go in the house and take a phone call. My mom didn’t yell but she was pissed. She had asked everyone I knew if they had a clue as to where I was and finally that one kid that walked with me to the bus stop told her what I had done… My mom told me not to go anywhere because my dad was now leaving to come get me. I suddenly knew I had just bought a one-way ticket for a trip to Shitville.

We spent the rest of our time together sitting in front of the house, not really talking, just watching the long road for my dad’s car to arrive. When he did, he went to ring the doorbell to thank the girl’s mom for everything and then told me to say goodbye to my friends. He also didn’t yell at me, I think he was relieved that I was alright, but he told me that I had acted very stupidly and that I should’ve asked permission to go there. And that I was grounded. For a long time.

I didn’t see my friends for the rest of the Summer but we continued to chat on the phone. I spent a lot of time around the house. After a few weeks, I was permitted to go play with my local friends again with a certain curfew. In time, the curfew was lifted. I remember that my sister had the 45 of Rock The Boat and I played it on and on and on.

Both of the girls were in my class again the following September. And we reconnected just like no Summer had ever taken us apart.

Just like that infamous bus…

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#06 = Summer of 1985

That was the Summer of music for me… I’ve never gone to so many concerts than that Summer. It seemed that anyone who was popular on the radio, local or international groups had chosen Montreal to come and showcase their new stuff… And it was great.

It all started a little bit before the actual Summer, on March 18 to be exact when Depeche Mode came with the Some Great Reward tour. My life would’ve ceased to exist if I couldn’t have gotten ticket to see them live. At 21, I was probably one of the eldest at Le Spectrum… but fuck’em all… it was Depeche Mode and they were going to sing People are People, Master and Servants but most importantly Blasphemous Rumours… The song that definitely spoke to my generation at the time.

2 weeks later, U2 came to town… Another Must… I don’t particularly care for them anymore, but back then it was a totally different story. Sunday Bloody Sunday would probably appear in my top 10 songs of the 80′s if I was to make such a list. I truly lost my shit when they sang that song that night.

And then Tears for Fears came to Theatre St-Denis in early June… Ooooh la la. You were a total nobody if you didn’t have tickets for that concert. And that night, with my big hair and tight pants, I was a somebody, I sure was.

After that, it was just an endless fashion show as we couldn’t wear the same thing twice to all the concerts we had purchased tickets for. Basically the same crowd went to see the same shows… That Summer we saw OMD, The Smiths, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Nina Hagen, Propaganda, Men Without Hats, Gowan, Go West, Strange Advance and so much more I can’t remember right now… I do remember Morissey from The Smiths being so drunk or stoned or tired that he sang an entire song lying down on the stage on his side with his legs moving… I wasn’t impressed. At $40 / ticket, I preferred my singers standing up on stage and dancing to tell you the truth. (It was still an amazing concert).

None of those bastards dedicated one single song to me. One Summer of concerts, not one dedication.

Still, with all these amazing groups and amazing songs, there was this one gem that was already 2 years old that I kept playing over and over as I truly and amazingly still never got bored of it:

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

Today is DR’s birthday, we’re going to have a great day… but being a selfish bastard this post will be about one of my best birthday gift.

#07 = Summer of 1978

Just before the summer of 1978 started, I came home from school on my 14th birthday shortly before 4pm. The big orange school bus dropped me right in front of my house as usual. My mom and dad were outside standing in the driveway. Now that was unusual. It was my birthday so I didn’t think I was in trouble but it felt somehow weird.

As I walked towards the house, my mom wished me a happy birthday and pointed towards the front of my father’s car:

Photo by Martin Flörkemeier from Moped Army

This 1977 beauty was there… Waiting for me… My very own Mobylette.
It was a used one, one year old, and it was yellow not orange like the picture above (I just couldn’t find any pictures of it in my own collection… I was 14 yrs old, taking pictures of my stuff wasn’t a big priority then) but it was MINE, MINE, MINE!!!

I don’t even remember saying thank you before my school bag flew one way and I started running to the bike with visions of going EVERYWHERE on this yellow mechanical beauty… I was roaring to go, I know my parents were talking, saying stuff I wasn’t listening to at all. I was on the bike. On highways. Riding to Montreal. Going to parties. Riding with a big scarf flowing behind me. And then my mom said: “You can ride it around here but I don’t want you on the boulevard (the main street that covered the entire island we lived on, one of the very few street with asphalt at the time) and I don’t want you riding it at night and I don’t want you… BOOM!!! All the rules started coming in… And you still have to mow the lawn… And you still have to water the garden… And you still have to vaccum…

I don’t remember caring that much about what was being said at the time, I was just in Mobylette heaven.

After a quick lesson on how to start it, handle it and a quick ride in front of the house to prove to my parents that I COULD be trusted with it, I was ready to go show my cousins…

That Summer, my other 2 cousins I hung out with the most also got the same type of transportation so we could all go around together… One of them had a mobylette like mine, but my richer cousin got a Honda version that was much nicer than ours but mine was still the fastest of the 3… my dad had chosen wisely.

I did go on the boulevard that Summer… I did ride it at night too… Hey. I was 14 now.

I only rode it for 2 Summers. I wasn’t good at mechanical upkeep and didn’t have much interest in fixing the little problem that would arise, so my dad sold it and I got a brand new 12 speed racing bicycle on my 16th birthday, which I loved and went EVERYWHERE with it. Pedals were the new motors.

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#08 = July 14, 1987

I was at the movie theatre that afternoon. I was watching The Name Of The Rose with Sean Connery. It had been re-released a second time. I had not seen it and had heard very good things about it. It was my day off. It was a Tuesday.

Half way through the movie, the film stopped and we were left in the dark for a few seconds, then the emergency lights came on. Someone entered our theatre in the multiplex and asked us to gather our belongings and leave as there was a major storm outside thus the power being cut off. In a very calm manner, they gave us all passes to return on another day and all of us left. I was somewhat excited and curious to see what was going on outside.

When I got to the street level, looking through the large windows of The Bay store, I was totally amazed. It was pitch black, even though it was mid-day. The rain was coming down so damn hard we couldn’t even see across Ste-Catherine St. I turned around and made my way to the men’s clothing section to buy an umbrella as I had left home in beautiful sunny warm summer weather. I knew that a cheap umbrella wouldn’t sustain this apocalyptic rain, so I had to buy a nice solid one.

I love storms, so I really wanted to go outside and feel the power of this one. By the time I got out it had reduced in intensity but it was like nothing I had seen before. Parts of the street had exploded as the pressure in the drain pipes was too strong, you could see manhole covers on top of cars, pieces of asphalt and bricks had flown all over the place. It felt like the disaster zones I knew from movies.

It was only when I got home later on that day, watching the news, that I learned that 2 people had actually died. One was hit by lighting and the other, an 80 year old man had drowned, stuck in his car on one of the highway that’s built like a tunnel. His car had stalled and had been submerged by the fast flow of water. He couldn’t get himself out in time. They say that more than a 150 millimetres of rain fell within 2 hours. A state of emergency was declared for a large portion of the downtown core that day. The entire news cast was dedicated to this story. I was transfixed by all the damage shown.

I know a lot of people think of Bastille on July 14, but not me… I think of that amazingly scary storm.

By the way, I still have the umbrella and love to tell DR about that famous day I bought it every time I choose to use it on my way to work on a nice rainy summer day.

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#09 = Summer of 1978

I had just turned 14 years old, I was finally of age to go see the horror movies I was too young to see before. I know it’s pretty much the same for the rest of Canada and certainly the US of A with a rating that goes: G = General Audiences, PG = Parental Guidence, PG 13: Strong Parental Guidance, R = Restriced and NC 17 = No Children Under 17, but in Quebec it was a less severe rating but they did check at the door for ID to verify your age. The rating in Quebec went:
Pour Tous = All ages, anyone allowed.
14 Ans + = Needed to show ID for films with violence, some nudity… mostly the horror films I loved
18 Ans + = This was more for films of great violence or of sexual nature…

That Summer, I was eagerly awaiting Jaws 2, for obvious reasons, and Grease since my sister had bought the album and I was loving all the music in it… both films were schedule to open with a 14 yrs + rating and I was old enough to go. I couldn’t wait. Jaws 2 was great in my eyes, in fact, I have interrupted writing this post last night to actually watch the DVD… Bad special effects I know, but still a very suspenseful movie with some amazing shots… It made you want to go visit “Amity” if anything. Grease was phenomenal too, I remember knowing all the big songs by the time I went to see it and couldn’t believe that I had to go pee in the middle of it as I drank that giant large coke way too fast… To this day, I still watch Grease at least once a year.

Another movie I remember from that Summer was The Swarm. I was already loving the disaster movie genre and was thrilled that another one was coming, at least the previews made it look like a disaster movie. It turned out to be a disaster of a movie instead.

The great horror film Damien 2 also came out that Summer with my beloved William Holden whom I had just discovered in Sunset Boulevard… He was much older then of course, but my 14 yrs + ID card allowed me to go revel in all the great news ways to kill off characters… The Omen movies did it right, they never repeated the same type of death scene twice… Elevator cable death = priceless.

To top it all off, Eyes of Laura Mars also came out… I didn’t know much about it but had seen a preview for it while at the movies and couldn’t wait to see (no pun intended) it. I remember being a bit scared during that one.

And my beloved Disney also released The Cat From Outer Space. What can I say, even then I was a Disney geek. I had to see it.

In those days a double bill movie cost us only $3.50 and I had to rely on my parents to drive me to and from the cinema that was downtown. We lived approximately 15 minutes away by car… but because it was Summer and because of the bicycle path that existed between the island I lived on and the downtown area, I was able to bike there quite often. I was 14 yrs old after all.

With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:

#10 = Summer of 1969

I was only 5 years old but I still remember quite a bit of it… I remember it was the summer that our big black and white TV was tuned to the lunar landing and for some strange reason I also remember that one of my favourite aunt and uncle were visiting my parents that day. I can still see myself in my bathing suit and rubber boots (they were the easiest things to put on, no laces) running from the backyard where I was playing in a kiddie pool to the living room where the tv was turned to face the kitchen so that they could all watch the big event while playing cards.

The Summer of 69 is also very infamous for being the summer I spent with a cast on my arm. One day, at the very beginning of the school vacation, we were playing hide and seek at my cousins’ place and when I was running to hide, I fell in a fairly large hole where a broken bottle had fallen before me. A large piece of broken glass lodged itself in my wrist and being a kid I didn’t know any better, I removed it. The blood started gushing right away and although I don’t remember feeling any pain, I started crying at the sight of it all. The other children got my aunt who called a friend of my dad who was a local policeman. He came to get us and brought us to a hospital where I received 36 stitches… and a cast that went from knuckles to my elbow that got filled with signatures throughout the 6 weeks I had it on.

I remember still wanting to go to the beach, which was the one good pastime we all had on the island I lived on. Apparently I was quite the site swimming in the river with a milk plastic bag wrapped around my cast and me under water still keeping my arm out of it, like some kind of shark fin following me every where my little feet would paddle. I was the “local celebrity” for those few weeks.

Here’s what that nasty scar looks like now: