Sat, Oct 7 2006 - The President's Birthday - dinner, drinks, whatevah! (View Original Event Details)
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Feliz Cumpleaos Seora Presidente!
We all know someone whos birthday falls around Christmas, and always gets shafted on their present (Here Mikey,
this gift is for your birthday AND Christmas! Enjoy!). But there also those other birthday victims of seasonal timing
like close to Valentines, or in Stephs case, right around Thanksgiving (if she lived in the U.S she wouldnt have this
problem). So our wonderful President/Dictator-for-life never really got to celebrate her Birthday with her friends since
they all went away to see family. Finally, she had had enough! She wanted a birthday party, and being our wonderful
President/Dictator-for-life of the TOC, she decided that it was time to cash in on her position of power! With that, she
invited 10 of her closest TOC members to enjoy a night out with her!
The evening started with me (El Rey) picking up Steph at her place, and escorting her on our chauffer driven train. We
arrived at Paupers Pub on Bloor and Bathurst, thinking we would be fashionably late, but the only person to greet us
was Gerry, who had reserved a section of the Pub for Stephs Bday! We sat down and ordered our drinks and waited
for the partiers to arrive. Gerry enlightened us with his usual witty charms, which always bring a smile to my face! One
by one the guests arrived, and soon enough the party was in full swing! The drinks flowed freely and readily, especially
for Steph, who for obvious reasons wasnt going to turn down a beer today!
As always, there was a mix of new and not so new members. This was a perfect opportunity for them to meet some of
the regulars, and more importantly, to meet the President! Its starting to get harder to actually share an event with our
illustrious Queen Bee, and what better way than at her own birthday. Jose and Welah are relative new comers to the club,
but fit right in (ok, lets face it, unless your totally inept and have ZERO social skills, you will always fit right in!), and
Melissas first event was a How to become a co-ordinator, in which she immediately jumped into the fire!
As the evening progressed, we bid adieu to some, but that didnt mean the night was over for the rest. The night was still
young, and our next stop was the Rivoli on Queen. Lorie was kind enough to give Welah, David and myself a ride, while
Steph and Jim took the Rocket. Jenn had some errand to run before she joined us at the Rivoli (who runs errands at
midnight!). So, its a Saturday night in the club district, parking in Toronto can be nightmarish to say the least, but for
the first time in my life, and everyone else in Lories SUV for that matter, experienced our first Twenty-Five dollar (yes
$25!) parking spot!! But since we didnt feel like searching for a spot all night, we quickly grabbed it, and went to drown
our sorrows (well maybe not drown since we were just fleeced).
We headed upstairs to the pool hall/lounge area, where Steph and Jenn showed off their incredible mastery of the balls and
Sticks. They made short work of David and Jim, and then the real match of the evening began, with Lorie teaming up
with Welah in what was perhaps the closest contested pool match Ive ever seen. Both teams where equally matched in
skill and stamina, but eventually, Steph and Jenn eeked the win, but it was a great effort by the other team! S & J at this
point decided to retire as it became apparent that nobody would beat them this day! We had one more friendly match,
with David and Jim picking up the cues one last time to face off against Lorie and Jason. This one came down to the
wire as well, as both teams had some trouble pocketing the 8 ball, but Jim, channeling some of his fathers mad skillz,
nailed a perfect bank shot for the win!
Once everyone had their fill of pool, we decide to head out to another club for some good music and dancing!
Unfortunately, we had lost track of time, and since it was already 2:30 in the morning, most clubs are starting to close
down for the night. Jenn suggests an after-hours club, and we all readily agree (alcohol may have played a factor in this
decision, but Im not sure anymore). She knows of this place not to far from our current location, so we begin our first
TOC after-hours urban hike. This portion of the night (the hike) is pretty much a blur for me, but I do remember Jenn
asking some nice gentlemen with instruments where we could enjoy some fine music. We ended up in some really cozy
basement with a live band (coincidence?). The band played great music and the drinks once again poured freely! Did I
mention the remainder of the night was a blur? There was some great conversation all round Im sure, but once again, the
hard of hearing and fuzy memory arent helping right now.
As daylight threatened to end our party, we headed out, and somehow ended up around Chinatown, Lorie and Welah
(what a party animal she is!) called it a night, and Steph, Jenn and myself decided to head home as well. BUT before we
did we could not resist stopping for some great eats at of one Chinatowns finer establishments (I would tell you the
name, but well you know).
All in all an amazing night befitting of our great president, and friend, Steph! Happy Birthday Ms. President! Maybe next
year we can tone it down a bit (or not!)
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.