Wasn't That a Party?

Ahh... the Wednesday night, "Meet the Speakers" party (a title that just doesn't do it justice).

The Nova Scotia squad ROCKED the joint out!

My favourite memories?

Veronica Reynolds, leading the charge on the dance floor (sing it with her - "YMCA, it's fun to stay at the YMCA-ay"). I have this thing about dancing (i.e. I'm agin' it), but she managed to drag me up there for a few spins...

Don Ledger and I prowling about all the tables, looking for free drink tickets that people had left behind (mmm... free drink tickets - reminds me of every NSFDC Christmas party I've ever attended)...

Don and I stuffing little bottles of wine into our pockets so we wouldn't have to make a return trip to the wine and cheese bar (that's called conserving your energy, folks)...

Don and his wife Gail putting we younger folks to shame on the dance floor (who knew Don was so hip?)...

Steven Bassett and I having that exopolitical "debate" Lehmberg has been begging for - after several free "Milky Ways" (liberally poured, I might add, by the very accomodating bartender)...

And then things switched to Room 3100 in the California Tower (aka the "Siegel Suite"), where the party continued until the wee hours.

Triple rum and cokes... mmm... my old pal [Name withheld to protect the guilty - call him X] would have loved it. This, of course, reminds me of a funny story from the 1995 East Coast Music Awards, and a party he and I attended in a hotel room hosted by either a Warner's rep or an EMI rep. All I can remember is X and I stuffing free beer bottles in our coats (it was February in Sydney, N.S.), and sneaking out. Okay, I think I also remember X spitting on the carpet, in front of the record company rep (sigh...), and perhaps me singing Elvis songs, and... well, the less said the better. Then, when we got outside, we started to stumble up a hill, when X fell on the ice, and started to slide (spin, really, in a way that I now describe as "turtling") back towards the street. As the beer bottles fell out from beneath his jacket, I can remember him yelling - as I ran to save him from spinning right out onto the road at the bottom of the hill - something to the effect of "forget me - save the beer!"

Now that's a TRUE friend!

But I digress...

Wednesday night / Thursday morning at Laughlin was a blast. I'm glad we Nova Scotians played our role in making it a memorable evening (I think my stand-up routine at the after party was also a big hit, but I can't really remember it). After all, that's what we Nova Scotians do!

I think the Irish Rovers said it best:

"Wasn't That A Party?

Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party?

Someone took a grapefruit
Wore it like a hat
I saw someone under my kitchen table
Talking to my old tom cat
They were talking about hockey
The cat was talking back
Long about then every-thing went black
Wasn't that a party?

I'm sure it's just my memory
Playing tricks on me
But I think I saw my buddy
Cutting down my neighbour's tree
Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party?

Billy, Joe and Tommy
Well they went a little far
They were sittin' in my back yard,
blowing on a sireen
From somebody's police car
So you see, Your Honour
It was all in fun
The little bitty track meet down on main street
Was just to see if the cops could run
Well they run us in to see you
In an alcoholic haze
I sure can use those thirty days
To re-cover from the party.

Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party?"

It certainly was! I'm just sorry that Nick Redfern wasn't there, so I could drink him under the table, or so he, Don and I could have done some research for our new book, "Three Men Seeking Liquor".

Paul Kimball

P.S. Pics to follow when they get developed. Hehehehe...