Mark and I had been trading emails regarding the latest blog post, and I mentioned to him what I had related in a previous post- that my brain is like Swiss cheese; specifically, my memory is somewhat holey, and sometimes the facts get lost in the holes (the holes in Swiss cheese are formed by carbon dioxide; I think mine are formed by laughing gas [nitrous oxide]; apparently this is the same stuff used in high performance motors... there may be some correlation there). So, without further ado, I present Mark's errata.
For starters, Dave (a.k.a Wiz- which is another story altogether) had his back to the audience to symbolize Stu Sutcliffe who played bass with the Beatles during their very years. As Stu tragically died of a brain aneurism, Wiz symbolized this by spending our entire short set with his back to the audience. Another Wreakles oversite: Mark played lead guitar, and I played rhythm (partly because I'm not sure Mark- who is highly educated- probably still doesn't know how to spell rhythm); Matt "sang", Jimbo- who was completely without rhythm- played drums, and Wiz strummed with his back to the audience.
Then, there's Tuddi Toots/Wreakles facts.
As a rule, we were pretty predictable, with Mark and I arriving around 2100, Dr. Dave around 2115, and Matt arriving after Dallas (the T.V. show) concluded, usually around 2130 (all times -0600 GMT). We usually sat at a table in the main part of the establishment, in the main floor area- pretty much kitty-corner to the bar and about as far back from the dance floor as one could get without being in the dining area along the wall.
As mentioned in the title, I have some (a lot) of waitress errata, courtesy of Mark. For starters, Terri, the owner of the subliminal earrings, was tipped by Mark and thanked Matt. Along with Terri, our "regular" servers were Renee, Wanda, Cindy Lou, Jeannie, and Jody. We're not 100% sure, but agree that Jeannie (a good friend of Cindy Lou) was the server that was "deported" back to Tennessee for being underage (to serve alcohol).
In other news, the odometer countdown is M-300- in other words, Road Trip time! We're getting close to Memorial Day (May 26th this year), a holiday which is generally considered the unofficial start of summer here in the United States. It was actually created to honor and remember the war dead of the American Civil War. It was once known as Decoration Day, because folks would visit cemeteries and decorate tombstones. Today it honors all U.S. war dead.
Today is the 1st of May, and for once I remembered to flip the page over on my Lego calendar, and this month's featured Lego creation is a scale model of the famed WW1 Sopwith Camel.
Finally, from the Wonderful World of Data (yes, I typed that with a straight face), I have no news and some good news. As far as "no news" goes, I've been pretty busy at work, and Jennifer and I have started making more regular visits to the gym. Good news? I've had the opportunity to do a bit more with data at work, using a program called FirstPrep. It's a pretty nifty utility- I'd link some information about it, but I can't find much that is useful.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Showing posts with label the Wreakles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Wreakles. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Tuddi Toots, or A Night In the Life of the Wreakles
In my last post I had talked a bit about my old school Friday nights. It brought some memories back, and I thought I'd expand on this topic a bit more. Let me set the stage.
According to wikipedia, Michael Jackson's Thriller was released on December 2, 1983. I'm not 100% certain, but as it was a Friday, I'm can state with some confidence that we were at Tuddi Toots. "We", of course, means the Wreakles. And this was the second iteration of the Wreakles.
The original Wreakles formed sometime in 1977-78. Led by Mark and yours truly, the Wreakles were a Beatles tour de force parody band. As time went on, we added Matt as our lead singer (who couldn't sing), Jimbo as our drummer (who was rhythmically challenged, to be polite), and Dave (who, although he held a guitar, symbolized Pete Best and spent performances with his back toward the audience). After some time, Jimbo and Dave fell away from the group and Dr. Dave (as opposed to Dave, who was NOT a Dr.) was added. At this point, there was no semblance at all of a musical group, but the Wreakles continued on in a spirit of friendship.
We continued to meet on Friday nights at Tuddi Toots, a fern bar and disco emporium on the northern edge of Chicago convenient to most of us in terms of driving distance (to Dr. Dave, it was not particularly convenient, but it was in the college neighborhood). It was the height of the Disco Era, and although none of us were disco fans, "80's hot" babes and Italian women (it was an Italian neighborhood) flocked to places like Tuddi Toots. And we were college-aged guys in search of 80's hot babes.
So there we were- Mark, Matt, Dr. Dave and me (it should be noted that at this point in time, "Dr" was merely an honorific, as he had yet to acquire all of the requisite medical certifications and diplomas). We were, at this point, "regulars" at Tuddi Toots (think "Norm" of Cheers), and had a few regular waitresses. One of the cutest and sweetest was from Kentucky or Tennessee, and we found out that she was fired for being underage- at the time, this saddened us, as she was cute (well, smokin' hot). The waitress that sticks out in my mind was a psychology student named Terri. Terri was sophisticated and smokin' hot.
There were a number of servers at Tuddi Toots, but we generally had one of three regular ones: the one which I can't remember (who had the terrible nickname "the Stork"), the underage one (Cindi Lou), and Terri. Matt was very interested in Terri, and at one point a "bidding war" broke out when Matt gave her a tip and she looked at Mark and said, "thank you." It should be noted at this point that, despite "extravagant" tipping, neither Mark or Matt ever went out on a date with her.
Tuddi Toots had an impressive comfort food menu, and the round tables were just the right size for four friends and their food. We generally ordered nachos, and occasionally shared. Sometimes we left as a group, but as I recall, Mark and I generally left last, doing the obligatory, desperate "swirly" from our table to the area in front of the dance floor, past the bar and finally outside and to our respective vehicles. To this day, a "swirly" is a sweep around an establishment (although its generally a store!)
That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed my brief romp through the 80's!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to!
According to wikipedia, Michael Jackson's Thriller was released on December 2, 1983. I'm not 100% certain, but as it was a Friday, I'm can state with some confidence that we were at Tuddi Toots. "We", of course, means the Wreakles. And this was the second iteration of the Wreakles.
The original Wreakles formed sometime in 1977-78. Led by Mark and yours truly, the Wreakles were a Beatles tour de force parody band. As time went on, we added Matt as our lead singer (who couldn't sing), Jimbo as our drummer (who was rhythmically challenged, to be polite), and Dave (who, although he held a guitar, symbolized Pete Best and spent performances with his back toward the audience). After some time, Jimbo and Dave fell away from the group and Dr. Dave (as opposed to Dave, who was NOT a Dr.) was added. At this point, there was no semblance at all of a musical group, but the Wreakles continued on in a spirit of friendship.
We continued to meet on Friday nights at Tuddi Toots, a fern bar and disco emporium on the northern edge of Chicago convenient to most of us in terms of driving distance (to Dr. Dave, it was not particularly convenient, but it was in the college neighborhood). It was the height of the Disco Era, and although none of us were disco fans, "80's hot" babes and Italian women (it was an Italian neighborhood) flocked to places like Tuddi Toots. And we were college-aged guys in search of 80's hot babes.
So there we were- Mark, Matt, Dr. Dave and me (it should be noted that at this point in time, "Dr" was merely an honorific, as he had yet to acquire all of the requisite medical certifications and diplomas). We were, at this point, "regulars" at Tuddi Toots (think "Norm" of Cheers), and had a few regular waitresses. One of the cutest and sweetest was from Kentucky or Tennessee, and we found out that she was fired for being underage- at the time, this saddened us, as she was cute (well, smokin' hot). The waitress that sticks out in my mind was a psychology student named Terri. Terri was sophisticated and smokin' hot.
There were a number of servers at Tuddi Toots, but we generally had one of three regular ones: the one which I can't remember (who had the terrible nickname "the Stork"), the underage one (Cindi Lou), and Terri. Matt was very interested in Terri, and at one point a "bidding war" broke out when Matt gave her a tip and she looked at Mark and said, "thank you." It should be noted at this point that, despite "extravagant" tipping, neither Mark or Matt ever went out on a date with her.
Tuddi Toots had an impressive comfort food menu, and the round tables were just the right size for four friends and their food. We generally ordered nachos, and occasionally shared. Sometimes we left as a group, but as I recall, Mark and I generally left last, doing the obligatory, desperate "swirly" from our table to the area in front of the dance floor, past the bar and finally outside and to our respective vehicles. To this day, a "swirly" is a sweep around an establishment (although its generally a store!)
That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed my brief romp through the 80's!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to!
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