one fine saturday in toronto

Spent all day Friday in bed. Throat felt worse than it did the day before, body was numb. No way would I be able to sit in front of a computer all day. Didn't get any additional sleep - I had intended to do some work from home if I felt up to it, but I forgot the reference book I needed. I spent 12 hours throwing movies into the VCR (note it was videotape, not DVD - I was too lethargic to bend down and switch the plugs. For some reason, the plug for my printer won't fit into any power bar and my workspace has a lack of outlets. So, I have to switch between a power bar containing the DVD plug and the printer). Was in too much misery to enjoy most of them. My throat was so raw that any liquid burned.

Felt a bit better yesterday, well enough to escape the house. A day-and-a-half of being shut in is enough to give me a king-size dose of cabin fever. Hadn't been for a stroll downtown since returning from New York. Monster lineup running out of Sunrise Records - later learned it was for Madonna concert tickets. Wandered down Queen, picked up some used DVDs, then up through Kensington. Saw a sight I hadn't seen in years - a procession of Hare Krishnas coming at me down Kensington. Did not partake of their literature.

Seeing the Hare Krishnas bought back childhood memories of seeing groups of them chant away by Tiger Stadium in Detroit while my father and I waited for a bus back to Windsor. Post-baseball game trips were often odd experiences, like the time soused fans entertained the bus by doing a non-stop interpretation of Lite Beer ads - remember "less filling, tastes great?" They did their imitation of the one where Bob Uecker thinks he's going to get some great seats, but winds up with some that resembled the far reaches of the Skydome on a dead night.

Strolling up Augusta, saw two derelicts play-tussling, one yelling at the top of his lungs "he's a neck twister!". Everyone in the block turned, saw them rolling with laughter, then continued on.

Up by the Bloor Theatre came another crowd head-turning incident. In the entrance to the Bloor Theatre was a busker who began screeching away, wrecking an old Neil Young nugget (which one it was, I don't remember - my ears were too occupied trying to tune him out. I think it may have been Needle and the Damage Done). Two girls ahead of me looked back and we all stared at each other in horror. Ended up by chance running into some friends and went out for dinner, praying I didn't infect any of them (if any of you start hacking in the next couple of days, I apologize!)

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