Kings: Some Kind of Wonderful

Just before Christmas Vacation, my old roommate John William (better known to many as ‘jwb’) returned to Halifax. This was pretty great because many of us didn’t have anything to do at the time other than study for and write exams. Exams of being of little import or consequence, the old North Pole Bay crew (and assorted hangers-on and groupie types) partied it up in what was once referred to in a bad rap song as “The Fax”. There was a lot of drinking, a lot of random get-togethers, a lot of NHL Hitz and a lot of sleeping all day. I’d sum it up in a single word but, honestly, I don’t want to. Instead, I’ll just highlight some of the best pictures from the week he was here:

• Here he is. This will be helpful for those of you who have only read his comments on this site and assume he is some sort of balding thirtysomething businessman. As you can see he is decidedly NOT a balding thirtysomething businessman, but rather a lazy hippie with girl-hair. A LOT of girl hair.
• We celebrated his arrival by having dinner at Freeman’s. Even though I look sad, rest assured that I was merely hungry! We had the waitress (a delightful floozy if there ever was one!) take a couple of group shots of us. The funniest part is that in the first one you can vaguely see a random guy in the background giving the thumbs up and leaning into the picture. In the second one the guy has actually STOOD UP and is flashing a giant grin while giving either another thumbs up or the finger. That random guy just may be my hero.
• The next day, we visited our pal Rory O’Sullivan, as we often do. He was swamped with work as he is actually at university to learn marketable skills unlike the rest of us. He was able to take a little time out of his schedule, however, to play some African Drums with John. As Rory does not have real African Drums — or maybe he does and they were in the shop — pots and pans sufficed. The most surprising part, for me, was that they were REALLY REALLY good. They should start a band together!
• Along with Erin’s torso, we ventured to our next destination: Peter Smallwood’s apartment. The thing people have to understand about Peter Smallwood is that he is essentially the Yeti of Halifax. Often talked about, he is rarely seen, and when he IS seen, it is often very blurry. But that may have been the drinks.
• We also ran into Peter’s roommate, the always entertaining Ari who wears reflective clothing due to his fear of being run down by automobiles. He was also struck with tons of exam work, so we didn’t get to have the requisite communism-versus-capitalism debate his presence usually sparks. Pity.
• Seeing one of the five remaining floors in Halifax that she hasn’t been photographed lying on, Erin Balser quickly sprawled across Peter and Ari’s living room floor. The result? Photographic Magic.
• For some (awesome) reason the night from hereonin became a singalong, as John William accompanied Peter on the guitar. Peter ad-libbed a stirring nine-minute ballad about freedom (And Jesus and Mother Theresa) as I added back-up vocals. It was a stirring and memorable reunion for our boy band (minus lead singer Brad Young who is nursing an ill-advising solo career in Calgary, Alberta, Canada).
• Knowing it would get Roger a mention in the highlights, John William touched his breast. The ploy was successful.
• Cheers!
• Follow the bouncing ball: 1) JW sees a lonely glove on a porch step 2) JW picks the glove up and climbs the mountain of stairs to the front door of the random house. 3) JW puts the glove through the mail slot 4) JW is a hero!
• More Group shots!. This time with our old Mount Friend Erica who once sat on a bed with like A HUNDRED OF US and looked scared.
• Forced to leave early and facing the prospect of not seeing John William for a very long time, Rory and JW have a tearful farewell.
• I had a lot of hair in these pictures. It’s gone now, and I sort of miss it. Thankfully I won’t be getting my haircut again until April, probably, so it will grow to epic lengths once more.
• Dear Lord. I’m alternating between being repulsed by the content of the picture and being impressed by the dexterity it must have taken to shoot it.
• In the end, we all sort of played videogames and sat around and tried not to fall asleep for a few hours. Looking back,it was the best summer of my life.

The rest of the pictures can be viewed in order by clicking here. Also, I will fix the index pages on the old pics soon as I just realized they are all ugly (but functional — just like me!).

Matt