Shenanigans.

Victoria

I just got back from by two days of Shenanigans in Victoria with the Sidekick. Just to let you know, Shenanigans when you're my age aren't the same as the ones when I was younger - there's almost the same amount of booze, but less "Hey - let's jump from car to car" and more "Sittng on the patio is great". I'm not even going to go into the travesty that was the Poker game the first night I got there - let's just say that in the end, the Beer won.

Drinks

So the next morning we got up (slowly, I assure you), had coffee, and eventually headed Downtown. No breakfast was necessary as we were both still stuffed from the obligatory Denny's 2am feeding - nothing tops off a night of beer and Poker like Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes and Egg Whites. (Don't ask).

Victoria is a gorgeous city to walk through, so we parked and decided to go see the Twin at his store. After dropping in and talking Comics with him we decided to do the manliest thing two mature guys would do in the big city - we go shopping. (I know, you probably thought "Naked Shots", but we changed it up a bit.) The Sidekick had a gift card he felt compelled to spend, so we got him some threads to wear for the evening.

Pho

After we got our shop on, we hit lunch - the last time I was down the Sidekick introduced me to Pho, a wicked Vietnamese soup that my picture doesn't do justice to, and I don't have the vocabulary to describe how fucking epic this stuff is. Just go and have it - you can send me a consultant's cheque to express your joy.

Once we were full, we decided to have the best dessert possible - Booze. The place: Irish Times. The Drinks: G&T for me, and Snotty beer for the Sidekick. He must have impressed our Bartender with his choices in beverages, because she was giving us samples to check out, and I know it wasn't our good looks that had the drinks coming our way.

Blueberry Girl & Santa Claus

After going back to the Sidekick's man cave, we drank even more and then headed out to dinner at Brown's Social House - I hadn't heard great things about it, but who is going to argue with $4 pints and a location right around the corner from the Royal Theatre? The plus was the group of the Sidekick's friends that we met there - I laughed so hard that I only got to drink 4 beers. (Sad face.)

It was tough to leave the restaurant, but we hustled around the corner to the theatre - we wanted to make sure to catch the opening act, and there was also a bar service there, and we just HAD to take advantage of that.

First highlight of the evening: as we headed to the theatre, we saw this scruffy looking guy walking towards the tour bus that was parked on the road. After a quick "Hey John?", the Sidekick and I were shaking hands with John Butler himself - it's not everyday you get to meet a guy who can play the guitar like he's been touched by God.

John Butler Trio

I could go on about the concert - it was amazing, from the opening act (Hayley Sales, a Vancouver Island girl from a Blueberry Farm in Qualicum Beach) to the encore of "Funky Tonight". I heard practically every song that I wanted to, and the best part is that I knew Mr. Butler's back catalogue way more than Sidekick, which is a first for almost any concert we've been to - a rare feat to be sure.

Second highlight of the evening: Watching (along with everyone else in our section of the concert) two extremely pretty lesbian girls getting quite intimate during "Groovin' Slowly".

Once the concert ended, we headed out to the Sticky Wicket, a huge, multi-level bar in the middle of downtown Victoria - after the first round of Jagerbombs and Gin, the night gets a little fuzzy - I recall a lot of beer, a wedding party in the sports bar, and a meth-head in the pizza joint at 3am.

(That last part is a blog post in itself.)

Too much fun - and I'm paying for it today - trust me.





Later.