How the Chicken Got Its Lips
One of the readers of this item was not particularly interested in such things but he had a disturbing vision. In the vision it was many years later. A small wide eyed child climbed on his knee and said "Grandpa, what was it like to be served by a topless waitress?". The thought of having to answer "I don't know." to this wonderful child was too much for our hero to bear so he enlisted two friends and set off one Saturday afternoon to gain the experience necessary to be able to pass on this valuable information to future generations.
Not certain where to find such establishments the brave little band decided to start near the southern end of Yonge Street and walk north stopping in each bar in turn. The first stop was at the Colonial Tavern. Success! A topless waitress and ... over priced, warm beer. Fifteen minutes later, mission accomplished but still thirsty the trio decided to continue the trip but to look for more reasonably priced beverages. Eventually they ended up at the Gasworks, a friendly establishment with fully clothed staff, on Yonge St. a block north of Wellesley. They enjoyed cold draft at 25 cents a glass (there's a dating clue!), played pinball and discovered shwarma. What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
It was decided that this practice should be an annual event and also that it should have started many years before. The first event was named 1900 and in order to catch up future events were to be held monthly. All events would start at the Gasworks and continue on elsewhere if it seemed like a good idea. For a while there were monthly get togethers but this proved to be too frequent and the interval between was changed to 6 weeks. As these annual events were occurring many times each year it was clear that the laws of relativity must come into play. (Well, as clear as things get to 3 guys who have been drinking beer for a couple of hours.) Thus the events became known as the Einstein Memorial Commemorative Classics (EMCC, get it?). At the time this page was created the most recent event had been held March 29, 1997 and was 2054!
The number of attendees varies from an all time low of 1 to a record high of 38. The Gasworks is no more, beer has not been 25 cents a glass for a very long time, no one has seen a topless waitress since the very first one and many of the classic pinball machines have disappeared but EMCC continues. The current starting point is the Imperial PUBlic Library 58 Dundas St E. The Library is on the second floor of the Imperial Tavern. Folks start arriving at 1pm and will not move to another venue until at least 3pm. Sometimes the second floor is not open in which case folks meet in the ground floor bar. For the most part the attendees are in some way interested in computers and conversations tend to have a geek flavour to them. Should you like to attend just show up and introduce yourself. Stay for a minute or hang in for the duration. Events have been as short as 2 hours and there have been rumours of some folks having breakfast together the next day.
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The next few events2233 October 28, 20172234 December 9, 2017 2235 January 20, 2018 2236 March 3, 2018 2237 April 14, 2018 2238 May 26, 2018 2239 July 7, 2018 2240 August 18, 2018 2241 September 29, 2018 There will be no more updates to this page. For dates after this see our Google calendar Why no more updates here? See below. |
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1900, as the story above mentions, was attended by 3 colleges from the same department of a Toronto IT service provider. There was your scribe who is still attending and has been at all but a handful of "annual" celebrations. Keith M drifted away within the first year due to family commitments if memory serves. "Crazy" Steve W was a stalwart regular until his career moved him to Alberta. I have not heard from either of them sadly for many years.
There has been no attempt to document this phenomenon and alas many names have been lost along with the brain cells sacrificed to the cause. Many beverages have been consumed. Still I'd like to thank Carol, Ailsa, Gord, Norm, Howard, Jason, Tom, Margo, Roy, Rob, Barry,
Of late it has been my pleasure to spend time with relatively recent regulars Ken C, William and Gillian.
There are a few who deserve special mention.
Sonia A woman of many talents and interests many of which align with our geek sensibilities. We love to see you whenever you can make it Sonia.
Ken S A regular from the earliest days and before that the man who introduced me to pinball while attending Ryerson. Ken moved to Australia but still attends if he finds himself in town on a scheduled date.
Keith F What can we say about Keith "The Hammer"? Keith is a fountain of the geekiest knowledge on the planet and a memory that knows no limit who has been attending since 1912. Keith retired to Florida some time ago but visits Toronto each year and can be counted on to attend and contribute to the day. Keith had embroidered patches made of our "logo", applied them to recycled shirts and presented them to us at one event. More than once Keith has attended by telephone when he was not in town. This was before the days when cell phones where common. Keith would call the bar, ask to speak to me and have me pass on his wisdom to all present. It's always a pleasure when Keith can make it but beware when he starts to tell a joke.
John L A friend since before I got into the computer business who has moved to an idilic country life. Once in a while he seems to crave the smog and bussle of the city. When that coincides with an EMCC event I am happy to see him.
and of course Don who has been a stalwart attendee since he learned of us and who is now keeper of the Google calendar and sender of email reminders. Thank you Don.
Thank you all for a great, soon to be, 40 years.
Tony