The George Street Festival

This weekend was the 25th annual George Street Festival in my hometown. Normally, it is not something I take part in very much (I am not really a fan of the drunken culture that George St. breeds. To clarify what I mean, yes I drink on occassion; but no, I do not get hammered to go out.) I usually go down one night to see the bands, but that is about it. This year was Achmed’s first GSF and I guess I thought that he needed to be introduced properly. I also needed some noise to clear my head since the past week has been a pretty big head-ringer for me. Everyone who speaks sounds like a radio station that is not quite tuned on the channel properly… I hear all static.

Actually, up until about a week before the festival I was mentally debating going camping this weekend, but I opted for staying home instead. The Thursday night was a no-brainer as far as me hitting the street, Blue Rodeo was playing. Ask anyone who has ever seen me pick up a guitar, they will tell you that there was no way I was missing that night.

So, over the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights that I spend wandering George Street with a beer in my hand (or gin and tonic), I probably met close to 100 people who I have not seen in anywhere from a few months to several years. What blew me away was how many of them knew about my new buddy, and how many of them walked up to me and said, “So, how are you and Achmed doing these days?"; "I love your blog man!"; "When are you going to finish the KISS concert story?"; “You are going to be fine, good luck!””… etc. It was kind of a bit overwhelming sometimes.

Normally when I go out, I am with a group of people, sometimes large and sometimes small, but I rarely go out alone. Thursday night was traditional for me; I was with a group of friends and pretty much hung out with them all night. There was that odd incident where a group of people were waving at me and saying hi and taking pictures, that was when I realized I was actually pretty close to Joe Thornton (San Hose Sharks), who was here for a golf tournament with a group of other NHL players. It was a bit awkward when I waved back at them and they ignored me…lol.

Anyway, Friday and Saturday nights I kept getting separated from the friends I was with, but at an event like that, in a place where I grew up, that doesn’t really matter that much. I was bumping into people I knew all over the place. In fact, if George Street was typically as much fun and social as it was on Saturday night, I might go out more often. Well, not too much more often, when Ajay called me this morning to go for a ride, I felt like I had just hit the mattress… and when I got to Starbuck’s, it wasn’t open yet! (This is where the old me would have gone into a huge rant on how bad customer service is around here.)

And to the girls at Dusk, who are eagerly awaiting the next instalment of “4-Guys and a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band”, I will be getting back to it soon… if we get some rain… and yes, I will try to break them up into shorter sections.

I hope that you all had a great weekend too.

From Achmed and Me… Live Life!