It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, Part LVII
By Mitch Berg
It was October 23, 1987. A Friday night.
My big diversion from the grind of job-hunting came on Friday nights. I’d go to “Phoenix Games”, a store on Lake between Bryant and Colfax (which, astoundingly, still exists), around six-ish to do “Naval Gaming”; groups of guys (and occasional gals) would recreate historical naval battles, or do hypothetical ones, on the shop floor with little lead minatures simulating ships from the sail era, World Wars I and II, and occasionally modern-day battles.
After the evening’s activities, after the shop closed – usually around midnight – some of us would adjourn to the Embers on 26th and Hennepin for a late-night snack.
———-
A quick aside that might seem utterly irrelevant, but whose relevance will become clear later.
Back in high school, I acted in a lot of school plays. I enjoyed trying to be someone else; it was more interesting than being me.
But I digress. There was a small group of guys who were “best pals” with all the girls – James, Charlie and Brad [*]; they’d sit with them before and after play practice and belt out show tunes and talk about clothes and…
…and I didn’t really think twice about it. Charlie was a talented artist; Brad was a great musician; James was on the Speech team with me. I thought they had terrible taste in music, a fair flair for clothing, and were perfectly fine guys. No big whoop.
I was probably well into college before I put two and two together. And then yawned. In the couple of years intervening between high school and college, gay guys had gone from being a fairly threatening mystery – not unusual in small towns at the time – to pretty much a non-issue.
I couldn’t stand show tunes, but otherwise, their sexuality – and that of any other gay people – was a whole lot less important than trying to do something with my own.
Which, I occasionally mused in frustration, was probably a good reason to quit hanging around at Phoenix on Friday nights.
———-
It was about 2AM, and time to pay the tab. I walked to the front of the restaurant and grabbed a fiver to pay for my Coke and slice of pie…
…and ran into Charlie , the would-be comic book artist. I noticed him, first, before I noticed the clothing; He was wearing black leather chaps, a vest, a harness-y thing that looked like lederhosen, some sort of black leather speedo thing, topped off with a black leather Greek fisherman’s cap.
Charlie noticed me pretty much simultaneously. And I was gratified in the split second before I spoke that he looked just about as awkward as I must have.
“Hey, Charlie!”
“Hey, Mitch”.
How to follow up, when you’re talking to an old high school pal who’s standing there in S&M gear?
“So how ya doing?”
“Great”
“Still working at…” the restaurant where he’d been waiting tables the previous year, according to a mutual friend.
“Yeah! And are you still in radio?”
“Nah, I’m freelancing”.
I smiled and nodded. So did he.
“Hey, great seeing you!”
“Yeah, nice running into you!”, he responded, pointing sotto voce to the three other leather clad guys who were walking away to sit at a table.
“A friend of yours?”, one of the other gamers asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
There’d been a time when I’d probably have smacked the guy for suggesting it.
“Yeah, ol’ high school bud”, I responded, turning to talk with the hostess.
[*] Note to all Jamestown people reading this blog: Of course I’ve changed the names.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Mitch, will there be any installements of It Was Twenty Years Ago… tomorrow or Thrusday? After all, even I remember what I was doing on Oct 24-25, 1987. Those are the dates of Games 6 & 7 of the Cardinals-Twins World Series.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:38 pm
“”I enjoyed trying to be someone else; it was more interesting than being me.””
Deja Vu at SitD, Cats out of the bag now!! *laughing*
Flash
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Cats out of the bag now!!
Yep. I was tired of being a dork in high school!
It’s the only time in history that’s happened!
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:59 pm
My big diversion from the grind of job-hunting came on Friday nights. I’d go to “Phoenix Games”, a store on Lake between Bryant and Colfax (which, astoundingly, still exists), around six-ish to do “Naval Gaming”; groups of guys (and occasional gals) would recreate historical naval battles, or do hypothetical ones, on the shop floor with little lead minatures simulating ships from the sail era, World Wars I and II, and occasionally modern-day battles.
Occasional gals? You’re really testing your cred here Mitch.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:06 pm
VERY occasional. To the point where I distinctly remember each of them. Even now.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:32 pm
“Phoenix Games”, a store on Lake between Bryant and Colfax
If memory serves, that’s where you first met Peev, correct?
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Why yes. Yes, it was.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:05 pm
“even I remember what I was doing on Oct 24-25, 1987. Those are the dates of Games 6 & 7 of the Cardinals-Twins World Series.”
As do I. I remember watching the series and wondering who came up with the idea of covering the interior surfaces of the HHHumphreydome with garbage bags. Then I wondered how long it would be before contraction mercy killed the Twins. Alas…
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Alas, Phoenix Games closed it’s doors at the end of August. The online store is still open.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Looks like they Moved the retail location to Minnetonka/ Deephaven
Phew
October 24th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Angryclown pictures a young Mitch recreating the Battle of Jutland in a Twin Cities game-geek emporium and is suddenly filled with a sense of protective sympathy.
Angryclown will admit to some youthful experimentation with Diplomacy.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Clown, if you had any fun with Diplomacy, you might look into Supremacy. That’s a lot of fun.
Plus it’s a great way to spend some time with folks, cocktails, tobacco, diplomacy, and a little friendly nuclear deterant.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Angryclown will admit to some youthful experimentation with Diplomacy.
Squad Leader/Cross of Iron/Crescendo of Doom/GI, Third Reich, Tobruk, Luftwaffe, Air Force, Air Superiority, Twilight 2000, Clear for Action, MechWar 1980 and Harpoon were the big ones.
Never tried Diplomacy cuz, y’know, a guy’s gotta have some standards.
October 24th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Was Harpoon turned into a computer game? I think I bought an old copy for $5 or $10. Nice game for a 486, but (if I remember correctly) it had some timing stuff in it that made it more difficult to play on anything faster.
October 24th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Yes, it was. And I loved it, the perhaps three times I was able to play it before my computers got too fast.
I can’t even find second-hand computers slow enough to run it anymore.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Mitch disclosed: “Never tried Diplomacy cuz, y’know, a guy’s gotta have some standards.”
Standards? You do realize your games are Dungeons and Dragons for guys who like to pretend they’re Nazis, sted of trolls and whatnot.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
who like to pretend they’re Nazis
Puhleeze. Totally Churchill.
Because, like, he drank, smoked huge cigars, bounced the odd mattress, and hung around on battleships.
Dude. I’m Churchill. Or maybe DeGaulle.
But no, never played D&D, and I’m checking with my lawyers about the possibility of a defamation suit. We’re looking for precedents on sueing clowns; they seem to not be granted standing to defend themselves on the odd concept of “Class Incompetence to Stand Trial”.
Odd, that. But that’s why we have lawyers!
October 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
You can’t sue the WHOLE class of clowns…but you could still sue each and every one of them as individuals. With the proper retainer and monthly replenishing of the trust account, I may just know an attorney who would take the case…but for potential ethical dilemmas.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
You can’t sue the WHOLE class of clowns…but you could still sue each and every one of them as individuals
Well, only one accused me of playing D&D, so that won’t work.
No, I thought there was a “collective diminished capacity” issue with clowns, that effectively renders them immune from litigation.
Where did I read that? What was the case?
Oh, yeah – US Vs. Clark!