Thursday, April 03, 2008

Recipe for El Presidente~ The Upper Division

Onward and upward to the 6th grade I went……But first …….on a beautiful spring day in my 11th year, I discovered that delicious concoction of barley & Hopps that the Masters at Anheuser Busch were brewing…..back where my schooling began, PS 170 schoolyard……and then of course that Summer when we rang in the Bicentennial in front of the Parkie house on 79th street……..Warships from around the Globe sailed under that Verrazano Bridge , past beloved Bayridge on their way to Manhattan……and a week after the festivities, Mac and I were back down the park drinking Cold Budweiser Beer and watching them sail out of NY and disappear over the horizon…to places unknown….I had the Bug to travel ….I was being drawn to the Navy Subconsciously….I began listening to the Grateful Dead....1976 a Good year for Drinking…..soon I saw the world threw different colored specs…..in 1978 I read "On The Road" and my life changed for good……like hallucinogenic for the first time….after Kerouac…nothing would be the same again………as jerry Garcia would say…..till things we've never seen will seem familiar……it was the Maypole dance all over again….and I was not partaking this time either……I withdrew from the common path, grew my hair long, discovered herb and rebelled against Authority…….starting to wonder how this makes me qualified to be presidente~ ? Relax….I'm getting there…….what is your dinner getting cold?….have a date? What's the rush….keep your shirt on……..unless of course your Racquel Walshe and you stumbled across my blog….then take your shirt off please…………….

Now where was I ? Ah yes…..glorious days indeed when your twelve years old and hitting the hooch already....waiting for that phonecall from Jimmy Holland or Dano or Chico...stating that their house was open for two hours if we wanted to tie one on...usually at the expense of the respective parents Liquor cabinet or sometimes if we had a few scheckels and somebody from Shorts was around ( Harpo or Todd O'D usually) to buy a few sixes from Farmer and the deli....glorious days....it did not take much to put a bag on....ice was always a premium though...I think that is when I developed my uncontrollable fear of warm beer....it still gives my the sweats in my nightmares......on to the 8th grade…..tossed off the Altar Boys…….caught partying behind the Dumpster in OLA schoolyard and prohibited from going on the class trip to Washington D.C. …..forced to spend those three days sitting in lower division classes while the rest of the class visited the nations' capital…….who were the dirty Half Dozen not allowed on the Trip…..in alphabetical order Buhse, Cahill, Griffin, Lutfey, Mcevoy, O'Dowd and Roccanelli….thats what they call a bakers' half dozen…you get 1 extra…..quit complaining……this trip was a valuable lesson learned……..the Authorities thought we would sit in class embarrassed and sulking….they were wrong…..we got obliterated each morning on the 76 st stairs BEFORE and after School…..with Brother Robert and Father Padian out of town we partied like Sailors anywhere we wanted…….right up until Graduation….and the day after, when Brother Myles Crashed our soiree on Shore Road and ended the fun……..onto HIGH School.




TO BE CONTINUED

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