In almost every single thread tracing back to the Before Time, @Deckard has always had some sort of anecdotal story or experience that seems absolutely awesome. I think a telling and discussion of these stories deems its own thread. (Got the idea for this from the "6 Months In Europe" post in the What You Watchin' thread!) Now, sir, please indulge us...
ask Deckard where was he sitting, when he was at the Eighth wonder of the world, the Astrodome, to witness this "Game of the Century". the #1 ranked UCLA Bruins featuring Lew Alcindor vs the #2 ranked Houston Cougars featuring Alvin Hayes fwiw, the actor who played Casey Wong is Mario Machado, 3/4 Portugese, 1/4 Chinese, a contemporary of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong, and later at the University of Washington in Seattle, both of whom are contemporaries of Deckard. IIRC, Deckard had vacationed in HK; he may have visited Bruce Lee's old stomping ground in the Kowloon City neighborhood
I don’t think I’m “thread worthy,” but I’m sort of called upon. Be careful what you wish for! I’ll likely write more than I should when something in a thread causes me to. It can be the topic, or simply a line or a word in a post and the memories will just float up, sometimes things I haven’t thought of in several years. I enjoy writing, so I use that to keep them from floating away. Earlier today, @Buck Turgidson mentioned tamales. That’s all it took. I’ve also been known to repeat myself, unintentionally, so fair warning. It’s not like there’s that much to do right now, there being the Plague and all. It’s fun to recall days when I had a very free life, wasn’t particularly shy, and traveled whenever I had the opportunity. On that trip, the one you mentioned, I had uncanny luck when it came to meeting people. All it took was “something about Aussies and traveling” and I was back there in 1971. I was staying at a youth hostel in Amsterdam, the only time I did on that trip (later discovering far better alternatives *). It had girls on one floor and guys on another, with a common room where you could mingle and get coffee or tea to drink. There were a lot of tables, good music playing. It was a nice hostel, except for the segregated quarters, and that wasn’t unusual at all. One particular night, I noticed a good looking girl with red hair starting to play chess with the guy sitting across from her. I walked over and asked if I could watch. The guy barely looked up from staring at the board, but the chick smiled when I sat next to her. I could tell that the fellow was interested in her, but inexplicably more interested in the game. Back then I used to play pretty often myself. The redhead played a decent game, but the guy was ruthless and beat her pretty quickly. When it came to the girl, it wasn’t a good strategy. I asked her if she’d mind if I played him while she watched. So we went at it. About the time he started to sweat a little, I said, “You’re just too good for me,” tipped over my king, and asked her if she’d like to go out for drinks. She seemed relieved, smiled and said yes, and we got up and walked out. I waved at the bewildered guy and tried not to laugh. That’s how I met the Aussie, a fellow traveler. We had a great time that night and spent a lot of time together, even writing to each other for a couple of years. Then life caught up with both of us. * one of the better alternatives in Amsterdam that I discovered was staying at a “sleep-in” for 50 cents a night. I’ll briefly describe what they were. I could lock up what needed locking up when I was out and toss my sleeping bag on one of the cots there that had a semblance of springs on them when I was ready to crash at night. No curfew. No segregated sleeping arrangements. There was a common room where you could grab something cheap to eat in the morning, talk to fellow travelers, maybe hearing of fun things going on, and partake in what was being passed around if one had the desire. In 1971 the dollar was worth a hell of a lot more, and while I sometimes stayed in far better accommodations, I was trying to stretch out my time in Europe. I met a great guy at one of them and we became good friends, even hitchhiking to Switzerland together, the second time I went to Grindelwald on that trip. He went to college with Bobby Keys, the great sax player who toured with the Stones and played on their LP’s. I passed on a chance to go with my friend to London and crash at Key’s flat. I had met another girl.
Lol. I always thought Deckard is about as close to Walter Mitty that I would ever get, except of course, Deckard is real. “... then there was that time I went deep into the Congo with Betty White and this German strongman who used to juggle baby gorillas. Those were different times, you see. Betty was hot-to-trot and the letter “x” hadn’t been invented yet...”
