When the music is turned up and the tables are pushed to the side, bar-goers are drawn to the small 12ft x 12ft space in the corner of the bar like moths to a frickin flame. This is where the party is...THIS is their time to shine.
The bar is entertaining on so many levels, I find. Unlike Celebrities (ahhh BoyTech), Hudson's here in Edmonton draws a different crowd all together - often spanning several age and socioeconomic demographics. Unlike clubs such as Dirty Pretty and Suite 69, who target a more specific population, the Hudson's crowd contains anyone from fresh faced 18 year olds, to 50 year old 'roid monkies to that unsavoury-looking fellow at the end of the bar dancing to no particular beat that the rest of us are aware of. There's also a touch of irony that floats across these floors. Allow me to illustrate.
In one corner, you have the young man who is probably freshly 18, has not grown into his limbs yet and who will, in all likelihood, be going home to re-join his LAN party (he looked like a young Drew Carrey) dancing...sorry, "dancing" with not one, but TWO girls. In the other corner, there is a tall, fit, relatively good looking chap dancing with only one girl - simply because she was too drunk to shake him off her leg....I should also mention this is the same fellow who 20 minutes later, paused in front of me and my companions to drop a giant air biscuit and then proceed to the bar. This may have contributed to his difficulty in finding a dance partner - it is unclear at this time.
Geek: 1 Jock: 0
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Did someone say cookies?
What's the one thing that regardless of who we are, where we live or what fancy-pants car we drive, we all have in common? We all eat. Food is the unifying factor that everyone can relate to and that everyone has an opinion about. Whether it be what the last most amazing meal you had was or how tragically your favorite restaurant closed its doors, every person I know has a story involving something so simple that we often as North Americans take for granted. Food.
Food can grease the wheels of social interaction at any occasion - board meetings, open houses, dates(!), you name it. Even those little candies at the front desk of any establishment say "hey, I don't know you, but here, have a mint." Weddings are another good example, where it's quite possible that you'll be sitting at a table with people you barely know - if all else fails conversationally, at least you can talk about how good the food is, right?
We not only use food as a social unifier, but we are drawn to it and motivated by it. I once walked upwards of 14 blocks in 30 degree Celcius heat in search of sushi - but this was not any sushi...this was Umi sushi (utterly spectacular, by the way) and despite the requirement of the iPhone Urban Spoon app, a GPS and a 8 block back-track, it was worth every step.
Those of you who know me well, know that food is not only a social binding agent, or a motivator, but it's a passion of sorts - I take great pride in my creations and there's nothing I love more than spending my day off in the kitchen baking cookies or simmering a pot of homemade soup. I'd dare to make the argument that a lot of our memories are triggered by a taste, or a smell (sometimes good, sometimes not so much) and that food is more of an experience rather than "something we have to do."
Now if you don't mind, there's a cookie with my name on it.....it calls to me.
Food can grease the wheels of social interaction at any occasion - board meetings, open houses, dates(!), you name it. Even those little candies at the front desk of any establishment say "hey, I don't know you, but here, have a mint." Weddings are another good example, where it's quite possible that you'll be sitting at a table with people you barely know - if all else fails conversationally, at least you can talk about how good the food is, right?
We not only use food as a social unifier, but we are drawn to it and motivated by it. I once walked upwards of 14 blocks in 30 degree Celcius heat in search of sushi - but this was not any sushi...this was Umi sushi (utterly spectacular, by the way) and despite the requirement of the iPhone Urban Spoon app, a GPS and a 8 block back-track, it was worth every step.
Those of you who know me well, know that food is not only a social binding agent, or a motivator, but it's a passion of sorts - I take great pride in my creations and there's nothing I love more than spending my day off in the kitchen baking cookies or simmering a pot of homemade soup. I'd dare to make the argument that a lot of our memories are triggered by a taste, or a smell (sometimes good, sometimes not so much) and that food is more of an experience rather than "something we have to do."
Now if you don't mind, there's a cookie with my name on it.....it calls to me.
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