The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
As I reflect on the this year’s TDDoC I can’t help but think of this old Clint Eastwood western (imagine that whistling sound and tumbleweeds rolling through a near empty town): The Good - On Day One seeing folks I have not seen in about 365 days - The Bordentown Pub Crawl - On Day Four I got to see the B&N crew - On Day Twelve good pizza, Sweet Baby Jesus - The Bartenders: Danielle and Gina (BF), and Courtney (Killarney’s) The Bad - The noises that my stomach makes every night because the acid in my stomach is constantly fighting the wings and beer and losing, fortunately for me, or any uni-kidneyed TDDoCer, the liver is processing the wings and beer. But it is sick of the abuse and every December the liver packs up and heads to Florida for the month. - Those who did not make it out this year. - Bartenders at The Tap Room The Ugly – Pods’ foiled attempt at buying Russ a beer with Russ’ money that turned into embezzlement (gotta like the Princeton Pub Crawl) - Trying to decide where to go that last Monday (Day Eleven) and futilely trying to get Eman to jump on the grenade, only to end up at Houlihan’s (which actually was not that bad)
Day Twelve has arrived. One might think that after the previous eleven days of drinking, storytelling, sleepless nights, headaches in morning, and tummy trouble in the afternoon, and then just to start it all over again in the evening, that these broken souls and busted relationships of the TDDoC would somehow slow this crew down… however, from the moment that we step into Wildflower’s, it was on and poppin’.
Gman and family (the aforementioned “spare parts”) are first to arrive and Gman orders a coke in an attempt to put out last night’s fire that is still smoldering from within. When Eman arrives and notices Gman sipping on soft drinks, he states “What are you doing? You do realize there are no points for that soda. Continue if you must but there will be no points. If you need to put that fire out, put it out with some Sierra Nevada!”. To which Gman sheepishly replies, “I just waiting for everyone, let’s start with the pitchers now.” Drinking begins, and the fire will soon turn into a three-alarm uncontrollable raging inferno.
Pizza arrives… More people arrive… more pitchers arrive… more pizza arrives
However, before the crowd grows too large, Su and Lisa are doing some sort of calculation using logarithms and long division to ensure that the tab gets settled properly. In years past this has been an issue, sticking the last unhappy souls with a fat bill. I am not sure what went into those calculations, but the bill was resolved without anyone having to take out a second mortgage on their home.
Bobo and Nick arrive. Bobo appears to be alternating sons - Ben last year and Nick this year. Bobo orders the tradish sausage, onion and garlic. Mosso orders an Astro Thermal Group favorite: sliced tomatoes and garlic (they used chopped tomatoes but still pretty good).
Reese sends a 12:30 text saying “In car, on way, there will be TROUBLE if I arrive and everyone is gone".
The return of Jamie Scugi… score… once the future of the franchise but she has since moved away and only home to see the parents for the holiday.
Corry and Michelle Paige make it to their first Day 12 luncheon.
After the $500 plus tab was settled there was nostalgic attempt to shift the party to Shop Rite Liquors on the other side of the circle. TDDoC veterans and historians know that the Pennington Circle Shop Rite Liquors was one of the TDDoC inaugural year locales (way) back in 1997. The TTDoC has not returned to Shop Rite since then, not because it sucks, simply because we have not. Well we still have not because those attempts came up empty as the duties of Xmas were too heavy. Or perhaps, the TDDoCer’s are actually getting tired of drinking -- nah, that can’t be it.
Awards
2013 Purple Moose Award (PMA) - Eman, Gman, Goettle, Reese, Ska, Tamp, and Yo. This coveted award goes out the TDDoCer’s that made it out to all 12 days. The winners get their names etched in super-secret invisible ink on the sacred chalice only decipherable by Tajny Komitet.
2013 Rookie of the Year (RotY) - Rita. This special award goes to a drinker who is relatively new to the TDDoC and who puts out a decent effort at attendance. Rita attended 6 days, so it seems fitting.
Comeback Drinker of the Year Award (CDotYA) - Benny. This award goes to a drinker that has a spike in attendance after a layoff period. After very weak attendance from 2010 – 2012 (1, 1, and 3), he stepped up his 2013 effort to 6 days.
Most Valuable Drinker (MVD) Award - Reese and Yo. This award goes to a drinker who shows consistent drinking effort, this was Yo’s first PMA and a couple times this year Reese was the first to show up to make the WHY??? call. It is also believed that Reese has the longest active streak attending every night beginning in 2010; the archivists are verifying this fact.
Big Lou Lameness Award (BLLA) - Pods. This dubious and not-so-coveted title goes to the drinker who claims the TDDoC and many of its participants are lame because the TDDoC does not provide sufficient entertainment to his/her life and while never asking “What value have I brought to the TDDoC?”
Most Gleeful Moment (MGM) - BB returns to the Ivy Tavern. BB's triumphant return to Ivy Tavern is now part of TDDoC lore. The story goes that he walked in and exclaimed “like MacArthur in the Philippines, I have returned and like Julius Caesar in Rome Veni, Vidi, Vici.”
Most Pathetic Display of Drinkmanship (MPDoD) - Gman and Su at the Princeton Pub Crawl. (Day Ten) At this event Gman and Su were in and out so fast that the slow bartenders at the Tap Room barely got an opportunity to completely ignore them. (Rumor has it that this award will be called the CPL award in the future, for obvious reasons.)
Most Coat/Scarf Wearing (MC/SW) - Ska. No matter the occasion, weather conditions, length of stay, or the indoor temperature, you could always look over at Ska wearing his coat and scarf. Well done, sir.
Moving on to 2014: WND participation The Wednesday Night Syndicate has decided that there are too many bars that we have not attended in the Greater Trenton Area resulting in a decision to try to attend them on the usual Wednesdays. An NCAA basketball bracket-like list of bars has been created, and the tournament is on. The Chimp will be gauging interest so you can let it be known if you want to be informed of the location of WND (an e-mail reply here or a note to Tajny Komitet will also suffice). WND could be at a bar near you.
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