Since I abandoned chronological order shortly after Part 10, everything’s been scattershot since. ย This story takes place a month before the events in Part 102: Dumped in Barrie. ย It features she who dumped me in Barrie, as well as friends from Part 64: Niagara Falls, and the title character from Part 155: Sarge. ย Got all that?
RECORD STORE TALES Part 243: ย Return to Niagara Falls
A cold Saturday morning,ย JJJulie and I headed down to St. Catharines, Ontario. ย The purpose of our visit was to hang out with our Record Store friends in The Legendary Klopeks, and Sarge, who had flown in from Bournemouth, England! ย Sarge was an imposing figure, with steampunk top hat and platform boots. ย We’d been communicating online for a while and we were all looking forward to his visit. ย He ended up helping the Klopeks book some gigs overseas later.
Lemon Kurri Klopek, you may remember, co-owned one of our stores. ย JJJulie and I rendezvoused withย him at his store, where I spent some money. ย (Astute readers will realize that for me to buy a CD from Lemon Kurri, a franchisee, was against the rules!ย We had some pretty stupid rules.)
The lot of us grabbed some fancy dinner together, a motley crew of tattoos, piercings, leather, and rock and roll. ย Although we spent a lot of money and were nothing but polite, our appearances were apparently too much for the upscale restaurant folk. ย We were given our bills and pointedlyย not asked if we wanted to order from the dessert menu.
We fit in much better later on at a bar in St. Catharines, where Sarge presided regaling us with stories about Lemmy from Motorhead and others. ย I normally don’t like bars, but everybody seemed to know everybody there. ย Sarge then presented me a Motorhead tour shirt, a gift I still have (although packed away in a box). ย We had a pretty solid time, and the place was mostly empty so my crowd phobia didn’t really kick in.
The Rockmobile
The following day, Sunday, we took a trip across the border to do some shopping. We all piled into Lemon Kurri Klopek’s Rockmobile. ย There was some kind of outlet mall in Niagara Falls, USA that was supposed to be pretty cool. ย JJJulie wanted to buy shoes (whoop-de-do!) but I was told there were a couple good toy stores there.
At K.B. Toys I found the Star Wars Game of Life for $9.99, which I still have. ย That was a score. ย I kept it sealed. ย At that price I should have bought a second one and sold it or given it away as a gift. ย But that wasn’t the only mistake I made on that trip. ย A further stop at a US record store turned up a find that I didn’t know existed.
I’m admittedly not a fan of the Alice Cooper Brutal Planet period. I am however a completist, so I was still interested when I saw a Brutally Live CD/DVD combo pack. ย We had the DVD in Canada, but not the CD, and CD is still my primary format. ย It was $25, and I decided to pass on it simply because I knew I wasn’t going to play it that often.
Maintaining a balance between “I won’t play it that often” and “I still want it for the collection” is tricky sometimes, and erring on the side of budget, I decided to pass on the Brutally Live set for the moment. ย As soon as I got back home and checked online, I regretted that decision. ย I couldn’t get it from any Canadian sellers and buying from an American one was going to cost me at least $35. ย (Happy ending: ย About five years down the road, it was released in Canada at a budget price! ย I have it now.)
My Star Wars Game of Life was a good score. ย On eBay, there’s one (not sealed like mine) going for $25.99 (buy it now). ย There are none on eBay that are unopened at the time of this writing. ย I think I’ll hang onto mine and wait for the release of Episode VII to sell!
mikeladano.com 