RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#417: Tim-Toons! Brought to you by the makers of Brett-Lore!

Grade 10 was a great time – good music, good friends.  In Grade 10 I witnessed Rob Szabo blow the school away with a lunchtime performance of “YYZ” by Rush.  It was the talk of the school.  I remember sitting up there in science class after, talking about the band with the teacher Mr. Marrow.

Mr. Marrow (“Joe”, for unknown reasons – his name was Paul) was awesome.  Strict, but fascinating.  Made science interesting.  He did me a favour by appearing in my highschool music video for “Nothing But A Good Time”, as the pissed-off teacher.  Marrow was a moon landing skeptic, but refused to elaborate on his beliefs when pressed.  Like I said, a fascinating guy.

There was a kid in my science class named Tim, who quickly became known as “Pyro Tim” for turning on the gas for the Bunsen burners to see what would happen if you lit it directly from the tap.  “Pyro Tim” and I later went to University together majoring in History, and we had more hijinks there.

In second year, Tim and I were hanging out a lot outside of class.  We had a number of classes together including classic Greek and Roman history.  It was us and a pair of really, really attractive blonde girls named Lee and someone else.  (I can’t remember the other girl’s name — it was Lee I had a crush on.)  We had become an inseparable quartet in class.  We would study after class, or just hang out.  One afternoon post-class, we watched Monty Python (The Life of Brian) and Star Trek (“The Trouble With Tribbles”), just like stereotypical University students in the 1990’s.

One thing that tended to irritate the three of us about Tim was his knack for missing classes (particularly Monday or Friday mornings), and then ask to borrow our notes afterwards.   The ultimate moment of frustration was when he more or less copied an essay I wrote, and then got a better mark than me on it!  I couldn’t believe it!  He copied mine, made some changes and scored a better mark.  How was it possible?  Was he greasing the palms of the professors?  He definitely liked to talk their ears off after class, all dressed up in his shirt and tie.

The frustration boiled in us, but mostly me!  An old Klingon proverb says that “revenge is a dish best served cold.”  It is very cold in Canadian winters.

Another Friday came and went, with Tim a no-show in class.  So, we decided to sabotage him.  With the encouragement of my two friends, I took two sets of notes that day – one for me, and one for him.  I substituted the Greek names of historical figures with characters from the Beachcombers and Star Trek.  I made events up and did absolutely nothing that would have helped him.  He figured out my ruse and got someone else’s notes, and a better mark than me as usual!

All the rest of the guys from highschool that worked on Brett-Lore, our highschool rock-and-sci-fi comic book, had gone to different schools afterwards.  I was the only one left to carry on the legacy.  Enjoy these cartoons from my University days!*

 

* On the back of one sketch, I found music, lyrics, and titles that I was working on for song ideas.  They include “The Seven Hills of Rome”, “Cypselus the Tyrant”, (gee, I wasn’t listening to Iron Maiden a lot, was I?), “National Anthem From Some Weird Planet Nearby” (instrumental), and “Hypnotize You”.  For those last two, think Steve Vai and Skid Row respectively.