.... If anyone wants to post memories, bring it on. I've got a million of them and lots have come to mind recently.
Dave
It's the people and the little every day stuff, more than anything.
Bosie (sp?) with his spit-shined shoes, and all you'd have to do is say there was a scuff and he'd back up in horror trying to find a mark.
Ray Robinson and his two favorite seating spots- either at table 16 or at 18. He saw everything.
Long lines of kids trying to get more quarters to pump into that Street Fighter game.
Or later, how you'd kind of get creeped out thinking someone was staring at you, but it was just --, who used to spend hours playing those video games but he had a pair of eyes tattooed on the back of his head. Those eyes were always watching.
R stood at the counter once and for the small wager of the beer itself, proved she could drink a whole bottle of beer in less than 45 seconds with no hands.
One late night when the non-regulars had left, D unscrewed one of those little keychain 9balls and put it on the spot and we all took turns trying to shoot it in the pocket from behind the line with a regular cue ball. I wasn't even drinking and I lost a bunch of dollars trying that stupid shot. (I think D must have secretly practiced beforehand.)
And Carlos' "special french fries," which were new and creative every time- but somehow were always buried in hot sauce... I was always scared of him anyway, so I never tried any of those fries, but a lot of people loved them.
One night that doesn't seem too long ago but was, a group all ended up across the street doing shots and RA shocked us at karaoke with an amazingly beautiful tearjerker love song and when he finished D said, "Hell I'd marry you after that!" ...Poor 22 yr old J drank way too many free drinks that night- he staggered back into the Joint and scared some of the young late night bangers by belting out a weird old Linda Ronstadt song til the staff told him to shut up. So in the same night we learned RA is a master, and... J can't sing.
I remember the old guys laughing til they were crying for long hours on 18. I even remember one of the reasons: two of them had gone to Reno, and F hit a quarter machine for like, $12. He'd never played a slot machine before and when the bells started ringing he started waving his arms screaming, "I won! I won! Bring on the women!" and H had to try to shut him up and explain that he hadn't really won anything.
I remember Tommy "Action" Jackson.
And Angel's VW. And my poor old Mustang.
P and I played doubles with young C (CV's son) and a friend of his on table 7 (why did we choose that table?) The friend kept missing and C got mad and the friend got so frustrated he broke his own cue.
Every year at the Japanese Cultural Festival W would go and get stacks of boxes of bbq chicken and bring it back for the regulars as a treat.
R met C over there on table 4 and married him, what- three weeks later?
One day two kids had a water balloon and started playing catch in the parking lot. A crowd of players stood there and made bets on which kid the ballon would finally pop on.
And the fanny packs. And the white Sunday cowboy hats with the plastic still on them, every single week.
The Joint was always open on holidays, too- for those with no families, and for those who needed to escape theirs...
Thank you- for the lessons, the family, and the memories.
