Jordi and I went downtown. Walked along Yonge St. and bought posters and hockey paraphernalia at a few stores. We had lunch at Lick's. That night mom's friends Betty and Leslie came over to our house for dinner.
Ryan and I went downtown. We went over to Maple Leaf Gardens to catch the Pittsburgh Penguins practicing. Watched the Leafs game that night.
[Note: that was the year that Rob Brown came out of nowhere and had the craziest year - going from 44 points the year before to 115 points! Must be nice to have played with Super Mario!]
Met up with Min Kang at North York Central library to start working on our project. I went to see Naked Gun at Bayview Village with Fingret and Gary Don.
Day 1 of Christmas Vacation! Mom, Gabe and I went to the North York Central Library and Thornhill Square. I ran into Shelly P. and we hung out for a bit. She looked hotter than ever. Watched Leafs lose 6-3 to the Devils.
[Note: My first term, and first time, exam week at Crescent was starting on Monday and I decided that I could get more studying done at my granny's place. No distractions and at the same time she wouldn't feel so alone.]
Our science class went on a school trip to York University to observe Physics 'magic'. Went to SWE at Thornlea in the evening with Poster, Fingret, Gary Don and Roger.
[Note: SWE was Some Wonderful Entertainment, a recurring event at Thornlea that featured various bands and other entertainment. Past acts that performed at SWE include The Sppons and Moxy Fruvous]
Egg Rolls for lunch. We had a test in Health class*. I got 85% on my math test and 84% on my French test.
[Note: health class was basically gym class but we took a few weeks off of playing sports and discussed sex education in a little room near Highland Hall].
English presentation. Did homework. Watched Rocky IV on TV - best Rocky ever!
(Note: now that I´m older, I know Rocky I was the best Rocky, but at the time I was loving the whole USA vs. Russia thing. I love how it was the Russians who had the most amazing technology and the American had to go old school. Drago was great casting, although Lundgren is actually Swedish)
Ryan and I went downtown together. We stopped by Maple Leaf Gardens to see if Minnesota North Stars players were practicing. Ran into Brian, Evan, Cliff and Ulrich. Met Neal Broten and a bunch of other players. That night watched the Leafs lose to the Stars. Brophy is a complete bum!
Lab due. We got a big assignment regarding the signed Free Trade deal with the U.S. My teacher Mr. Speck wrote an opinion on the board and then divided the class in half - those that were to agree and those that were to disagree. I stayed late after school to start working on my report (on a computer).
(Note: 1988 and no computer in the Vinizki household.)
A big group of us - Milberg, Poster, Gasee, Ryan, Newman and Bri - went to the Toronto Marlies game against the Oilers farm team. There was a huge brawl and we met several Oiler players after the game. Leah, Izzy, Jody and Danny came over to our place for dinner.
Hamburgers for lunch. I got 9.5/10 on a French quiz. Our Under-16 team won the soccer championship against Albert College. There was a brawl towards the end of the game. Studied for Science.
French presentation - I got a 4/5. Spent a bunch of time doing analysis for my hockey pool. Watched Growing Pains and Who's The Boss.
[Note: my grade 9 teacher in French was Madame Pella ... let's just say she brought the worst out in a bunch of immature boys. Basically we all wanted to sleep with her, but were too young and immature to know how to channel all that energy! She was incredibly beautiful ... and also introduced us to Celine Dion before anyone outside Quebec had a clue. I wonder if my friend DBs brother really did ask her to prom.]
History test. Meat pie and milk for lunch ... ugh. Played road hockey with Pepper. leafs traded away Russ Courtnall for John Kordic. Prepared a skit for my team for geography class. Watched Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Donnie lalonde. Sugar Ray knocked him the F out!
[Note: that was the worst Leaf trade of all time! Stellick is an idiot! Who knew that this trade would lead to all kinds of weird adventure with my buddy Jordi and Kordic!]
My dad's old friend Marik came to visit us from Russia. School dance at Crescent.
(Note: clearly the premise of a school dance at an all boys school doesn't quite sound so appealing, but it was a revelation to me. This was my first real awakening to the 'other' ... and by 'other' I don't mean girls ... I mean non-Jewish girls ... the waspy beauties that roamed the hallways of Havergal, Branksome Hall, Bishop Strachan, etc. ... Philip Roth and Mordecai Richler know what I'm talkin' bout)
I got 81% on my geography test; 100% on the history pop-quiz; 76% on the computer science test. Meat pie and milk for lunch ... my Rabbi would be so proud. Homework and TV.
I got 95% on my math test. We had subs for lunch. During clubs time I watched our 1st soccer team beat Appleby College 3-2. Great match. Volleyball practice after. id homework and watched TV.
Handed in my English essay. I got 92% on my English test. Brian had a sleepover party at his place. Gary, Cliff, Ulrich, Brett and Gary Don all stayed over.
Science Test. I got 77% on my geography project that I did with Mihalidi. We had tacos for lunch. Did homework and talked on the phone with friends at Thornlea.
Lab report due. We had an assembly in Highland Hall in the morning. nice weather so ate lunch outside with a few people. Volleyball practice after school.
Thanksgiving Day (no school)! Played road hockey with Milberg, Jakub, Gary, Brian, Gabe, Gasee, Evan, Ryan, and Katzin. played ping-pong that night.
(Note: my family never did the whole turkey thing - chalk it up to being immigrants? To this day I try to weasel myself an invite to a proper Thanksgiving meal because I love turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce ... the whole deal!)
Grandma came home from the US. Dad took me to his club. He played squash while I swam, and then we both hung out in the sauna. Then he took me to dinner at La Sem - a family favourite.
(Note: I have been a huge fan of saunas my whole life, and it was these sessions with my dad as a kid where it all started).
Played road hockey with Gasee, Gary, Brian, Cliff, Ryan, Newman, Ulrich, and J Diamond. Then we all went to McDonald's. I watched the Leafs defeat the Blackhawks.
Dad's 46th birthday. I went to the Village after school with Min Kang. Gabe and I got dad 2 books and a card for his birthday.
(Note: Min and I actually went to German Mills together. We were never friends there, but that history created a bond between us at Crescent. He ended up going to Cornell for university and I haven't seen, or heard about, him since.)
I went over to Jordan's for breakfast and then we headed over to Katzin's to draft our regular season hockey pool. Did History homework. Watched the Seoul Olympics closing ceremony. The Soviet Union won the most golds and medals overall.
Note: Lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor in the Finn class was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. He arrived in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with a special award honoring his bravery and sacrifice.
Did homework. Brian and I went to Yorkdale Mall to see A Fish Called Wanda. I also got a pair of jeans. Watched awesome Olympic volleyball match: USA 3 USSR 1.
Grub Day. Played house league soccer against Hudson House. Went to the Village after school with Fred, Rich, Sandro, Webster, and Lundy. Watched Olympics and did homework.
[Note: Grub Day meant we could where regular clothes - not our usual uniform]
Computer Science quiz. Geography test. After school went to "The Village" with Rich, Fred, Lundy and Heissler. Played ping-pong with Gabe. Mom left for Hungary and Holland.
I went to the North York Public Library to do homework. Saw Ken Ng there. I went to Dairy Queen after to grab a Blizzard. Leah & Izzy came over for dinner. Watched TV and prepared for the hockey pool.
Huge road hockey game: Kamin, Brad, Brian, Sesel, Guy and Yan (11) defeated Me, Jordan, Newman, Perki, Mark Owen and Pearl (10). Patel and J Berman came by. Played tennis with Brian - lost 6-3, 6-4. Did math homework.
[Note: not sure if Shelly and Jody came by or walked by ... and maybe waved. Also, this may have been the first time I met Sesel, a new immigrant from South Africa.].
Fish and Chips for lunch. I was put into Wolfe House. We played house soccer and Wolfe went 0-2. We had a volleyball scrimage against the first team (grade 11 and 12) and lost 3-1. After volleyball I went to Baskin Robbins at York Mills plaza with Chilikoff, Tim Kim, Marcel, and Sacks. Ben Johnson won the gold medal and broke a world record in the 100 meter. Take that Carl Lewis!
Had panzarottis and salad for lunch. Volleyball practice after school. Deratnay and I were late. Parents ordered Chinese food for dinner. Did homework and watched Seoul Olympics.
We got subs for lunch. Voleyball game against Upper Canada College (UCC) - we won 15-0, 12-15, 15-4, 15-8. Did homework. Watched Olympic volleyball: US defeated Argentina 3-2.
[Note: the rules of volleyball have since changed. Back then you could only score points on your serve. Now a point is scored regardless of who is serving.]
We got hot dogs for lunch.I made the volleyball team. After school I got my uniform - #6. Yom Kippur dinner. Did some homework. Watched Olympics.
[Note: Crescent had a cafeteria where we were provided a meal. I never had to pack a lunch. Everything was served with milk. In grade 9 we were asigned to specific tables that had 8 guys (2 x grade 9, 10, 11, 12). I'm not lying when I tell you every single guy at my table was above average height/weight and on the rugby team. You would not believe how skinny I was in grade 9!]
My first day at Crescent School. Volleyball tryout after classes. Mom took me to buy school supplies after dinner. Did homework. Ryan and Jordan called to see how things went.
I went to my volleyball tryout. Gabe started school at York Mills Collegiate (moved from Thornlea). I took the bus to York Mills and had lunch there with him. Gabe and I then went to Thornlea to catch up with friends. I saw everyone and then went over to Jordi's place for dinner. We watched the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
No volleyball tryouts. I still had soccer tryouts. Not looking good ... we did laps and I was nowhere close to most of the guys. The coach Stuart Cumner seems to be big on conditioning. Played ping-pong with dad and Gabe.
Sevag and I went to both the volleyball and soccer tryouts. Then a group of us - DB, Nebile, D Scott, Pat, and Ken Ng - went to Village Variety at Yonge and Lawrence after. Hung out waiting for Havergal girls to come by. Played ping-pong and did some math preparation.
[Note: I was basically going from grade 8 math to grade 10 math, so needed to do some prep in advance. Since Crescent had no grade 13 they pretty much were teaching a grade ahead.]
I found out I made the first cut for the volleyball team. Went to the Village with Sevag, Deluce, and Lundy. Played ping-pong. Mom and I went to Town & Country and then swung by granny's apartment to water her plants.
School starts in 1 week, however I went to Crescent for soccer and volleyball team tryouts. Met some good guys and a bunch of us hung out at Village Variety (Yonge and Lawrence) after tryouts. Got a letter from grandma. Played ping-pong with Gabe.
Huge road hockey game. Gary and Marc Berman, Brian, his 2 cousins, Poster, Cliff, Evan and Brett. We all went to McDonald's after. I watched Mats Wilander defeat Ivan Lendl 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to win The U.S. Open and take over the #1 ranking. My favourite tennis match of all time. Rosh Hashanah dinner.
We had our soccer final - we won 6-0 to take the league championship. I got a trophy. Mom, dad and Gabe all there. Slept over at Gary's house. We ordered pizza for dinner and watched TV.
[Note: I didn't know him at the time, but Sevag is in the middle picture on the opposing team. Sevag would end up being a good friend at Crescent School.]
Crescent School Orientation Day. Great day! The school is amazing and met lots of cool people. Played ping-pong. Paul and I went to see Eight Men Out. Grandma left to U.S.
Mom and I went to Crescent to buy a gym shirt, shorts, sweater, tie and socks from the tuck shop. Gary and I played tennis at German Mills, then went to say hello to our old teachers. Met up with Brian and Gary Don. Went over to grandma's for dinner.