Friday December 23, 1988

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.

Thursday December 22, 1988

Jordi and I went to Markham Place together. I ended up having dinner with his family and going to his hockey game. Sleepover at his place.

[Note - sleepovers sound dirty when a 34 year old writes it ... remember this was when we were 14 perverts!]

Wednesday December 21, 1988

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!]

Tuesday December 20, 1988

Legendary road hockey game:

Cliff, Gasee, Andy Long, Evan and Me

v.s.

Josh D, Ryan, Poster, Milberg and Gabe

[Note: Andy Long and I were both huge Quebec Nordiques fans ... I was Peter Stastny and he was Michel Goulet ... figuratively speaking of course :D ]

Monday December 19, 1988

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.

Sunday December 18, 1988

Gasee and I went to North York City Hall* to skate on the outdoor rink.

[Note: this is now called Mel lastman Square]

Saturday December 17, 1988

Poster, Gasee and I went to Farview Mall to see Twins. Then we went back to Adam's, ordered pizza and watched Leafs 1 Flyers 1.

Friday December 16, 1988

I went over to JJ's house and watched Full Metal Jacket. Played some ball hockey with Pepper.

Thursday December 15, 1988

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.

Wednesday December 14, 1988

I wrote my final exam - Computer Science! I ended my sequestering at granny's and moved back in with my folks. My nice, juicy Christmas Break begins!

Tuesday December 13, 1988

I wrote my math exam and then studied for Computer Science at school.

Monday December 12, 1988

I wrote my geography exam and studies for math.

Sunday December 11, 1988

I spent the entire day and night studying for geography (except for taking a few breaks to do math problems!).

Saturday December 10, 1988

I spent the day studying for geography and then went to 2 parties that night: D Singer's and Maren Fine's.

Friday December 9, 1988

I wrote my history exam and then went to granny's to study for geography.

Thursday December 8, 1988

I wrote my Science exam in the morning, had fish and chips for lunch, and then wrote my French exam.

Wednesday December 7, 1988

I wrote my English exam and then went to the library to study for French and Science.

Tuesday December 6, 1988

Studied for the English exam.

Monday December 5, 1988

Prepared for my English exam on Wednesday.

Sunday December 4, 1988

Hanukkah starts. Spent the day inside studying.

Saturday December 3, 1988

Moved in with granny for the week.

[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.]

Friday December 2, 1988

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]

Thursday December 1, 1988

We has chili for lunch. I watched the Flames vs. Leafs on TV.

Wednesday November 30, 1988

I got 90% on my history test. Played ping-pong with Gabe. Watched TV.

Tuesday November 29, 1988

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].

Monday November 28, 1988

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)

Sunday November 27, 1988

Played road hockey in the synagogue parking lot near German Mills. Great game!

Gary, Katzin, J Dyan and Ulrich v. Brian, Cliff, Newman, Gasee & me.

Dad was in a car accident near our house (Fisherville and Torresdale).

Saturday November 26, 1988

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!

Friday November 25, 1988

Math test. Handed in my French project on Quebec. Watched TV.

Thursday November 24, 1988

Thanksgiving in the US. Wrote a test in computer science class. Meat pie for lunch (gross!). Studied for the math test in the library after school.

Wednesday November 23, 1988

French test. Did homework. Took shots against the garage with Pepper.

Tuesday Novcember 22, 1988

We had veal for lunch (my favourite!). I worked on my French project after school. Epstein came over to play ping-pong with Gabe and I.

Monday November 21, 1988

The Free Trade project was due. I wrote a test in geography. We had hamburgers for lunch. I traded Wayne Gretzky away in my hockey pool.

Sunday November 20, 1988

Ryan and I went to Milberg's to watch Suspect. Watched TV and did homework in the evening.

(Note: what the hell were a bunch of 14 year olds doing renting a Cher movie???)

Saturday November 19, 1988

Marc's (Gary's brother) Bar-Mitzvah. Watched the Oilers destroy Toronto 9-1.

Friday November 18, 1988

Grub Day at school. Peanut butter & jam sandwiches (and milk) for lunch. Milberg, Ryan and I saw U2: Rattle and Hum at Town & Country.

Thursday November 17, 1988

JJ and I worked late after school on the Free Trade project. We grabbed food together after.

Wednesday November 16, 1988

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.)

Tuesday November 15, 1988

Had a French Test on Chapter 2 of the text book. I met Gabe at North York library after school.

Monday November 14, 1988

We had hot dogs for lunch. I stayed at school and did work in the library until 6pm. Watched TV.

Sunday November 13, 1988

I went to the North York Public Library and did French, English and Geography homework. Took Pepper for a long walk after dinner. Watched a little TV.

Saturday November 12, 1988

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.

Friday November 11, 1988

Remembrance Day. Did French and geography homework. Betty (my mom's pal from Hungary) and her husband came over to our home for dinner.

Thursday November 10, 1988

Tacos for lunch. Science test. Watched Pittburgh vs. Leafs. Did homework.

Wednesday November 9, 1988

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.

Tuesday November 8, 1988

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.]

Monday November 7, 1988

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!]

Sunday November 6, 1988

Ate brunch at my mom's new friend Betty's place. Gabe and I played billiards. We went to grandma's after. Had McDonald's for dinner that night.

[Note: my mom met Betty at a spa in Budapest. The McDonald's for dinner was noteworthy because my folks rarely gave us McDonald's for dinner.]

Saturday Novemeber 5, 1988

Played in a volleyball tournament.

Crescent 1 St. Georges 1
Crescent 1 UCC 1
Crescent 2 Hillfield B 0
Crescent 0 Hillfield A 2

Overall we came in 3rd place.

Watched the Leafs v. Kings.

Friday November 4, 1988

French vocabulary test. Science lab report due. I went to a dance at UCC with Gary.

Thursday November 3, 1988

Grilled cheese for lunch. My computer disk was lost/stolen. Watched hockey and did homework.

Wednesday November 2, 1988

Had volleyball practice in the morning. Map for geography was due. Saw Temple of Doom during buck Wednesday, for clubs.

Tuesday November 1, 1988

History Quiz. Watched Growing Pains and Who's The Boss.

Monday October 31, 1988

Halloween. We played Royal St.George's College. We got our mid-term report cards: 5 x A, 3 x B. Did homework.

Sunday October 31, 1988

Jordi and I went to do homework at North York Public Library and then grabbed Dairy Queen.

Saturday October 29, 1988

Played road hockey and ping-pong. Watched Pittsburgh beat Montreal 5-4.

Friday October 28, 1988

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)

Thursday October 27, 1988

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.

Wednesday October 26, 1988

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.

Tuesday October 25, 1988

Math test. French test. Mom came home from her European vacation. Did homework.

Monday October 24, 1988

Computer Science test. Volleyball practice after school.

Sunday October 23, 1988

Brian’s birthday. Played road hockey with Pepper. Watched TV. Did homework.

Saturday October 22, 1988

We played Hillfield and won 3-1. I went on a 6 point serving run. Cliff and Brian came to watch the match. Watched the Leafs and Flames.

Friday October 21, 1988

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.

Thursday October 20, 1988

Fish burgers for lunch - ugh. Geography test. Did homework. Played ping-pong. Watched Cosby Show, Cheers and Dear John.

Wednesday October 19, 1988

I got 65% on my history test. Shit! I watched the 1st soccer team play Ridley Collegiate. We won.

Tuesday October 18, 1988

I got 100% on my French vocabulary test. I bought a Crescent baseball hat from the store. We had roast beef for lunch. Did homework and watched TV.

Monday October 17, 1988

We had a surprise geography quiz. Played St. Andrew's College and lost 3-2. Total heartbreaker as we were up 2-0.

Sunday October 16, 1988

I did homework at grandma's place. Went to Dairy Queen and got a Hawaiian Blizzard. Watched TV. Went to bed early.

Saturday October 15, 1988

I went downtown with Poster, Fingret and Brian. Watched the Leafs lose 4-3 to Detroit. Gary and Cliff were on TV! Did some homework.

Friday October 14, 1988

English Test. Volleyball practice where we scrimaged against the 1st team and won 3-1. I went to the Thornlea dance with Brian.

Thursday October 13, 1988

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.

Wednesday October 12, 1988

French Test. I got 91% on my earlier French test. Had volleyball practice. Did homework during club time.

Tuesday October 11, 1988

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.

Monday October 10, 1988

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!)

Sunday October 9, 1988

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).

Saturday October 8, 1988

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.

Friday October 7, 1988

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.)

Thursday October 6, 1988

NHL 1988-1989 Season commences. I got 80% on my geography test and 77% on my computer science quiz. Did homework and watched TV.

Wednesday October 5, 1988

Volleyball practice. Played basketball during club time*. Did homework.

[Note: on Wednesday afternoons it was Club Time. This is when you took part in a club - from a sport to chess club to debating)

Tuesday October 4, 1988

Hung out at the Village after school with Fred, Rich, Wolfson, Graham and Zoro. Homework. TV.

Monday October 3, 1988

Hot dogs for lunch. Played basketball at lunch. We had a volleyball game after school versus Holy Trinity. We lost 3-1: 15-5, 1-15, 7-15, 9-15.

Sunday October 2, 1988

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.

Saturday October 1, 1988

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.

Friday September 30, 1988

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]

Thursday September 29, 1988

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.

Wednesday September 28, 1988

Gabe's 18th birthday. Meat pie for lunch. Had a volleyball scrimage against the 1st team.

Tuesday September 27, 1988

Did a 2 mile run in gym class. Ran around the Post Road area --- crazy houses. Prepared for hockey pool. Had volleyball practice after school.


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Monday September 26, 1988

Geography project was due. Handed in my rough notes for English. We played volleyball against Holy Trinity and won 3-2. Did homework. Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal because of steroids.

Sunday September 25, 1988

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.

Saturday September 24, 1988

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.].

Friday September 23, 1988

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!

Thursday September 22, 1988

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.

Wednesday September 21, 1988

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.]

Tuesday September 20, 1988

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!]

Monday September 19, 1988

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.

Sunday September 18, 1988

Watched more Olympics. Played tennis at German Mills courts. Brian and I defeated Brett and Al 6-1.

Saturday September 17, 1988

Went grocery shopping with mom. Prepared for the hockey pool. watched the Olympics - diving, swimming, volleyball, basketball and gymnastics.

Friday September 16, 1988

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.

Thursday September 15, 1988

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.

Tuesday September 13, 1988

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.]

Wednesday September 14, 1988

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.

Monday September 12, 1988

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.

Sunday September 11, 1988

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.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Saturday September 10, 1988

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.]

Friday September 9, 1988

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.

Thursday September 8, 1988

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.