Gagnon Sunday

--drawing by Richard Gagnon and Jack Ruttan

Big change in routine this time: Gagnon Friday, my meeting, chatting and sketching time with a friend, fell on a Sunday night. And I'm only getting to it Tuesday.

Rick G. had called as I was riding on the metro (lucky he got through: I was stopped at a station with cell reception), said he'd be late. When I arrived, the Bar des Pins was full of balloons. I thought it was a birthday party, but it turned out to be a reception, or launching-off, for a hockey game at the University. The old bald server guy told me the place would be buzzing tonight.

He was wrong. Some aspect of the bar fell short for the head organiser, a tall guy with a loud, reedy voice ("People! People! (clapping hands) Now let's get read-ay!"), and he had 'his bitches,' which is what he called the girls who had done the decorating, take everything down, and move it out the door to a more stylish place. Maybe the surfer-themed bar in the shopping centre across the way.

So no big crowds, which was fine by me, though Rick thought the server would be disappointed. I'm not sure. No rushing around to do, no noise, no big clean-up. And this place had been around for over 50 years, I imagine. That's a lot of slow Sunday nights. Gagnon and I drew the usual pictures, and finished a large crossword.

Instead of college kids, there was a man with a very pretty black cocker spaniel that liked to fetch pool balls:

Looks a bit like one of those sheared sheep coats that cost a lot of money in antique clothing stores.

Here's another collaborative sketch. That's not Gagnon, only someone like him, doing what he does. And the place always smells of cigarettes: