Ever since I turned 40 last week I have had a rush of "remember whens" happening in my life. It started with my "big brother" Gra and his amazing wife Loz giving me my present for my 40th - A bottle of Passion Pop to relive my youth and a bottle of Absolut Vodka to cope with my old age.
I still remember the incredibly sweet and dangerous taste of Passion Pop. It was and still is the cheapest way for a teenager to get drunk. Let's face it, I would have drunk anything back then if it had been handed to me. I was even reminiscing about playing the Goon of Fortune with a cask of Nikkov this week. Nikkov was the foulest concoction ever invented. Vodka and orange in a cask. It seriously tasted like Metho mixed with Tang that had been left out in the sun for too long. Nasty stuff but it did the trick!
I was never a huge drinker. I am still not. I went through a stage of not knowing my limits and when to stop. The biggest limit tester I remember was after a dollar cocktails night at "My Place" night club where I drank 12 cocktails in a row and finished it off with a "flaming lambourghini". That was the last thing I remember from the night and it was only 7pm. I woke up the next morning naked next to the toilet. It was 5am and I had to wait for hours to find out what had happened from my flatmate. Considering there was a pair of men's chef pants in my bedroom I was a little scared. When my flatmate finally woke up at a respectable hour for a sunday morning she said 1/ someone had gotten changed in my room "phew" 2/ they had found me outside the flat at 8 or 9 talking to the wheelie bin about life, philosophy and love."Awkward" 3/ She had undressed me put me in the shower and then into bed."Embarrassing!" Needless to say I have never had another Flaming Lambourghini and have avoided cheap cocktails nights!These days I know my limits and as much as I love my red wine I drink to enjoy not to blackout, throw up or talk to inanimate objects.
I think drinking as a teenager for me (and for a lot of people) was a self esteem thing. I felt awkward and fat. Personally I remember thinking every girl around me was beautiful and I was disgusting. A few drinks and it made it a little easier to speak to people and if other people were drinking around me - maybe I would fit in better. I look back now and think "wow, I had an amazing figure, check out those curves! I was beautiful!"
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast the place to go out and see live music was always The Galaxy. The coast is not the same without that venue. I saw so many incredible bands there from Lime Spiders, Hunters and Collectors, Ian Moss, Concrete Blonde (the best!), Johnny Diesel and the injectors, Radiators and Hoodoo Gurus (numerous times!) plus many many more. It was the kind of venue that if a band was playing you knew you would run into most of the people you knew. Many a fun night was had out there. There was something pretty special about 80's pub bands. It was raw, loud, no pretense music. The Galaxy was not physically near any of the other night clubs so when the band finished and it was time to move to the next venue you would see streams of people walking up the esplanade in one of two directions either to "My Place" in Cotton Tree or to Mooloolaba Hotel. Galaxy was at Alex Heads- straight in the middle.
The sunny coast was a small town back then. I walk down the street a block away from where I grew up and don't know a single person anymore. In the 80s, if I had a smoke at the beach the bush telegraph would have reached Mum before I got home and I would be grounded the minute I walked in the door!
I moved to Brisbane when I was 18 and up until the time I fell pregnant and moved home when I was 21 things seemed to have changed. Probably more with me than with the coast. I still remember rocking out to the Baby Animals at the Galaxy when I was 7 months pregnant. So at least Noah got to enjoy the place once! With his love of music he would have loved it! With that baby bump my priorities had changed and the Galaxy was no longer at the top of my list.
"The Galaxy" is long gone now, so is "My Place". The day I drove past the "Mooloolaba Hotel" and it was a pile of rubble (now a woolworths and resort!) a big part of my youth was gone - as it would have been for a lot of people who grew up on the coast in the 80's.
I still remember the incredibly sweet and dangerous taste of Passion Pop. It was and still is the cheapest way for a teenager to get drunk. Let's face it, I would have drunk anything back then if it had been handed to me. I was even reminiscing about playing the Goon of Fortune with a cask of Nikkov this week. Nikkov was the foulest concoction ever invented. Vodka and orange in a cask. It seriously tasted like Metho mixed with Tang that had been left out in the sun for too long. Nasty stuff but it did the trick!
I was never a huge drinker. I am still not. I went through a stage of not knowing my limits and when to stop. The biggest limit tester I remember was after a dollar cocktails night at "My Place" night club where I drank 12 cocktails in a row and finished it off with a "flaming lambourghini". That was the last thing I remember from the night and it was only 7pm. I woke up the next morning naked next to the toilet. It was 5am and I had to wait for hours to find out what had happened from my flatmate. Considering there was a pair of men's chef pants in my bedroom I was a little scared. When my flatmate finally woke up at a respectable hour for a sunday morning she said 1/ someone had gotten changed in my room "phew" 2/ they had found me outside the flat at 8 or 9 talking to the wheelie bin about life, philosophy and love."Awkward" 3/ She had undressed me put me in the shower and then into bed."Embarrassing!" Needless to say I have never had another Flaming Lambourghini and have avoided cheap cocktails nights!These days I know my limits and as much as I love my red wine I drink to enjoy not to blackout, throw up or talk to inanimate objects.
I think drinking as a teenager for me (and for a lot of people) was a self esteem thing. I felt awkward and fat. Personally I remember thinking every girl around me was beautiful and I was disgusting. A few drinks and it made it a little easier to speak to people and if other people were drinking around me - maybe I would fit in better. I look back now and think "wow, I had an amazing figure, check out those curves! I was beautiful!"
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast the place to go out and see live music was always The Galaxy. The coast is not the same without that venue. I saw so many incredible bands there from Lime Spiders, Hunters and Collectors, Ian Moss, Concrete Blonde (the best!), Johnny Diesel and the injectors, Radiators and Hoodoo Gurus (numerous times!) plus many many more. It was the kind of venue that if a band was playing you knew you would run into most of the people you knew. Many a fun night was had out there. There was something pretty special about 80's pub bands. It was raw, loud, no pretense music. The Galaxy was not physically near any of the other night clubs so when the band finished and it was time to move to the next venue you would see streams of people walking up the esplanade in one of two directions either to "My Place" in Cotton Tree or to Mooloolaba Hotel. Galaxy was at Alex Heads- straight in the middle.
The sunny coast was a small town back then. I walk down the street a block away from where I grew up and don't know a single person anymore. In the 80s, if I had a smoke at the beach the bush telegraph would have reached Mum before I got home and I would be grounded the minute I walked in the door!
I moved to Brisbane when I was 18 and up until the time I fell pregnant and moved home when I was 21 things seemed to have changed. Probably more with me than with the coast. I still remember rocking out to the Baby Animals at the Galaxy when I was 7 months pregnant. So at least Noah got to enjoy the place once! With his love of music he would have loved it! With that baby bump my priorities had changed and the Galaxy was no longer at the top of my list.
"The Galaxy" is long gone now, so is "My Place". The day I drove past the "Mooloolaba Hotel" and it was a pile of rubble (now a woolworths and resort!) a big part of my youth was gone - as it would have been for a lot of people who grew up on the coast in the 80's.
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