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2005年04月11日

Hair shows on the down low

Coinciding nicely with my trip via Toronto to Milan was the Candian Hairdresser Mirror Awards show in which my friend Vinh ("Vinnie"), hairstylist extraordinaire, was a finalist.

Held at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel on Queens Quay, the event is like the Oscars for Canadian hairstylists. Attendees all sport the latest fashions and looks in a see and be seen soiree. At $135 a pop to attend, you were either a nominee, photographer, industry rep... or Vinnie's friend.

With seven guests and only one ticket, a little creativity was in order.

How would we get in? I thought to myself "what would James Bond do?" and the answer was immediately obvious. I would have to render a passing waiter unconcious with a discreet karate chop to the side of the neck and borrow his uniform.

Vinnie went ahead with his ticket through the heavily manned doors while I waited outside. Noticing the closed, but unlocked doors to the left, I used the opportunity created by an exiting participant to surreptitiously enter, negating the need for my original plan.

I scanned the room, spotted Vinnie's friends, and made my way to their table. But Vinnie had already left to get more friends; I would have to sneak in a second time!

Fortunately Vinnie had a plan. Armed with the tickets of his collegues inside, he passed them to those of us waiting on the outside to use to gain entrance. Once inside, there was one further obstacle.

Tables are pre-assigned like any typical banquet and there were no empty seats at Vinnie's. We would have to find some "extra" spaces. Hung found us an empty table and we perched ourselves uncomfortably on the edges of the seats as guests continued to pour in.

It was only a matter of time. Soon a group of new arrivals made their way towards us. As they approached our table their expressions began to change from "hello party!" to "where's our table??" Taking the queue, we all rose and tried our best to act like we were just resting.

Under the pretense that the seats at our table were taken by someone else, we negotiated our way into a table that currently had enough remaining seats to accomodate us. After a tense wait, the MC, in what appeared to be full Romulan dress uniform, declared the event underway.

Feeling slightly more relaxed, I leaned back in my chair and prepared to enjoy the evening. Then, as the last few latecomers trickeled in, another group appeared at the door. They began a concerned discussion with the doorman and then cast their eyes in our direction with the same "where's our table??" expressions written across their faces.

As they approached, the delicious salad I had already begun seemed a lot less appetizing. I tried to draw my accomplices attention to the potential problem developing - in case they had any sort of brilliant backup plan I was unaware of. However, I had a feeling that the word "plan" was not very involved with any part of our agenda.

Making note of the exits and deciding which one of my lame excuses I would try to present, I put my cutlery down and braced for impact. They walked right past our table.

It was only after the main course was served and I was down one glass of red wine that I really began to enjoy myself. The sweet sense of satisfaction made a nice complement to the rich desert.

Besides crashing awards shows, I had time to visit a few friends and fit in some gambling with Max and Yvette at Yvette's friends' condo (below). My flight for Milan departs tonight at 19:55 and I will arrive tomorrow, Tuesday April 12th at 14:05.

Posted by William at 2005年04月11日 13:27

Comments

Posted by: Bhupesh at 2005年04月14日 13:58

Posted by: William at 2005年04月20日 13:35