I was Sinatra.

When I was in college, I was good friends with a fellow named Michael.

That was his actual first name. His last name is redacted to protect his innocence.

The friendship that I had with him (and as far as that goes, the friendship continues to this day; although we talk more sporadically than we used to; but as you well know, my relationships never end, even with the afterlife) was one of mutual humor, a love of the comedy of SCTV as well as Laurel and Hardy, and a mutual respect for each other's work.

I always think of Michael at this time of year; as you know, the snow has been flying here in the Northern State since just before Halloween, and even though it doesn't last, it's heeeere. And winter always puts me into the nostalgic mood.

My favorite story that includes Michael involves looking for alcohol during a blizzard.

We were on the west side of town, and the only open liquor store was The Blue Link, which was, of course, on the EAST side of town. We had a car, and we weren't inebriated yet, but we did require a re-stocking if we had any hope of getting through the winter night. So, three of us (Michael, myself, and Marty, who owned the car) ran out to the mobile in the hopes of getting through the blinding snowstorm before The Link closed.

We were on a mission from Bacchus.

We donned coats and hats and gloves and ran out to the car. Michael and I piled in. We waited for Marty.

No Marty.

We looked out the windows.

No Marty.

Finally, we exited the car in the hopes of finding our wandering boy out there in the snow.

No Marty.

Finally, we were about to give up hope, when Michael noticed an anomaly on the rear bumper of the car. Two unmistakable gloves attached to the bumper, leading to underneath the car. Apparently, our reckless run to the car had caused Marty to slide UNDER the car, only grabbing onto the bumper at the last moment.

We tried to help, but the fact that we were laughing like maniacs made us...ineffective as life savers.

Yeah.

We made it to the liquor store, by the way.

Anyway, I found this little video, which reminded me of the time that Michael and I recreated this musical number for his Senior Performance during his last Jury. I was Sinatra, he was Crosby.

We were Legendary.