3 hours ago, Rich said:

 

Going to be interesting to see what the Stampeders do with this one. 

On 2018-05-08 at 8:01 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

The choke-hold defense, I was taught in one of my courses.  Reach back and grab a guys junk.  Also raising your hands straight up in the air and turning away.   I dont think i've ever been put in a choke-hold though.  Fortunately, most idiots at the bar think they're UFC fighters and take some fighter stance they saw on TV and want to throw bombs.  After they miss the first one, they are generally tied up pretty easily. 

One of our courses was with a guy named Bissett (I cant recall his first name).  He was a security expert and bodyguard.  He mystified many of us when he admitted he always wore a cup.  Not just when he was working, but when he went out with friends.  Always.  lol

My bouncing days are over.  I started when I was 18 and eventually ended up at the Palladium where I stuck around because I became close friends with ownership.  When they closed in 2008, I was recruited to Alive but it just wasnt the same.  And I thought I'd enjoy just being one of the guys and *not* being in charge, but it was hard watching things be done wrong.  I didnt need the money so I eventually just quit (the manager had agreed to pay me under the table but then changed his mind).

In my time, i worked for Canad Inns (various hotels/nightclubs), Grapes on Main & Pier 7, random security (including assignment to a burned out building on Higgins where I did over-nights alone, Grace Hospital etc, McPhillips Station Casino (lame), 8 Trax and then Palladium as well as working as a peace officer for about a year.

The good old Get-ladium! Had a great soundsystem for a small room back in the 90's. And nice cheap drinks on the weekends. 

@jazzsax - yup!  It was great.  Before my time, it was live bands.  Burton Cummings was a regular.  He was still a regular when I worked there and we'd often go to his house after the bar.  Room was licensed for 300 if I recall but we'd cram a lot more in there.  One of the later renovations replaced the island bar, moving it back and making it circular.  Created a lot more room (plus without bands, they got rid of the green room too).

I think it had a bad rep for safety back in the day but when I was there it was the safest bar I worked at.  Great security and very much a University crowd (young peeps who just wanted to dance, drink and hook up with little drama).  Fun times.

On our last night we had over 1000 people come through the door! lol  You couldn't move, but I made a ton of money!

Edited May 9, 20187 yr by The Unknown Poster

Yeah, I started going just before they moved the island bar back... then for a few years after. Definitely always felt safe there, no drama compared to some of the other bars near U of M. Was loads of fun. 

And had one of the crispest sound systems in the city for quite a while!