Reminiscing

[leo]

True story. It was the spring of 1978, the scene was my grade 8 drama class at Prairie River Jr High. We had this lovely lady, Mrs Matthews as our teacher. We were all given a chance to perform a skit or whatever in front of the class. Some friends and I decided we were going to put on an ass kicking show. We were going to be the band KISS. We spent weeks preparing, I was playing the drummer, Peter Criss. I built a set of drums out of boxes, we had colored lights, strobe lights, the works. But it was missing something... it needed some flair.... or smoke. I did some Research & Development getting things just right. Icing sugar and salt peter mixture should be the bomb! Show time.. we cranked up the stereo, shut the lights and gave a performance that on it's own merit was fantastic. Then when the timing was just right, the signal... my 2 roadies lit the mixture that was sitting on 2 desks, 1 each side of us. There was a fizzle, then some smoke. This is great. Then things went wrong. The smoke turned to 2' then 4' then 6' high blazing flames and a **** load of white smoke filled the class room. The shrouds on the fluorescent lights above the flames started to melt and sag. Then thankfully the flames settled down and went out. Mrs Matthews was in a bit of shock. Next the door burst open and the Vice Principal came in. We opened all the windows and assessed the damage. Needless to say the 2 desk tops were scorched and burnt. My punishment for this indiscretion was sanding and repairing desks for 2 weeks worth of lunch hours. But.... I got an A+ grade. 😉