I know Bill is going to help me out here with a number of things I may forget, but it is time to mention something that is near and not so dear to my heart (and liver). Back when I was a poor broke student, drinking was something that was done not as just a social experiment, but also as a way to pass time as inexpensively as possible. It was a studied art form to leave the dorm for the walk to the liquor store and come back with a loot bag of the cheapest booze just a thin line away from what the homeless were drinking. I'll admit sometimes it was the same, if not worse, as what the homeless people were drinking - remembering that I watched a person drink bottles of Brut aftershave in the grocery store once.

That is the level of quality we are talking here. Add to the fact that mix was at a premium. Often the bottles of fine liquor were larger than the bottles of mix we could procure. Thus the concoctions we often came up with were quite distasteful. Thus something was required to force us to choke back these drinks and get to the level of intoxication needed to make us attractive and charming to members of the opposite sex (something that I have never actually achieved). That thing was peer pressure, but you could not just curse at a person like a drill sergeant and force them to drink - especially the girls that you were trying to convince. Thus the invention of the drinking game. Forced drinking by way of playful cajoling. If someone was willing to play nobody was forcing them to drink - directly. It was just part of the game! Here is a list of games I can vaguely remember playing and a brief description of the higlights. Or lowlights.

TWO-BEAR - A definite lowlight. This involved cheap malt liquor and flipping Toonies. Basically if the coins matched take a drink. Simple and effective. Bill - How could you forget that fucking song we used to sing with the hand smashing actions? Plus I swear there was more to it than that. Pretty much every spin seemed to involve drinking, not just matching.

WAR - Just like the card game war, but everytime you lost, take a drink. Bill - You are severely underselling these games Lance. You had to drink how many cards you lost, plus we always made insane rules to punish the person already drinking 15.

LIQUOR STORE/RIDE THE BUS - All basic variations of a card game where if certain cards were turned over the player had to take a certain number of drinks. Luck was basically eliminated when myself or Bill were the dealer or bus driver as we would stack the deck and screw you. Everyone knew it, and mostly they accepted it as a given. If they wanted to get hammered, they knew where to come. Bill - Didn't this only happen after playing Pyramid?

PYRAMID- This gets harder and more interesting. Cards are dealt in a pyramid scheme and drinks are given away. This introduces a more forceful type of "peer pressure". Plus the introduction of gang warfare to single out a target and attempting to drop their guard and inhibitions. Bill - I wonder who's inhibitions you were trying to lower? Did they have bumps on their chests and a lack of dong between their legs?

THREE-MAN - A dice game with rules surrounding the numbers thrown. Also the introduction of another twist - the making of personal rules during the course of the game. An important addition as the number of drinks can dramatically increase for a certain demographic, as well as the introduction of possible nudity, depending on who is playing. Bill - 87 Avenue saw a lot of booty in its time. To the cars that honked - I love you.

BEERSBIE - Attempts by opposing teams to knock a can off a post with a frisbee. Important was the introduction of physical activity into the game. Standing and drinking as well as the distraction of opposing teams allows for faster consumption. Again the making of personal rules ensures the game rapidly heads downhill. Bill - Not to mention the fact that we have gotten to a point where our abilities at this game have exceeded expectations.

BEER-DARTS - Opposing teams throw darts at a can of beer and if punctured the beer must be drank. Simple and very effective. Bill - Considering we played this last weekend for the first time, I'm not sure it belongs in a story that started about University. Oh well I'll let it slide.

BENDER - The mother of all. The best and worst time you have ever had. Contains parts of all of the above and more. Contains my least favorite part of any game in the "community cup." Nearly responsible for ruining a couple of weddings. If you do not want to remember the rest of the night, join in. Bill - For the folks out there who have never played Bender, it is a board game I invented. It's on its 6th revision, and thus far this revision has proven completable. While I agree it is still the bringer of death in most cases, it is a must play for everyone.

I know I am forgetting most fo the games I have played. These are merely a few of my favorites. I am open to suggestions of new ones. Except from Bill. Bill - Too bad I have to post your articles for you.