Free Ticket Destiny
I had determined this morning before we went to mass that we'd head back to Bricktown (guess we didn't have enough yesterday) for a ballgame. The game wasn't until 2pm, so I knew we'd have plenty of time between church and the game to have lunch and get down to the ballpark. While in line for tickets, a nice woman approached us with excess complimentary tickets that she had. The face value of the tickets was really $0, but it sure saved us $15-20. Just one of those moments that make you think about the timing of it all. For example, we forgot the sunblock in the car, but didn't realize it until we were halfway to the ballpark from the parking lot. Had we gone back for the sunblock would we have still gotten the free tickets? Or were we destined for the free tickets regardless?
Bumping Into Old Friends
I managed to keep the kids in their seats for four full innings, but I knew I would need to get them to the outfield amusements before they got torn down in the late innings, or I'd never hear the end of it from them.
While out there waiting for the kids, I ran into someone I used to work with at UPS, who was also waiting for his kids. I think the last time I saw him was probably 1994, so it had been ten years, though admittedly I didn't recognize him... he recognized me first. Neither of us had kids back then, but now there are 5.5 between us. I had gone to his wedding, and also with him on a camping/canoe trip down the Illinois River, so we weren't just work acquaintances. Not that we were best friends. But it was definitely good to see he and his wife again. I gave him a business card, so maybe we'll get back in touch.
Girl with Big... Lenses
It's perfectly legit, but it struck me as odd. And the guy in the photo agrees with me I think. I mean, I understand that sometimes you need to zoom in, but my gosh.
Rancid at the Brick?
If you've ever been to a Redhawks game, you'd know that between innings they either throw stuff into the crowd (shirts, frisbees, etc), have contests with audience participation, or sing a song. On this particular day, they had a movie trivia contest in one of the late innings (I think it was the 8th), and the "fan" they had chosen from the crowd was a very tattooed individual. So the "game show host" (what we'll call the guy asking the questions) asks the fan if he's in a band, to which the fan nods affirmatively. After the host asks what band, the guy responds "Rancid". The host was clearly no punk rock fan, so he just moves right into the movie question, which involved a scene being shown on the fanavision. The fan, as we now know to be a Rancid member, names the movie as required of him (with MUCH crowd help... it was Sweet Home Alabama... not something you'd anticipate a Rancid member seeing or admitting to seeing anyway). His prize? Movie tickets to a local movie venue. His response to the host? "Can't use 'em." So he handed the tickets to someone else in the crowd and sat down, at which time I snapped this photo (not a bad photo considering I was on the First Base side, they were on the Third Base side, and I was using max zoom -- 30X combined digital and optical).
Now for the analysis of that situation, as there are so many questions, I'm sure. First, was it really Rancid? Well, probably not the full band is my conclusion, but at least two members. What on earth were they doing at a Redhawks game? I guess they're baseball fans, which is cool. Or they could have been REALLY bored in Oklahoma City on a Sunday afternoon. Why were they even in Oklahoma City? My research has determined that they were here for a show at the Green Door, a punk club, also in Bricktown. Turns out Lars Frederiksen of Rancid has a side band called Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, whose recent CD is produced by Tim Armstrong of Rancid. What do I know about Rancid? Not too much actually. Those who know me know I'm a closet punk fan, but most hard core punkers would consider what I listen to as impure or even lame, which is their prerogative. However, I do have several legally obtained Rancid MP3s in my collection, so I'm no imbecile in the matter either.
Running the Bases
It's not every day that your kids get to run the bases at the Brick. Maybe they do that a lot, but we've never taken advantage of it. The girls loved it.
Digital Photo Mayhem
After the game, the girls wanted to stay in Bricktown to eat. Shelby really wanted a burger, so we went looking for a place that had burgers and ended up at the Bourbon Street Cafe, which I can say is nothing like Bourbon Street, having been there less than a month ago. Anyway, a few tables down from us there was a large party of more than a dozen people. They had convinced the waitress (also our waitress) to take a photo of the group. But when she got done with the photo, someone else handed her a camera, and next thing you know, everyone at the table is passing down their cameras. She had to have taken that same picture with eight or nine different cameras, spanning several minutes, since each camera was different and she had to receive brief operational instructions for each one (I sure hope they tipped her well). And the funny thing is that I'm pretty sure they were all digital cameras. They could have taken just one picture and emailed it around, right? Same difference. Being the geek that I am, I of course pointed that out to our waitress when she got back to our table. She agreed with my observation, but that clearly didn't win me any points, not that I sought them.
Horse Riding Dog
Just when I thought seeing Rancid at a baseball game in Oklahoma City would be the strangest sight of the day, along came the dog that rides horses. Weird. Just weird.
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