Sunday, September 13, 2009

Why New York Sucks

So before I get back to all the Asia posts, I have a quick story regarding my summer of baseball that I wanted to share (yes, this is my summer of baseball. I've made it to five games this year, the most I've been to in I think 6 years, so I've been pumped about that. Game apiece in Boston, New York, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Oakland).
So anyway, the story. Whilst visiting New Yankee Stadium with Bo le, which is an absolute behemoth of a building, it's bigger than some football stadiums, we gave ourselves a mini tour of the stadium before finding our seats. Nothing major, just walking the concourse of the lower level to take in the scene and get some pictures. So we're between first base and home plate and decide to take quick pics of each other with the stadium in the background. Now, apparently there's a line a few feet behind the seats that people aren't allowed to cross UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, not even for a second. This is a gravely important rule. Quite possibly the MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. DISOBEDIENCE MEANS DEATH!!!!!! So yea, I crossed the line to pose for the picture. An usher immediately came up to me and told me I wasn't allowed to cross that line, rejecting my explanation that I wasn't setting up shop there, I just wanted a quick photo. Apparently my presence too close to the several hundred dollar seats could possibly be upsetting to the elite sitting so close. So I had to take one step away from the line (though, perish the thought!, they might still possibly be able to smell my bodily odors!), to take the photo. Now I realize, this may seem like much ado about nothing and just boorish homerism from a Sox fan. Point taken. However, I had a completely different experience in Cleveland.
While at Progressive Field (I think that's the name now), I was doing the same thing, except as a solo act. Walking around the stadium, taking photos, perusing things of varying interest. I was walking behind the seats near home plate and wanted a picture. Now, I didn't plan on having a picture taken of myself, I just wanted a view of the scene. An usher saw me and cam towards me, with me thinking 'crap, I'm going to be told to move again.' WRONG. She took the camera from my hand and insisted I pose for a picture, getting me right up to where the stairs began to descend. She proceeded to take THREE pictures because she didn't think the first two were good enough, yelling at me after the first to take off my hat because my mother wouldn't want it in the picture. That was just awesome. Cleveland is a classy city in my book (though they were kinda assholes about trading up seats, even though the Indians were losing by 10 runs.... but I'll let that slide).
So in summation: Cleveland 1 New York 0

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

In Other News...

So the other day I was in a convenience store, picking up a Powerade, amongst other things. (As a quick tangent: California convenience stores suck. Seriously. So far in my experience, if it's not a 7/11, the shelves are half stocked, the selection of everything is terrible, and they're depressing places to be since no one else is ever in them.) While paying for my goods, I got into a conversation with the shop keep on the merits of Powerade vs. Gatorade, with both of us agreeing that Powerade is better. At this point, I want to point out the guy behind the counter was in his mid-50s or so. So older, but not ancient. He said he liked to drink to big bottles a day (with big being 32 ounces or something like that). I mentioned I can only drink one. Then he proceeds to tell me he needs to drink at least two a day on top of a lot of water to flush out his system..... needless to say I got the fuck out of there in short order. And in other news, this blog is back in business.