I’m going to give this weekend an A. Or…no. Better than an A. I think I’ll give it an A to the 3rd power. An A cubed, if you will.
I know you will.
After a week filled with car problems (and, when I say “problems” I actually mean “total and complete frickin’ failure”), malfunctioning electronics, and broken dishes (I could go on), CK and I were down for some fun. But, you know what? You don’t realize how much you depend on a gigantic, plasma boob tube hanging smack-dab in the middle of your living area until it craps out on you.
You’re then forced to improvise.
After we got back from a delicious Macaroni Grill dinner (complete with an opera singer who was wandering around, singing from table to table? Really? Never noticed that phenomenon before…), we cracked open a bottle of wine and had some ridiculous fun taking turns playing old-school cds, trying to make each other crack up. There was some Firehouse, some Presidents of the United States of America (”peaches come from a can…they were put there by a man”), some Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and of course, some Snoop. It was awesome.
Top-notch non-tv time.
Then, Saturday night we headed downtown to the State Theater to see Chris McCarty. Awesome!!! This is the second time I’ve seen Chris play, and he’s fantastic. I’ve had his cd for awhile, and it’s very good. But, nothing compares to his live shows. I don’t really know how to describe him, but he plays with such obvious joy that his energy is completely contagious. We had a blast.
I wish I could tell you that I was going for “ambiance” with this picture, but the truth is my camera - as great as it is in most situations - kind of sucks in dark places. Here’s the best I could do.
See that smile??
Maybe this one’s a little better?
And, in true St. Petersburg fashion, we ran into some strange rangers right after the show. See, we promised our friend Kimmie that we’d stop at the Emerald on our way out since it was so close to the theater (she’s a bartender there). When we got there, though, there was no sign of Kimmie. HOWEVER. There did seem to be a group of people golfing inside the bar.
No, seriously.
I can’t make this stuff up. Let’s just say I HOPE there was a bar crawl of some sort involved here…
CK and I are heading up to Pittsburgh this weekend…
For the Steeler game!!!!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!
We’re doing an all-day tailgate for the game (and, with this crew, all day means ALL DAY; nothing short of 7:00 AM is considered to be an acceptable arrival time). It’s actually really awesome. CK and his friends started putting this tailgate together about two years ago (this is the 3rd annual) for one of their friends, Matt, who passed away sadly, suddenly, and unexpectedly. It’s a great event…TONS of people - a lot of Matt’s family - all getting together to remember him in the place he loved best: a Steeler fan-infested parking lot at Heinz Field.
I’m psyched. Psyched for the tailgate… psyched for the game …psyched to be going home…to be going back to a weather forecast that includes at least two snowflakes…
Um, wha???? WHAT THE H IS THAT ALL ABOUT, JON BURNETT??!?
Where is all the gorgeous, 60-degree, blue-skied, sunny, crispy red and orange leaf-filled deliciousness that is supposed to be the ‘Burgh in October??!?
Actually, I’m pretty thankful. That 5-day said rain showers with a high of 49 a day or two ago. Jon, if you could just remove that rain drop and snowflake for me, I would perhaps consider switching my KDKA allegiance from Ken Rice to you. I mean, you’re no on-the-field, sports-reporting weatherman like someone else I know, but still. I’m just saying…something to think about.
BRING IT, G-MEN!!!!!!! YOU’RE OURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Steelers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE ARE THE WINNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem. Sorry.
So, we drove up to Jacksonville for the Sunday night game…and emerged victorious! Awwww, yeeeah! So much for that 4-game winning streak against us, eh Jaguars? Awesome.
We had such a fun time at the game. CK’s Dad got us some tickets through his magical ticket friends (I don’t know; they seem magical to me), and they were good ones, too. We had to wait outside of one of the gates, though, to meet the couple that we’d be sitting with (aka, the magical ticket deliverers). So, somehow we ended up being the official Steeler greeting crew in front of Gate 4. Oh, Steeler Nation, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I met so many awesome people. People down from Pittsburgh… People originally from the ‘Burgh who’d moved down to Florida… “Where’d you grow up?” “Ellwood City.” “GET AHT! I went to Seneca Valley!” Sigh. I love my people.
But, it was my first time in Jacksonville, and I have to say, it’s a gorgeous city. My friend Mark, who now lives in Atlanta, is originally from Jacksonville. When I told him I was going to the game, he gave me some awesome pointers about where to park, what to expect, etc. I wish we would have had more time to explore. Driving past the city was impressive, though. Mark had told me that it would feel a little bit like the ‘Burgh, what with the stadium being on the water and all. The river is MUCH bigger, though, and everything seemed so new and clean. The stadium was nice, and most of the Jaguars fans were really cool to us (well, at least BEFORE the game started. Don’t even get me going on the obnoxious guys who sat a few rows in front of us…).
We were - by some miracle - in our seats well before kickoff, which never happens, so we got to see some pre-game stuff. There are a couple naval bases in Jacksonville, and they did a whole military plane fly-over (I’m sure it has a much more official-sounding name than that) after the National Anthem. It was really impressive. Rock on, Jacksonville.
Oh, and check out this pic I snapped of one of the stores inside the stadium (sorry it’s a little hard to see, but it was just starting to get dark at the time).
Jagwear. JAGwear. It’s like they knew I was coming SPECIFICALLY to make fun of them! Dem jagoffs wear jagwear. It’s too easy…
But, back to the obnoxious fans in front of us. Thankfully we were right, smack in the middle of a section of at least 50 Steeler fans, so we were nicely insulated. Ok, I get it. We’re the visiting team. But, dudes. They have this cheer that they do every time (to be clear, that’s EVERY TIME) they get a first down. It’s permanently tatooed in my brain, and it goes like this:
“MOVE THOSE CHAINS, MOVE THOSE CHAINS, MOVE THOSE CHAINS, BLUE!” (Ok, I think they say “blue” at the end, but don’t quote me on that. I was mostly just holding my poor, blessed, bleeding ears by that point). So, you can see how that alone would get under one’s skin, correct? Well, imagine people turning around in their seats to chant it AT YOU. Me no likey (cyou tell this was my first away game?).
Oh, and you know what else? I had two local celebrity spottings while I was there! I so wish I had pics to show, but my camera died literally one second after the Jaguars took the field (coincidence?). The first one was Kevin Greene, specimen of defensive awesomeness. And, the second? Luke, specimen of mayor-needs-a-bodyguard. For reals. He “had a guy” with him on the shuttle ride back. Whatever.
Anyway… I guess my assessment in a nutshell is:
Jacksonville? Good.
Jacksonville Jaguars fans sitting in section 241? Not good.
Steeler win? FLIPPIN’ AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rest it up this week guys, we have some Bungals comin’ at us after the bye!!!!
P.S. Apologies for the exclamation points. But, we beat the Jags. Enough said.
