Black Hand Productions

On Sunday Julie and I headed to Cincinnati on our ‘mini honeymoon’ for the Mets – Reds game at Great American Ballpark.  We got to the stadium early and hung out at The Machine Room which overlooks the outfield for the Reds batting practice.  We had great seats about 4 rows back from the field on the third base side.  The Reds ended up winning on a home run in the bottom of the 11th.

*Side Note:
Hurley from LOST sat a couple of rows in front of us:

This past weekend the Mets were in town and I went to a couple of games with Julie (I skipped the second game in protest of the concept of ‘Pitch Counts‘ which are completely arbitrary and in my humble opinion total bullshit).  Today’s game the Mets actually won and as you can see in the photographs above I focused on the beermen and the ushers.  Badass mustaches are nearly required to work as a beerman or an usher at Wrigley Field.

Jon Lovitz threw out the first pitch (after a muligan he made a decent throw) and sung during the 7th inning stretch.  I must say I respect Lovitz as he didn’t wear the lame personalized jersey.  Instead he wore a Ernie Banks jersey.

Side Notes:

* Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators made an appearance.

** Billy Cub once again was adhering to his restraining order and roaming the perimeter of Wrigley Field.

*** The view from my seat.

This weekend Julie and I ventured out to New York for the Mets – Phillies at Citi Field.  This was my first trip to the stadium (Julie went earlier in the week) and our first opportunity to see our brick.  The game of course didn’t end well after the starting pitcher was removed for an arbitrary stat… pitch counts. Besides that the stadium was really great.  There’s a ton of space, lots of quality food and great views from throughout the park.

Side Note:

* Saturday night I met up with Jim at the Blue Moon Cafe where we spent the better part of night discussing the finer points of the Stanley Cup Finals.  We spent the next day at the Shark Bar (which is really the Spring Lounge and not this Shark Bar) then we headed to McSorley’s before bailing on our reservations at the Ninja Restaurant.  I am nearly positive we each have a team of Ninja Assassins who will enact revenge on our disrespect some time in the future.  I will probably get mine via a blow dart when I least expect it.  If you’re wonder about the Ninja Restaurant this choice quote from the NY Times should do it justice:

You are greeted there by servers in black costumes who ceaselessly bow, regularly yelp and ever so occasionally tumble, and you are asked to choose between two routes to your table.

The first is described by a ninja escort as simple and direct. The second is “dark, dangerous and narrow,” involving a long tunnel and a drawbridge that descends only when your escort intones a special command, which he later implores you to keep secret.

I recommend a third path: right back out the door.

** This car was outside Citi Field:

Julie and I headed out to San Francisco to visit with Jack and Eddie and catch a string of Mets – Giants games.  The weather was hotter than one would have assumed.  We managed to find a couple really nice bars (Eddie Rickenbarker’s, 21st Amendment, and the San Francisco Brewery Company).  We had a really good dinner at Joe Dimaggio’s Italian Steakhouse.  James gave us a grand tour of the city and we spent an afternoon on Alcatraz.

Mets – Giants:

While in town Julie and I managed to see 3 games at AT&T Park.  All Mets victories and all offensive games.  We had different seats each game which gave us some interesting views.   I’m pretty sure during the course of three games I witnessed at least 3 uncalled balks.  Of course when we got home and watched the fourth game of the series on ESPN they actually called a balk.

If some one can actually explain to me what is a balk and what is not a balk with a straight face I’ll buy you a pitcher of beer.

Travel Notes:

Air Travel:
For once my flight was really good.  We actually had wireless internet for the entire flight for about $10.  There is really no reason every flight shouldn’t have this.  The network speed was great, the only limit was how much battery you had… I had a lot.

Of course upon landing a girl 4 seats up had to vomit on herself but I’ll take that for wireless internet any day.

San Francisco Public Transit/Cabs:
We took a cab to the hotel with out much problem, once we checked in we asked the front desk for the best way to AT&T Park.  The concierge directed us to the MUNI.  First mistake.  We walk the 4 blocks to the station which also has a BART stop.  To our utter amazement the MUNI only takes quarters.  In the year 2009.  Quarters.  OK, no problem we’ll just use the change machine.  The change machine that just gives $5 dollar bills.  So let’s recap.  The MUNI only takes quarters and the change machine only gives out $5 dollar bills.  OK, the clerk told use to use the BART ticket machine which can give you change if you hold down a secret button… except the BART ticket machine can only give you change from a $1 dollar bill.  Ok, so we need quarters for the MUNI, the change machine only gives you $5 dollar bills and the BART ticket machine that does give change only takes $1 bills.  All in the year 2009.  Perfect.

So after making quarters out air, we get on the train as directed by the concierge and head in the complete opposite direction of the ballpark.  Great.  We eventually get out somewhere and spend 20 minutes looking for a cab.  Once we do get a cab (the game has already started) we get about halfway there and the cab driver has a request:  Does he mind if we stop and so he can put in a dinner order at a Turkish restaurant?  Of course the reason behind this is that his wife is nagging at him and him and he doesn’t have the phone number.  Sure, why not.  So to recap, crazy train ride + amazing cab ride = late to baseball game.

*Side Note:
The rest of my photographs are here.

This past weekend Julie and I headed to the East Coast to see Pearl Jam in Hartford and the Mets – Yankee’s game at Shea Stadium.  Of course the temperature the entire weekend hovered around double-asshole so most of the time we were covered in sweat.

We managed to hit four airports (Midway, Bradley, LaGuardia, & O’Hare) with only one 2 hour delay, see Pearl Jam and then the Mets play the Yankee’s and then have wings at Blondie’s and lasagna at Dee’s.  In other words it was a very successful weekend.  Thanks to those who let us sleep on their pullout couches without you we’d been at the Belnord.

The Pearl Jam show in Hartford was especially hot and steamy.  Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were the opener and were really good.  Our seats were under the pavilion but towards the back.  I wasn’t really that impressed with the show but I chalk that up to three things:

1. Pearl Jam had just completed back to back shows at Madison Square Garden.
2. I’m comparing this show to their Lollapalooza set last year.
3. It was Double-Asshole.

It wasn’t that it was a bad show, it just wasn’t nearly as good as the last three times I’ve seen them.

It was equally hot at Shea Stadium for the final Subway Series but there was a 45 minute torrential down pour that cooled the air.  I must say I was highly impressed by the ground crew.  The field was completely dry within 15 minutes of them rolling up the tarp.  Now I do find it rather amusing that the entire team took 15 minutes to ‘warm up’ before coming out to play again but that’s another story.

* Side Note:

And of course there were Horse Cops.  I know what you’re thinking, who’s going to clean this shit up?

Well, the rain of course.

This past weekend several ladies (Julie, Stacy & Jane) and I headed down to Memphis for MLB’s annual Civil Rights Game between the New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox. Along the way we managed to eat as unhealthy as humanly possible in such a short span. Jane found us a bar that had $1.50 Yuengling (Memphis?), we toured Graceland, Sun Studio, and the Gibson guitar factory, hung out on Beale Street and saw the Mets beat the White Sox.

A successful weekend.

Because I’m into lists, here are the things to note from my trip:

The rest of the photographs from our trip are on Flickr.

Side Note:
I was prompted to do a little research after striking Yuengling Gold in Memphis. Most of you know all to well that you can’t get Yuengling anywhere in Ohio so to find it in Tennessee was a little confusing. I knew there was a brewery in Florida so I assumed it had to come from there. Living in New York City this past year Yuengling was everywhere but since I headed back West in June I haven’t had it. To then find it $1.50 drafts in Memphis was awesome. Possibly the best part of the trip for me.

The beer I brought back to Chicago was brewed in Florida.

Before heading down to Lollapalooza Julie and I caught the Mets – Cubs game at Wrigley Field where Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sang ‘Take me out to the ballpark’. The Mets won 6-2 which means I’m 2 for 3 in Midwest Mets Games.

On to Lollapalooza:

We made it down to the show in time to see The Black Keys and Ben Harper which is all I really wanted to see the first day. I managed to work my way up to the stage, so we had a great spot for both shows. The Black Keys were awesome but as you will see there were camera guys everywhere.

There are only 2 guys in the Black Keys… yet there were 4 camera guys.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals were classic. The only part of the show that was bad was when Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam came out and the douchebag camera man decided to sit directly in front of him and right on the stage so no one could see him play. It was just the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

* Note:  The rest of the photograhps are on Flickr.

The man in the photograph above was my Beerman last night and it was my privilege to sit in his section.  He was the absolute professional; as you can tell by his attire.  This Beerman was equipped for any situation, if a play was occurring behind him he could go to one knee in a split second.  If he for some reason was required to dive out of the isle he could brace himself with his right wrist knowing full well it was ready for the task at hand.  If for some reason at the last moment he needed to clear a way out of  section 124 he could do so with his ‘Macgyver’ like shoulder pad.

This was my Beerman.

Julie and I went with a couple of her former coworkers to the Mets game on Saturday. No sooner did we begin talking about the giant apple in the top hat in the outfield and its purpose than the Met’s started hitting home runs. This was our last Mets game until we see them in Chicago against the Cubs at Wrigleyfield in August.

More Photographs on Flickr.

Tonight Julie and I went to the Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Shea stadium. The Mets managed to force a game 7, winning 4-2. As you can tell by the photo above, I started the solid, yet steady clap that lasted all of the ninth inning which put the Mets over the top. As you can tell in the photographs, I’ve yet to find a place to get my hair cut that I’m comfortable with.