Thursday, March 17, 2005
St. Patrick's Day!
The day started with an early morning golf outing at Palm Valley.
It had been a rough night the night before, and we were slow to wake up. On his first swing on the driving range, Aron threw his club
about 40 yards onto the range. No cameras were present, but the image of Aron walking back with club in hand
was priceless. And yes, his club went further than the ball.
Warming up on the driving range.
We began as a fivesome, but were quickly instructed to split up. Mike, Mark L, and Mark M go ahead while Brian and Aron pair up with another twosome. Mark hits three houses...on the 2nd hole. On a later hole, dogs are barking and Mark asks for quiet while he tries to hit. In the foursome behind that, Brian and Aron try to make jokes, but Benny and Craig don't seem to appreciate them. Brian and Aron joke that the two are the rejected name of a dieting firm- "Benny Craig".
Mike and Mark L
A bunny rabbit
Various shots of golf.
Brian and Aron
After golf, we head towards Surprise for the Giants at Rangers game. We stop in at NYPD Pizza before game to grab some lunch. Mark orders too much and ends up giving away a slice of pizza. As shown below, Mark is very full.
The game was fine. A nice day, but the crowd was relatively quiet. One of the highlights of the game was watching a rather large man try to jump a plastic fence while chasing a ball on the concourse. The fence gave way, and the man tumbled down in pain as the ball bounced away.
Brian checking out the action from the railing.
A Texas Ranger player
A few shots of the field.
Brian puts sunflower seed shells on his face.
Mark looking goofy.
Mark looking goofy.
Following the game, we headed home on a drive that took forever. Brian and Mark went to the hottub with the trash bucket
of beer. After this, we found a place that advertised some St. Patrick's day specials- Downside Risk in Scottsdale. We loaded
up with our beads, bracelets, hats, and anything else green we could find. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we found it quite empty.
After changing seats once, we settled in with a round of green beer. Our waitress Gina was fun, and it was her second day working there.
We'd ask about some things on the menu and she'd say that they were out of it. One item was the corned beef special. How can a place run
out of corned beef on St. Patrick's day? However, they still had corned beef for the reuben sandwich. We once again ate too much. Following
dinner, Gina drew us a map showing how to get to Earl's, a bar not far away.
The four of us with the St. Patrick's day attire.
Gina, the waitress.
We ended up driving down to Tempe, then walking a far distance to find Dos Gringos, as it had moved from
the year before. Dos Gringos was packed, and we had a few drinks and met up with a friend of Aron's. Not long after,
Aron's friend was involved in a brawl out front. Many police officers arrived on the scene.
We started walking back towards Mill Avenue in Tempe, intending to catch a cab. No cab, so we ended up walking the whole way back
again. We scoped out the available spots to continue the night. Most places had a cover, and we decided on going to the Big Bang piano bar.
Mark was first in line and had trouble finding his driver's license. It wasn't in the usual spot, so Mark told the bouncer that he'd
step out of line and look for it. At this point, Mark wanted to lean against the wall to look for the license. He fell back against the wall,
but apparently the bouncer thought Mark was too drunk and wouldn't let him in. It was certainly not true- the falling back thing was a
just a quirky manuever that Mark does sometimes. The other three came back out as Mark tried to argue his case. It was an argument that
wasn't going to be won. The bouncer did agree to letting us in the next night for free if we came back. We ended up at a place with slushy drinks.
The floor was very sticky and difficult to walk on. There was a girl at this place who was dancing horribly. We wanted her to stop. She begged Mark for some of his
St. Patrick's Day beads, even offering up articles of clothing. Mark was being stingy, and didn't give up the goods. However, instead of an article of clothing,
Mark would have gladly given up the beads if she would agree to stop dancing. This proposition never took place though, as it would've probably been too mean.