I don’t usually like when people post the same thing in all their channels. It seems pointless and a little lazy to me. But in this case, I think this story is interesting enough that I’m embedding the video I previously posted on Twitter. (And yes, I know the story is old and you’ve all probably seen it 100 times already.)
Also, here’s the full story from Adverblog.
So 3,000+ people have already liked this blog post on Facebook, so it makes me think this has been around awhile. But it’s the first time I saw it, so who knows, maybe my faithful readers will view this kind of street art with the same kind of amazement. Warning – make sure your jaw isn’t too close to a hard surface.
https://plus.google.com/photos/106526452034734966566/albums/5626567803379889857
Now, if you can’t view that because you aren’t in Google Plus, this link is pretty good too.
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/absolutely-stunning-3d-street-art-paintings/
Here’s a teaser:
Sure, I know we all equate July 4th with a nice 3 day weekend in the middle of the summer. But I want to take 2 minutes to reflect on exactly what we are celebrating. Now, I don’t know what really happened 200-300 years ago, but I’ll try to remember what my history teachers told me.
Sometime in the 1600’s, we were all living in England. And then some of our friends and neighbors decided they had had enough of religious oppression. So they hopped on boats like the Mayflower and headed to the new “colonies” in America.
Eventually, enough of us moved over here that we developed some sort of free market up and down the Eastern seaboard. And we must have been doing pretty well developing new products, exporting new crops and creating a nice sustainable economy that didn’t require subsidies or loans. Because the guys back in England said, “You guys are really showing success. We need to raise taxes on you so we can spread that money around over here.”
Eventually, we got tired of a bunch of professional politicians and lifelong royalty-types telling us what to do. We were sick of a government that reached out too far, who taxed us too much, and who got involved with things they had no expertise or knowledge about, passing arcane laws that made no sense.
So, as one big group we denounced our relationship with the oppressors. We announced independence, and developed a loose government in which the colonies – now called states – would govern themselves. The national government would pretty much be in charge of monitoring interstate commerce and running a national defense made up of all the state militias. But at the core of the idea, was that we would govern ourselves in a manageable, state by state way. We’d be responsible for our own welfare, and only rely on the federal government to arbitrate disputes and manage a defense – where if you attacked one of us, you attacked all of us.
Obviously times have changed and we’re in a more complex world now. But every Independence Day, I like to reflect back and remember what our whole country was based on. I wonder how many ways we’ve deviated from the original plan, and whether that’s a good or bad thing.
Now, to understand where this article comes from, you’ll probably have to have known me for a few decades. So if you didn’t know me in 1988, you’ll need to imagine two high school kids going to a Mariners game, buying $3 GA tix, going up those big grey ramps at the Kingdome, and climbing the fence that separated the good ramp from the bad ramp. Fast forward a few years later, when a friend (who I won’t identify) created fake press passes. We were able to get into Mariners games for a few years before the jacka$$ screwed it up. (And that’s a different story.)
So what I’m saying is, I believe that a team should let its real fans support it, even if they can’t afford to. And the entire experience about attending a ball game should be about FAN EXPERIENCE. No more no less.
Now, baseball is kind of unique because it is something passed down from generation to generation. People like or dislike baseball when they are 3 years old because their parents like or dislike baseball. And their parents like or dislike baseball because of their parents and etc… In the grand scheme of things, the Seattle Mariners marketing department has really had little impact on whether I like baseball or not.
Which leads me to my issue.
I’ve shared season tickets since 1996. I really don’t care that much that the team has stunk for 10 or 11 of those 15 years. It’s just something I pay each year, like insurance, energy bills and gas. I own a little piece of real estate inside Safeco Field. I go to my little 2 seat condo every 6th game, pay too much for a beer, and just enjoy my 3 hours. And for 15 years or so, it’s been realtively peaceful.
So enter 2011. On one hand, I’m excited again. I’ve seen Pineda and Felix throw gems. I’ve watched the Yankees and Phillies. Dustin Ackley hit a home run. Life is exciting. What could I possible complain about?
Ushers. Yes ushers. Or more accurately, ushers crushing fans. Ushers becoming part of MY game experience. Ushers who seem endorsed by the Mariners to make the ballpark experience kind of stink.
We sit right next to the VIP section – scouts, wives, execs, etc…. And most of the time, NO ONE sits in these seats. I mean, no one. Mariner wives seemed to be on a collective cruise in April and May, because they sure weren’t at Safeco. And you didn’t see many scouts around charting Milton Bradley, Ryan Langerhans, or Michael Saunders.
Now the last 3 games I’ve attended, I’ve lost at least a half-inning each game as the same Mariners usher booted people who were minding their own business. Incident #1: A group of 10 boisterous fans who were spending a fair amount of money at the concession stand on beer. I give them full credit. They recognized that there were a bunch of kids sitting near them in their assigned seats in Sec 128. So as a group, they moved ONE section over to Sec 129, where there were 80-120 empty seats, so they could enjoy themselves without disturbing the kids. I think that’s heads-up fan behavior. And for this act of courtesy, they got booted. For being in the wrong seats. Because in the 7th inning, there was still the chance that one of the wives would be showing up.
Incident #2: Two fans are discussing the poor performance of Chone Figgins in 2011. I’m not sure this is really a debatable point. But there was one woman who took offense – Figgins’ fiance. Not his mom, not even his wife. His fiance didn’t appreciate that someone who was actually at the game, had noticed that the guy wasn’t exactly earning the money he was spending on her Gucci purse. So, the fans got booted. Apparently, you aren’t allowed to talk poorly about a player having a poor year if his fiance is in the same section as you.
Incident #3: 4 Phillies fans have tickets in Sec 129, row 30. Now, that row is super cramped, so they shoot forward 4 rows to Row 26, where only a couple of people are sitting. One of the Phillies fans starts a debate with a Mariners fan about how much better the Phillies have been since 2001 than the Mariners. Again, I’m not sure how this is debatable. The best response from the Mariners fan should have been, “But you live in Philadelphia. I’m actually glad the Phillies exist so you have a reason to get up every day.” Instead, they got booted. Apparently debate between fans isn’t allowed at Safeco either.
So my question… I love baseball. I like to go to a game and experience it the way fans in other cities do. But, do I need to just accept that the Mariners VIP’s have thin skin? Or is this uber-usher out of line for continually looking for people to boot?
Good stuff from Alaska Airlines here. John Spencer is the Head Coach of of the Portland Timbers.
I was recently asked the following. “So, after the lip surgery, funky knee thing, bizarre disc thing in your back, and freakazoid frostbite incident with the dry ice, did you finally accept that the fates are telling you to bail out of the 1/2 Marathon?”
Well, I’m actually THAT stubborn. I’m not bailing out. I just stopped writing about the training.
There’s no question that I’m going to be one of the slower perfromers. I’ve done a few 8 mile runs so far, and it’s clear that while 13 miles will be doable, my time is not going to be impressive.
But with 2 weeks left, there’s still time for some slight improvements. Barring any other “out of left field injuries,” look for some results here 2 weeks from today.
So let me paint the picture for you….
It’s the day after the child’s prom. In either a moment of wisdom or stupidity, I had allowed child and friends to have their post party at my house, which sent us to a hotel. So, we went to the SAM Remix party that night and had a great time with friends. Then, we stopped by the house and brought the kids pizza late night just to make sure the world wasn’t collapsing.
So now it’s noonish on Saturday when Garrett and I head down to Safeco Field to catch the Mariners vs Rays game. And I admit, I feel a little like an old guy who went to one party, stopped by a prom party and then spent a night in a hotel.
So Garrett and I are walking thru the north lot, and we can hear Lenny Kravitz’ sound check. We ask ourselves why we aren’t going to this concert. What stopped us from buying tickets? And hearts full of regret, we sullenly walk past Qwest.
Except….. suddenly….. we notice…..
There’s a line outside the Qwest field box office. We investigate. We ask a few questions. We do a few mental calculations. And a few short minutes later, we are holding U2 concert tickets. AND we’re walking to Safeco for a Mariners game on a 72 dgeree day. You go draw up a better day than that.
Anyway, here are some pics from the 300+ level. Great show. Fun pics.
If you know me at all, you probably think that I have too many ideas. Thus, you might think blogging would be the perfect platform for me. However, even blogging is too difficult for me to build a process or publishing plan in which I can execute upon every week. I start a post and then get distracted into something else.
Thankfully, Tumblr exists. I’ve been playing with Tumblr for a while, and am now finally ready to admit it into my inner circle of publishing platforms, joining Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and this blog. Tumblr lets me be on my phone or computer, and in 30 seconds upload a thought, photo or link. You’ll probably have to figure out yourself why I think these particular moments are worth posting, but at least I’m able to get them live.
Anyway, feel free to follow my Tumblr account, cleverly and creatively named: http://andyboyer.tumblr.com
We had the chance last week to check out SAM Remix at the Seattle Art Museum. Now, a few weeks ago, I complained about the lack of unique events in Seattle. So of course, here comes the slew of unique events – SAM Remix being one.
If you haven’t checked out SAM Remix before, it’s definitely worth blowing a Friday night for. You get to bundle together some cocktails, a trip through a cool exhibit, 1000 or so party revelers, and some wild cards, all in a single evening. It happens every quarter, so I suggest you add it to your “date list.”
Anyway, I didn’t take pics from the party, but I did break every rule at SAM and took pics of the exhibit itself. Apologies to both SAM and Nick Cave, but the exhibit was pretty cool and should be shared.
Lazy Friday? Great video to watch over coffee. Thanks New Yorker.