Saturday I went to to see the Orioles lose to the Angels in Baltimore. On our way out of Oriole Park at Camden Yards we saw the van pictured above and I must say that it is awesome and I must own one. Obviously vans are pretty cool to begin with, but adding an Orioles paint job adds to the grandeur.

About 10 minutes after I took this photo, we walked through the Inner Har and happened upon people fleeing one of the buildings. Apparently, there was a shooting moments before we arrived after a few rival gang members happened upon each other in the most tourist filled area of Baltimore. Fortunately, no one was killed though it was still a pretty nasty scene – we saw police attending to a shot gang member through a doorway and we almost stepped in some blood outside…ugh.

Thankfully I spotted this van and stopped to snap a few photos, otherwise we might have arrived at the Inner Harbor a minute earlier…

I’ve been to a few open mic night events over the years. Last night at Tritone was easily the weirdest combination of performers I’ve seen with acts like a solo guitarists (one playing the Beatles “Let It Be” sung all in Spanish), stand up comedians, a solo death/scream metal performer, and finally the highlight of the night for me was the sword swallower! So much entertainment they ran out of time for the tenor saxophonist which could have been cool.

I was about the closest person to the stage which is tough when you’re staring at a comedian who isn’t funny. When the solo screaming guy performed (he had a CD for his backing music) I had to actually get up and go to the bar to keep myself from chuckling in front of him. He might have come out and bit me or something.

Tritone is definitely a rockin’ dive bar. I didn’t see “the special” on the menu until we were about to leave: $3 for a PBR and a shot of whiskey! Without further ado, the sword swallower:

…and yes, that’s a tattoo of a sword on her throat!

I’m sick. I’ve been sick for a week and it only got worse today when I realized I had a fever. The doctor gave me some heavy duty cough syrup to knock me out tonight since the NyQuil didn’t have much effect so that should be fun. Apparently I have some sort of flu-like thing, but not the typical flu that’s going around…whatever that means.

But, before I realized I had a fever, Katie and I attended the Flyers / Capitals game yesterday to watch the Caps win 2-1! We’ve had the tickets since Christmas as a present from my brother and I’d been looking forward to it for a while. I didn’t realize how easy it would be for us to get to the stadium area (Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers all play in buildings within walking distance of each other) and it was a short subway ride to get there. Going to definitely attend a Phillies game or two once the season kicks off.

Flyers fans (and I guess Philly fans in general) were pretty brutal. They booed the refs before the game even started and cheered when one got knocked down mid-game. Then after each of the Capitals starters names were announced the entire sold out crowd yelled together, “SUCKS!”. Not to mention the boos every time the league’s best player (and Washington Capital) Alex Ovechkin touched the puck.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I only snapped one quick photo of warmups with my phone. Katie and I quietly cheered for our team and respectfully clapped when we scored. A louder Caps fan near us was being heavily berated by those around him and I wasn’t much in the mood for that being sick and all … plus it’s not like it’s a baseball game or something, it’s hockey.

On a related note, I just realized the Phillies play the Orioles in June! Though I’m not sure we’ll still be in Philly then…