Friday Night Hijinks
Yesterday my friend Camille messages me because she was bored at work. Eventually the topic of the debate came up, and that they were showing it at the Parkway in Oakland – a brew & view type theater. This sounded like a good combination. So after work, I BARTed on over to the east bay to encounter a gigantic line (I was there a bit after doors opened, but I guess people were lined up since 5PM). And Camille and her coworker Aisha weren’t there yet. I waited in line but they were at capacity before I got in. So I waited around for Camille to get to Oakland, reading my book.
Eventually they arrived and we went to the bar next to the theater, which was very loud but at least they had the CC on the TV tuned to the debate. Camille and I drank a beer while Aisha found out that we could watch in the laundromat across the street. After we finished our beers we headed over and it was much quieter there, we could even hear the candidates speak. Aisha had made friends with some people there, and was drinking a bit of their Shiraz. I mean, right here there is a good story, but the night just got more amusing. (From what I gathered, I was impressed with Obama, but I will watch the debate via Tivo again to get a better opinion).
After the debate, Camille was hungry and wanted to go to Church’s down the street. Aisha and I also thought this was an OK idea, then I remembered that Merrit Bakery and Restaurant was just an extra block away. The promise of chicken and waffle enticed them to walk the extra block. The food there is good, but the high point was the person who sat next to us – the self-described oldest dog walker in Lake Merritt. At 82 year olds she was quite the whippersnapper, and regaled us with stories about the dogs she walks, and her past dogs, as well as her husband. Oh yeah, they also have some amusing looking cakes there:
After dinner we ended going back over to the loud bar. There was actually a party going on, with a DJ, which explained it being so loud. We ran in to the people from the laundromat again, and one of them turned out to be a documentary film-maker. I told him I would netflix his current movie, Hip Hop Colony which does look rather interesting.
Anyway, after an hour and a half or so at the bar it was time to go home. It was not at all the night I was expecting but it was suitably great in its randomness!