We will shank you

Let's talk about how much I love this song and this video. I like it so much that it warrants a list:

1. This video is what I would imagine would happen if the Mad Max movies had a baby with The Warriors. I don't actually understand why Chris Tucker was in this video but it was 1995 and people did crazy things in 1995.
2. The "Welcome to Oakland" sign - I've been trying to figure out a way to use "wild, wild West Oakland" in a blog post and now I have thanks to this video. In 2095, Oakland will be the wild, wild West again if 2Pac's vision is correct. I'd like to think that he had it right.
3. Dr. Dre throws out this lyrical bomb and you are destroyed by its awesomeness:

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west
A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness
The track hits ya eardrum like a slug to ya chest

(This is my favorite part).

There's also a part at the end where Dre and 2Pac (or Tupac -whichever you prefer) are just hanging in the desert and finishing the song by calling out the cities and discussing their awesomeness. In the radio edit of the song one of the lines is "Yeah, Inglewood, Inglewood, always up to no good." This gets in my head every time I'm at LAX and I see the Inglewood sign when I leave the car rental lot. Then I go to the high school or district I'm training and in the middle of a class this will pop into my head and I can't make it stop. It's awesome.

Anyway, I thought of this song as I attended my very first Oakland A's game. I'm an equal opportunity baseball fan so I wanted to make sure that I gave equal time to both teams. If the SF Giants represent fancy baseball, I would say the Oakland A's represent the baseball of the people. The Coliseum reminds me on my childhood trips to Tiger Stadium. It's an old stadium that has probably seen better days but it has character and you can tell A's fans are a dedicated bunch. There's something very tough about the A's and their fans. Last night's game against the Yankees was probably one of the more well attended and the fans were pretty brutal. 


We had awesome seats. One thing my brother doesn't ever skimp on is baseball. Great view, easy access to food. Did I mention is was Dog Day at the stadium? When we got to the gate, we happened to be at the gate to the Plaza level where all the dogs and their owners were entering. Neither of us knew is was dog day so that was fun. 


The A's game just reminded me of that simpler time I wrote about last week. There's still fanciness at the stadium (they have to compete) but it's not as in your face. I had a great time at both games but I have to say that I love the Oakland A's more than the San Francisco Giants. I love an underdog and I was excited that the A's beat the Yankees. 


Most random thing of all? I actually ran into people I know at the game! I almost never run into anyone I know (because I don't know that many people here) but as Scott and I were going in, I saw a fellow board member from the theater. He was meeting another board member and her husband. I didn't even know they were going to be there. It was fun running into Patrick, Diana, and Keith. Hope they enjoyed the game as much as we did.


More pictures from our evening with the A's. No animal hat picture; they had elephant hats but you had to ask to try them on. I guess it's true that everything we learned about stealing we learned in Oakland. Today's title is courtesy of a fan behind who shouted this as Derek Jeter came up to bat in the first inning. I told you it was wild, wild (west) Oakland).

I like that Scott is smiling and being normal and I'm making a face. Typical.

Video from youtube.com
Lyrics from www.lyrics007.com