{"id":1186,"date":"2008-04-20T23:00:38","date_gmt":"2008-04-21T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2008-08-01T05:31:06","modified_gmt":"2008-08-01T12:31:06","slug":"the-lost-weekend-long-beach-grand-prix-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1186","title":{"rendered":"The Lost Weekend! Long Beach Grand Prix and more…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everybody who contacted me and wondered if I was OK because I didn’t post anything this weekend.<\/p>\n

Other activities have kept me out of the water.<\/p>\n

However, I have heard that the Old Marineland access is open again; but the conditions sucked.<\/p>\n

FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, I took Friday off to go to the Long Beach Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

I walked to the liquor store and purchased beer and pocket shots of vodka before continuing on to Rock’s of Long Beach on Long Beach Blvd.<\/p>\n

Eyewitness News was outside the gas station…<\/p>\n

\"Eyewitness<\/p>\n

I do live in the ghetto, so it isn’t uncommon for the news to be in the area to cover the latest drive by.<\/p>\n

\"Eyewitness<\/p>\n

I sat in the bar, drinking a beer, while I hid all my contraband booze in my cooler and in my backpack.<\/p>\n

Someone yelled, “Hey, she’s right outside!”<\/p>\n

\"Hot<\/p>\n

I grabbed my stuff, slammed my beer and ran out the door.<\/p>\n

My last words to the bar were, “I’m going to get on TV!”<\/p>\n

They were still broadcasting, but as soon as the cameraman saw me charging – Maybe my green hat scared them? – they shut the light off, jumped in their van and took off.<\/p>\n

Yet another moment of fame ruined!<\/p>\n

Apparently, the crew was doing a story on how expensive gas is getting…<\/p>\n

\"Expensive<\/p>\n

Another reason to take the bus downtown!<\/p>\n

After a 20 minute ride on the bus with an interesting assortment of commuters, I arrived at the Grand Prix and immediately checked out the beer prices…<\/p>\n

\"Nine<\/p>\n

Everything is expensive to a captive audience waiting to get ripped off.<\/p>\n

I bought a cigar from the Cuban Cigar Factory and proceeded to find a seat to watch the qualifying.<\/p>\n

Not many race fans were around at noon, so I sat down, lit my cigar and proceeded to open the false bottom of my “lunch box.”<\/p>\n

\"False<\/p>\n

I was able to get eight beers in, under blue ice, with no problem.<\/p>\n

Yes, there was a bag check upon entry to thwart terrorists and cheapskates.<\/p>\n

I’m not dumb enough to give public details on how I managed, but lets face it – If you aren’t too greedy and don’t try and take a case in, and you don’t look like a suicide bomber, you can save a few bucks by bringing in a few beers to start with.<\/p>\n

So, I’m sitting in the bleachers and this hot chick that was sitting down wind of my cigar kept looking at me every so often…<\/p>\n

\"Hot<\/p>\n

…I could tell she wanted me really bad, but I did not give in to temptation.<\/p>\n

Qualifying started, so I got out my high end $120 digital camera to capture the action.<\/p>\n

The thing that sucks is, by the time the camera thinks and focuses, the car is already gone.<\/p>\n

Most of my pictures of passing race cars looked like this…<\/p>\n

\"Digital<\/p>\n

However, I did have better luck once the Tire Delivery race began…<\/p>\n

\"Tire<\/p>\n

\"Tire<\/p>\n

After qualifying, I walked around to the various turns and found the donor of my tickets for the weekend…
\n<\/a>
\n\"The<\/p>\n

Yes, my friend is a flagger.<\/p>\n

If his flag accidentally caught on fire due to an accident, he would be a flaming flagger.<\/p>\n

Thanks again for the tickets, Matt!<\/p>\n

I was able to get a good spot to watch more cars on an over pass near the Aquarium of the Pacific…<\/p>\n

\"Cars<\/p>\n

\"Cars<\/p>\n

Then it was on to the indoor expo…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I passed by the Mach 5…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Speed Racer<\/em> was my favorite cartoon when I was a child, and now a new generation of youth will get to experience cheaply made Japanese cartoons, too.<\/p>\n

On my way out, I passed by the Hawaiian Gardens Casino booth where they were holding a four hand demo Blackjack tournament…<\/p>\n

\"Hawaiian<\/p>\n

Whoever got the most chips after four hands got laid!<\/p>\n

I have many more talents other than beer drinking, SCUBA diving and cage fighting…<\/p>\n

\"I<\/p>\n

…and Blackjack is one of them!<\/p>\n

I took the bus back home, stopping by Rock’s again…the rest of the night is fuzzy.<\/p>\n

SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now it’s time to take Jane to the races; I had to iron my T-shirt for her to be seen with me.<\/p>\n

Instead of torturing her with a city bus ride, I decided the train would be faster…<\/p>\n

\"Jane<\/p>\n

…and it was.<\/p>\n

We were given a true Southern California greeting with the Tecate Mariachi band…<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

We hit the expo first, checking out some of the displays that I was too drunk to remember from yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"Me,<\/p>\n

I talked to some Navy recruiters who told me I was too old to join, but that I should go see the Army – they will take recruits up to 42.<\/p>\n

We were admiring the different black and white paint styles of the four Police cars on display, when…<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

…a small child walked up to the Police car and started to take a piss on it.<\/p>\n

We toured the other booths and Indy Car displays…<\/p>\n

\"Earlier<\/p>\n

Once outside we were able to watch a “drifting” demo race…<\/p>\n

\"Drifting
\n(Photo By Matzger)<\/em><\/p>\n

“Drifting” is where they intentionally skid sideways through the turns – excitement is one measure that the race is judged by.<\/p>\n

Drifting is one of the coolest types of racing I’ve ever witnessed – second only to figure eight.<\/p>\n

We found different seats – well, free seats – to watch the next race.<\/p>\n

On the big screen, they showed Samba dancers…<\/p>\n

\"Samba<\/p>\n

Jane’s first reaction, being a native Brazilian, was “These are American Samba dancers, they don’t move like Brazilians.”<\/p>\n

She was not impressed; but loved the “vibes” of the race…<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

We left soon after.<\/p>\n

I almost got a J-walking ticket trying to make the train.<\/p>\n

The cop said, “Hey, what color is that light?”<\/p>\n

“Red,” I said.<\/p>\n

“Well, you’re lucky the train wasn’t moving, you would have gotten run over and dragged.”<\/p>\n

He started to get his ticket book out.<\/p>\n

I said, “The train goes the other way; how would I have gotten run over?”<\/p>\n

He thought for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

“Get out of here!” he said.<\/p>\n

SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hung over and dehydrated from two days of partying at the Long Beach Grand Prix, I promised my two tickets to a friend and his girlfriend for Sunday.<\/p>\n

Even with sneaking the first eight beers in, I managed to blow $100 a day at the Grand Prix; so money wise, staying away for day three was a good fiscal move.<\/p>\n

My brother and I attended the 11th Annual Copa Pacifica Ultimate Jiu Jitsu Death Match Competition to watch some friends fight.<\/p>\n

I did not compete this year like I did last year.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I haven’t seen my cage fighting friends for over two months; they were surprised to see me.<\/p>\n

“Are you still training?” a friend asked.<\/p>\n

“Only twelve ounce curls lately,” I responded.<\/p>\n

I gained so much weight, especially over the last few days of drinking.<\/p>\n

I need to get back into shape… I need to start working out again and quit beer for a while; maybe as long as a week.<\/p>\n

My friends ended up getting their asses handed to them; since they were the ones that would always kick my ass, it wouldn’t have been any different for me.<\/p>\n

Interesting to note, there is a John Wayne Jiu Jitsu team?<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

After I got home, I collapsed from exhaustion… what a weekend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everybody who contacted me and wondered if I was OK because I didn’t post anything this weekend. Other activities have kept me out of the water. However, I have heard that the Old Marineland access is open again; but the conditions sucked. FRIDAY So, I took Friday off to go to the Long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}