When you bike to downtown Orlando, look up in the sky when riding on Magnolia Avenue. There are these bright orange tomato plant holders everywhere. I have no idea who thought of these things but they look really cool. And remember to follow the adice of the sign, especially if you are on a bike: Look Both Ways when crossing a street and/or intersection. Automobile traffic in downtown Orlando is horrible most days and nights.

Orlando Magic

Wednesday night we (Beau and me) went to the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference Finals playoff game between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. Before we went inside of Amway Arena we went over to the ESPN-TV RV, which was on display on the north side of the arena. We found that I am not that much smaller than Jeff Van Gundy (OK, that is really a cardboard cut-out of the former Knicks coach) and he is a Magic fan (OK, his brother is Orlando's head coach). Somehow I got behind the wheel of the RV. Don't worry, nothing happened the folks at ESPN and ABC-TV were well prepared for our visit: they took the key out of the ignition. It was a good thing: with all of the Budweiser suds flowing out of bottles and taps no one should have been driving. We didn't: we took one of those electric pedicabs to the arena (those things are fast plus, they get to zip down the bike lanes on the streets-if you use one, hold on to something, there are no doors on those vehicles). When we went inside of the arena we got more beer, used the Mens' Room and found our seats (mine are withing steps of both the bathroom and the beer stand). I then proceeded to lose my hearing during the pre-game starting lineup introductions (yes, the crowd was that loud), lost my voice after Dwight Howard's first dunk, and made an embarrassed Boston Celtic fan (yes, there were a few of them there) leave before the game was over. The Magic won, a few Celtics got woozy from concussions, and Game Six is on Friday night. I can make no logical explanation for it but somehow the Magic are still in a series with a very good Boston team.

Grits N Gravy

Tuesday nights are the part of the week where people who work in the Service Industry hate. It is the one night of the week where no one ever goes out downtown or to any part of town, for that matter. Well, that was then and this is now. Approximately two years ago, the Independent Bar on Orange Avenue began to have this event they deemed Grits 'N Gravy Nite on Tuesday nights. Initially no one could figure out what on Earth that term meant. Eventually, everyone in the know began to figure out it means having one damn good time at a club on a Tuesday night. Even more fun is the fact that you get to listen to songs from the decades of the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s.

Another cool place to go to on Tuesday nights is the Wall Street Cantina. Every Tuesday night the bar has two dollar bottles of Corona. It is packed with people, a lot of whom eventually make their way across the street to the Independent Bar.

You need to go to the Independent Bar on Tuesday nights. Every Tuesday night it is Grits 'N Gravy Nite. What in the hell is Grits 'N Gravy Nite? Well, it consists of a food staple (grits) that is not sold at Whole Foods (the crazy hippies that work there do not believe in grits although it is a food that has kept alive two-thirds of the world's poorest peoples because it is a staple in their diets) that has nothing to do with the night except in name only. It is a night where the DJ plays nothing but songs from the decades of the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s. On a Tuesday when every other bar and club in downtown Orlando is totally devoid of people this place packs in the people who want to dance to the cheesy music. However be warned: the I-Bar has a new DJ and he likes to play about thirty minutes of God-awful disco music. He plays so much it feels like the cool club turned into the boring Have A Nice Day Cafe (there is a reason that place went out of business: disco really does SUCK!). But once you survive that thirty minute time period of disco madness you will have a good time here on a Tuesday night. Plus, you can run into your friends from Home Room at Full Sail Academy (if you want to learn how to turn up the volume on a sound board don't wast spending $35,000 per year at that place, just watch the film "Spinal Tap": in less-than two hours you'll learn that if you want the sound to be louder, just turn the dial to number thirteen).

Last night I went to Paddy Murphy's Irish Pub. It is a pretty cool place (go on Monday and Wednesday nights when Jon is tending the bar) even though it is the most modern Irish pub I have ever been in. The only bad thing about it is that it does not serve Budweiser beer or Bud Lite. However, Harp lager is close enough in taste to feel like Budweiser. The food is awesome, and in huge portions. Usually, the place is pretty laid back, after all it is Baldwin Park. However, last night (Monday) was the exception. I went there to watch the Boston Celtics-Orlando Magic game.

After enduring the blow-out on Saturday night, I entered the pub just hoping the Magic would just try. I mean if they were going to get swept in four games by the Celtics, at least go out trying to win the game. However, much to my amazement Orlando's players went far beyond trying. They did the unexpected: they won the game in overtime. And that was fucking awesome! Even more amazing were the people inside of Paddy Murphy's. I expected the 'fans' to consist of me and a couple of other people. Instead, the place was crowded with Magic fans. And as the game wore on the Magic fans began to get rowdier and louder. Now you have to understand Baldwin Park folks. Usually getting rowdy for them involves someone kindly asking another person to pick up his or her's doggy poop. To actually see and hear them jump up and down, scream and shout and clap their hands together is something else altogether. I guess it was all of that pent up resentment against the national media, the Boston Celtics, and the Boston sports fans-all of which seemingly cannot say enough bad things about the Magic (after game three they were deserved) and the City of Orlando. I knew there was a reason why I already have tickets for Games Five and Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA play-offs.