I am a lazy bum. I know this. And really, I have no excuse, except for a very flimsy one, which is that I only have an iPhone for photography, and I am ashamed of the photos it takes.
But never fear! I have hoarded some photographs, and here they are, along with a narrative.
Last weekend, Xylo and the B.I.L visited the ATL (see what I did there?) so that we could all go see Wrestlemania XXVII (that’s 27, for you non-Roman-numeral-literate types). I’m not a huge fan of wrestling, personally. I feel insincere attending wrestling events, even a little guilty, because I figure I’m stealing a seat from a legitimately interested fan. I don’t think Vince McMahon cares, though. He’s just happy the seat is filled and paid for.
And you know what? It was every bit the spectacle I hoped it would be. The Great Khali won the dark match before the show (in a 20-man lumberjack thingy), mostly by pretending to rest against the ropes and then getting up at the last minute and bopping the other guy in the head, knocking him out of the ring. I suppose that if you’re over 7 feet tall, you get to do that.
The staging is elaborate. This was the entrance ramp:
Various things happen there as the wrestlers emerge for their matches; videos, pyrotechnics, gigantic inflatable letters. My favorite was for the Undertaker, who got little balls of flame. The colors change. The lights go crazy. It’s pretty exciting.
Now, you may be able to tell that this is the Georgia Dome (if not, it’s okay; this was my first time seeing it, too). Generally, there’s a field-based sporting event held here, and the field is occupied only by the players. Not so for Wrestlemania. The ring is actually pretty small compared to the Dome, and the WWE filled the remaining field space with chairs for what’s called “floor seating.” The ring announcer informed us at the end of the evening that we’d set a record for Dome attendance, with over 71,000 people in the Dome. I believe it. Here’s a view of the crowd from my seat:
Piece that together with the crowd in the first photo, and you get a sense of the vastness of the crowd. Xylo commented to me as we were shuffling through the masses on the way to MARTA, “I’d really like not to be around people anymore.” I hear you, man. I hear you.
The wrestling enthusiasts. I think Xylo is tweeting. Lucky bastard. I couldn’t get any signal, probably because 71,000 other people were attempting to tweet/update their Facebook profiles.
And as a reminder of the once-in-a-lifetime (maybe) experience, here is my new water cup:
Originally filled with Orange Fanta, it is now half of my daily water intake requirement. Stylish and practical! Thanks, WWE!
Now, on to crafty things. Remember that lucet I said I bought at Gulf Wars? Also remember I said I have a crappy camera? Well, I borrowed Dawn’s Canon, and here you go – lucet photos.
The lucet is a braiding tool which basically makes a little knitted cord that you can use to tie up clothing, as a drawstring, etc. Madelena attempted to teach me and corral her son at the same time (which we realized was not as good an idea as we originally estimated), and then I looked through no fewer than five websites before figuring it out one evening at home. Unfortunately I have not figured out a use for it for myself, but I am comfortable gifting it to people. I just like making it. And aren’t the photos spiffy? I have been borrowing people’s cameras to see which to buy. I have a film Canon at home, which is great, but not so good for learning, because film is expensive. I tried a Nikon, and I was frustrated by it. I tried out the Canon for maybe 15 minutes, and am sold. I’ve only ever used Canons, and I think maybe I’m a little more biased than I thought. But hey- I’ve got a lens that works already, so it’s a win all around!
(No knitting photos. I’ve been practicing the uke like mad and the knitting has suffered. Your consolation prize is that I’ll post a uke video real soon. Promise!)
knitters = angry mob 