{"id":6897,"date":"2010-05-30T10:27:40","date_gmt":"2010-05-30T15:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/?p=6897"},"modified":"2010-05-30T10:27:40","modified_gmt":"2010-05-30T15:27:40","slug":"fireworks-and-more-pics-from-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/30\/fireworks-and-more-pics-from-yesterday\/","title":{"rendered":"Fireworks and more pics from yesterday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday’s plans got messed up somewhat, but it still ended up a fine day.\u00a0 I spent the afternoon at the Saucer chatting with my friends Dennis and Mary Pat from Huntsville, then stopped by Rio Loco for a quick bite to eat.\u00a0 Next stop was to be Tom Lee Park, where I had tube tops waiting on me.\u00a0 However, I pulled up WeatherBug and it showed that rain was about to come through.\u00a0 I wasn’t real interested in another rainy day in the park, so I went home to wait it out.\u00a0 I ended up not getting to the park until 8 PM.<\/p>\n

However, even though I wasn’t there, people were still snapping pics on my behalf.\u00a0 Here are a couple of pics someone e-mailed me of the Nuh-Uh Girl.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

The Nuh-Uh Girl deciding what to eat next<\/p>\n

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… and, after the decision has been made.<\/p>\n

So anyway, I got to the park at 8 and started texting people trying to find anyone I knew.\u00a0 Trouble is, most of the friends I was trying to meet got there at 4 and were near the stage, and I had to wade through a sea of people to find them.\u00a0 In Tom Lee Park there are these poles with numbers on them.\u00a0 I think maybe the barges and riverboats use them to identify their position.\u00a0 And during May, so do festival-goers.\u00a0 “I’m at Pole 9, on the riverside,” texted Bicycle Bobby, who was an important person to find because he had PBR.\u00a0 (You can bring your own beer and booze to Sunset Symphony, as long as it’s not in glass.)<\/p>\n

I went to pole 9.\u00a0 Bicycle Bobby was nowhere in sight, but I saw my group of friends.\u00a0 I stopped long enough to mooch a beer and take this pic of Sarah and friend:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Normally I would have stayed and hung with them the rest of the evening, but my friend Suzy was texting me to come find her near the left end of the stage, and rumor had it that Suzy had on a pink tube top, commando.\u00a0 So I bid my friends adieu after mooching a beer, and told them I’d come back shortly.\u00a0 I made a stupid mistake here:\u00a0 I failed to snap a pic of Lauren from Calhoun’s, who had on a purple tube top.<\/p>\n

I waded through the crowd to get from the riverside to the sidewalk side.\u00a0 It took me a good 10 minutes because I had to dodge blankets, lawn chairs, kids, food, coolers, you name it.\u00a0 Tried to find the tube tops I was looking for, then realized that even if I found them, I was going to have to turn right around and walk to the porta-potties to trade in the last two beers I’d consumed.\u00a0 By the time I got that done, I’d had enough of the crowd and was ready to say “screw it” and leave.<\/p>\n

Fortunately I had a good Plan B.\u00a0 My friends Lee and Lauren had called earlier in the day.\u00a0 They were having people over at their condo at the Lofts on Tennessee Street.\u00a0 So I walked over there to watch the fireworks.\u00a0 Here are a few pics.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Lauren and Morgan dancing<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>The Nuh-Uh Girl wasn’t on the rooftop, so there was plenty of food for everyone.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Shawn, Morgan and Joe watching the fireworks<\/p>\n

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Toward the end of the show, I set the camera to video mode and started filming.\u00a0 I got more than I bargained for.\u00a0 About a minute after I rolled the camera, there was an explosion and two fireballs and the show was abruptly over.\u00a0 I never found out what happened, but that did not seem to be the intended grand finale.\u00a0 See video below, where you can see the first fireball and explosion at the end.\u00a0 Everyone ran to the edge of the roof to see what happened, so I turned my camera off and missed the second fireball.<\/p>\n