Take me out to the Ball Game!

In return for our charitable good works as a volunteer at the juvenile arthritis camp earlier in my stay, Matthew and I were offered free tickets and plus ones to see the Seattle Mariners baseball team play. Seeing some genuine "American sport" was one of my to-do's for the trip so this was too good an opportunity to pass up. I left it up to Matthew you arrange our guests so he invited along one his best friends from college, Jessie and the Jessie's fiance Julia. This was ideal as while Matthew isn't really a baseball fan (he had never been to a game in Seattle before), Jessie is a Mariners fan so he was able to patiently explain the rules, plays and team to me with the fervour of a true fan. It was a great evening out, complete with over priced refreshments, corny chants and the "7th inning stretch". The Mariners were playing the Colorado Indians, and I guess its just as well I don't have any particular loyalties as the home team went down 6 runs to 3. As you can maybe tell from my accommodation post I've been experimenting with the black and white mode on my camera. This was inspired by some monochrome photos of the cast of "Mad Men" using modern tech, the incongruous nature makes for a great image and I've found that the simple act of switching to black and white can really change the perception of a scene.  Anyway, enough wittering, a few pics:

A summer evening of sport

Grim industrial site

It was a splendid evening out. Jessie and Julia were great conversation. And one of the nice things about baseball is that with a 3 hour game, and a not overly vociferous crowd, it really is a social event too; you can have a chat and get some food from the concourse without feeling like you're missing some essential sequence of play. And when its free? Who can say fairer than that?!

Its my last day at work tomorrow, so I'm only in for the morning then a farewell feast at lunchtime and I have to spend the afternoon packing and cleaning my apartment.