Had an insanely fun weekend. Got to hang out with my friends/band members, celebrated the divine Robin’s birthday where she did not get goosed by Ted Dansen, attended the Oxford American music issue party, and played the ponies at Oaklawn.

Saturday night we went to the Starving Artist Cafe in North Little Rock. I really like their lunch specials and soups. Robin ordered the lamb…If you know a good place in Little Rock for lamb, let her know, because she can’t find it anywhere. I had the Ahi Tuna and it was completely overcooked! Waiters don’t ask how you would like your tuna cooked, because Ahi Tuna should be seared or served rare. Next time I’ll have to stipulate. Ty’s redfish special was pretty amazing.

Next we headed down the street to the Oxford American Music Issue party. All of the music was great, and the atmosphere at OA parties is always fun. We were most impressed with the True Soul Band! I wrote about last year’s music issue party pretty extensively, but this year we just hung out and danced.

On Sunday we went to Hot Springs for the Oaklawn Race Track opening weekend! With temperatures in the 60s, we spent all of our pony picking time outside. It got a little cool when sun went down over Boll Weevil Pawn. I ended up winning about $65! At first I liked how slim the programs at the track were, but then I saw that they contain half of the information of the traditional two-page layout. I think I’ll be pre-printing my program, or buying the DRF from here on out.

My friend David had a new lens to play with and took a bunch of fun pictures that day. If he posts them I’ll link to them!

This was the opening weekend not only for racing, but also for the casino. We registered for the casino’s frequent player program to get extra gambling money and a discount on our buffet. While we were standing in line, we suspected a computer problem, as all of the customer service people had to yell a number out loud to say they were locking or reserving that particular record! Behind us, a raffle was about to take place. A couple of older men turned a hopper to draw 5 $200 prizes. A crowd of really old people began to gather, and one of the older men tried to get a microphone to work. After failing with the second clip-on microphone, he decided he’d just shout over the crowd. I have never seen an angrier mob with a larger sense of entitlement. After each name was called, these old folks would holler, “WE CAN’T HEAR YOU!” For some reason, maybe common decency, the people in the front did not telegraph back the names by yelling back to those people. Some older folks even began crashing our customer service line to get closer to the drawing. We got out of there right before the rakes and pitchforks came out.

Next, we went to the buffet because we had a couple of vegetarians with us, and the only things in the entire clubhouse they could eat were pretzels and bloody mary drinks. I’m going to apologize for whining so much here, but the buffet wasn’t that impressive. There were certainly good parts, and I was surprised by how much I liked the cheesy scallop/shrimp/crab/krab casserole. The pork loin dish with cranberries or raisins was great too. On the down side, the meat at the carving station was very over-done and the bread was all for display! My friend Sasha brought a sesame roll back the table to find it completely shellacked. I should have probably eaten more of the great looking fruit and miniature desserts.