My Lucky Day: Aretha Franklin, and Free Things Everywhere

  Yesterday was my day for getting stuff free! First of all, Emma had wanted me to go with her to see Aretha Franklin at the Ohio State Fair, which she was seeing for two reasons: One,it's Aretha! Duh! And two, she's writing a concert review for online classic rock magazine Rebeat. (She also writes her own music blog, No more blood from a clone.) She had a press pass waiting for her at the fair. She wanted me to go as company, but I didn't really think that right now I could spare the $41 it was going to take to get into the fair and then into the concert. Ken thought I should go, and scrounged up the money. Emma decided she wanted me to take the pictures. We still thought I was paying to get in, but when Emma stopped in to get her press ticket into the fair, she presented me as the photographer,(I did once work as a photographer for a local paper, when Emma was a toddler.), and I got a pass too. We then found that she had two press tickets to the concert waiting for her, so I got in there free too!
  Let me just say that, at 72 years old, Aretha has still got it. She hasn't lost any of THAT VOICE. It's still really strong. She never faltered on classics like Think, Chain of Fools, and (one of) her encore, Respect.

 I think I got some good pictures.

  There was only one other photographer besides me, so we had the front to ourselves. We were allowed to stand at the stage for the first two songs and take as many pictures as we wanted.

  Aretha's opening act, actor and comedian,Jonathan Slocum, came out several times to tell the audience to take lots of pictures, and to post them online. But still, some of the overzealous security guys, eager to throw their weight around, still herded people back to their seats when they tried to come down briefly to take pictures. One really rude guy put his hand right in front of a camera as the shot was about to be taken. It's one thing when the audience has been told NOT to take pictures, but when they have been URGED to, that's unreasonable. He could have let the person get their picture, and then told them to return to their seat.To give them their due, there were some nice security people who allowed the picture taking, as long as the aisles were clear.
  I loved seeing a lady there with her little girl, who was around 3 or 4. Years from now, when Aretha is long gone, that little girl can tell her grandchildren, "Yeah, I saw Aretha live."
  After seeing the concert Emma and I walked around the fair a little. We got to see some of the fireworks, and I broke down and bought a candy apple. (I LOVE those things!) I wanted to take home some cotton candy for Ivy. You can buy cotton candy in the stores these days, but it's nothing like the freshly made stuff from the fair.
  Then I spotted a bulk candy store in a tent. A candy store at the fair? The candy was, of course, overpriced, but they had some unusual or hard to find candies, so I snagged some chewy spearmints for me, (I love those things too!), some stuff for Ivy and Ken, and a pack of root beer bubble gum for my root beer loving friend Cheryl, who lives in England where they don't do root beer very much. Emma owed me some money from earlier in the day, so she put it on her bank card.Later we realized from the receipt that we hadn't been charged for part of the candy.
  On the way home we went through the drive through at Taco Bell: the worst Taco Bell I have ever been to. And that's saying a lot considering the Taco Bell here in town that screws up every order.We ordered, were given my drink, which was pretty much a cup of crushed ice with a sprinkling of Pepsi in it, and then were told they were just waiting on my Cinnabon Delights. (Now talk about something I LOVE!Gee, no wonder I'm fat...) Finally they gave us a bag and Emma took off for home. I thought the bag seemed a bit heavy to only contain a cheese quesadilla and Cinnabon Delights. I looked inside and there was loads of food: tacos, soft tacos, a couple of quesadillas, burritos. Emma pulled back around and we had to wait in line to tell them we had someone else's food. When we did they said, "What do you mean?" Duh. When we got them to understand the girl said, "Oh, that's what happened to that!" They took my order again. We pulled around and they told us to keep the other food because they can't take it back. (I understand that. It's for safety reasons.) They gave us the new food, and my cheese quesadilla was unmelted and cold in the middle. Oh forget it! I ate the cheese quesadilla from the other people's order, since there happened to be one in there and it was hot. I took mine home to Ivy, who microwaved it. Ken, who had come home from work in the meantime, got everything else, so he had a ready made dinner and didn't have to spend ages cooking late at night like he insists on doing.
  So free stuff followed me all day. (Except at the church sale Emma and I stopped at before we went to the fair. I did get some goodies though, and they were very cheap. One of them I'll show you tomorrow on Skipper Saturday.)