Burritos and Bebop, Vol. 257

I discovered over the summer that there actually is such a thing as a free lunch. Apparently, there's such a thing as a free dinner also.

Last night, The Hang™ took me to Denton for the semester's inaugural Lab Band Night, featuring the world-renowned One O'Clock. This of course meant that the cast expanded way beyond just Halfling and myself. Dingus rode with me to meet up with Halfling, and we picked up Cassi after that; G was to meet us at the Tomato once we decided to eat there.

But we had no sooner set foot in the Tomato when Cassi offhandedly remarked, "It's too bad you guys didn't to Chipotle today; they're giving free burritos to anyone with a UNT ID." We asked her if that had been a lunch-only proposition, and she said no, it was going on right now. I believe the general consensus after that was, "Well, what are we waiting for??"

As we approached Loop 288, G called Dingus and warned us of a, well, Dingus-sized line (not unexpected, of course). We decided that we were gonna go anyway and met her out there. The line was, in fact, much longer than the time when Halfling and I got the SPCA/celebration burrito back in March, but it took about the same amount of time since it was an established location and crew and not the opening-night group of the other store.

Granted, it's been a few years since I've had a valid UNT ID, and I was more than willing to pay if I had to--having had a freebie last week--but I would of course accept any alumni discounts they threw my way. As it turned out, they were pretty much just doing headcounts (though the guy outside said I'd probably catch a break as an alum), so when Halfling showed his ID, that was good enough for the both of us...no argument from here.

We did manage to make the second and third sets of the One O'Clock. As always, they sounded great, especially considering they've only had six days of rehearsal (yes, they "labored" on Monday). Over half the tunes were things that I've played, like "Out of the Night" and "Little Pixie II" and "Got a Match?" along with cult favorites such as "Hey...That's My Bike!" It always inspires me to hear this band, even as I'm slightly frustrated by the lack of individual practice time that my schedule allows during the year. If nothing else, I really hope that they create a doctorate in jazz studies so I can go back and play in that band someday. This time, I'll be ready ...

So all in all, a good night. We ran into J-Guar while we were there, and I got to talk with Bryan from 15th Street for the first time since he got off the boat. The fun will continue for weeks to come, as they're now going somewhat numerically with this thing; next week is the Two and Three.