I love Chase Field (it still feels awkward to say that). There is no better place to spend a late summer’s evening than in the bleachers high above first base. I have been fortunate to sit in many major league parks and each has its own magic – Boog Powell BBQ and New Camden Yards, the mass exodus in the sixth inning at Chavez Ravine, freezing your ass off at the old Candlestick, and then there is the pool at the BoB. Err… Chase Field. While the DBacks continue to test my heart this season, nothing says Phoenix like the crack of a bat and the splashing giggles of little ones in the pool.

Number 30 – The Pool at Chase Field.

Counting down the top 30 things I love about Phoenix as we head towards our one year anniversary.

We are a month away from our one year anniversary here at MetroBlogging Phoenix and to celebrate I am counting down the top 30 things I love about Phoenix. One post a day until our birthday, 19 July if you are counting. MetroBlogging Phoenix was the 31st city added to the MB family which now has 47 and growing. We are even MetroBlogging from Azeroth. Want to join this globally local conversation?

Apply Here

This committee has an extremely misleading name and is backed by the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company. They’re trying to repeal the anti-smoking laws in effect in Tempe and Prescott and replace them with an extremely lax statewide ban that would allow smoking in all bars and some restaurants, as well as PREVENT cities from passing stricter bans. R.J. Reynolds footed the $10,000 bill to get the initiative on the November ballot. So when you see it, DON’T BE FOOLED, that is of course if you’re in favor of the anti-smoking laws in effect currently. What we need is a real, straightforward and strict statewide ban, not this deceptive ploy by R.J. Reynolds.

Read the full story at AZCentral.com.

It is a table that seats twelve or maybe fifteen if you squeeze in close. The food is sublime and the wine flows as easy as the conversation. You are amongst friends and friends of friends and cool people you have just met. The conversation ranges from sports to politics to who is dating who. Five or six conversations are criss-crossing the table and it is intoxicating, or is it the wine?

This is what we hope to build here at MetroBlogging Phoenix. Seats are open now. And if you are so inclined, please join us at the cool table.

If you are a blogger and live or work in the Valley, if you are willing to commit to three original posts a week, if you are interesting and interested, if you like, uhm… pina coladas, then join us as an author at MetroBlogging Phoenix.

Click Here

Despite the rain, and lightning, and dust dust dust 15,000 (are they called Gilbertans?) showed up to play on the freeway. It was really cool to see thousands of young ones on their bikes and roller blades. What do they call people from Surprise? What about the residents of Superstition Springs? I vote for Superstition Springonians.

If we are around downtown Phoenix during lunch hour and we are looking for some place to eat which is quick, cheap, with good quality food and nice ambience, we are not merely day dreaming! There are two not-so-secret-yet-not-so-well-known lunch-hour watering holes of downtown Phoenix professionals, which definitely live upto our day dreams.
(more…)

We had just finished setting up for the freeway ribbon cutting (still scheduled for tomorrow night) and was heading to dinner when we saw it. A massive wall of dust. The photo does not do it justice, but that storm face is about a mile high. One more is scheduled for tomorrow. What fun…

AZCentral.com has an awesome slideshow of the duststorm. It delivered 1/4″ of rain to Tucson, sadly, we didn’t see any of that. Don’t get your hopes up however, it’s been unanimously decided that it was most certainly not a monsoon storm, just an anomaly. Summer is just getting started folks…

This Friday at 7:30pm, SMoCA is having a reception (open to the public) to welcome 5 new exhibitions for the summer. So if you’re looking for something artsy (and free) to do, check it out.

Download DING! from Southwest Airlines and get away for the weekend. DING! sits in your system tray and alerts you each day of special DING! fares. Just booked a trip to Denver for 5 days in July at $39 each way! I love Southwest Airlines, really I do. FYI, if you’re thinking of Denver, you’ll probably want to avoid July 8 – 12th, The International Christian Retail show is in Denver this year, found out while trying to book a hotel for our vacation. Most hotels are nearly full and those that aren’t have jacked their prices.