Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - I’ve been to the holideck

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I’ve been to the holideck
From my experience with Star Treck, there were numerous episodes (or maybe it just seemed like numerous episodes) where someone goes to the holideck. This person would ask the computer to load program xyz and magically they'd be transported (or so it seemed) to a dark, smokey lounge, with a live jazz band, or maybe a blues singer, a stiff martini or single malt scotch served right up at the bar, or perhaps delivered by a cocktail waitress. This, my friends, was my honest to God experience at a joint in Ft. Worth.
Yes, yes, I've been back from Ft. Worth for a month now, and I've been meaning to write this blog from the moment I walked outta that joint, but here I am - just now getting around to it.
So, on my 4th day in Ft. Worth, my best work buddy Kaycee FINALLY rolls in to town. We'd made plans to go out for dinner and drinks and whatever trouble we could find to get in to. I'd passed by a wine bar several times in my walks during my 3 previous days there, and recommended we try that out as our first stop of the evening. The wine was good, the food wasn't bad and overall it was an interesting (and not particularly cheap by Ft. Worth standards) excursion. We decided to leave after 3 glasses and see what else we could find around town. While heading over to a recommended joint, we passed by the Scat Jazz Lounge and the bouncer outside offered us 2 for 1 and said that a really great band was there that they don't get to book very often because they're very popular. We declined and kept walking to our original destination. Upon arrival we realized it was the "student" hangout, and promptly exited stage left. We agreed that the jazz bar might be ok, and decided to go for the 2 for 1 offer. We paid the guy and he tells us we have to take the elevator down one level to get in. Doors open, we step inside and apparently one of us said "computer load program" cause that's what happend next.
The doors open and we're in a short hallway just outside of the bar. It's VERY dark, and when we walk in there's an enormous jazz band taking up 1/4 of the place. They're pretty good (as we were expecting) and so we wander around trying to find a seat. Since it seemed that this was, in fact, a limited engagement, the tables were all full, but we did manage to find one near the front on the far side of the joint. The cocktail waitress comes over and we order drinks (though not martinis, nor single malt scotch). "So we're sitting there, in almost complete darkness, at a table for two, when a couple comes in and sits at the table in front of us. Oddly, they're dressed in 50's garb. We look around thinking how odd it is, but nobody else seems to notice. Behind us is a group of old ladies, obviously living up the jazz scene and paying little mind to anyone outside of their group.
The band takes a two minute break and is joined by a guy who proceeds to pick up a mic and address the audience. He's dressed in a 3-piece suit, and is clearly not your average, everyday Joe. He starts to sing, and dance with the mic and we decide that we really need to get out before the Klingons blow up the ship without our knowledge.
We weave our way out of the bar and back to the elevator in the hall. At this point Kaycee actually says "computer, end program." The doors opened, we got in, and were magically transported back to reality. "Seriously, was that not just like being on the holideck? You know what the holideck is, right?" I had to agree wholeheartedly. We had been to the holideck. Totally freaky.