2013: DALLAS “LOCKED & LOADED”
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DAY 1: PALOOZIANS HIT THE BIG D
For their 18th edition, the boys venture into the lone star state in hopes of attending some epic sporting events and finding some midnight tacos. Done!
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DAY 1: WE HAVE LIFTOFF
Milando is all buckled in and ready for Palooza Dallas.
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DAY 1: THE LADS ARRIVE
Sean (in pre-finger-of-doom mode), Al and Milo look ready to have some Texas-style fun.
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DAY 1: NICE VIEW
The Paloozians have a pretty sweet view of Reunion Tower from their rooms at the Dallas Hyatt Regency.
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DAY 1: OPENING BEVERAGES
The boys make it all the way to Monduel’s in the hotel lobby before deciding to partake in their first beverages—Deep Ellum IPAs and Texas Sours. Yum.
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DAY 1: TEX MEX TIME
The boys then venture on to the very popular Pepe & Mito's for some hot Tex-Mex and cold margaritas.
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DAY 1: DEEP ELLUM
The most concentrated area for nightlife in Dallas can be found in Deep Ellum, a neighborhood that is covered in graffiti--some meant specifically for us.
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DAY 1: PALOOZA GANGSTA
Smalls flashes some Paloozian gang symbols to alert the locals that there are some new sheriffs in town.
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DAY 1: DEEP ELLUM BREWING
It’s a muggy night, so the Paloozians head to Deep Ellum Brewing for some cold brews.
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DAY 1: CHEERS!
The Paloozian hijinks generally kick in around 8pm on night one. They appear to be right on schedule.
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DAY 1: STRANGE RATIO
After a quick beer, the boys move on to Eden. It takes the Paloozians a full seven minutes to figure out that this bar isn’t really meant for bunch of hot dudes.
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DAY 1: NEXT STOP
From there, the Paloozians move on to Wit’s End, where they stay parked for a few hours. Here are Milo and Bill catching up on mountain biking strategy.
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DAY 1: BEER CHART
Ever wonder how different types of beer came to be? Just swing by Wit’s End to check out their beer chart.
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DAY 1: DEEP ELLUM NEON
The view of Deep Ellum from the patio at Wit’s End.
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DAY 1: SEAN TAKES THE MIC
To fire up the crowd, Sean takes the stage to deliver a stunning rendition of “Mr Brownstone” from G & R.
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DAY 1: BAR-TOP DANCING
And here's the fool dancing on top of the bar.
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DAY 1: MIKE'S EPIC APPEARANCE
At about this time, Al’s friend and local resident, Mike Gaudet shows up to have a few with the Paloozians. He then packs us in his minivan and drives us all to Fuel City at 2am for the best tacos in Palooza history.
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DAY 2: THE PARK AT ARLINGTON
The next day begins with a cool stadium tour at the home of baseball’s Texas Rangers.
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DAY 2: STATE FLAG
Boy, you just never see this flag when you’re in Texas.
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DAY 2: MANNEQUINS?
The Paloozian’s tour begins with a walk past dozens of these legless mannequins. No idea what that’s about.
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DAY 2: VISITORS DUGOUT
Bill and Al check out the perfectly manicured field and reminisce about their past heroics at Sloshball.
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DAY 2: COOL STADIUM
None of the Paloozians like the Rangers (arch-rival to the Angels) but have to admit that their stadium is pretty cool looking—especially the outfield seats.
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DAY 2: LEAVE THE AC ALONE!
The AC piping has taken a few hits from Rangers hitters frustrated by Angels ace, Jered Weaver.
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DAY 2: AL SNEAKS IN A MICRO-NAP
In a stunning departure from a long tradition, this is the closest Al comes to falling asleep standing this year.
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DAY 2: BATTING CAGES
Yes, this is the part where Sean tries to steal one of the dozens of baseballs from the batting cages.
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DAY 2: THE PRESS BOX
The view from the Rangers press box, complete with the state-of-the-art iPhone 6 for placing beer orders.
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DAY 2: FORMER RANGERS OWNER
Apparently this is where W goes when he wants to take in a game in between painting strange stuff.
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DAY 2: WILD BILL'S
After the tour, the boys head over to Dealey Plaza downtown. The first stop is Wild Bill’s to try on hats.
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DAY 2: BUFFALO JACK
“I reckon y’all don’t look like you’re from around here.”
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DAY 2: EL CHUPA
“Supongo que no parecéis ser de por aquí.”
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DAY 2: THE WINDOW
The top right window of the Texas School Book Depository is the one Lee Harvey Oswald used to spot JFK as his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza.
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DAY 2: LEE HARVEY'S LAIR
The exhibit in the Book Depository is maintained to look just as it did that day, complete with rifle shells scattered on the floor.
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DAY 2: X MARKS THE SPOT
There are two eerie X’s painted on the road to mark where JFK was shot. The Book Depository is the building on the left and further left is the infamous “grassy knoll” which looks just as it did that day.
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DAY 2: TEXAS-SIZED STEAKS
The Paloozians wrap up a solid day in The Big D with some Big D-sized ribeyes at Pappas Brothers.
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DAY 3: ARCHERY LESSONS
Day three begins with some archery lessons. Here’s our teacher reminding Milo not to target animals.
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DAY 3: OOPSY
But somehow Allie manages to take one in the chest.
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DAY 3: TARGET PRACTICE
The only thing this poor woman learned was to avoid doing any future lessons when Paloozians are involved.
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DAY 3: MILO IS ON A ROLL
Milando squares up as he aims for another bullseye.
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DAY 3: THE DAY'S WINNER
Despite the assumption that Al would dominate the archery, given his well-documented Navajo lineage, Sean proves to be the best archer on the day.
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DAY 3: THE DALLAS PALOOZIANS
The Paloozians are looking quite spry, knowing that a trip to Rudy's Famous BBQ is up next.
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DAY 3: COMIC-CON DETROUR
After several failed attempts to locate Rudy’s, the boys assume it must be fate that they attend the Dallas Comic-Con event that they keep driving past.
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DAY 3: SEAN IS ON ZOMBIE WATCH
These shows are pretty cool. Aside from all the cosplay people dressed as various comic-oriented characters, there are props from various TV shows and movies.
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DAY 3: STAR WARS NERDS
A pudgy and balding Han Solo poses with Princess Leia, Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker wanabees at the show.
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DAY 3: BREAKING BAD CAST
The Paloozians are psyched to discover the Breaking Bad cast doing a Q&A at the show. That’s Giancarlo Esposito who plays meth kingpin, Gus Fring on the left.
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DAY 3: RUDY'S SAUCE
The Paloozians finally arrive at Rudy's for some delicious smoked meats and their tasty BBQ sauce.
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DAY 3: SMOKED GOODNESS
Soon the Paloozians are knee deep in smoked sausage, baby backs, brisket, pork tenderloin, and tasty sides.
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DAY 3: AT&T STADIUM
With their bellies filled to the brim, the Paloozians head on to the day’s featured event, a premium football matchup of Notre Dame vs Arizona State.
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DAY 3: CHEERLEADING GO-GO STAGES
AT&T is a great stadium, highlighted by an enormous screen above the center of the field and these epic go-go dancing stages for the cheerleaders.
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DAY 3: FIGHTING IRISH BAND
The halftime show put on by the Notre Dame band is pretty awesome, complete with a smoking tailpipe.
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DAY 3: NOTRE DAME 37 - ASU 34
The Irish hold off a late push from ASU to win by 3.
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DAY 3: THAT FACE!
Satanic Seanie closes out the night with a photo bomb.
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DAY 4: TEX-MEX BREAKFAST
Our final day always involves an awesome breakfast.
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DAY 4: HUNGRY DUDES
Craig and Al anxiously awaiting their pending breakfast burrito carb load.
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DAY 4: NOW THAT'S BREAKFAST
After swearing that he would eat light to close things out, Sean talks himself into this tasty monstrosity.
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DAY 4: BRONCOS BUS
The undefeated Broncos pass the Paloozians on their way to the game.
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DAY 4: BACK TO AT&T STADIUM
Bill gets ready to toss his bag as Milo looks on.
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DAY 4: STANDING ROOM ONLY
The view from above one of the main standing-room-only areas. A decent showing of Broncos fans.
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DAY 4: THE VIEW
AT&T is a tad steep but the video monitors ensure that you don’t miss any of the action.
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DAY 4: COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS
The world-famous Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders perform from their go-go stations.
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DAY 4: THIS GUY LOVES KFC
Despite what you’ve heard, the Colonel is actually alive and well and catching a lot of Cowboys games.
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DAY 4: LADY FINGERS
And he also has the beautiful long fingernails you’d expect on your grandmother.
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DAY 4: DENVER 51 - DALLAS 48
Palooza concludes with one of the best regular season games in NFL history, as the still undefeated Denver Broncos come back to win 51-48 in a game that breaks dozens of NFL records. Another Palooza is complete.
Inside Colopalooza: Bill Taylor