After dinner Friday night, my wife suggested driving downtown to see what it was like. It was about 10 o' clock when we arrived, and we drove through the Blue Dome district, then across to Brady Village.

While we didn't see a lot of people out on the street, there were plenty of cars on the street and in the lots. The parking lots around the Old Lady on Brady were full -- the theatre was featuring "1964", the Beatles tribute band.

What surprised us was the lack of music around these venues. We had the windows down as we drove past, but all we could hear were crickets chirping. I had expected to hear live or recorded music spilling out into the street, grabbing the ears of passers-by the way the hickory smoke from Jamil's chimney grabs the noses of travelers on I-44.

So I have a question: Is this because of the city's noise ordinance, or for some other reason? The noise ordinance is a help for Tulsa's residential areas, but it would make sense to relax it in downtown. I think the sort of people who want to live downtown wouldn't be bothered by music from nearby clubs -- it would be part of the attraction.