my friends and I wanted a drink in peace, and the place was full of old drunk men; I put on Bat Out Of Hell in its entirety, and the place cleared out less than halfway through You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth.

There are exceptions to my “no long songs” rule – that Meat Loaf album is one, Sonic Youth is another, and there’s a few more – but by and large if it’s less than 3 or 4 minutes I’m happy.

Answer: It’s Phoenix, where the sports bars have neither good beer nor good jukeboxes. We get spoiled in the NW.

because they are, indeed, awesome. They’re one of my exceptions to the long-song rule. Two Minutes To Midnight is a freakin’ amazing song. I wish they were playing down here.

I’d be so much more down with ditching them if they weren’t flying up here just for the graduation. And my folks aren’t rich. And dunno about you, but I actually like my family ;P How else could I ever manage free room and board on vacations to Vegas?

All things considered, the prospects of being able to make it aren’t completely hopeless. IIRC the grad ceremony is an early event. Obviously, we’re not sure when and where on 6-14 the LL/USSM event’s going to be. If it’s close enough and the timing’s right, I may try to drag them into a doubleheader or drop them off and make it… but if it’s in Tacoma and/or if it’s a day event, well… not too sure. But IIRC we saw night games at last year’s meetups. If it’s a similar plan, it could be possible even if it’s down in Tacoma. But if it’s a daytime meet/greet… have fun!

Either way, Eric has suggested dragging my mother and brother to a game afterward. I may see at least about getting them to go to the game at Safeco that night.