Oh, The Used? Yeah, I met them...
:):):):):):):):)
That was me last night. I'll add a few more for good measure.
:):):):):):):):)
Ok, now I'm ready.
So yesterday afternoon, around 4:30pm, I was on my way to my karate school to teach class when I get a phone call from The Edge 103.9 radio station. I am a member of the Edge Insiders Club, which allowed me to enter a contest to meet Quinn and Jepha of The Used at a listening party for their new cd at Gameworks. I entered it just for kicks, not really thinking much about it. Well, guess who won a meet and greet pass? Moi. Stoked city? I think yes.
But, I had a problem. Who was gonna cover classes for me at the school? As the program director, it's my job to teach and oversee operations every night. Nail biter moment. So I called my friend James, who's an assistant instructor, and the soonest he could get there would be 5:30pm, but class started at 5pm. Not good. Several more phone calls are made to other instructors, coaches, and higher ranked black belts. Can someone puleeeeez cover for me? Nothing. No one can make it. I sigh. Perhaps it's not in the cards for me to meet The Used. I mean, I like their music and it would be cool, but I can't say I would be destroyed, only merely disappointed. But then, dun dun dunnnnnnn, one of the assistant instructors I called agreed to cover for me. Oh, happy day!!!!
I had to get class started, but I was able to leave soon after. Now, I live on the northwest side of the valley in Glendale. Gameworks is on the east side of the valley in Tempe. Which means, on a good day, it takes about 45 minutes to get there. But in 5:30pm rush hour traffic? Um, yikes. I pressed the peddle to the medal, and after taking a wrong turn and driving another 15 minutes out of my way, I finally arrive at Gameworks at 6:30pm, get my wristband, and go upstairs. There was about 70 other kids there, and we were all packed into this one room where, get this, there was no actually line to stand in like at a standard m&g. Instead we were all pressed together like cattle and standing in front of the roped off area, where Jepha stood by a table and Quinn kept bouncing from one side to the other, trying to reach as many kids as he could. It reminded me of standing at the barrier, just with no moshing and a lot less pushing and shoving. Actually, despite all of us being crowded together, everyone was pretty nice to each, so that was really good.
I met up with a girl I remembered from the MCR show a few months ago. It was one of those "Hey, don't I know you?" moments. So we hung together with her friends and helped each other take pictures when our time came. It's cool how you can remember people from the different shows you've gone to and meet up again like old friends at these sort of things.
So, anyway, I met Jepha first. He was super cool. He signed my poster and took a pic with me. Some little girl, maybe 10 years old, in front of me started asking him questions about Mikey Way, and despite the supposed feud between MCR and The Used, he was very sweet and answered her questions as best he could. I admired him for not talking trash about Mikey.
Then after about a 10 minute wait, I met Quinn. He too signed my poster and took a pic with me. Then I was stuck. SO many kids were packed in waiting that I couldn't leave. So I actually got to wait behind the ropes in between Quinn and Jepha with an Edge intern until the crowd dissipated. The intern and I sat and talked about how she got her job and what she does for the radio station while I got to remain all of three feet away from Quinn and Jepha. That ruled.
The promoter then started shooing out the kids that already met them but were lingering around, but he let me stay behind the ropes until almost all the kids were gone. I thought that was nice of him. He could've been a jerk to me but he wasn't. So I pulled Quinn to the side and thanked him for everything and he gave me a big hug. He looked so tired, so I told him to go get some sleep, and he laughed and was like, "Yeah, I need it! Thanks." I then went over to Jepha and thanked him too and also got a big hug from him. He told me they were going to sleep on the plane but they love doing signings and meeting their fans so thanks for coming.
I would post the pics I took with them but I won't for two reasons: a.) I don't want them stolen and pasted all over the internet and b.) Alltel charges up the butt for internet access, so I'm not going to email myself the pictures. They're just gonna have to stay safely on my phone, lol.
Not that you'll ever read this, but thanks Quinn and Jepha for an awesome night. You guys were really cool.
That was me last night. I'll add a few more for good measure.
:):):):):):):):)
Ok, now I'm ready.
So yesterday afternoon, around 4:30pm, I was on my way to my karate school to teach class when I get a phone call from The Edge 103.9 radio station. I am a member of the Edge Insiders Club, which allowed me to enter a contest to meet Quinn and Jepha of The Used at a listening party for their new cd at Gameworks. I entered it just for kicks, not really thinking much about it. Well, guess who won a meet and greet pass? Moi. Stoked city? I think yes.
But, I had a problem. Who was gonna cover classes for me at the school? As the program director, it's my job to teach and oversee operations every night. Nail biter moment. So I called my friend James, who's an assistant instructor, and the soonest he could get there would be 5:30pm, but class started at 5pm. Not good. Several more phone calls are made to other instructors, coaches, and higher ranked black belts. Can someone puleeeeez cover for me? Nothing. No one can make it. I sigh. Perhaps it's not in the cards for me to meet The Used. I mean, I like their music and it would be cool, but I can't say I would be destroyed, only merely disappointed. But then, dun dun dunnnnnnn, one of the assistant instructors I called agreed to cover for me. Oh, happy day!!!!
I had to get class started, but I was able to leave soon after. Now, I live on the northwest side of the valley in Glendale. Gameworks is on the east side of the valley in Tempe. Which means, on a good day, it takes about 45 minutes to get there. But in 5:30pm rush hour traffic? Um, yikes. I pressed the peddle to the medal, and after taking a wrong turn and driving another 15 minutes out of my way, I finally arrive at Gameworks at 6:30pm, get my wristband, and go upstairs. There was about 70 other kids there, and we were all packed into this one room where, get this, there was no actually line to stand in like at a standard m&g. Instead we were all pressed together like cattle and standing in front of the roped off area, where Jepha stood by a table and Quinn kept bouncing from one side to the other, trying to reach as many kids as he could. It reminded me of standing at the barrier, just with no moshing and a lot less pushing and shoving. Actually, despite all of us being crowded together, everyone was pretty nice to each, so that was really good.
I met up with a girl I remembered from the MCR show a few months ago. It was one of those "Hey, don't I know you?" moments. So we hung together with her friends and helped each other take pictures when our time came. It's cool how you can remember people from the different shows you've gone to and meet up again like old friends at these sort of things.
So, anyway, I met Jepha first. He was super cool. He signed my poster and took a pic with me. Some little girl, maybe 10 years old, in front of me started asking him questions about Mikey Way, and despite the supposed feud between MCR and The Used, he was very sweet and answered her questions as best he could. I admired him for not talking trash about Mikey.
Then after about a 10 minute wait, I met Quinn. He too signed my poster and took a pic with me. Then I was stuck. SO many kids were packed in waiting that I couldn't leave. So I actually got to wait behind the ropes in between Quinn and Jepha with an Edge intern until the crowd dissipated. The intern and I sat and talked about how she got her job and what she does for the radio station while I got to remain all of three feet away from Quinn and Jepha. That ruled.
The promoter then started shooing out the kids that already met them but were lingering around, but he let me stay behind the ropes until almost all the kids were gone. I thought that was nice of him. He could've been a jerk to me but he wasn't. So I pulled Quinn to the side and thanked him for everything and he gave me a big hug. He looked so tired, so I told him to go get some sleep, and he laughed and was like, "Yeah, I need it! Thanks." I then went over to Jepha and thanked him too and also got a big hug from him. He told me they were going to sleep on the plane but they love doing signings and meeting their fans so thanks for coming.
I would post the pics I took with them but I won't for two reasons: a.) I don't want them stolen and pasted all over the internet and b.) Alltel charges up the butt for internet access, so I'm not going to email myself the pictures. They're just gonna have to stay safely on my phone, lol.
Not that you'll ever read this, but thanks Quinn and Jepha for an awesome night. You guys were really cool.