x1yyz

Yup, this exactly.

Personally, I was pleasantly surprised with all the fan bits (thought I would not enjoy, but I did.) But I always wondered that about the front row crew. I mean, back in the day, I had front row a couple times - once by winning a food-drive raffle at the show (Rtb, Great woods, Mass) and once the old fashioned way (skipping school and lining up at the venue at 7 am for a general admission show; HYF tour, RPI, Troy, NY). Since that time, for every single tour, I had been on every pre-sale and public sale online with a fast connection at the very millisecond that tickets went on sale - sometimes kept trying for hours, then later in the day - and only once ever scored tickets in the first 5 rows. I always had decent tickets, but rarely in the first 5 rows (R40 Philly, SnA, Jacksonville). I did splurge for VIP package on 2 tours (and got 2nd, CA tour, Manchester and 7th rows TM tour, Red Rocks). I refused to accept the stubhub gouge. Yet, at nearly every show I was at since 2002, I would see many of the same people in the front couple rows. How do they do it? Ridiculous expenditures on the post-market sales? Connections with the band/crew/management? Sexual favors? Because I don't buy the "sheer luck" path - I've pulled those levers myself for all those tours and came up without the jackpot - no way there is some magical internet connection that allowed them to pull those seats every time. On the CA tour I ended up in the first and second rows because I bought my tickets literally the second they went on sale. For R40 I was out of the country when they went on sale so I got them from StubHub. The thing is, one you go front row you can't go back :D (Plus, it being their last tour there was no "maybe I'll get first row next time".)

Haters

A third sloth species?! Yay! They are so cute.

I almost forgot Greyfrier's appearance. Hilarious. Complete video-bomb of the shot. Brought a smile to my face. Now I'm really curious and that makes the wait even harder. Can't believe that I'm in the film. WTF have I done??? Nothing bad, don't worry!

I'm really sorry to hear this, Union. I didn't realize that a hospital could make such a decision. Is there some way of appealing it? It seems like with a family match waiting, they would want to get the transplant done ; but I don't have much medical experience. I'll be sending healing thoughts toward your mom and your family. Unfortunately, doctors can turn down people for surgery if they think that person has certain health issues that can lead to serious complications or even death of the patient. If there's a high chance her cousin could die from the surgery due to some medical issues she has, then they can turn it down. I can't imagine a decision like that is easy. But I understand why a doctor wouldn't want the death of a patient to be on their head if they approve someone for surgery who could be a serious risk. It's more my mother's health that is the risk. She is a small frail woman and has been turned down by local hospitals. So over the last year we went to the Cleveland Clinic to see if they'd give her a shot. They expect her to be at risk if she has the surgery. But she's even more likely she'd die by continuing dialysis for however long. I bet she could keep going a few more years, but a transplant could keep her around another 10-15. If only there was some sort of waiver that we could sign where we promise not to sue or seek any recourse if she died in surgery (unless there was gross negligence). Many of her doctors here actually say she's good to go and have vouched for her. We'd be willing to take the risk of surgery over the certainty of the alternative. Union, I'm very sorry your mother and your family are having to go through this. I worked at the UCSF Kidney & Liver Transplant Clinic for a a couple of years and learned a bit about the transplant process. If your mother isn't in good health (kidneys aside) then yes, she is at much more of a risk to die during surgery. But post-surgery, a transplant recipient will spend the rest of their life taking immunosuppressive drugs to ensure their body does not reject the transplanted organ. If an unhealthy or frail person is immunosuppression then it is very possible they might contract an illness that will kill them. It was my understanding that a person in kidney failure could live indefinitely on dialysis. Am I wrong? Well she's already had a transplant once before and has been taking immunosuppressive drugs for more than a decade. To my knowledge, she still is taking them. People can last a long time on dialysis, but she's been on it for over 4 years now. She's seen a decent number of the people in the clinic pass away over the years and she feels herself getting weaker and weaker. To the extent of some of reading I've done, some folks can last as many as 20 years but they usually are a bit younger. People closer to their 70's only make it 4-5 years because it's such a draining process on the body. I hope something changes and she can get her transplant.

I'm really sorry to hear this, Union. I didn't realize that a hospital could make such a decision. Is there some way of appealing it? It seems like with a family match waiting, they would want to get the transplant done ; but I don't have much medical experience. I'll be sending healing thoughts toward your mom and your family. Unfortunately, doctors can turn down people for surgery if they think that person has certain health issues that can lead to serious complications or even death of the patient. If there's a high chance her cousin could die from the surgery due to some medical issues she has, then they can turn it down. I can't imagine a decision like that is easy. But I understand why a doctor wouldn't want the death of a patient to be on their head if they approve someone for surgery who could be a serious risk. It's more my mother's health that is the risk. She is a small frail woman and has been turned down by local hospitals. So over the last year we went to the Cleveland Clinic to see if they'd give her a shot. They expect her to be at risk if she has the surgery. But she's even more likely she'd die by continuing dialysis for however long. I bet she could keep going a few more years, but a transplant could keep her around another 10-15. If only there was some sort of waiver that we could sign where we promise not to sue or seek any recourse if she died in surgery (unless there was gross negligence). Many of her doctors here actually say she's good to go and have vouched for her. We'd be willing to take the risk of surgery over the certainty of the alternative. Union, I'm very sorry your mother and your family are having to go through this. I worked at the UCSF Kidney & Liver Transplant Clinic for a a couple of years and learned a bit about the transplant process. If your mother isn't in good health (kidneys aside) then yes, she is at much more of a risk to die during surgery. But post-surgery, a transplant recipient will spend the rest of their life taking immunosuppressive drugs to ensure their body does not reject the transplanted organ. If an unhealthy or frail person is immunosuppression then it is very possible they might contract an illness that will kill them. It was my understanding that a person in kidney failure could live indefinitely on dialysis. Am I wrong?

That can also go for the fireworks stand. We haven't had those out here for decades, probably.

I loved the Obama fist bump

On the CA tour I ended up in the first and second rows because I bought my tickets literally the second they went on sale. For R40 I was out of the country when they went on sale so I got them from StubHub. The thing is, one you go front row you can't go back :D (Plus, it being their last tour there was no "maybe I'll get first row next time".)

I also had the same observation, but in Neil's defense, A) he lives in a different place than the other guys and B) ever since Neil's family tragedies, Ged and Alex kind of run things from the public eye perspective, so it wouldn't be surprised if Neil's involvement with the doc was handled on his own terms, for lack of a better phrase. Yes, I agree completely.

It is the perfect last song on a last album; the end of their career.

Another telling thing... Through the film, as they are counting down to the last show, Geddy & Alex have an attitude of "Oh drat, only one more show to go :( " while Neil said "Oh my god, I still have to do one more show".

Fantastic!

If you've seen the documentary and/or read Neil's book you know the answer to this is: NO. Geddy also specifically said Rush will not go on unless it is the three of them.

Hey, Gina! It was fun to point out to my buddy that I kmew the hot girl in the front row! And of course seeing Greyfriar was a hoot! Was that Duff holding up the poster right before Working Man? No, he didn't have a poster at the show. We can probably find him on the DVD, though.

I heard at the Spartan Races if you skip an obstacle you have to do a bunch of burpees. I've got time to get into shape before TM!

I just got home from the show. Our theatre was not very full at all; less than half full. The movie itself was emotional, and yes, they are telling us things are definitely over. The only TRFers I recognized were me (in the intro, front row, Alex's side) and Greyfriar (in the credits, pokes his head in from the right side). Well, I do know there were many TRFers in the crowd shots of the LA show, but you'd need to pause a DVD in order to have the time to see us. Tom Healey, I'll look for you on the DVD :)

Nice to have you back, GM!

Earthquakes

Well, it's not like the band is getting all that money. Probably at least half of it will go directly to the theatre. Large chunks will go to the distributors, filmmakers, management, etc. Maybe the band will get a dollar a ticket...for a movie showing for one night in a limited release. Not exactly what you want to plan your retirement fund around!

The one in Tahoe, in June. You should join us!

Has anyone here done Tough Mudder? (https://toughmudder.com/) It is a 10-12 mile course with obstacles (and mud) that you and your team try to finish. I have a group of friends that have now done it three years in a row, and I'm thinking about participating next summer. The thing is, while I can walk ten miles I've never done that much walking PLUS a bunch of difficult obstacles, and I've never trained or participated in any sort of race before. If you've done Tough Mudder before, were you in shape? How much did you train, and was that enough? Just how challenging was it?

We'll tell you in a few hours :)