My Ballard-dwelling friend Denise and a bunch of us closed out karaoke at The Sunset Tavern with some Night Ranger last night. Kirsten is still quite pleased with the cover of Ike and Tina's version of "Proud Mary" that I backed her up on (Denise's friend Evan was no slouch...we both sang the Ike parts). I sang on maybe four or five songs that night, the most karaoke I've ever done in an evening...

The rumor I hear is that Sunset Bowl will close for good Sunday, 4/13. The end of a personal era looms...I was never a great bowler here, and the days I'd close a bar like this on any sort of regular basis are long gone now. I will miss having one less opportunity to bowl and have a decent cheap drink with pals out in Ballard nonetheless. Ah, it was about time I switched up to the neighborhood lanes anyway (Imperial Lanes off of Rainier Ave South)...

The Loom Of Ruin: ANTI-WAR MARCH @ HOLLYWOOD & VINE

I was obsessed with Sam McPheeters' former record label Vermiform. Vermiform's "Fear of Smell" compilation is an old favorite punk-comp. These qualifying notes serve as a poor introduction to his thoughts on a recent anti-Iraq-War protest in Hollywood (http://loomofruin.blogspot.com/2008/03/anti-war-march-hollywood-vine.html), but there you are.

I haven't marched against the Iraq War...the most that Kirsten and I have done since 2003 is hang our "No Iraq War" sign form our window and tell our friends and family how ill-concieved we think the war is. It's nice to read Sam's take on it, covered as it is with references to "pop culture", a.k.a. our culture...