Now that was a weekend!!

Now this has been the BEST weekend of 2011 so far. Amazingly great times and memorable moments! Going into this weekend, I knew what events were on the schedule. What I didn't know was how awesome they would play out. On the weekend's schedule: my brother visits from CT, Disturbed concert at The Rave, my graduation ceremony.

My brother flew in for the weekend to celebrate my graduation from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I picked him up at the airport on Friday night. Went to Mo's Irish Pub down the street to have a few beers and shoot the breeze. Now, whenever my brother and I get together, which isn't that often as he lives in CT and I'm in WI, we always have a great time. Never used to be that way, but now we know how to have a good time. I introduced my brother to some of Wisconsin's finest craft beer and he enjoyed them. I think he likes New Glarus' Spotted Cow the best so far. Anyways, we closed Mo's.

Saturday was a chill day. I showed him some more of Milwaukee as the last time he was here it was snowing. Took pictures with the statue of the Fonz and had a few beers. As the afternoon rolled into evening, we went to meet a couple of friends for dinner. On the way, my brother noticed the Coyote Ugly Saloon and said we must stop in. There was maybe a dozen people in there. We played a drinking game. The first challenge was to write down with chalk on the bar as many dirty words as you can think of in like 60 seconds. There was a four-way tie and I was one of the four. Should I be embarrassed about this? Nahhh. The tie breaker was a stick figure sex position challenge in which I had to draw as many sex positions as I could in 60 seconds. Well, I won hands down. Now, if I shouldn't be embarrassed about the dirty word challenge, what about this one? Hahahaha.

We had dinner and then headed to The Rave to see Disturbed in concert. Wow! What a hell of a show! Amazing performance from beginning to end! The first band was Art of Dying. I've only heard a couple of their songs, which I liked, so I was looking forward to them. Solid band. Great vocals. After them, Nonpoint took the stage. I've seen Nonpoint before at Summerfest 2008. I remember they played at 6:30 and thinking they should have been an 8:00pm show. Nonpoint may never be the type of band that will headline big shows, but they certainly now how to deliver an energetic show. They finished with what is probably their biggest hit, Bullet With A Name On It. The night's headliner was Disturbed. I had never seen them before, having missed previous opportunities to see them live. All I have to say is AMAZING! Kicked a$$!!! I was blown away by their sound. Definitely glad I didn't miss them this time.  Check out pictures.

After the concert, we went back downtown. My brother wanted to experience Coyote Ugly when it was in full gear. I wasn't that impressed. Aside from all the hot ladies in there, it really didn't do much for me. Not necessarily my kind of club to hang out in. Check that one off the bucket list...done.

Back home at about 3AM again and we had to get up early. Sunday morning was my graduation ceremony. After eight long years of juggling work, school, and some semblance of a social life, I earned my degree, Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Technology. You are never too old to learn. Feels so great to finally have finished. It's really only just starting to sink in.  Now to make this shiny new degree work for me.

If this weekend is just a sign of what else is to come in 2011, it's going to be one hell of great year!