Tis been awhile no?

Summer is coming to a close, way too soon I might add.  Please hold while I curse the season out for being too short ($#$#$@!!).

4 days ago I officially became another year older.  Yay.  3 years until I hit 30.  Could this aging thing get any better?!  I elect that it can not!  *gag*

Summer’s been a busy one, whether I’m helping with a music event or playing in the band at our own music event; whether I’m painting my house or listing lazily to the left on my couch watching Family Guy; whether I’m at my day job or working on Local Sounds; whether I’m working at all or out enjoy time with my friends.  Yup, it’s been a good one.

As August starts to come to a close, I’m reminded of the great No One, who said, “Fear not, for the summer isn’t over quite yet.  We have Labor Day weekend, Taste of Madison, and a few several weekends of good weather left!”.  Then I realized it was I who said that and can no longer be quoted as quoting someone else’s quote.

While it is a good thing to think that we still have a good number of Summer / Beginning of Fall days in which yet to enjoyth, we are also just over 2 months away from that time of the year when our little ones dress up like the undead in order to collect that which kills us anyway: sugar-filled treats and those moronic apples on a stick covered in something that’s totally unidentifiable.

Yes parents, Halloween, that glorious holiday in which our children become the living Apocalypse, is drawing nearer.  Why do I say that?  Well for one, the stupid Halloween store in Madison has had it’s sign up for a month already as they prepare the store for shoppers.  I almost shat myself when I saw that a few weeks ago.  As if it isn’t bad enough that Christmas comes earlier every year (and for those of you who know me, you know I don’t care about that as much as I may make it sound), now Halloween is moving up.

What the hell happened to the Back to School season?  I do believe it was eaten by a werewolf, little Bobby.

On that note, I now know what I want to go as for Halloween: a Wannabe-Good-Blogger.  Scares the living shizzle outta me, but hey, that’s what October 31st is for right?  Or is it?  (Enter Vincent Price’s post Thriller video monologue here)

Yeah, know who’s been livin’ it up and keepin’ busy?  That’s right!  ME ME ME!  (Me too)

This past week has been a good time.  It started on Friday night when some friends and I went over to Milwaukee-nuts and planned to just grab some food and drinks at Summerfest.  The night got better when we realized we happened to show up on the night that The Offspring was playing!  I’ve been following them for years, all through high school really.  It was a treat to finally see them (or not actually see them from 3 miles back) in concert.  I should have photos up on Flickr soon.

Tuesday night my friend and I went back again to see Halestorm and Staind.  How coolio was that?!  I would like to make a third trip tonight to see No Doubt and Paramore, but I need to give the vehicular beast a break I think, so I’ll have to pass and pretend I’m there.  Some photos from this concert will also be posted eventually.

Speaking of vehicular beast, I traded in the Equinox a couple weeks ago.  Annnnd guess what I bought?  A freakin’ Lexus.  What the hell was I thinking?  (Oh, that’s right, I was thinking I’m cooler than you and deserve that..HA!)  You might think “why in the hell did you buy a Lexus?” (like everyone else I know) but I always thought they were nice cars (as do most I think) and I never thought I’d be able to say I own one.  Well, I came across this used 2006 RX 330 and was like “say whaaaa?”.  Long of the story short, it’s in my parking lot now.  I’ll have pics of that guy up soon too.

And finally, might I add that my new iPhone 3GS is the shittles (that’s right, I said it)?  All the photos I need to post from these shows and of the car will be from the new iPhone, plus I have some videos too, but I need to make sure those came out ok.  I’m still in the testing phase to figure out the best way to get the best video and audio.

Well, that’s been my last few weeks.  I guess this post is pretty braggy, but I mean c’mon, it’s no different than what I usually post, except most of this stuff is more personal than business.  :)

Oh, and by the way, .  (lol)  Thanks Jabloggyites, catch up wit y’alls later  Have a good 4th of July holiday!  Don’t blow yourselves up!

Well, the publication isn’t exactly about my soap opera known as “life”, but it is about music!  Behold, Local Sounds Magazine is now publishing content!  Hooray!

In related news, Local Sounds TV is currently attempting to get the post production crap underway for the MAMAs coverage and we were recently approached to cover a CD/DVD release party on June 12th.  Means that the video coverage is something that I think people are gonna latch onto sooner than later.  Friggin’ A, Bitch!

Last bit of Local Sounds updates (since that’s what the recent weeks of my bitchin’ life have consisted of), we are currently in discussions about a sweet deal that would have Local Sounds acquiring (or merging with) a local website that’s proved to be very popular amongst the music scene with some nationwide penetration (mmmmm).  Stayed tuned for that bit of fun later this year if all talks go well!

Anywho, there’s been a lot of going on with the band too.  Just finished up a couple of concerts, one being Felicia’s Trade CD release party at the Frequency on May 22nd (read about it on Local Sounds Magazine!) and May 24th at Brat Fest.  Those were the shit.

As usual, the Madison Area Music Awards never die.  I’m actually working on the updated site as we speak and we are opening registration soon instead of October.  Talk about a year round ordeal!

Next, just planning on doing some hard core remodeling around the house.  We’re pricing and planning right now to tear out my condo’s back door so we can replace it.  It’s not sealed right and it appears it was kicked in at one point.  Very attractive to the next buyer.

As a final note, that has to be the worst, most God-awful, photo of me ever!  However, the point of the pic is the shirt, not my ugly mug.

So that’s been “the rest of the story” for me.  Now take a hike you moron, and I’ll see you next time I post…

Yay!  There is a great level of stress that has been reduced to something a tad more manageable now that the Madison Area Music Awards are over.  You can see a list of the winners at http://www.themamas.org (if you care that much!).

For Local Sounds, we had a great response!  This year we debuted Local Sounds Magazine, Local Sounds TV, and MadisonUrban.com.  We also pushed out a new version of the Local Sounds site as well.  It has been a crazy few months, but we / I made it!

Local Sounds TV was by far the hit of the night.  Once we started getting some interviews lined up, it seemed everyone wanted to be on TV!  I was planning on maybe 5-8 interviews tops during the red carpet between 6:00 and 7:00.  We ended up doing tons more for a grand total of about 3 hours!  It was crazy!  And after we were done doing interviews, artists and kids alike were regularly using our Local Sounds backdrop as a place to take photos (see photo).  Awesome!  Not to mention free press for us…. suckas..

That’s right Jabloggyites.  The reason I’ve been missing in action for so long is because I’ve been going bonkers with preparing for the 6th Annual Madison Area Music Awards (MAMAs) here in Madison.  I’m winding down here finally as the music awards are this Saturday, May 9th.

Here’s a brief rundown of what I’ve been doing:

• Designed and printed 1000 hand fliers
• Launched MadisonUrban.com, a new community for the urban / hip-hop / R&B scene in Madison
• Built and deployed Local Sounds Magazine, a new online magazine covering the music scene in Madison
• Tended to and maintained the Madison Area Music Awards website (I’m the web guy on the board of directors)
• Built and deployed the website for Local Sounds TV, a new service we’re launching this Saturday
• Managed the design and construction of a 4×8 Local Sounds backdrop for the Local Sounds TV video booth at the MAMAs on Saturday
• Planned the booth for Local Sounds at the music awards in the lobby
• And I think that’s everything…

So see?  I wasn’t faking it!  Oh, and before Saturday I still plan on updating the Local Sounds website, so hopefully by this weekend you can go to localsounds.org and check out all the features I’ve listed above.

Thanks for your patience, and I should be back a little more often very soon.

This past weekend I was up in my hometown for a nice 4 day weekend. But it wasn’t all fun and games! For some strange reason (and because I can be a nice guy) I was up there to assist with the production of my old high school’s musical this year.

Now before all of you start emailing me asking me to come help with your high school musical, I want to make it clear that I did this only because it was a special occasion! See, when I was in high school, we put on a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This year happens to be the 10-year anniversary of that show, so they did a fancy little alumni cast reunion (only a handful of them showed up, but it was still nice) at the end of the final show on Saturday night. I was featured as an alumni pit band member, along with another girl who came back to help out on piano.

It was weird to be back there again, especially since it was 10 years ago already and it feels like only 2. I didn’t really feel all that old, but when you think about it, the kids that were in the show were like in 4th and 5th grade when we did it. NOW I feel old!

I realize my presence on Jabloggy has been a little quiet, only posting once a week for the last few posts. Unfortunately, it might get worse before it gets better. See, it’s MAMAs season (Madison Area Music Awards) here in Madison, and I always gets pulled in several different directions at once during the next couple of months (le sigh…).

But after all the hub bub is over, I expect to be able to talk about a few new things for Local Sounds that we’re planning on debuting and promoting at the music awards. If all goes according to current plans it should be a good time (for us and maybe you too! don’t worry, we’ll share!).

In other news, I have to take back everything I said in the last post about Mac. I failed to mention that I was giving him a test drive last week. I took him out of the shelter as a foster parent to see if he and Lexi would get along. As (crappy) luck would have it, Lexi wasn’t overally keen on the idea of having a buddy around all the time. Plus after looking at the expenses incurred with a second child, I came to the conclusion that I would have to wait to expand my family. So last Saturday I had to take him back. It was sad, but I’m sure he’ll find a good home!

Come early to take advantage of the $5 cover charge ($10 after 11:30pm), where you can enjoy a great night of hip-hop and R&B with Tefman (L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S.), Rob DZ, DLO (with KALO), and 2007 MAMAs winner Felicia Alima. DJ Fusion will be performing before the show and in-between sets. Proceeds will support the Madison Area Music Awards, which raises money to help put instruments into kids’ hands. A MAMAs booth will be set up for your convenience to help you register to become a MAMAs member and vote in the first round.

The first round of voting will run from February 5th through March 20th. The Nominee Announcement Party will be held at the Brink Lounge on Saturday, March 28th and the final round of voting will run from March 28th through April 28th. The 2009 Madison Area Music Awards will take place at the Barrymore Theater on Saturday, May 9th. Performers for the awards show and other fundraising events will soon be announced.

Calendar of Events

• February 5-March 20-1st Round of Voting
• February 21-The Urban Fundraiser at the High Noon Saloon featuring Tefman (of the L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S.), Rob DZ, DLO (w/KALO) and Felicia Alima
• March 21- JT Whitney’s “Free Beer for a Year” Fundraiser
• March 28-Madison Area Music Awards Nominee Announcement Party at the Brink Lounge featuring live music by MB3, raffle and silent auction
• March 28-April 28-Final Round of Voting

Sucks to be all you people who didn’t come down to the High Noon Saloon in Madison last night to check out 4 amazing rock bands and help support WJJO’s Rock for Launchpad benefit! The band I used to play with, Planet of 9, was one of the bands, but that isn’t the best part. Of course, the best part is I got to guest star and play their Madison area hit “Falling Down” with them!

Me and another Matt (vocalist / bassist for Dragdown) went up and gave Cody (drums) and Dustin (bass) a break. It was nice to be able to get up there again and jam out a song that I love but have never played live before. It was great!

I miss that adrenaline rush… maybe I should go back to that, or start taking drugs* (or not), or something…. Anywho, I hope to add some photos to my Flickr account soon, so I’ll update this post if and when that happens.

(* drugs are bad, mmmkay kids? uncle matt wasn’t serious, get a grip!)

UPDATE (1/27/09): Added photos to the Jabloggy Flickr, as well as the “nice” photo of Cory (guitar, Planet of 9) and myself