I blame the government!!

Once upon a time, on a computer far far away I used to update my blog on a weekly basis. Usually I would share stories about my musical adventures, and occasionally I would just tell stupid stories about places I had been or people I had met. Then somewhere along the line I just sorta stopped. I'm not totally sure why this happened, though I think it may have been some sort of government conspiracy.........I'm working on some theories, it goes pretty deep. Well I figure that it is once again time to cast off the shackles of my oppressors and violently rise up against "The Man". I shall overcome!!! So what has been going on in my crazy world you ask?!? That is a fair question, and I will try to give you a fair answer.

So last weekend my longtime percussionist and friend Josh Thompson (aka THO or Tivio) took a little road trip to the cheese filled state of Wisconsin. Now I hear you asking your computer monitor out loud "who would choose to drive to Milwaukee Wisconsin in the middle of January?!?" To which I would respond "how did YOU know I went to Milwaukee? Do you work for the government?!?" (I told you my conspiracy theory ran deep, but I digress) I was invited to be the musical guest on an improv comedy TV show called "Fishsticks.TV". The show went great, the Fishsticks crew was not only hilarious but incredibly kind (check them out at www.fishsticks.tv), and I got to meet another amazing musical guest from Sweden named Jonathan Thulin. Definitely check out this cat, he is super rad!!! (www.myspace.com/jonathanthulin) I was also introduced to "Milwaukee Style" pizza on this day, which to my understanding is flat, huge and delicious!! I learned so many new things on this trip, far too many to share in a blog that any of you would take the time to read. I will however make note of a few things I learned on this trip, you are all welcome to ask me about another time if you would like to hear the hilarious back stories.

- Josh Thompson is apparently Seth Rogan's younger brother. Did not know that.
- The waitresses in Milwaukee will rap for you once you have finished your meal.
- Lawyers are hilarious!!
- A bottle of water in your hotel room will cost you $5, or the machine right outside your hotel room door has them for $1.50.
- Some people move to Wisconsin because there is so much more to do than in Alabama. In Alabama people just spontaneously start jogging because they are so bored.
- A mouth guard worn by a certain percussionist I know to stop snoring can mysteriously fly across the room in the night and land on YOUR double bed. Either that or some strange things were afoot at the Best Western that night!
- There is a place in Wisconsin called the Cheese Castle! I really wish I would have had more time to investigate this one further!!
- Tollbooth operators in Illinois are legally allowed to screw with you if you happen to pick the unlucky booth. They will also throw your lousy Canadian quarters right back in your face.
- Etc...

This last Friday I had the opportunity to be the special guest on "Fuse FM's BIG Morning Show" with my friends Sara "The Intern" and JohnnyBIG. They were running a special contest this day called "The Avalanche of Goodness", which is the best name for a contest ever!! Better yet, the grand prize of this contest was...............ME!! The lucky winner gets to host a private house concert featuring yours truly. I mean, how many radio stations are actually giving away people these days?!? I also launched my brand new career as a country music singer on the show, which I figure should either make me exceedingly wealthy or kill any musical credibility that I once had. Either way, you can't beat live radio!!

And finally I got to close out the weekend playing a special birthday show in Saginaw with my good friend Jayson Simonson. Basically the entire evening consisted of Josh, Jayson and myself completely slaughtering all your favorite pop hits from the 80s, 90s and now!! What better way to end a great week of musical adventures!!

I'm planning to keep this baby updated on a more regular basis to keep you all informed, so be sure to stay tuned for more ridiculous tales and silly stories. And if any of you have any more information to share about that government thing I'm looking into, might wanna speak in code....they might be listening! Just walk up and say "The grey hawk flies at night!" I'll know what it means!