Mr. Dungbeetle

So, tonight I went to the cast and crew screening of Mr. Dungbeetle. A feature length film written and directed by Tom Russel and produced by Jeff Parkin (both BYU film professors). I admire and respect both of these men. They are amazing. And I must say, the film was a true reflection of that fact. If any of you ever get the opportunity to see this film (whether there's another screening sometime or it's picked up by a major distributor) do not hesitate to see it. There's a powerful message of faith, love, and healing in the film that I think embodies, to some respect, the truths that we as members of the gospel of Jesus Christ hold dear.

Outdoor Retailer Convention

So Saturday I went to the Outdoor Retailer Convention (held in Salt Lake in the Salt Palace) with two of my friends: Chris Raver, and Ryan Gardner (partners in an online retail store for climbing, hiking, and camping equipment called Camp4Gear). For all of you advertising/marketing peeps out there, I highly recommend going to a convention if the opportunity ever arises. Strictly from that perspective, it was a great experience.
What made it even better was the fact that I won a free backpack full of cool stuff from a raffle drawing at the Leave No Trace booth. It was sweet.

Velour

For those of you in the Provo music seen I thought I would let you know that there is a new music venue in town. Yes, there's actually a good place for bands to play in Provo!
Opening night was last weekend, and it was great. I went Saturday and watched Between Sleep and Sound, Taught Me, and Return to Sender perform. I had heard "of" but never heard any of these bands play and they all put on a great performance. The venue is way sweet. I hope everyone and anyone who likes live music and wishes to support the local music here in Provo will check the place out at: http://velourlive.com/

You ever have one of those days?

So, I haven't posted in a long while and I need to repent. Since there's no school tomorrow I figure I'd take advantage of it by updating (to some extent my blog) haha.

Anyways, have you ever had one of those days where it just seems like no matter what you do, you can't get a date? haha.
I think it's just funny. You call one girl, and she's busy that day. You call another, but she doesn't answer the phone...so there's the question: do you leave a message??? If you do, depending on what you say, you risk the chance of locking yourself in. What happens if she doesn't call back until the day before the anticipated date??? You can't ask someone else out until you hear back from her and know that she can't go...
So, you decide to leave a generic message and just say you wanted to "see how she was doing, etc, etc" and ask her to call you back. You call another girl (we're on 3 in case you lost count). She doesn't answer either so you decide to not leave a message this time.
By this point you still haven't heard back from any of the girls and the day for the date is fast approaching. You're by no means a Casanova...so you don't have a never ending list of girls you can call. You decide to call a girl you've just met in the ward that you're only minutely interested in....and guess what. She's busy that day too, but is genuinelly busy and says stuff like "you'll have to call me again sometime," "I'd love to do something some other time....blah blah blah." So not only have you attempted asking 4 different girls for this date and still have nothing to show for it. This girl whom you are only minutely intersted in is now expecting you to call and ask her out again.
It's just been one of those days...

it's so over

I have like negative-finity motivation to do any school work whatsoever.

quite possibly the best $5 I've ever spent for a concert

OK, so it was actually $10 because I had a date, but holy cow what a show. I went to this place called Mo's Bar and Grill to see a friend of mine (Mick Coon) and his band (MadisonSomething) play. Our friendship goes back to the good ol' days of high school, and I think the last time I saw him was for like 2 years ago for like 5 minutes at his wedding reception...or maybe it was his brothers, I can't remember...it was that long ago.
Anyways, I'm digressing. Mick really wanted to touch base since I'm down here in Provo and he's living in Salt Lake with his wife. He was dieing to have me come up and hear his band so invited me up to Fridays show.
It was awesome!
If any of you have the opportunity to go to one of their shows...do it.
Overall their music is just chill, smooth, almost jazzy at times, and yet poppy and with an edge of rock in there keeping things real.
Mick (vocals) great voice that's easy to listen to and yet has this hint of roughness to it that lends itself to a great sound.
Mike (guitar and sax) allthough he appears at times to be expressing no emotion in his body language the solos coming out of that sax and guitar scream otherwise.
Nate (drums) he makes it look easy
Jake (keyboard and back vocals) somebody needs to put this kid in a straight jacket! the insane amounts of energy that he channels behind that keyboard to the stage and to the rest of the band make for an incredible show
Michael (bass) he's just solid...and then out of nowhere he starts harmonizing witih Mick and Jake...then when you think that's all he freakin goes off on this bass solo like it's nobody's business and it's like (jaw dropping sweet)

The set started off great and then after maybe 40 -50 minutes into the thing they took a short break, then came back out for another 40-50 minute go at it. The finished strong and then after cries for an encore, came back out and played two more songs, one of which turned into something like a 10 minute improv jam session where each member of the band in turn just went ballistic on their instruments and then the keyboardist jumped from stage and proceeded to do the robot around the venue and then busted into a breakdance routine.

There was just an amazing energy at that show.

I guess what I'm saying is CHECK THEM OUT at madisonsomething.com (there's a link over on my sidebar). and if they ever come to Provo...man, what a treat Provo is in for.

virgin post

So...my first post on my new blog, and I don't even know what to write about.
I guess there are several reasons why I created a blog:

1) Seth Hill has a blog and he's freakin' cool
2) You can never have too many things to distract you on the internet
3) Lately I've really been feeling the need to record my thoughts, feelings, stories, etc...I'm not sure how to explain it other than to say that the other day I was talking to a friend of mine (actually it was kind of a first date sort of experience). In the process of our lunch and relaxed conversation we told each other a little about ourselves...you know: I grew up ______ with _____ brothers and sisters. My parents are_____ and they live _______, etc, etc. (hurray for first dates!)

Well, in the process of telling a short synopsical summary of a small portion of my childhood upbringing that brought me to that very point in time, sitting there, having lunch at Brick Oven with her...I got this overwhelming feeling that I really needed to write all of these thoughts and stuff down.

I've decided that I'm going to write an autobiography. I know that may seem weird, but I don't know...something inside me needs to express my story (we all have one). And I don't mean the censored story that we tell our "friends," and the rest of the world. I dont' mean the "mask" we present to the world of who we want them to think we are. I mean the REAL story of the REAL us. THAT STORY. It scares me. It really does. To write down and record the pure naked truth of myself for others to read. It's down right frightening. But something inside me is screaming to get it out.

Whether it takes weeks, months, or years for me to really "start" such a project, I guess i can consider this blog as a start.

(if you feel so inclined, please post your thoughts on the subject)