Time has passed and a new Blog is finally written

Hello everyone out there in the internet world! I haven’t posted in a while due to laziness and business.  When I wanted to write a post, I didn’t have time; when I had time, I didn’t feel like posting.  However, this is me posting because I have time and I want to!!  A lot has gone on in the past couple of weeks.  There have been shows, work, visitations from family, american idol craziness, and seeing a lot of live music.

I will start out with a couple of weeks back and work to the present.  I had one of my friends come all the way from Pennsylvania to try out for American Idol.  They were having tryouts at the Bronco’s Stadium.  That week was crazy because he didn’t have a car and there isn’t that great of public transportation outside of the city: I live outside of the city.  So, I was able to drive him back and forth to the tryouts. The only thing that I can say is that I waited in line and played my guitar in the American Idol line.  There were some crazies there though.  I don’t think that I would ever try out for that for a couple of reasons: 1. I don’t have a great voice, 2. runs with my voice don’t sound very good 3. too many crazy people.  I’ll just stick to laughing at all of the terrible acts during the season.

During the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to go to the mountains and camp, hike, and fish.  My dad came out to visit me for a week and we were able to hang out.  It was awesome.  We stayed in Rocky Mountain National Park and fished. I was able to learn how to fly fish. I was the only one who “caught” a fish during our fishing expedition (I put that in quotes because I really didn’t catch a fish because I went back to cast and I had a 4 inch rainbow trout on the end and flung him right out of the water…it was pretty funny to see).  Not only did I get to hang out with my dad in the wilderness, I was able to hang out with him at two of our concerts.  He was able to see us play a show at the High Dive two Saturdays ago and then at the Underground Music Showcase this past Saturday.  He was the first family member to hear Churchill live.  I wish all of my family and friends could be out hear so we could hang out and listen to music together.  We got a video on the Denver Post website which got us pumped. here is a link.

I was also grocery shopping last night and figured that the world would be a lot more happier if we acted a little more like children.  I looked at everyone who was shopping and the only one’s who were smiling or happy were the children.  This may be due to long lines and million people who shop at walmart at 9:00pm, but I just wondered if we were a little more layed back and happier like children, people would like living more. Just a thought.

I am reading Mere Christianity again.  C.S. Lewis is a very good writer.  He knows how to say the most interesting and thought provoking statments with elegance.  He doesn’t need a million words to get his point across.  I wish I could write like him, however blogging probably won’t get me to his level.  Alright…I am going to post some pictures from the last couple of weeks.  have a great day!!!!! Listen to our new song here.

Me at the Wilco Concert at Red Rocks...awesome show

At the Top of Pikes Peak

At the Garden of the gods! It was beautiful!

Jim, Greg, and I jumping for Joy!

At Red Rocks for Death Cab and Andrew Bird.

Catching up on some stuff…

Have you ever had an experience that you felt like you were in some sort of movie…I know this may sound wierd, but the other day I started a jog in the middle of the day and it felt as though I was in an awesome movie. The colors were brilliant, the air was warm, I loved running, it was sweet!  In fact, it was one of the first nice days that we have had in the last three weeks. I am thinking that I live in Seatle because it rains every day and then gets really sunny and then rains again.  I have never seen this many consecutive thunder storms. I also saw a rainbow and then a lightning bolt flashed right underneath it and it was the first time I have ever seen that.  Here is a picture (also there is a picture of the hail we got the other day too)

The rainbow from inside a "Good Times"

What the Hail? By my starbucks drive thru

Well, I had a busy week last week with a couple shows and a bunch of work.  We played at the Laughing Goat in Boulder on Thursday and had a bunch of people come out for it.  The venue was a small coffee shop with an organic/earthy feel to it, and the workers danced to our music.  Then on Saturday we played at a festival in the wee hours of the morning (10 oclock).  I started off the festival with my instrumental set and that seemed to go over pretty well.  Then our band took the stage to provide a simple, unique atmosphere that made moms dance, kids dance, and dads nod thier heads.  We had a really great crowd and they came and went as they pleased, however a lot of them stopped until our performance was over.  I was bummed  because I had to go to work right after the performane and couldn’t hang around the fair…and that is when something big happened…a dog happend…yes you heard me, a dog.  Meet the newest member of Churchill: Winston!!!!

Little Winston

He is a lab/great dane mix which means he is going to be a monstrous dog!  He is full of energy and loves to play all of the time.  Even as I am typing this he is playing with my feet making it hard to type because the licks tickle and make me giggle.  Oh, and he is already 40 lbs at 5 months old.  I’ll keep you up to date on how big he is getting.

On other news, I am going to be an uncle for the third time in a couple of weeks.  This is going to be different because this time it is going to be my first niece: Bella Morter.  I am super excited to become one of those protective uncles who spoil their niece and won’t let anyone date her and make threats to the boy who asks…it is going to be awesome!  Well, I hope you are having the most sweetypieness day.

Chipotle Drive Thru??

I was really hungry the other day, so because of my craving for a good burrito I decided to go to Chipotle with Tyler (he plays bass in Churchill).  We had to get some gas for “The Scrambler” (that’s my awesome blazer) so we stopped to fill it up.  Then we headed towards Chipotle.  As we got out of our The Scrambler, we saw some employees and some people coming out of the restaurant and looking at a car and a small crowd of people.  I didn’t know what happened but I saw that one of the windows was shattered everywhere and there was a car up on the curb with a smashed front end.  It was definitely obvious that the lady who was driving this car had ran right into the window and smashed it.  We went inside and got in line and then this father and son came in right behind us and told us that they were going to pull into that parking spot but let the lady have it, and she must have thought that it was a drive thru parking space because the guy said that she never stopped and just cruised right into the window.  It was pretty crazy because all of the cops, firefighters, and an ambulance came and it turned out that a little boy was sitting at the stools right behind the window that was smashed.  Nothing happened to him, but he saw the crash literally right in front of his eyes.  This is what we would call a “crazy situation that doesn’t happen every day.”  Here is the picture that I took after it had been cleaned up a little by the firefighters.

Chipotle Madness

Tornado and Hail and Life

So I was trying to take a nap yesterday when out of no where I start hearing things pelting my window.  I really didn’t want to get our from under my warm blanket to see what was going on outside of my window, but I pulled myself up to do it.  I looked outside and there was hail about a centimeter across falling from the sky with extreme speed and hurtness (hurtness – adj. when something hurts you by falling from the sky).  I stuck my hand out to see if, in fact, it hurt: it did.  Then I went back to my warm blanket and tried to take a nap before I had to go to work.

Then, when I got to work, I was informed that there was a tornado about a mile or less away from my starbucks…!! I have always wanted to see a tornado, but I had missed it by about an hour.  I guess that it happened at the same time I was hearing the hail hit my window; waking me up from my Sunday afternoon slumber.  They also informed me that three birds ran into our windows at work and they actually showed me the spot where one had ran into and it had feathers and junk all up ons.  One of my co-workers whipped out her phone to show me the tornado and it looked something like this:

This may be a little exageration...

Pretty crazy picture huh…Anyways, I finally got rid of our cable because our shows are all done, we didn’t feel like paying for it anymore, and it gives me more time for music stuff.  We had a show on Thursday night and it went awesome.  We had a great turnout and actually got decently paid.  I was pumped because we had a lot of people come up and talk with us afterwords who we didn’t even know.  Churchill is going to blow up….haha! I wish.  Well, I hope you have a gorgonicmanic day (gorgonicmanic – adj. an incredibly great day filled with wonders from distant lands.)

Another day in the life…

So I was walking out of Wing Stop (a wing place that we, meaning a bunch of friends, meaning the band, meaning other people too who go every Tuesday night) and a homeless guy came up and gave me a big hug…I really didn’t know what to do.  He just came up, cigarette in hand, walking like he was out at sea, and gave me a hug.  I didn’t know what to do. I stood there and just took it.  I didn’t try to give him any affection because honestly I didn’t know what was going on because it came so quick.  I just looked over my shoulder and there was some dude giving me a hug outside of a wing place in the middle of Denver. It was a very weird situation.  I just walked away, got into my car and left.

Another situation happened to me when I was at my apartment.  I decided to go outside into the courtyard to sit on the bench and read and write.   There were some kids playing in a tree that was right by the bench where I wanted to sit, so I decided to just go over there and sit down while trying to ignore the little kids; however, that didn’t happen.  I was so intrigued by the kids talking about their girl friends and boy friends (these kids were probably 7 or 8 years old), and how they were going to break up with them because of some silly thing they had done.  The walked away after giving me some good stares and then this boy came out of his apartment.  He was a simple boy with glasses; kind of like the outcast of the group, and he started running after the group of kids.  His quest failed quickly because he triped over some rocks.  There was no one around, accept for me, and so he got up and walked back to his apartment without crying and then once he entered the apartment the tears started flowing.  After he had his mom kiss his wounds, he was able to gain his composure and come back with the strength of a gorilla.  He then proceeded to talk to himself and sit himself at the table in front of me.  He talked to himself a little more and then gave me cold glances over his left shoulder. I didn’t know what he was doing, but then he just walked around chatting up a storm and seemed like he was having a good time.  It was a good encounter.

That is what has been happenining. Hope you’re all doing well. I have a show on Thursday and I’m really pumped!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

Trip to the Mountains and Friends

Oh…hello all. Welcome to my random thoughts. It is Wednesday and I just got done getting my tooth drilled for an hour.  The numbness is going away and my face feels like it is going to fall off.  It is funny having half of your face numb and trying to drink something or eat something because you can’t feel or taste on that side of your mouth…hopefully I didn’t bite my cheek off.  I am 1/3 of the way done with getting a root canal, and if you haven’t ever had one, try to avoid them by going to your dentist regularly and brushing your teeth every other hour (they hurt a lot).

Well, I was able to make an awesome trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday.  It was so much fun.  I was accompanied by Dan, Dana, and a high school friend Lauren Brumbly.  We made the hour and a half trip to the mountains and found a nice mountain to climb.  Our first sight in the park was that of Elk; everywhere.

EEEEELLLLLLLKKKKKKK

Then we made our way to the base of the mountain and looked at the board to find the best way to go.  As we started we passed a half dozen people riding horses who had just come from the top of the mountain and they said that this was the hard way up the mountain, but we knew that we could crush it.  So we continued up the mountain and tried not to step in the horse do-do.

The Map Board that told us to go up.

We stopped halfway up the mountain to eat some sandwiches that we packed (we knew it was halfway because some girl told us and it was devastating news because we though we were a lot further).

Our eating spot and Dan's ability to set the timer on the camera

We finally reached our destination and it made the trip even better.  The top was beautiful even with a bunch of clouds everywehre.  We had fun taking “senior” pictures and throwing rocks off the top and then we headed back down just before the rain started.  It was a great day!

The top of the mountain

We made it!!!!

My awesome pose

Work and Play

I am sitting in my own starbucks on a nice Friday night…yes I said a Friday night. This means that I don’t have a social life and that I love to work.  I had a little too much play the last two weeks with my trips and all, so now it is time to get back to the drink making and song writing.  Work is something that you need to love doing.  I say this because doing something that you don’t love for 40 hours out of your week doesn’t fulfill anything but the bills.  If you dread going to work, then maybe it is time to do something that you love to do.  I am finding this out more and more, and I can’t wait to only do music for my career.  That is my goal for right now.  Every time I have a show I just want to keep playing until my fingers fall off or I start bleeding…that may be a little extreme but I would do it.

Well, I have to get back to work. Keep on Keepin On!

Me being phsyched to be at work!

More Traveling

(Beat box rap) Phhhh chick Phhhh chick…my name be Mike and I travel round the country.  I go on planes and travel to different counties.  From Michigan to Florida I hit up the streets, and then make raps and lay down sweet beats.  Now I know you think this rap is the best, but it’s good to be back in the wild wild west. M-dawg out.

I have been traveling the last couple of weekends seeing family and friends, and it has been awesome!!!  I flew back from Tampa last night and arrived with amazing weather and mountains staring back at me with the sunset looking like a fire.  I had a really great time in Florida because I got to see my friend Steph before she goes to Africa for a couple of years with the peace corps.  Then I spent a day with my cousin Kristen…it was a great time.  I rode horses, played with three year olds, played rock band, and beached it up.  The weather was nice and enjoyed the company down there.

We had a show last Wednesday night and it went fantastic.  We headlined our first show at the Meadowlark in downtown Denver and had four different opening acts which left our set to go on around 12:40.  It was a really late night, and we actually stayed up until my flight left.  I was impressed with the people who stayed for the entire show because it didn’t get over until 1:30 in the morning.  They were troopers and I thank you for staying those of you who were there and are reading this right now.  I know that those of you who don’t live in Denver would have stayed that late too…

Well, we are getting more shows and recording some more tunes.  We are hopefully going to have them up on itunes pretty soon and then you can all purchase them.  Well, have a wonderful blunderful dunderful day, night, afternoon.

mike

Trip the L.P. and U.P.

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog.  I have done some traveling, hanging out with people I haven’t seen in a while, and playing music. It all started by having a band practice on Wednesday night that turned into an all nighter/me trying to sleep on the couch while everyone else stayed up, however I ended up sleeping for like an hour.  Then we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast in the morning and we were all a little tired…but we made it to airport.  Now when you’re flying you usually know what airline you are supposed to fly with and when it leaves, but I’m not like everyone.  I thought I was on American Airlines, but they didn’t have me in their system and they didn’t have a flight to Grand Rapids.  Then they informed me that I was on Midwest Airlines and it was leaving in 30 minutes.  I hadn’t even gone through security yet, so I was a little stressed.  I got through security by going through the metal detector 4 times because I had change in my pocket and I had forgotten about that.  I got to the gate safely and boarded the flight.  While I was on the flight, I had to listen to a baby scream for 3 hours…it was a pleasant flight.

I got home in good time and was able to catch up with family and friends and then I left Friday morning for the U.P. (for all of those who aren’t from Michigan, that is the Upper Penninsula/the forgotten land).  I drove for three and a half hours and made it to St. Ignace for my show.  I played for a high school banquet.  It went really well and we followed up the dinner and entertainment with a game night.  We played Awana games, the price is right, boggle, family feud, and some others.  The night was over at three in the morning.  I went back to the house I was staying at and fell asleep very quickly.

The next day consisted of going and visiting my grandparents, four-wheeling, listening to stories, go-carting, batting cages, driving range, and freezing my butt off.  We did a lot of things and then finished off the night with watching Cool Runnings, and I played a lot of my songs for some of the high-schoolers.

I left early in the morning on Sunday and made it home for Mother’s day.  We had a great time hanging out with family and laughing a lot.  Then we took great Sunday afternoon naps.  I got up from my nap and got ready to play special music at my church.  I didn’t have my number done yet, so I worked on it.  I arranged Nothing But the Blood of Jesus with my looping pedal and some crazy things.  I played at my Church and it went really well…I realized how much I have missed those families that have played a vital role in my high school years.  It was great to catch up with a lot of people.  Next time I hope I will be able to spend more time with them.

I am writing this from the plane back to Denver.  I almost missed the connecting flight in Milwaukee but got there right before they closed the door.  I am really exited to get back and play some shows.  We have a show on Wednesday and we are really excited because it is our second show with the whole band, and we have a couple of new songs that we are playing.  Well, here are some pictures from the weekend.

Me on the plane with my cookies

Me and my mom on Mothers day

Happy Jack

Rory being Rory

Playing at the banquet

Sweet Muffins

Hey all out there in internet land!!!  I am just posting this new video that I made when I was bored the other day.  Let me know what you think.

CLICK HERE