Being Matt James

Rub-a-dub-dub

2011-05-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

Something kinda funny happened to me yesterday so I figured I'd share. I was taking a shower before work - a seemingly normal routine that happens every day. Just before I'd gotten all the soap suds washed off, the water pressure started to get a bit low. I thought, "Oh. One of my roommates must have flushed the toilet or something." As I watched the pressure get lower and lower, it trickled down to nothing. I immediately realized the water had been turned off. There I stood, dowsed in soap, desperate to wash the suds off. I quickly reached down and plugged the drain with the palm of my hand and began splashing the leftover water in the bottom of the tub all over me. My quick thinking worked for a bit but the water soon drained completely. Luckily, I'd gotten most of the suds off and I was able to wipe the rest off with my towel. We found out later that there had been construction outside and an emergency situation caused them to shut off water in the immediate area. I just happened to be one of the unlucky people who chose to take a shower during that time.

Just a normal morning bathroom routine for Matt James.

Today is my birthday!

2011-04-28T17:32:00.001-04:00

Well well well... hello blog world! Today is my birthday! I can't believe I'm 24 years old. It's been quite some time since I've written a blog post. I feel like not a lot has happened since my last post but there have definitely been some life changes. I'll begin where I left off...

"Hairspray" was an absolute blast. Every night literally felt like a rock concert. Audiences gave us standing ovations and our reviews were really great. The cast was so much fun and I'm so glad that I was able to share that experience. After "Hairspray" ended, it was time to head into Tech week for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." We had a great Richmond area actress named Kathy Halenda come in to play the role of Mona. She is absolutely fantastic in the role and a joy to work with. Right now, we're in our last weekend of the run. It's hard to believe that we've been running for nine weeks. Physically, this show has been exhausting for me. As one of the Aggie football players, our big showstopping dance number takes every ounce of energy I have. But I'm so grateful for the exercise I've been getting because of it. And my confidence in my dancing ability has definitely risen. Once again, Jonathan Dodd made a promo for the production. It looks great!

Once "Whorehouse" performances were underway, I decided to go ahead and audition for Riverside's next production, "Hello, Dolly!" I almost decided not to audition because I was getting a little run down and felt that I needed a break. Boy, am I glad I decided otherwise. Not only am I playing Cornelius Hackl, my favorite role I've ever played thus far, the theatre was able to hire Sally Struthers to play the lead role of Dolly Levi. For those of you in my generation who don't know who she is, Sally is best known for playing the role of Gloria on the hit T.V. show "All in the Family." Most recently, she's known for the role of Babette on "Gilmore Girls." She's a screen and theatre vet with a lot of fame and notoriety to bring to Riverside. It truly is an honor working with her. There should be some rehearsal footage soon! We open "Hello, Dolly!" on May 6 and run through July 3. I can already tell this will be one of my most memorable shows to date. So in a nutshell, that's pretty much what's been going on in my life.

Except for one more little detail...

I'm moving to NYC!

Yes, the Big Apple will now have Matt James as a permanent resident. Not only that, I'm moving with four other people: Ashley Keeter, Jordan Weaver, Matt Mitchell, and Margie Mills. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN?!?!

In all seriousness, I'm really glad I've finally made the decision to go. Because of working full time and performing in this last string of shows, I've saved enough money to be able to support myself and get myself on my feet once I've moved. As of now, our projected time period is in September. We're all super excited. My next step in the process will be to find a job that has both, enough flexibility to allow me to audition, and enough pay to keep me afloat. Settling on an apartment will come once we get closer to the date. AHHH!!!

Alright, that's all for now. I'll try my best to continue updating as we get closer.

I just don't see why we can't all dance together!

2011-01-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

Justine and I have yet to hear back from "The Amazing Race" applications. I'm certain this is because they're watching our video over and over again, trying to understand the brilliance of it. Once they calm down, I'm sure they'll be giving us a call. :-)

"Hairspray" performances have been going really well! The audiences are really loving the show. I think the show has so much heart, it's hard not to feel a part of it. While it is really quirky and fun, it also has a strong message that is really very simple. Tracy has a line saying something like, "I just don't see why we can't all dance together!" She doesn't understand (and neither do I) why people who are different have to be treated differently. After all, everyone wants the same thing. Audience members can always connect to some part of themselves that is different or unique. I think that's why people love it so much.

In an earlier post, I put up a video that Jonathan Dodd made showcasing us in rehearsal. He's now made a promo video with all of us on the set and in costume/makeup. The video looks great! Check it out:

Also, here are a few still shots of me performing in the show:

Singing "The Nicest Kids in Town"

Singing "(It's) Hairspray"

The "Corny Collins Spectacular" finale suit

I'm also the "flasher who lives next door"

Our curtain call final pose

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In other news, I've recently found out that I'm cast in Riverside's next production, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." The cast is super strong for this show so I'm very excited. I'll be in multiple roles but mostly as the Bandleader/Deputy. Basically, I am one of the narrators in the show, singing a few songs that serve as exposition. I'll also be one of the "Aggie" football players as well as the top tenor in the Quartet. AKA, I'll never leave the stage! :-) We started rehearsals this past Sunday and open the weekend after "Hairspray" closes. "Whorehouse" will be directed by Patrick A'Hearn and choreographed by Christopher Noffke. They were the same team to direct and choreograph "Chicago."

Update

2011-01-04T13:42:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,
"Hairspray" opens this Friday night at the Riverside Dinner Theatre in Fredericksburg, VA. It's gonna be a great show. We had a fairly quick rehearsal period. Especially with Christmas/New Years added into the equation. We're in tech week right now getting down to the final wire. Costumes/makeup will be incorporated over the next couple of days. We're all pretty confident that we'll be ready for Friday.

Jonathan Dodd, who made the awesome promo video for "Chicago" also made a rehearsal promo video for "Hairspray." Check it out.

This video was made during one of our rehearsals last weeks sans the set/lights/costumes. He'll be creating another one this week to showcase what the show looks like as a finished product.

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Now, for those of you wondering about our "Amazing Race" status, Justine and I unfortunately did not have any time to film a new video to send off to the producers. FORTUNATELY, Justine is amazing and was literally able to create a video with old footage from throughout the years. I think it turned out great. Our applications and video were sent and guaranteed to be delivered by Noon today. They could actually be watching our video right now. Of course, by "could actually be watching" I mean they "ARE watching." Here's the video that Justine created. The only difference between this one and the one she sent is that there is a small outro riff at the end to give it a clean ending. ENJOY!

"The Amazing Race" and other things

2010-11-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if this is the best idea we've ever had or if this is possibly the worst idea to ever come out of anyone's head, but Justine and I have decided to apply for the "Amazing Race" Season 18! I've been doing some research today and I think we definitely have a good chance to be chosen - at least as semi-finalists. All they need is a partnership to create a 3 minute video that shows personality and gives them a reason that we should be on the show. We definitely have that covered. The new applications aren't up yet. As soon as they are, you better believe Justine and I will be all over it. I don't understand how the show has survived without us yet.

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On a different note, my ten week production of "Chicago" ended this past Saturday. I was sad to see it end. I've been working on the show for so long, I feel like it's become part of my life. However, it will be nice to have a small break. Rehearsals for "Hairspray" are underway and they've been going well so far. We're obviously still in the very beginning stages of everything. My track as Corny is pretty relaxed. I'm only in a few quick scenes and a couple of songs so my rehearsal schedule is very lax. The rest of the cast is really great and I'm so excited to see what this show is going to turn into.

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On yet another note, I leave in 5 days for Disney World! I'll be there Dec. 4 - 10. My parents and I are going together and they'll be celebrating their 30th anniversary while we're there. Once again, it will be great to get away for a week and not think about rehearsals or performances for a while. (Although, I'm not complaining because I'm very lucky to be getting the work that I have!)

That's it for now! Toodles!

The only thing better than Hairspray - That's me!

2010-11-11T11:10:00.003-05:00

Hello there guys and gidgets!

I'm so excited to have been cast as Corny Collins in Riverside Dinner Theatre's production of "Hairspray!"

It's a role I've been wanting to play for a long time. I'm not sure of the entire cast yet; We'll find out on Sunday. However, I do know that the Richmond/VCU area totally dominated the casting process! Current VCU Theatre majors Antonio Tillman and Katie Ford were cast as Seaweed Stubbs and Ensemble/Amber Von Tussle u/s respectively. Myself, along with VCU Theatre graduate Sarah Pruden were cast as Corny Collins and the Character Woman (Prudy Pingleton/Matron/Gym Teacher) respectively along with VCU Music graduate Kimberly Fox being cast as Motormouth Maybelle. CNU Theatre graduate Kevin Scott was cast as Link Larkin who is also from the Richmond area.

So get ready for a stellar show. The cast is great and I'm really happy to be doing another show at Riverside. Here's where some true time management comes in. Our first read/sing through takes place this Sunday. Since I'm still in "Chicago," I'll be performing that show and then immediately jumping into "Hairspray" rehearsals for the next three weeks until "Chicago" ends its run. I guess that's the life of an actor!

I'm so grateful to have been able to get three really great shows back to back and have them work out so well. When "Hairspray" ends its run, I will have either been rehearsing or performing a show for ten months straight. I'm staying busy and I love it!

So "come on down and meet the nicest kids in town" at the Riverside Dinner Theatre in Fredericksburg, VA. We run from January 7, 2011 until March 6, 2011.

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Side Note --

If you get a chance, go see the Broadway National Tour of "Hair" at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. I saw this current revival in New York when it was on Broadway and just saw this tour last week. The show is truly a religious experience. The acting/singing is great and their energy is infectious. I highly recommend this performance! It's running at the Kennedy Center Opera House until November 21.

Update... after 5 months...

2010-11-04T16:03:00.000-04:00

Hello all,
I can't believe it's been 5 months since my last blog entry. I promise I'm going to try to be better about this. My last update was still in the middle of rehearsals for "Rent" at the Firehouse Theatre Project. At this point, that shows seems so far away! So what's been going on since then? Okay, I'll try to be brief...

"Rent" ran for six weeks at the Firehouse making history as the highest grossing show they'd ever produced and being the first show to completely sell out every single night of the run. I was so proud to have been a part of this production. Our cast meshed so well together and we brought this story to life every night. Audiences and critics agreed that the show was a great production. We were all so honored with the following nominations and wins at the third annual Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards (*bold=Win) :

Best Musical
Best Actor in a Musical (Durron Tyre)*
Best Actress in a Musical (Joy Newsome)*
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (Antonio Tillman)*
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Jaci Camden)
Best Musical Direction (Leilani Mork)*
Best Choreography (Maggie Marlin)

I'm so proud that we were able to get so many nominations and wins and will never forget this experience.

During the run of "Rent," I auditioned for Mary Sunshine in Riverside Dinner Theatre's Production of "Chicago." After three callbacks, I landed the role. The timing worked out perfectly. "Rent" was to end August 1 and I was leaving a few days later to be in Disney World for a week. They ended up not needing me in rehearsals until after I returned. I was very excited to be joining this cast as Mary Sunshine. As most of you know, I played this role my senior year at VCU. And it wasn't until after I was cast that I came to realize that my director, Patrick A'Hearn, had played Mary Sunshine for years in the Broadway National Tour and also in the Las Vegas Production (starring Chita Rivera and Ben Vereen). Needless to say, this was a little intimidating. Rehearsals began strong with some amazing choreography by Christopher Noffke. We blocked the show fairly quickly and within three weeks of opening night, we were running the show every night. We opened the show on September 24 and began our 10 week run. WHEW!

Currently, we're in our seventh week of shows with three more to go after this. It's definitely been a very interesting experience playing the same role in the same show with a completely different director (not to mention one who had played the role professionally). Another really interesting thing about doing dinner theatre is that many times the actors can serve tables before the show to pick up extra cash. Obviously, I definitely wanted to do this. However, since the entire point of my character is that the audience is supposed to believe that I am literally a woman until the very end of the show, I have to serve tables as a woman. It's exhausting, but loads of fun! Oh, the things we'll do for our craft!

Working with Patrick has opened up doors to some great opportunities for me. He really likes me in the role and is trying to work out an audition for the National Tour. To have this opportunity would be a dream come true. I'm also auditioning for the same role on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's newest ship. Hopefully, one of these great opportunities will unfold.

Here is a production photo of me from the show as well as a promo video created for advertisement:

So, what's next?

On Monday, I have a callback for Corny Collins in "Hairspray" at the same theatre. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. This would be another great opportunity. The director, Mark Minnick, is one of the main casting directors for Pheonix Entertainment, casting many different National Tours. Being able to work with him would also be an amazing door opener.

So there's my life for the past five months. Luckily, it's been engrossed in working full time and doing theatre. I guess I can't really ask for a lot more right now. I'm very happy with how things are going. I feel confident that I'm doing what I need to be doing in order to make this career work. I'm building my résumé and getting my name out there as much as possible. As new auditions arise, I'll let you know.

Hope you enjoyed the update!

The Matt and Justine Morning After Show: Episode 1

2010-06-09T16:30:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone!!!!! Here is the moment you've all been waiting for. The first episode of the "Matt and Justine Morning After Show." Now, I have to warn you, the episode is not exactly what we wanted it to be, but I have to admit it is still quite brilliant. Due to a few technical difficulties, our filming of the actual morning after segment of the show (i.e. the commentary/hosting sections) did not record audio with the video. Therefore, we had to scrap those segments. Nonetheless, our brilliant chief editor, Justine, has put together this amazing version of what we wanted our first show to be.

Spread the video! Let's make this show a viral hit!

*Note: I've also created a page next to my "About Matt James" section above that will feature all the episodes so that you don't have to search to find the archives.

Update and "The Matt and Justine Morning After Show"

2010-06-04T15:00:00.011-04:00

Ahoy!

I've really been lacking on my blogging frequency recently. I just haven't had much to blog about. I've also been pretty busy, what with rehearsals and whatnot. Just to update, Rent rehearsals are going well. We've blocked almost all of Act I and will be finishing blocking this weekend. We've pretty much choreographed any dance heavy songs and have learned all the music. After this weekend, if things go as planned, we'll be running the show pretty much every night. I feel confident that we'll be ready for opening night. The show is going to be great.

We've been getting a lot of buzz. Yesterday, we performed at a Virginia art benefit that was held at a beautiful home on West Main Street. We sang the song "Seasons of Love," probably the most well known song from the show. Most of the attendees were very impressed with our performance and have booked us to perform at other venues in the future. Apparently, we'll be performing at a big house on Monument sometime this weekend. There was also some talk about a radio or TV spot. Exciting!

In case you haven't seen it, here is the poster for the show. It was designed by our very own Roger, Terence Sullivan. Kudos to him. The poster looks great.

Now, for another show that has been catching some buzz lately: The Matt and Justine Morning After Show. It's been a long time coming. Justine and I have been planning on creating this show for a long time but for some reason, we never got around to it. Our hope is to do weekly, or bi-weekly, shows. The problem is, Justine isn't living in Richmond for the summer so it's difficult for us to get together. But don't give up on us too fast because our first show is being filmed THIS WEEKEND. That's right folks, the first live installment is finally on it's way. We've got some great surprises in store so get ready! I just know we'll be YouTube sensations overnight.

Be sure to spread the word about the show. You can become a fan by visiting our Facebook Fan Page. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Last week, Justine released our very first video entitled The Origins of Rage. The video gives a slight peek into how we became the way we are. With our strong southern accents and youthful quests to ruin people's lives, it's easy to see that we haven't changed much. Only now our accents have disappeared and the number of people's lives we've ruined has multiplied times infinity. Here is the logo that was created for our TV show by Matt Tiemann and the first video that was released last week:

Stay tuned for more!

Life Update

2010-05-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

I realized today how long it had been since I late updated my blog. Nothing too wild has been going on. But some good things are happening.

On the Friday after my birthday, my friends threw a surprise birthday party for me. That was really exciting. The same thing happened to me 4 years ago when I turned 19 in my freshman year of college. It was also thrown in the same house so it was nice to have my four years there run full circle. When I entered the house, everyone screamed "SURPRISE" and dressed me in a grass skirt, a flowery bra, and a parrot head hat.

Needless to say, it was a blast!

RENT rehearsals have been going really well. I found out that I'm playing the role of Steve, among other things. We're not following the same ensemble tracks as the original Broadway production but somehow my track ended up being pretty much the same as the original all the way through. As Steve, I have the song "Will I?" Out of all the ensemble solos, this is the one that I wanted so I'm grateful for that! I also get some pretty awesome harmonies throughout the show. We open on June 24... that's not very far away.

My friend Laura Murden and I auditioned for the show "Chicago" at Riverside Dinner Theatre in Fredericksburg, VA. Both of our auditions went really well and we both received callbacks. She is called back for Roxy along with the cell block tango girls and I'm called back for Mary Sunshine, the role I played in my senior year at VCU. If we were to get cast, rehearsals would begin about a week after RENT ends so the timing works out perfectly.

I'm trying to get to NYC in a couple weeks to attend another "Chicago" audition. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is taking the Broadway production and putting it on their ship. I'm hoping to be able to audition for Mary Sunshine there as well. I'll keep you posted.

So there you have it. This is what's happening in my life at the moment. I'll update soon.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-04-28T15:29:00.017-04:00

Today is Wednesday April 28, 2010 and it is my 23rd Birthday!

I can't believe I turned 23 today. This is the first year that it's actually felt weird. I know that I'm still very young but I finally felt my age today. I think it's because this is my first birthday after having graduated from college. Also, no birthday is as exciting anymore.

When I turned 13, I was finally a teenager!

When I turned 16, I could finally get my license!

When I turned 18, I was finally an adult!

When I turned 21, I could finally drink legally!

Now, all I have to look forward to is turning 25 and being able to rent a car. BLECH!

Nonetheless, it is my day and I'm going to make the most of it! Birthdays are always so fun. It's when you instantly feel like a celebrity. And with social media websites like facebook that remind all your friends that it is your special day, your head swells with popularity as everyone writes "Happy Birthday" one right after the other.

Here are some facts about my birthday:

April 28, 1987

My date of conception was on or about August 5, 1986 which was a Tuesday.

I was born under the astrological sign Taurus.

My Life path number is 3.

"The Life Path 3 indicates that you entered this plane with a strong sense of creativity and with wonderful communication skills. Achievement for you most likely comes through engaging your ingenious expression. A truly gifted 3 possesses the most exceptional innovative skills, normally in the verbal realm, writing, speaking, acting, or similar endeavors. Here we are apt to find the entertainers of the world, bright, effervescent, sparkling people with very optimistic attitudes. The bright side of this path stresses harmony, beauty and pleasures; of sharing your inventive talents with the world. Capturing your capability in creative self-expression is the highest level of attainment for this life path.
Life is generally lived to the fullest, often without much worry about tomorrow. The 3 loves connecting with people. The characteristics of the 3 are warmth and friendliness, a good conversationalist, social and open. A good talker both from the standpoint of being a delight to listen to, but even more importantly, one who has the ability to listen to others. Accordingly, the life path 3 produces individuals who are always a welcome addition to any social situation and know how to make others feel at home. The approach to life tends to be exceedingly positive. Your disposition is almost surely sunny and openhearted. A happy and often inspired person, you are constantly seeking and needing the stimuli of similar people.
There is a remote side to your 3 Life Path, as well. This comes as a surprise to the native and to those who think they are well acquainted. The 3 is actually a very sensitive soul. When hurt, you can easily retreat to a shell of morose silence for extended periods. Nonetheless, the 3 eventually copes with all of the many setbacks that occur in life and readily bounces back for more. It is usually easy for you to deal with problems because you can freely admit the existence of problems without letting them get you down for too long. Because of your own sensitivity to hurt, you have a caring disposition and seem to be very conscious of other people's feelings and emotions." '

-Quoted from Astrology Numerology.com

My birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/29/1987 and ending 2/16/1988.

I was born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.

As of 4/28/2010 3:21:31 PM EDT
I was 23 years old.

I was 276 months old.

I was 1,200 weeks old.

I was 8,401 days old.

I was 201,639 hours old.

I was 12,098,361 minutes old.

I was 725,901,691 seconds old.

Celebrities who share my birthday:

Jessica Alba (1981)

Penelope Cruz (1974)

Nancy Lee Grahn (1958)

Jay Leno (1950)

Ann-Margret (1941)

Saddam Hussein (1937)

Harper Lee (1926)

James Monroe (1758)

My birth flower is a daisy.

My birth stone is the diamond.

My birth tree is the walnut tree.

On the day that I was born, there was a New Moon.

VIVA LA VIE BOHEME!

2010-04-19T16:53:00.002-04:00

It's finally happened!

Ever since I can remember knowing anything about musical theatre, I've wanted to be a part of a production of RENT. When I heard that Firehouse Theatre was putting this production up, I almost pissed myself. Not only is it one of my favorite musicals of all time, it is seriously one of the most inspirational stories that I've ever heard and has changed my life. I live my life based on these characters' lives and the lessons that they learn. And now, I've been cast in this production and I couldn't be happier.

The journey that we will go through as a cast is beyond comprehension. This show is going to be epic and I simply can't wait to be a part of it. Rehearsals start tomorrow!

Here is the cast list:

Mark - Nick Aliff
Benny - Josh Marin
Tom Collins - Durron Tyre
Roger - Terence Sullivan
Angel - Antonio Tillman
Maureen - Jacquelyn Camden
Mimi - Nadia Harika
Joanne - Joy Newsome
Male Ensemble - Keydron Dunn, Matt James, Matt Mitchell
Female Ensemble - Crystal Johnson, Courtney McCullough, Laura Murden

NO DAY BUT TODAY!

JMU Block Party - 2010 RIOT

2010-04-15T16:27:00.002-04:00

First of all, I am so ashamed that it has taken this long for my blog to be posted. But just getting it up here was an adventure in itself. Work has been busy this week so I had been writing little by little until it was complete. Just as I had finished it, my computer froze and I lost most of what I had written. Luckily, this story is one that will never be a lost memory so I was able to capture the event vividly with this post. And so, the epic tale begins:

Well well well...

If you follow my blog regularly, and even if you don't, you can see that my entry before this was a warning to the students at JMU and to the residents of Harrisonburg, VA. Apparently, no one believed the destruction that would occur upon my arrival. I have to admit that even I had no idea that my presence would cause such an uproar. What I saw this past weekend is truly one of the most incredible things I've ever seen and will be forever ingrained into my memory.

I'm not exactly sure where to begin and I'm going to try to only give grave detail where it is due. However, with so much happening, it's hard to choose where to consolidate and where to expand. But alas, here is my attempt at giving you even an inkling of what I've been through.

The fairly short one hour and forty-five minute drive was pretty relaxed and fun. We wanted to conserve energy for the unknown mayhem we were about to get ourselves into. It was a really pretty late Friday afternoon drive through the mountains.

We stopped a little over half-way there at a Waffle House where we stuffed ourselves with delicious and greasy sandwiches and hash browns that were covered, smothered, chunked, diced, blah blah blah. Needless to say, it was an amazing meal.

We then headed into Harrisonburg and arrived at Ricky's apartment. Since the bulk of block party was actually going to be taking place the next day, we decided to stay in for the night and celebrate Ricky's upcoming birthday. The night was relatively calm (especially compared to the next day).

At one point, I ended up outside in the parking lot singing a song that I called "Praise Jesus" and preaching to the students about their wrongdoings. I told them they were sinners and should not attend block party the next day because they would be eternally doomed. Some people may have believed I was legitimate because they screamed for me to leave them alone and go back inside. Others ran up to me stating that I was their hero and savior. I told them that the ingredients listed on their forties were my Holy Bible and that they should follow the scripture closely. I also remember offending a special ed teacher when I made a "retard" face in a photo that was taken of me. She told me that she was mad that I had made that face and that I would exploit those types of people so much. Apparently, she had spent half of her college career devoting time to special education. Oops...

By the end of the night, I ended up chugging the remaining jungle juice out of the huge container and having a birthday cake squished into my face.

Also, at some point we lost Brent but we all went to sleep forgetting that he was still missing. All in all, it was a great night. I'm not sure if I'm missing many details of this night, but it was a little overshadowed by the next day's events.

At 10 AM on Saturday morning, Justine and I woke up trying to figure out the previous night's events when we realized we still had never found Brent. We immediately went on an epic quest through the parking lot, looking for his car. After about 15-20 minutes, we stumbled upon his car where he was asleep in the backseat.

How and when he got there, we'll never know. As everyone started to emerge from their beds (by beds, I mean the floor and couches), Justine and I were ready to begin the day. So we went to an amazing bagel place called Mr. J's. And after a delicious breakfast, we came back to begin our official block party raging. After a short lived power hour with rum and cokes and a couple hours of planning our day, we decided it was time to head down to where the action was taking place.

Luckily, there was a bus that left from the apartment complex we were at and was taking people down to the block party.

After an epic bus ride, we finally arrived at the Mecca of parties. When I stepped off the bus and looked into the horizon, I was not aware that what I saw was possible.

People. Thousands of them. EVERYWHERE. In fact, JMU block party normally attracts about 1,000 to 2,000 people. I'm here to tell you that there was 8,000 people this year. Yes, that's eight thousand. I was in heaven.

Before arriving, I had made it my goal to not leave the area until I had made at least five new facebook friends. This proved to be a much easier task than I thought. So far, three of the five actually remember me. My first new friend was a guy named Steven Kiffor who had a band aid on his forehead. I asked him if he was pretending to be Nelly, but then he pulled his band aid off, showing me that he had gotten hit in the head with a glass bottle and was bleeding. I then bid him adieu. As I began making my way through the crowd, I stopped and talked to everyone who I thought looked remotely interesting. There was a group of people dancing on top of a car. I tried to join them but to no avail. They simply weren't having me on their car. FINE! I found some people sitting on a big rock and asked if I could take a photo with them. They looked at me like I was crazy. I really didn't see why this was so random considering the fact that there were 8,000 strangers dancing around and yelling at each other but I convinced them to take the photo with me anyway.

We ended up on a sidewalk right outside a string of apartments where I made my second facebook friend, Kyle Fisher. Kyle and I began an amazing high five line that built to about ten people. Every time a group of people walked by, they were forced to high five us in order to pass. I found this to be an amazing idea.

I immediately made my third facebook friend. Alex Robertson was a girl who was actually from my hometown of Danville, Virginia. Therefore, I couldn't resist making her number three. After that, we ran across someone filming some sort of music video. I convinced the guy to let us be a part of it where we were filmed horribly chanting to a non-existent beat. Somewhere in the world, I'm now a part of a music video. Immediately following this event, I looked over to see a guy pick up a girl, put her on the hood of a car and begin making out. I applauded him for taking such bold action and snapped a quick photo.

One of Justine's friends, Matt Tiemann, was at an apartment close by so we all decided to go there for a little while. On our way there, we passed an alley between two apartments that was riddled with trash. This was BEFORE the riot even took place!

When we got to Matt's apartment, I made my last two facebook friends, Christine Albrecht and Erica Wink. After being at the apartment for about 15 minutes, our friend Summer and I decided that we wanted to still be in the action surrounded by all the people. So we left everyone there and headed back down into the heart of block party.

This is where things got crazy. When we got there, everything seemed pretty normal. Well, as normal as this block party could have been. We were just strolling through the crowd, talking to people. Summer even got someone to sign her shirt. But then all of a sudden, I looked up to find hundreds of people running towards me. Summer and I both screamed and started running too. We had no idea what we were running from but we didn't want to get trampled. We made our way to the sidelines and looked behind them. That's when I saw the cloud of smoke that they were running from. I screamed to one of the guys running past me, "What is going on back there?!" He stopped and rubbed his eyes, which I then saw were red and swollen. He could barely speak. The only words he could mutter were, "Tear gas... the police are tear gassing us." I looked at Summer and we both had the same look on our faces: We gotta see this!

So of course, we take off running TOWARD the police. We wanted a close up glimpse of what was going on. I figured that since the police had already set off one tear gas canister, people would start heading home so I wanted to try and see as much of it as I could. Boy, was I wrong. As we made our way closer to them, so did everyone else. People were being extremely resilient (or wasted - which ever one fits better here) and not leaving the area. All of a sudden, everyone around us started rhythmically chanting, "FUCK THE POLICE!" Things were starting to get more and more epic. I then noticed that not only were there police officers here, the S.W.A.T. team was here! I never thought I'd see them in real life. Especially reacting to something that I was a part of. They had their stereotypical black suits with big Plexiglas shields. It was definitely a sight to see. I knew that things were going to get more out of hand soon but I couldn't leave! It was too amazing not to be in the middle of. Well, of course, things got WAY more out of hand. After about 30 seconds of the chanting, I heard a loud popping sound. Summer and I looked up into the sky and saw a comet of smoke directly over our heads coming right for us. I grabbed her hand and we took off running. The entire crowd of people starting pushing and shoving and running for their lives. I was a little too late however and caught the tail end of the exploding tear gas before running for cover. As we made our way behind an apartment, I knew that I'd gotten it. I had been TEAR GASSED!

Let's all stop for a moment and try to understand that I've now been tear gassed by the S.W.A.T. team. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME?!?!?!

The feeling was akin to what I would think snorting cayenne pepper and having jalapeño juice squeezed into my eyes all at the same time would feel like. I bent over and starting gagging and choking while my eyes started watering and my nose began to run. I could tell that my body was just trying to get rid of this horrible feeling. But of course, Summer and I kept running and when we got to the end of the crowd, we immediately went back in for more. I wasn't about to leave and miss what was to come. But this time, we were smart about it. We strategically placed ourselves in places where we knew we could escape fast. Three more times we had tear gas shot our way but it never hit us again. Eventually, the S.W.A.T. formed a line and marched their way through the crowd, hitting and pepper spraying people who got in their way. Summer and I had made our way further up on the hill at this point. We wanted to see what was going on but we didn't want to actually be in the middle of it anymore just in case they started making arrests and whatnot. This is when the actual riot started taking place.

Apparently, people were not happy that the S.W.A.T. became involved. So they decided they were going to show off and cause destruction. D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N! At this point, there were between 300-500 people in a huge mob at the base of two apartment buildings surrounding a dumpster. Well, they set it on fire. No lie. The dumpster was now of fire. Everyone started going crazy. They grabbed everything they could think of to put in there. And I don't mean things that belonged to them. They grabbed lawn furniture off people's yards and threw them in there. People ripped off front doors from apartments to put in the fire. One guy took off all his clothes, threw it in the fire and then ran around naked. Another guy mooned the police. Then the mob started jumping on top of cars and throwing beer bottles everywhere. The sound of broken glass imbued the air as car windshields and apartment windows busted. One person grabbed a flag from someone's porch and caught it on fire. He then waved it in the air as the mob chanted, "USA! USA! USA!" After that, a group of people starting uprooting small trees to put in the dumpster fire. And just when I thought they couldn't find anything else, a huge group of guys tugged at a stop sign until they pulled it completely out of the ground. A STOP SIGN. They threw that in the fire as well. Summer and I just gawked at the sight. It didn't even seem real. And of course, last but certainly not least, they started shaking the light pole. After about 15 minutes, it fell completely over, leaving exposed live wire coming out of the ground. EPIC.

By now, more and more people had started to surround the area to see what was going on. When the fire started to go out, the police decided to take action. They shot off four rounds of tear gas going in different directions. This worked so well because as people ran one way to escape it, another canister would drop in front of them causing them to turn around only to find another one on that side. They were trapped and forced to run through it. I watched as people fell to their knees, choking and gagging and crying as the tear gas went into their system. I smiled smugly as I recalled the same feeling I'd had less than an hour ago. As the police kept shooting more and more tear gas, their effort was eventually successful as everyone was forced all the way up the hill and eventually back into their apartments. After almost two hours of an epic battle, the riot was over. I had been almost trampled by 8,000 people, I was tear gassed by the S.W.A.T. team, and I ran for my life in order to avoid being arrested. I'd say that makes this weekend a successful one.

Let me just mention that had Summer and I not decided to leave the apartment and get back into the block party, this would have all been missed. Everyone else missed this amazing moment that I will certainly never forget. The remainder of the night was full of the two of us recounting our tale and trying to get people to understand what we'd been through. But that simply was not possible.

I hope this epic description was able to shed some light on the situation. Here are a bunch of photos taken during the riot:

The next day, we decided to visit the area to see the aftermath. Surprisingly, besides a few bags of trash and some trash scattered in the grass, everyone had done a decent job of picking up.

On the way back to Richmond, we decided to stop at one of the pretty look out spots so that we could juxtapose the beauty of nature with the other side of beauty that we'd just been privy to.

But of course, we couldn't leave without letting people know we'd been there. So I wrote my blog address on a rock for all to see. Hopefully it will get me some hits.

And after an exhausting weekend of pure adventure, Justine left a very special message at the lookout point that I think is extremely appropriate to end this blog post:

"Matt, Justine, and Jordan hath made their mark on JMU. Tear gas and riots resulted. 'We didn't start the fire!'"

-BLOCK PARTY 2010

JMU Block Party

2010-04-09T12:30:00.001-04:00

I'm writing this post as a fair warning to all residents of the Harrisonburg area and all students at JMU.

I WILL DESTROY YOU!

I'm not quite sure if JMU knows who all is going to attend their block party. But myself, Justine, Ashley Keeter, David Schott, Eric Hannick, Jordan Weaver, Eric Wolinsky, Brent Evans, Ricky Pagano, Summer Pearce and Matt Tiemann will all be attending. What does that mean, exactly? Well, that means that 2012 was just moved to 2010. I'm not sure if you all were aware that the apocalypse was actually the 2010 JMU block party, but it's about to happen.

Mixing this group with a normal crowd is dangerous enough. We almost took down Wrightsville Beach while flipping through the sand and sneaking into a hotel hot tub of which we were not current guests. Most of us have completely conquered Richmond and raped the city of its pride and integrity. However, we aren't being mixed with a normal crowd. We're being mixed with raging frat boys and sorority girls where free beer and jungle juice is around every corner and where EVERYONE is wasted. If we make it back alive and don't cause the second coming of Jesus, I'll be impressed.

To give you an idea of what JMU block party is like, I Google image searched "JMU Block Party." The first photo I found is what I'm hoping to be in the middle of, the second result is what will probably happen to me.

Omen? I think so.

You can expect constant tweets along the way. And if you don't follow me on twitter, consider yourself banned to hell. But you can relinquish that ban by visiting my twitter page. I probably won't blog until... if... I return. So as this may be my final blog post, I love you all and wish you the best of luck in everything you do. If I do make it back alive, you can expect numerous stories and photos to share.

Once again, Harrisonburg, I warn you...

GET OUT NOW!

Auditions

2010-03-31T15:49:00.001-04:00

WHEW! I didn't realize so many people actually follow my blog on here. That's awesome. I keep getting facebook messages and wall posts and texts asking me to do a new blog entry.

ALRIGHT ALREADY!! I'LL DO ONE!

The fact is, I don't like to come on here and blog about my life unless there is actually something going on in my life that is worth reading about - or if I want to rant about something.

So what's happening next? Well, coming up on April 17 are the auditions for RENT at the Firehouse Theatre. I am so stoked about this. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what song to sing. I wanted to do something that was different, and more than likely not from a musical. The music of RENT is so compelling and edgy. I wanted to choose something of that nature. Then it hit me!

Back in freshmen year, I read an amazing book by Anthony Rapp. Anthony Rapp was the original Mark in RENT on Broadway, in the London production, in the feature film version, and he also just wrapped up starring as Mark in the Broadway National Tour. Needless to say, he is the epitome of Mark. He created that character that we all know and love. The book is called "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the musical RENT." To this day, it still remains was of my favorite books of all time. It is written as if Anthony literally sat down, put the pen to the paper (or his fingers to the keyboard), and began writing in stream of consciousness. Everything is so honest and pure. I was drawn to the stories he told because they reminded me so much of me. His life story has inspired who I've become today. One of them even became my narrative piece in my junior year of acting.

But I digress...

The point being, one of his stories involves his initial audition for RENT on Broadway where he sang R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion. When I remembered that a couple days ago, I decided that it would be my audition song. I look up to that man so much so singing the same song to audition for the same show is really cool to me. I hope it goes well.

Another audition that everyone is talking about is for "Glee!", the hit Fox TV show. The website has finally been updated and the "how" part of the audition has been posted.

So this is what you have to do:

1. Go to http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions. I have no idea why they decided to do it via myspace. I HATE MYSPACE. I deleted my account years ago. However, in order to audition, you must have a myspace account so I created one specifically for this audition at http://www.myspace.com/mattjamesglee.

2. After signing into Myspace, click the big yellow "AUDITION NOW!" button.

3. Now it's time to begin the application/audition process. It's a fairly large process so you'll want to make sure you have enough time to complete it. You'll also want to be somewhere you won't be disturbed. But don't worry too much, if you begin the process and don't have time to complete it, you can pick up where you left off once you log back in.

4. The first step is a simple form that you complete with your name and other information on it. Once you've done that it's time for the recording process.

5. There are two pieces of video that you have to submit in order to qualify. The first one is a personal statement. According to the website, this is what they're expecting:

The video is not to exceed one minute.
State your name.
Tell us about yourself - what you do currently, where you're from, how long you've been singing, etc.
Tell us why you want to be a part of "Glee!"
Tell us why people should watch and rate your videos trying to make your dream of joining the "Glee!" cast come true.
Don't be shy! This is all about showing us your personality!
*Note: Auditioner's must NOT include any recognizable logos or branding on shirts, hats, posters, etc.

6. After the personal statement has been submitted, it's time for them to hear you sing. The length of this video is not to exceed the length of the provided track. That's right folks. They have provided a list of songs that you have to choose from. The awesome thing is, they provide the track as well. They're all super familiar if you watch the show because they've all been performed on there. Here is the list:

And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going
Gold Digger
Rehab
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Can't Fight This Feeling
Don't Rain On My Parade
Hate On Me
Keep Holding On
Lean On Me
True Colors

7. After you've recorded the song, all that's left to do is submit the whole package.

You have a couple of options when it comes to recording the videos. An awesome function of the Myspace page is that you can record them right there in the moment if you have a webcam. When you first open the audition website, there will be a box that pops up asking you to download a plugin allowing you to record via the Myspace page. Click "install" if you want to use this function or "skip" if you choose not to. The other option is that you can record both videos outside of the website and upload them during the application process. There isn't a preferred method so whichever is easiest for you works. They would rather the video be recorded in a well lit neutral background area. Remember, there can be no logos are branding on your clothes or on anything behind you.

The deadline for submitting the package is April 26. But I would definitely do it much earlier in case you have any technology failures in the process.

I guess I'm going to sing "Can't Fight This Feeling" even though it's a little out of my vocal range. I can make it through most of the song but the chorus gets pretty intensely high at some points. We'll see. There aren't really many other options for me. I'm definitely not going to sing/rap "Gold Digger." Although, I'd even pay to see myself do that!

So there you have it. The next two auditions in my life. I expect everyone I know to submit videos for the "Glee!" audition! Richmond needs to win Fox over!

Master Cleanse Day 2 - uhhhhhh.....

2010-03-24T11:20:00.001-04:00

Day 2 of the Master Cleanse was what I like to call PURE TORTURE. It started out really well. I got up fairly early and did my salt water flush. This time, the salt water wasn't as bad. (Even though I may have added more water and less salt.) It did it's job anyway. My morning was full of multiple bowel movements that involved almost all water. I showered, made a batch of lemonade, and headed to work. My energy level was pretty good and I thought day 2 was on a good track.

Boy was I wrong.

Around 2pm, I started to get really hungry. Well, this was definitely expected. I made a new batch of the lemonade and chugged it. I read that by drinking it fast, it will really cure your hunger spot. It did cure it... for about 10 minutes. Then I was starving again and only had one serving of the lemoade left. I couldn't drink it all because I had to make it until 5pm at work. So I slowly sipped the lemonade and drank copious amounts of water in between. None of this seemed to help. My stomach began to cramp. It felt like it was eating itself. Now that I really think about it, it probably was.

Around 3:30pm, I started getting a slight headache. It was sort of at the base of my skull and by 5:00pm when I left work, my entire head was throbbing. On the walk home, I noticed that I was dragging along. My legs felt too weak to carry me the mile home. I came home, made another batch of lemonade, and watched a little TV to try and distract myself.

Justine came over a little later to make a new batch and so that we could go get more lemons. She informed me that she also had a headache but other than feeling a little tired as well, she was fine. My stomach felt really strange at this point. I felt a little sick. We went to Wal-Mart to get more lemons because we thought they would be cheaper there. Part of the reason we were doing this, besides the pure adventure of it all, was to also save money. The truth was, we were spending more money on lemons and syrup than we would have spent in the first place. The lemons there were pretty expensive so we decided to buy lemon juice that was much cheaper. Now, I know we weren't supposed to get this because it wasn't fresh squeezed but we figured it wouldn't make that big of a difference. So we grabbed four of them and headed home. This is when the epic fail began.

I started feeling really sick. I felt like I was going to vomit but my body didn't have anything to throw up. Justine and I got back to my place where I sat around in agony. It was about 30 minutes later when I was in the bathroom puking pure lemon juice. At that point, I came out of the bathroom and decided, this is it. I can't do it anymore. I know it was only the end of day 2 and I was truly committed to doing this. But this pain and suffering was not worth it. It wasn't all about being hungry anymore. I had absolutely no energy. I was shaking. I had vomited acid.

Of course, Justine, being the true friend that she is, didn't want to continue without me. So we called it quits. We drove to Ukrops and got a nice salad and fruit mixture. We came back to my place, ate the shit out of our food, and watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Yes, I know. We gave up. We're probably huge disappointments to everyone. I just couldn't live with feeling that ill. It was literal torture.

So what's next? Well, Justine and I have vowed to start eating more healthy things. Both of us are going to try and cut out red meat for a while. I can't live without chicken. And I also like fish a lot so I'll still eat that. I just want to start being more health conscious of the things that I eat. We'll see how it goes.

Now Justine and I need to find our next adventure to embark on. I'll keep you posted.

Master Cleanse - Day 1 (continued)

2010-03-22T22:58:00.001-04:00

It's currently 10:40 PM on Day 1. I'd say today has been a success. Even though I'm only consuming the lemonade, I've stayed relatively unhungry all day. I'm not gonna lie, I can tell I haven't eaten. But it isn't driving me crazy. I thought I might get a headache but so far I haven't. The massive waterways out of my ass stopped after the last time and I haven't gone number two any more today. Although, I've been pissing nonstop. But I guess that's a good thing.

The day actually went by kinda fast. I was busy at work and got a lot done. My energy level hasn't dropped yet. I'm pretty sunburnt from going to the beach this past weekend so my body is a little sore. But I don't think it has anythig to do with this. It's only been one day so I feel like any side effects will come later. Days number two and three are apparently the worse so we'll see how it goes.

We decided our first movie to deter us from eating would be Supersize Me. It didn't turn me off as much as I thought. In fact, it sort of made me crave McDonalds. However, it was a pretty good movie. Tomorrow we're going to watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

I hope tomorrow isn't much harder than today. If everyday is like this, I can totally survive this thing. The most horrible part so far has been the salt water flush. Can't wait to do that in the morning. I'm drinking my laxative tea to get myself ready!

Day one comes to an end...

Master Cleanse: Day 1

2010-03-22T11:35:00.001-04:00

So I can't really comment so far on the hunger torture. I'm one of those people who hardly ever eats breakfast anyway so I won't be feeling the hunger pangs until around noon. However, I can definitely fill you in on how my day has gone so far on the Master Cleanse. Warning: This will be graphic.

9:00 PM (last night 3/21) - I drank the laxative tea. This tea contains Senna leaf that is used to help make bowel movements regular. Since it takes about 8 hours to process, you're supposed to drink the tea before bed so that it's ready in the morning. The tea wasn't bad at all. It didn't have much of a taste besides a slight mint background. It was actually quite refreshing. I ended up going to bed around 10:30PM

7:30 AM (today 3/22) - I woke up early to do the salt water flush. The salt water flush is a mixture of one liter of water and two tea spoons of non-iodized sea salt. Since your body can not digest sea salt, the mixture runs through the body in about half an hour taking everything inside your stomach with it. This, along with the laxative tea, will insure that the body is clean for the day. The reason this must be done is because during the 10 days, no solid foods are being eaten. Therefore, the stomach does not have solid matter to digest and expel as waste. The laxative tea and salt water flush make sure the body is ridding itself of harmful matter and cleansing the body in the process.

8:00 AM - I mixed the salt water solution and began to gulp it down. 2 teaspoons of salt in one liter of water really doesn't sound that bad. Um... I'm here to tell you that it was rough. It was akin to drinking the ocean. I took about half the liter in a few swift gulps. Then I made the mistake of stopping to catch my breath. That's when I tasted the salt and my body rejected it. I felt extremely nauseous and full. I kept myself going, forcing the salt water down little by little. It was God awful. I walked up to my room and sat down at my computer. My stomach began to feel horrible. After about 10 minutes, it started to cramp. I just knew I would vomit any second.

8:30 AM - My stomach began to rumble. The cramping had softened now and I could tell that I would be running to the bathroom any minute. I waited a few minutes and then all of sudden, it was there. I ran down to the bathroom where the pooping adventure for the morning began. It wasn't as explosive as I thought and actually quite solid. This was probably due to the solid matter I had been consuming up until now. "That wasn't so bad," I thought. So I decided to take a shower and get ready for work.

8:50 AM - I was in the shower and had just gotten all lathered up when I suddenly got the feeling again. Oh no! And it wasn't just a small, "Hey, I gotta poop" feeling. It was, POOP RIGHT NOW! I literally had to jump out of shower, completely wet and soapy and sit on the toilet. It was terrible. Pure water shot out. It was like a waterfall. After about 30 seconds of pure water, it felt like I was done. I jumped back in the shower, cleaned myself, and got out to get ready for work and to get ready for my partner in crime for this assignment, Justine, to arrive.

9:00 AM - I had just dried myself off when I got that feeling again. Luckily, I was already in the bathroom and ready. Everything I described above happened again. But this time, there was less water.

9:10 AM - It happened again.

9:15 AM - I finally felt comfortable enough to get dressed and I told Justine to head over. When she arrived, she informed me that she had also done the salt water flush to no avail. I just don't understand. I had just been robbed of all stomach matter and she had a liter of salt water inside of her that had no effect. Justine had already made her lemonade concoction so I decided to make mine. (See my previous blog post for the recipe.) Both of us made 2 servings to last us until lunch time and then headed to work.

11:30 AM (current time) - The lemonade concoction really isn't that bad. It's quite spicy with the pepper in it but I like the taste. So far, I haven't had any super big hunger pangs. I'm sure that won't last long. Tonight, we're going to choose a movie to watch that will help us to not eat. I'll blog later about the continued progress. So far, day 1 has been a success. Only 9.75 days to go!

Master Cleanse!

2010-03-18T15:04:00.002-04:00

I'm not quite sure what is wrong with Justine and I. (By the way, if you haven't checked out her blog, click her name. It's brilliant.) Why we think it's okay to frolic around the world trying to figure out how we can scam our way into getting free food/alcohol and ruining people's lives along the way is a mystery that I don't think will ever be explained. But it happens everyday. We're always trying to figure out how we can get away with something. Our knack for finding the ultimate adventures and then blogging about them is uncanny. While we have a number of projects semi-underway (i.e. the sexy time calendar, our talk show, and PSCUZE ministries), we've figured out one that we're doing fairly immediately.

The Master Cleanse is a special detox diet that is said to eliminate harmful toxins from one's body that has been there for months and even years. Considering the "toxins" that Justine and I consume on a daily basis, this treatment is one that is long overdue. So how does it work, you ask? It's simple!

Mix together the following ingredients to create a special "lemonade":

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons of grade B maple syrup
1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
8 oz of purified water

Drink that concoction 10-12 times a day along with lots of purified water for 10 days. What's the catch, you ask? Well, thats ALL that we can consume for the entire 10 days. No solid foods and no other liquids are allowed. But wait, there's more. Since our bodies will not be digesting any solid foods, we have to induce our bowel movements via a laxative tea that we drink every night before going to bed and a sea-salt water flush that we drink every morning upon waking up. Justine has sworn off the salt water flush. I'm going to at least give it a try, I think.

The result is that we will lose weight that we both want to lose. Our stomachs will shrink, limiting our food intake in the future (provided that we don't jump right back into horrible food habbits). Also, it will sort of jump start our metabolisms to help us lose weight this summer.

So what does this mean for Justine and I? Well, the world will take one huge sigh of relief. For 10 days, there will be no silly antics nor life ruining. We will not be able to drink any alcohol or consume any food. Studies have shown that when we think we're hungry, 85% of the time, we're actually thirsty. By drinking the special "lemonade," your stomach is almost tricked into believing that it's full. However, hunger pains will become almost unmanageable so it will take a lot of dedication on our parts not to eat. To solve this problem, we've decided that we MUST be together every night throughout the process and we'll find a movie to watch that will help to curve our appetite. Food Inc., Supersize Me, and Faces of Death are our top three picks. We would appreciate any help in this field.

Obviously, I'll blog about the process everyday. We begin this adventure on Monday March 22 and will end the process on Wednesday March 31 making April Fools day an adventure for all. Unfortunately, we can't jump back into a full fledged meal on that day, even if it is really healthy. Our bodies will have just gotten used to only digesting liquids so we have to introduce food in liquid stages at first and slowly move back to solids. God, what are we getting ourselves into?

As for the events taking place before we begin this beautiful diet: Justine, Ashley, Brent, Ricky, Summer, and I are all headed to Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina for the weekend. I apologize in advance to all residents of that area. We're on our way to destroy you.

My life is anything but normal.

Life

2010-03-12T11:52:00.001-05:00

Whew! It's been almost a week since I've blogged. Sorry it's taken me so long. I've just been distracted.

As most of you know by now, I was not chosen for the Bojangles' promotion. WAAAHH!!! I was so excited at the thought of being a part of that. But it simply wasn't meant to be. Perhaps I'll start my own Bojangles' tour across all of America! We'll see...

As far as the "Sound of Music," I haven't heard officially but I'm assuming at this point that I am not a part of the cast. I haven't received the dreaded "thanks but no thanks" letter/email/Facebook message yet. So we'll see what happens.

It gets frustrating at times going to all these auditions and not landing any of the roles. It's mostly upsetting because of the amount of money I spent getting to them. But that's the nature of this business. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not all about talent. An actor can give a brilliant audition and simply not be right for the part. The one thing I can say is that I'm trying. There are plenty of actors that sit on their ass all day and don't go out and try. They wait for the opportunities to come to them. That's not gonna happen to me. I'll keep my head up and I'll transition to the next place. Eventually, I'll be right for something!

A lot of people keep asking me lately, "Why are you still in Richmond and not in Chicago or New York?" I don't know why this question bothers me so much. I don't get mad at the people who ask. It's a legitimate question. I think the reason it bothers me is because I feel like people are asking because they think I'm not out there trying to do stuff. It's almost as if their question is actually, "Why aren't you pursuing your career?" Well, my answer to that is I am doing everything that I can to pursue my career and part of that is staying in Richmond. Moving to a new city is hard. It takes at least a year to become completely acclimated to a new life style, new directions, new people, a new job, etc. Not to mention the price change. My city of choice has always been New York. That's where I dream of living. However, the cost of living is at least TRIPLE that of Richmond. I definitely could have moved to NYC right after graduation. But what would that have gotten me? Obviously, I could have gotten extremely lucky and landed some amazing gig right off the bat. But I can't rely on luck. (Although I am a very lucky person.) With no money saved, I would have struggled financially to live. I would have to work twice as many hours just to make rent and be able to eat, leaving me no time to audition. When I finally could audition, I'd be exhausted and not be able to give my all. I'd probably become depressed and after a couple months, have to move back to Richmond and be further away from my goal than having actually stepped forward.

Now I know that all of this is hypothetical and I could have had the best of luck and not struggled the way I think I would. That being said, it wasn't worth the "what if." I don't want anything standing in my way. So I decided to stay in Richmond and SAVE SAVE SAVE. Even being in Richmond, I haven't been able to save much, but it's better than nothing at all.

I needed to figure out a way to be able to afford getting to New York. I decided that I would need at least $5,000. That would get me there, pay my security deposit and pay at least two months rent so that I could be slightly ahead. So I got the awesome job that I have working downtown. It took me a couple months to realize I was no longer in college. It sort of felt like a summer vacation.

But now I'm settled. I'm making great money. And I'm able to audition for anything I can. If you've read my blog, you know I've been all over the place! My ideal situation is to snag a 9 month or 1 year contract that pays well weekly. At the end of the contract, I'd have enough money to get myself to NY. That's why I went down to Disney for the audition a couple weeks ago. There is an audition coming up ion April 1st that I'm going to try my best to get to in New York. It's for Disney Cruise Line and they're casting "Toy Story the musical." I would KILL to be in this show. Plus, it pays about $750/week with all housing and food included. I would come off of the 9 month contract with more than enough to get to New York. The problem is that they are only casting Woody right now and if I were going to be considered for anything, it wouldn't be Woody. I'm more of a Buzz Lightyear type. This is where I get torn on what to do. Do I spend the money and lose time off work to audition for a role that I'm not even confident I have any chance at being considered for? Or do I bite the bullet and take it for the experience that it is. The experience is definitely always worth it, good or bad. However, paying my bills and keeping myself ahead is also very important and losing work on top of spending the money to get there does not help that situation. Afterall, there are plenty of other auditions. It's not like I haven't been out there recently trying. I'll figure it out soon I guess.

Do you ever try to figure out why you've chosen the life you have? How much easier would it be if I just stuck with a simple 9-5 job in a not so competitive field where I'd be guaranteed to keep myself afloat, eventually get a nice house somewhere, and be comfortable for the rest of my life? But you know, I'd never be happy. NEVER. I'd be "comfortable" and my life wouldn't have the same purpose that I've had for the past 23 years of living. Somehow, I always find a way. I believe in myself. I'm confident. I have an amazing family and amazing friends who love me. I wouldn't have chosen this path if I didn't want it. And GOD do I want it!

Waiting patiently doesn't seem to be working

2010-03-05T14:46:00.002-05:00

I'm going crazy! I still haven't heard from the Bojangles' crew yet. I was hoping they would call/email me whether or not I was selected for the job. At my audition, Terrance told me he would be contacting us by Monday or Tuesday of this week. It's now Friday and I haven't heard anything yet. It doesn't look good folks!

I emailed them on Wednesday asking if they had a projected time of when they would be notifying those selected. I figured I would receive a reply stating that no one has been chosen yet or stating that they had already contacted the two people chosen. But I still haven't received a reply. This morning, I called Terrance to ask him first hand. I hated to keep bothering them but I'm going crazy over here! Alas, he did not answer. I left a voice mail but have not yet received a returning phone call.

I know that I could still be in the running. I'm not giving up all hope but it doesn't seem like the most promising of things. sad face.

Oh well, I'll still keep my head up while I wait for Barksdale to contact me about the Sound of Music. In the meantime, I'll be looking for more adventures to get myself into.

Margie Mills is on her way to Richmond tonight. We're seeing Grapes of Wrath at Barksdale and then getting into some trouble. Tomorrow night, I'll be seeing Vagina Monologues at Shafer and then painting the town red with Jordan and the gang on the "to the bottom and back" bus.

Gotta love the weekend!

The Greenville (Bojangles') Adventure (Days 5-7)

2010-03-03T14:32:00.004-05:00

The adventure continues...

Day 5 - Wednesday Feb 24

I had to wake up around 7:45 am so that Katy Ray and I could both get ready and she could get me to the airport and get to work on time. The thought of leaving was painful. I love being at Disney so much and knowing that I had to leave was a terrible feeling. And I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to see. But I'm sure I'll go back at some point this summer. I got to the airport around 8:30 am. Again, I had some time to kill because my flight wasn't scheduled until 11:30 am. I was supposed to fly from Orlando to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to Charlotte. This is where Nikki would pick me up. But when I checked in, I was told that my flight had been delayed from 11:30 am to 12:55 pm. DAMMIT! I didn't want to wait in the airport that long. And that would mean that I would miss my connecting flight. After going through security, I found my terminal and asked the stewardess what I could do about making my connecting flight. She informed me that all flights to and from Atlanta had been delayed due to a bad snow storm. That meant that both of my flights had been delayed and I wouldn't be missing my connecting flight. That made me feel better. Then, as she looked at the computer screen, she realized that there was a seat opening on a flight that was leaving at 11:00 am. She asked if I wanted to take that earlier flight but I told her there was no use since my other flight would be delayed anyway. I wouldn't be saving any time. She checked again and saw that there was also a connecting flight leaving earlier. I couldn't believe it. Only I could go to an airport, have my flights delayed about 2.5 hours but then end up getting my flights 30 minutes earlier than I was supposed to in the first place.

The flights were fine. I actually stayed awake during both of them. But there is something about flying that makes me super sleepy. Maybe it's the air pressure change. I got to Charlotte around 4:00 pm and Nikki got there soon after. I was so happy to see her. We were so ready for this adventure. In true Nikki fashion, she was completely prepared to drink with two pages of local bars that had amazing drink specials. In all of our research of the city, it talked about the bars being packed with college students, how amazing the nightlife was, the beautiful packed downtown area with loads of activities, so we were totally ready for this.

There wasn't anything too crazy that happened on the way there. Except, for some reason, in North Carolina, there was a giant peach tower. Why it wasn't in Georgia is beyond me.

It took us about 2.5 hours and we got to Greenville, SC around 7:30 pm and checked into our amazingly beautiful Motel 6.

As you can see, it was quite lovely. As we looked around, we found some things that were quite... odd. The room was a non-smoking room but for some reason...

... they decided to portray this via an upside down ashtray with a no smoking symbol on it. Also, it was clear that we weren't in the best of neighborhoods when this gem of a sign was on our door.

I could tell we were in for a real treat. Then Nikki sat down on the bed with me so that we could talk about what we wanted to do for the night. But she started to notice something strange. Her leg was getting wet. Somehow, there was something wet all over the bed that soaked through the covers onto her jeans. Of course, there was no hair dryer in the room, so she ripped them off and held them over the heater to try and dry them.

After her pants were semi dry, we decided we were hungry and wanted to see the downtown area. We were about 5 miles from there so we jumped in Nikki's car and headed down. And let me tell you, when those websites said that Greenville was the place to be for crazy fun times and packed bars... they were lying. I want you to know that there were maybe 5 people walking the streets. Now, in Greenville's credit, there were a lot of bars and fun looking places, but there was NO ONE doing anything. Then we figured, okay, it's a Wednesday night. Maybe things will pick up tomorrow night. So we grabbed a quick bite and a couple drinks at a delicious Mexican restaurant, grabbed a box of Franzia sunset blush wine from Wal-Mart, went back to the motel room, and drank while playing chat roulette. The Bojangles' crew was supposed to email me the time they wanted me to come in the next day. I checked my email to see what time that would be but I hadn't yet gotten a time assignment. So I emailed them to let them know that I didn't know what time to be there. I was hoping to get a quick response. But by about 11:30 pm, I still hadn't heard from them. I started to get a little worried. Then I remembered that in the very first email that I received saying that I was a finalist, there was a contact phone number. It was too late at this point to call but I figured I could wake up early and give them a call. We then fell asleep to some random show on Cinemax about how to have good sex. I think this is what you call an amazing night.

Day 6 -Thursday Feb 25 - Audition Day!

Today was the big day that I had been waiting for. My live Bojangles' audition. I was somewhat nervous but mostly because I had no idea what to expect. I also didn't know what time I needed to be there. We woke up around 8:00 am and I tried calling the number I had been given. There was no answer so I left a message. We sat around in our pajamas until around 11:00 am when I got a phone call from Terrance, the casting director, who wanted me to come to the studio at 11:30. WHEW! I told him that I needed to finish getting ready and I could be there between 11:45 am and Noon. He was fine with that and Nikki and I took the fastest showers of our lives. I got to the studio at noon on the dot and gave him a phone call. When he came out to meet me, my nerves started fading away. He was the nicest guy and made me feel really welcomed. He informed me that I would be doing a short screen test that would involve some questions he would ask me and then doing a faux commercial. He wanted to get an idea of my personality and how I looked on camera. The audition went very well. He asked me a series of questions that I had expected. They were things like: Why are you perfect for this job? How would you describe Bojangles' chicken? Then he asked me if I had any unusual thing that I could do that they might find interesting. So, I decided to tell them that I could recite the entire opening dialogue of Disney's The Lion King. (Are you shocked?) He seemed a little surprised at my answer and said, "Are you serious?" to which I responded "I most certainly am! It's one of my favorite movies." He told me to give him the first 30 seconds of the scene. So I stood there, on camera, and performed the opening dialogue of The Lion King. They were rolling on the floor. I did the voices of Scar, Zazu, and Mufasa. I've never had so much fun at an audition in my life! Then I did the faux commercial. It was just a series of one liners that were typical of any fast food commercial. It reminded me of the Sonic commercials where the two people are at the drive-thru. Once that was over, he told me that they would be making their decisions soon and that we would find out early next week. (It's currently early next week and I haven't heard anything yet. Oh, I hope they call!) So the audition was a big success. I had a great time and feel very positive about it.

After the audition, it was around 1:00 pm and Nikki and I were both starving. So we grabbed some lunch at this really cute Indian restaurant. It was quite delicious. Afterwards, we went back to the motel room and just rested for a while. We knew we wanted to do something but we weren't sure where to go. We had read about some pretty cool places that had some nice drink specials. We kept coming back to a bar called Inferno that apparently had $3 "you call its" on Thursday nights. That sounded perfect. So we laid around, watched television, and played on the internet until we were hungry again.We went to another Mexican restaurant in the downtown area and both had margaritas. After that, we made the trek to Inferno. Let me just say, I'm so glad we did.

There was a small crowd there and it seemed like a pretty cool place. It was kind of a large bar with a small dance floor and obvious locals abound. Nikki and I had decided we didn't want to spend a ton of money so we budgeted ourselves to about 3 drinks a piece. That would only be about 10-12 bucks with a tip. I wanted to make sure the drink special was still going on so I asked, "What is your drink special tonight?" Well, to my complete shock but incredible excitement, her response was. "Oh! We have $1 drinks tonight."

.......
ummmmmmm
.......

"... $1 drinks? ... As in, any drink I want is $1?"

"Uh huh," she said, "And shots as well. They're $1"

Nikki and I could not handle ourselves. "I'll take two rum and cokes," I said. This was going to be a good night. Little did we know the creatures we were about to meet:

A 500 pound man who barely moved the entire time he was there.
A large group of butch lesbians who were smoking weed.
A DJ who was wasted and wanted to smoke weed with the large group of butch lesbians.
Another lesbian couple - One who clearly did not want to be there and another who was doing some sort of dance that Nikki called the "leg dance." There will be footage of Nikki reenacting that once I put the video together.
A 55 year old short woman who was dancing in the middle of the dance floor. Fifteen minutes later she was sitting on the dance floor bopping up and down as if this was completely normal.
A couple standing at the bar who were basically having sex. Then he left, told the DJ to play a song, came back, and they continued.

So as you can tell, this night was quite an adventure. And needless to say, by the end of the night, we weren't the most sober of patrons. But we made it home (the motel was quite close), however, not before stopping at a Jack in the Box for some delicious chicken. After we got back, we made a series of videos and prank calls and finally fell asleep.

Day 7 - Friday Feb 26

Our check out time was at noon so we ended up officially waking up around 11:00 am. However, both Nikki and I were both awake on and off much earlier due to the pounding of the headboard next door. Yes folks, the couple next door started off their morning with some screaming and moaning. I slept right through it but Nikki didn't have such luck. We packed all of our stuff and decided it was time to hit the road. Beforehand, we stopped at a local Goodwill just to see what they had. Nikki got a few pictures that she thought were cute. Then it was time to start our 7 hour journey to Richmond, VA. About an hour into the drive, we discovered this gold mine.

Of course we stopped and took a small look around. The doors were locked and you had to show your ID to even enter the store. It was kinda scary. After about fifteen minutes of gawking at the various toys and videos, we couldn't take it anymore. This was mostly due to the old couple and creepy dirty man who were perusing the store's products. The ride home was pretty normal and we ended up making good time. Nikki decided to stay the night at my place in Richmond. Otherwise she would have to turn around and drive 3 hours to Danville. We had a fun filled evening with drinking and friends. It was fun to brief everyone on the adventures I had just been on for the past seven days. And now it was time to get back to my regular life. Not that my life will EVER be regular.

--------------------

WHEW! So there you have it folks. My Disney and Bojangles' adventures. It was a great time. It was a great experience and I'm so glad that I did it. With Disney out of the picture now, I'm waiting to hear back from Bojangles and Barksdale for the Sound of Music. Either one of them could call at any time. Obviously, I'll keep you posted.

Wish me luck! (or broken legs!)

The Disney Adventure (Days 1 - 4)

2010-03-01T13:45:00.019-05:00

Well hello world!

I'm finally back. I apologize for keeping you on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about my amazing adventures but there was simply no time to sit down and get my thoughts together. Now that I'm back, I can fill you in on everything that has happened in my life. I have photos of most things as well. Some videos or a video montage, depending on how I end up grouping it all together, will be posted later. I'll do one entry for the Disney trip and another one for the Greenville trip.

Here we go:

Day 1 - Saturday, Feb 21

I woke up at 3:45 am so that my roommate Jake could take me to the airport. Luckily, he works very early at Starbucks on Saturdays so it worked out perfectly. I got up and packed a few last minute things that had been in the dryer and we were ready to hit the road. The airport is only about 20-30 minutes from my house so it wouldn't take long to get there. Well, about half way there, I realized that I had forgotten my phone and my charger. UGH! I hated to make Jake turn around but there was absolutely no way that I could have been gone a whole week without my phone. Plus, I knew that I'd be at auditions where I could potentially get phone calls. So we drove all the way back to the house and then headed for the airport again. I ended up getting to the airport around 4:45 am and had checked in by 5:00 am. My flight wasn't until 7:30 am so I had some time to kill. There weren't that many people there this early in the morning so getting through security was a breeze. I decided to get some breakfast at one of the kiosks while I waited to board the plane. There, I met the sweetest old couple ever. They were both in their 80's and as spry as ever. Having been married for 60 years, they were on their way to Hawaii "while [they were] still able to make it around." (Side note: I hope their return flight was before the recent tsunami that hit the island!) I finished up breakfast and sat in the airport terminal people watching. Surprisingly, there weren't that many creatures lurking in the depths of the Richmond International Airport this morning. Although, there was this one small woman who wore a pink coat and a little pink pill box hat who bopped up and down the hallway looking for the correct terminal. She reminded me of Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls. Finally, around 7:10 am, it was time to board the plane. It was surprisingly empty with many seats still available. I didn't even have to sit by anyone. As soon as I sat down and buckled my seat belt, I passed out from exhaustion. I'd had only about 3 hours of sleep the night before. About 2 hours later, I was awakened by the sound of the pilot stating that we were landing. My adrenaline started to rush. I'd soon be in Disney World for the first time in over a year! I was so excited.

Katy Ray picked me up from the airport around 9:45 am. As soon as I got in her car, we both screamed and hugged each other. She was also excited that I was back after so long. We'd seen each other a few times since I'd left but to be back together at Disney would be even more amazing because we both love it there so much. We went back to her apartment (which is super cute by the way), and got ready for my first day back in the parks. By 11:00 am, it was a perfect 72 degrees and sunny outside. The most amazing thing about Katy's apartment is the location. Getting to Disney property literally takes only five minutes. So we hopped in her car and took the long journey to Disney. For some reason, on the way, we decided to sing numerous *N Sync songs. I didn't even know that I still knew the lyrics to those songs. Five minutes later, I was instantly transformed into a kid again when I saw this...

AHHHHHH! I was officially back. The adventures could now begin. It's so great being a Disney cast member and being able to go in and out of the parks as you choose free of charge. Average entrance prices per park are around $70. So visiting all four parks costs almost $300, not to mention the food and hotel accommodations and the ungodly $15 that it costs to park your car at each Disney park. (Of course, if you're staying in a Disney hotel, the buses take you everywhere at no charge whatsoever.) Nonetheless, being a cast member has major perks. I decided that I wanted to go to Magic Kingdom for my first day. Magic Kingdom is sort of the epitome of what Disney is. It transforms your real world into a story book life that's filled with magic and endless dreams and possibilities. (I feel like a Disney spokesperson, but I swear it's true!) Seeing Cinderella Castle right there in front of you is something that can't be explained. While there, I rode pretty much everything. The park was fairly busy but the lines weren't too awful. (Another great perk for when you're a cast member: You'll make friends who work at certain attractions who can sneak you past the line so that you don't have to wait.) One of my favorite things I did at Magic Kingdom was see the new "Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party" parade. In this parade, tons of Disney characters come down Main Street USA on floats and get off to dace with everyone in the street. I definitely break danced with Mr. Incredible. It was amazing. You'll see more of this parade in the video that I post later. After the parade, our friends Kim and Paul joined us. So yeah, it was just any other normal magic filled day at the Magic Kingdom. Here are some photos:

Cinderella Castle We're Here!Main Street USA Getting Pixie Dusted Katy Ray and Kim Waiting for Mickey's Philharmagic Meeting Peter Pan!Funny Faces with Katy Ray The gang's all here!Shakin' my tail feather with Mr. Incredible Having too much fun Kim and I

I can fly!

Citizens of Magic Kingdom

Katy Ray had scheduled a Glee themed "welcome back Matt James party" at her apartment for that night. So we decided not to stay and watch the fireworks. I had plenty of time for that. So instead, we went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on liquor. Yes, I said it, liquor at Wal-Mart. In Florida, since it is a non-ABC state, liquor is sold pretty much anywhere and at much cheaper prices than VA. The people coming to the party were supposed to be dressed as characters from Glee. I had a hard time choosing which character I wanted to be. At first, I chose Kurt, but I didn't have the fashion sense or the clothes to pull him off. Then I found a Glee football jersey online that I thought I could wear as Finn. But there would be no way to get it on time. Then my roommate Tyler came up with a great idea. Those of you who are fans of Glee will appreciate his idea. He told me to be "other Asian." It was settled. That way I could wear regular clothes, draw lines coming from my eyes, and wear a nametag that said "Hello my name is Other Asian." After stocking up on food and alcohol, it was time for the party to begin. It was a lot of fun with some great costumes. Here are some photos from the Glee party:

Cristy de la Garza as Rachel Brandon Stoker as Sheets N' Things Paul Lance as Sue Sylvester Me as Other Asian with Katy Ray as all of Voal Adrenaline Wes Whitten as Artie with Stuart McGilvray as... a student?

So after a long day in the parks and a night full of Glee, it was time for bed! However, not before Katy Ray and I took a very ... ehem ... drunken video on my camera that will be posted soon enough.

Day 2 - Sunday, Feb 22

Katy Ray and I both woke up around 8:30 am because at 9:30 am, we had a scheduled character meet and greet breakfast with Alice, Mary Poppins, The Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger. Kim and Paul met us there. The breakfast was at 1900 Park Fare in Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, one of the most beautiful and expensive resorts on property. Everything was delicious and we had a great time taking photos and meeting the characters. Tigger clearly loved us because he came to our table about four times. Alice was extremely sassy and didn't like it when people told her what to do. The Mad Hatter was high on something and couldn't focus on anything. At one point, he jumped up on a chair and started screaming at people to stop staring at him. And of course, Pooh was a complete teddy bear! :-p When we finally got to meet Mary Poppins, Paul decided he would bring her a spoon full of sugar. When she laughed and told him it would help the medicine go down, he took the spoon full of sugar. Mary Poppins seemed highly impressed. Also, there was this crazy ass mother who was hell bent on her daughter meeting Alice. Now, I understand that when you pay for these character breakfasts, you really want to meet all the characters there. And normally, you do get to meet them. But there are a lot of people and the tables are constantly changing, so sometimes it's hard to remember what tables you've visited and who you've seen. Well, there was this woman who REALLY wanted her daughter to see Alice. So she complained to the server that they hadn't seen her yet. And when the server went up to Alice and informed her that there was a table that wanted to see her, she replied in a very bratty British voice, "I'll get to the table when I get to the table." The four of us at our table died laughing. Alice was not going to be told what to do. Eventually, the women complained again and Alice made her way to the table. Let's jut say it wasn't the friendliest of meet and greets. It was absolutely hysterical!. What a lovely morning.

The Grand Floridian lobby The restaurant where we had breakfast Waiting for our table Pooh and I!Such a mad hatter T-I-Double G-Errrrrrrr

After breakfast, Kim and Paul had to go to work. Katy and I went to Target so that I could buy a new audition outfit and some new shoes. Then we met up with our friend Cristy and headed to Hollywood Studios. I felt at home again! It had been so long since I'd walked through this park. Only usually I was in costume headed to work at the Great Movie Ride. The newest thing at this park since I'd left was the new American Idol Experience. This show is amazing. Guests literally audition to sing on one of the many shows that are performed all day. There are six regular shows throughout the day and each show contains three guests who auditioned and were chosen to be able to sing for a live audience. The audience picks a winner at each show and at 7:00 pm every night, there is a finale show where all the winners perform one last time where an ultimate winner is chosen. Whoever wins the finale show receives a golden ticket where they are guaranteed to be seen by the judges at any American Idol audition they choose to go to. Pretty cool, huh? Of course, Disney knows no bounds when it comes to making things real. So a replica of the American Idol stage in Hollywood was built here. There are even three judges that resemble the three infamous ones from the show. Everything is done to perfection. The coolest feature of the show is when original American Idol winners such as Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, and Carrie Underwood, along with host Ryan Seacrest speak directly to the contestants who are singing. I was completely blown away. My day at the Studios was awesome!

After we left Hollywood Studios, we figured it would be a good night to go see Illuminations at Epcot. I also wanted to go have a few drinks around the world! For those of you who haven't been to Disney before, Epcot (standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) is divided into two sections: Future World, where technology and the future of the world are the main focus, and World Showcase, where all the main cultures of the world are celebrated. Most cast members tend to stay in the World Showcase section, going from country to country and having a drink from each one. (I've still never made it all the way around without getting too drunk to finish.) So we had dinner in China and a few drinks from Mexico and France. I didn't want to drink too much because my audition was the next morning. My friends, Lindsay, Josh, and Jaubrie met up with us there to ride a few rides. We ended the night watching Illuminations from afar and then headed home so that I could get some sleep for my audition.

A bust of the man who started it all - Walt Disney A bust of Betty White!Cristy and I eating ice cream In front of the Great Move Ride After having just watched the High School Musical parade The American Idol Experience stage Katy Ray and I on the tram from Hollywood Studios to the car Cristy and I in front of Spaceship Earth at Epcot Yay! Lindsay and I!The group at Epcot!

Day 3 - Monday, Feb 22 - Audition Day!

Today was the day of my audition. I was surprisingly not that nervous - just anxious to do it. I woke up around 7:30 am so that we could leave the apartment by 8:30 am and I could get to the audition location by 9:00 am. The audition was at the Animal Kingdom rehearsal facility. This is where most of the Disney auditions take place and many of the rehearsals once you're in a show. I arrived at 9:00 am to sign up. I was number 46 and by the time 10:00 am rolled around, there were about 95 guys there. This was actually lower than I thought. The casting director came out just before the audition time and spoke to all of us. He informed us that if we receive a callback, we will know immediately before leaving the room. I thought this was pretty cool. The auditions started promptly at ten and I figured I'd be a while since there were 45 people in front of me. This was not the case however. I've never been to an audition where they get you in and out in no time. So once the first group of 10 had finished in less than 10 minutes, I knew that I wouldn't be far behind. Normally at auditions, I like to go into my own zone. I hear my song in my head over and over. I breathe. I relax my body. I stretch. And I'm not very talkative. It's the one time in my life where I actually shut up. But of course, I had to be sitting directly next to a guy who could not STOP talking. He asked me every question he could ever think of: How many of these have you been to? Do you think it would be fun to work for Disney? Where are you from? How old are you? Do you think my outfit is okay? blah blah blah blah blah... I wanted to die. As each group of ten went back, random guys from the preceding groups were coming back into the registration/holding room with yellow sheets of paper. I figured out that this meant they were called back and they had come back in to make an appointment for the next day. It was odd to me, however, that all of the guys getting called back were older. At least mid to late 30's if not 40's. This worried me. Finally, around 10:35 am, they called my group of ten. I had chosen to sing Beethoven Day from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The song was fun, it showed my personality, and it showed my range. As I was waiting in line, I could hear the guys in front of me who were singing. One of them was around my age, very good looking, and when he sang, angels came from heaven. I didn't recognize the song, but it sounded absolutely beautiful. But when he came out, he didn't have the yellow paper. I couldn't believe it. I took a few deep breaths and waited for my turn, and finally, walked into the room. The only two people there were the casting director and the accompanist. They were both very sweet and made me feel welcome. I gave my sheet music to the pianist, slated my song, and started in. The song went really well for me. My voice felt strong and I dug deep into the melody. Everything felt great. He gave me a smile, told me that he liked my voice, but unfortunately didn't have anything that he thought would fit me in the show. He then encourage me to come back to another audition and thanked me for my time. So, no callback. I was disappointed but I felt really good about my audition so I didn't let it get me down. I went there, did my best, and got a result. It wasn't exactly the result that I wanted but that's how it goes in this business. I was proud of myself and that's what matters.

After the audition, I went with Kim to TGI Fridays for a bite to eat and then went to Hollywood Studios to wait for Katy Ray to get off work and meet me there. I just sort of relaxed and watched people enjoy being there. When she came to meet me there, we walked around and rode a few things. Then is started pouring down rain and we both got soaked! Paul met up with us and we all decided to go to Orlando Ale House with my friend Josh to have some drinks. I spent waaaaaaay more money than I should have but I had a terrific time. I'm sure videos from that night will also be included in my montage. It had been a good day.

Day 4 - Tuesday, Feb 23

I slept on and off until around 11:00 am and finally got up to take a shower and get ready. I didn't have any definite plans for the day but I knew that I wanted to hang out with my friends Erin and Nick who had just gotten engaged. So they picked me up around 1:00 pm and we headed to Magic Kingdom to watch the parade and ride a few things. One of the new things at Magic Kingdom is the newly renovated Space Mountain. It's much faster now and MUCH darker. The track layout is exactly the same with a smoother ride and new vehicles. It's a really good renovation. Katy Ray and my friend Tim met me at Magic Kingdom when Erin and Nick had to leave. We stayed there until that night so that my last night at Disney could end with Wishes, the fireworks above Cinderella Castle. This is my favorite good night kiss at Disney. (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios all have a type of fireworks show, called a good night kiss, that closes the park each night. Animal Kingdom does not have one because the noise from the fireworks would scare the animals.) After the fireworks, we were supposed to go to Jellyrolls, a club at the Boardwalk in Disney that I had never been to that is apparently a blast! But I had started to get a really bad headache for some reason so we decided to stay at home and watch a movie. It was a nice relaxing ending to a fun filled couple of days. My time at Disney had been amazing. It hurt my soul to know that I had to get on that plane the next morning. But good things could be in store! I as on my way to audition for Bojangles'!

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Stay tuned for the second half of this epic tale coming soon!

The coming days (insert dramatic music here)

2010-02-19T15:48:00.002-05:00

Well well well...

The time has finally come! Tomorrow morning, my roommate Jake is taking me to the airport where I fly out at 7:30AM. I'll be arriving in Orlando at approximately 9:30AM where Katy Ray will pick me up. We'll probably run to her house, get ready, and then hit the parks and begin the adventure!

My audition is on Monday morning. They just want to hear 16 bars of any song you want to sing. I figured that since the show is a buccaneer civil war folk/country music type show, I'd sing something with a little country flavor that's uptempo. So I've chosen the song Rocky Top Tennessee. After the audition, it supposedly works sort of a la America Idol where they give me a "called back" pass. From there, if I'm called back, they make an appointment for the next day.

I'll be updating the blog each day as my adventures develop.

After I leave Orlando, Nikki and I head to Greenville, SC for my Bojangles audition. I found out today that I will be the ONLY person auditioning on that day. They are literally staying in Greenville until I get there. I can't understand my life! Nikki and I are gonna stay Wednesday and Thursday night. I searched and searched for a cheap motel and finally ran across Motel 6 that was only going to cost $75 for the two nights. But you know me, I can't stop there. So then I searched and found a bunch of coupon codes that knocked it down to $58 for both nights. Gotta love Google and RetailMeNot! I simply can't wait for what shenanigans Nikki and I will get ourselves into. So stay tuned!

As for when I return... While waiting for the results of said auditions, Justine and I have a few plans. Three in fact.

1) To create the Matt James 12 Months of Sexy Time calendar

Simply put, the calendar will feature me in a certain pose for every month of the year. We wanted it to be completed before 2010 began but if we can finish it by the very beginning of March, we still have most of the months left.

2) To begin our YouTube talk show

Justine and I are creating the "Morning After Show" that will be featured on Saturday and Sunday mornings on our very own YouTube channel. Topics of interest will mostly include the happenings of the night before, the hangover food that we are going to consume, and the projected amount of time it will take us to begin drinking again. Often times we'll already be drinking again before the show has finished.

and last but not least...

3) To become ordained ministers and begin services with PSCUSE ministries

Don't worry. You read that correctly. Justine and I are going to become ordained ministers and begin our own church. The church will be called PSCUSE (Progressive Southern Christians Under Zion's Eye). You can read the details of our lovely creation in Justine's epic blog here. But how, you ask, did we come up with such a wonderful idea? Well, we visited the Open Ministry website. In a matter of seconds, we became official ordained ministers and received online certificates of ordination. Of course, that doesn't mean that we can now legally marry people. But we're well on our way. In order to actually be able to legally unite two people in marriage, we must purchase, from the open ministry company, a letter of good standing and our ordination credentials. All together, that will cost us about $25. I believe this is truly worth it. Once we have purchased those two items and we receive them in the mail, we then take our materials to the Richmond city clerk where we present them with our ministry papers. Once they approve them, they will register us as marriage officiants in the State of Virginia. It's as simple as that! We'll be able to unite two people in love.

Of course, our plan is to "accidentally" marry two people at a bar some night and not tell them until the next morning. Or, we will baptize random people at Starlite bar on Tuesday $2 drink night. Either way, I believe this is one of the grandest ideas we've had. Watch out Richmond!

The Bojangles' Saga and Other Tales

2010-02-16T22:53:00.021-05:00

Oh me oh my! Where to begin??

Let's start at the very beginning. (A very good place to start!) - - - Yes, Yes. I made a musical theatre reference. So kill me.

This is going to be a rather long blog entry but a rather interesting one at that. However, if you're only interested in a Bojangles' update, scroll to the bottom of the post. I have some things to explain before I get there.

Okay, so since graduating from college, I've had certain goals that have changed and evolved slightly as the reality of the real world has set in. I've always wanted to move to NYC as soon as possible after graduation. NYC is where I want to be. When I visit, my whole world lights up and I feel like I'm at home. It's positively where I belong. HOWEVER, it's crazy expensive to live there and the reality of having enough money to live there so soon after graduation has quickly diminished. I mean, it's not THAT big of a deal. I'm not closing NYC out of my life goals; I'm just postponing it a bit. So in early July, I decided to live in Richmond for at least another year and work full time. The problem was: how do I find a job in this economy that pays enough for me to cover my rent, cell phone bill, credit card bills, medical bills, student loan bills, and still be able to eat and have a social life and not die?

Well, this is where my luck comes in. I MUST have some Irish in me because I have pots of gold waiting for me wherever I go. You'll find that a great deal of my blog posts focus on my uncanny luck. Sometimes that luck means that good things happen to me. Many times that luck means that I happen to be the person witnessing a truly amazing event or meeting an interesting creature. Nonetheless, my luck has taken me on many adventures in my life so far.

So, as luck would have it, I happened to be talking to my friend Lia back in September about needing a job. (From the time I graduated in May until the end of September, I continued my job as an Information Student Supervisor for the University Student Commons at VCU.) Well wouldn't you know that she just happened to be working for her father, was looking for a new job, and needed someone to take over for her. Not only was the job conveniently located downtown close to where I lived, but it had great pay and full time hours. It was perfect for what I needed for financial stability. And now that I could make a larger amount of money, I could begin to save money and audition for shows, preparing my bank account and my résumé for NYC.

I've been doing this since August. You know, saving money isn't as easy as it sounds. It's a slow process but I'm getting there!

Now that I've gotten ahead of myself in money (that is, when I get paid it doesn't ALL go to bills anymore) and I have a small surplus, it's easier for me to go out and audition in other cities including New York. One of my partners in crime, Margie, and I went to NYC in early January to audition for Chicago and Hair on Broadway. Unfortunately, since we're not Equity, we weren't able to audition. That's just how things go in this business. Once we get our Equity cards, that will change. Most recently, I auditioned for the Sound of Music at Barksdale here in Richmond. This would be a great performance because it would give me points towards getting my Equity card. I received a callback and went to that last night which went fairly well.

But next comes a bigger adventure. As many of you know, for two years, I worked for Disney as a seasonal cast member down in Orlando, Florida on the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios (formally MGM Studios). I had the time of my life and met some of the most amazing people ever. Here are some pictures of me from there:

Working as a seasonal cast member, meaning only during the summers and winter breaks, it is difficult to get a job with Disney Entertainment. Many of their shows have contracts with a minimum of six months so being in school makes that very difficult. But now that I am out of college, I'm able to do whatever I want. So on Saturday, I'm flying to Orlando! I'm so excited. I am going to an audition on Monday Feb 22 for a role in the "Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue." It's a fun dinner show at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground where there is all you can eat food and all you can drink alcohol. So the audience is having a great time! It's the perfect show for me and I would get my Equity card. I'm so excited to audition. If I'm called back, they will schedule it for Tuesday Feb 23. And since I still have a lot of friends down there, I've decided to make a weekend out of it so that's why I'm going down on Saturday and I'm staying through Wednesday. My good friends Katy Ray and Stuart are hosting me.

Items already planned for the Disney trip:

A "Glee!" themed party to celebrate my return (not sure who I'm going to be yet)
A visit to all the Disney Parks (obviously)
A night out at Jelly Rolls (an awesome bar at Disney)
A character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, Pooh, and Tigger (jealous?)
Lots of laughing
Lots of crying
Lots of drinking
Lots of drinking
And I'm sure we'll drink a little at some point

Obviously, it is inevitable that this trip is going to be one of the most amazing times of my life and I simply can NOT wait. I'll clearly be blogging about each event as it unfolds. Get ready for some surprises.

Now... on to the part that I've been raving about and that you probably came here to read about... the continuation of the Bojangles' epic story. So as I said before, my flight from Orlando is scheduled to arrive in Richmond on Wednesday Feb 24, yet Bojangles' wants me to come to Greenville, SC for a live audition on Thursday Feb 25. This is almost impossible because my arrival time in Richmond in 8:00PM which would require me to then somehow turn right back around and fly to Greenville, SC. So I thought, maybe I can just have my flight changed to go to Greenville instead of Richmond and then buy a one way ticket from Greenville to Richmond. I knew there would be an additional charge but I had no earthly idea that the price quote they would give me for all this would be $600. SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS! I almost shit my pants. So that idea was out the window.

Next I tried looking up bus and train tickets. Neither one of them were terrible in price. But both of them were going to take a minimum of 15 hours each way. I knew that if I chose that I'd be exhausted when I got there and no good at the audition. But I'd have to do what I have to do.

Here is where my luck comes in again...

I was on facebook chat talking to my long time friend Nikki. She has been following my progress throughout this journey and was inquiring about my status in the situation. I informed her of my troubles and asked if she had any advice. Well, she had the most perfect advice I could have ever asked for. Nikki said, with this much notice, she could take Thursday and Friday off work and we could make a road trip out of it. My dreams had come true! But with my flight coming in so late on Wednesday evening to Richmond, by the time we got to Greenville, it would be around 4 or 5 in the morning and my audition would be the next day. I would be crazy tired. Then Nikki had another brilliant idea, she asked if I had any layovers in the flight that were in Charlotte or Raleigh or any city in North Carolina. If so, she could meet me there and we could hit the road to Greenville. That would at least put us there a little earlier. But to our dismay, my flight to Richmond was a direct flight with no transfers.

But this idea was great. We needed to run with so. So after researching a few flight prices to other NC cities, it was apparent that flying into Charlotte and Raleigh were much cheaper than flying into Greenville. I even found a one way ticket that went straight from Orlando to Charlotte for around $100. That was cheaper than taking the bus or the train. So it was settled, I would fly from Orlando to Charlotte on Wednesday morning, Nikki would pick me up there and we would head to Greenville, arriving there on Wednesday night. She found a sketchy ass motel that would literally be $30 a night for the both of us together. We needed to stay until Friday because if I were to get called back, it would take place on Friday morning. So it was only going to cost $60 for two people to stay for two nights. Adventure, here we come!

So Nikki and I had settled our agreement. I called Expedia to see the price difference between changing my flight or just purchasing a new ticket. To change my flight would cost around $150. Therefore, I purchased the new $100 instead. Our plan would unfold the minute I arrived in Charlotte. Greenville would never know what hit it.

Then it happened... oh, it happened... it HAPPENED!

The SECOND that everything was settled, I got a little email from the Bojangles' audition crew stating the following:

We have had to make some significant changes to the Bojangles auditions and callbacks. We're sorry for the inconvenience but hope you can accommodate the changes.

Auditions: Monday, Feb 22, 2010 from 1-5.

We will be bringing in several actors at a time to give us the opportunity to pair actors up in various combinations. Some actors will be asked to stay until 5pm, so if at all possible, be prepared to stay.

Callbacks: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 We will try to do callbacks in the morning.

We will email you with either a 3pm or 4pm appointment. Please confirm as soon as possible.

Let me know if these dates/times present any conflict for you.

Thanks for your continued patience and cooperation.

Lois

My jaw dropped. If you don't remember from before, my audition at Disney is on Feb. 22 and my callback would be on Feb. 23, the exact dates they moved the Bojangles' audition and callback dates to. I just stared at the screen. It couldn't be true. My hopes and dreams were crushed. Nikki and I had just created this brilliant plan. This could not be happening.

"Well," I thought, "I can't let this stop me. This adventure is going to happen somehow!"

So I emailed Bojangles':

OH NO!

I will be in Orlando, Florida during those dates. I've already made travel arrangements to get to Greenville in time for the Feb 25 audition and possible Feb 26 callback. Is there any way to be seen on Feb 25? I've already paid to have my plane ticket changed and have made hotel accommodations.

Please let me know if anything can be done.

Thanks,

Matt James

I waited with anticipation not knowing what they would say. I mean, it wasn't their fault that they had to change the date. I'm sure something came up and the space they had wasn't available anymore or someone involved with the audition couldn't be there anymore. Whatever the case, it looked as though auditioning for Bojangles' was not going to happen. But then, a response:

Matt - we'll find a way. We definitely don't want you to be spending more money. I had already mentioned something to Terrence (the audition coordinator) about you. So I think he'll be ok. Let me know when your flight is. Then we'll work around it.

Lois

!!!!!AHHHHHHHH!!!!! It worked. It was back on! My dreams had been fulfilled!

I have no idea if this means there will be other actors there or if they are literally having the audition just for me. Either way, this whole situation should be fairly helpful. They can't forget me now. And they're expecting me. We've had thorough communication. Now I just have to show them my personality. I may have a good shot at this!

So everything has been worked out. I was able to get a cheap plane ticket, I'm going to make it to both auditions, and hopefully get some work out of them.

WHEW! What a story, huh? I hope it was as epic to read as it was to live through it personally. And it all happened in about a four hour span. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

Operation Matt and Nikki in Greenville, SC is underway. Of course, I'll have to make it through Disney World before that can happen. We'll see...

This is my life!

So... how was your day?

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P.S. My new digital camera came in the mail yesterday so be ready for photos galore!

Project Bojangles' - One Step Closer

2010-02-13T16:22:00.000-05:00

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is:

I AM A FINALIST FOR THE BOJANGLES' COMPETITION!

The bad news is, Justine was not chosen as a finalist. But no matter. If I were to win, I'd just sneak her into the Bojangles' RV! So here's what's next. They want me to come down to Greenville, SC for a live audition on Thursday February 25. And I definitely want to. There are just a few problems. The first being, I don't have a car. But I guess there are other options such as taking the bus. My biggest problem is that I am flying to Orlando on Feb 20 for an audition and my return flight is scheduled to come back to Richmond on Wednesday February 24. So I'd somehow have to hop on a bus immediately to get down to Greenville, get some sleep, and go to the audition the next afternoon. It's gonna be tough but I've got to figure out how to do this.

I could possibly change my flight to go to Greenville instead of Richmond but to change a flight destination will cost me about $150. So we'll see. I'll keep the blog updated on my decisions.

BUT I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Waiting for my new camera, and a Bojangles update

2010-02-12T16:04:00.009-05:00

I bought a new digital camera the other day that was supposed to be delivered today. But due to the TERRIBLE weather conditions up north, the delivery has been delayed until tomorrow. Oh well! I am so excited to get the camera. This is my first digital camera that I've owned so I'm pretty pumped about it. It's a Canon Powershot SD1200IS. I'm sure that doesn't mean much so I've included a picture of it!

I will now be able to have a photo and video filled blog of my life. This will definitely come in handy when I travel to Disney World for my audition next week. I will tell more about that once the time approaches. YAY!

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Both Justine and I got responses back from Bojangles' thanking us for our entries. So we definitely know they have them. In Justine's email, they said something to the extent of "Thanks for your super video!" So that's a good sign that they liked it. Justine then pointed out that since we both sent them the same video, they were forced to watch it twice! It's now ingrained in their minds! I'll keep you updated.

Here's hoping for Bojangles' Fame

2010-02-11T11:24:00.001-05:00

This morning, I sent in the final email package to the Bojangles' contest. I must say, I'm proud of how the video turned out and everyone seems to like it.

About 15 minutes after I sent the email, I got a response back from them saying "Thanks!" So at least I know they got it.

Justine sent hers in about 2 minutes ago so she should be getting a response soon. Obviously, I will keep the blog updated on any further notifications.

I'M SO EXCITED!!

The Bojangles' Video!!

2010-02-11T00:01:00.008-05:00

So after many hours of hard work, our audition video is now finished! Tomorrow morning we'll send the video to the Bojangles' crew and see what they think!

Here it is:

Third Street Loogie

2010-02-10T14:30:00.005-05:00

I literally can't go a day without something very strange happening to me. I'll stress again how much I hate the snow because it's the snow's fault that this happened. I was at work and around 11:30 I started getting hungry. Normally I run next door to this cute little place called "Becky's" on Cary Street. But of course, they were closed because of the bad weather. So were all of the other places within extreme proximity to my office. So I went on a small adventure and walked a couple of blocks looking for an open restaurant where I could buy a quick sandwich for lunch.

About 2 blocks away, there is a little place called Third Street Diner. I should have known better than to go in there after what happened to me last time. (That story will succeed this one) I walked inside and told the server that I wanted to place an order to go. She was very sweet and handed me a menu and said she'd come back to take my order. The restaurant was fairly busy to be a snowy Wednesday afternoon so it took her a few minutes to catch up on everyone else who was also seated or waiting at the bar. Another server saw that I was sitting there and walked over to ask if I had been helped. I told him that the other server was coming back to take my order and he said that he would go ahead and do it for her.

Then it happened...

I'd noticed that as he walked up to me he had been coughing but I didn't think anything of it. When he proceeded to ask me what I was going to order, a loogie flew out of his mouth, stretched forward while still connected to his mouth, flew back and landed on his lip. I was appalled. I had to tell him my order (A cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and onions with a side of fries) all while staring at this beautiful lump of phlegm that was perfectly perched on his lip. I thought I would vomit. Finally, he walked away once my order was complete. But alas, to my dismay, he turned around and entered my personal space yet again to ask if I wanted anything to drink. I could have been thirsting to death in a desert and not wanted this man to touch anything of mine. So "No, thank you" was the answer. And as he turned around to go back to work, the loogie gracefully swung off his lip and onto the floor. I wanted to get out of there!

Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long before my food was brought to me and I ran out the door, two blocks down the street, and finally to my office. After a close examination of the food, I consumed it. To tell the truth, the burger was really delicious. I'm just glad it hadn't been seasoned with an extra thick loogie.

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So to turn back the clocks a couple of weeks, I'll share another interesting Third Street Diner story. It all started on Edgar Allan Poe's birthday when a group of friends and I decided to go to the Poe Museum for the 24 hour birthday bash.

We had an okay time there and around 3AM we decided it was time to eat. Since we were in that part of town, Third Street Diner was the obvious choice. The restaurant was packed with many a creature ranging from a strange looking woman with a shaved head to a man with about 45 earrings per ear. But nothing could prepare us for what we would see next. Our server was about 7 months pregnant. Now that doesn't seem like such a big deal. But the only reason I even knew that she was this far along is because she stated it. She was about the size that a woman should be in her 4th month of pregnancy. Methinks the baby isn't growing at a rapid enough rate. I wonder why? OH! I KNOW! Perhaps it was because she was smoking cigarettes at the bar in between waiting on tables! Our entire group saw this phenomenon at once and we couldn't handle ourselves. And to top it off, the bartender was her mother! It was one of the strangest restaurant experiences I've ever hard.

Here are a few photos of us at the diner and also outside being foolish. Notice the surprised expressions on our faces. Look closely in the background of the bottom two. Our famous server is vividly present.

I don't understand my life.

The snow will not stop me from achieving victory!

2010-02-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

So there is kind of a blizzard outside. First of all, I am so sick of this snow! It's driving me crazy!

At first, I thought, wait wait wait, is this God's way of saying, "Matt and Justine, do NOT audition for this amazing Bojangles' opportunity." And then I thought, "Why, God? Why would we not want to do this? It's perfect!"

So I contacted Justine to get her take on the situation. We COULD simply not be at Bojangles' when we film the video. But it's just not as much fun. We HAVE to be there in order for this blessed event to take place. But then, Justine informed me of something very pertinent to the situation:

"But Matt....this is exactly why I have 4 wheel drive."

And so it is settled. Once again, we have pushed our way through the bad and into the good.

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So now we just need to figure out what to include in the video. Justine has a plan: We're going to film ourselves enjoying delicious chicken tenders but "green screen" ourselves into random locations around the world! "We love Bojangles' so much, we'll eat it anywhere in the world!"

Location ideas: Paris, Tokyo, Disney World, in an office board meeting, during a Twilight fight sequence, and perhaps during 911, although I don't think we'll go quite that far with it.

Either way, I'm sure there will be much hilarity along the way. I'll post the video as soon as we've finished it. Hopefully there will be a blooper reel to go along with it.

My newest adventure: Go out on the road for Bojangles'

2010-02-09T23:12:00.004-05:00

I feel almost like I'm cheating by having this be my second blog posting. I've built up this whole scenario about how crazy my life is and it really really is. But there are only a few occurrences in my life where an adventure has come along that is this perfect for me. In fact, I don't believe I've ever gotten such a perfect opportunity. I just don't want my other stories to be less adventurous. None the less, there is simply no way to turn this down.

Let me backtrack a little: Ever heard of the fast food chain called Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits? Well, my friends and I would go there quite often back in highschool. It turned into our normal meeting spot where we would discuss the weekend's plans or perhaps recap the hilarity that had ensued the weekend before. We also frequented the establishment to "people watch." That is, we'd make fun of the strange creatures that seemed to be drawn to the place while enjoying our four piece supreme chicken tender dinner with seasoned fries and ice cold sweet tea. Needless to say, Bojanles' had a very special place in our hearts.

So you must understand the painful separation we all had when all of us decided to attend universities in cities that did NOT have a Bojangles'! It was a horrid truth that had to be accepted and dealt with.

Fast forward about four years when my good friend Justine moved to Richmond. Those of you who know Justine are well aware that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. On a quest to find the nearest Bojangles' to Richmond, Justine stumbled upon a goldmine. (insert dramatic music here) A NEW BOJANGLES' HAD BEEN BUILT IN RICHMOND! We were absolutley elated and have traveled the 6.5 miles (according to Google Maps) many times over to take part in the delicious and "famous chicken 'n biscuits."

So now that you've read this heartwarming tale about a group of friends and their favorite chicken joint, imagine the pure ecstasy that was felt when Justine discovered this gem of an advertisement today:

It seems as though someone created this opportunity personally for the two of us. Not only are we the most avid fans a fast food establishment has ever seen, Justine and I know NO boundaries when it comes to adventure. We WILL take this contest by storm and become the newest faces of Bojangles'. I'm truly convinced that we will achieve ultimate victory.

Tomorrow, Justine and I are filming the video that will lead us on a winning journey. As soon as it's done, I will be sure to post it.

The birth of a new blog

2010-02-09T15:28:00.003-05:00

Hear ye, hear ye!

Matt James now has a blog!

Now I know you all are thinking, "It's about damn time!" And you know what? You're right. It is about damn time. The folks that know me well will admit to you that I have an insane life. I'm not quite sure how or why this is. All I know is that somehow my friends and I get ourselves into crazy shenanigans day in and day out. And after about five years of living this way (for most of my adventures began during my freshman year of college), it's time to start blogging about it.

Most of my blog will be filled with adventures taking place from here on out. Some of my blog will consist of memories of the past that are too good not to share. Other parts may contain ranting about random worldly things. Either way, you'll laugh, cry, scream, choke, spit, etc. In fact, the real adventure may just be the actual reading of the blog itself.

This is me. Matt James.

Jealous? I thought so.