Trip McNeely

I'm off to do some extra-curricular traveling. 2 hours ago, I definitely had a dream that Matt Hoopes and I were on a plane plummeting from the sky. We never crashed. Sweet.


See ya soon.

Matty.

Jesus.

I love this time of year, because I watch stuff on TV that remind me of how human Jesus was. He was a real guy that whether you believe in the spiritual side of him or not (I do), was probably really cool to hang out and talk to. At least from what I've read.

Listening to XTC - Poor Skeletons Step Out


Happy Easter Everyone.

Matthew.

Cause We Make A Good Team?

Shannon got me a present.
Auction. Charity.
I'm stoked.

Signed (with certificate) and apparently previously worn. I suppose all of this certifies me a Lebron James nerd. Glad to be one.

Big pictures for a big jersey.








What a pick up line that turned out to be.
Thanks boog.

Matty

Irish I Was Irish

The shows were some of my favorites we've ever done! Ethan was marvelous, and our new crew guys (Derek, Travis, James, and Tyler) helped make everything run nice and hitchlessly.

Even though we always wanted to, we had not yet played a show with New Found Glory. The show Friday was pretty special for that and more.

I had a really great time meeting everyone in my path this week. Thanks for taking the time to come to a show and say hi. The Wedding and Rookie Of The Year were tops, and pre-existing friendships were made stronger still.

There's so much more to tell of, but my internet time has expired for this evening. I've got bags to pack.

O'Matty

Sticking Out Like A Sore Thumbs Up

I had a really wonderful night tonight. It was definitely not our best display, but I don't remember having this much fun in a long time. I mean, it HAS been almost 3 months since we've played a show. Ethan did well, and all of us were glad to be on stage together again.

Welcome To The Good Life.

The Beat Of A Different Drum

Er....

Not much to report other than we're busy in Nashville preparing for some upcoming shows.

Ethan is doing a great job with the tunes, and we're definitely throwing him some curveballs. Since we're only doing a few shows next week, we're sailing into some unchartered waters with the set. We hope no one will mind. We also hope that we don't run into pirates.

I've been listening to the song Beautiful Beat by Nada Surf all week. Its good. The rest of the songs on the record take their turns hitting or missing.

Time to rest.
Matthew

Cupidity

Valentine's Day was great. I scored some amazing Thai food (take-out... no reservations needed), and my best girl and I watched Ocean's Thirteen. Since she doesn't watch Lost, I made a personal sacrifice in the name of love. Merry Valentine, everyone.

I've been enjoying the company of my friends in Rookie Of The Year, lately. Melodies are palpable.

We picked a new drummer.

Its gonna be a fun year.

Matty

Ill Eagle

I was outside this morning, and I saw an eagle soaring above me. He was looking for breakfast or lunch... whatever meal eagles eat at 10:45am. Anyway, he kept circling directly overhead, so I squinted my eyes and pretended I was holding a kite string that led all the way up to him. I got to fly that eagle for about six minutes, and as he flew farther and farther away, I thought, "Wow. That is a lot of kite string."

There will probably be more news today.
Matty

Bad Luck Chuck

A street light flickered on as I was walking beneath it tonight. It could have been motion sensitive, but I like to think that it was something special. Not good luck or anything... just a happy coincidence.

A friend of mine was talking about coincidences that hold the reputation of being ill faring (like strolling under a ladder or encountering a black cat). I love that stuff. I broke the mirror in my travel-kit. I laughed out loud.

There is no bad luck... just trials traveling in packs. When it rains it pours, but after it pours it stops.
Matty

Oilman

Not too much going on with me. Kind of.
However, I did see an amazing movie yesterday
There Will Be Blood is probably one the best films that I've recently experienced.

Its about an oilman.

So is this.


"How are ya, dude? I'm Oil Man"
"Eh... I'm ok. Lost my pants a few miles back.."


"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY PARENT'S LIVING ROOM!!!!!????!!!!
"Its me, Ricky. Your stepfather! You need to take the trash out, dude."


rough translations
Matty.

Kids Stuff.

I went to the premier of the Veggie Tales' newest cinematic endeavor, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. The folks at Big Idea were very gracious to us by giving our song a spin during the end credits. The movie was well done, and the forty toddlers in the theater ate it up. I also got to meet the guy who does all of their song writing. I admire him quite a bit.



Ok.
This is a Steve Irwin playset I bought. Not sure why they sell 'em.

I started drawing another hot dog picture the other day. I drew a burglar hot dog guy on a T-shirt one time, and thought I'd put him in another picture. This is just a screen shot of it.

I Am The Champion, My Friends

I don't know why I'm disclosing this information weeks after my victory, but I won my fantasy football league. Much thanks to LT, Randy, Braylon, Reggie, and others.

What Happened When A Couple Thousand People Were Really Hungry?

2008.
Happy New Year, friends.


There wasn't a whole lot of fantastic music released last year, but here's twelve albums that I listened to more than once. One of them was released in '06, but I just don't care. Haha.

The Little Ones - Sing Song
Silverchair - Young Modern
Manchester Orchestra - Like A Virgin Losing A Child
The Starting Line - Direction
Ruth - Secondhand Dreaming
Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars
Surrogate - Love Is For The Rich
Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River
The Bird And The Bee - The Bird And The Bee
The Thrills - Teenager
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Nick Drake - Family Tree

Dave Douglasless

We just figured out that yesterday was the 7th year anniversary (to the day) of Dave's first show with us. Yesterday was also Dave's last show. We had a really good time playing together one last time. I think all of us were pretty emotional, but we were able to stay fairly composed. We were in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee for the last few days, and with band, crew, management, and wives, there was 18 of us playing Guitar Hero (which I hate), pool, Blongo, and hanging out in a gorgeous mountainside cabin together. It was a really great way to say goodbye to a really great friend.

Today is actually the ten year anniversary of Relient K's first show ever. I never thought we'd last a decade, but I couldn't be happier. Here's to another ten.
Matty

Football In The Neighborhood Of Make-Believe

Well... It'd be a little weird if I didn't talk about the fact that I am one of two out of twelve people still fighting for the main prize in my fantasy football league. I go up against Mark Stuart this week. If I win, I WIN. If not, I still did better than ten other guys, and they'll still be mad at me. Thats a good thing. This was my first year doing fantasy, and I was pretty apprehensive. There's a lot of luck to it, but I did spend about $35 on fantasy football magazines before the season began. I hope I see a bit of a return on that investment.

The Browns are doing pretty nicely in hard-hitting, reality football. I thought this was going to be a rough year for us Browns fans.

Shows what I know. Fantasy or not, I reside in

Let's Make-Believeland a reality. Go Browns

Fievel Goes Blog

The last two weeks have been super busy, but pretty great. Being preoccupied before Christmas is an amazing thing. The holiday sneaks up on me, and I'm always grateful when its here. I watched American Tail last night. Hence the Fievel themed comic blog.


Click here if you can't see the whole thing


Matty T.

The Browns, Giving Thanks, The Sounds, & Funny Pranks

The reason for the drought is pretty simple.

I didn't really blog.

The Browns [Part I]
Some friends, April and Kelly, bought me a Browns jersey. They gave it to me a while back, and I've been wearing it every Sunday afternoon since. They put Clay Matthews' retired number 57 on it. They weren't aware of the legendary linebacker's accolades as a part of the Cleveland Browns franchise. They were just making a Five Sore... reference. They also put my last name on the back. Clay Matthews Thiessen. Very close. If I had a clone or a brother named Matthew, it'd be perfect. Love it. Thanks ladies.


The Browns played the at the Baltimore Ravens on November 18th. The Bands played at the Baltimore City on November 18th. For a while I had known I was going to be spending this brisk November Sunday merely blocks down the street from where Derek, Braylon, The Amazing Joe Thomas, Jamal, Mr. Jurevicius, and K. Winslow were clocking in. I had planned on watching them work in person, but I had fallen ill about five days prior. I wasn't quite up to sitting in cold weather and wearing some fan's spilled Bud Light. If you follow the NFL, you may remember that the Browns won the game with a crazy, last-second, tying field goal in regulation, and a victorious three point boot in overtime. Despite being on sleepytime meds and my 23rd cup of tea, there was much "jouissance" in reaction to this freakish act of ricochet.
I felt better.

I felt like I had enough voice to have a good show.

The Browns cured me. Football is awesome.

With this new found exuberance for life, I thought it fitting that I'd celebrate. I'll admit that I was a bit nervous waiting to walk up the steps to the stage where I would play my final song of the night, cloaked in my new Browns jersey. I boarded and struck my pre-meditated Heisman pose. The boos rained down like a bittersweet symphony. I walked to the microphone, confessed that I was celebrating a victory that was really big for the Browns, and then removed my jersey (under which I was wearing the traditional snap down collared shirt). While I did this, I said something to the extent of how I had had my fun, and I wasn't going to distract from the music with football tomfoolery any more. Then I spotted someone in the front row with a Todd Heap Raven's jersey. It appeared that as an act of good nature, I should wear the Raven's jersey while I sing the song. The thought was something shy of blasphemy. I kind of regret going through with the idea, but I did have thousands of people looking at me with laser eyes. I got chicken.

The next day began my Thanksgiving Week.

Giving Thanks
I was thankful to be off the road for a few days. I love touring (this tour especially), but its always nice to not live in close quarters with eleven other dudes for a few days.

The first thing on the menu was a little trim. I walked in the door, looked in the mirror, walked upstairs, and shaved my lip.

I got to say the prayer before we ate on Thanksgiving. I've never done that before. It made me smile... and kinda nervous.

I had a really busy time around the holiday. I spent most of it with my girlfriend, Shannon, and we visited three towns (full of friends and family) in three days. We spent more hours awake then we wanted to, and we did a fair bit of driving. It was all worth it, however, cause we got to see some wonderful people and have a blast hanging out with each other.

The Browns [Part II]
I came home to Ohio, and within two and a half hours there was a knock on my door. My buddy Joe was the first of some friends to arrive. We picked up some Crossroads Pizza (by far the most amazing thing to come out of Bolivar, OH), and he casually asked me if I'd like to go to the Browns game on Sunday. Thoughts of sitting in cold weather wearing some fan's spilled Bud Light were followed by an enthusiastic "yes". We made plans to head up to Cleveland Sunday morning. I was elated because I had not yet seen the Browns play (cause I missed out the week before), and I had never been to the Brown's stadium. All of this was unbeknownst to Joe, but I'm glad he asked me to go.

On Sunday morning I threw on six or seven layers of clothing (the topmost layer was browns and orange). Despite some congestion at the gate and a decent line for the bratwursts, we got to our seats with about eight minutes left in the first quarter. The game was awesome. The Brownies won, and I got to chat with the guy next to me about the offensive coordinator. I'm a nerd.

Casey
The worst part of the week was definitely finding out about Casey Calvert's passing. Casey was the guitarist for Hawthorne Heights, and we shared a ton of great times together on the Nintendo Fusion Tour. He was a great guy and a great hang. He was always laughing and making me feel good about myself. My condolences to his friends, family, band. I assume that losing a band mate is something akin to losing a brother. I can't imagine how torn up they have to be.

The Sounds
We had some really fun shows in IL, OH, PA, and NY, but because of my cough, they weren't quite what they could've been. I worked hard at recuperating. Lots of sleep, meds, and tea.

Because I hadn't played a show healthy in a while, I was really excited to fly out to the west coast to start this last week of tour.
The shows have been some of the best of the tour, and we're all having a really great time spending these last few days together. Dave is only going to be playing with us for a couple more shows, so its great that we're loving every minute of them.

A big thank you goes out to all the friends that have come out to these shows and showered Dave and the band with support. We got a rad scrap book and a cool youtube video from some fans. We looked at both things together as a band, and we had some good times reminiscing about some golden olden days.

We're going to try work some tour olympics into these last few dates. Events may consist of Bocce Ball, Darts, Sharp Shooting, Scrabble, karaoke, etc.

Funny Pranks
Its getting to the part of a tour where bands and crew traditionally start pranking each other. We've pranked some people quite nicely in the past, but Relient K policy has morphed into opting for the treat rather than the trick. I'd rather do something funny to a band than something malicious.
I suppose karma was paying us back last night, when Switchfoot's lighting engineer, Taylor, decided to "prank" us. During our rendition of Sleigh Ride, Taylor repelled from the 40ft tall catwalk to the stage while dressed in the customary Santa Claus outfit. He threw out candy canes (you can see em in the photo) as he descended, and he brought joy to the faces of the children. It was honestly the coolest thing that's ever happened to us on stage.


Till next time.
Matty

Busy Week

I meant to post yesterday or today, but fortunately I've been able to have enough fun things to do, that I haven't been able to spare any extra time on the world wide web of lies.
Soon.
Matty

Ohio Statement

What the heck Buckeyes!? I promised all of my friends from Illinois that we were going to crush every ounce of dignity found in the hearts of the Champaign, Illinois fighting Illini (great team name by the way). Again, I was reminded that I don't know the first thing about the phrase "shoe-in". Ironically, whenever I claim something to be that, I end up with my foot in my mouth. My Chucks are too dirty to keep doing that.

I also bought a few records this week. I buy a lot of music on iTunes, but sometimes I feel tenacious enough to get off of my butt and actually go to a store to buy a physical copy of an album I want. On Tuesday night (the night before I had a 5 hour drive), I decided that I wanted to go get the new Say Anything. I love their "Is A Real Boy" record, and I had been looking forward to picking up the new one for a long time. I was so excited about getting it, that I went to a store (shall remain nameless) at 11am in my Uggs and sweat pants. If you know me, you know that I don't normally venture into public donning my PJs. So, I find the new Angels and Airwaves (which I wanted) right off the bat, but couldn't find the Say Anything record. They didn't have it. Then I looked for our Christmas disc. No dice (or any copies of "Let It Snow Baby...").Then I looked at the price on the A&A... $14.95! Why would I pay that, when I can get it on iTunes for $9.99!? So, I put it down, drove home, and bought some music from Charlotte's World Wide Web.

The last few shows have been a pleasant improvement from the last bunch. I like it when they don't cover the entire surface of the floor with chairs. I should be the chairman of the No Chairs Board. Someone should take a stand.

Caterpillar kisses,
Matty T.

The S--th

Oh you.

And we're off.

The morning of October 29th was spent unprofessionally fastening siding to a Habitat For Humanity home in Baton Rouge, LA. It was fun. Maybe even more fun than the evening's musical performance (I was pretty wiped out by then).

Halloween night, I polished off the Silence Of The Lambs series. Hanibal Rising was the only one I hadn't seen, and it was pretty fantastic. It was cool watching them in order like that. Its almost like reading a book.
I dressed up like Tom Selleck dressed up as Matthew Thiessen from Relient K. Hoopes encouraged me to inform the next day's Columbia, SC crowd of said costume. After the show, Scarlett O'hara said to me, "I do declare, Mr. Thiessen, that went a bit over their heads!"
I love the s--th.
Scarlett was right though. The majesty of my costume was not nearly as embraced as it should have been by such a large, attentive group of people. The idea that Tom Selleck would even be savvy to the existence of our band is pretty funny. But if this past Halloween, the extent of his passion for our music led him to suit up in a homage drenched Matthew Thiessen costume!?...
Well, that'd be pretty funny as well.

For me to dress up as all of that, makes it a double costume. Its neat what you can do with a mustache and your own clothes.

Instead of Trick or Treating, John Warne bought three candy bars, said I could have one, and let me pick first. It was one Reese's new concoctions. You see, Reese just keeps his candy lovin' nose to the grindstone. He won't stop until he gets the perfect combination of carmel, milk chocolate, white chocolate, crunchy peanut butter, smooth peanut butter, wafers, nougat, roasted peanuts, etc. And even after he figures out the perfect blend, he has to decide on the shape. Will he choose cups, sticks, or pieces? We can only speculate. Once Reese nails it, we'll know. The whole world will know.
Anyway...
The one I had was pretty good. I just can't remember what kind it was. While we were indulging ourselves with the sugar at hand, John and I debated the last time we had a candy bar. The conclusion was more than a few months. When I was a kid, I told myself I would watch a million hours of cartoons and buy closets full of candy when I was an adult. I suppose I'm a failure.

Alright... Just because the Reese thing is such a rip off...

My mustache is dry clean only... Which means...

It's dirty.

Maybe I should have dressed up like a gangrene ridden comedian for Halloween. Rest in Reese's Pieces, Mitch.

Fantasy football was a nightmarish type of fantasy. The kind where the unicorn turns around and Whinny The Pooh is dangling bloody and lifeless from his horn. Broken shards of honey pot sticking out of his eyes.

Apparently I need to refrain from using the term "shoe in". Cause I shoe didn't win.

I've haven't been feeling well the last four days or so.
Boo freakin hoo.
Me, that's hoo.

Matty T.


"boooo!"

Hallowoes vs. Blood and Guts

So I'm a little bummed. Halloween is quickly sneaking up on us (hopefully to scare the crap out of us), and don't feel that I can successfully participate in the holiday (at least not in the fervent manner for which my soul longs).

We don't have a show on Halloween, but we have to be on the road. I won't be able to walk around Town in some fantastic costume enhanced to the max by a REAL mustache.
"Hey... did you hear that guy dressed as (Burt Reynolds Edgar Allen Poe Teddy Roosevelt) actually grew a legit, attached to the face mustache!? He had to have committed to his costume weeks ago! Who would want to be (Burt Reynolds Edgar Allen Poe Teddy Roosevelt) so much that they would walk around Town with a mustache weeks before Halloween!? What a chowderhead."

In addition to the travel schedule, I won't really have the time or resources to prepare one of the (3) Halloween costumes I had in mind... especially not to the level of completion that's been floating around in that same mind.


In addition to that, my girlfriend has been making me jealous. Last night, she got to go to a birthday/Halloween party dressed as a really good lookin' Dorothy (Garland). Its the third year in a row that I've had to see her Halloween costume via the magic of camera phones. Those pictures are the same quality as magic poo. ... Anywhooo... My girl and I also went to an apple orchard/ pumpkin patch right before the tour started (she's sitting on those pumpkins in her myspace photo). We picked her out a really little pumpkin and me a tall, kinda skinny one to carve. At this point in the story, I suffer the same Hallowed fate as my good friend John Warne. Both John and I purchased an elegant , orange, orb of carve-able wonder and FORGOT to carve it before going on tour!
I think we're both still a bit sheepish about it.

All is not lost, however. I intentionally Netflixed all four of the Silence Of The Lambs series. I will begin watching them tonight after the Ohio State game. I can't decide if I should watch them in the chronological order of the plot, or in the order that they were released. I'm pretty sure I'll go with the release order. Either way, I'll have a Haniball. Haha. Who says "have a ball" anymore anyway. Old men? Am I an old man?

Last night I finished watching the Band Of Brothers series on DVD. As far as Halloween goes, it wasn't scary. However, it did have a plethora of gory footage (and I don't mean An Inconvenient Truth). Joking aside, Band Of Brothers was excellent for a variety of reasons. It was filmed well, it was written wonderfully, and it made me look at WWII in some new ways. Despite the fact that this country (and others) can't seem to stay out of wars, it seems as if our world has learned some crucial lessons from the detestable crimes of the Nazis. That can't happen again.

"Excellent report Mr. Thiessen. Please hand me that paper football and return to your desk."

In memory of Mrs. Homrichouser('s class)

Matthew Thiessen

Virginia's West Sieeede

Its late and I'm tired, but I figured I'd jot a quick note down. I've spent the last two days in West Virginia preparing for and kicking off our new tour. The first show was tonight, and it wasn't as bad as a lot of our tour debuts. It definitely wasn't a tight set, but I'll take a C+ on the first show of a tour any day of the week.

I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday driving down to Nashville. This prevented me from enjoying any of NFL action, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I went to Nashville to re-sing some vocals on "Deck The Halls" for some Shrek Christmas special. Replace "deck" with "Shrek", and you're starting to get the vibe of it. I hope they use the song... it'll be funny to hear myself singing on something animated (other than the seemingly short-lived Woodland Forest episodes). After tracking the vocals, I drove up to downtown Nashville and hung out with my buddy Kevan (he ended up moving to Nashville instead of Florida). Unfortunately, I could only spare a bit more than an hour before I had to leave to get on the steel horse (that's Bon Jovi for tour bus).

I won again in Fantasy Football, the Browns won, and Ohio State looks like a beautiful bird perched atop the poll. #1 (for now).

And in closing....

I shaved my scruff yesterday. Did I miss a spot?

The answer is yes.

The area above my upper lip and below my nose is warmer than the rest of my face. I have achieved chowderhead status in all self-respecting social circles. I look too scary to babysit, and I have all the contraband that Bullwinkle was hiding under his bed.

My friends....



I have a moustache
(or as Bullwinkle put it, a moose stash)
Matty

Baby Got Back (80's edition)

I'm back.

More importantly...

I think Baby Got Back should've been the title of Dirty Dancing II (pauses to confirm via Google that there was, in fact, a Dirty Dancing II). It should've been the story of how Baby came back from summer vacation, put on a creepy mask, and used her new dancing abilities to rip her victims limb from limb. Her victims.........?

Everyone.


Release date: Halloween 1988

It is almost that time of year, isn't it? I'm excited. Its my favorite season. As a kid I was set on it. I would sit and swing on my swingset around sunset, and I'd pretend to see thousands of bats flying all around in the changing leaves. I LOVED Halloween. (I was a weird kid. I had two twin imaginary friends. For a LONG time. Maybe I'll blog about that someday.)

The cruise was great. I did cruise for a bruise, but minimal burnage.

This story is better if you have seen "Say Anything". (1989)

Not the band... The movie, silly.

My buddy Josh and our respective lady friends were hanging out in my cabin, and these people on another balcony started blasting music really loud. I grabbed my portable iPod boombox, put on Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", and blasted them out of the water (well, that would've blasted me out of the water too.... I just played the song REALLY loud). The best was that I did it standing like this (photo taken during performance)



She's gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.



Next item on 80's agenda. I've decided not to shave for a while, and go back to the mustache look. I should have a good start by the beginning of tour. I miss the stache. Its a really funny thing to walk through the world and have every stranger that you encounter think that you're a complete chowderhead.

I also miss the word chowderhead. I'm going to start a show called Chowderheads, and my buddies and I are going to film ourselves doing dumb stuff like giving ourselves paper-cuts and snorting wasabi. My name will be Matt. Other's will have names like Johnny Nashville and Ban Margarine!

I'll be rich. And there will be no more butter substitute.

Ok. Gotta get back to working on tour stuff. I'm waiting on Hoopes to tell me when he has to switch guitars during the show. Excitement! Rock and Roll!!!!

By the way, I won two games of Fantasy Football. One of them was against my good bud Joshy. It felt good to defeat him, but I felt sad that he had to lose... oh wait... nope... didn't feel bad at all.

Matthew.


Get it?

Tom Cruisin For A Bruisin

I'm going on a cruise. I'm writing a children's book about it. The Nearly Albino Canadian Goes On A Cruise.

I'll come back and let you all know how bad the burn is.

Your 50 SPF friend,
Matthew

Experiment III

Ok... I'm going to re-enable commenting on this thing. Just don't chat with each other in the comment zone. Please and thanks.