Fitness Class...

January 13, 2019 by Matt Bates

"Be right back. I have to throw up." - Jamie.

It is the new year, and with that comes all the resolutions that we all make to ourselves. Jamie and I are working on getting ourselves back into the shapes we were when we first met. I join a rock climbing gym and she wanted to explore the possibilities of fitness classes. We are both extremely intimidated by fitness. We have no idea where to begin. She found a beginners class within walking distance of our place in Santa Monica and debated signing us up. After a few days of back and forth debate, she signed us up.

We walked into our 10am class on a Saturday and the gym immediately fulfilled every stereotype I have about gyms, especially fitness classes. There was loud rock music from the 80's and 90's blasting, a sweet smell of over 30-year-old body odor, and a militaristic fitness coach barking orders with a European accent. "Oh yeah, great form, excellent form everyone, three more reps! Sweet it out, honey!" Vlad shouted to a class making their way through a circuit.

Jamie and I signed in, along with our other Groupon inspired fitness newbies, and our class went to orientation. We were instructed to keep a positive attitude, be early, and set measurable goals. Vlad and his assistant weighed us all in and took our measurements. There was only one scale and they asked each of us our ages and goals when we stepped up. I did not know there was going to be homework or that I would be sharing my personal information with complete strangers staring at me as I stood on a scale. Others in our class were mortified when they had to step up, state their age, and goals. I could care less. I found it funny. What made it even more entertaining was when they yelled your weight to another assistant who recorded all the information. "Yeah, this one is 38 and weight 226 pounds! We got a lot of work to do!" One assistant would yell to another. I am here to support my wife so I just made up some bullshit goal of building mass or having the worlds strongest neck muscles. They recorded my weight and then simply instructed, "You should go eat something." I am underweight for my height, bummer.

Once we were all done being humiliated in front of our new class, we got instruction on what this intro class would look like and hit it. We needed to be barefoot, bring a towel, and drink a ton of water. Since neither Jamie or I knew what towels to bring, we figured we would be safe and bring a few beach towels. Everyone else had small hand towels. Whatever. All joking aside, I was sore after. Jamie almost threw up, which is just the icing on the cake for newly inspired fitness seekers. Nothing motivates you more than almost throwing up in front of everyone in your new fitness class. We worked through some strategic and sexual stretches before and after the class that made this already awkward experience, even more awkward. "Make sure your pelvis is fully thrusted forward, good form Gina." Vlad called out. Evidently my pelvis thrust form was not as great, I'll work on it.

 The class ended and we walked home and discussed the future of our fitness. Jamie will be back and appreciated me attempting it with her. I will stick to rock climbing, it is more my speed and there is way less pelvis thrusting.

-YourFriendMatt

Bachelor Party...

June 03, 2018 by Matt Bates

"Should we start a fight?" - My Dad.

It has been one week since my bachelor party. It is insane how fast time flies. I wait our entire lives for some moments, and in an instant, they are over. It has already been a week, and I wish I could go back to last weekend and relive the entire experience. Spending time with my family and friends is a luxury, and I often forget how special it can be.

We got off our red-eye flight from LAX to Philadelphia and immediately were reinvigorated. The sweet scent of the trash-filled air, the grit of the Philadelphia TSA, and the gray, overcast weather connected us right back to our roots; we are home. Someone pushed past us as we made our way through the terminal. They yelled something along the lines of, “Get the fuck out of my way, you pussies!” Philadelphia is a beautiful place.

A Wawa trip and a nap later and we were ready to get onto the festivities that were planned for us by friends and family. Every time Jamie and I head back to our home state of Pennsylvania; we immediately split up to see our different groups of friends and family. It is pretty incredible that I don’t see her until we meet back up at the airport days later at the end of the trip. We live together. I see here every day, but when we get back home to see our parents, we just wave goodbye and do our own thing.

I woke up from my nap on my mom’s couch and immediately had a beer. I am on vacation. It is my bachelor party weekend. I plan on being at least buzzed the entire time. Since I do not really drink anymore, I had to spend the week leading up to my bachelor party doing shots every night to rebuild my tolerance. I chatted with my mom for a while over a 10 am brew and decided to make my way over to my dad’s house. For those of you who have no idea who my father is, let me give you a quick rundown. He believes he is a 21-year-old and he also believes it is the year 1986. He usually is shirtless and wearing ripped jeans or something he found on the side of the road. He will drink you under the table and steal your woman. Motley Crue and Talking Heads are usually what is listening too. He loves to wander the neighborhood with his metal detector and can’t be caught without a beer in his had no matter what time it is. So, you can see why I would want to hang out with him immediately.

We spent the afternoon looking through his raised vegetable garden, playing frisbee, and taking down two 6-packs. The level of relaxation that we achieved was nothing short of incredible. I put my phone down and forgot about it. When was the last time you did that? I was fully immersed in the relaxation aided by the help of cheap American, canned beers.

I passed out for a long sleep sometime in the early night. We had to be up early for golf with the entire bachelor crew the next morning. Some of the bachelor party had never golfed a day in their lives. If you think my dad has golf, owns an acceptable pair of golf pants (or any pants for that matter), or knows the etiquette of golf, you’d be dead wrong. He showed up in his best-ripped jeans shorts and a case of Narragansett - safely stowed in a soft cooler of ice. We were ready to hit the links.

It is safe to say we finished all the beer and almost got in a fight on the 11th hole. By the time we reach the 11th, we were all a little drunk and taking our time aiming our shots. The foursome behind us yelled something along the lines of, “Hurry the fuck up, you drunk fucks!” None of us were having it. We were all in good moods and no one was going to stop us. All of us yelled back all the obscenities we could remember and were willing to start a fight in the middle of the course. I mean really, why would you start a fight with a group of drunk, blue collar, Philadelphia working men celebrating a bachelor party? “Fuck you, you mother fucking, fuck! I’ll shove this golf club down your throat if you say another god damn word! It’s my son’s bachelor party!” My father yelled. “Should we wait and beat the shit out of them? I got time.” My father asked all of us. I am not going to lie, there was a bit of a pause from all of us but we opted to keep the good vibes going and moved along, but not before we flipped them all of and threw shit at them for the remainder of the game. They never said another word and put up with our antics for the rest of the game.

Over the weekend, my family and friends all went golfing, drank, talked shit, and had a blast. All of my closest friends live across the country now. It was great to see those who had flown in to celebrate our upcoming wedding. For some of us, we hadn’t been home together in years, and we picked up right where we left off. These relationships are special. It is rare to find people that genuinely care about you and want to celebrate what you are doing. It is even harder to find someone who will care about you for decades to come. It is times like these where you learn who is in it for the long haul with you, and who was there for a few short bus stops.

-YourFriendMatt

Friday 6-Pack...

January 06, 2017 by Matt Bates

Woke up this morning to the first snow fall I have seen in years. Hopefully this weeks installment of the 6-pack will warm up and calm down my morning commute! This week includes a new track from New Jersey's Dryjacket and some new undiscovered acts (at least to me) including The Obsessives, Direct Hit! and Dead to Me.

Listen, share, enjoy and be careful out there!

-YourFriendMatt

2017...

January 01, 2017 by Matt Bates

12:01 am January 1, 2017:
“I am going to bed.” - Jamie. We are such homebodies.

As 2016 comes to a close and we look forward to what 2017 could be, I find myself reflecting on the past 12 months. Since last New Years Day, a lot of positive things have happened in my life. Living in an era where everyone is continuously scrolling through the negative situations that are happening throughout the world, I wanted to share some positives. So instead of listing why 2016 was such a shit year (which it may have been) I am looking through my 2016 pictures folder and finding nothing but smiles.

First, we kicked off 2016 in Disneyland. I mean, how does it get any better than that? Then the next morning for New Years Day we went back to Disneyland. And right after that, we bought an old VW bus. Pretty freakin' awesome way to kick off 2016. In fact, I spent most of the beginning of 2016 in either Disneyland or our VW bus. Later that month my family came to visit us for the first time altogether to celebrate my birthday. What did we do? Go to Disneyland.

7:00 pm January 1, 2016. Santa Monica, CA.

Disneyland had become a second home to Jamie and I. When we moved from Philadelphia to California we did not know anyone, so we just went there. 2016 ends our run as Disneyland pass holders, but for a great reason, I got promoted in 2016, and we moved to Nashville. It was hard to say goodbye to all the friends we have made and the life we had built from literally nothing. We feel truly blessed to close out 2016 reflecting on all the great times we had in California.

11:30 am January 31, 2016. Disneyland, CA.

Since we had to downsize, sell off our stuff and move another 3,000 miles back to the other side of the country did we fly? Hell no. We drove across and made an adventure out of it! We stopped at the Grand Canyon, stayed in a forgotten mountain town in Colorado, got lost in Utah, got rained out in Chicago, and learned a lot about roadside car maintenance. Driving across the country is something I am lucky to say I have had the chance to do a few times and I suggest everyone do it at least once. You never know what you will find. I mean, we were driving down the street, and we found Wyatt Earp’s house.

Wyatt Earp House. Pella, IA. 2016. — Wyatt Earp House. Pella, IA. 2016.

We moved into the world's worst short-term apartment complex in Nashville, but that was incredible because it motivated us to become homeowners. Becoming a homeowner in one of the fast growing cities in America was one of the most stressful and rewarding processes of my life. Since we now own a home, we had to fill it with furniture and of course my music equipment. I now get to play music whenever I want and have been lucky enough to play with so many great musicians in some of the coolest venues over the last year. Being in Nashville also allows us to get back to family in the Philadelphia more easily. We were able to get home to Philadelphia 5 times in the last few months since moving. Which if you compare that to 3 times over the last three years in California is way better.

I celebrated five years with my employer in 2016. Staying with the same company is unheard of in millennials, but they treat me well, so I try to return the favor. Oh, side note, I also got guest listed to Blink 182 this year. Check. I was able to make it as an artist to NAMM in Anaheim, met Adam Sandler and his mom on the Malibu pier and discussed fishing, and visit the Pabst offices.

Testing things out. NAMM. Anaheim, CA. 2016.

So, when I hear people say today that 2016 was a wash, I will ask them to reflect on all the great things that happened in their life last year and think about what good has happened. I know the world can appear to be in distress. Without hope, gratitude and a positive outlook on what we DO have going for us, we are just adding to the shit pile.

Don’t add to the shit pile. Stay positive. Fight for good. Have Fun. Be grateful.

Let’s make it a banner year.

-YourFriendMatt

BONUS PHOTOS:

Last photo of our home in Santa Monica, CA. 2016.

Original 5. El Matador Beach, Malibu, CA. 2016.

Random mall parking lot. Columbus, OH. 2016.

First Christmas in Nashville. First Christmas as homeowners. Nashville, TN. 2016.

Somewhere on the PCH. Los Angeles, CA. 2016.