Mike's Random Thoughts

Playing Music

mike morter — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:35:49 +0000

Music – an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. Music is a very interesting way of expressing yourself because it has so much to it, but when you put it all together, it becomes simple. The rhythm and notes that are chosen come together to make this one sound: this one, simple sound.
I get to play music a lot! I love to teach people how to play music, I love to create music, and I love to listen to other people create music. It moves my bones. I don’t know why God created music, but I am glad that He did.
Recently, I have been able to play music in front of people, and I think my favorite part is to see people connect with what is being created. They connect by singing to it, moving to it, nodding their head to it, or dancing to it. The best is when someone comes up and asks about the music, or when they share their favorite part of their experience with the music that was created. I love those conversations!
It is interesting to think about these conversations because we are talking about something that just happened, and can never be duplicated again. I mean, I could play the exact same notes and move the same way, but I will never be able to share that musical experience with those same people, in that same venue, in the exact same way. That is why I love playing shows. It is the avenue where I can connect with people and share with them what I am all about. Not only musically but personally too. I love creating music, and I will always love it.

Lessons from a crash

mike morter — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:29:04 +0000

There’s nothing like a nice bike ride through downtown Denver. Skyscrapers surround you as if you were riding through a dense patch of forest, the sun shining on your face, a breeze going in the same direction, and animals everywhere. Well, maybe there aren’t animals everywhere, but there is definitely construction. I have a fixed gear bike with brakes, yes brakes. I know that it is really cool and hip not to have brakes, but I don’t trust myself to stop fast enough, and I would probably die without brakes. I like to go extremely fast on my bike too, but the only thing about fixed gear bikes is that you can only go as fast as your legs can go because you have to continuously pedal. I kind of feel like the Flinstones whenever I am at top speed. Man did they have some foot speed…Anyways. I was biking home from work and I was going as fast as traffic and following close behind a black car. The distance between the bumper and my front tire was about ten feet. I had tunes going in my ears and it was great. We all passed over the train tracks and then something happened. The car two cars ahead stopped extremely fast making the car that I was following slam on her brakes. I did the only thing that I could do, slam on my brakes, but it wasn’t enough. The next thing I see is my tire hitting the car and my body rising off of my bike onto the back of the car. The impact wasn’t too bad because I went “rag doll” style and rolled right off of the car. The lady in the car rolled down her window and made sure that I was all right. There wasn’t a scratch on my body. I picked up my bike and told the lady that I was good and sped towards home.

Crashing into a car isn’t very enjoyable, yet my experience was actually not to shabby. I was able to hit a car and go away unscathed. A few lessons that I learned from this blunder is 1. Don’t ride so close to cars on my bike. 2. I should probably wear a helmet (uhhh maybe) 3. Put a spear at the end of my bike so that will hit first. 4. Enjoy life, because you don’t know what is going to happen.

Memories

mike morter — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:14:05 +0000

Memories are something that we capture and express in many different ways. These ways have changed throughout time and have become easier and easier. Other than using the mind to remember something, thousand years ago people captured memories through paintings, songs, stories, statues, sculptures, writings, and other various ways. The years went on and photography was another development. Video came after that and blew everything out of the water. After some years, and Al Gore’s help, the Internet came along and merged every single type of way for people to express their memories. Sites like YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, WordPress, and many others were created to help people store and share their videos, pictures, thoughts, works of art, and lives.

It is incredibly easy for someone to make a video of what they are doing at that very moment in time anywhere in the world because of our technology. We just take out our smart phones and capture our media, upload it in an app that puts it on every social media site, edit our caption, and then see the responses of people we know in various states and countries. Ways to capture our memories have become ways for us to share our lives as we are living them. This innovation of technology has made it easy for us to capture our memories and share them with people.

It is invaluable, when you can sit down at the computer and watch videos that you have made and almost relive your life. I took the time to sit down and watch all of the video blogs (vlogs) that I have made for the band. These cover the past two years of my life, and they bring back so many awesome memories. I have been able to travel to different states, see different sites, be involved in really cool opportunities, and enjoy life while doing something I love. I plan to continue documenting our bands progress and fun. Five years from now, I can’t wait to watch all of the fun things that have happened in my life and how my life has made a difference.

Make your memories count.

Springtime is Funtime

mike morter — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:26:33 +0000

I know my last post was a “Part 1″ and there should be another part because it is logical, but I really didn’t feel like writing a “Part 2.” I realized that I didn’t have anything else to write about our trip to Texas other than it was fun and we met a weird guy at the grassy knoll in Dallas. Speaking of grassy knoll, spring is here and for Colorado this means weird snow storms, hail storms, mixed with 80 degree weather and great nights to go out and enjoy the stars. I really enjoy spring because it is a time where everything gets a new start (except for evergreens and the liking because they love to be green all year round). The birds start chirping in the morning which can either be really pretty or incredibly annoying. I remember when I was in high school and a raven would sit outside my window and just KAW KAW every single morning. It was the worst way to wake up. I wish I had a cool story to tell you how I used a boomerang to hit it out of the tree and it fell only be to eaten by a dragon…but that didn’t happen…or maybe it did???

I love being able to go outside and enjoy creation by hiking mountains, running, changing my mandolin strings in the sun and sweating 10 pounds, playing catch, and doing back flips off a swing. There is something about being outside that makes you feel good because I think people stay inside way too much. Even if it is cold you can go outside; just bundle up! When it’s unbearably hot, bring a huge vat of water to pour on yourself. So try to get outside sometime this week and make yourself a refreshing glass of black tea lemonade (also known as an Arnold Palmer) and get a Frisbee. Make every day a great day to be alive!!!

Texas and Music Part 1

mike morter — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:52:03 +0000

I have had the craziest last couple of days of my life. Churchill (that band I am in, if you are new to the blog and don’t know already), was able to play at the Denver South By Southwest stage in Austin, TX. We left Denver at 11 o’clock in the night-time for a 16-17 hour drive straight through the night to Austin. The two highlights of the drive down were stopping in the middle of a field in Oklahoma to look at the stars (360 degree of amazing stars), and then stopping off the side of the road in Texas, where there were no rest stops, to use the “facilities” and then do band stretches with Bethany leading them. Just try to imagine four guys and a girl doing ’80 style stretching in front of a van with palm trees on the side of it, in sunny 75 degree weather, all with skinny jeans on, and one guy with his shirt off…priceless. It was a great trip down.

Then we got to Austin…It was crazy. I didn’t really know what to expect from SXSW because I have never been to it and only heard crazy stories that had happened the year previous, but I was stunned at what I saw, smelled, and heard. We walked up and down 6th street, that they closed down for the festival, and handed out fliers for our show. We saw hipsters, old people, young people, too many people who looked like they haven’t showered for a month, tattoos, long hair, and huge beards. We heard bands in every store for more than 10 blocks ranging from folk, to hip-hop, to heavy metal. The smells, however were those people who haven’t showered for long periods of time.

We played on Friday morning at a restaurant and had a pretty good crowd for playing at 12:20 in the afternoon. We barely made our time to play though because the police wouldn’t let us get close to our venue because they had closed down the streets and weren’t letting anyone down. We were finally able to park 3 blocks away and carry our gear to the venue, set up, and have a 1 minute sound check: all of this completed in 20 minutes. After we played, we were able to chat with other bands and meet people in the music scene in Denver.

We hooked up with a couple of bands who were playing the festival and found ourselves on the 21st floor of a sweet apartment complex in the middle of Austin. We saw the biggest venue of the festival going on with lights and a humongous crowd. After hanging out there, we were able to go to Tim’s cousins’ sushi restaurant and eat $250 worth of sushi…it was the best I have ever had. Then we caught a couple of shows and found a place to stay more towards Dallas because we were playing there the next day. We got good sleep and good eats after a crazy day.

…….

Tea, People, Books, and Life

mike morter — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:50:47 +0000

I wasn’t much of a reader when I was in high school. In fact, I actually took an “advanced” class called humanities in 11th grade where I was to read through 12 different books throughout the year. I think I only read through 3 of those 12…which actually effected my grade a little bit. I did learn a lot, however. Now that I am older and wiser (keep your comments to yourself), I am actually reading books and I Like IT!!! I was given a book by one of my friends about Eric Liddell–the man who refused to race on Sunday in the Olympics (The movie Chariots of Fire). I have never taken it upon myself to read a biography before, so I was very interested in actually reading one. Let me tell you…very good book. An inspiring life to admire, well written, and it is kind of like having a new friend because you know so much about his life. Not only did he refuse to run on Sunday because of his religious views, he lived a life that glorified God; putting God’s will first, Eric was used in a mighty way. I recommend this book to anyone: “Eric Liddell: Pure Gold.”

While I read, I like to drink a nice cup of Teavanna Tea. It is a mix of Matte and Vanilla Roibos…delicious!! I think I really enjoy it because I put so much sugar in it to make it sweet. That is a way to get a mix of caffeine and sugar all in one drink.

Drinks are where I make my monetary living right now: at the good ol’ bucks! I make a mean latte, and most of the time I try not to knock over any pitchers of milk because that is embarrassing but sometimes you can’t help it…could be nervous. It is really cool when people you enjoy like friends and family come in to chat, which doesn’t happen a lot because I work 25 min away from those people. Anyways, you know how sometimes you have those times in your life where you just ask the question “what am I doing with my life?” I had one of those times this week and it was good. I think all of us should have those times once in a while because it puts life in perspective and makes us come to conclusions about what is really important in our lives. The best part about these situations is being able to talk about it to friends and family. I love the connection that we have with people when we are vulnerable because it makes those relationships grow. We are able to get a picture of what is actually going on with other people and help us realize that we aren’t the center of the universe.

So this is what you should do: go get some tea or beverage of your choice, pick a good book out, read that book, and make it a goal to sit down and talk about life with someone. It won’t be a waste of time!

A lot of things in little words

mike morter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:31:44 +0000

There has been a lot that has happened to me in the past week like scuba diving for lost treasure, playing an aboriginal drum in Australia, winning an Olympic gold in figure skating, performing on all the late night shows, and hiking…..ok, so the only true activity was hiking. The other stuff would be way cool except for the fact that I probably wouldn’t have any friends if I was a professional figure skater. The past week has been awesome though. Some of the highlights were playing football, going to a Switchfoot concert, meeting the Switchfoot guys, hiking, trying not to drown when I swim, making really good food, and enjoying the nice weather.

The Switchfoot concert was one of the best concerts that I have attended in my life. It is right up there, or maybe a little above, with Wilco at Red Rocks, Mute Math, and other Switchfoot concerts. I had connections with someone who knew the guitar player, Drew, in the band and he was able to get us into their “Meet and Great” before the show. We were able to sit through their sound check and then talk with the guys. It was really cool. The concert was so well done. Jon Foreman might be the best front man of any band because he is able to connect with the entire audience by going into the crowd while singing. His thoughts that he shared between songs were very redemptive driven and filled with hope. They played their entire new CD and then ended with all of the popular old songs. It was a fantastic show.

Another highlight was hiking yesterday. I went with my friend to Golden, CO: home of the Coors brewery. We chose a random trail to hike to find out that we could actually hike over 10 miles if we wanted. We decided to do 6 miles instead. The trail was incredibly muddy which made for an interesting time trying to navigate without slipping and looking like someone pooped on your feet (sorry that might be sick for some of you but it is the truth. It was a lot of mud). While we were hiking we heard some rustling above us, and it turned out to be 25 deer standing their, ears up, staring at us as if they were looking into our souls. It was a really cool site. The sun went down during our journey back and it was a beautiful site. It was as if the mountains were on fire but no one did anything because it was so beautiful. We also slid down a couple of parts of the trail because there was a lot of snow and we didn’t have traction on our tennis shoes. It was great. I also made my name in the snow…it may have been yellow snow…sorry again for those of you who might think that is sick…it is awesome! Hike=success.

Well, that was a couple of highlights from my life in the past week. Hope you have some too.

Travels and Snow and Music and Snow

mike morter — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:44:10 +0000

Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Snow…I ran into Mr. Snow way too much the past week in my travels to the mid-west and then this weekend to the mountains. Churchill went on their first tour last week to Cornerstone University, Taylor University, and Scioto Hills Camp. It was amazing except for a couple of unexpected happenings that happened. We set off on our journey after Lost last Tuesday; driving through the night to our first destination of Grand Rapids, MI: 20 hours away. Joe, our drummer, drove for the first 18 hours of the trip because he is a good driver and because his super power is staying up for long periods of time without sleep. Roads were great until we hit Michigan, and it was all downhill from there. It started snowing and I had to take over the driving till we made it to my childhood home (not a small home for children but a regular sized house for big people). We played a show the next day at Cornerstone and over half of the crowd was my family and friends. It is really cool going home and being supported by everyone I grew up with. Thanks for all of you who came out.

The next morning came too fast because we had to leave at 5 in the morning for Ohio. We didn’t get to sleep till 3 the night before, so after our nap I drove till we got into Ohio. Then the snow started coming. Many snowflakes. Many bad roads. Many times trying to get the snow off the wipers by putting your hand out the window and grabbing the wiper and banging it against the windshield. Great times….At Scioto Hills Camp we were able to lead worship for their high school camp. It was a blast because we were able to act like jr. highers, play basketball, not shower (wait, we did shower), lead worship, and work on our new songs. We also were able to go on a sweet zip line. I climbed up the post while video taping myself. It was tough, but I could handle it like a boss.

We left for Indiana in a snow storm. We stayed at Amy’s house and had amazing home, cooked meals and great conversations. Then we traveled to Taylor in a snow storm. It was a fun show, and we left after the show to drive straight back to Denver. One of our stops was in the middle of Kansas where there were no gas stations and we really had to go #1, so we pulled off this shady exit with an abandoned, bombed out house of some sort. We did our business and then found old computer monitors on the ground. You can’t just leave computer monitors alone in the middle of Kansasville so we decided to smash them. It was invigorating. I crushed them to smitherines. I felt so alive.

We got back to Denver in really good time and unloaded all of our stuff and went to bed…forever. I slept in a long time because traveling on little amounts of sleep makes you tired. I am currently in a winter wonderland in Buena Vista, CO at a jr. high snow camp. When I say snow camp, I mean that it snowed almost 10 inches last night. This pushed our session back to midnight. Now the sun is out, Mt. Princeton is to my right, a valley full of fog and snow is to my left, and little elves are running everywhere…that last part isn’t true…It is one of the most beautiful things that I have seen! Well, thanks for reading. Go have fun outside. Build a polar bear. Eat ripe bananas. Jump off trampolines into large bodies of water. Have a great day!!!

North Pole Narnia

mike morter — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:05:58 +0000

There’s something about the combination of snow, mountains, log cabins, playing the guitar, and hot tubbing at midnight under the stars that gives me the jibblies. Now, jibblies is a sort of feeling that makes you so happy that your smile almost turns into a laugh and you don’t want to stop whatever it is. I was at Crooked Creek Ranch this weekend for a high school retreat. This Ranch, which was really a resort, was in Winter Park. After I saw the sun rising over the mountains, a fog in a distant valley, and a hot air balloon floating in what seemed like an enchanted mist, I was bummed because I forgot my camera. My responsibility was to play tasty licks on the electric guitar…yes you read correctly: electric guitar. Now you may be saying, “Mike, I thought you only played acoustic guitar and mandolin?” and you are half correct. I do play those beautiful acoustic instruments, but I can also shred a little on the electric. I had to learn a couple of songs including Kelly Clarkson’s song “My Life Would Suck Without You,” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Actually when we played the Journey song, I wore a nice, tight, pink jumpsuit with a wig that actually matched the jumpsuit. It was a sight to behold.

Part of my experience felt like I was in either the north pole or Narnia because of the light posts, snow, and buildings. Every time I would walk out of the sessions at night the light posts would be on and I thought an elf would pop out of the snow and yell, “Have to make toys for the children!!!!” I also was always trying to look for Santa, however I never found him. It was a great weekend, and I am actually playing at the Jr. High camp in February. We won’t be at the same camp, but I heard that it is really nice as well.

As for Churchill stuff…we are going on a mini, week-long tour in a week. We are going to be going to Cornerstone University on the 11th and then head down to Scioto Hills Camp to lead the music for their camp, and then we’re heading to Taylor University on the 16th. So if you are around any of those places, you need to come and see us.

Some Days Have Their Faults

mike morter — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:15:17 +0000

Have you ever had those days when you look back and don’t really understand how you actually lived? I had one of those days this past weekend. Now, it wasn’t like I did something that threatened my life, but it was just a day, well actually two days, full of a lot of living, caffeine, and not sleeping. It all started with working on Saturday during the day. I had to work at the bucks for 5 hours and then get home as quick as possible because I had a show. It was actually our, Churchill’s, first sold out show that we have played!! We didn’t get on the stage until 10:30 and played one of our best shows yet! Then I made my rounds to talk to people and relaxed in the green room afterwords talking with other band mates about the show. 1:30 a.m. came too fast because I found myself still at the venue when I should have been home sleeping because I had to open at Starbucks at 4:30….Let me just tell you that I only got about 30 min of sleep. I actually don’t even know if you could call that sleep because it is too short. After I woke up from my grand slumber, I made my way to Starbucks to open. I worked 7.5 hours and then went straight from there to practice for a retreat that I am help leading this weekend. I found that shots of espresso can give you energy that you didn’t even know you could have. We practiced for 4 hours. I then made my 45 min drive back home. I was surprised that I didn’t crash when I got home. I couldn’t wind down from all the caffeine and stayed up to watch the rest of the football games on Sunday. It was a really long day. I then fell asleep like a log and found myself sleeping in longer than anticipated. Well, the best comment I got from someone about my sleep deprivation came from an older gentleman after he saw the stamp that I got on my hand from the show; he said, “At least you can do it cause you’re young.” I don’t know how many times I’ll do that again, but it is cool that I can do some stuff like that once in a while.