Hello to all you insurance wielding, benefit carrying, desk sitting, paycheck earning, fully employed enthusiasts. So... small peer into my personal life, I lost my dayjob this week working for a broadcast television station. I'm very thankfully still have this gig with City Weekly doing the blog and occasional columns, which I now have plenty of time to type whatever they may need. (Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, snap snap, grin grin.) --- I won't lie, it sucks, but to be candid with you... that job wrecked my health, cost me at least four relationships, and pigeonholed me with no chance of ever being promoted to anything. So essentially... I just got tossed out of purgatory. Much more could be said, but we'll probably discuss it more down the road when they do something stupid in the public's eyes again, which by my clock should be in about a month or so. What happens to me from here is really unknown, anyone actively looking can tell you the job market isn't all that peachy (recession proof my ass), plus the fact that the chance of you getting unemployment benefits are slim. At least we're entering winter, so ironically the gray clouds overhead can match the feeling, and by February I might be mimicking a Lewis Black rant. In the meantime if anyone would like to hire a guy with eleven years of broadcasting experience, an email my way would be nice. Now that the pandering and venting are done, let's move onto some random street art.

Jumping right into some events happening today, actually tonight, Velour is playing host to its fifth annual Cowboys & Indies showcase, bringing in some of Utah County's finest all in two shows that you can check out cheaply for $7. As you can see from the flyer below, yesterday night was pretty cool, but not to be outdone they've got Shark Speed, Cory Mon, Sunflow and the always awesome Matt Ben Jackson set for tonight. Highly recommend this one!

But if you're looking for something with a more hip-hop feel, we got just the ticket tonight as Cypher Assault 3 takes over Brick & Mortar over on 2nd South (561 West). For those of you wondering, yes, this is an open competition with cash prizes! Three judges on the Bboy side, one on the popping battle, just $8 to enter. Now if you don't think this won't be a big event, already we know that there are over fifty pre-registered competitors in both events, and they're still taking people all the way up until start time. Head on over and show what skills you've got.

Starting up on Black Friday you'll be seeing Local First Utah push their "10 10 10" campaign. Simply put, they'd really like you to buy from local businesses this holiday season. With the intention of helping out all-things-Utah and ensuring that some of the places you love to shop at stick around. Personally, I support it. Honestly, why not? There are plenty of local shops and businesses that could use your dollars this year, helping them stay open and bring in new jobs, not to mention keeping the local economy solid. But you don't want to read my ramblings on this, so on Friday before you go camping outside the box stores, think about the Utah-owned places that could probably help get you a sweeter deal on something better.

Speaking of Black Friday, The Hive Gallery is so far the only art gallery to officially announce any kind of event directly on the day as they'll be holding a Black Friday Extravaganza. From 10AM-10PM the room will be showcasing artistic gifts along with something they're calling a Trunk Show (we can only assume its random material from trunks), and free coffee to boot. Might be wroth dropping in for.

Once all the Thanksgiving and shopping insanity dies down until Cyber Monday, how about you take a break in the middle of it all with the next Geek Show Movie Night. Kicking off at 5PM the surly and lovable panel from Geek Show Podcast will being you two movies to gear you up for "Tron: Legacy" next month. The stranger than fiction enigma that is "The Last Starfighter", and "Tron" in its original recipe. Followed up by an in-theater showing of the latest episode from AMC's "The Walking Dead". And let's not forget drink specials that will be created that night on special occasion. And hey, its totally free to watch, so Bonus x2! Go geek out next Sunday.

And then skipping down a bit, on December 3rd you can celebrate with KRCL as they throw a Polar Jubilee! Toasting themselves to still being around 31 years later, the community station is having a bash with some of Utah most popular groups of 2010, including Spell Talk, Joshua Payne Orchestra and Mad Max & The Wild Ones. If this year's party is anything like last years, its going to be some serious fun, and I'm sure there's a few surprises being left off the flyer for later. Admission is a $30 donation to the station, or $20 if you're taking on the role of Designated Driver that night.%uFFFD Enjoy the celebration.

As for the blog... the last two weeks shifted around a bit and left us some unpredictability. With any luck this week we'll be looking over Gallery Stroll, checking out what may be the last two theatre productions of 2010, chat fashion with an Arty winner, delve into a locally produced comic book, and examine a gay-news centric blog and podcast. At least that's the plan for now. As always, especially more often these days than ever, we'll see what happens.

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