Bow Hunter

People love to tell me that Hunter is an ironic name for a vegan. You think I didn't realize this already? I've been vegan since 2000 and vegetarian since 1992. I've had plenty of time to think about all the Easter egg hunts I've missed out on. My name actually isn't ironic when you consider all the international treasure hunts I've participated in over the years. Hunter is no more an ironic name for a vegan than Dick Butkus is for one of the greatest linebackers of all time.

Bummo KISS

This is my concept sketch for a new member of KISS. It's a KISSafied cross between Emmett Kelly's Weary Willie and Pete the pup that Joe McGrath named "Bummo." I was going to dress up exactly like this and approach Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when they were recording next door. I was hoping that they would accept me as a new member/character of KISS. I was even willing to be flexible about what instrument Bummo would play. Washboard? Cowbell? Synthesizer? This was my best career plan yet...until Gene and Paul ate our Uncle Eddie's* Vegan Cookies without asking. I changed my mind after that. As a result, the world will never get to see Bummo in real life. ;(


*Not to be confused with this Uncle Eddie.

Hunter Burgan Q&A part 3 (of 7)

I now present you with the third installment of my Q&A* vlogs. Has anyone noticed that they keep getting longer? Am I losing anyone here? I can always edit them down a bit. Let me know. I hope everyone is thoroughly entertained by these. Remember, these are your questions...I merely attempted to answer them. AFI is really hitting it hard in the studio right now, trying to get our record done, so you'll have to excuse my lack of writing/blogging. Just in case no one told you (although I doubt this is the case), you are invited and encouraged to follow me on Twitter. That's where I do the majority of my pointless, random, self-aggrandizing, laconic rambling.

Three things I want you to do:
1. As always, watch this video in High Quality. I shot and edited it in High Quality, so why would you want to see a different version of lesser quality? It just doesn't make sense.
2. Subscribe to my youtube channel. I might not always post every video on my blog or even tweet about it. If you want first dibs on watching my videos, subscribe.
3. Tell your friends about my youtube channel and of course, Tranquil Mammoth. The more people that read, watch, and enjoy what I do, the more I am incentivized to continue to do this stuff. I'm not sure why this is, but I'm sure it has to do with megalomania or egotism. Either way, we both win!

*Quips and Absurdities

Hunter Burgan Q&A part 2 (of 7)

I now present you with the second Q&A* vlog. As I mentioned before, I will upload a new part every few days, so check back often! As usual, I dare you to watch the video in high quality...it greatly improves the viewing experience. Tabby really comes to life in high quality.

Thank you for the questions. I hope you enjoy the answers!

-Hunter

*Quetzalcóatl and Aztecs? Quakes and Avalanches? Quads and Abs? kyoōˈ ən āˈ?

They Live!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! The Hunter, brought to you by Macbeth and yours truly is now available at Journeys.com as well as select Journey's retail locations!!! They live! In the midst of all this excitement, I look across the internet and I see a puzzled look on your face. I immediately know what you're thinking:

"But Hunter, which locations?"

To answer this question as precisely as possible, I am providing you with a list of all the select locations. Just right click or download or super-size (or something) this file:

SELECT JOURNEY'S RETAIL LOCATIONS

I've been told that if I can't sell enough pairs of The Hunter through Journey's that it may not live to see the leaves change on the trees this Autumn. How sad! That's all these shoes ever wanted! (They also wanted to be the most badass bulletproof vegan high top that ever existed, but that wish was granted the day they were created.) The Hunter needs your help to make its dreams a reality. (That last sentence sounds really weird to me, but oh well.)
So...to quote the Bally's classic pinball machine, Eight Ball Deluxe,

"Quit talkin' and start chalkin'."

How Do I _____?

Hello, dear readers.
I'm working on something right now and I need everyone's help.
What can you do to help?
You can help by leaving me a comment that asks how to do something.
Here's are some examples:

How do I change a flat tire?
How do I break out of prison?
How do I make a vegan quiche?

You can ask as many as you like.
Feel free to get as creative as you want.
I'm looking for simple yet creative questions.

Note: I will not be answering your question, so don't direct the question at me.

Thanks everyone,
Hunter

Camping With The Dad From Silver Spoons

If I had to pick six people to bring with me on a camping trip, the dad from Silver Spoons would be my first choice. My other picks would be: Gumby, a drunken cowboy, a jockey, and a non-threatening mummy. I also would bring a cartoon robot, even if it counted as one of my people. If the cartoon robot didn't count as one of my picks, then I would bring an animatronic cat from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. They love the outdoors and are immune to poison oak. I can't wait until Summer!!! I'm really looking forward to going hiking and swimming. In the evening we can sit around the campfire and tell ghost stories. I bet the jockey will have quite a few! We will sing songs like "Careless Whisper" and roast some of these! This Summer is going to be great, just spending time with good friends and ol' mother nature.

"Hey the dad from Silver Spoons, will you help me look for more firewood?"

Which six people would YOU pick to go camping with?

Update 2-22 at 2:22 PM

Hunter Revenge @ Cinespace on 2/1/09 by Carlton Beener
Okay, I lied about the date and time of this update, but I'm close enough. Two twenty-two at two twenty-two PM is the funniest time of the year (it's a proven fact that 22 is the funniest number) and I if I had not been laughing hysterically, I surely would have written this blog at that exact minute. So what has been going on? Let's make a list.

1. NAMM - In January, I took a trip down to Anaheim to attend the 2009 NAMM show. NAMM is a four day music gear blast that is the Comic-Con of gear nerds. To say that it is HUUUUUGE would be an understatement. Every company that makes any type of anything that's even remotely related to the idea of music is represented. I was asked to sign autographs for Ampeg. While I was there I ran into Tim from Rancid, Geoff from Tiger Army, Maya from The Donnas and a few other friends. I talked to bassist Tony Levin about photography (he carries a camera around his neck and takes pictures all the time, even on stage!) and even snapped a psychedelic picture of Mick Mars. Thanks to @flavapave for the software!

2. The Hunter - My new Macbeth shoe, The Hunter is available now! Order it online now, or wait another week and walk into Journey's to buy a pair. Your feet will thank you!

3. HR Show - On Feb 1st, Hunter Revenge played a very focused set in Hollywood, CA at a little place called Cinespace. We had a lot of fun, as we always do. Everyone who showed up had fun too. See how this works? Anyhow, this will be the last Hunter Revenge show until I have new songs to play. I love playing the old stuff, but it would be so much cooler to play new songs. I will have updates about the new songs soon. Keep your ears open.

4. Shorty Awards - You can read the post below to hear about my trip to NYC to accept the music Shorty at the Shorty Awards.

5. Grocery Shopping - I bought some cereal, rice dream, two frozen burritos, new english muffins (from New England), soups, soaps, and broccoli.

6. President's Day - AKA The Place Where I Wanted To Get An Awesome Vegan Burrito Was Closed And I Had To Settle For A Frozen Burrito Day.

7. Begin Transmission! - The winners of AFI's Begin Transmission contest joined us in the studio! As it turns out, Natacia, Raine, Mark, Courtney, Brock and Christy were all very good singers and really helped us out. It was really refreshing to have people in the studio that haven't heard the new songs 87652348 times already. After so much build up and excitement, the time really flew by and before I knew it, AFI's new friends (and their guests) were on their way home. I hope everyone made it home safely and I look forward to seeing these new friends in the future. Apparently Natacia and Christy commemorated the experience with BEGIN TRANSMISSION tattoos. How cool is that!?

8. Mammoth Regeneration - Yesterday at 3:30 AM I began the first of several mammoth cloning/regeneration experiments. My goal is to be the first person to successfully regenerate a mammoth. At 3:45 AM I realized that this was going to be more difficult than I first thought, due to the fact that I have no mammoth DNA. I consider this a minor setback. This week I'm going to head down to the La Brea tar pits, hop a fence or two, and "find" some mammoth samples. Wish me luck.

Shirt and Shoes Required!

If you like t-shirts, then you'll love this one. It's made out of nice soft cotton (the kind the Olsen twins love) and features a scrambled version of the artwork that is inside my new Macbeth vegan shoe, The Hunter. You can order the shirt HERE. Oh, and guess what I just realized...
You can apparently order my new shoe, The Hunter, now too! Click here! It's totally vegan and totally available in men's sizes 5-13. Please do your best to ignore the rampant misspellings you may encounter while ordering my shirt or shoes. I lose sleep over these things, but it doesn't seem to help. I simply don't have the time to correct spelling errors all over the internet.

Good buy.
Goodbye.

Horses vs. Fugazi

As many of you know, I am a fan of horses. While they are not my favorite animal (that title remains with the mammoth), horses are still unarguably great. So I thought, why not put them up up against something else unarguably great...like Fugazi. So, for the first Tranquil Mammoth Challenge of 2009, I've pitted beast against band. Let's see who comes out on top.

	Horses	Fugazi	point
Date of Origin	Horses were probably first domesticated between 4,500 and 2,500 BC.	Fugazi's lineup solidified in late 1987.
Place of Origin	Earth	Washington DC, Earth
Evolution	DNA evidence shows modern horses are descended from not one but several wild populations.	After Minor Threat broke up, Ian MacKaye played in several groups before starting a new band with Colin Sears and Joe Lally. Sears was soon replaced by Brendan Canty. Guy Picciotto, who had been in Rites of Spring with Canty, joined as a second vocalist after his band, Happy Go Licky broke up. Picciotto began playing second guitar before their first album, Repeater was recorded in 1989.
Selected Discography	Despite thousands of albums with 'horse' in the title or band name, no horses have ever recorded any music on their own.	EPs 7 Songs (1988) Margin Walker (1989) LPs 13 Songs (complilation of the two EPs above) (1989) Repeater (1990) Steady Diet of Nothing (1991) In on the Kill Taker (1993) Red Medicine (1995) End Hits (1998) Instrument Soundtrack (1999) The Argument (2001)
Propensity for violence	Stallions will often challenge and fight other stallions, often if a mare is present.	Fugazi discourages violence and violent dancing at their shows.
Quantity	Experts estimate that there are more than 75,000,000 horses in existence.	There is only one Fugazi.
Strength	Horses are very strong. I personally estimate their strength to be roughly 1 hp (horsepower) or 33,000 ft·lbf/min.	Trouser Press describes Fugazi as "a knuckle sandwich made with nine-grain bread, building strong minds and bodies with rattling guitar power."
Height	Measured in hands: This horse is 15 hands high!	Measured in inches: This Fugazi record is a 12"!
Live Performance	Horses star in horse racing, dressage, eventing, show jumping, and rodeo as well as films and tv shows. Their performances range from utilitarian to beautifully graceful to exhilarating.	Fugazi concerts are exciting, engaging and memorable.
Merchandise	Many products are derived (extorted) from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of pregnant mares.	"Merchandise keeps us in line Common sense says it's by design What could a businessman ever want more than to have us sucking in his store"
Speed	The average horse gallop is 25 to 30 miles (40 to 48 km) per hour.	Some Fugazi songs exceed 200 beats per minute, although their average song tempo is much slower.
Food	Horses are herbivores.	Fugazi's members are all reportedly vegan/vegetarian.
Water	You can theoretically lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.	"One drink of water and I'm drowning"
Meaning of Name	I'm pretty sure it stands for 'Hold On, Ride Solid, Equus', although I may have just made this up.	From Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, where it used as a backronym for 'Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In'.
Current Status	Horses are currently everywhere, eating.	Fugazi is currently on an indefinite hiatus.
Total	9	9

It looks like the first Tranquil Mammoth Challenge of 2009 has resulted in a tie, and I'm not surprised. Both Horses and Fugazi have proven themselves to be truly great. Send me some suggestions for the next Tranquil Mammoth Challenge of 2009.

Win with Macbeth, Peta2, and Tranquil Mammoth!

WIN! WIN! WIN!
Do you want to win a pair of my new Macbeth shoes ("The Hunter") and an iPod Nano loaded with a bunch of music that I have personally selected? I sure would like to win that stuff! Unfortunately for me, I'm not allowed to enter, but you probably are! Click on the picture above to visit the Peta2 site and enter. This ends February 2, 2009, so get going! Waste no time!

Also, read more vegan ramblings by yours truly at: macbeth.com/vegan

Midnight Update!

I've noticed that because I update so much on Twitter, I haven't been including much about what I've been up to in my blog entries. Subconsciously I'm trying to avoid being redundant, but I guess there's no shame in redundancy. I mean, after all, it's the internet; it's already redundant!

Here are 12 FACTS about what I've been up to lately:
(in no particular order)

FACT 1: I have been appointed as Vegan Ambassador for Macbeth Footwear. Read about it here, and here. Also, check out some pictures that Ryan Russell took of me here.

FACT 2: I had a "white" x-mas, meaning that huge snow flakes were falling from the sky when I woke up on December 25, 2008. I was in Grass Valley, and in Grass Valley that kind of weather is not unheard of, or undreamt of.

FACT 3: AFI played KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" on December 13, 2008. On our final song, "Love Like Winter," I mashed my knee up. I have since recovered.

FACT 4: I saw The Cure play at the Troubador on December 13, and at the Gibson Arena on December 14, both 2008. I love The Cure. I finally met Robert.

FACT 5: Hunter Revenge played at Cinespace on December 21, 2008. Since my usual keyboardist, Dan Kelly, was unable to play (due some sort of family reunion), I had, for the first time ever, two keyboardists on stage to replace him. Missed it? Come see Hunter Revenge play Cinespace AGAIN on February 1, 2009. I'll provide more information about this in the future.

FACT 6: I grew a "holiday beard" and eventually shaved that damn thing off. Beards are for Rip Van Winkles.

FACT 7: I did not get engaged. Google it.

FACT 8: I have a new shoe coming out in February, 2009. It's called "The Hunter" and is 100% vegan. It's also 10,000,000% awesome. Take a look at it here before you order 6 pairs. Yes, the shoes are bulletproof. No, I haven't actually tested them against bullets. Would you like to? "For this next trick I'll need a volunteer from the audience..."

FACT 9: While in the studio, working on AFI's eighth studio album, I recorded twelve tracks of bass on a single song. That being said, I feel I must clarify that at most, there are no more than three distinct performances at any given moment in the song. Also, technically three of the tracks are baritone guitar, doubling my bass line. I still think this qualifies me for some type of award. Excessive Bassist of the Year?

FACT 10: Speaking of awards, I was successfully nominated for two Shorty Awards. One of the categories (#awesome) isn't an official category, but still quite awesome. Go vote for me in the other category, #music: http://shortyawards.com/user/TranquilMammoth I need your votes to win! Voting ends January 23, 2009.

FACT 11: Joe Principe (of Rise Against fame) and I are having a conversation right now about how to make bass the "it" instrument for 2009. Kids all over the world should (and will) want to play bass above all other instruments. Ever hear of Bass Hero™? Well maybe somebody will invent that once they catch on to what's happening.

If you're asking yourself, "Where's the 12th fact, Hunter?" then I'm asking you this: Why are you calling yourself Hunter? Is it your name too? (I'll admit that Hunter is a pretty strange name to call yourself, even if it IS your name.) The answer is this: In 2009, numbers don't matter as much as they did in 2008. Think way back to the baker's dozen. I'm not sure what year that was invented, but I can tell you that twelve equalled thirteen that year! Be happy with eleven.

Now quit reading this and go give blood!

One for the history books (or history blogs)

So...
The Force reunion mini-tour was a success! We kicked the whole thing off with a secret show in Sacramento in a coffee shop. The coffee was good. Next stop was our home turf in Nevada City. It was crazy seeing so many familiar faces at the shows. There were people there I hadn't seen since high school! The opening band was called Young Voices. Everyone should check them out. They reminded me of an old Dischord band. The next night we played at 924 Gilman St. which is where we played our very second show ever, back in 1995. A bunch of friends, old and new came out to this one as well. I know what you're thinking, and yes, my AFI bandmates came out to watch. The final night of our mini-tour was in Anaheim. We actually played at Chain Reaction when it used to be called Public Storage. That was the nineties. Our pal Carlton Beener took some photos like the one above. Click here to check out more photos from all the shows. Mad props (does anyone still say that?) to the crew from Pittsburgh who came out for all the shows. Like I said before, the shows were a success, but not just because we pulled it off (Chad hadn't played drums in over 6 years) or because we blew everyone's minds (which we certainly did) but because we were able to recreate the feeling of being ten years younger and playing crazy music with your friends. I don't mean to get overly sentimental, but for me the real success was reuniting old friends.

Now that The Force shows are over, we put all the leftover merchandise in our online store. Now people from all over the world that weren't able to attend the shows can pretend like they were there. I made this banner for the store. Maybe somebody would like to make a better one?? If that somebody is you, let me know. Thanks.
In the store, we have a few shirt designs, a sweatshirt, buttons, stickers, AND the 12" vinyl gatefold "Complete Discography" too! Everything is in limited quantities and only available while supplies last. Once this stuff is gone, it's gone for good. The Force - Complete Discography is and will always be available on iTunes for everyone out there who likes mp3s instead of LPs.

I've been trying to keep track of the interviews I've done recently. Below is an interview I did for Mishmash.



In horse blog news, I will attempt to release the horse blog this weekend. I don't want it to be compared to the AFI EP or my vegan blog that never happened.

Be true to your school.

Secrets Revealed!

...and now the moment you've all been waiting for, the new song title!

"Who's Gonna Love U Now?" by Hunter Revenge

Visit the Hunter Revenge MySpace page in seven days to hear it!!

I'm off to go eat so many vegan birthday cakes now!
love,
Hunter

Another blog to blog about.

myveganadventures.com - Soon I will be jotting down some of my thoughts and experiences along with some of my friends in a blog format. We will be writing about anything and everything vegan. The site isn't up yet, so don't freak out. Just bookmark it.