Took some time off of cyber life to enjoy my family.  My Mom and Ron came out from Calgary.  We had the kids for the entire week, and the combination of family, food and presents in the first home I actually own was pure magic.

Melissa outdid herself, preparing a Christmas Day feast with everything you could ask for.  The Turkey and leftovers fed us for days. 

The boys were well behaved for the most part, and made out like bandits.  There is nothing like watching the joy on your child’s face when they rip open the packaging and find exactly what they were hoping for.  Magic.

I received the most kick ass home stereo I could have asked for and Beatles Rock Band to blast it out with!  I’m amazed how fast it came together and the assembly was pretty easy, even the wireless rear speakers.  Life is loud now, yay!

I’m going to sit down with Melissa and brainstorm the top 50 things we need to do for my comedy career in 2010, stay tuned.

Ironic.  As soon as I state publicly on my blog that I’m going to update daily, I get put into a place where nobody can blog, or anything else for that matter.

I’ll leave the grizley details of my weekend to another day, but let’s just say that was one BRUTAL weekend.  Bad roads, a day delay getting home, a migrane that theatened to push my eyeballs out, and way too many hours behind of the wheel of a car that hates me.

Working the Diamond Buffalo Ranch was a pleasure and Rick took great care of us.  Also getting the chance to do 90 was great and it let me flex some new comedy muscles.  Other than that, this weekend ate a donkey’s ass.  I am so happy to be home.

It’s weekends like this that really illustrate who your friends are.  I knew my love for Melissa was true, but I didn’t expect it to be tested so soon.  She came through for me with flying colours and once again I find myself in a debt to her I will never be able to repay.  Thank you my friend, my love and my future wife for standing with me through everything.

OK enough of all that.  It’s Christmas week!  Liam is apparently fighting off a case of the chicken pox so it’s anyone guess what will/won’t happen this week.  Mom and Ron are due out here Christmas Eve.  With a little bit of luck I’ll be sitting to my first Turkey, on the first Christmas in a home I own, with all my friends and family all at the same time.  Despite everything Hanna did to me, I can’t help but smile.  My life is very good.

WHY?! It’s like I’m in Back to the Future! 1.21 Jigawats of annoying. Every car rolls backward at a red light. Using your phone while shifting is impossible. Mankind discovered long ago that shifting sucks, and we’ve invented automatic transmission. Why does NOBODY here have it?!

I’ll be driving to Calgary tonight (in my standard) and getting in late. Tomorrow I have a show in Sundre and a ton of shopping to finish off. I’m sure I’ll be making the obligatory trip to IKEA as well.

Driving is cooler now with a GPS. Sure I’ve done the trip 100 times and I know the route, but having a snobby Brit in the car to agree with me is empowering.

My two new techs are fantastic. Half the staff only know them as ‘Matthew’s Guys’ and its going to stay that way.

Longtime readers (both of you) will notice a lack of content lately.  This has not come from a lack of ideas or personal events.  This has come from the fact I’ve been struggling internally to figure out just what I want to tell the whole big scary world about me.

What’s personal?  What’s private?  What’s funny?  What could potentially hurt me to disclose?  Do people that talk to me want to be mentioned? 

But I have the answer. 

What goes up here?  ANYTHING I want.  It’s mine.  It’s me.  It’s my career as a comic.  It’s my life as a father.  It’s my goal to make Horizon the #1 It company.  It’s my dreams of making CEO.  It’s my messy divorce.  I can be as goofy as I want.  My entries can be as long as I need or as short as I want. 

One of my goals of 2010 is to make myself as accessible as possible to my friends and family.  My clients, my co-workers, my boss, my kids, my Mom, everyone.

So I will update this blog daily.  I have to.  It’s a fantastic opportunity to exercise my creative muscles and make something out of this second chance at life I’ve been given.  There will be ideas, videos, rants and complaints, funny blogs, and pictures galore.

So let’s start this off with a bang shall we…….

SHE SAID YES!  That’s right Mr. Matthew Murray popped the big one and Melissa Hutchings said yes!  The girl I’ve always dreamed of has materialized and said she’ll be mine.  I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.  Thank you darling, can’t wait to share the rest of my life with you.

Damn!

I had the opportunity to see the Judd Apatow movie on DVD last night. Big thanks to Melissa for suggesting it and sitting through it.

Judd’s fingerprints are all over this, and it is very similar in style and presentation to the 40 year old virgin. That format lends itself perfectly to the dialogue of stand up comics conversing amongst themselves. Judd really nailed the vibe and style that comes from comics talking to comics, and I felt at home with all the characters.

The failing of the movie was biting off too much source material to chew. Judd (rightly) wants to capture all the comedic gold that comes from this talented cast just riffing and improving with each other. The result is a VERY long movie that drags itself to the finish line over the final 20 minutes. You sincerely want to see the happily ever after ending, and you emotionally invest in the story, but wow do they take their time getting there.

I think Adam Sandler really missed an opportunity here. Very rarely does a main character go through so dramatic an arc as to be faced with a terminal disease, recover, contact ‘the girl that got away’, discover himself, discover the value of family and friends, and in the end grow up to be a better man. Adam plays each phase of this amazing plot the same way, so you never really get the sense that he’s THAT sick, or THAT sorry, or THAT lonely. He’s capable of much more and I was disappointed.

Seth Rogen is once again playing himself, and he is only a name swap away from Pineapple Express or Knocked Up. This movie was the perfect vehicle for that ‘character’ and I hope that Seth uses this as a closer to this style and takes the opportunity to grow as an actor. He definitely has the chops but he seems unwilling to venture out of his comfortable supporting cast and situations.

I did find myself laughing, but it’s a series of good small funny spots with no real topper. The comedy doesn’t quite support the weight of the drama, and the drama isn’t strong enough on it’s own to survive without the comedy. The spots where stand-up comics were cutting on each other were by far the best. I think I enjoyed this movie more than the average movie goer would, my ability to relate to the material and style being much greater.

Good rent, don’t buy. Funny People 3 meaningless icon symbols of your choice out of 5

As winter finally shows up I’m reminded that an excellent skill in Canadian comedy is the ability to drive through anything, at anytime, for as long as necessary.  We just drive right through blizzards while counting the number of ditched cards.  Comics just seem to have the ability to make it to the gig.  Most of us get there on time too.

I had a show for Freedom 55 on Friday, and had an excellent time.  Great people, relaxed atmosphere, and a very intelligent highbrow audience that picked up on every little thing.  The food was incredible and DVD sales were strong.  Thank you to all!

Saturday Melissa and I braved the weather and ventured to Calgary for a show for the Aspen somethingorother.  It was one of those ‘everyone wants a great show but the boss is a devout prude so make sure you don’t yadda yadda…’ I can work squeaky squeaky clean, but it was pathetic to watch an entire staff look at one person on each punchline, wait to see if she laughs, then laugh themselves.  What a company culture of fear.  Sad.

Melissa has proven herself an excellent road warrior and travelling companion.  She’s great with directions (Her new GPS is cool) she works climate and food/beverage control, and can stay awake with me when I need it.  Plus we both like to sing in the car.  Life is good!

After several hours and a violent struggle, my 5 year old son Liam actually caught, tamed, decorated, and penned in one of Santa’s reindeer.  We believe it’s Prancer

Got him!

Actually we took the boys to the Santa Claus Parade, and the Enchanted Forrest Festival of Lights, and the Craft Fair.  At said fair they met Santa, got balloon animals, and realized that most craft sales are full of crap.  It was so nice to walk away from one of these things without a trunk full of yarn and fabric.  Melissa prefers diamonds…simple.

I have shows this weekend in Saskatoon and Calgary.  Looking forward to catching up with Mom, walking the IKEA, not paying PST, and being able to play poker without having to watch the clock.