Hypeful’s six month anniversary is right around the corner and I am very honored that it has received its first blogging nomination! Wahoo! Okiedoke is hosting the 2007 Okie Blog Awards and Hypeful has been nominated for Best Culture Blog. This nomination is such a unique honor because the awards were established by and are decided by Oklahoma bloggers exclusively. If you are currently an Oklahoma blogger, I would be very appreciative of your vote. The voting period ends on September 26 and you can check out the full list of nominees here. Thanks!

I learned some very sad news yesterday - Carter Albrecht, Dallas musician and member of the great band Sorta, was tragically shot and killed on Monday. Hypeful extends deepest sympathies to Carter’s friends, family, loved ones, and all of those touched by the sad and shocking loss of him.

Named Musician of the Year and Best Songwriter by the Dallas Observer, it was recently noted that Carter was also a true fan of music and life in general - especially of the many instances when the two could be combined. It is in this spirit that I would like to share some of Carter’s music and strongly encourage you to check out Sorta if you haven’t already.

MP3s:
Sorta - “Eighty-Five Feet”
Sorta - “Tell Me A Story”

Hope everyone has a fun/safe Labor Day!

MP3: Bright Eyes - “Hungry For A Holiday”

Sorry, sorbet. Adios, yogurt. Forget it, gelato.

This month is all about ice cream! July is National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month is National Ice Cream Day, which inspired Hypeful to put together a collection of ice cream-themed tracks that even the lactose-intolerant can enjoy. For additional ice cream music fun, check out the surprising quiz - “Discontinued Ben & Jerry’s Flavor OR Band I Found On MySpace”!

MP3s:
Hafdis Huld - “Ice Cream Is Nice”
Muscles - “Ice Cream”
New Young Pony Club - “Ice Cream”
Pissed Jeans - “I’ve Still Got You (Ice Cream)”
Soft Tigers - “Mr. Ice Cream Introduces”

Today is the one week anniversary of Hypeful and I would be remiss if I didn’t send out some very big THANKS! First of all, I owe thanks to Heath and Jay for helping me piece this site together before its launch. Without their tech wizardry, I would probably be stuck “blogging” with crayons. (If you get a chance, please check out Jay’s awesome design blog - Bittbox!)

Second, thanks to all of my friends/readers for all of the amazing support! I hope you’ve enjoyed the blog thus far and I am still extremely hypeful about the future. Woohoo!!!

(Sorry about all of the late posting today. I was hoping to have everything up sooner, but internet troubles have kept me offline most of the day.)