Ok so you all know MC Bat Commander is the mastermind behind Yo! Gabba Gabba but did you know that before he was in The Aquabats he was a child actor? Well maybe you did and I'm just waaaaaaaay late on this bandwagon. But I figured what I found was worth sharing. Not only did he grow up in the biz, he has quite the impressive resume. Here's some of the stuff he's been in:

Pretty In Pink
Roseanne
Major Dad
Married with Children
Just the Ten of Us
The Gummy Bears
V
Highway to Heaven
The Love Boat
...and a bunch of made for tv movies including my personal favorite, an after school special called My dad can't be crazy....can he?

 Chances are, whether you realized it or not, you've seen him in something. Case in point, I found an episode of Roseanne that he was in. This is an episode I've seen many many times and NEVER had the slightest idea who I was watching. Witness a young MC Bat Commander (aka Christian Jacobs who plays "Andrew" in this episode) looking pretty much the same (dimples and all) and sounding like himself on helium. Enjoy!

skip to the 5:07 mark to see MC Bat Commander playing "Andrew"

skip to the 4:17 mark

So whats my figgity figgity mission? It's SKA, duh. Says so right in the title. Ok so I never grew out of the whole ska phase when everyone else around me did. This includes bands that stopped playing ska. I'm forever reliving my glory years and I find myself alone in a pit of peppy silly despair. I can't be the ONLY one. Right? RIGHT????? I hear about some ska bands lingering around. Some old bands that have managed to keep it up for years and some just starting out. It brings my old heart great joy to see the kids starting ska bands. So now what? Oh yes, the point of my mission. We know there's still ska out there. The problem is, it's not coming to Miami! Ugh...You know, there was a time when Miami was a happenin' place with a lot more rock friendly venues. Bands actually used to come down here. I saw many a great ones. I wish I had seen more. These days we  have a few places but I'll be honest, I'm out of the loop. It's hard to get back in the loop once you're out. So I know there's some (probably several) shows going on that I don't know about in Miami. Part of my mission is to weasel my way back into the scene. Although the scene here skews more towards rock bands like: Hawthorne Heights or Secondhand Serenade (what I like to call skinny jeans rock). Also those bands might not even be cool anymore.  Who knows? When it comes to that stuff I have all the knowledge of a middle aged parent trying to relate Jonas Brothers lyrics.  It's also abundantly clear that most of the good shows are in Ft.Lauderdale or further north. You know how much it stings to see killer  ska shows in fucking Tampa??  What am I supposed to do with that?

But I digress. My mission, to put it simply, is to bring SKA back to Miami. I know I'm not the first one or the only one to attempt this. However it looks like all the South Fla ska groups have fizzled out. So I'm picking up the torch. I welcome all the help I can get, as I am just one person. One person on a mission. A quest.
 I even have a theme song. But I'll save that for later.
What can you expect from this site? I'm still working on that. But here are some ideas:

-Upcoming shows
-List of venues
-New artists, music reviews, show reviews
-Featured artists (new or old)
-A whole section dedicated to ska bands that bit the dust
-A weekly er...bi-weekly...possibly monthly podcast where I'll play music, have special guests, do interviews, etc
- A blog
-Pictures, videos

It's important to note that not only am I looking for ska bands to come down here. I'm not just looking for venues in which to put said ska bands. I'm looking for the people  (and i'm hoping they're out there) who listen to ska.  I invite all of you to give me info, feedback, etc. Get me in the loop! I'm also very friendly so if you see me at a show come and say hi.

Well thats all I got for now. I'll update this soon. Gotta work out the kinks but I just wanted to get something up here. Please look around and come back often. The mission has just begun!!

-Melissa