Mike and Joe @ SURU In store signing + Limited Edition Xander

If you're in the Los Angeles area between the 20th and the 23rd of November, here's a cool event for you to consider heading to!

Mike and Joe will be doing a signing at SURU to kick off the launch of Mike's Xander DC shoe, which was redesigned by SURU. Looks like there will be a pre-sale of 500 pair on SURU's site until November 19th. The release and signing will be on November 20 at SURU at 7:00pm; then the limited edition shoe will go on public sale on November 23.

It will definitely be worth checking out, if not for the signing then just to get the shoes!

Music for Relief Pictures

Music for Relief and Tree People planted 30 trees to reforest Stetson Ranch Park in Sylmar, CA on October 17, 2009! Check out these awesome photos of Mike, Anna, and the group from the planting!

Don't forget to donate your $5 to Habitat GLA to support the building of green, environmentally friendly homes in the Greater Los Angeles area. You can also donate $5 on your mobile bill by texting MFR to 90999.

Also, you can still grab your Mike Shinoda Glorious Excess Raffle Tickets for a chance to be one of the 144 people that win prizes, including a trip to a 2010 Linkin Park show and a meet and greet backstage with the band! It's only $10 for 5 raffle tickets and all proceeds go directly to Music for Relief to help disaster victims around the world. Hurry, though! The entry deadline is November 11, 2009 at 11:00AM Eastern Standard Time, so you only have a few days left! So get raffling!

Mike @ Google: New Music Search Function

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last day or two. I've been cramming for some tests and finishing up some papers for University.

Mike was recently involved in the panel that introduced the new Music Search function on Google. Here is what he had to say on the matter:

"Looks like it's conference week for me (ha). Today, Google announced their new music search function, and I was invited to speak on a panel regarding the new function, what it means for the fan (like us) who wants to find and purchase new music. I met and spoke with a handful of really smart, really fun peeps (shouts out to Bill, Courtney, Ali, RJ and all the awesome Google staff).

What I think most of you will be interested to know is that Google is rolling this function out in the U.S. right now. When you search for new music, you will immediately see a few options of songs to play, plus links to the artists tour dates and purchase options. Knowing how much we all hate clicking on a dozen things to get to the place we want, this is a welcome improvement (now all I need to do is finally get our tech department to do the same with our linkinpark.com, LPU, and LPN login).

Here's the info from their blog, and a picture from the event. Keep an eye out online, as there will be some performances--including one by Dead By Sunrise."

My absolute favorite comment from a Linkin Park fan on this matter was over at our new affiliate Phoenix-Farrell.org:

"while dave is twittering about cheescake,

Mike was invited to speak about music at the last google announcement in Hollywood, CA. (28.10.2009)"

Poor Phoenix, ha!

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm beginning to think that perhaps Mike should take more time out of his day to make sure he is adequately fed and watered before leaving his house. That way he doesn't have to take other celebrities' food during events.

"EDIT: I almost forgot...HUGE thank you to OneRepublic for letting me eat some of their In N Out burgers. Seriously. A life saver."

• All quotes taken from Mike's October 28, 2009 homepage post and Phoenix-Farrell.org's October 29, 2009 homepage post.
  

#140conf Update from Mike/Get Busy Committee

"It may be the best invitation I've ever received: I've been asked to speak at the "140 Character Conference," a public conference all about TWITTER!

The conference is today. According to their site http://140conf.com/, the conference is about "the effects of real-time internet on business." I can speak on that; maybe they just want to hear my take. Then again, maybe there's another, clandestine plot brewing. Maybe they want to brainwash or convert me. Or maybe Phoenix is planning to assassinate me.

Screw it. I'll be attending, some time around 4pm. And just in case, maybe I should find myself some stylish bulletproof attire.

Look for tweets about it...and spell my name right, fools: #m_shinoda"

via Mike's October 27, 2009 homepage post

Yes, spell his name right, guys; cut the poor guy a break. He can't even figure out the correct Twitter lingo (@m_shinoda, HA!).

Perhaps Mr. Shinoda should also carry around a Get Busy Committee Uzi to go with that stylish bulletproof vest. Just saying...

Shinoda's infamous "blogging pwns twittering" banner.

Meet and Greet Fun; Some Videos

In the spirit of giving you guys something fun to look at, here are two meet and greet videos from times when I met Linkin Park.

Video #1 is from Noblesville, Indiana on August 17, 2008. The meet and greet here was with Mike and Rob. I was filming.



Video #2 is from Burbank, California on June 17, 2009. The meet and greet here was with the entirety of Linkin Park. You will notice that this meet and greet video is a professionally done video. It is from the SocialVibe contest winners' meet and greet with the band in California. Memoir Mama and I won 2nd place in the contest and got the chance to get a private show from the band and a few hours to hang out. Check it out! =)

Scream Awards 2009; October 27 + Results

We've all watched and voted religiously for the various awards that our beloved boys of Linkin Park have been nominated for over these past few months. One of the most popular ones we've had our eyes on is the Scream Award for Scream Song of the Year 2009.



The guys were up against an array of really amazing songs that have stolen the spotlight throughout the year, including Decode by Paramore, which is the theme for one of the past fives years' most popular movies, Twilight. The nominees were:

New Divide by Linkin Park
War Zone by Rob Zombie
Other Father Song by They Might Be Giants
Desolation by My Chemical Romance
Decode by Paramore
Bad Things by Jace Everett

After months of waiting to find out the results of the awards, we've finally been given our relief!



Congratulations to our six amazing men for their dedication to giving us an amazing Transformers; Revenge of the Fallen theme. We are absolutely more proud of you than you could ever know!

Great job, guys!


Be sure to catch the Scream 2009 Awards, airing on SPIKE TV on October 27 (Tuesday) at 10:00pm EST!

International Linkin Park Day

On October 24th of 2000, Linkin park released their debut album entitled "Hybrid theory". Nine years later, fans all around the world have unofficially declared the 24th of October to be "International Linkin Park Day".

Although May of 1999 marks the release of Hybrid Theory's self-titled EP, most fans didn't get hooked on (or even exposed to, for that matter) the music created by these six men until they changed their name to Linkin Park and offered us the 12-track disc that we all know and love today as Hybrid Theory. And it only makes sense that International Linkin Park Day should fall on the date of Hybrid Theory's release; the album has sold well over 20 million copies worldwide, 10 million in the United States alone, and to this day is the band's best-selling album.

So, how did fans across the globe decide to celebrate this unofficial holiday?

Nearly every social networking site in existence has shown people trying to spread the word and encourage others to take part in appreciating the day's significance. Linkin Park fans in all areas of the world posted messages or chatted with each other, sharing their personal experiences of hearing this music for the first time, how their lives have been changed because of it, and even what it was like meeting the guys who composed that music.

A few fans enthusiastically admitted to spending the day listening to all of their Linkin park CD's, while a few others giddily recalled various moments of LPTV that they found especially humorous, after re-watching all of the episodes. And, of course, a select few decided to get a tattoo in honor of the band and/or have their old Linkin Park ink touched up.

I, personally, had my CD and DVD players working through the majority of the day while I either chatted with other fans or carved my Linkin Park related pumpkins for the LPU contest* (which, inevitably, had me reminiscent of last Halloween's shenanigans of dressing up as the guys**). I'll even admit that I bought nail polish because it was called "Lincoln Park... After Midnight". Unfortuantely, I was unable to make the trip down to my tattoo shop to get my Hybrid Theory Soldier touched up, but next year I intend to get him fixed as well as get him a couple fo friends... You know, so he's not so lonely down there on my leg. *wink, wink*

Anyhow, I know that there's a reason why these guys have such a diverse fan base, and I hope that everyone realizes the reason they're a part of that amazing base. So, however each individual decided to spend the day, I hope that you all took at least one moment to reflect upon your own Linkin Park story. And I hope that next year, International Linkin Park Day will be slightly more established and celebrated...

Take care, lovies. ^_^

*LPU Pumpkins: http://forums.lpunderground.com/showthread.php?t=233215
**2008 LP Halloween: http://forums.linkinpark.com/showthread.php?t=10015

Hybrid Theory; Nine Years Later.

We at Caught in the Act would like to wish Hybrid Theory a wonderfully happy ninth birthday!

I haven't found anything particularly awesome, except, perhaps, the infamous Facebook Linkin Park Day. However, it's still quite early in the day (only 10:10am in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States) and I hope that throughout the day, I'll be able to find some amazing goings-on by the hardcore Linkin Park fans! If you have anything you'd like us to advertise, shoot us a comment or an email at mercifuldewy[at]hotmail.com!

For now, to commemorate the event, here is an oldie, but a goodie! =)