MetfanMike

4 down, 2 to go... This one has less to do with Metallica and more to do with connections made about 40 years before the episode, although there is a definite Metallica theme involved. There's no way I could have possibly imagined where we'd be 8-10 lifetimes later, but I'm just happy my friend Tammy and I are above ground and were able to make this episode. In reworking the vid with the language subtitles, I realized that there is a big editing mistake and you get to hear the same sentence two times in a row 😆... it even includes a picture of me in first grade 🤣🤣 which might make it worth a peek...otherwise I'm happy with the way this one turned out. Rock on!

COLOR OUR WORLD BLACKENED - Episode 4: Tammy Frierson - Metallica Trade FREIGHT TRAIN COMIN YOUR WAY! This episode takes us as far back as we can go into my history, leading many years up to it's relation to Metallica. This is an...

3 down, 3 to go 🤘😁translation subtitles available for 151 languages...

COLOR OUR WORLD BLACKENED - Episode 3: The Balls of Texas - Metallica Trade OH BOY! Much like the trade with Albert, this trade has a lot of sentimental value and history tied into it: The *original* cassettes we played when we disco...

2 down, 4 to go...This one was a bit of a mess due to having to pull it down and rework it, immediately after posting it, but I think I explained what happened clearly enough in the remake. I'm just a little worried about the translations and this will probably be a recurring theme throughout the series, but I'll do my best to shut up about that at some point! 🤘😁 Rock on!

COLOR OUR WORLD BLACKENED - Episode 2: James, London Ontario Canada - Metallica Trade REDO! The original Episode 2 went over very well with the viewers! Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication and misunderstanding, the video could not rema...

1 down, 5 to go and we'll be into making the new ones...The first 6 episodes of this series have already been posted on this page, but it's been 5 years since the "newest" one, so I'm going to go ahead and repost them as I get the subtitle translations added to each. This one is available with subtitles in 150 languages, so if you happen to watch it in any language other than English, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if anything gets translated in insanely wrong fashion! Thanks in advance! and I'd like you to meet my old friend, Albert! ...

COLOR OUR WORLD BLACKENED - Episode 1: Albert Keller - Metallica Trade FIRST TRADE WITH THE FIRST TRADE! Join me as I go over how I got into collecting Metallica vinyl, including my first trade with Albert Keller over 30 years a...

Hey hey everybody! I hope ALL is well wherever you are. I've been busy organizing my chaotic life into a more workable existence so that when we resume the "Color Our World Blackened" series, I will (hopefully) be able to have consistent, regular video postings in our efforts to complete this project as we blacken the world, together. I had this idea awhile back that in order to make this series everything I've dreamed of making it, I really need to take some steps to make it something that anyone anywhere can be a part of and/or simply enjoy watching it unfold. With that in mind, I decided to upload translation subtitles to each video in the series, so that language differences and barriers are not an issue that excludes anyone. This is a trial and I have only added the subtitles to the trailer and I'm calling on my friends around the world to help me check the accuracy of the translations. Those of you who only speak English are off the hook on this one, unless you have never heard of this project or wish to refamiliarize yourself with it before we get back to it, as it's been on hold for over 5 years now, thanks to the BMBNA series (notice the extra 20 pounds and much more grey hair LOL) . So the way that you could help me if you speak a language other than English would be to click on the link below, go to the round gear looking settings icon at the bottom of the screen, click on subtitles/cc and then pick your language and have a watch. It's a short video, less than 2 minutes, so I'd appreciate it greatly if you would let me know in the comments which language you chose and if the interpretation was done efficiently enough to make enough sense for you to completely understand what's going on. Google translate is what it is run through and I know these are often very loose translations. I'm just afraid that I'll say something like "My friend and I got on the bus" and it translates into something like "I kissed the neighbors dog on a tractor in the ocean" or something even more ridiculous LOL. I'll take any level of feedback and/or constructive criticism. I also appreciate (more than I can find words for) the support of anyone who has subscribed to the channel and maintained that support even though I've been through long periods without posting. I have every intention of turning this project into what I set out to do when I started the channel and once we get back at it, I will be putting 90% of my personal collection on that table to make this series a very unique experience for all who are a part of it, on any level. I'd like to thank EVERYONE for being here, I appreciate each and every one of you! There is NO fam like METFAM! Rock on!

COLOR OUR WORLD BLACKENED - TRAILER Check out the trailer for "Color Our World Blackened", a new spin on worldwide collecting and trading! Mike Mueller trades Metallica items with other fans ar...

*You might want to grab a Snickers, because if you read all of this, you won't be going anywhere for awhile. :)

Hey hey, everyone! I hope all is well wherever you are! It's been awhile since I've posted anything other than Pick Me picktures from the last raffle, so I figured it's probably time. I'd like give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the raffle and to everyone who sent me pics for the PICKture album. I'd also like to let anyone who has not received their picks know that I am still getting occasional envelopes in my mailbox marked "Return to Sender" that obviously didn't make it to their proper destination. When dealing with this volume, it's inevitable that some will get lost, delivered to the wrong place, stuck somewhere like under a table at a random post office or even get stuck flying around touring the planet wandering from PO to PO. Unfortunately, these things happen. If for any reason you have been waiting for your pick pack that never arrived, please hit me up and I can at least make another attempt with a MFM PICK ME pick, while we cross our fingers and hope your picks eventually show up.
I certainly thought that by now, I would have gotten back to the Color Our World Blackened series and it would be running full throttle, but if you know me, you know I get easily distracted. That said, I'm posting up to let you know about the project I'm currently obsessing over, while trying to get COWB organized and back on track. In mid-December, I was on the phone with my friend, Denise. She was venting her frustration over her mail situation. "Bills! Junk mail! More Bills! More junk mail! I wish I could just get some GOOD mail for once, is that too much to ask from the mail lady?" It hit me like a ton of bricks and I told her I'd take care of it. She laughed and said she wasn't hinting for a sympathy card or anything and told me not to worry about it. I insisted I'd take care of it, told her to keep an eye on her mailbox and she'd know when it had begun. She told me I'm nuts for the ten thousandth or so time since we met way back when, we hung up and I got busy with my third and (probably) final Johnny Got His Gun project. I call this one "Project: Johnny Got His Gun and Denise Got Her Mail".
I got started by cutting the cover off a paperback copy of JGHG. I flipped it over, put a line down the middle and made a home-made post card. I wrote out an explanation of what I aimed to do, addressed it, threw a stamp on it and sent it to Denise. When she received it, she called me immediately and said "Wait, WHAT are you doing? I want to make sure I understand what you're up to. I think I get it, but I want to make sure, because if it's the way I understood it, YOU'RE CRAZY, DUDE! I LOVE it, but YOU'RE NUTS!". I then verified that she had understood it correctly and that the cover of the book was the first card in what I call our Johnny Got His Gun "post opera". In the fashion of a soap opera, where the viewer gets a bit of a continuing story each day on TV, our post opera will offer the same, only the format of delivery will be on post cards through the mail. I've got a couple thousand unused post cards that came to me in various ways, over the years and this seems to be the perfect way to use them. So the plan was that I would transcribe the entire book of JGHG onto post cards and send one per day until the book is complete. I estimated that this would take a year or so, 500-600 post cards, a lot of stamps and a lot of hand cramps, but in the end, Denise would have a one of a kind bootleg variant of one of the greatest books ever written. It didn't take long to realize that we could have a LOT more fun if we turned it into a global MetfaM project, so I reached out to a few friends and asked if they'd be willing to participate. I'd send them a pre-written, pre-stamped post card in an envelope and all they'd have to do is sign it on top with their name/city/state and if outside of the US, name/city/country. (Many have taken a picture holding the card up before mailing, but this isn't required, just really cool because I have a file going and may possibly make a collage video to the tune of One when it's all complete, but that's really not the motivation for this.) True to form, MetfaM delivered. Each friend I asked got excited about the project, so I started sending post cards and reaching out to more friends. The only problem with the whole project is that in order for our friends outside of the US to participate, I would have to ask that they provide the postage stamp, because ours obviously don't work beyond our borders. I'm just not thrilled about spending other peoples' money, but nobody has had a problem with this and most laugh because it's a very minimal amount.
So far, I've sent about 175 cards including 100 that were sent to people all over the place and she has received them from 35 states in the US and 10 countries. I'm on page 90 so we still have a long way to go. Each time one arrives signed by someone, I get to tell her a little bit about the person who sent it, we get to add the post mark location to our list and she really gets excited about the stamps coming from other countries. We have also been working on a box with pictures from some of our Metallica adventures, so when it's all complete, the post opera will be housed properly. The box is nowhere near complete, but we've got time!
I'm posting this up to say THANK YOU to all who have already participated and invite others to be a part of the project. I will not be blasting through contacting everyone immediately, but if you would like to be a part of the insanity, please comment below and at some point, I will reach out to you. Again, it could be months from now, but I will refer back to this post throughout the project for participants. If you have zero interest in participating, but would like to let me know that Denise is correct and I am crazy, PLEASE feel free! All opinions are welcome!
So that's that … the reason COWB remains on hold, but it won't be long now. Again, I hope the world is treating EVERYONE right! Rock on!

This album features pictures of raffle winners willing to participate in the album! We will constantly update as picktures come in... Congrats, winners!

Grand Rapids Giveaway: Ty Stromquist in Norfolk, NE with his MFM and Hetfield Black Fang picks! Rock on, Ty!

Grand Rapids Giveaway: A most appropriate addition to the PICKture album, Heiko Kubler is one of the big boys of pick collecting, on a global level! His pick pack contained a MFM Pick Me and a Kirk Jazz III purple sparkle and he has patiently waited for me to send him my yellow tour pick. Rock on, Heiko!

Grand Rapids Giveaway: The one and only Allen Peters in Florence, AL with a Hetfield White Fang in one hand, a Kirk Jazz III purple sparkle pick in the other and two MFM picks in his pocket! I actually thought I made a mistake when loading the pick packs, but Allen explained that he received one and a few days later he received another., so I must have forgotten to mark him as "sent" on my list when I sent the first one...something tells me Blackened American Whiskey might have had something to do with this! Either way, this couldn't have happened to a better person...this guy is as cool as the shade! Rock on, Allen!

Grand Rapids Giveaway: Peter Henderson in Brandon, Durham, UK with his Hetfield Black Fang and MFM picks! Rock on Peter, Rock on!

It looks like my mom has been pimpin' me out again, this time at her doctor's office 😂...she overheard two of the assistants in the office talking about the Metallica show in St Louis and couldn't help but join in the conversation. Before it was over she had told them about my channel and promised to bring them some of my picks on her next visit. This all happened in mid-January, but yesterday she got an appointment confirmation/reminder and one of the girls added a subtle little addition to remind her to bring the picks :) It makes me laugh, but it's also VERY cool that at 81 years young, she is as enthusiastic as she is about what's going on in the MetfaM community!

Grand Rapids Giveaway: Walt Cavalconti in Folcroft, PA with his MFM and Hetfield White Fang picks! Walt is also sporting my all-time favorite Metallica shirt in this pic! Rock on, Walt!

So, that's a wrap! I just mailed the last 56 pick packs. Please be patient, if you have not received yours yet. A lot of them are showing up in places where it took a lot longer than it normally would have for a piece of mail to be delivered from my house to a particular region. Sometimes envelopes will travel to the far ends of Earth before making it to their final destination. That said, please keep me posted if yours never arrives. I've gone to great lengths to make sure that I sent one to every person who requested it. Unfortunately, sometimes mail gets lost and you should happen to be one of those people who doesn't receive one, please let me know. I can definitely send you out a replacement MetfanMike PICK ME pick and I have a few leftovers of the picks that were randomly inserted, but I won't be able to offer another pick pack that has a chance of having a city pick inside. Trust me, you will not be bothering me and if a pick pack never arrives, please let me know. I only ask that you give it a little time. Also, if you are reading this and were not able to participate, but would like to receive a MFM PICK ME pick, hit me up and I'll be happy to send you one! Thanks again to ALL who participated and thanks again to all who took the time to take and send a PICKture for the PICKture Album! If you haven't had the opportunity to look through the PICKture album, please do so when you get a chance...this album is priceless...this album features global representation of MetfaM! Next item on the agenda is a return to the series that has been on hold for far too long, Color Our World Blackened! Until then, rock on!

Random thought for the day and I should have posted this up before now, but I've had 4 people message me with the news that they received someone else's envelope along with theirs. Each time they messaged me and said they would get the other person's mail back in the hands of the post office. (I checked with my local post office and the guy said this can happen when the machine they run the mail through originally scans the addresses...sometimes there is a glitch that puts the wrong code on it or something like that ....I don't really understand it, but I trust he does!) This gives me SUCH a good feeling that each did the right thing. Metallikarma will repay these fine people! Two of the picks were found to be city picks when they arrived at their intended destination! So the "random thought" is a shout out to those who did the right thing, as well as a request for anyone this should happen to to do the same, as well! Thanks to those who took care of business in proper fashion! Rock on!