Friday, March 21, 2014

A to Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

That's right, it's time to reveal my theme for this year's A to Z Blogging Challenge. Cue the balloons, the band, the dancing girls, and whatever other exciting grand announcement merriment, brouhaha, and hullabaloo gets you going.

But first, this is a blog hop, so hop on over and check out some other blogs. After you read this one of course.

 A-Z Challenge Theme Reveal BlogFest


This year's theme is...

Music I love, hate, and love to hate (or hate to love).

I know what you're thinking. That's amazing, that's brilliant, that's... what is that? For each day of the challenge, I will come up with a song or band for that letter that I love, one I hate, and one that I love to hate (or hate to love, whichever is easier for that letter). It should be an interesting trip through the musical archives as I try to come up with all three for every letter. I can already think of a couple of letters that may be problematic, but we'll see what happens.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Winter Jam 2014

Last night, I took my daughter and her best friend to Winter Jam. If you are not familiar with Winter Jam, it is a concert with 10 Christian rock bands for $10 per person. Admission and seating are first-come first-serve. Last year, my daughter and I waited in line for an hour and half in the cold rain and were nowhere near the door when they sold out. We weren't going to let that happen this year. We got in line five hours before the doors opened. That's a long time to wait in line with several thousand other people. But it was worth it.

The lineup changes each year. They bring a few marquee acts, some moderately popular acts, and some new up and coming bands. This year's lineup included the following:

  • Derek Minor
  • Love & the Outcome
  • Everfound
  • Colton Dixon
  • Newsong
  • Plumb
  • Thousand Foot Krutch
  • Tenth Avenue North
  • Lecrae,
  • Newsboys
There wasn't a bad performance in the whole bunch. There were several different styles represented from Hip-Hop/Rap to acoustic rock to hard core jams. Everyone was on and rockin' it. But the biggest surprise of the evening (one that got the crowd screaming like madmen even more than they already were) was when Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) announced a special guest would be joining them for a song. The one and only Carrie Underwood! Now I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of Carrie's music. My tastes go much more hard core rock and metal than pop country. But I gotta say, Carrie really threw up the Rawkfist! If you don't understand the reference, you need to listen to more TFK. I was shocked at the way she rocked it with TFK. Well played, Carrie... well played.

After the concert, we stuck around and got autographs from the boys of Everfound and Newsboys. My daughter and her friend were thrilled to be called pretty by Michael Tait and Duncan Phillips of Newsboys. I got a "Good job, Dad" and a handshake from Michael Tait. Not a bad way to end things. Got home about 1 o'clock this morning, fell asleep around 3, got up for work at 6. Life is good.

Monday, March 3, 2014

A to Z Challenge 2014

I had so much fun doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge last year that I've decided to go for it again. What is the A to Z Challenge? I'm glad you asked. It is an attempt to write a new blog post for each day of April (except Sundays) for each letter of the alphabet. April 1st is "A", the 2nd is "B", and so on.

This year, there's a big difference in my posts. I will be following a theme for the whole month. What is the theme? Well, you have to wait. You can find out on March 21st. See the picture in the sidebar about the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal. That's the day everyone reveals what their theme will be for the month. Clever, huh?

See you back here on the 21st. Until then, I may or may not have something else to say.