Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Farewell Ikea Founder


Picture from Wikipedia

Ingvar Kamprad passed away on the 27th of this month. You may not recognize his name but you may recognize the business he founded; Ikea. The 91 year old Swedish business icon was one of the richest people living in Europe. The store he created is well known for its furniture. However, the store does sell some Swedish treats my favorite!

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Monday's Music Moves Me: Birthday Episode

It's time for Monday's Music Moves Me..



Today's Spotlight Dancer for Monday's Music Moves Me  is Catch my Words/J. Lansky! CONGRATS!  She has asked if we could all say Happy Birthday to her little girl Erica who is turning 25 yrs. old & her theme is presenting songs about birthdays or pertaining to kids growing up & being young & beautiful!

As Casey Kasem would state our first long distance dedication, is the classic hit from those four lads from England with "Birthday"



Now for something more contemporary from Katy Perry "Birthday"


My finally is from The Innocence Mission "Happy Birthday, Beautiful"


Thanks for visiting! I will be back soon with another Monday's Music Moves Me post but feel free to visit anytime as you never know what you might find.

R.I.P Warren Miller

When I think of ski films the first name that comes to my mind is Warren Miller. His film caught the beauty of the location, the ruggedness of the terrain and the final productions were master pieces. He was a pioneer in the extreme, adventure sport entertainment industry.

"Don't take life too seriously, because you can't come out of it alive" was a quote from Warren Miller who passed away at the age of 93 last week.


Below are some goofiest moments from his films..



The trailer for his 1985 film "Steep and Deep"..


My favorite quote from him was "If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do."

The film world lost a legend but his legacy lives on through his films.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Battle of the Bands: Seal wins!

Starting the year of Battle of the Bands off right with a song from the Sam Cooke songbook. My battle featured the legendary Otis Redding against the talented Seal.



Seal took a commanding lead and never looked back. The results were 4 to 2 for Seal. The winner of course is celebrated on my blog! Sit back, turn your speakers on,  push play and enjoy.

                                                     "Crazy"


"Love's Devine"


                                                 "Kiss From A Rose"


I hope you enjoyed! Come back for my next Battle on the 15th of next month.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Monday's Music Moves Me: Remembering Pat DiNizio



This week topic is a freebie and I thought I would pay tribute to Pat DiNizio. He was the singer and guitarist for The Smithereens who passed away last month.

"Blood and Roses"


"Only A Memory"


"Blues Before & After"


"A Girl Like You"


He will be missed but his music lives on!

First cocert of 2018: The Travelin’ McCourys

This time around I went to see The Travelin’ McCourys completely by chance some 370 miles from my home. My schedule at work is pending a change so while I have my schedule with a string of days off I decided to visit my parents. When I visit my parents I try to meet up with a good friend of mine who lives in the area. He used to live real close to my parents now he lives about an hour away. Well he was going to the concert with his girlfriend, Dad, and now me!

The Wild Shiners a fun and talented band from North Florida warmed up the crowd with an opening set. Bringing skill, energy and humor the band showed the future of bluegrass and traditional music in this region is in good hands.

Here they are with "Momma, Hinesville Georgia"


This is a song they played during their set at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Saturday, January 20, 2018.

The last time I experienced the Travelin' McCourys they were doing a special concert celebrating the music of Bill Monroe with living Bluegrass legends Peter Rowan and Tony Rice. You can revisit my review of that incredible show here.

I was looking forward to experiencing a true Travelin’ McCourys show! They didn't disappoint with a close to two hour show. Below is a little sample from the show...



My friend stated everyone in the band is a world class musician. The band had a new guitarist since the last time I watched them with Cody Kilby who worked with Ricky Skaggs for 14 years. Ronnie and Rob carry the famous McCoury bloodline on mandolin and banjo respectfully.  Alan Bartram fills out the sound on bass.



Needless to say it was a night of good fun!

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Battle of the Bands: A Change is Gonna Come

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day. I am doing two blog posts which are for music blog hops. I am not going to do three posts. As I write this blogpost I would like to give the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr a nod.



This month song comes from the great Sam Cooke. It is called "A Change is Gonna Come"



Vote for one of the two contenders below in the comments.

Contender One: Seal


Contender Two: Otis Redding


Please vote in the comment and I will post the winners in a week or so. If you want more battles visit this site for a full list of participants. I will have another battle next month on the 15th. I will probably share a few more posts between then and now so please feel free to visit.

Thanks for visiting! 

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs with Colors in the Title

Finally in this New Year I am able to fit in another Monday's Music Moves Me. This week the theme is songs with colors in the title..



Music is an art and there is a lot of colors in the music.  So come and join me on this colorful journey of music..


The Rolling Stones "She's A Rainbow"..


The Psychedelic Furs "Pretty in Pink"..



Led Zeppelin "Black Dog"


UB40 "Red, Red Wine"


Bad Company "Silver, Red and Gold"


Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze"


See the full list of participants at Xmas Dolly's blog. Also check out my Battle of the Bands post.

Thanks and have a great Monday!

Saturday, January 13, 2018

R.I.P Keith Jackson


The above video is a collection of Keith Jackson moments.  Jackson was a legendary football broadcasters whose career span from the 1960s to the 2000s. A voice of football when I watched a lot more football.

At least he survived one more college football season. He will be missed by his family, friends, colleagues and fans.

A tribute to him below..


Thanks for visiting and I will have a new post soon.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Crimson Tide Prevail

The Georgia Bulldogs were so close to winning their first College Football Championship since 1980. They were beating Alabama 20 to 7. Alabama stormed back. The Tide was settling for a chance to win the game with a field goal but it was no good. The game went to overtime.

After a sack, the Dawgs made a 51-yard field goal. Georgia was back on top in overtime 23-20. The Bulldogs defense came up big with a huge sack of their own. However, the next play broke Georgia's heart. A deep pass for a touchdown and more importantly the win.

A great finish for college football!

Here are the highlights..



Now the Pros take the spotlight with their playoffs, of course there is hockey and basketball too.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Thoughts on Wonder


Over the Holidays I watched the movie Wonder. The movie was picked by my daughter. The film certainly had star power with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson among the cast.

The film was about a boy with some facial deformations who starts school for the first time in 5th grade. The book is based on the novel by R.J. Palacio.

According to my daughter the movie follows the book well and is even better than the book! Going to school can be tough, going to school when you are different can be tougher.

A scene that grabbed me  featured a kid, his parents, and a principle. At the end of the scene the kid was a better person than the parents.

If you ever feel like going back to school this film is for you!




Monday, January 1, 2018

2018:A New Year

Today was back to work day. Nothing like a 10 hour shift to bring you back to reality after yet another crazy road trip spanning 11-states this time. I rang in the New Year by pulling over into a gas station off the highway and listening to a random radio station pronounce it was 2018. 105 minutes later I as home.

Work was slow. I found out my schedule will be changing again. Change is the constant. 2017 changes to 2018.

What is on tap for this blog in 2018? There are things I wanted to blog about in 2017 that I will probably write about in 2018. There will be events and things that will happen in 2018 that I will ant to blog about. I will probably do the bloghops like the Battle of the Bands, maybe more Monday's Music Moves Me posts, and if I stumble to any interesting one off hop I might join in. Come Spring, I will more than likely participate in the A to Z Challenge.

As for me what are my plans for 2018? I plan to read about 30 books. Hopefully fish more. Schedule change at work will probably cut down on the travelling plans. Though I am sure I will probably visit some interesting places. I will probably see some interesting concerts. But really no big plans just looking to see where 2018 will take me.