A to Z Challenge Eve

 It is that time of year again. It is the A to Z Challenge.



I have participated in this challenge for a few years now. I haven't been blogging everyday lately so this year will be even more a challenge. I don't plan my blog out in advance. I'm not going to pick a theme out in advance. My April Challenge should be a wild ride and I hope you will join me.

If you follow..

The challenge is great for gaining new followers. I don't have a huge number but during the challenge I generally pick up a few more. If you follow me that is wonderful! I do ask that you comment on a post and let me know you are following me! That way it makes it easier for me to follow you. I do follow back!

Feel free to comment...

Comments are always welcome! It helps show me who has visited. I try to return visits. It also makes the blog more interesting.

Join the fun...

Come on and join the fun! I think you can still sign up! Go check out the webpage if you are interested. If you are participating let me know so I can come and visit. I look forword to all the interesting posts that will pop up in my feed.

Battle of the Bands

I am for now planning to continue to participate in the Battle of the Bands during the month of April. I will try to connect them with the latter of the day somehow. I like themes during the Battle of the Bands and this month I won't have to pick one.

Visit New Blogs

I know I won't get to visit every blogger who is participating. I think the list is over 1400 or something crazy.  I hope to visit some blogs that are new to me. I know I will be visiting quite a few of my followers. If you are participating I wish you the best of luck. Like always thanks for visiting!

Underrated Treasures Blogfest

Today I am joining in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Underrated Treasures Blogfest which I stumbled upon this morning.

Here is how this fest works:

Everyone has a favorite movie or band that no one else has ever heard about. For whatever reason, they remain undiscovered and underrated. Now is your chance to tell the world about this obscure treasure! 

Today, September 22, post about your favorite unknown –

MOVIE – BAND/ARTIST – TV SHOW – BOOK

Post about one or all four – dealer’s choice! 

Here is a link to Alex's blog if you would like to sign up and blog along.

I will do two of the four categories Band/Artist and Book.


BOOK



More than likely I have blogged about this book before in the archives of this blog. This is the book which hooked me on the whole series, it is book one of five adventure filled mystery books. I am drawn to these tropical adventure style books from Hemingway, Peter Benchley, Jimmy Buffett and now Bob Morris. The adventure starts after the main character is released from prison in Florida and as one could guess it travels to the Bahamas. Murder, revenge, adventure,mystery and tropical locations it is all in this novel Bahamarama by Bob Morris.

BAND/ARTIST

So many and artists I could choose for this one. However, I will go with Billy Thompson who was a local artist living close to where I used to live. He had moved from California. The first time I heard him at a jam. My friend told me to check him out. I am blessed to have so many friends who can tell me who to check out musically. He didn't really grab me at the jam. However, he grabbed me the second time I heard him.

Here he is on stage with Billy Payne of Little Feat...




 I didn't know how good he was until I found out he played with Bill Payne a co-fonder of Little Feat and some of the finest side musicians in the business like Mike Finnegan. When I discovered how much talent was when I saw him playing solo in this bookstore/bar.




Don't take my word for it listen to the music...

Here is a song called "Better Man"

Here he is doing some solo music...

If you like his music find out more at his website  order his music, see if he is coming to your town, and share it with your friends. I'm looking forward to discovering some music that is new to me, so TV shows to watch for, movies I need to catch and books I should read through this blogfest.

Battle of the Bands 5: Babe, I'm Going to Leave You

I'm back for my fifth installment of Battle of the Bands. Here is how it works:

Listen to the song clips in the blog post. In the comment section vote for the one you like the best. Feel free to explain why you voted the way you did. The battles take place on the first and 15th and winners will be announced on the 7th and 21st. I will normally post the winner in the comments. Of course have fun and enjoy!

If you are still looking for more musical fun after you vote, you can check out these sites for more battles:

Far Away Series

Your Daily Dose

DiscConnected

Tossing It Out

STMcC Presents "Battle of the Bands"

A Writer's Life in Progress

Curious as a Cathy

The Creative Outlet of StratPlayer

The Sound of One Hand Typing

Alex J. Cavanaugh

I am changing it up this time will have five choices. Originally I was just going to limit myself to Pink versus Miley Cyrus. I figured everyone who entered would think I lost my mind or wondered what the heck I was on if  I did that. However, I am curious what you think of  the covers.

I wanted to get Joan Baez singing "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" written by Anne Bredon since it is considered the original version but I can't find it on youtube! 

I added The Plebs version because the arrangement is different. Also I noticed looking at the 45 in the video,  they didn't credit Anne Bredon just like Zeppelin didn't do at first...

Here is The Association doing there version of the song...

Here is Miley Cyrus performing this classic song...

Pink rocks out to this song...

Obviously Pink and Miley pulled from Led Zeppelin's version..

Ironic Battle Number 5 and I share 5 songs. There it is, enjoy, vote and comment. Please visit the others and do the same. If you are doing your own battle let me know as well!

Reflections on the 2014: A to Z Challenge

The 2014 April A to Z Challenge is over and now it is time for the reflection part.



I survived and I did a post a day. Some posts were easier than others.



Did my blog grow?

Yes four more people started to follow my blog. I had over 2,000 pageviews for the month.
I really liked the comments. Most months I don't get many but in April I get a few. I like them, I like the feedback, the interaction, it kind of makes the blog come alive. I also stumbled into quite a few interesting blogs as well.

The staff was cool. I enjoy the challenge and have done it a few years running.

What didn't work..

I confess I had trouble figuring out how to follow some peoples blog. Some folks I couldn't even find their blogs. The challenge has grown so big!

I like the categories. Perhaps more linking by categories in the future would be a suggestion. This coming from the scatterbrained blogger.

The challenge did get me back to writing and back into blogging. Hopefully my blog will continue with the momentum and grow a bit more!

More than likely I will be back for the challenge in April of 2015!