30 Day Song Challenge: Day 30

Day 30 - a song from my favorite album.

If you're a long time ready you might recall The Legend of Chin. I have mentioned it a couple of times before - I've even hinted at how "That album was my life."



Unfortunately, the album only yielded only one single as it was before anyone discovered how awesome they were.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 29

I'm keeping it simple today as it is Memorial Day and I'm sure ya'll have better things to do.

Day 29: a song I used to love but don't anymore.



My waning appreciation for this song can be blamed on radio. Modern radio is a hostile place for catchy tunes. This song fell victim to the over exposure the same way as other pop-rockers like James Blunt (You're Beautiful), Plain White T's (Hey There Delilah), Daniel Powter (Bad Day), and so many more.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 28

From one of the more difficult challenges to complete to the easiest.

Day 28: my favorite song from this time last year.

Lucky for me, I posted something along these lines a little over a year ago. This song was my favorite from that selection.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 27

If you look back at the last couple of months worth of postings, one thing should be obvious: I have eclectic tastes in music. That makes today's post a challenge.

Day 27: a song no one would expect me to love

Since the last several posts have practically ran the gamut of the musical landscape from hip-hop to heavy metal to punk and 80's pop, I feel as if there are no more tricks up my sleeve. If I've done my job correctly, nothing I post today should surprise you. Any song that I could think of that you - the reader - might not expect me to love could easily provoke a "yeah, so" response.

Well, here goes nothing.



Nice little bossa nova rhythms with hypnotic vocals. Suzanne Vega has an old-school quality to her voice and a quirky personality that blends into a tuneful concoction that equals the perfect chill out music.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 26

Today is songs from my childhood. That would mostly be songs from the 80's - a mgical landscape of excess and all things ridiculous. I miss those days.

1. Amy Grant's Love Will Find a Way. I've mentioned before how Amy Grant's music played a big role during my formative years. This song stands out in my memory as one most frequently played over the family record player. Yes, kids, I said record player.

2. Peter Cetera's Glory of Love. My dad was a big fan of the Karate Kid movies. Actually, I don't know if he was a big fan, but we watched them every time they were on TV. With The Glory of Love playing as the credit's rolled in Karate Kid Part II, and frequently playing on Seattle's Lite Rock station (one of only three radio stations my parents allowed me to listen to back then) I heard this song a lot. In 1986, I was fairly certain that this was the coolest song ever.

3. Michael W Smith's Rocketown. Amy Grant may have been the most played artist in my house when I was a kid, but MWS was a close second. This was one of my favorites back then. It's also a landmark song for Mr. Smith that he named his Nashville club and record label after this song.

4. Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror. As I mentioned earlier, there were three radio stations played in our house: lite rock, contemporary Christian, and oldies. Michael Jackson did not fit into any of those three radio formats. That was fine by my dad's standards. He didn't like MJ. In fact, he shuddered at the mention of the name. Too many falsetto shouts of "ooh" and "hee-hee." And far too much crotch grabbing. But this song he actually liked. Perhaps the only Michael Jackson song my dad has ever appreciated.

5. UB40's Red Red Wine. This was another lite rock staple. This song always reminds me of summer playing in the street in front of our house. It wasn't until I was much older that I made the connection that this song was about getting sloshed on a bottle of wine.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 25

Day 25 - a song that makes me feel guilty.

This is a tough topic to find a song for as I do my best to live guilt free. Generally speaking, it's not a song that makes me experience a sense of guilt but rather moments when I wasn't strong enough, loving enough, or forgiving enough. So, this song is about as close as it gets to duplicating that emotion.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 24

Day 24: A song that I wish I could play on the guitar.

As I mentioned yesterday, I can play the guitar. Just not that well.

If a magical genie granted me three wishes, one of my requests would be the ability to play any song on any instrument by ear. But that will never happen.

Of the hundreds of songs that I wish I was skillful enough to play, this is one of them. One of my favorite pieces of guitar work over the past 15 years.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 23

Day 23 is a song that I can play on a guitar. This has probably been mentioned before, but I enjoy playing the guitar. And anyone that has seen me play can testify that I'm not much of a guitarist. But I consider it a hobby - one that I do not engage in often enough.

The song below may be the Pearl Jam song with the longest title, but it is the only song in their catalog that I know how to play (and can manage to strum along in time with the actual music playing).



This I can do. If you want to Evenflow or Yellow Ledbetter, you're on your own.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 22

Yesterday was wedding songs. Today it's funeral songs.

Day 22: Songs I'd want played at my funeral.

Fitting topic as the world is supposed to end today (not really). It is an easy pick for me as I have known the two songs I want played at my funeral for several years.

First: On That Day by Pep Squad. Unfortunately, I can't find a video for that song. Not even a audio snippet. But the lyrics are based off 1 Timothy 4:1-8

And the other song: The Finish Line by Steve Taylor, which you can hear and read the lyrics HERE.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 21

Welcome back.

Day 21 is music from my wedding.

We've been married eight years, why am I surprised that I remember what music we had played? First some lovely instrumental harp music as our friends and family found their seat. We used somewhat traditional music for the processional: Pachelbel's Canon in D major. Also along the traditional lines was You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel sung by a friend of the family.

But the rest of the service wasn't so traditional.

When the Love is Right by Tourniquet played during communion. (and I never realized how long that was until I was awkwardly standing on stage waiting for it to end)

We used Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not) for the recessional.

We did not have time for dancing at the reception. We really didn't have money for a DJ. Instead we had a three song slide show of our lives before we met and our life together.

The song that backed the pictures of me growing up was Lucky Man by The Verve.

Bekah's pictorial life was backed by Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle.

And the pictures from the year that we dated was scored by Edwin McCain's I Could Not Ask For More.

Mugshot

Idaho Dad, on his blog A Family Runs Through It, posted a mugshot. In true 'you show me yours I'll show you mine' fashion, he asked others to post their mugshots on their own blogs. Here are mine.

One to stay and one to go. Since I drink more coffee at work than I do at home, I use the one on the right much more frequently.

It has arrived

This is yet another interruption in the 30 day song project. Two reasons.

1. The first reason was beyond my control: Blogger was down yesterday. I couldn't have posted if I wanted to - and I tried. Twice.

2. I have a confession. Granted, it could be usurped in favor of continuing the 30 day series (that looks like it will likely stretch into 60 days), but this news is too exciting to ignore.

But first some background.

Back in the day I bought a lot of CDs (This was back when people still bought compact discs). I was - and still am - a musicphile. When ever I walked out of a record store with a new album, the first action I'd take (after tearing away the cellophane) was to read through the liner notes. More specifically, I'd skip the the spot where the band listed their acknowledgments. Before I listened to a single song, I was reading who they'd like to thank, the people that supported them, and the brands of gear they played.

I had a goal: one day, I'd go buy a CD and find my name listed in the liner notes behind the words "A very special thanks to..."

Strange goal, I know. But it seemed reasonable. Most of my friends were in bands. They were talented people; logic would dictate that at least one of them would record and release an album.

That goal was achieved today. Well... kind of achieved today.

There was a letter sitting on my desk when I got home from work this afternoon:

Underneath that was this:

I did flip to the back to find my name:

There it is. The very last name in the bottom right hand corner. At least it's easy to find.

So it's not exactly finding my name in the liner notes of a CD. But this is so much better. Getting the manuscript early was an unexpected blessing. This is a fantastic book that will help a lot of people. If you or anyone you know is laboring at a job that you can't wait to quit, you need to read it.

I'm not kidding. Go buy it.

You can get a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Dave Ramsey. And for those of you that are the hip e-book types, it's also available on both the Nook and the Kindle.

And if you're not doing it all ready, go read Jon's blog. It is one of my favorite blogs within the known universe.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 20

Day twenty: a song that describes me

I had to dig for this one and the best I could find is a 30 second clip from Amazon. It's an obscure pop gem from The Dell Griffiths called King of Almost.

If my life was a movie, this song would be the theme music.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 19

Day 19 - A song I wish I heard on the radio

My original plan for this post was Sticks & Stones by Jónsi (which you may recognize from the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack). But that was before I discovered the song below. Besides, Sticks & Stones is about a year old now anyways.



Why didn't any one tell me about The Civil Wars? This duo is crazy good with a killer vibe. I've been listening to them a lot while I write. Now, if only Spokane radio stations would give them some airplay.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 18

I'm back on the horse with the eighteenth day - a song I hear a lot on the radio.


I have a soft spot in my heart for artists from the northwest, and I love it when they receive national airplay. Yes, I know these Tacoma natives inhabit the musical landscape halfway between Paramore and Taylor Swift. But He Is We is a great band and their debut album, My Forever, is both fun and beautiful.

What happened here?

My last post was published at the tail end of my daughter's birthday party. Since then I have either forgotten and/or ignored this blog.

So what happened? Well, a couple of things. Both can be attributed to burn out.

1. Over stimulation from Zu's party. First of all, I was the lone adult male in a room full of moms and kids. Not the most comfortable place to spend a Saturday afternoon. Second, I'm not much of a kid person - and there were a lot of kids. And chaos. By the time I typed up my thoughts and hit the "publish post" button, my brain had been scrubbed of all interesting thought.

2. My last post was about two of the worst songs ever recorded. What a downer. How do you follow up after that? Every time I thought "I need to write for my blog today," I'd look at that last bit and think "ugh."

But I'm back. My 30 day song project (which was supposed to end with the month of April) will continue on Monday. In the meantime, what did you miss?

Zu's ballet recital

Easter

The Walk for Autism Awareness (which each of our kids handled a little differently)

And the end of the year show for Christian's kindergarten class

Now, what did I miss?

Apparently, the death of the birther movement and the birth of the deather movement. Other than that?