Departing Port, Setting Sail For Fantasy Island

          The guest list opens today for sign up on the passenger manifest for the journey to Fantasy Island.  Arrival at our destination will be Monday May 17th.

          "Yo, Jackson!  What you talkin' about here?"  I hear somebody shout from shore.

           Okay, I'll tell you if you haven't been keeping track of this already and for those who have heard the tale told please hold tight whilst I explain to the uninitiated, the ones who weren't paying attention, and the ones that just want to hear the story again.

            On Monday May 17th all who are interested can participate in the FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES.   This is a one day blog wide post in which you will tell us your fifteen favorite music albums of all time--or at least at the moment.  You won't be held to this list.  And really it doesn't absolutely have to be music--it could be comedy or some other spoken word album or I even suppose sound effects if you're really that weird.  It's your list of favorites so you can post whatever it is you would have to listen to for the rest of your life while exiled on Fantasy Island.

          The FFI Favorites was initially proposed by my blog buddy Stephen T. McCarthy as a comparative blog study of our fifteen favorite music albums-- not just a list, but an in depth examination of the fifteen albums that had significant meaning to us.  After the success of the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge we decided that it would be fun to invite other bloggers to join us so we could end up with an epic list of favorite albums so we could share ours and find out what the rest of you like.

          We would like to limit the list to fifteen but if you can't think of that many then 12, 10, or whatever number you can think of will work just fine. It will be your blog post so you can format it in whatever way you like, but if you would like to have a model to go by, you can refer to Stephen's Best Album Cover Post  (don't be confused--the sample post is about favorite covers whereas the May 17th post is about the content of the album itself).   It would help that for each album you post a photo of the album's cover, the album's title, artist, and date of release, followed by a brief paragraph explaining why you have chosen it and maybe a short description of the type of music it contains. As far as genres are concerned, everything's acceptable: Classical, Country, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Movie & Broadway Theater Soundtracks, "Greatest Hits" and "Best Of" compilations, you name it--whatever you enjoy listening to.

           Presentation can be in any format. You can be as creative as you care to be. Turn your list into poetry or a short story if you like. Make it an autobiographical account of how this music has influenced your life. Create a video of yourself talking about it or put together a photo or art montage that tells us about your list. It all comes down to one day's post and you can make it as simple or complex as you like.

           Don't be intimidated by this either.  This is not a challenge or any complex thing.  It's basically just a list.  And if you just want to list your favorites that will work as an entry, but we do hope you will add a bit of your own personal creative touch to this special post.  We'd like a few details because after we've all gone through each other's favorites we may want to go out buy some of them.

           Since some of you have expressed some concern about technical things like adding images to your post, non-technological me will be having a special post on Monday May 10 in which I will explain how to do these things.  If you need help with anything let me know what you would like to know and I will try to explain it.  For those who are knowledgeable about the technical aspects you can check out what I'm saying and poke fun at me or set me straight so I don't disseminate faulty information.

           On May 17th let's have a big old fun blog party and have a good time!  Don't forget to sign up on the Linky list above.  And this is a Blog Hop.  You can add the Linky list to your site.  Copy the HTML code that is provided and to your layout page to the  Add A Gadget box on the right.  When you click on that box select HTML/JavaScript  and paste what you copied to the dialogue box that comes up and click "Save".  The Linky List should appear on your side bar.  You can then drag it wherever you want it.  Then your page should have the same list that appears on my page.  Did I make sense?   Let me know if there are any problems, questions, or comments.

Monday, May 17th Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites A McBirddogg Production

               Before we get to the May 17th FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES we will be having a few more ports of call including one very special event next Friday May 14.  On that day this blog, Tossing It Out, will be a Blogger of Note as featured on the Words of Wisdom blog site which is a blog started by Sandy and Pam.  If you haven't visited their site make sure you stop by and sign up and perhaps your blog can also be featured as a future Blog of Substance.  

           The way I've been carrying on today you'd think it was Saturday, when I usually do my recap and things to come post.  I'll still have more to say about that tomorrow plus a few more awards to acknowledge.  I hope you join me then.