Fifteen of the Ones I Left Behind

          How can I only pick fifteen albums?  For that matter, how can I pick 50 or 100?  In yesterday's post, FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES, I chose fifteen of the albums that I would want if they were the only ones I could ever listen to for the rest of my life.  It's an absurd premise as I would have to pick across genres and there are so many to choose from. 

              Continuing from the original plan where classical music is not being included, here are fifteen more in my original picks of albums.  These I decided to eliminate from my top thirty because my first fifteen just seemed more important to me.  But this list can change from week to week or even day to day.  Listening taste can be fickle and the more I think about the question the more the list gets changed.  For what it's worth, here are fifteen that are next in line for the time being:

Today! (1965) by the Beach Boys--- One side is a collection of those bright sounding beach music hits that kept the "Boys" on the charts so often in the 1960s.  The flip side of the record (of course it's all on one side of the CD) is the lush beautiful romantic ballads the Brian Wilson does so well--those are my favorites.  Harmony vocals that are some of the best to be found.  This album carried me through adolescence and sounds even better now.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It was the beginning of my senior year in high school in Maryville, TN. On a Sunday evening sometime in the Fall of 1968, I was listening to an FM station that was identified as coming from St. Louis. Fade in the incredible CCR version of "Suzy Q", one of the finest rock and roll recordings of all time, and I was blown away by eight and a half minutes of something quite different to the music I had been listening to previously. I soon owned this great album of roots rock psychedelic soul music. This album had a big influence on much of the music I would begin listening to.

Seals and Crofts (1970) by Seals and Crofts--This was their first album before they became slickly commercial.  Here they harken to traditional roots with some fun rock influence.  The songs are spiritual and mystical as they sing about their Bahai faith.  The vocals are absolutely beautiful and the instrumentation is fine.

Watertown (1970) by Frank Sinatra -- Not one of his better known albums, Watertown is a concept album--it could be the soundtrack for a movie.  The story is of a man whose wife leaves him and his children.  This is not the classic Sinatra with whom we are all familiar, but the songs are excellent and well sung.  I always enjoyed listening to this album when I was in my twenties and, though I do not have a copy at the present, I still recall the songs and long to hear them again.

Deja Vu (1970)  by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young  --- I really liked the first Crosby, Stills, and Nash album, but the addition of Neil Young gave the group a more varied sound.  There are such great songs on this album and the album captures my college years of the early 70s so well.   Young's "Country Girl" suite is some of his best work in my opinion.

Blind Faith (1969)   By Blind Faith --- I was already a Cream fan when this new "supergroup" began to get hyped.  They were a great group.  Classic rock and roll with the soulful Stevie Winwood on vocals.  Eric Clapton's guitar work weaves in and out of the music with the tribal drumstyle of Ginger Baker laying down the beat.  The songs are all classics with "Presence of the Lord" being my personal favorite.

                     Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970)  by the Groundhogs-- How do I describe this album?   Some articles say they are blues-rock and I guess they are kind of like Cream.  This album has an almost acoustic feel to much of it.  I might call it acoustic metal or progressive, but I'm not that good at labeling music either.  All I know is the songs are catchy, the vocals are very British accented, and the instrumental jams are quite good.  It's a good rock and roll album and that's enough said I guess.

       Autumn (1968)  by Don Ellis Orchestra-- This is highly arranged big band music filled with intricate rhythms and complex instrumentation.  However it all comes together flawlessly in very listenable musical pieces that range from classical sounding, smoky sultry film noir, rock, and even a tad of country.   Simply amazing when I first heard this album and it remains amazing.

  

  Time Circle(1968-1972) by Spirit---One of the best rock bands from the California psychedelic period, Spirit plays tightly arranged tiny musical epics.  They don't get into the long drawn out jams and I always wish the songs were longer.  They are sometimes jazzy and at times very commercial.  Well crafted songs that are performed by expert musicians in well-produced recordings.

   Eat a Peach (1972)  by the Allman Brothers-- The Allmans were definitely the main soundtrack of the early 70s in Tennessee.  Everybody was playing the albums and the local bands all played the music.  The Allmans play some nice country tinged rock songs and extended rock blues-rock jams with plenty of dual guitar action. 

   Future Games (1971)  Fleetwood Mac --- This is Mac before they became the commercial hit machine with Buckingham and Nicks.  This incarnation of Fleetwood Mac has Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch.  The songs are excellent and the sound of the band is often sad and ethereal, but extraordinarily beautiful.  I love this album.

     The Ultimate Prophecy (1970)  J.D. Blackfoot -- On the original vinyl, one side was a collection of well executed heavy rock songs.  The other side had the spiritual psychedelic tour de force called "The Ultimate Prophecy".  I guess you would call it a rock and roll song cycle in which each separate song blends into the other and the entire cycle tells a story.  It's a pretty cool rock and roll epic.

Crowded House (1986)  Crowded House--- Really good well crafted catchy rock songs is about all I can say.   "Don't Dream It's Over" is on of my favorite songs.

Time Out (1959)  Dave Brubeck Quartet--- I was familiar with the famous song "Take Five" for many years, but I did not really hear the album until the 90s.  Piano, sax, bass, and drums in classically cool jazz arrangements.  It's just totally cool and laid back.

Blinking Lights and other revelations (2005)  The Eels-- Terrific collection of highly listenable rock and pop sounds. There's like 33 songs on two discs.  They are short songs, but they are very good.  This is a very pleasing album.

       I could keep on going and naming many more albums, but that is enough for now.  However next Monday I will be naming Nine Nice Jazz Favorites.   If you'd like to join me let me know--I'll even start another Linky list if there is enough interest.

      And by the way, the participation in the FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES was fantastic.  Such an amazing diversity of musical selections in such fine presentation.  If you didn't check them all out, I encourage you to do so.  We had a really great time.  Thanks to all who joined us.

          

Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites

           Abandoned for a lifetime with only fifteen favorite albums to listen to, I had a huge decision.  Out of the thousands of albums that I own and the millions that exist, which 15 make the grade?   The following list is based on the genres that primarily fit into the categories of rock and pop.  I did not want to get overly esoteric or snobby in my picks, but I wanted to stay in the realms that I felt would be more closely related to more generally popular tastes.  These albums are all albums that I continue to listen to on a more regular basis than most of my other albums.  I have listed these in the order that I discovered them in my life.

                So here they are for your review, my FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES:

 Rubber Soul (1965) by the Beatles
        This was the first rock album I really got into. Prior its release the Beatles were the teenybopper domain of my younger sister.  At first I was the musical snob when it came to rock and roll, but the British invasion began to catch my attention with groups like the Zombies, Manfred Mann, and Dave Clark Five. But the "mop top Fab Four", belonged to screaming female fans.  And yet I was listening to their catchy sound.  I watched their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and went to see their movies Hard Day's Night and Help! and I began to like the guys.  When Rubber Soul came out it was such a departure from what came before and was more like the music I preferred.  My sister began to lose interest and the Beatles were now mine.  I think Rubber Soul has the consistently best selection of Beatles songs of any of their albums and is the one that I would pick over any of their others.

Music From Big Pink (1968) by The Band     
        I was familiar with Bob Dylan and knew about his back-up band which went by the name The Band.  I had a greatest hits album by Dylan and was familiar with Dylan's work primarily through the many cover versions other artists had recorded.  I was not a huge Dylan fan and was not particularly anxious to obtain the Band's album. However, when I saw the cover on the record rack I was so intrigued by the pink house and the simple album title in big letters.  I got it because of the way the cover looked, but when I listened to the music I was hooked.  This is rootsy, bluesy rock that is the heart of Americana.  It's like New Orleans meets Appalachia meets Canada and records in a pink house in upstate New York.  The music is at times mournful, apprehensive, joyous, and dreamlike.  It's one of my all time favorite albums that I go back to repeatedly.

                                     

 Easter Everywhere (1967) by 13th Floor Elevators -- I had already been exposed to a good bit of psychedelic music when I discovered this classic in 1969.  My copy was an 8-track tape version that eventually became unplayable and I couldn't find another copy anywhere.  I searched for years.  Then around 1990 a Roky Erikson tribute album called Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye was released.  Roky had been the front man for the Elevators.  There was a resurgence of interest in the group and CDs of their albums became available.  Easter Everywhere was every bit as good as I remembered it.   This is some of the earliest music from the psychedelic scene and influenced much music that followed.  The songs are skillfully structured and the lyrics are some of the most intelligent and interesting in rock, often dealing with themes of Christian mysticism and esoteric philosophy.  I searched for this recording for nearly 20 years and now 20 years later I still enjoy listening to it.  And who can resist a band that has an electric jug player?

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (1968)  The Incredible String Band --  In 1969 I was first attracted to this because of all the different musical instruments that the band members played.  But when I listened to the album I did not like it very much.   It sounded so weird, so alien from anything I had ever listened to before.  Then I listened to it again, and then again, and then again and again, and I began to really fall in love with the intricate music and magical lyrics.  The music weaves elements of old English and Irish traditional styles with Indian and other ethnic styles with a rock and blues sensibility.  I'd take any one of ISB's albums, but this one is my favorite.  This is music that is spell-binding and I never have gotten tired of listening to it.

After Bathing At Baxter's (1967) by Jefferson Airplane--- Did I mention that psychedelic music is one of my favorite styles of rock?  And overall "Baxter's" is one of the best of the psychedelic crop.  The songs and arrangements are very engaging and are very well ordered on the album.  Grace Slick's vocals are some of her best.  Jorma Kaukonen's guitar playing is as always flawless.  The band is so together on this album and the time and sound shifts in the jams effectively recreate an aural equivalent of a psychedelic experience that makes the music transfixing and mesmerizing.  This is another album of which I never tire.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) Neil Young & Crazy Horse.   Neil Young is one of my all time favorite artists and his musical style has been a huge influence in much of the music I like to listen to.   Nowhere is the first album of his that caught my attention.  Much like the music of the Band, Neil Young captures the rugged heart and soul of North America with a sound that is raw rock and roll with an occasional touch of country.  Neil Young has many fine albums, but Nowhere has the beautiful song "Round and Round" and that makes this album the one for me.  I listen to Neil Young's albums frequently, but Nowhere is the one I listen to the most.

Puzzle (1970) Mandrake Memorial ---How does one describe this album?   I guess it is considered a sort of mellow relaxing psychedelic music that incorporates classical and avant-garde rock influences.  It is early prog rock with a dreamy ethereal quality.  The instrumentation is laid back and sometimes infused with lush orchestration.   It is a cerebral sound that is highly conducive for daydreaming and meditation except for a passage of minorly jolting tribal-like chanting to orchestral sounds, but even that is mild by typical rock and roll standards.  This is another album that I lost in the early 70's, tried to find for literal decades, and finally it was rereleased fairly recently.  I probably need to buy another copy or burn a copy of the one I have because I think I'm about to wear this one out.  This album to me is simply amazing.

           What's Going On (1971) by Marvin Gaye ---This is an amazing concept album that merges soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz into such a palatable listening package that while listening to it I wonder why would I ever need to listen to anything else but this. Sure it is politicized but that's okay because the music is so damn good that I can hardly stand it.  Marvin Gaye was in the genius zone when he put this album together.   I especially like to listen to this album late at night when I just want to relax and groove to the music.

Physical Graffiti (1975)  Led Zeppelin----I have to have something by Zeppelin on my list, not just because the music by this band is such a part of my musical history, but mainly because I still listen to their albums often and enjoy them.  The band's music is played often on Classic Rock radio stations and if I'm listening when one of the songs comes on, the volume usually goes up--way up.  Do I really have to describe the music?  Is there anyone who is not familiar with Led Zeppelin?  Just in case, Zep is plain old blues based rock and roll--one of the best of all rock and roll bands.   When I want to rock out, often the music of choice will be Led Zeppelin.   Physical Grafftii is one of my favorite albums by the band because it has a lot of great songs and then of course there  is the song "Kashmir"--I don't care what anyone else has to say cause that's all I have to say about that.

Circles in the Stream (1977) by Bruce Cockburn   ----I haven't included any artists of the usual Contemporary Christian genre on my list because I feel much of the music of these groups is pretty derivative of mainstream popular groups.  One of the earliest Christian artists was Bruce Cockburn.  In the mid-80's his music began taking more of a political tone, although it is still good --- this Bruce is one of my favorite artists.   He writes excellent songs that range from folkish soft rock to jazzy to sophisticated rock and reggae.  Circles is a concert album--one of the best concert albums I have heard.   This concert captures some of Cockburn's finest Christian related songs as well as other compositions.  The band is excellent, the arrangements are superb, and the crowd noise is minimal.  This album has some of the best early music by Bruce Cockburn and has some of my favorite songs by him.       

Poetic Champions Compose (1987)  Van Morrison -- I had always somewhat ignored Van Morrison.  I liked Them's version of "Brown-eyed Girl" when it came out in the 60's, but when Van Morrison went solo I really didn't care for "Moondance" and "Tupelo Honey" and whatever else he did.  I didn't really care for his voice or his style of music.  But then again, I never really listened to him either.  Then in 1987, I got a copy of Poetic Champions Compose and realized how really great Van Morrison is.  His music is jazzy soulful music with often spiritual lyrics that reflect his Christian beliefs.  He has a smoky melodic voice and uses top quality musicians on his albums.  Most any of his albums are definitely worth owning, but Poetic Champions is a real favorite with me and probably the one I listen to most regularly.

Good Rats ...Live at Last  (1980)  by the Good Rats----The Rats are one of the best American rock and roll bands ever.  Why they have been so largely ignored is a mystery-- must have something to do with marketing I guess.   This is real rocking rock and roll with a frontman who can scream out lyrics very tastefully and a band that is as tight as can be.  My favorite studio album by the Rats is Ratcity in Blue which includes some really wild songs including two about Adolf Hitler (and not putting him in a good light at all).  But I would choose the Live at Last album because it not only captures the best songs from several albums, but it captures them performed in concert where you can hear extended versions of the songs and experience the amazing musicianship of this band.  Even as I write this I become somewhat angry at the injustice that the Good Rats are not far more well known than they are.

Jordan: The Comeback (1990) by Prefab Sprout---Another great group that never received the recognition in the U.S. that they should have, Prefab Sprout has several excellent albums I could have chosen from.  The band hails from England where they achieved a fair degree of popularity.  Their music to me is "perfect pop".  Any of their songs would sound right at home on pop radio except that you would start listening to it and realize it was lyrically excellent and musically ingenious--the songs are about as perfect as pop rock songs can be.  The Jordan album is produced by Thomas Dolby, who in his own right is a masterful producer and artist.  I like this album so much that when I'm not listening to anything at all, often this album is playing in my head.  It is that great.

 

Ingenue (1992)  k.d.lang ---- This is another one of those albums of what I'd call "perfect pop'.   The vocals must be the singing of angels they are so beautiful to listen to.   The musicians are some of the best anywhere.  The production quality is some of the best I've heard.  There is not a bad song to my ears on this album.  Every song has the sound of a classic.   Though lang started out doing country music, there is no country sound here.  This is all pure, perfect pop and I can listen to this one all day.  Is this due to my getting older and more mellow?  Maybe a little, but I can guarantee you I would have liked this just as well when I was in my 20's.  It's as good as anything Janis Ian, Judy Collins, or Carol King ever did and maybe better.

 

Revés/Yo Soy (1999) by Cafe Tacuba----- I started listening to a lot of Rock En Espanol in the latter 90s.  One of the groups that I especially appreciate is the amazing Cafe Tacuba.   The band's music is rooted in traditional Mexican music with influences coming from punk, electronica, metal, and classical.  Some of their songs have a sound related to the Beatles or Pink Floyd.  The album I've chosen is a tour de force that comes in two discs.  One disc is instrumental music, some which make reference to songs on the vocal disc.  The instrumental disc has some very fine electronic music, folkish music played on traditional Mexican instruments, and classically influenced music.  The vocal disc has a similar mix of styles with all songs in Spanish--something that I easily overlook because the songs are so listenable.   One of the last live concerts that I saw was Cafe Tacuba, in which they performed much of the Revés/Yo Soy album and totally blew me away.  I love listening to this album.

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            Now in all fairness, as I have stated in previous posts, my overall preference for listening these days is Classical.  I listen to the above albums and others frequently, but more often than not Classical is the genre of my preference.  I did not want to get overly obscure by naming my favorite classical pieces, but I will be doing this in an upcoming post.  Are you a fan of classical?  If so and you'd like to join me in listing your favorites, let me know and we can set a date to do a classical list.  We could also do lists for jazz, country, Christian, Rock en Espanol, or any number of other genres.  I don't want to run this into the ground, but I am planning on doing a lot of music posts in the upcoming weeks and I certainly open for some joint ventures like we did today.  Let me know if any of this interests you.

            Tomorrow I will be posting on 15 of the albums that didn't make the final list.  

             Any comments on my final list?  Any questions?   Make sure you go to the other sites on the Linky list to see what other albums are listed as favorites.

Tossed About On Tossing It Out

           If you have been directed here from Words of Wisdom then you might want to start with my BON post from Friday so you can get a proper introduction to Tossing It Out.  And if you are just coming here and don't know what that first sentence was about you also might enjoy checking yesterday's post. In any case I want to thank Sandy and Pam from WOW for introducing my blog to some new readers and I want to welcome my new readers back to Tossing It Out.

           We've been on a Sea Cruise this week as we head toward our Fantasy Islands.  Each of us has our own fantasy.  Some of you may imagine being shipwrecked.  That's a little too dramatic and scary for my taste.  I prefer just be distributed on our individual little paradises with no contact with the rest of the world.  The premise is that we have a device for playing albums or CDs, the power to operate the device, and no more than 15 of our favorite albums or CDs.  

             We land on our island on Monday May 17th.  I have gotten the list down to my final 15.  It has been agonizing. I have spent the past couple of weeks listening to my candidates repeatedly and gradually setting the ones aside that I felt I'd have to do without.   I am very happy with my final choices, but saddened about the ones I've had to leave behind.

             So this leads me to my preview of the upcoming week.  Monday is the FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES -- you can click on the link if you are still not familiar with this project.  After Monday you may think I've gone bonkers, but keep in mind I am attempting to blog everyday until September 21st so there is method to my madness.   So far, much of May has been devoted to the topic of music.  I am going to continue as I turn May into a Month of Music-- that is unless I get an outpouring of cries to stop.  This is my plan for now.

            On Tuesday I will examine some of the candidates I eliminated from my FIFTEEN FAVORITES -- my fifteen runner-ups that I had to leave at home.   On Wednesday I will begin looking in depth at some of the FIFTEEN FAVORITES.  There is so much I can write about each of them and I plan to post an entire bit about each of these great albums to give some historical and aesthetic insights as to my reasoning for having chosen them (if nobody stops me this could actually go into the summer).

             Then on Thursday I will have what I think could be a very interesting Debate Day topic.  I don't want to give away the debate question yet, but I will say it has to do with music and history.  Then Friday I will be looking at another one of the FIFTEEN FAVORITES as somewhat of a continuation of the Debate Day topic.  As I always do, tomorrow, Sunday, will be a Bible study topic, which this week will be based on using the talents that God has given to you.

            I look forward to this coming week and the weeks to come and hope you will stay with me.  Do you think I'm going overboard with the music posts?   I guess I'll have to go overboard to get on the island.  If I went all music on this blog would this become a "niche" blog?  Or since I'm on this island would it be a "beach" blog?   I"ll probably be standing on the beach a lot looking wistfully homeward.



Enough of the nonsense, how about an award?

      My thanks to Yvonne from Welcome to My World of Poetry for presenting me with this explosive Mind Blowing Blog Award.    There wasn't anything about passing it on so maybe I'll just reserve that right for later.   Yvonne, you're always such a sweetie!

        Everyone have a great weekend.  And there's still time to get your lists together for the FIFTEEN FAVORITES -- hope you'll share yours with the rest of us.

Picking Favorites

          I like lists.  I think most of us like lists.  However, I have always felt it rather pretentious for someone to compile a "best" or "greatest" list.  Sometimes these types of lists are based on voting or the compilation of the data of the consensus of a group of so called experts or industry people.  A list such one of these types has a bit more credibility, but it all still comes down to opinion.  The list based on consensus still does not trump what I like.  I would never even go so far to say that my list is "the greatest in my opinion".  My list is only a list of my favorites, and even as such only a list of my favorites right now at this moment.

           Making up a list for the FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES started off easily enough, but then I kept thinking of more and more indispensible favorites.  With so many really fine albums on my favorites list how do I go about eliminating some?   And how did I choose the albums I did as my favorites in the first place?  What is the criteria one uses to designate albums as favorites?

            The foremost thing that I consider in an album is how the album sounds to me and whether the consistency of quality holds up throughout the entire album.  Then I consider if whether over repeated listenings the album holds up for my enjoyment over time.  I don't think I could pick an album that I just heard last month or even last year and say it would be an all time favorite.  I might say in the short term it is a favorite for now, but I would have to let the album have years to settle in to decide if it is one of my real favorites.   I can think of many albums that at one time were favorites of mine, but now, though I may still enjoy them, they seem flawed and would no longer rank in my upper echelon of favorite albums. 

           Some albums have grown on me.  They might have not sounded that good to me at first, but I recognized some quality that made me go back for repeated listenings that allowed me to get used to and appreciate the sound of what I was hearing.  In the late sixties and seventies music became so eclectic and experimental that sometimes a first listening was an alien experience--I was hearing sounds that were unlike any of the music I had heard before.  As my mind accepted these new sounds, I began to recognize a musical superiority to my aural senses to earlier, simpler music.

           Other albums are for me a product of time and place.  Those are the albums I hear and can recall where I was when I first heard them or I associate with particular events, situations, and people.    There are albums that I heard played on the radio, or in a record store, or at a friend's house.  There are the albums a dearly regarded friend loaned to me to listen to because they liked it so much, and then it became a favorite of mine.  Hours spent cruising in a car listening to particular albums or the albums that were repeatedly played whenever friends would gather to hang out--these times can be recaptured in my memory when I hear certain favorite albums now.  Just as we may have favorite songs that capture a few moments in time, I also have albums of collected songs that I feel compelled to listen to in the complete state in order to capture time spans of memory.

            If I find an album that I like so well that it inspires me to seek out more albums by the same artist or artists related in some way to that artist, then that may also qualify as a favorite.  Sometimes I will find an album that I really like and I will even go so far as to find any album by any musician who played on the album or a producer or even an engineer.  If an album has inspired that much research into connections then that album may very well qualify as a favorite.

        Finally, there are albums that are just genuinely good and I cannot deny that fact.  They may have the professional musical connections, and they usually do.  They may be attached to personal memories and they most certainly do to some extent.  But the fact remains that no matter how the album relates to me personally, it is generally accepted as a truly fine album in regard to musicianship, songwriting, and production value, and I recognize that and concede to that and accept that album as a favorite because it is so damn good that I just can't deny it.

          Here is the problem:  There are too many albums that fit these criteria.  It would not have been so much of a problem if we had broken it up into categories of say the 15 favorite jazz, pop, rock, heavy metal, country-folk, contemporary Christian, Rock in Espanol, and etc.  I could easily come up with 15 favorites of many categories, but 15 favorites that are inclusive is a very difficult decision to make.  One thing is certain.  Classical albums will have to be excluded on my account because I think classical is the greatest category of music.  And even there you would have to break that up into the subcategories of baroque, true classical, romantic, impressionistic, modern, and so on. 

            Likewise I will be excluding jazz.  Take Five by Dave Brubeck was on my original list.   Since I wasn't going to include any Frank Zappa I felt like Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" was as close to Frank Zappa as I could think of in jazz.  Or what about the great Don Ellis Orchestra's Autumn--it was an album that I loved so much and yet I could not connect it to much influence in my future taste in albums.

           No-- no classical, no jazz, no country, no overtly Christian-- there will be many left off of my FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES.   Yet it will be a superb list of the music that shaped my life.  This will be the music that carried me on my journey to the present.  It will not be the music that I mostly listen to now, but it will be music that I can listen to and sincerely enjoy.  These will be albums that if you haven't yet heard you should give them a try.  I feel like I have pretty impeccable taste in music being a musician and one who has extensive musical training.   I will be proud of my FIFTEEN FAVORITES and there is no way I will back down from them.

         Stay tuned for my list on Monday May 17th.

And let us not forget:

I found out it's Patricia Stoltey's birthday today.  Happy Birthday to Patricia Stoltey.  You might just want to hop on over to her site and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Blog Boggled: Adding Pictures and Other Blog Tricks

Happy Birthday Yvonne and Ellie!

Before I start today I wanted to make sure we wish Yvonne of Welcome to My World of Poetry  and Ellie at Ella's Edge.  It's also the 9th birthday of Yvonne's granddaughter.  Hope you'll stop by their blogs and leave your birthday greetings.


Adding Pictures to your daily post

          There were some questions about how to add pictures to a blog post.  This was in reference to the upcoming FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES blog event that is coming up on next Monday May 17th.  For this post we are hoping that you are able to add the images of the album covers that correspond to each of your favorites.  Some have said they are unable to put up more than 5 images while some have said they don't know how to put up images at all.  I am going to try to help you with this and any other readers who know more or can express it better are asked to add what knowledge you can.

         I will be the first to admit that I am not the best one for this task as I do not have any great technical proficiency and I probably do not explain the how to very well.  But I will try.  I am going to go on the assumption that what I see I blogger is the same as what you are seeing.  If that premise is correct, then I hope it will be clear, but if you have something different then help may have to come from someone else.

       Here's what I did:

       1)  I found images of album covers through a Google search and saved them to my picture files.

        2)  In the tool bar on the page for composing a New Post go to the picture frame icon to the right of "Link" and click on that "Add an Image" icon.

        3)  In the box that pops up, left click on the "Browse" button and locate your picture files.  Find the picture you want to use, left click on it, and click "open".  The picture should download into the window.  Highlight the picture you wish to add and click "okay".  The picture should now appear onto your post screen at which time you can move it to where you want it. Actually this is where I have the most problems.  Sometimes it takes me several attempts to fix the picture into the location I want it.  I haven't figured out how to solve that one yet except for trial and error.

        4)  I haven't seen where there is any limit to the pictures I can download from my files to my post.   In the window where you download pictures you may only see a limited number appear, but there should be an arrow at the bottom of that window that will take you to the next page of pictures. 
        
          Blogger offers many help topics and tutorial videos that will help you with topics such as the one that I've just discussed and many others.  This is one of the best ways of learning about various blog issues if you don't have someone right there to show you.   If you click on the "help" tab at the top of your dashboard page you will find all sorts of topics for which reasonably good explanations are given.  I would suggest trying these one at a time and moving on to another once you've mastered one.

          For example if you want the topic of how to post pictures, you would end up at:
                       http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41641

          I've also found helpful tutorials by just Googling the topic you are looking for and often you can find a pretty good answer if you look long enough.  Also, Blogger offers a help forum where you can ask questions and you will usually get several helpful answers.

          I think the key is not to get frustrated and quit too early.  When you run into something that is really giving you a problem, try to find an answer or help source that suits you and calmly take your time to think through the process.  The solution is often much easier than you thought it would be. 

            And on the Fantasy Island Favorites post, if you can't get the pictures on your site it's certainly not the end of the world.  Just make the post interesting in your own creative way.  After all, it's all for fun in the first place.

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.

Rest, But No Rest For The Rest Of The Week

           Okay, I'm still being lazy and have decided to just coast for the rest of this week.  Let's face it, I'm still trying to catch up with reading A to Z posts and doing other things that I need to get done.  It's amazing how behind I got during the month of April, but do I have to tell that to most of you who participated in Blogging From A to Z?   Even if you weren't participating in the Challenge you're probably behind.  I think the whole world's behind.  What about you?  Do ever feel like you've caught up?

           Things being what they are I am going to forego the usual Thursday Debate Day.  This is A to Z wrap up week I guess.  As part of the celebration, this week I'm acknowledging some of the awards and tags I've gotten over the last couple of weeks.

             Today it's something that many of you have already done yourselves, or least have seen it on other sites.  It's the getting to know you tag game that is called "5 Times the Fun".  I was tagged for "5 Times the Fun" by Carmen at Keeping Up Klapper. This is a fun game where I get to answer 5 questions, 5 times.  So here we go:

Question 1 – Where were you five years ago?

1. Working as a manager at a wholesale costume distributor.

2. Starting evening classes to get my B.S. in Business Management

3. Watching my middle daughter graduate from high school

4. Seeing my middle daughter off as she moved to New Jersey to go into the real estate business.

5. Seeing my oldest daughter also move to New Jersey to pursue a career in real estate.

Question 2 – Where would you like to be five years from now?

1. At least one book published

2. To have established enough recognition in the field of writing that I am doing some kind of appearances or speaking engagements several times throughout the year.

3. Making a decent living at writing or something related to it.

4. To be able to travel more and see faraway family members and friends.

5. To be in good health.

Question 3 – What is (was) on your to do list today?

1. Write at least one upcoming blog post.

2. Continue to read more reflections in the A to Z challenge

3. Fix some 15 bean soup.

4. Grab a few items at the grocery store.

5. Go to Wednesday night prayer meeting.

Question 4 – What 5 snacks do you enjoy?

1. Candy -- all kinds

2. Tortilla chips and really good hot salsa.(preferably made with fresh ingredients)

3. Popcorn

4. Pretzels

5. Pizza

Question 5 – What would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Pay off my bills and the bills of my children and relatives.

2. Start a considerable operating fund for the chuch I attend.

3. Invest wisely

4. Start a business (or businesses) and provide worthwhile jobs.

5. Do some traveling.

Tagging 5 friends I’d love to know more about!
(And the question here is who can I find who hasn't done this yet?  And will they if asked?)

Teresa at Journaling Woman 

Carrie at Heim Binas Fiction

Carol at Under the Tiki Hut

Timothy at Timothy's Thoughts

Stephen at Stephen T. McCarthy STUFFS


          And there it is--another lazy blog entry.  But if you really think about it, doing this is kind of like work so it's not really that lazy.   Tomorrow (Friday) I should have the Linky list up for the FIFTEEN FANTASY ISLAND FAVORITES and maybe a few more words about that and some other Friday frolics.

X Files

          I cannot imagine that I'll be the only one to choose The X Files as the topic for the letter X -- it seems like a natural.    Except I don't think I ever watched more than one or two episodes of the show and I don't really remember them.  I also went to see the first X Files movie (there were two weren't there?)--not because of I was a fan, but because a friend told me I should see the movie and now I don't remember why and I don't really remember the movie.  All I know is that for a while The X Files was a very popular show.

         Instead of the show or the movie I am posting about a collection of music inspired by The X Files on an album called "Songs in the Key of X".   This album was released in 1996, but I did not discover it until 2009 and I was quite surprised by how good it was.  In fact I was so impressed that I posted the following review on Amazon:

One star less would have made it a 5 star album, July 18, 2009

By Arlee Bird
This review is from: Songs In The Key Of X: Music From And Inspired By The X-Files (Audio CD)


This album seemed like the risen dead for me. I found it among some of my son's old CD's that he left with me. Since most of his albums were obnoxious rap albums I had discarded in yard sales I had thought that this one was more of the same, especially with the explicit lyric label. But then I looked at it the other day and realized what it was and it has been on my CD player ever since. The negative here is "Star me Kitten" by William S. Burrough & R.E.M. with it's unnecessary use of the f*** word -- the track is somewhat interesting until it reaches the repeated obscenity, then that's when it lost one star for me and probably a lot of sales when it was first released. Otherwise, some really good stuff here. Meat Puppets does it for me. There is a lovely song by Sheryl Crow. Great tunes by Filter, Frank Black, Foo Fighters, and Nick Cave. And the rest of the album shines for the most part. I am not too enthralled by the Rob Zombie/Alice Cooper collaboration--it doesn't seem to fit in with the other songs too well, but I can deal with that. Bottom line: I love this album. Now if I could only get rid that stupid "Star" song this would be a 5 star review. But what the heck, I'm probably going to wear this CD out.

           Having gone back and listened to the album again since posting the above review, I would be almost tempted to nudge it closer to five stars.  It is a fine album.   The CD is now out of print and probably not easily found new.  I hope my copy holds up.

            Speaking of albums that we enjoy, we are going have a conglomerate blog post on Monday May 17th concerning your fifteen favorite albums.  If you like music, I hope you will join up with us.  Just think of your fifteen favorite albums and tell us about them.  Pictures of the album covers are nice, but not necessary.  Give us the album details--artist, type of music, date of release, and any other information--and then tell us what makes the album so good in your opinion.  Can't think of fifteen?  That's okay--your top three or your top ten will work if that's what you want to do.  It's your creative entry in the Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites.  A Linky will be posted on this blog on May 15th and it will have the "Blog Hop" feature that will allow you to post the same Linky on your site as well.  Hope you'll join us!

            And don't forget that next Monday will be the May 3rd A to Z Challenge Reflections Post.  The Linky Tool will be open at 12:01 AM May 2nd for you to post your Reflection.  Everyone is welcome to post whether you participated in A to Z or not-- we want to know what everyone thinks.