A to Z Reflections Post (#atozchallenge) #BOTB Results

          Of all blog events, #atozchallenge is the best by far!   The 2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge was for me perhaps the best one yet.  After seven years of doing this Challenge, the writing of the posts is much easier.  My Manhattan Project theme was my favorite that I've done so far, something which probably made the writing easier and the month more fun.  I'm pretty pleased with the way things turned out for me this year.

          Oh sure, I could list all of the usual things that I've seen as problems in the past, but if you are really interested in those you can go back in my archives and read my past Reflections posts.  A lot of those negatives still remain to be remedied.   Likewise, you'll find positives enumerated in those older posts that still held true in this year's Challenge.  I don't want this post to be a rerun or a rehashing of stuff I've said before.   I'll just leave my view of 2016 as it having been a very good Challenge.

          This year I found many exceptional themes presented and met more new bloggers that I've not come across in previous Challenges.  As always, the A to Z Challenge is an amazing showcase of creativity and fine writing.   So despite those smaller irritants that we find while making our way through the list, in the end I think the good outweighs any bad elements of A to Z.  The Reflections posts that I've read already substantiate this positive view of A to Z.

           My utmost thanks go to the incredible talent and diligence of the A to Z Team of co-hosts who expend a great deal of time and energy to make the April Challenge the wonderful event that it is.  Special kudos are due to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the blogger extraordinaire who has participated in every Challenge so far and who devoted hours in managing the Linky List for us.   Also I am deeply grateful to Heather M. Gardner for her very capable leadership of the A to Z Team this year.   We all appreciate the artistic talents of Jeremy Hawkins who provided the artwork and graphics used to promote the Challenge and identify participants.

             Every Team co-host (names can be found at a-to-zchallenge.com) and the other assistance from each co-host support team (list found here) contributed time, effort, and talent to make the 2016 Challenge a success.   I hope you will stop by all of their blogs to say hello and thank them for what they put into A to Z this time around.

            And finally, thanks to all who participated as well as those who watched from the sidelines faithfully reading and commenting on our posts, providing that much needed encouragement that we all need to keep us in the blogging game.  This blogging community is the best in the world because it involves the whole world.  A to Z is a blogging phenomena!

      If you have a Reflections post ready or you would like to write one, please visit the A to Z Challenge Blog to sign up.   Be sure to read the directions before adding your link to the list! 

Battle of the Bands Results

 
       For my most recent Battle of the Bands I wound up my A to Z Manhattan inspired theme by using Leon Russell's song "Manhattan Island Serenade".    Since I figured Leon's original version was not all that well known, I put it up against a version renamed "Oude Maasweg" by the Dutch band The Amazing Stroopwafels.   Their version begins with Russell's English lyrics and ends with additional verses in Dutch.  If you missed this Battle and would like a listen to the versions you can find it here.

      The Dutch version by the Stroopwafels took an amazing lead from the very start.  Though Leon Russell made a valiant effort to catch up, the Stroopwafels retained their lead throughout the contest.  This was surprising to me since I had figured that the majority of voters would go with Leon Russell's original version.   However, some were not familiar with Russell's version and the Stroopwafels swayed voters with their harmonies, smoother sound, and the guitar solo in the break.  This is what won me over as well, putting my vote with the majority who voted for The Amazing Stroopwafels.  Another surprising outcome in Battle of the Bands.


Final Vote Tally:

Amazing Stroopwafels     19

Leon Russell                      10    

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Don't Miss the Next Battle!

       My next Battle of the Bands post will appear this coming Sunday May 15th.  This Battle might be my most controversial yet.   The reactions might encompass a range including derision, appreciation, mirth, and perhaps even anger.  The song will be from an album that I have enjoyed listening to over the past month and think is one of the better albums released in recent years.   But what can I say other than, again, it all comes down to taste.  I like what I like.   I'll be offering a clue to the upcoming song with a post on Wednesday which will be part of my series on "Love and Ego".    Hope you will join me for these upcoming posts.

         Do you agree with my assessment of the 2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge?   Would you consider yourself to be a Leon Russell fan?   What do you think might be a highly controversial artist or music style for me to use in my upcoming Battle of the Bands match up?

Love and Ego (#IWSG)

      Voting is still open on my Battle of the Bands post.  If you have not visited yet to vote for your favorite recording please visit this post and let your preference be known.  The song that I've used ties in with today's post as well as my Reflections Post yet to come.



Insecure Writer's Support Group


       Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 





Now What?

       Leon Russell's song "Manhattan Island Serenade" provides a good analogy to how I feel  after an A to Z Challenge has ended.  The narrator of the song talks about being broke down stuck along the roadside and thinking of recent loss.  He reflects on where he's been and where he's going next. It's kind of the same way I feel and what I've read some of the other A to Z participants say they feel about the end of the Challenge.  But it's a temporary feeling like we get any time we've had a rush of fullness in life and then it's gone leaving us with only memories.

         But enough reflecting for now.  My official A to Z Reflections Post will appear on Tossing It Out coming on Monday May 9th.  For more information about the Reflections Post be sure to visit the A to Z Challenge Blog.   Today I want to consider some things ahead on my blog.


Love and Ego

        Most of you probably recall the story of Narcissus who gazed at his own reflection in the pool of water and fell in love with the image, which unobtainable to him eventually led to his demise.  Narcissism is an exhaustive topic that cannot be addressed in a single blog post, however I raise the topic as an introduction to things to come on Tossing It Out.  

         During the month of April I began to ponder the concepts of love and ego and all things connected with these concepts.  I meandered through many aspects of these things prompted by whatever I was absorbing in the media, on the internet, and all around me in general.  It was one of those weird moods perhaps, but it led me to a number of questions.

          Why do we write?  Why do we blog?  Why do we do the things we do or find ourselves attracted to certain people?   And in the end what does it all mean?   Just asking, you know--just asking like most of us probably ask the universe at times.  

           And specifically in regard to our writing and blogging, why do we choose the stories we tell and topics we explore and how do we make these things relevant to others?   Sounds whimsical perhaps, and it is.  But why not?   Why not ask what, how, and why?  Besides summer is coming and that's a time that I've always associated with daydreaming and thinking down the rabbit hole.  Lazy days and crazy days.   Vacations and recreations.  Much of my recreation consists of thinking so that's what I plan to do even though thinking seems to be what I do much of the time anyway.

          After all summer is coming and with summer while I physically wander the country, my mind will be wondering about many things.   This is always the case it seems.  If we aren't questioning, then we must be lacking in awareness.   Not thinking is not being alive.

         Maybe it's silly to ask the age old question "What is the meaning of life?"   But then, why not ask the question?   In asking we might find an answer.  Or more likely we might give rise to more questions.  Sometimes the questions never stop just as much of the time the answers never come.

          In any case, my theme in every post on Tossing It Out including my Battle of the Bands posts from now until I decide to stop will be "Love and Ego".   Call me obsessed if you like.  But then maybe Love and Ego is ultimately the only theme any of us ever writes about when it comes right down to the crux of all things.  

          Do you ever ponder the mysteries of love and ego?   Do you consider your actions to be mostly driven by ego, love, both, or something else entirely?    Does the word "ego" have a negative connotation to you?

Oude Maasweg (#BOTB)

Rear-view mirror showing cars parked behind the
vehicle containing the mirror
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         Another Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is now in the rear view mirror as we head back into blogging normalcy--whatever that may be. There will still be one more thing regarding A to Z and that is the A to Z Reflections post coming up on Monday May 9th and running up until May 13th.  You're free to put up your Reflections Post anytime between now and then, but the Linky List won't open until May 9th at which time you can add your link that leads directly to your A to Z Reflections post.  For more information please watch the A to Z Challenge Blog.

       However, today is May 1st and that means it's time for another Battle of the Bands!!!!

Battle of the Bands

          Battle of the Bands is the blogging event hosted by Far Away Series and  StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens twice each month on the 1st and 15th.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.



The Amazing Stroopwafels  "Oude Maasweg" (1981)

       Popular in their homeland, Dutch band The Amazing Stroopwafels recorded "Oude Maasweg" almost as an afterthought when they needed to fill their second album with more time.  Since this song had been part of bandleader Wim Kerkhof's repertoire for many years, the band decided to include it on the album.  To the band's surprise the song was one of two on the album that got picked up as a single though only receiving minimal attention at the time.  Peaking at #50 for one week the song faded back into Dutch music history.

       However in 2008 the song reappeared on the Dutch Radio's Top 200 year end show and has retained a position on that prestigious list ever since.  Initially underrated, this song has become a classic of Dutch pop music.  You might even recognize it when you start listening to it.





Leon Russell  "Manhattan Island Serenade"  (1972)

        Many of you recognized "Oude Maasweg" as the Leon Russell song "Manhattan Island Serenade" from the 1972 album Carney.   Sorry, but I wanted to make one more stop with my April Manhattan theme.  This is such a great song that I had to squeeze it in before I left Manhattan.  This song is probably already a favorite of some of you.  If the song is new to you, please listen and enjoy...






Time to Vote!

        Choosing the winner of this sly Battle is in your hands.  Let us know what you think about these two versions. Is there one that you prefer over the other?   I already know my favorite, but what's your opinion?   If you're visiting a Battle of the Bands post for the first time then let me briefly explain.  Please give each song version a fair listen to decide which one you enjoy the most.  If you don't like either then at least tell us which recording was least innocuous to you. This comes down to your preference and it's as easy as that.

     Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours

Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ 

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

DC Relief Battle of the Bands

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Cherdo on the Flipside  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Janie Junebug Righting & Editing.
  
J. A. Scott  

Quiet Laughter

Holli's Hoots and Hollers

Be ReInVintaged



Results on Monday May 9th

     On Monday May 9th I'll have my A to Z Reflections post on this site, but I'll be keeping it short this year so as not to overwhelm readers.  In this same post I will be announcing the winners for this current Battle of the Bands match.  Be sure to be here for both!

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Question of the Month

       
The Question of the Month is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined. The first Monday of each month I'll be answering a question posed by Michael prior to event day. Click on the link to his blog for more participants. 

This month’s question is:

“If a friend came to you looking for advice on starting a blog, what three pieces of advice would you give them?”

        I could elaborate greatly on this subject and indeed have in many past posts, but let me just give a simple answer this time:   Start a blog with a purpose in mind, but be prepared and flexible enough to change direction if what you are doing is not working or is boring you.  Focus on content that you find interesting, but that will be interesting to others as well.  And be intrepid in your blogging.  That's it for now.

        What is your advice to a person starting a blog?   Has your blog changed much since you first started it?    How do you handle a blogging slump or for that matter anything which loses its luster for you?