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| reflected sadness (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
There's an old comic strip or cartoon cliche of the character who has a dark rain cloud over his head which symbolically depicts bad luck, depression, or a downcast mood. I've been sensing that cloud over the heads of some bloggers out there. In fact I've been feeling that shadow on me now and then.
For me I think there is a matter of bad diet and poor habits that are causing me to feel more tired than normal. Perhaps I'm starting to feel the effects of getting older. I can probably think of any number of things that get me down now and then, but to dissuade any thoughts that I'm suffering from some kind of depressive state let me assure you that these feelings are relatively infrequent and probably within the bounds of normalcy.
However I read some of the blogs out there and look around at some of the people I know and wonder if there is some prevailing aura of despair and discontent hovering over the world. Maybe it's something to do with weather issues for some of you. Or could it be the uncertainty of the affairs of the world or a fear of the economy. I suppose it could be anything--food additives, something in the water, chemtrails poisoning the air or you can probably think of other possible culprits.
Hopefully it's all my imagination. I'm good and I hope you are as well. Let's liven up! A to Z is almost here and we've got to fire ourselves up for it. It's spring and soon summer will be here! As Tina Downey would have reassured us, "Life is good!" I believe that. Do you?
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Battle of the Band Results
The vote tally today comes from the Battle of March 15 between Gregorian and Katherine Jenkins performing their renditions of the Evanescence song "Bring Me To Life".
Both versions are quite good and the voting bears this out. Like so many of the Battles I've put together the choice was a tough one between two artists that were both worthy of a win. This was another frantic race to the finish line.
At the outset Gregorian took a substantial lead that made them appear to be poised for a decisive victory. Then as votes continued to come in Jenkins edged forward and squeaked by to a one vote lead. That left my vote.
I wavered a bit on this as I can easily go with either version. Typically I do have a preference for male vocalists over female, especially when it comes to operatic female voices. Jenkins has a marvelous set of pipes, but there was a certain lack of uniqueness for me in her presentation as well as that of the background chorus. I thoroughly enjoyed the orchestration in this arrangement. All told it's a great recording, but when put up against the Gregorian version--well...
Firstly I liked the guitar in the Gregorian version as well as the orchestration. The timbre of the lead vocals had a mystical quality that created a sense of longing and intense need for revival. There was a power to the percussion back-up that did not overwhelm yet added an urgency to the feeling of the song. I especially preferred the backing vocals in the Gregorian version--they were manic, almost nightmarish, but not overbearing in any way, which added a greater sense of drama to the presentation so that it was not so much of a song production like the Jenkins version, but a powerful moving spectacle of musical theater.
My vote for Gregorian thus puts this contest into a tie.
Final Vote Tally
Gregorian 17 Votes
Katherine Jenkins 17 Votes
Life Goes On
By the way, my colonoscopy adventure is done and much less traumatic than I envisioned. Other than staying up most of the night for the prepping, the procedure itself was a breeze. Amazingly quick even! I checked in at about 7:45 then after various tests and preparations they began to administer the anesthesia at 8:30. I immediately went under--completely under--and after sleeping for what I figured must have been a couple of hours of blissful sleep I was awakened. Looking at the clock I noticed it was now 8:45. I could have sworn I'd been sleeping for hours. That was one heck of a fast and painless procedure. Now it's done and I am glad.
Coming this Monday March 23rd on Tossing It Out will be my A to Z Theme Reveal post. You can still sign up for the Theme Reveal event if you follow this link and even if you've already blabbed your theme you can still reveal it on Monday for those who didn't hear yet.
If you've not yet signed up for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge it's certainly not too late for that--you still have over a week to get on the list and we hope you do. Don't fall under the misconception that you don't have the time or none of your posts are ready or any other feeble excuse you might come up with. Keep in mind that posts don't have to be long or complicated, you don't have to kill yourself visiting everyone in the world who blogs, and you don't have to do any more than you are willing or capable of doing. Just get on the list, relax, and generate the daily posts. If you're a blogger this is really just like breathing. Some bloggers just make a bigger deal out of this event than needs be made. After all the point of it all is not to frustrate you or destroy you, but to inspire you, better your blogging skills, and give you something to have a good time with. So think about it. Or even better, don't think about it, just go sign up!
Next Battle of the Bands post for Tossing It Out will be a quadruple whammy of a post on April 1st: Opening post of the A to Z Challenge combining Insecure Writer's Support Group, Ask Arlee, and BOTB in one relatively simple post just to prove some of what I said in my previous paragraph. Think I can do it? Be here to find out. Surely you don't doubt old Arlee by now?
Are you coming back to life for spring? Do you still have a truly good rebuttal for not joining us in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge? How long do you think my combined April 1st post will end up being?
