You may recognize Christina Maria from a few weeks back when I wrote about her for the Song of the Day. Now I write about her again, well, because her music is worth another listen for one…AND for two she is currently in a competition in Vancouver put on by a local radio station called The Peak 100.5.
The Peak sends 20 local artists through a boot camp called the Peak Performance Project. At the end of boot camp the 20 artist can be voted on and the winner gets $100,500!!! 2nd is $75,000, 3rd is $50,000, 4th is $10,000, 5th is $5,000. Since this is a Vancouver based radio station I imagine that’s Canadian Dollars, but still…we are talking a significant amount of money to help launch this young ladies musical career.
You can skip the rest of this if you’d rather just watch me explain it in this YouTube video…or you can do both, but you’ll probably find the information in both places. There will be plenty of links in this post and in the description box of my video.
Voting is easy! Just go to THIS site and find Christina Maria. (Order of Artists will vary)
Click on her face
Scroll to the bottom and Click “Next”
The next page will ask for:
Your Name
Your Email Address
Your City
And to verify you have blood running through your veins and aren’t a robot voting machine a Captcha will ask you to type the words you see in the image.
Click Submit and you are done!
Thanks so much for helping. Christina will personally thank everyone with cupcakes in a door to door tour across the word if she wins. Ok, I made that last part up, but if you truly love the music you hear from her and want to hear more then this money would really help! Feel free to share this contest with others. Link my blog, or her Facebook Event, or my Video…or anything that could possibly bring some more votes her way.
Once again I got behind last week. I was all about the Blog Contest that my friend had entered and didn’t get around to posting anything else. So here’s another Twofer Song of the Day!
I love spreading the word about musicians that have tons of talent, but aren’t known by hardly anybody. Here are two greats I’ve found via YouTube.
The first is Christina Maria and I couldn’t decided between here songs so I’m gonna share two! She’s a young and talented musician with a great voice. She’s Canadian and loved to travel which is apparent from her YouTube videos. Her music is a little bit folky, little bit jazzy, and a little bit bluesy and her vocals are soulful, and I loved how I read someone describing her, seductive. She just has one of those voices that is kind of timeless. It’s a bit of a fluke how I came across her channel. It started when I was searching YouTube for Rafe just to see what videos of mine came up or possibly trying to find my IamRafe channel and I came across a Canadian guy who plays music and promotes other bands on YouTube and his name just so happened to be Rafe. His channel is Rafem and he occasionally posts videos by other musicians to get the word out as his YouTube channel is kind of popular. Well one of those videos was one by this young lady and I was blown away…though I think I was hooked before I even heard her sing. Watch this video and tell me that isn’t the coolest entrance ever!
I’ve since subscribed to her channel and purchased her latest album on iTunes which is great. Here is the title song from that album and a pretty cool video too!
Next up is Tyler Slemp. An Oklahoma native who I happened across when another YouTuber I follow did a cover of one of his songs which is still one of my favorites. Come to find out one of his best friends played golf for Drury and I had hung out with a few times. Tyler writes amazing lyrics which have a way of putting you right into the stories they tell. He’s got a soothing voice that could put you to sleep if he didn’t put so much emotion into his singing. Stealing another quote from a bio I read that was taken from the producer he’s currently working with. “He is one of the few singers on this planet that can convey the same emotion in the vocal booth as he did the day he wrote the song” This couldn’t be more true. You can listen to any of his YouTube videos and just hear him pouring his soul into these songs….well maybe not all of his songs as he has a couple that are just for SnG. Unfortunately I don’t think any of his songs are for sale yet, but he’s been in the studio and is trying to finish up the album any time now. Was supposed to be done in July, but I think something came up with his car or something and alot of the money he raised for the album had to be spent elsewhere. Check out his Facebook page and see if you can’t donate so he can finish this album!
Here’s the first song I ever heard by Tyler Slemp
Here is another one of my favorites.
And how could I not post this one. We share the same love of Zooey Deschanel.
As I lay here on the bed my heart it speaks
I let it beat its beat, you feel the love it leaks
And I can’t describe just how much of it is for you and what you do
But if I could love just one it would be you
Pre-Chorus and Chorus written by Brent Morgan – http://www.youtube.com/bmorgan1088
All this time, I was broken
Trying to find a love unspoken
And I know ya want the same love,
That I’ve fought so long,
The one we thought was wrong,
And you know I, oh I, need your love
‘Cause we can’t fool ourselves,
into someone elses heart
Me again…trying my best to make some winning lyrics for Verse II
It is time for me to make this nice and clear
I’ll just lay it out, get rid of all this fear And I know I don’t have much to lose
but I could get lost in you
I just hope that you say you love me too
Ho Hum Humpday! Wednesday Weekly Song of the day! Music made by .Moneen. Ok, not sure what that was about, but I like writing in alliterations sometimes. Anyway, moving on. Todays Song of the Day is Don’t Ever Tell Locke What He Can’t Do by the band .Moneen. and yes, the periods are part of the name…kind of like “fun.”.
.Moneen. is a band that’s been around for some time now and started out as a more underground punk style band. Their album that got my attention was The Red Tree, which is a great CD from start to finish. Some punk style songs mixed in with a few slower ballad type songs and a few that manage to pull off both in the same song. Definitely one of my favorite bands to listen to if I’m feeling in the mood for some heavier rockin’! I also love that their song titles are ridiculously long and in some cases don’t even contain words that are even in the lyrics of that song. Some examples: “There Are A Million Reasons For Why This May Not Work…And Just One Good One For Why It Will” and “The East Has Stolen What The West May Want”
.Moneen. – Don’t Ever Tell Locke What He Can’t Do
ahhh
I took everything you said
ahhh
Harder than we should
Are we wanting more than to try to sell you out?
Are you one, you one, you one?
He’s trying to say we can’t
Yes I can!
And you can’t have all that you want
Yes I can!
And when your wrong I’m still not right
Sign on
And throw it back against the wall
You asked me how
And what if I resent you now?
And what if I can’t trust in anything you say?
You trying to say we can’t?
Yes I can!
You can’t have all that you want
Yes I can!
And when your wrong I’m still not right
Let’s start again
Replace it
Let’s start again
Erase it
So move along and face it
You trying to say we can’t?
Oh yes I can!
You can’t have all that you want
Oh yes I can!
And when your wrong I’m still not right
Oh yes I can!
Hump Day rears it’s ugly back once again and it’s time for another Song of the Day!
This weeks song is Light a Roman Candle with Me by the band fun. fun. is what is left of one of my favorite bands of all time, The Format. I’ll probably end up featuring a Format song one of these days, but seeing as they aren’t a band anymore I figured I’d give you their newest stuff with fun. Not to brag or anything, but I know the drummer too. Jon used to drum for one of my good friends from HS in his college band called The Silent Film…another band that will probably eventually make it into my SotD Blog. Unfortunately they too are no longer together. fun. is another indie pop type band, with a focus on acoustic guitar and piano. Have a listen!
Light a roman candle with me
Just a roman candle, you can wear your sandals
and I’ll pour you just one cup of tea.
Then you can go and rest
you haven’t seen my best, so…
Just spend an evening with me
Just a lazy evening, then you could be leaving
or we could stay and talk until three.
I will think it’s magic and I’ll hope you’ll agree, so…
Light a roman candle with me.
Just a roman candle.
Just a perfect apple.
If we were honest and both wrote a sonnet together
a sandwich with everything on it,
at least we would know that the sparks didn’t glow
but we owe it to ourselves to try,
so we aim and ignite!
So often I call and I plead with you:
“Give me a chance!”
It’s not often that I understand
the ins and the outs of what’s wrong and what’s right
So don’t think of tomorrow tonight.
Oh, I know, it goes on, it gets old
But for now we’re young, we smell good, we’re alone…
You look for a legend,
I’m looking for common ground.
Your heart isn’t breaking,
and mine isn’t making a sound.
Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old
Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old…
Light a roman candle with me.
Just a roman candle.
Just a perfect apple.
Can I really take a post from a Video of my Dog Barking to a discussion on God giving to you judging by what you give to others? We shall see!
I’ve owned a YouTube account since Dec. of 2006. I’ve put a number of videos on it since then…41 to be exact. Most of which consists of crappy live records of bands I’ve seen in concert and an array of video packages made for my Video I and Video II classes at Drury. A few short months after starting the account I posted a video of Jack Russell Terrier named Jackson. The video is 8 seconds in its entirety and shows my dog “singing” happy birthday while sitting on the lap of my step-grandpa. I still to this day get comments from both extremes. I get haters calling me an idiot for calling his barking singing and I get dog lovers telling me how he’s adorable.
Somewhere along the line I managed to find a good video to make it a response too and I now get over 5,000 hits a day on that video. If you’ve ever been on YouTube you’d see that two things are always popular: Sex and Animal…can only imagine the kind of YouTube fame Animal Sex would get you! Jokes…though I bet you could find that on YouTube. It was never my intention when posting this little clip of my dog for it to become so popular. I was just wanting to document our dog singing as the Happy Birthday song is his favorite.
Whether you post videos for your own enjoyment or the enjoyment of other’s you still want them to be seen. If you didn’t want them seen you’d leave them on your hard drive. So I was more than thrilled when I realized my video was approaching 500k views and Google contacted my email saying, “Hey, yo, we want to use you to make money and will even give you a little for helping us.” This Ad program Google runs is called GoogleAdsense and it allows you to post ads on your website, blog, or if you are lucky enough your YouTube videos.
At the time I didn’t think much of it. I agreed to the terms and they emailed me some registration stuff I didn’t bother filling out. Several months later I remembered about it and decided to log in and see if anything had happened. Low and behold I had over 100 bucks sitting in my account! I was shocked as I didn’t think this was actually going to be something that could make me money. Needless to say I immediately went through the necessary steps to have the check get mailed to me. I’ve had it setup since October of ’09 and I’m not bringing in ridiculous amounts of money or anything, but it’s usually enough to cover my auto insurance!
Rafe Quit Talking and SHOW ME THE VIDEO!!!
Now after watching that you’ll notice I’ve decided to start donating the money made off that video to a local Animal Shelter. I never expected to be making this money and after a chat with a friend one night she had mentioned donating the money and I thought it was a brilliant idea. The money has helped me the last few months, but I’m not making enough for it to be a huge impact on my income, so why not give it to someone in need. After an unlikely run in at a local event I met some people who had just started up an Autumn Winds Animal Rescue & Sanctuary that was taking in dogs and cats off of “Death Row” from local area Kill Shelters. This month is going to be my first month donating my check and I’ve chosen them.
After talking with my sister on Skype last about how I was donating I decided I would do a blog about the video and the nature of giving. In the Bible there are many parables and verses about giving.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I mentioned in my first post that I believe the main thing Jesus came here for was to show us Love! And what better way to do so then to give to those in need. The Bible says to give a tithe to the church. I did this for awhile, but I’ve been traveling so much the last few years that I’ve been giving in a different way. On Valentine’s Day a few years ago I started donating to an organization called Christian Foundation for Children & Aging.
This post isn’t meant to be a way for me to brag about the things I’m doing, but to encourage others to do the same. As previously mentioned I believe that if you give, God will give to you in return. This isn’t just a Christian belief…some people may know of this ideal as Karma! Whatever you wanna call it I think only good things can come from donating your time, money, ideas, etc to a cause you care about.
And I’ll finish this ridiculously long post with a thought given to my sister by her pastor. “If your cup is already full then God has nowhere to put more…so give and there’s room to receive, and God might actually see that you have out grown your cup and need a new, bigger cup.” Our God is a Giving God. Give and you shall receive.
Please, comment, elaborate, argue…this doesn’t have to end here…though it probably should, I apologize for such a long post. When I write I ramble!
I’ve chosen this title for my blog as I hope to post on the many reasons Life is good and I think we should share our joys of being Alive. Exclaim, shout, share your joys of life for everyone to…well, Enjoy!
In this blog I’ll be focusing on a few things that really put a smile on my face.
Art: I’ve always had a love for art in any fashion. I don’t practice any Fine Arts very often these days, but will do some sketching occasionally. If I blog about Art it will most likely be about another Artist I find interesting. I’ve got a lot of my photography on a great artist site called Bluecanvas. If you are an artist I highly recommend you setting up an account on this site. Here’s my profile. http://www.bluecanvas.com/rafe
Music: There are so many flavors of music and I find myself enjoying quite an eclectic mix of tunes. There is nothing that makes me feel the emotion more than the simplicity of a passionate singer strumming with a guitar. I’m a big supporter of local music and tend to stay away from the Radio. Not that I don’t enjoy some of the music found there…I just find a particular joy in discovering music that’s not just handed to me via mainstream outlets. I might end up doing a Song of the week or Band of the week thing at some point. You can also expect a review of any new music I acquire. If you are curious as to what music I’m into you can check out my Last.fm profile. If you are a music lover like myself then look into getting a Last.fm account if you don’t already have one. It posts (they call this scrobble – you download a program that shows what songs you listen to) all the songs you listen to onto your profile and gives you stats like: Most Listened to Bands/Songs etc. I’ve had an account since Sept. 2006 and have scrobbled over 30,000 songs. Another cool feature is the Musical Compatibility. Go to any user’s profile and it will tell you how compatible your two music tastes are…fun to see how you compare with your friends. Here’s my Last.fm profile. http://www.last.fm/Prafeston
Photography: Maybe it’s the easy way out, but my love of Art shifted at some point around the time I graduated high school to Photography. I’ve always thought I’m a creative dude, but in some instances I’ve had trouble expressing my ideas on paper or other forms. I have always had an eye for beauty, form, positive & negative space, and the unique aspects of life seen through our eyes. Photography has given me an easy way to capture these things. I recently started a Photo A Day Challenge and will post an update on a weekly basis with photos from the week. I’ll probably have a random post here and there about photo related topics and/or ideas.
Film: In college I was suggested by a friend to try out a Video class and I have thoroughly enjoyed making and editing anything and everything. I’ve posted many of these videos on my YouTube Channels. I’m hoping to start doing a bit more Video Blogging so you can expect to see those show up here as well. Who doesn’t love a good Movie? If I watch one I find particularly interesting or worth talking about I’ll give it a review. http://www.youtube.com/Prafeston – Mostly Live Band Videos and College Projects http://www.youtube.com/IamRafe – My new Blogging Channel
Poetry: Being a big music fan I have grown to love poetry and lyric writing. It’s not something I do A LOT, but I do like to write occasionally. I don’t have any formal training in the area so I feel like my poems lack structure at times, but I have found I have a way with words and rhythm that it seems to just come naturally to me. You can look forward to me posting old poems occasionally and new ones here and there.
Spirituality: I grew up in a Christian (Presbyterian) home and God has always been a part of my life. I’ve gone on quite the Spiritual jounrey since I was in high school. I’m very open minded about Christianity and Spirituality in general. As with all aspects of my life I’m a big monkey see monkey do or learn by example kind of guy and this has carried over into my spiritual life. I believe Jesus’ main messages were Love. I don’t push religion on anyone and I don’t think I have the biblical knowledge to even do so, but I do believe I can be an example of Christ by showing his love in all that I do…at least I try. I have fallen away from God some in the past few years. I’m a little unsure of where I am in life and where I want to go. I travel a lot and haven’t gone to church on a regular basis. It would be nice to find some time to do some reading of the Bible and get in the habit of praying again. Should I read something worth writing about or think of something spiritually related it might make it’s way into a blog.
Conclusion: I hope to keep this blog going as I’ve tried many times in the past to write on a regular basis and it just hasn’t happened. If you like what you read please subscribe and help me feel like I’m writing for a reason. Look forward to lots of posts on all aspects of my life, but in particular the ones which I have mentioned above. Art, Music, Photography, Film, Poetry, and Spirituality. Feel free to suggest a topic for me to write about as well. I’m open to any ideas. Get used to lots of Exclamation points! Lots of Randomly capitalized Words! And Lots of Ellipsis… 🙂
Voting is easy! Just go to THIS site and find Christina Maria. (Order of Artists will vary)
The next page will ask for:
Exclaim: You're Alive! 