MESSAGE MONDAYS & THROWBACK TUESDAYS – The Light Meets The Dark

Yes, as you can see from the title, I am a very much avid fan of CCM band Tenth Avenue North. Or rather, a fan of Mike Donehey’s devotional youtube messages about his songs that he has released on the internet throughout the years. In fact, Tenth Avenue North has to be one of the best bands that CCM offers to us at the moment- starting their career way back in 2008 when they signed to Reunion Records, the band delivered chart topping albums like Over and Underneath, The Light Meets the Dark, The Struggle, Cathedrals and more recently Followers. To say that Mike the lead singer has a way with words in how he imparts heartfelt and poignant truths to listeners is very much an understatement. And while I know that their latest album Followers can arguably be the quintet’s most emotive and encouraging yet, I can’t ignore where it all started. It was in 2009/10 when I started listening to the band and their music on a regular basis- safe to say that The Light Meets the Dark is a momentous album for me- with songs like “Healing Begins”, “You Are More”, “Strong Enough to Save”…it was then when I realised that Tenth Avenue North and their music was something special.

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TV Thursdays and Sentimental Saturdays: The Shows of Our Childhood

I’ve been reflecting lately about the TV shows I watch, both now and in years gone before, and how that has affected who I am today. Not that I truly believe that what I watch really has an impact on who I am as a person, but I’ve often pondered, mostly on a Saturday when things are quiet, about my TV watching habits. And how often my favourite TV shows, if you’d rank them from 1-20, are mostly of TV shows that have ended rather than still currently running. Not that I enjoy most of the shows that I currently watch, it’s just that unfortunately (or fortunately whichever way you look at it), most of my favourite shows are currently not on TV anymore. So let’s just give this a stab, shall we? Without further ado, my top 20 TV shows (of all time), and how that further relates to this blog post about being sentimental when it comes to reflecting about our childhood and how our TV watching habits may indeed shape our worldview much more than we may think.

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First Impression Review – Colton Dixon’s “Identity”

Eliminated from American Idol Season 11 in 7th place, pop/CCM artist Colton Dixon has been making waves within the CCM industry ever since his highly-publicised crossover hit of a first album A Messenger, that debuted in 2013 to critical acclaim. Using the same platform as many artists, like Carrie Underwood, Danny Gokey, Mandisa, Jason Castro, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson and Kris Allen; to start a career in music; Colton’s unexpected exit from the show was more of a blessing in disguise. Signing a record deal with Sparrow Records, and 2 albums later, Colton, alongside Mandisa, has been one of the most successful and greatest finds, out of anyone who has moved from American Idol to Christian music, ever. With much success, both critically and commercially, Colton, though only in his mid-twenties, writes and sings way beyond his years, so much so that his two successful albums A Messenger and Anchor were released within 1 and a half years of each other. Now he has journeyed into the unknown with his new album Identity, releasing March 24th- sure he still has his trademark pop-rock-radio sound, but this album is different from the rest- less rock than Anchor and much more dance and 1980s style music that is incorporated throughout his power-pop anthems in this 11 track album (17 in the deluxe edition).

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Fun Fridays – Board Games

Yes, I know another blog post series that we as a site post from time to time…and the first post is today. But just hear me out. Not literally, but just have a read through. If this post series doesn’t resonate with you…well, still give it a chance. And while my goal is to write Fun Fridays on a regular basis (not sure about Food Fridays or even Futuristic Fridays, both these posts are up in limbo at the moment), I do realise that realistically, I may not post as much as I want to…and I have to be ok with that. Because as this blog post series suggests, this is a time for me to post, about, you guessed it, having fun. Because frankly, as I look around at people at the place I work, I notice one thing- most people aren’t enjoying life as much as they should. Sure, that is a grave assumption, and many who read this statement might be up in arms about what I just said. But it’s true. People have somehow lost the spark and innocence that were once in all of us. And what I sadly see is this- people going about their mundane lives and basking themselves in busyness, hurrying and rushing around, all in the name of creating a world for the future, at the expense of enjoying it right now. Sure we can claim that what we’re doing is for the future generations, but if we’re miserable now, how’s that going to be as setting an example to the future of how they ought to live? The future and what we have to do to steer the course of circumstances that could either make or break the world of tomorrow is of utmost importance, but we really do need to have fun in the process.

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