Writing Wednesday: Music, Restaurant Week, Gay Marriage, and New Coasters

It's Wednesday, and it's been a long time since I've written one of these babies, huh?  I've been writing quite a bit lately and I just figured now would be a good time to share some of the things I've been putting out there on Yahoo and Examiner.  So check it out...

Music

My favorite topic to write about, of course, is music, and I've done several music pieces for both sites:



Gaga's Eccentric Timing as 'Born This Way Ball' Draws to a Close

I penned this one a week before she was supposed to come to New York for the show and just a day or two before she cancelled the remainder of the tour due to her injury.  Nevertheless, I did have something to say about Ms. Gaga's timing.

P!nk's Top Twenty Songs: Revised and Expanded

Of course I had to do a new P!nk piece with all this new P!nk hysteria of mine.  Besides, she's got a new album since I penned the first one of her top ten.

What Are You Listening To? Winter 2013

After having trouble with my summer and fall installments of this series on Yahoo, I returned this winter with a not-so-great lineup of current music...except P!nk, of course!

P!nk Rocks MSG with 'The Truth About Love'

In the past, this type of piece would have gone on Yahoo, but since it is timely, I had to post it to my Examiner page.  This one is my official review of the concert.  Be on the lookout for another Yahoo piece on P!nk's show coming soon!  Also be sure to check out Basking in a P!nk Afterglow right here on John's World.

Jones Beach Theater - Check out the lineup for the Jones Beach Summer Concert Series 2013.  Always exciting to see who's coming!



Restaurant Week

Restaurant Week is always a good deal, and it's a great time to get out there and try some nice fine food at an affordable price.  There are two Restaurant Week's coming up on Long Island: Hamptons Restaurant Week and Long Island Spring Restaurant Week.  Check em' out!



If you're a denizen of the Internet, then you've probably seen this out there.  The red and pink symbol is for marriage equality and it's all over the place this week.  That's because the Supreme Court is hearing cases for the first time concerning California's Prop 8 and DOMA.  A Facebook friend of mine, my pal Dita's sister, asked me my opinion on the topic and it got me thinking on the topic...again!  Check out Same Sex Marriage: An Argument in Semantics.



New Roller Coasters

Finally, every new winter I pen articles on new coasters coming out for the upcoming season and this year I penned three of them.  When I started researching the topic, it appeared there would be a lot more new ones than Ii had originally thought.  Though there aren't many, and none are coming to any of my local parks, there are some things to get excited about.  Check these pieces out:

New Roller Coasters at Six Flags Theme Parks in 2013

More New Roller Coasters Coming in 2013

New Roller Coasters Coming to Theme Parks Around the World in 2013

Anyway, I hope you've found something useful here for your reading pleasure.  I'm not sure if this will become a regular thing again or not, but who knows?  And perhaps I'll have a few personal tidbits coming up in the near future for those of you who enjoy that kind of stuff.  As always, thanks for checking me out!


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Writing Wednesday, June 20th, 2012: Let the Fun Begin; Hersheypark; This weekend on LI; Music News

Hey folks...Happy Hump Day!  It's the last one of the school year for me.  Now don't be jealous...unlike what many people think, summer is not all vacation for teachers.  Some of us have to work, including me.  Wahhhh!!!!!

Anyway, here's your weekly Writing Wednesday:

Let the Fun Begin

After several sappy personal posts, it was nice to get back to writing about some good stuff as I enjoyed a great weekend last week.  Let's hope it's the start of better things to come!  Check out the post right here.

Planned Elegance

Hersheypark

As I mentioned in a post the other day, I revamped an old review of the coasters of Hersheypark to include the all-new Skyrush roller coaster.  Oh, and I posted a video of one of my favorite Hershey coasters, Storm Runner.  Check out the review of this great park right here.

This Week on Long Island

As usual, there's plenty of summer stuff to do around this expansive and beautiful island I live on, including a couple of great concerts, a horror film festival, outdoor festivals and more.  So if you live in the Long Island area, be sure to check out Things to do on Long Island this weekend.

Music News

There've been a couple of music tidbits mentioned here on John's World this week. Check out these posts:

P!nk's Page

P!nk's got a new song!

Madonna filming video for "Turn Up the Radio" in Italy

Well, that's all she, um, he, wrote my friends.  Now that summer is finally here, I'm hoping to get a little busier with writing, so prepare yourselves, lol.  Enjoy the rest of this hot week!

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Writing Wednesday, June 13th, 2012: Pride Month, The Weekend, Miscellany

Wednesday always seems to come so fast. Well, I guess time just goes fast in general.  It's the one place I disagree with Madonna: time does not go by so slowly....  Anyway, let's get right into what I've been writing about this week:

cyndilauperarchive

Pride Month

June is Pride month and I've been penning a few pieces, though not as many as I would like, on all of the celebrations coming up, culminating with the big show in NYC.  Last Saturday I went to the Long Island Pride Parade and Festival for the first time and I reviewed it on Examiner (The LI Pride Parade: A Day of Sunshine Despite the Gloom), and I wrote a little bit about it here, along with some photos (A Nice Gay Saturday).

Then a really cool thing happened, though it hasn't been too cool since.  Let me explain...

A few weeks back I wrote a piece on the events around NYC's Pride Week and I've been tweeting it as I do ever since.  Well a little while after a tweet on Monday, I got a reply from a Mr. Chris Frederick, who is the organizer for the whole thing.  He told me there were mistakes in the piece and after a little back and forth, I fixed them.  (In reality all but one mistake was made simply because I didn't have information.)

Any who, some of the information he gave me lead me to write another piece, which is pretty self-explanatory from the title: Cyndi Lauper to Headline NYC's 'Dance on the Pier.'  Cool, right?  I went to that dance during my first time at Pride a couple of years ago and I didn't really have much fun...way too crowded, for one thing.  Anyway, the fact that Cyndi Lauper is going to be performing makes it very alluring once again...

Chris was a very nice guy, and he offered to give me quotes and official pictures, but since it's the second to the last week of school, Mr. Myers has had very little time for writing (UGH!).  I wrote him back with the corrected piece, but I haven't heard from him since.  Ah well, I guess he's pretty busy, too!

The Weekend

I've got to say, doing these weekend event pieces for Examiner really gets my juices flowing.  Reading and writing about some of the many music and other outdoor festivals, shows and concerts really makes me wish I had time to do them all.  Anyway, I think as the summer plods along, things are heating up.  Lot's of cool stuff This Weekend on Long Island.

Music Miscellany

I sometimes wish my job was being a writer full time, because there's so much I never have time to get out there, especially concerning music.  This week I wanted to mention Madonna shooting a new video for "Turn Up the Radio" in Rome, the little backlash from Gaga over Madge's little mash-up, Gaga's concussion, P!nk's gall bladder, and The Wanted possibly doing something with Jennifer Lopez, but I never got to any of that, lol.  The only music thing I posted, other than Song of the Day, was a little news bit about Lady Gaga having already completed most of her newest album.  Check out Gaga's got a new album.

Well, it's a good thing I didn't write anymore because it's way past my bedtime...Have an awesome Thursday and thanks for reading!

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Writing Wednesday...um, Thursday???

Hello and happy Wednesday, um....Thursday, that is.  It seems I'm always a day late and a dollar short, but better late than never.  Here's John's World's Writing Wednesday...

Roller Coasters

Summer is here and after not riding any coasters at all last year, I'm hyped up about the prospects for the summer of 2012.  I already shared some of the best new rides for the upcoming season, and last Friday I found out that Cedar Point, one of the best theme parks around, is finally building a new roller coaster, their first one since 2007, which is forever.  Read all about it right here.

Hersheypark unveils Skyrush

One of the new roller coasters for the 2012 season debuted recently at one of my favorite parks.  This one's definitely on my list for the summer.  Click on the link above to take a ride.

The Coasters of Busch Gardens, Williamsburg

This is an older piece I revamped and updated to reflect the latest line-up of thrill rides at this awesomely beautiful park, including the all-new Verbolten.

Music


Another great love of mine and many others is music, and I finally got some pieces out there on Yahoo Voices this week:

What Are You Listening To? Spring 2012

The 8th edition of my quarterly series on the latest in pop music playing on my iPod.

Track by Track Review of The Wanted: Special Edition

This one was actually written weeks ago, a lot closer to the release date than Tuesday, when it was finally published.  I had a lot of trouble getting this one out there I think because of the name of the band...you can imagine, search engines and stuff.  Anyway, I downloaded this one on the day it came out and virtually every song is good.  Check it out.

MDNA, MDNA...

Well Madonna is finally on the road with her new M.D.N.A. Tour, hitting the stage for the first time last Thursday in Tel Aviv.  Though I'm going to see her in September at Yankee Stadium, I couldn't help but watch and share some of the concert snippets that have been out there.  Look forward to more in the future, but for now check out these two clips:

Express Yourself/Born This Way

I Don't Give A...

Etcetera

Cool stuff to do on Long Island this weekend

I used to do these types of articles a lot on Examiner, but I'd been remiss in writing them for the past few months, mostly because they're labor intensive.  But they do get a lot of hits and they are filled with very cool things I wouldn't have otherwise known about.  This is the piece that prevented me from putting this post out yesterday, but it was worth it!  Look for these too come out Wednesdays, especially if you live in the Long Island area and are looking for suggestions on what to do.

I've got got to get myself together... 

This was my only personal piece of the week, and I penned it just because I needed to work through some emotions...stay tuned for more if you like reading these types of posts.

Well, that's it for this week.  As always, thanks for checking me out and have an awesome weekend!

Image Sources:

pennlive

cocoperez

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Writing Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

Happy Hump Day everyone!  Today is Wednesday, May 30th and it's hard to believe that June is right on our doorstep already, but it is.  Ah, time flies...  Here's this week's Writing Wednesday:


Portland, TN

Strawberry Festivals

Summer is time for outdoor fests and the season always starts in June with great Strawberry Festivals celebrating the harvest of the delectable fruit.  Check out all of the strawberry festivals happening around Long Island next month:

Strawberry Festivals around Long Island

Gay Pride

June is gay pride month and I've been posting several pieces on Examiner covering all the pride events happening in and around the NYC Metropolitan area.  Check em out:

NYC

Long Island

Outer Boroughs and New Jersey

Sponsor a Youth for a Gay Prom

Every year, LIGALY (Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth) holds a prom for gay youth as an alternative to the 'straight-up' kind.  This event gives these kids a chance to be themselves and the organization is seeking donations to help defray the cost of the event for these kids.  Check it out and donate right here.

More Donna Summer

Here's a new piece I wrote for Yahoo Voices, featuring some great Donna Summer songs you probably don't even know.  Check it out right here, and check out Donna's "Supernatural Love":

John's World

A Walking Roller Coaster

This is cool!  Just cool!

Memoirs: Cherry Grove and Dark Clouds

The latest from my so-called life.

Music

What's a week on John's World without a little music news and videos?  Take a look at these:

Lady Gaga cancels Indonesian concert

Summer Music Spotlight

Crowded House drummer passes away at 45

There's also been some great new music featured on John's World this week.  Check these out:

Kylie Minogue - Timebomb

Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo - Let's Go

Pauline - Give Me a Call (well, this one's new to me, but it's oh so good!)

Scissor Sisters - Only the Horses

Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops

Well I think that's enough reading for today, lol.  Enjoy!

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Writing Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Well it's been two weeks once again since my last WW, but at this time last week I was in the hospital after my surgery, so at least I've got an excuse.  In the past week that I've been home recuperating, I've been doing a lot of writing, mostly for Examiner.  Check it out:

Gay Pride is Coming

June is Gay Pride month.  Ever since the Stonewall riots in June of 1969, gay people have stood loud and proud every year to commemorate the event and show some unity in the face of hatred and discrimination, something I feel very strongly about.  New York City, the birthplace of the gay pride movement has the biggest such celebration in the world, and Long Island's is not too shabby either.  Here's the lowdown on both events:

NYC Pride Week 2012 events

The 2012 LI Pride Parade and Festival, Saturday, June 9th

R.I.P. Donna Summer

Just six days ago, iconic singer Donna Summer lost a bout with cancer, something no one really even knew she had.  Donna Summer was one special singer.  She was music royalty, and she was one of my favorite divas.  I've been paying tribute to Donna ever since, both with a week's worth of Songs of the Day and some pieces I penned.  Currently I'm planning just one more piece, which has yet to be written.  I'm just waiting for both the time to do so and deciding where to put it.  

So yes, the Donna Summer tributes will continue, at least for a little while.  I think she's worth it, and I believe the coverage and tributes to her have been too little for such an icon.  She was low key, but she deserves a bit higher key for all she's given us in the form of great music.  Here's a tribute piece I penned in honor of her and the gay community that loved her so much:

Remembering Donna Summer, an atypical gay icon

And here are some great Donna Summer tunes that have been featured this week:

I Will Go With You

MacArthur Park

Could It Be Magic

Carry On

Romeo

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

Defending My Own

Most of my readers know that I am a teacher, and a proud one at that.  After seeing yet another newspaper article about teacher jobs being cut in the latest round of budget votes, I was motivated to write this piece:

In defense of teachers

Summer Concerts at Jones Beach

The Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, Long Island is my favorite place to see a concert.  Every summer, the theater puts on a summer festival of the best of music old and new and this year's schedule can be found here, of course with a little commentary by me:

The Jones Beach Theater Summer Concert Series 2012 lineup

New Coasters

Roller coasters and theme parks are a big part of this John's world, and here's a rundown of the newest thrill rides coming to an amusement park near you:

Theme parks newest roller coasters for 2012 Season

There's been plenty more posted here on John's World, but I think I've already given you enough to read, lol.  If you like, just take a look at the sidebar to check out some new coaster videos, a hateful speech against gays by a North Carolina pastor, an obituary for the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb, who passed away last Sunday, and much more.  As always, thanks for checking in with me!  have a great Thursday!

Image Sources:

Gay Pride - J. Myers

Donna Summer - stereogum 

Jones Beach Theater - gatewayinnlongisland

Verbolten, Busch Gardens Williamsburg - MSNBC

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Writing Wednesday, May 9th, 2012: Theater; Ziplining; Gay Marriage

It seems that lately my time for writing has gotten less and less, and this past week has been no exception.  Whereas almost the entire month of April was filled with posts from the Blogger's Challenge, I've gone into the month of May with dollar signs in my eyes.  That is, I've been trying to concentrate my pieces in places that earn me money, namely Examiner.

This past week I've posted three articles to Examiner, one to each title I carry there.  They're pretty "high interest" pieces, and so if you haven't checked them out yet, here's your chance:

Gateway Theater's Spectacular Summer 2012 Lineup

For those who live here on Long Island, the Gateway Theater is known for its' wonderful productions of Broadway caliber shows.  Every summer, the theater puts on several productions that are all well-received, and this year's crop sounds like a nice collection of shows.  I may just have to catch one or two...

Florida Eco-Safaris at Forever Florida

I first came across this place from a Google alert on roller coasters.  The article that piqued my interest spoke of America's first zip line roller coaster, and since I am a zip line veteran I checked it out.  Forever Florida is an expansive conservation area in Central Florida that's got a lot of zip lining...and cool sounding zip lining at that!  Check out this preview of a place I definitely want to check out next time I'm in that area, for sure!

Obama's Bold Statement a Long Time Coming

By now, most of you have heard that today President Obama finally stated his support of same sex marriage.  He's the first President to have ever done so and I say what took so long?  Politics, that's what, stupid, ridiculous politics.

Well that's all for this week.  I penned a piece for Yahoo, as well, but I'm still waiting for that one to be published.  As always, thanks for checking me out!

Image Sources:

flashlafayette

travelocity

Facebook

 

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W is for Writing Wednesday

Okay, okay, so I'm killing two birds with one stone today, and two weeks and a day after the fact, no less.  When I first started this blog it was meant to be another way to promote my writing, an outlet for me to collectively assemble all of the various pieces I publish on several different sites all in one place.  Over the years the blog has morphed into something else, but Writing Wednesday has become a way for me to keep doing what this blog was originally meant to do and that is promote my stuff.

Since the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2012 has kept me so busy, I really haven't been up to much else.  Though I wish I had more time to write, I don't, and so the bulk of this Thursday edition of a typical Writing Wednesday contains mostly from the challenge.  Take a looksie:

A to Z Challenge

J is for Jaws...my all time scariest movie ever!




K is for KISS...no, not the kind with lips, but the rock band with all the makeup.

L is for Lightning Loops...the long-since retired looping thrill coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure.

M is for Moonshots...cool pics of the moon!



N is for New York...State, that is!

Onomatopoeia


P is for Cool Photos...some cool pictures from around the Internet


Q is for my 1st Quinciniera

R is for NY Rangers...hockey!



S is for Single...boy am I that!

T is for El Toro...a wild coaster at Six Flags!

U is for Umbrellas, Unibrows, Underwear and so many Unique things!

V is for Aunt Vi...

An Non-Challenge Post

Circus Wednesdays still a great time!

A couple of weeks ago I returned to Circus Wednesdays at the Lizard Lounge in Bohemia and found that it's still hopping.

Examiner

Click and Improve takes the hassle out of home repair

I've only done one piece for Examiner in the past two weeks, on a cool service that takes care of the hassle of finding companies to fix things in your home.

Yahoo Voices

I finally published a track by track review of Madonna's M.D.N.A.  Check it out right here.

Well that's it for this edition of Writing Wednesday, published on a Thursday, lol.  For my fellow writers out there, these weekly, or semi-weekly, recaps are a great way to keep readers up to date on stuff they might have wanted to read and missed, and they're also a great way to gain new readers.  So if you've got a blog...

As always, thanks to anyone and everyone who checks in on John's World from time to time.  It is really appreciated!  The Blogging Challenge is nearly finished and so hopefully we'll soon get back to our regular programming....hehe!

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Writing Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Wow, I can't believe it's Wednesday already!  It feels like it came quicker thann a usual Wednesday would, probably because I'm off from work.  I promised myself that I'd get out and see "Hunger Games" today (finally!), so I just wanted to put this out there before I go.  Since I missed last week, there's plenty of stuff to cover, so here we go...

A to Z Challenge

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I've been participating in the Blogging fro A to Z April 2012 Challenge.  I sort of participated in it last year, though it took me awhile to finish (way beyond April, lol).  This year I'm actually an official participant and so far I'm on target with the rest of my fellow bloggers.  I love the challenge because it forces me to reach into topics I wouldn't ordinarily write about, and I think that some of them are really pretty good.  Check out what I've written so far:

A is for Abs   ...I want em so bad!

B is for Boy Bands...The Wanted, One Direction...a reincarnation of the genre for the new decade?

C is for Cheese...I crave it!

D is for Dark Shadows...A horror soap opera resurrected for 2012.

E is for Easter Eggs...Egg-coloring fun at school.

F is for Friday Songs...TGIF, TGIF, TGIF...

G is for the Grove...Cherry Grove, that is!

H is for Happy...My latest poem.

I is for Ice Hotels...Cool!  I mean, cold!

Today will be a "J" day, but I'm still undecided!

Madonna News

Of course, now that "M.D.N.A." is in full swing, I've tried my best to keep up with news items I've found worthy of note:

Madonna earns 8th #1 album with "M.D.N.A."

"M.D.N.A." faces huge drop in sales in its second week 

Madonna's set list revealed

This one is fresh off of Perez Hilton's blog, with exciting news about some of the songs Madge will be performing on her upcoming tour.

More "M.D.N.A." Track Reviews


I finally made it all the way through the tracks on the new record.  I actually reworked them and put them all together in one place on Yahoo, but I'm still waiting for it to be published. (This is why I hardly write for them anymore!)  Take a look at my thoughts on the remainder of "M.D.N.A.", complete with audio:

Some Girls                                  Superstar

I Don't Give A...                         I'm a Sinner

Masterpiece                               Love Spent

Falling Free                               Beautiful Killer

I F**ked Up                            B-Day Song

Best Friend

Music Tidbits


Here are some news items about the artists I follow:

The Wanted to appear on American Idol

Last week, my favorite "boy band" of the moment appeared on the AI elimination show.  The above post was an announcement of the performance, yet I haven't had the opportunity to share it here, until now...

A Letter from P!nk

P!nk is back, and she recently shared her excitement of what's to come in a personall letter to her fans.

P!nk goes pink on outing with hubby, baby

P!nk dyed her hair pink once again and shows it off in some cute pictures with hubby Carey and baby Willow.

Missy and Timbaland rock it out in NYC

Hip hop princess Missy Elliott is back and she made a surprise appearance in NYC last Thursday with her pal and collaborator Timbaland to preview a new song.

The Funny

In the past couple of weeks, I've shared a couple of funny items, too:

Shallow Thoughts for Today

Oh, I could've written these!

Another post-dentist high video goes viral

Does anyone remember the hysterical video of David after the dentist?  Well, it seems that these types of silly videos have become very popular among YouTube viewers and there's a brand new one of a North Carolina girl after getting her wisdom teeth pulled.  It's not as funny as David's video, but it is funny!

Coasters

Mr. Freeze in Reverse!

In a cool twist, Six Flags in both Arlington, TX and St. Louis, MO are changing up their "coolest coasters on the planet," Mr. Freeze to go backwards for the season.  I so wanna ride!

The Personal

When I first started writing regularly for this blog, most of my posts have been in the form of memoirs, and several people that I know follow me like these types of posts most of all.  Keeping that in mind, I continue to intersperse these within the blog.  Here are a couple from the past two weeks:

Aunt Barbara, Toots and Meatloaf

On March 28th, I went to an Aunt Barbara Tupperware party, which is always a good time, and next I had a reunion with one of my oldest friends, Marcia, who was up here from Florida for a visit.  The meatloaf?  Well, that was a lesson I taught in school that was awesome enough to talk about!  I also wrote a review piece on the Tupperware party for Examiner, which you can see here.

End of Splash Saturday; Easter; Photo Shoot Fun

This one I just posted yesterday.  I went to Splash last weekend and the resulting post is something that Ii just had to say about where that club seems to be going in comparison to the new XL.  Stay tuned for an Examiner piece once I visit the new place.

On Monday, my pal LK and I headed out east to take some pictures for my websites, of which I am still having trouble deciding to use.  Lots of samples in this post, hehe.

Restaurant Week

Finally, I penned an article just the other day on Long Island's 2nd Annual Spring Restaurant Week.  I just love this promo, as it allows you to check out some great eateries you wouldn't normally try because the $24.95 prix fixe menu is so nice.  Read on here.

Whew, that was a lot, huh?  I really need to stay on top of WW to avoid such in depth posts as this one.  If you're still reading by now, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I hope you enjoy at least some of the things I put out there.  I always try my best to find interesting things to share from among my many interests.  Writing Wednesday is a great way for you to muddle through my writings to check out what you like, so I hope you'll tune in at least once a week for that.

And remember, you can subscribe to a once-daily digest of John's World by entering your email address at the top right section of this page.  Thanks as always for reading and Happy Hump Day!  Now, it's off to see "The Hunger Games"...  

Image Sources:

As previously posted on John's World

Mr. Freeze: Coaster Gallery

Aunt Barbara: Facebook

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Writing Wednesday - Good Stuff and Lots of Music News

Other than a couple of pieces on Examiner, the rest of this week's stuff appeared here on John's World. Here's the rundown:

Examiner



10th Annual Hamptons Restaurant Week coming March 18th

Restaurant Weeks have become a popular and fun way to enjoy dining out, and in a little over a week, the East End of Long Island is putting on its' 10th Annual Hamptons Restaurant Week.

LGBT Community of Long Island is finally abuzz with activity


The LI LGBT community has been abuzz with activity lately, and this piece recaps all of the special events, new clubs, and online communities that have been popping up all over the place.



John's World

M.D.N.A.thon at Splash

My recap of last Friday's Madonnathon at Splash in NYC. What a night!

Recovering; Tornadoes; We Have a Winner; Happy Birthday Blanchie!


New Blogrolls; A Madonna High; Another Madonnathon Coming this Summer

These are two of my personal journal-type posts this week. This is one of the kinds of posts that got me started with this blog and I hope to keep up with them more often in the coming weeks. Good stuff here, so check em out!

Music Items on John's World



I love to share the many exciting things I hear going on in the music world, and this week there was plenty of good stuff:

Song of the Day - It's All About U - SWV

I posted an SWV "Song of the day" after learning that these fabulous women of 90's R&B are coming back. Very excited!

Florence + The Machine Releasing an MTV Unplugged Album

The title says it all! Click on the article for more...

The Wanted to Return to US for TV Appearances

The latest hot boy band from the UK are riding a high with their song "Glad You Came," and they're back in the States for another spell of appearances.

P!nk Tweets "NEW RECORD TIME"

The most exciting music item of the week came as a surprise, as one of my favorite singer/songwriters is coming back with a new record!

Image Sources:

27east

John's World

pnk-zone

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February 1st, 2012 - Writing Wednesday

Happy February, though you'd never know it from the weather here in New York. Today was one of the most spring-like days you can imagine, warm and sunny and a day to just be outside doing whatever. I've been a really busy boy these days writing, but things are a little different this week. Check it out and you'll see...



Yahoo Voices Top 1000 of 2011


Yesterday I got a very surprising email from Yahoo telling me that for the second year in a row I've been named one of the Top 1000 Writers at Yahoo Voices for 2011. This was something I wasn't expecting at all, considering I've written less and less for them in recent months. I do have almost 400K page views, so I guess I really did alright. I am humbled and very grateful for the honor! Yahoo!

Examiner

Spring-like temps on Long Island a sign of the apocalypse? Nah!

The weather was so nice today I wanted to make a few comments about it on this blog, but when I did a little searching I found some interesting stuff about why we're having such a mild (to put it mildly) winter. It may be year 2012, but this is definitely not what the Mayans predicted.

Long Island Pride website readies for this year's Long Island Pride Event


The Long Island Pride Parade organizers are already getting ready for this year's event. It happens on Saturday, June 9th and they've got a new website to help them make it the biggest and best yet.



Gallo Restaurant of Patchogue: fine "comida Colombiana" at a great price


Gallo (pronounced 'ga-yo,' for you non Spanish speakers out there) is an excellent Colombian restaurant in my hometown of Patchogue. The food is fantastic, the prices great, and they've got an adorable waiter there by the name of Edgardo. Delicious yucca fritta, too!

Yahoo Voices

Tacosagne

Yup, for the first time in about a month I published a piece on Yahoo. It's a recipe I changed up a bit from a cookbook I've got and it is muy delicioso! You can also check it out on my food and recipe blog here.

Blogging

My most favored spot for writing lately has become this very blog. Much of what I used to write for Yahoo or Gather I am now publishing here. Just this past week or so I've written pieces about a possible Spice Girls comeback, a new ABBA song, their first in 18 years, Lady Gaga's latest single, and the latest flare-up between Elton John and Madonna.

Music is definitely the crux of this blog, but I also take pride in pieces I like to call 'social commentary.' I used to publish a lot of these types of pieces on Yahoo, too, but nowadays I find myself interspersing it here, between Songs of the Day, music news bytes, and my life. There were a couple I've written recently that I think would have been worthy for a Yahoo piece, but I tackled them in shorter order in the hopes of generating more views on John's World.

Three of these social commentary pieces I'd like to share here again. They include a food shopping rant, a commentary on today's generation, and a little piece about one of the many wrong things going on in our educational system. Check them out if you haven't already. As always, comments are always welcome.

More Blogging

In all, I've got four blogs registered here at Google Blogger. The first one I ever started was one called Rants, which I've abandoned in favor of this one. Then there's the food and recipe blog, one that I am hoping to build up a little, not so much as a regular thing, but something I can add to when a good recipe comes my way.

Johnny Driver

Finally, I've got the Misadventures of Johnny Driver blog. If you don't know it by now, Johnny Driver is a fictional character who works as a flower delivery guy in the Hamptons every summer. It's loosely based on a real job I used to have at a place called Pennington Flowers in Southampton.

I started writing the Johnny Driver series for the old Associated Content a couple of years ago and I penned over thirty 'episodes' spanning two summer seasons. The story lines are often humorous, sometimes shocking and always a little crazy, with a cast of equally strange and interesting characters based on real life people. The series earned me a lot of readers on AC and I moved them over to a blog, albeit in bits and pieces, so I can have the whole thing in one, easy to read spot.

Recently I decided to revisit the Johnny Driver series, and I'm planning on beginning a third season of episodes soon. In the meantime, though, I've gone back to the beginning to re-work some of the story lines to make them what I hope to be more readable and more enjoyable than before. It's been rough going so far, but I've got the first two chapters done and posted and am currently working on #3. Stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, check them out, as well as a note as to where I'm going with the series:

A Note From the Author of "Johnny Driver"

The Misadventures of Johnny Driver: A Prologue


Chapter 1: Johnny's First Day




Music, Movies & Gaming

Image Sources:

Yahoo Voices

NY Girl Eats World

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January 25th, 2012 - Writing Wednesday

It's Wednesday night again and it's time for Writing Wednesday. It looks as if I've only got Examiner articles to share with you this evening, as I'm still awaiting a Yahoo Voices piece to get published and Gather is now kaput, although maybe not for long..stay tuned... It's been two weeks since I've shared stuff I've written elsewhere here, so here goes...

Examiner

Here's what I've published on Examiner, in case you've missed it:



Concerts, Psychic Fairs, and Monster Trucks this weekend on Long Island


There's some cool stuff happening on Long Island this weekend, and sometimes I wish I could do them all, except maybe the Monster Trucks, lol.

6th Annual Outlook Awards Dinner exemplifies what's missing on Long Island


When I sat down Sunday morning to write about the Outlook Awards dinner on Saturday night, I had no idea where I was going to go with it, but I ended up coming back to an old argument.



Macy's Bay Shore finally coming into the 21st Century and the sales have begun

This was a happy one to write. As a longtime Macy's shopper, I am always torn which Macy's to visit when I plan a shopping trip. I've got two in my vicinity: the one in the Smithaven Mall in Lake Grove, which is big, modern and beautiful, or the one in the Westfield Mall in Bay Shore, which is closer to my house, but stuck in the 1960's in decor and ambiance. Well, they are going to be knocking down the Bay Shore store in order to build a new one and this writer/shopper couldn't be happier!

Well, that's all she, ur...he, wrote folks! As ever, I want to thank you for checking me out and stay tuned for the next Song of the Day coming in just a few hours....

Image Sources:

SFSTATION


Department Store Museum



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