The Wall of Guitars

I’ve finally done it… hung all my stringed instruments (except the autoharp) on the music room wall.  Here, in all it’s musical splendor… the wall of guitars.

Forget it

It’s just too hot to do anything.  Check back when Fall starts.

Our Fu Fizzled

As for the Masters of Song Fu songwriting competition Bryan and I were in… we graciously bowed out of the running.  Bryan got sick and we moved during the second round.  Instead of throwing something together we wouldn’t be absolutely proud of, we decided to allow the race to be run without us.  Thanks to all of you who voted for us in the first round.  (If we finish the song we began for round 2, I’ll upload it here for you.)

Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. (aka CCLI, part 7)

We use CCLI to get our words on screen each week.  All the song composers license their songs for use through CCLI.  I am now a license holder with CCLI too… finally.  Check out the proof below.

Challenge 2, Issued

The second challenge in the Masters of Song Fu competition has been issued.  Please to find the details below.  Either they’ve been ‘reading our mail,’ or have inadvertently stepped into a realm of pain Bryan is certain to unleash.  One doesn’t have to look too far down Column A to know what I mean.  We begin again.  More to come as it emerges.

Write a song that utilizes a repeating syllable (ex: la, na, doo, etc.). The syllable must repeat at least 5 times in a row (ex: la la la la la). The resulting “repeated syllable” phrase can appear anywhere in your song, but must be repeated in full at least 3 times within the song. Also, this challenge includes a thematic element. Your song must feature a conflict between two (2) elements, provided below. You must choose one (1) element from COLUMN A and one (1) element from COLUMN B.

COLUMN A
—————
Santa Claus

Miami Dolphins

Stephen Hawking

A Beach Towel

High School Physics

Albania

The Color Orange

A Toothpick Factory

Marc Singer

Hydroponics

———————————————————————–

COLUMN B
—————
Dracula

Linux

Pudding

Coupons

Scabies

Cosplayers

Your Kindergarten Teacher (must be named)

Albert Camus

Non-Alcoholic Lager

Doc Hammer

We’re a “go” for Round 2

To Serve Mankind will be progressing to Round 2 in the Masters of Song Fu competition! Thanks to many of your votes. We appreciate them. Our next song challenge will be presented on or around June 16. We have that week to compose and produce a recording to submit for another round of voting. So enjoy this brief reprieve and check back here for real life updates. Blogging will again be temporarily disrupted between June 23-30 for Round 2 updates.

Keep those fingers crossed

Voting for The Masters of Song Fu songwriting competition is now closed for Round 1. Last I checked, To Serve Mankind was actually in 5th place. Hopefully, we stayed there through Life Group and will move on to round 2. I’m not sure if there will be critique from the administrators, or if non-original music submissions will be accepted or not (see Lex Friedman’s “Inspector Gadget” ripoff), but regardless of the results, Bryan and I are glad you all took the time to support us and the song we created for Round 1. It was a lot of fun to make, and share. I’ll let you know if we progress as soon as I find out. Thanks again, friends.

Challenge #1 – Voting Update…

As of 10:39pm, June 4th, To Serve Mankind is #4 of the challengers, with 124/1227 votes. (Inspector Lex Friedman must have a lot of friends…)

Keep those votes comin’ in, folks. Good songwriting must prevail!

VOTE HERE!

It’s your DUTY, people!

Voting commences NOW! Head over to Quick Stop Entertainment/Masters of Song Fu and place your VOTE. You only get one, so choose wisely. I’d suggest listening to all the songs, then making your decision. Don’t just vote for us because you know us… vote for us because we are the best. And if we’re not the best, vote for someone else. That’s how we’re playing this game.

UPDATE – I found out (the hard way) that you can only submit 1 vote TOTAL, so when you are deciding, know that you can either vote for a Master or a Challenger – not both – even though they appear to be listed in two different categories. (Turns out my vote went to Paul and Storm – which I’m not totally sad about – they deserve my vote – besides, isn’t it kind of lame to vote for yourself?)

Jonathan Coulton described his song on his blog… I think I’ll do the same.

TO SERVE MANKIND is a show about two guys who own this van and cruise around looking for people to help. We do all kinds of jobs (listed on the side of our van), from Dog Grooming to Family Counseling to Secret Shopping to Septic Cleaning… whether you need it or not. “No job left” would be an appropriate slogan – although Bryan and I are keen on “We’re Professionals.” We start the song saying, basically, we’ll find the problems at your house so we can fix them… our way.

Challenge #1 – with Bryan

We finished the recording today and submitted it. You can place your vote Wednesday, May 28. Hopefully the internet is kind to us and we advance to round 2, which won’t be easy, because the first elimination will wave goodbye to 14/19 competitors. Yikes, right? But still, we are confident. If this were real life, we’d probably expect the theme to do really well and the show to run until the pilot ended, then be canceled.