Category: Television

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1980s Blogging Music Radio Television

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1986

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday October 26TH 1986:

  1. “Heartache All Over The World” – Elton John
  2. “Whole New World” – It Bites
  3. “Take My Breath Away” – Berlin
  4. “You’re Everything To Me” – Boris Gardiner
  5. “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

Elton John may not like that song. In fact he may hate it – as well as the album that it came from (“Leather Jackets”). But I loved it back then, and I still love it today. It’s actually one of my favorite Elton John songs ever. It was the perfect HI-NRG pop sound for the Autumn of 1986.

35 years ago this week I had so much spare time on my hands living and working in the U.K. that I was able to compile and publish (on notebook paper) a personal Top 50 chart – twice per week. On that inaugural Top 50 chart (expanded from a Top 40) I had 25 hits moving up, 14 hits moving down, 5 non-movers, and 6 new entries from The Mission, Icicle Works, Jackson Browne, Boston, Kenny Loggins, and The Cutting Crew.

Nick Berry was at # 1 on the BBC-Gallup Top 40 with “Every Loser Wins”. He was one of the stars of the # 1 TV programme at the time – “EastEnders” – and he performed that song (in character as “Wicksy”) many times on the show back then.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Internet Ministry News Scripture Television

Sunday Scripture

There’s an abundance of disinformation, misinformation, and fake news available to us at every minute of every day. You can find it on most of the broadcast and cable TV networks. You can read it in the newspapers (if you still read those). You’re definitely exposed to it here on social media – especially on Facebook and Twitter. Many otherwise intelligent people have been duped and brainwashed by propaganda and conspiracy theories, and they have spread them unknowingly or intentionally online and offline.

This blog existed on Facebook for over 4½ years from 2013 to 2017. I moved it off of there and returned it to its original home on here at the start of 2018. I haven’t posted original material on Facebook since I did that. WordPress seems like an oasis from the clutter and noise of social media. Sure it’s one of the lesser-popular sites, and it’s one of the older sites (almost 16-years-old). But you found my blog, so it’s in a good place.

Any born again Christian who spends any amount of time watching mainstream TV news and talk shows or reading social media knows that we are portrayed as radical extremists. We are those crazy lunatic nutcases on the far-right who believe in a God that nobody has ever seen or heard. We are members of a cult who keep drinking the Kool-Aid. We are hypocrites and bigots who believe that we are better than everyone else.

Radical extremist ? OK I’ll take that one.
Crazy lunatic nutcase ? #Accurate
Far-right ? Hardly. My political views are all over the spectrum on both sides.
A God that nobody has ever seen or heard ? That’s fake news.
Member of a cult ? Not at all. I didn’t discover true freedom until salvation began.
Drinking the Kool-Aid ? No. That’s those who believe everything they see on TV.
Hypocrite ? Sure. All humans are hypocrites.
Bigot ? No. You know what a bigot does ? They accuse others of being bigots.
Better than everyone else ? No. I’m better than nobody.

Jesus replied – “I assure you – no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say – ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:5-8 NLT)

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Astronomy Blogging Food History Internet Music Television Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I. #Introduction – Surprise. I’ve brought back an old favorite of this blog, but just for a single return appearance. This won’t become a regular weekly feature again. This was once the flagship of this blog. It started in 2007 on Myspace – inspired by fellow bloggers of the era. It continued here on WordPress for 129 well-read editions. This is the first edition on WordPress in over 11 years. I brought it back briefly on Facebook after that. This is essentially my instant “brain dump” online. It’s what’s on my mind – right here – right now. I have no idea what I’ll write – until my fingers hit the keyboard. Once it’s done it gets posted immediately. I wanted to do something different to observe 2,000 blog posts here on WordPress, and this is what I came up with. #Blogging101

II. #Lunch – I’ve written about Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster many times before here on my #GrabBag. Back in 2008 and 2009 they were being built and opened in my city right next to each other just 3 miles away from my home. Longhorn and Olive Garden continue to thrive with delicious food, great service, and an abundance of customers all day every day. Red Lobster is struggling. I don’t go there very often anymore, and when I do there aren’t that many people there – both customers and employees. They appear to be poorly managed at this time. As a church group we’ve dropped the place from our regular rotation due to poor service. I went back today solo on a reconnaissance mission to see if they have improved. They failed. They were closed 18 minutes after they were supposed to be open at 11 AM. I went back to Longhorn – the place that I’ve been to more than any other restaurant in my city. My favorite waitress served me. She was fantastic, and my meal was delicious. #CaseClosed

III. #ManOnTheMoon – 52 years ago today on July 20TH 1969 (a Sunday) man walked on the moon for the first time ever. It was one small step for man – one giant leap for mankind. I actually remember watching it as a 2-year-old toddler in our cozy Greenbelt Maryland apartment on our giant (25-inch) living room TV set that was essentially heavy furniture that weighed several hundred pounds. I smiled when R.E.M.‘s “Man On The Moon” played on my iPod Shuffle at my desk at work this morning. #Appropriate

IV. #WeatherOnTheFours – Today we had a lot of quick-moving heavy showers around the area, but we also had a lot of hot sunshine. Sometimes the sun was shining bright while the rain was pouring down. Sounds like a typical “rainy season” day. We started-off this morning right around 78°F / 26°C, and we managed to reach 90°F / 32°C. Slightly drier and hotter days are headed this way – along with some Saharan dust. #Gesundheit

V. #FamilyPhotoOn5 – I stumbled across this photo recently. It’s from a long time ago – the Summer of 1977 (I believe). It could be ’78. I’m 10 (or 11). My little brother is 2 (or 3). We’re definitely in Ocean City Maryland with our neighbor friends. I went fishing for the first time ever in my life, and look what I caught !  Please excuse my outfit. I didn’t dress myself back then. #CutenessOverload

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend (which starts very soon) – with 4 new entries on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.

Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Twitter and Flickr.

Be blessed my friends !  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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1980s Blogging Career Driving Health History Military News Television Travel Weather Wrestling

Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

It’s Thursday, and it’s the start of a fresh new weekend of blogging. Longtime readers of my blog will know that this was once a Thursday night tradition. I only do this every once in a while these days. It’s my ‘Mini-Thoughts’ – a rapid-fire session of random thoughts on my mind right this minute:

  • I got my first dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine a couple of days ago.
  • Right now only Seniors are getting in Florida.
  • I work for the military, so I was lucky to get it early.
  • My second dose will be in 4 weeks.
  • I got the COVID vaccine 18 days after getting the Shingles vaccine.
  • That was my second of two doses of the Shingles vaccine.
  • I am not an “anti-vaxxer”.
  • I didn’t know there was such a thing as an “anti-vaxxer” until recently.
  • Some don’t get vaccines because they believe they do more harm than good.
  • Some don’t get vaccines because it’s against their religious beliefs.
  • Getting vaccines are a personal choice for each individual.
  • I neither promote nor denounce vaccinations to anyone.
  • I recently signed-up for the Discovery Plus streaming service.
  • If I’m not careful I can easily binge-watch shows on it for many hours.
  • Looks like I’ll soon sign-up for Peacock as it absorbs WWE Network.
  • I also like to “Hulu & Hibernate”.
  • I don’t “Netflix & Chill”.
  • I’m looking forward to my upcoming Florida road-trip.
  • Looks like I’ll cover about 575 miles in 5 days.
  • I’ll blog all about it after I return home.
  • Looks like I’ll drive more miles this month than 7 months last year.
  • Next month I’ll drive more than twice as many miles as this month.
  • It’s been a chilly winter here in South Florida.
  • I was shivering in December and the first-half of January.
  • I think it’s our coldest winter since 2010-2011.
  • Recently we’ve enjoyed a few days in the 80s for the first time in 2021.
  • But it’s gonna get chilly again starting today.
  • 50s in the morning is chilly for us.
  • We’ve had 7 mornings in the 40s since the start of December !
  • Exactly 35 years ago today the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated.
  • It occurred right after I got home from work (in England).
  • I think I watched BBC coverage of it for the rest of the night.
  • Exactly 2 years ago today I was in the middle of the Caribbean on a cruise.
  • We were supposed to spend the day on Grand Cayman Island.
  • But we couldn’t reach the island due to ferocious northerly winds.
  • A strong cold front had made it deep into the Caribbean.
  • It was an unusually chilly day on the islands and at sea.
  • So we had an “extra fun day at sea”.
  • I can’t wait to get back on a cruise next year.
  • Here’s my towel animal from exactly 2 years ago:

Towel Animal

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries