Hello again retro music fans. 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, 20, 25, 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 January 31ST 1988:
You know I was never a big fan of either Prince or Michael Jackson. I liked a few of their songs. I obviously liked the two songs above (since they were in my Top 5 at the time). Both artists got their starts in the ’70s – Michael with his family, and Prince solo. As the ’80s hit – M.J. went solo, and Prince joined other musicians. Both started fading into the ’90s. If you’re into pop culture rumors and conspiracy theories – then you may believe that Prince and Michael Jackson publicly hated each other for various reasons. I think they probably respected each other and their success. They were both very talented. They were both doing their own thing. They were both at the top of their game 35 years ago.
And then there’s Rick Astley. #RickRoll
Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to February 2008. It’s when my # 1 smash of all of 2008 was my # 1 smash of the week – and the month – and the month after that.
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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I embarked on my multi-part series of my 7-day sailing of the brand-new Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023. This was its 9TH cruise (with passengers) ever. It was my 16TH on Carnival in a little over 23 years, and my 24TH overall (all cruise lines) in a little over 31 years.
Fun Fact: I shared a large (assigned) dinner table every night in the main dining room with other solo cruisers and a couple (husband and wife) who have all been on far more cruises than I can ever imagine. In their eyes – I was the cruise “newbie”. I was also the youngest at our table. We mostly talked about cruising each night at dinner. They were a fun group. Lots of laughs !
This week I’ll share more thoughts about the cruise.
FOOD (“B”) – Most people who choose Carnival do so for its affordability, its accessibility (at many ports), and its overall vibe (lots of fun activities for all ages from early in the morning to early the next morning). Those are my main reasons for my continued loyalty to Carnival since the late-1990s. The food is good. It’s not great. It’s better than anything I eat at home. It’s better than anything I eat out in my hometown. Could it be better ? Sure. Has it been better in the past ? Sure. But I don’t really choose Carnival for its food. It’s not what they specialize in as a cruise line. They specialize in fun. I like fun. Having said that there are so many different places to eat on the Carnival Celebration – more than any other Carnival cruise ship – aside from its nearly identical sister ship – Mardi Gras. Most of the food at the various venues is part of the overall cruise fare. Some of it costs extra. I enjoyed some really delicious beignets with strawberry sauce and chocolate sauce at Emeril’s Bistro on a couple of mornings. #BAM
SERVICE (“C”) – Customer service was generally lacking a little bit on this ship compared with many of my previous cruises. That includes the cabin areas, the main dining room, and the restaurants. There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm (and speed) overall for such a brand-new cruise ship and the current flagship of Carnival Cruise Lines. It wasn’t necessarily bad service – just unimpressive (and slow) service compared with what I’m accustomed to at sea. I’ve felt that customer service on Carnival has been superior to the other 3 cruise lines that I’ve sailed on, but not really so much on this particular cruise.
ENTERTAINMENT (“A”) – This was definitely the best part of my cruise. Carnival has done a major upgrade in this area for their brand-new cruise ships – taking full advantage of modern 2020s electronic technology. They had nice Broadway-like shows, stand-up comedy shows in 3 different venues including matinees in the afternoons on sea days, and nice random “pop-up” video shows during the early-evening hours in-between the bigger shows. Even their game shows were modernized. I was mesmerized by these events. It’s the future of Carnival unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I liked it a lot !
CRUISE DIRECTOR (“A”) – Our Cruise Director – Mike from South Jersey – was actually substituting (last-minute) for the real Cruise Director of the ship – Lee – who was nursing laryngitis out-of-sight from the passengers. He eventually recovered, and he finally made a grand entrance (complete with standing ovation) early on the 5TH night of the cruise. Some passengers booked the cruise ship because of Lee, so they were finally glad to see him in action. From that point forth he and Mike shared Cruise Director duties and responsibilities. It was the first time that Mike had ever been a Cruise Director, and he did a great job. He’s a future Cruise Director for sure. Lee has been with Carnival as a Cruise Director for just over 6 years on 12 different ships. Here’s his story – as well as the story of the Carnival Celebration:
Next #TravelThursday I’ll tell you all about the first port-of-call – Amber Cove on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. I participated in perhaps one of my greatest shore excursions ever – from sea level to nearly 2,600 feet above. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Greetings my friends. It’s Wednesday January 25TH 2023, and as the title suggests – this is my 1,000TH blog post – since my January 2018 restart here on WordPress. (I published another 1,321 blog posts from 2007 to 2012 – mostly between 2008 and 2010.)
Between the two WordPress eras I posted my blogs over on my Facebook site – with mixed results. I discovered that most people on Facebook – even family and friends – don’t feel like reading blog posts that take a couple of minutes to read. If you’re here on WordPress – then you expect to read blog posts, so here we are.
After I ended my blog on Facebook on New Year’s Eve at the end of 2017 I thought that would be the end of it all, but here we are now with my 1,000TH blog post since then.
I know that this blog has a large robotic readership. The bots tend to “like” my blog posts from many months ago to several years ago to even 15 years ago. But I also have a nice worldwide audience out there of real people who look forward to each new entry whether it be #TravelThursday, or #RetroFriday, or #SundayScripture, or #Top10Monday.
I look forward to writing each new blog post, and I’m happy that you find them interesting enough to keep coming back for more. Thank You for your loyalty. Thank You for spending a couple of minutes with me 4 times per week.
#TravelThursday is up next in less than 24 hours. I hope that you’ll check it out sometime during the day tomorrow.
All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back nearly 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday January 22ND 2023 – the 310TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:
WHO I AM – I really like the Consumed By Fire song “First Things First”, and I wanted to make it my new # 1 smash this week. In fact it was at # 1 earlier in the week in an early draft of my chart. But then Ben Fuller came roaring back, and I realized that I still like “Who I Am” a little bit more than “First Things First” right now. So it remains at # 1 for a 7TH week in a row. It’s my longest-running chart-topper since Jordan St. Cyr’s “Weary Traveler” exactly a year ago.
MR. MATT MAHER – He’s back with (surprisingly) only his 3RD hit on my chart. His previous 2 hits spent a combined 40 weeks on my chart – peaking at # 1 and # 2 respectively. “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” has been out as a single since last June, but now it’s breaking-out at U.S. Christian Radio from coast-to-coast. It’s another catchy one that you can easily sing along to for our Lord.
This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 5 new entries – starting with a #SpecialWednesday post, and then #TravelThursday, #RetroFriday, #SundayScripture, and #Top10Monday.
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 our 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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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