Blog Your Blessing : Conjunto Music

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach~


While working in my garden this evening, I heard conjunto music. Then, I realized it was live music from a neighbor's home. I enjoy all types of music, so I just listened and went back to work digging Johnson Grass.

I thought I heard songs that sounded familiar, but the words were in Spanish, so I was not sure. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish. So, I listened closely and tried to make out some of the words. It sounded like they were singing about "Dios" and "Jesus." Then the song ended and I thought I heard "Amen."

My husband walked down the street a ways and came back and said it was a tent revival! The band had guitars, an accordion and drums. Every so often, the band would yell out "Hallelujah" between songs. This was a nice surprise and made me feel connected to this revival down the street.

I wanted to walk down the street and join in, but I was dirty, tired, clothed in an old house dress and gardening gloves. Instead, I just sat there as the sunset went down, listening to spirit-filled singing rocking the neighborhood.


Los Aleluyas


Many of you living in other countries may not know exactly what conjunto or tejano music sounds like. I have included above video of Los Aleluyas, a band that plays the type of music I listened to last night. Los Aleluyas means The Hallelujahs.

Conjunto and Tejano Music

In the late 1800s, the Mexican population of South Texas and northern Mexico adopted the lively button accordion from German settlers and combined it with the the 12-string bass guitar to develop a new style of music known as conjunto.

I love living in Texas!




The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings Sunday. Visit the blog, grab the blogroll code, add it to your blog, and leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience. Next Sunday, post your blessing. We are of all faiths, creeds and races, so everyone is welcome. Join us on Sunday as we blog our blessings.


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Relay for Life at The Ben Spark

Relay For LifeAllison and Ben Spark are walking in the Relay for Life on June 27 and 28. They are each trying to raise $250 in donations for the American Cancer Society.

To encourage donations, Ben Spark is offering bribes, I mean incentives, I mean options and they include Entrecard credits and advertising, of course.

Ben Spark's blogs are highly trafficked. They may be PR 3, but they were higher before the G00gle hammer hit our blogs.


Here are the Incentives to Donate a Tax Deductible Contribution to the Fight Against Cancer

$10 donation - 1,500 Entrecard Credits and will display your EC card (or other 125x125 pixel ad) on The Wired Kayaker for 1 month and include a link to your blog in a thank you post on The BenSpark.

$25 donation -5,000 Entrecard Credits and will display your EC card (or other 125x125 pixel ad) on Google is Not God (PR3) for 2 months and include a link to your blog in a thank you post on The BenSpark.

$50 donation - 7,500 Entrecard Credits and will display your EC (or other 125x125 pixel ad) on The BenSpark (PR3) for 3 months and include a link to your blog in a thank you post on The BenSpark.

$100 donation -15,000 Entrecard Credits and will display your EC (or other 125x125 pixel ad) on Read to me Dad for 6 months and include a link to your blog in a thank you post on The BenSpark.

$150+ donation - 25,000 Entrecard Credits, a review of your blog on The BenSpark, will display of your EC card (or other 125x125 pixel ad) on all four of his blogs for 6 months and include a link to your blog in a thank you post on The BenSpark.

Here are Links to The Blogs:
The BenSpark
The WiredKayaker
Google is Not God
Daddy Read to Me

If you decide you wish to donate, just go to Ben Spark's Personal Page for the Relay for Life or to Allison Spark's Personal Page for the Relay for Life. After leaving the donation, list your name and blog address on the Fundraising Honor Roll. Then write Ben an e-mail at benspark @ benspark dot com with your EC e-mail address, your EC card or another 125X125 card that you want displayed and the link for that image.

The walk is this weekend. Please go over and donate whatever you have to spare. This is an excellent cause and the Entrecard credits and advertising make it a wonderful deal for you. It is what you call a win-win situation.

Recovering Photographs Deleted in Error

I will never forget the time that I copied all the photographs in the My Pictures folder to a CD. I labeled the CD and then I deleted the originals. Guess what? The CD did not work. Four years of my life and my family--GONE.

If this ever happens to you, remember Photo Nose™ Photo Image Recovery Software. You may download and install the PhotoNose program. If you will be recovering photographs from a memory card or camera, attach it to your computer. When the program opens, select the drive or the device you wish scanned. Then let the program run.

It took 2 hours to scan my computer hard drive and 16 minutes to scan my camera's memory card. The program makes at least two passes to recover your photographs. Thumbnails of the photographs appear with a little check box next to them. You select the photographs you wish to recover and push the next button. If you have a license, the photographs magically appear. Otherwise you will be directed to purchase the software.

The standard version of PhotoNose, which will recover images that are jpeg, bmp, tiff, rif and gif formats, costs $29.95. The professional version of PhotoNose is $49.95 and will recover the following image file types: jpeg, bmp, tiff, rif, gif, Cannon (crw, cr2), Kodak (dcr), Minolta (mrw), Nikon (nef), Fuji (raf), Sigma (x3f), Pentax (pef) and Sony (srf). The professional version will also recover the following audio file types: wav, mid, mp3 and mp4; and the following video formats: mpg, mov, avi, asf, mp4.

So if you deleted your wedding, baptism, anniversary or graduation photographs, let PhotoNose "sniff" them out and recover them. No one will ever know that you deleted them!

Celtophilia Limerick Contest

The blog Celtophilia is having a limerick contest. Some of the limericks are bawdy, some haunting and some are just too funny! Stop by and read and vote for your favorites until 12 pm on June 30.


Learn About Live Video Streaming

All Things... With Erica O'Grady

Click the Banner Above to Bookmark the Site
All About Video: Live Streaming 101
June 30th, 2008 at 3PM EST

Explore the World of Online Streaming Video. Take a look at sites like Ustream.tv, QIK.com, BlogTV, Stickam, and more. Learn about equipment, sets, and how to create a memorable broadcast with little to no budget. Discover how to distribute and re-purpose video content online.


Blog Your Blessing : Blessing Bags


For some reason, I became accustomed to using debit and credit cards for all purchases. I never missed having money until I had to drive by a homeless person on the side of the road. As I drove by, I thought about where I would be without faith, family and friends. I wondered what Jesus would think of me driving by without stopping. That evening I went to the store, purchased some food, and made up bags of food.

I call them blessing bags:

  1. canned meat

  2. package of crackers and cheese (or peanut butter)

  3. granola bar

  4. bottle of water

  5. box of raisins

  6. can/cup of fruit

  7. napkin, plastic utensils, salt & pepper

  8. prayer card
I keep these bags on the back floorboard of my car. Now, when I see a homeless person, I grab a bag, pull to the side of the road and honk. When the person comes to the window, I say, "Here is some food for you."

When I hand over the bag of food, I always receive a "God Bless You." That is why I call them blessing bags.



The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings Sunday. Visit the blog, grab the blogroll code, add it to your blog, and leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience. Next Sunday, post your blessing. We are of all faiths, creeds and races, so everyone is welcome. Join us on Sunday as we blog our blessings.


Out Spottt and No 125 Exchange

I have taken the Spottt box and the 125 Exchange box off this blog. I was trying each for a few months as detailed in these previous posts: Spottt and 125 Exchange. After a few months, I have decided it is not worth the blog sidebar space.

The problems with both programs were the same:
  • No way to determine where your advertisement had being shown.
  • No way to select blogs on which you would like your advertisement to be shown.
  • A click-through rate of .1% for both programs for all advertisements and displays.
  • Low caliber of some advertisements displayed on my blog.
  • Slowing of blog load time.
Both programs were free, so it was not an easy decision to make to discontinue them. As a marketer, I am always thinking about brand awareness. Should I keep both programs because someone may see my blog or blog advertisement and remember it from one of the two programs? I finally decided no.

These were my results. Perhaps yours would differ.

10K ECs on July 4 via impNERD!

impNERD is holding a July 4th contest and he is giving away 10,000 Entrecard credits to one (1) lucky winner. This is a big prize, worth at least $40. I would LOVE to win those credits!

How to enter:

1. Post a photo of yourself or a pet looking like a nerd on your blog (no link required): 2 entries

2. Draw a picture of what you think an imp nerd looks like. Can be any style. Post on your blog (no link required): 2 entries

3. Post a story on your blog about your favorite 4th of July story (non-USAians can choose any holiday!): 1 entry

4. Post an article with a link back to the contest: 1 entry

5. Post an article with a link back to any impNERD.com page: 1 entry

Visit impNERD today and tell him CyberCelt send you.

Out of Touch for Awhile

I have some health issues and will be away for a day or so to see what I can find out at the hospital.




While I am gone, please read the story of Serena and help in any way possible. Serena is a 3-year-old child with neuroblastoma.

Maybe you know someone who could help. Maybe you got "people" and they can call her people. Maybe you can donate a couple of bucks. Your donation might make the difference between life and death for this precious child.





What About Brazil : 10,000 EC Giveaway


What About Brazil is holding an Entrecard credit booster contest every month.

TOP PRIZE » 10,000 EC credits.

To enter, simply write an article about What About Brazil or about this contest.

You may read all about the contest here: Entrecard contest [July 2008] | What About Brazil

This is a nice blogger who is trying to give something back to the community.

From the blog:
The intention of this contest is to help new bloggers increase the traffic in their blogs. I’m very thankful to have found Entrecard. Once I understood how Entrecard worked and started taking it seriously, the traffic in my blog went skyrocket.
The winner of the contest will be the website that drives more traffic to What About Brazil during July. The winner will be selected the first day of the August. This contest will continue throughout the year with one winner a month.

Things are Tough All Over

The latest victim of high gas prices is prostitution. In Nevada, where prostitution is legal, the pleasure business has dropped as the price of diesel has risen.

Filling an 18-wheeler can cost more than $1,000. For an independent trucker, this does not leave much discretionary income for recreation and relaxation.

The economic impact of legal houses of prostitution on the state economy is estimated to be an annual $400 million.

From Bordellos on Billboards - Advertising Age:

A law from the 1970s forbade Nevada's brothels from advertising outside their local area was struck down in July:
American Civil Liberties Union challenge was filed on behalf of several brothels and local newspapers arguing the First Amendment protected commercial free speech too.

In addition to billboards, other innovative marketing promotions include get your ticket punched and your 10th visit is free, marketing brothels as "home away from home," and free buffets and BBQs.

Maybe the brothels should put in gas pumps?



To Hack or Not To Hack

Hack how to is giving away an entire array of tools you may use to protection your site or to explore another's blog.

Blog Your Blessing : Two Wolves

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'

The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'


Which wolf are you feeding?



The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings Sunday. Visit the blog, grab the blogroll code, add it to your blog, and leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience. Next Sunday, post your blessing. We are of all faiths, creeds and races, so everyone is welcome. Join us on Sunday as we blog our blessings.