I had to marvel of the speed of it all. From the idea, to the execution, to the video being uploaded to YouTube, Josh saw an opportunity and went for it. I believe that it took longer for Josh to stand in line to getinside the costume store than it did for him to make this video. And it won’t take long for this video to make it’s way around the world.

You gotta love that! Josh’s video reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: The universe rewards action!

Josh recently performed during this years CMJ Festival, and his style has been described as “Dr John’s piano playing meets Van Morrison’s vocals”. Learn more about Josh at Josh Charles Music

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Ten Last-Minute Halloween Costumes – Click here for this week’s top video clips

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Best DIY Halloween Costumes on Youtube!

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Day 21 of “The 31 Days of Band Halloween” features a video by singer/songwriter Kina Grannis, in which she performs a cover of Rihanna’s latest single “Disturbia”. Kina Grannis has been on my radar since August, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to share, and just in time for “Band Halloween”, she records a verson of Rihanna’s “Disturbia”. In the spirit of full transparency, Kina’s video is not exactly scary, but I will add that there are candles, as well as a “scary” doll featured. But hey, we’re talking band Halloween here, and it’s close enough for me!

Kina Grannis is a Web 2.0 musician, without a doubt, and I’ll tell you why. When I took Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge for internet marketing in August, one of the Challenger teams favorited a video of Kina singing a song she wrote called Gotta Digg while we were learning how to bookmark websites. The song was cute, and she even had her sisters singing backup with her. My first thought was how clever (not to mention viral) it was to write a song about an online bookmarking site. My second thought was that I had to find out more about this singer.

So glad I checked, because Kina’s Digg song barely scratches the surface of what she is about.

Miz Grannis releases a new video each week to YouTube and her blog at KinaGrannis.com. Each video is a song of her own, or a cover, or maybe even a guitar tutorial. At the end of her videos, she talks to her fans, and if she’s received any fan gifts since last week’s video, she’ll give a little “show and tell” at the end, along with personal thank yous. Her idea of combining performing with videoblogging is GENIUS, I must say.

Her dedication to the goal of posting a new video each week has been parlayed into an appearance on the Super Bowl, sold-out shows, and even a record deal. Oh, and I cannot forget the dedication she inspires in her tireless street team. Kina’s street team puts in the time for her, and even created a birthday video for Kina (This page also features other birthday dedication videos from Kina’s fans too).

On one hand, what she has done with her music career is amazing. On the other hand, it’s not impossible, and can be replicated by other musicians willing to put in the dedication.

You can’t buy this kind of fan love. You earn it by showing up regularly and performing.

I dare you. Try it!

Kina Grannis – Disturbia (cover of Rihanna tune)

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The band Balthrop, Alabama was formed in early 2006 in Brooklyn, New York by Alabama-born songwriter-siblings Pascal and Lauren Balthrop and eight or nine of their musically-inclined neighbors. They get together every so often to sing songs about dead people in love.

What a creative band this is!! You just have to check out the Balthrop, Alabama website. See the rest of the band Halloween photos for Balthrop, Alabama on Flickr Check out the Balthrop, Alabama blog too!

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Happy Halloween Music is a single 3-minute happy, scary, spooky, silly, funny Halloween song written, performed and recorded by Steven Cravis and now available on legal download sites such as Apple iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster and eMusic.

Warning to parents: Some toddlers may experience the music as mildly unpleasant and may frown when listening to it.

While working his way towards getting his music licensed for major motion pictures, Steven has enjoyed other types of music licensing projects, including the highly rated video game web site orisinal.com. Steven has produced music for 3 orisinal.com games: bubble bee, Voyage and Critical Zone, and will be producing more soon. Please send your feedback to relax [AT] stevencravis [DOT] com

For more info on Steven Cravis or Happy Halloween Music, check out HappyHalloweenMusic.com and StevenCravis.com

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Remember always, your mileage may vary!

No Virginia, Halloween is not Evil

Halloween is not evil.

Halloween was originally a holiday that celebrated the end of the harvest before Christianity existed. Before Christianity, women were understood to produce life, and it is believed that humans worshipped a Mother Nature/Goddess. It is also believed that these nature lovers were mostly peaceful folk.

When Jesus “the Christ” (means “the Anointed”) lived, his power for love, forgiveness, and healing changed people, and the world forever. Long after His death, his devoted followers passionately spread his teachings throughout the world.

Unfortunately, some of Christianity’s strongest champions employed ruthless methods to convert non-Christians into believers. In addition to physical methods such as torture, pro-Christianity propaganda was also employed.

Pre-Christian practices were then named evil, in order to discourage followers. Before Christianity expanded, Friday the 13th and black cats were considered very lucky. After Christianity was established, forget about it.

Pre-Christian holidays (yes, there were holidays way back then) such as the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain were too popular to destroy, so they were “baptized” with a new Christian name and story. Samhain became “All Hallows Eve” celebrated every October 31st, when it was believed that the veil between the dead and the living was thinnest. To be safe, November 1st was also celebrated as “All Saint’s Day”.

After a few hundred years, no one even remembers why the name changed. But whatever you want to call Halloween, kids (and bands!) love it as a day to dress up in costumes, and try on another persona. So no, Halloween is not evil.

But in my humble opinion, Mother Nature should have fired her publicist!

Source(s):
Wikipedia: Venus of Willendorf
Women in Prehistory
Wikipedia: Venus Figurines
Wikipedia: Halloween
Wikipedia: Spanish Inquisition
Wikipedia: All Saints Day

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