April was a tough month to beat on the header (that’s the picture at the top of the site, I prefer to call it the banner but WordPress labelled it.) Somara catching Molly climbing into an empty bag of food was priceless. So I really, really tried to formulate something equally impressive with May. It’s a very memorable month for me: grandparents’ birthdays, Jose’s birthday, the kickoff to the Summer movie season (definitely making plans to see Thor) and many things happened to me in the past. Obviously, the easy theme I could’ve gone with was graduation because I earned my high school diploma 25 years ago. Even then I didn’t consider it much of an accomplishment since I was going to college plus I mostly cruised through the last three years.
For the hell of it, I tried to see what Google could come up with and the darned thing actually helped! Normally the only thing the world’s primary search engine can nail down specifically on the first attempt is porn and/or celebrity gossip. Anyway there was a blip saying May is New Zealand music month. I thought why not. With a bit more research (black is the color of their national teams) and effort, I made a collage I’m quite pleased to use as a show of my appreciation for the islands many just associate with being the place where Lord of the Rings was shot.
This also ushers in a little contest to see who’s paying attention. It will also push the limits on everyone’s musical knowledge regarding New Zealand and I doubt Google can help anybody cheat.
Whoever can name all 16 artists/bands in the collage via Comments, not an e-mail, wins $25 New Zealand dollars-worth of iTunes; as of today’s exchange rate, it’s equal to (roughly) $20 US. Here are a couple other rules:
- I have to know you. Strangers I’ve never met are cool when they post but they’re rare. I may change my mind if one proves to be a real person, not a ‘bot. My wife Somara is automatically disqualified, she saw my initial research and overheard some of my discoveries.
- Don’t sweat misspellings or any who use stage names.
- All 16 did originate in New Zealand despite several currently living in Australia, America or the UK.
- In the case of a tiebreaker, the bonus question will be “I have songs performed by all but one, which is it?” Something I hope to rectify in the near future.
Good luck and I know six are pretty obvious.