The DJ Rollie D Story

2016 had ups and downs for me.  It was a year of personal growth that saw landmark events in my life as well as some letdowns that thankfully didn't stop me from where I am trying to get to down the road.  I also some personal spiritual growth and met lots of new people, which are two goals I've been adhering to since 2014. Below are some highlights from the past calendar year, including pictures and a brief description of why it was so special to me.  They are not ranked in order of importance, but rather just tossed out in order of the calendar year (January-December) January: Emily Larson Interview Article In November of 2015, Emily Larson made local headlines and history when she became the first female mayor of Duluth, MN.  There have been countless newspaper articles and blog posts written about her election and plans for her first few months to years in office, and I had the opportunity to write one myself.  To check it out, follow  this link Febru

In 2014, Irish worship and praise band Rend Collective released a Holiday album and titled it Campfire Christmas .  This album takes the same sound you'd expect from the band and puts it to the tunes of classic Holiday songs as well as some newly written material from the band that will be sure to delight fans for years to come. For me, the best song on the album is easily the band's rendition of Ding Dong Merrily On High , subtitled The Celebration's Starting .  With a nice down home sound to it the song charges through one of the best Christmas carols out there with a steady beat that is reminiscent of Build Your Kingdom Here , all in under two minutes (the song is 1:55 long) and even bursts into Deck The Halls , near the end, so it's like a 2-in-1 package. The other highlight for me is one of the original songs, Merry Christmas Everyone . The song basically sees the band going through all the joys of Christmas all while spelling out Christmas in a chant lik

Hey friends!  Looking for something to play at your Christmas gathering tonight?  Check out these top 20 Christmas songs right here.  Video links are included so that you can play them from their respective windows. #20: Robert Earl Keen - Happy Holidays Y'all #19: Darius Rucker - What God Wants For Christmas #18: Ages & Ages - We Need A Little Christmas #17: The Glee Cast - Do You Hear What I Hear? #16: The Tractors - Swingin Home For Christmas #15: Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town #14: Lady Antebellum - The First Noel #13: Sarah McLachlan - Silent Night #12: Andy Williams - The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year #11: John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) #10: Merv Griffin - Christmas City (Duluth's Christmas Song) #9: Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer #8: Rend Collective - Merry Christmas Everyone #7: Paul McCartney

As a side note, it's worth noting that when I first put the title into this blog post, I put "2013" into the title box instead of "2016".  Whoops.  Isn't it crazy how fast three years can pass you by? Anyways, the following post details my favorite 10 songs from the past year (12/1/2015-11/30/2016). The reason it starts out in December is because most songs introduced in that month usually don't make much of a splash until January or Februrary after all the Christmas music leaves the airwaves, therefore making it worthy to include December in this list.  They are in order from #10 all the way to #1, and I hope you enjoy them all. So.... drumroll please..... (insert fake snare drum noises or smacking hands on tables) #10 - Amy & Adams: Just A Little Road Song (from the album "Home With You") Do you ever head out on the open road and start randomly singing songs with your spouse/significant other/children/random animal in the c

Ah the wonderful sounds of the Christmas season!  The bellringers from the Salvation Army outside the grocery stores, the carolers going from door to door, and the sound of snow piling up on our door stoops.  Whatever other sounds, you may associate with this time of the year, I hope you enjoy the Christmas season whichever way you may celebrate it. Of course, let's remember the reason for the season (Jesus), and also remember that spending quality time with family and friends holds much more importance than making sure the kids have that wonderful new toy they've been begging for since they saw it on the shelves when the shops started pushing Christmas in September.  It also holds more importance than the Christmas meal.  Food is great, but it's not what would spoil a holiday. I have two things that would be considered "my favorite things" when it comes to Christmas.  The first is the Christmas lights.  Recommendations if you live in the Nort

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the best things out there when it comes to food for me.  They are one of the things that I tend to eat the most often and have been my favorite for the longest time yet. I can remember the first time I tried one as a young lad, and I've been in love ever since.  It's the way to my heart when it comes to food, and I guarantee that for me there is no better way to eat them then fresh and hot out of the oven, after they've cooled down of course. These cookies are so universal, and they are the most eye-appealing, being the ones Cookie Monster devours everyday and the ones being sold in droves at local fairs and festivals.  They smell amazing coming out of the oven, no doubt about it, and they're sure to win a baking contest when done well. If I had the opportunity to eat a bunch of them everyday (I don't because I know my health will rapidly crash and burn) I so would. And of course, let's not forget about the double

Public Radio really has put an interesting spin on radio.  Rather than music 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year, or doing the same thing with talk radio, it finds a way to mix the best of both worlds and create a truly unique experience for the listener. Over time, listening to several different public radio stations, most recently KAXE, has helped me find some really interesting shows that are always worth another listen and that you may very much enjoy yourself.  Here are some of those shows The Splendid Table I first stumbled across The Splendid Table when I was looking to diversify Free Range Sports Radio last December.  The gist of the show is that it's basically a cooking show that goes on a "world tour of food", at least that's what I understood from the few episodes I listened to.  It takes your average cooking show and blows it out of the water.  You can listen to the show  here This American Life Hosted by Ira Glass, This Ame

Here's what you do in your college public speaking class.  These videos are me when I gave the speeches.  We were asked to pick a community issue, from which I chose the EBT Program and how it needs reform, and then I later collaborated with Andrew Olfelt to give a speech on education reform here in America.  I hope you enjoy the speeches :) Speech of Introduction - Given 9/9/2016 Informative Speech - Given 10/7/2016 Team Persuasive Speech - Given 11/18/2016

In just two short days many of us will be sitting down to a table with our family members to enjoy a meal together as well as play games, watch football, share what we're thankful for, and then fall asleep into a turkey coma mid-afternoon.  Yes that's right, it's Thanksgiving.  Man this year has flown by.... Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  One of the reasons is the absence of gift-giving, which removes the obligatory parts of Christmas and Easter and turns the holiday into more of an authentic celebrate it with your family type of thing.  Christmas shopping has more than crept into the holiday, but most of us are still able to ignore it and wait to catch those doorbuster sales until another day, and while I work for a company that needs me on Thanksgiving night and I don't mind it that much, I do applaud the Mall of America for deciding to be closed this year.  Definitely a possible sign of them trying to reverse a trend we've seen over the las

Snow is something many of us seem to be bi-polar about, myself included.  We love it when the first snowfall of the year graces it's way through our area, but by March we're sick of it and ready for Spring.  It coats the roads, causes car accidents, and sends people to supermarkets in droves, because everyone's worried that this will be the last time they ever make it out of their house for the next few days, which never really seems to be the case thankfully. Regardless of that though, lots of us love a good snow.  Think of the things we have to be thankful for when the snow flies.  We are now able to go (if there's enough snow), sledding, skiing, have snowball fights, and build snowmen. There are tons of things to do when that first winter storm hits, and we should enjoy it while we can.  I've been regretting not being able to take part in Winter activities these past few years due to my numerous prior commitments, but maybe this will be the year