God's Not Dead

"God's Not Dead, He's Surely Alive. He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion!!" - Newsboys

True story.... in my first year of college (yes I did actually go to college), I came home all upset and my mom asked what was the matter? I proceeded to tell her how my Biology professor had asked the class a question earlier that day..."who in the room was a Christian and believed in the story of God and or Jesus?". Not wanting to deny my faith I  raised my hand along with a few others in the class. That was when he decided it was a good idea to not only mock but also challenge us about it. He went on to further say, "If we believe in God then we have to prove his existence." So I went home understandably upset, and not wanting to be embarrassed, spent most of the way home thinking of how to proceed.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know my Bible and all that but was not nearly as vocal about my faith then as I am now, as I was just a young Greek Girl at the time. So back to when I arrived home... If you guessed that my mom was very perturbed when I told her what happened, you guessed right. She couldn't believe that a professor would think it was his place to do such a thing. Now, if you know anything about my mom let's just say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and if you know how I am with my Big Fat Greek opinion, then you can get an idea of how my mom is.   

She could not believe her ears when I told her the details of the days episode. In a swoosh she marched off to her bedroom and grabbed her trusty Bible, a legal pad and a pen. In no time she was marching back toward me and sat me down at the kitchen table where she proceeded to give me a sermon. Probably the most extensive Bible study I have ever had in my life. It was like an encyclopedia of knowledge poured out of her noggin. So there I was armed with all sorts of ammunition when I went back to school the next day. I strapped on my favorite sneakers and marched my butt into class with a notepad chockfull of notes and said (beneath a mischievous grin) something to the effect of, "well... here you go." It was great because it actually shut him up, thanks mom!

I felt so good and he actually left me alone. It was short lived though as it was not even two days later my English professor decided that the class had to watch the film "The Last Temptation of Christ", starring Willem Defoe. I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. If you don't know anything about that movie, just image "Jesus of Nazareth" in the Red Light District. I couldn't believe this was happening again. So I went home to inform my mom of the newest chapter in the college indoctrination episode. She then did what any good Godly mother would do and made a big stink. She called the college and demanded that her daughter not watch that stupid and twisted movie. Needless to say, I did not have to watch the movie and I was able to do my report on another topic.

Now fast forward umpteen years later and low-and-behold, we have a movie hitting the theater's called, "God's Not Dead." It's about almost the same thing, a liberal professor that takes it upon himself to ridicule and belittle the faith of a student who believes in God and Jesus. Just another instance where liberal logic unloads itself in our society and how some have taken to demonizing and tearing down people of faith. Ironically Christians are known for being positive and helpful loving people, even to those who do not share our values or faith. Something these Liberal professors love to profess is how we shouldn't "impose our Christian beliefs on others", yet they do not see the hypocrisy when they think it's a good idea to impose their liberal ideology, kumbaya craziness, and global warming gobbley goop on others people's children, just sayin.

Anyway, back to the movie. I think it's so cool that this storyline is something that actually happened to me and it's now on the Big Screen for the world to see. I am so thrilled that it has had only a limited opening and has already grossed over $8million in less than 800 theaters worldwide. In fact it came in 5th overall for the weekend on box office totals in openings this past weekend.

Since my mom and step-dad stopped by on their way home from Florida we didn't get to see it on opening weekend. However, you can count on one thing... where I will be this week. I am going to wrap my hot little hands around a popcorn and CocaCola in a dark theater with my sweetie as we watch and celebrate that, "GOD IS NOT DEAD"!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

The Bible

The Greatest Story is not just a story it's who we are and what makes us so.

So I was all excited to settle down tonight with a hot cup of Dunkin' Donut's (decaf of course) and a few Pekingese to snuggle up with and watch History Channel's "The Bible" by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.  Now, I know it's the second week of the 5-part series, and yes I did watch last week.  That's why I was so excited to get to watch it this week.  In case you haven't tuned in, which I can't imagine why you wouldn't, this is a really neat and one of a kind production.  Instead of a full length film about one character from the Bible we are getting to see and meet the main characters throughout the entire Bible.  It's actually pretty cool to see it like this.

Now, because I 'love' Roma Downey from Touched By an Angel and I used to watch that show whenever I could, I am not surprised she is a Christian and would want to produce this project.  What I did not know is that Mark Burnett was a Christian and would also be involved in making this project.  So for that, I say Kudos! That's Greek for "two-thumbs up" in case you didn't know.  What is even more interesting was that after reading about the production aspect of the mini-series, I learned the crew insisted on having prayer-circles and really dedicating the production to the guidance of God's hand in making it come to life.  One other thing I didn't know but find interesting is that when they produced it they wanted it to be engaging from the perspective of both those who are of the faith and for those who may not know the Bible story and therefore find it interesting.  So instead of making it over-dramatic with an overtly religious tone they insisted on it being made as a tool to minister to those who would possibly come to know Jesus and God through the Bible mini-series.

But then during the commercial break I made a mistake.  I opened my facebook to read my thread only to be completely disappointed.  If any of you know anything about me you would know how much it upsets me that our society is going down the drain with all the Beyonce, Housewife of Whatevertown, Lady Gaga and the idolized overpaid criminal gangster athletes leading the way.  So like I was saying, all I see in my newsfeed is a bunch of Christians complaining about how bad The Bible mini-series is and how it's so inaccurate. Some people were saying how they should be ashamed and that they can't watch it because it was blasphemous or whatever.

Let's just say, this kind of attitude really irked Greek Girl.  I was a bit perturbed to say the least.  Here I am thinking, "Isn't this great, we have a Hollywood Powerhouse couple making an effort to impact society through producing Godly Christian content in the mainstream arena and it falls in line with my ideals.  Meanwhile a whole bunch of miserable Christians are bashing it as if it were Beyonce flashing the Illuminati sign while half-naked during the Super Bowl.  Ironically, most people didn't even complain nearly as much about that as they did about The Bible mini-series.

So, I just have to ask, "What in the heck in the world is wrong with some people?"  Seriously, if we have any desire to change the way people act and behave in society and the direction of where we are taking, we have to start somewhere.  I tip my hat off to Burnett and Downey for taking a risk and trying to connect with both believers and no-believers alike while trying to honor the message and story of God and Jesus at the same time.  Here's my Greek Girl suggestion, instead of "bashing" what others are doing about spreading God's message of love and faith why not embrace it and promote it for what it is and encourage more content like it to be produced.  By doing so, we just might actually start to see this country begin to slowly turn around and just maybe we can start seeing morals and values come back "into fashion"...  Just a thought.

Blessings, Love & Music~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Why Should I Care

if you don't care... someone else will and you may not like the results.  just sayin'

Well you probably shouldn't.  Especially if you like all the crap that passes for entertainment these days.  I mean if it makes you giddy to know the umpteenth season of Kardashian's is about to start... then it's probably a good idea to just stick your head in the sand and roll with the dumbing down of our society.

What's wrong Greek Girl?  You seem kind of sarcastic this week you might be thinking.  Well, to be honest I am, and I am also mad.  Mad as heck.  Why?  Well because I know a lot of people who do not like what they see in entertainment today.  They are tired of watching mediocre talent be rewarded for acting like lunatics.  People go to rehab, great give them another movie role.  Arrested for drugs, or battery?... hey give them a Grammy.

Anyone see a problem here?  Is it just me?  No it's not.  I hear it, I see it and in my coconut for the life of me I can not figure out why on earth if people do not like what they see, they why are they watching it?  Why support things that are not in line with your values?  I'm not talking about boycotting everything or company that you do not necessarily agree with.  Because that could get pretty lonely and boring.  After all we can not just go crawl under a rock to hide from everything we do not believe in.

What I am saying is, if people want to see a change in society, then they need to realize the culture needs to be changed.  In order to change the culture you need to change the narrative.  If you want to change the narrative and what you see going on in the world, then you need take control of it by supporting the things in entertainment that fall in line with your values.  It is that simple.  Hollywood has been doing it for years now and for whatever reason the people of this country act like sheep and just go along with it.

I guess what it all boils down to is that we all see the fabric of our society being attacked left and right.  So what do we do?  Well we turn on the TV, we tune in to the radio and buy the concert tickets and re-tweet the very junk that is destroying our culture.  What most people don't get is that our culture is what is shaping us and drives our politics that run our country.  So, in turn, we are left with a government that is corrupt, leaders we can't trust and role-models who we should be ashamed of not rewarded.

Okay, take this for example.  As many of you may know I am in a songwriting contest for my song, "I Carry You With Me".  It was written about the loss of a loved one and has helped  a lot of people deal with grief and loss.  I'm an artist who desires to be a positive role-model who wants to share a positive message and be an inspiration to help lift people up.  However being an independent artist without the help of a record label I have limited resources to do so.  I'm not complaining by any means, just explaining why I entered the contest since the grand prize is $100k.  Hey - Greek Girl's money tree hasn't sprouted yet if you know what I mean and $100k would sure go a long way towards my musical goals.

Well, yesterday I posted about the contest and was attacked for asking for support from the very people I felt would most value my cause as an artist.  This shocked the Greek Girl.  It made me wonder What in the Heck in the World is wrong with this picture?  Here you have a hardworking artist trying to be the very thing this guy supposedly is fighting to support. Yet when faced with the choice to actually support it he attacks it.  All I was asking for was a vote, that is free.  Call me confused.  What's worse is he is just one of many.  There are a lot more like him.  These people are angry at what they see and the direction our country is going but for whatever reason find it perfectly okay to continue supporting the very thing that is at the root of our demise.

Don't take my word for it.  The other day by a dear friend of mine, popular writer/blogger Daria Degiovanni wrote a wonderful blog about this very thing.  It's a blog that talks about why it's so valuable for like-minded people to support one-another especially when it comes to shaping our culture through mainstream media and entertainment. http://www.dariadigiovanni.com/vote-for-ava-aston/

All I am saying is, Why should you care?  In the end, if you don't want real change in the narrative that drives our culture then don't support me.  For that matter don't support anyone who is fighting to change our country with our values, morals and sensibility.  Or, take a stand and make a difference by supporting artists like myself and others like me.  We NEED your support.  It's not just me, there are a lot of us but for whatever reason it's not "cool" to do so.  But in the off chance you want to take a minute out of your day and help the Greek Girl win that songwriting contest and move me closer to the goal of helping shape the narrative that will help move our country back to where it once was, well then go to: http://www.veewall.com/vocals/video/avaaston and follow these simple steps.

- Register for a Free account
- Confirm your registration (check spam folder - could end up there)
- Then vote.  You can vote once per day through April 29th.

It would be wonderful to win as it will enable me to continue to share my music and message with the world.  Thank you very much for your support :D

Blessings, Love & Music~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Politichicks

Honorary "Rock" Politichick ;) with a twist of comedy for good measure.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might've guessed by now that when I am passionate a particular topic, I am hard pressed to keep it out of my blog.  What can I say, I'm Greek... It's in my genes.  We invented Politics, The Olympics, Drama (Acting, seriously we did - look it up on google), Windex and a whole bunch of other things, so it's to be expected.  There are lots of things I'm passionate about like coffee, working out, dogs/animals and of course my music, and politics.  Shocking, I know you would have never guessed that one would ya? ;)

You see my filter broke off a few weeks ago, due to the fact that my noggin has at times has about spun off seeing the goings on in the world lately... and I can't seem to keep my big fat greek yap-trap shut.  So I decided to start speaking out about what I see going on.  Many of you may know this already about me, especially with my song, "We The People" that was written about getting back to our founding principals.  It was written because I can't stand to see my country losing it's identity.  The very same country my dad came to with only $20 in his pocket to chase the American Dream.  So I started my MissionWeThePeople.com website to help get the message of the song out to the masses before this the most important election of our lifetime.

A few months ago a good friend of mine asked me to be an honorary Politichick and take part in trying to make a difference.  What's Politichick's you might be thinking?  Well it's a group of women all across America coming together to help shed light on local, regional and even national and sometimes international news.  It's kind of like a conservative version of TMZ but with all smart women. ;)

My role as a Politichick will take a different approach.  Because I am a Greek and I love to laugh, and entertaining people; I will be creating political rants in the form of adding a sarcastic and funny spin on what is going on in the Main Stream Media.

As an artist, I love and value the freedom of speech which allows me the right to express myself however I feel it necessary.   For me it is crucial that I take part in what is going on.  Too often I turn on the TV or walk in the mall and see the impact our pop-culture is having on our society.  Not just on the youth, on everyone.  What most people don't realize is that with most of Hollywood being so liberal in their ideology they are literally stripping the morality away from our country.  In so doing they are allowing our very freedoms to be attacked and stripped away from us.  Including our freedom of speech as seen with the recent Innocence of Muslim's video on YouTube.  What's worse is that most people are becoming more and more desensitized by the people they idolize and don't realize their values are shallow and go against everything this country was founded upon.

So to get a taste of what to expect, feel free to watch any of my "Greek Girl Rants" on Politichicks or subscribe to my own YouTube channel and get them as they are posted.  Here are the first 3 with more to come:

Hope they bring you a great big smile!

Blessings, Love & Music~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

I Pledge

"I pledge Allegiance to the FLAG of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one Nation under GOD, indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all."

Now I know what you must be thinking... (especially people who have been reading my blog for any amount of time) "Oh no here she goes again."  You had to know I was going to have something to say about this whole debacle, didn't you?

Have you ever stopped and actually read the words of this simple yet profound pledge?  Most people don't.  Most people just rattle it off without really taking the time to connect with the true meaning of what this pledge actually means.

Let's look at it.  When someone says these words they are saying they will never serve another country and will always stand by it's people.  We acknowledge it is a nation under God - the creator of all of us and provider of our unalienable rights as human beings.  As well, it implies we cannot be divided and all of us have the same liberty and justice.  Yet, for some reason we can't say it in school anymore.  We almost never say it.  Now our country is more divided than ever and our schools have more crime and evil than ever and our courts are more corrupt.  Why?  What is happening?  Where did we go wrong?

In 1942 The US Congress enacted that this would be the official pledge of Allegiance for America and our flag.  It is intended to be a reminder of how important it is and how valuable being an American Citizen really is.

According to the US Flag Code, the Pledge "should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present and not in uniform may render the military salute. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute."

However this pledge and the flag of our country has been under attack for many years for a number of reasons.  Most recently I was disgusted and completely appalled to see what has been happening during this election season.  Not only have there been brain-dead celebrities who like drones are making public "pledges" not to their country but to President Barack Obama.  Jessica Alba and many others are literally asking voters to "pledge to Obama"

Jessica Alba Asks voters to Pledge to Obama

I wonder if she supports equal pay on all her films including her own pay? Just wonderin'

Now, check me if I am wrong, but didn't they do the same thing with Hitler back in the 30's??? Look how well that turned out.  Now, I am not saying Obama is Hitler or will ever do what he did.  However from a social standpoint it is just not right that anyone would ever pledge such a thing to any "person".  Yet he doesn't condemn it because I think in his narcissistic noggin he enjoys it.

I guess he must've just forgot.

What bothers me most about this is that not only do these celebrities who go along with the masses of others in order to be seen as "cool, hip or trendy" because Heaven forbid if in Hollywood you are a conservative or even worse a republican and you can never be a Christian because that would be just unthinkable.  Libertarians were probably birthed out of this very need to not be a total lib and somewhat still be seen as "cool" by those who would otherwise blacklist them from ever working again, joking... Greek girl knows the definition.  I guess what they don't understand is that they can't see past their ego and pride to realize they are causing such divisive behavior and being seen by youth as so-called role models and acting in such a moronic manner.  To say it is disturbing to me hardly even begins to cover it.

timing is always key – especially when you set out not to offend people.
I wonder where the apology is for this?

Now, let's not forget.  Last week Obama and his campaign found it was a good idea to create a new flag for his campaign.  Now, even though I am a blonde I am not dumb enough to not realize this is no "official" flag replacement but really??? Not only does this flag look erily similar to bloody finger drags along a wall - a - hem like seen in a most recent attack in Libya, but what's worse is that it includes his campaign logo.

So now you have all of Hollyweird pledging allegiance to their president and oohing and ahhhing over his idiotic and insensitive flag.

Okay, I know what you are going to say "what about freedom of speech"?  Yes, you would be right to ask this.  However, when we have thousands of soldiers on the front lines (not allowed to use Real Ammo I might add) who have sworn to protect and uphold this country and our constitution and to serve under a specific flag, our official flag and our Commander in Chief finds it appropriate to arbitrarily create a substitute flag that suggests a pledge to him?!?! I just gotta ask, what in the hell was he thinking?!?

Back to the celebrities.  Don't they realize what they are doing?  Don't they see how their very industry is under complete attack?  The freedom of speech that they hold so dear is on the verge of being stripped from them.  Because meanwhile as they are worried about free choice, fairness, free birth control and equal this and that, there is a stupid 20-minute film on Youtube called, "Innocence of Muslims" being used as a scape-goat for a worldwide uprising of Muslim extremists who have killed and injured many Americans while attacking and destroying our embassies abroad.   It is so bad of a film and was loaded months before these attacks that coincidently happened on 9/11...  Really?  All the uproar is supposedly due to the offensive nature of this film.  If Obama has his way with his recent apology tour our soldiers will be pledging allegiance to him and not our flag and our Hollywood elite will be completely censored.  That is of course, unless it offends Christians - because that's always okay in their book and by their standards.

I bet Obama would not apologize if this were his campaign flag.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this is just another sign of how much out of touch Obama and his swoon of Hollywood elites really are.  It is never cool to change the United States Flag, and the American people do not pledge allegiance to anything but our Country!  So on November 6, let's make sure we tell them just what we think.  Because in my humble Greek opinion... it's a bunch of Muckery!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :)
www.avaaston.com

Tolerance

Nothing like a little side of "Tolerance" with those waffle fries....

What was that?  That loud clanking sound?... oh that was nothing, it was just my filter it fell off and hit the floor.  Seriously, does the above photo look like "Tolerance" to you?

No one really wants to talk about it, but enough is enough.  The gloves are off and the Greek Girl has had it.  Has anyone else noticed that there is an all out assault on Christianity in the United States?  It's OK for everyone else to be whatever he or she desires to be: Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, gay, bi-sexual, LGBT, or anything else I forgot to mention - and we must not ever offend or make any of those people uncomfortable ever.  Because that would be just plain wrong, wound't it?  But those Christians, now they really have a lot of nerve don't they to expect the "exact same" freedom and respect to express their beliefs and to worship and among other things run their lives and businesses as they chose.

We have a word for this in the Greek language people it is called, Hypocrisy.

We have this amazing thing in the United States, it is called "The Constitution".  You know, it's a document that is over two hundred years old.  It was laid out for us as a guide by our Founding Father's.  Let's examine the First Amendment shall we?

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In case anyone needs a refresher course about the Pilgrims and why they risked life and limb to travel to the "New World", it was not to escape Religion.  It was Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom "From" Religion.  Many people have this misunderstanding that it was Freedom "From" Religion.  It was in fact, for the Freedom to practice their Religion the way they chose to.  The Freedom to be Protestant, Methodist, etc.  The Freedom to practice something other than the "State Run" Religion that was the law of the land in England.  The idea was to not have a "Government Run Religion".  That was the whole point of separation of Church and State...  Not to have a country without God, as many would like to have it nowadays.

Yet here we are hundreds of years later after good men and women fought and died for our Liberty and Freedom and now we have a Government telling us we can not offend anyone by being Christian.  They took God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and want to strip God from every public building.  That everyone needs to be free to be whatever they want, as long as that is not "Christian".  Because we Christians are offending people.  I find it ironic that we have Muslims coming here using our own laws against us, they are free to worship, establish mosques, get onto our social programs, and yet we "Christians" can not even live according to our faith because it might offend them or someone else.

Last time I checked, if any person enters a Muslim country with so much as a cross or a bible in their possession they will be tossed into jail, beaten, stoned, and or much worse things I don't care to list here but you get where I'm going.  But gee willikers if we Christians "offend" any Muslims here in our own country.  That would be so wrong...

I'm pretty sure the Founding Father's goal of Freedom of Religion was not meant to give people the right to practice a religion that tortures women, children, and animals among other things.  Peaceful Religion my behind.  A religion that offers a reward of being able to have 72 Virgins in heaven (which by the way having relations with a virgin can be a harsh act in and of its self, yet it's not just one, but 72 virgins no less), a religion that stones people, cuts off limbs for stealing, allows and encourages arranged marriages of children as young as 1 year old and those marriages to be consummated by the age of 9, and gasp... even condemns homosexuality to the point of even killing them.

So where is the outrage from the LGBT community towards Muslims?  Why aren't they up in arms demanding that Muslim owned businesses be boycotted?  Why aren't they accusing them of hate, and hate speech?  Just because there are no interview's dominating the news with a quote from a Muslim owned business owner does not change their position on homosexuality.

Tolerance - it's a simple enough idea.  I mean really who could argue with the whole "say la vie" mentality?  Live and let live in peace, and respect the beliefs of others.  Yet somewhere along the way in our society the whole idea has become really kajumpled.

Who could miss all the controversy that's been swirling around the word lately?  Unless of course you're one of the millions of people who keep track of just the "important stuff", you know like everything about The Kardashian's, and yet have no idea who their local Senator is...  (inside voice: the thought that these people are voting is frightening, really... but thats a rant for another day).  There's been lots of talk about Freedom of Speech, and tolerance.  Well in order to get some perspective about this whole fiasco lets take it back to the classroom shall we?  Tolerance according to the Merriam Webster dictionary means:

Tol·er·ance [tol-er-uhns] noun

1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc.,foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

So I just have one question, where's the tolerance?  A man stated his personal beliefs in an interview.  He stated his own personal views about the whole Gay Marriage issue.  No where in his statement did he say that he hated gays, that he didn't want gay people to eat there, or anything else that could be considered hateful.  What he stated was his personal belief and according to his faith that "Marriage" is between one man and one woman.  He went onto further express that when we as a society start to think we know better than God it is a slippery slope.  Marriage by the way is a "biblical" term.  Why gay people demand that a religion that clearly states what they are doing and how they are living is against it's practices, why they demand that religions "term" be used to describe their lifestyle makes no sense in my noggin.

How is it tolerant to start a great big fat muckery sandwich in the media over a company that is free to run it's business however it choses, and to express their faith?  Because according to The Constitution Chick-fil-a is free to do just that.

If we all have to be tolerant of everyone else's beliefs, then you know what, everyone else better get used to Christian's being able to express their own beliefs as well.  Because it goes both ways people, it goes both ways.  All right, Greek Girl is coming down off of my soapbox, and going to attempt to re-insert my filter....  Signing off until next time.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com

Change the National Anthem… Whach-u-talkin-about-willis?!

Change the What?... Good Grief!!

Most of my blog readers know that the Greek Girl has been known to temporarily lose her filter from time to time.  Well today my friends is one of those times, so sit back grab your favorite beverage and read on.  You see recently radio talk show host Bill Press went on a rant about how it was his mission to "Change the National Anthem".  (I know, crazy talk right?...) 

Yup he did say it and a whole bunch of other things.  Things like it was: un-singable because it has two octaves, the words do not mean anything and are offensive, yada yada yada yada, it was a complete muckery sandwich.  Feel free to listen to his debacle here:
Bill Press Rant.  Something else most of my readers know, is that Greek Girl loves her country.  I admit it, I'm an old fashioned girl with simple values, and there are two things you do not mess with in my coconut: Respect for Our Country, and our Military.  Good men and women fought and died for our freedoms.  Maybe Bill Press skipped the history section where they taught about America and our Founding Fathers when he was in school, but the Greek Girl did not.

Imagine, some silly talk show host has the audacity to spat in the eye of the Men and Women who shed their blood for our country. Our National Anthem has a very deep meaning, no not from "modern day" living, but from our Revolutionary Roots.

Our forefathers would be ashamed to hear someone belittling something so sacred. Sorry Bill Press but you are wrong.  The fact that our modern culture is full of people being rewarded who can not sing and then they get up and do silly things like sing our National Anthem on TV with the lyrics written on their hands or flub the words and worst of all sing it off key, doesn't mean the "song" is bad.  It simply means we should stop giving people a pass just because they are a "celebrity" or they showed up on a reality show and are all of the sudden a "singer" - just sayin.

So when my very talented good friend Alfonzo Rachel from "ZoNation" asked me to sing the National Anthem with him I was honored and thought it was a great idea.  Check out Alfonzo's website at: www.machosauceproductions.com  We decided to show Bill Press that it's not the songs fault that some chose to sing it disrespectfully.  The song has a very special and deep meaning to anyone who loves America and values the sacrifice it took to build it, make it free, and to keep it Free.

Yes there are plenty of other patriotic songs that are wonderful, beautiful even, and we love and cherish them as well.  They all have their place, but our "National Anthem" is our National Anthem for a reason.  America did not just suddenly appear of out osmosis.  It was born from struggle and from a people who yearned to be and live free from tyranny from the oppressive rule of a Monarchy.  It was a hard fought and yes ugly and bloody battle.  The words in the song reflect the magnitude of what was done to give us our free America.  The flag "The Star Spangled Banner" was and still is a symbol to so many who fought in that battle, and it is very sacred.  I mean hello... I can't imagine Bill Press hasn't seen the movie "The Patriot".  Even someone who might not share all my values should be able to get an idea of what it took to make us America and why the lyrics would have meaning.

Lyrics:

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.    

So if you agree with Zo and I and are sick and tired of people trying to change America, and think our National Anthem should stay the same, by all means please feel free to share the video above with your email, facebook, twitter, all the usual suspects.  That is your mission should you chose to accept it...  Thank you for your support, it means the world to me!  Have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava  :D  xox
www.avaaston.com