Another Go-round

Hello everyone in the blog sphere. Is there anyone even here anymore? Or, has everyone flown the coop to Substack? Call me old school, call me old fashioned, but seriously there is just too much technology, and too many platforms to switch every time the wind blows. 

I have written many a blog about this topic, too much technology, and too much screen time changing society, and not for the better. Of course, that is just my humble Greek opinion. So anyhow, for those reasons and more I’ll just stay here. 

Moving along. Has anyone noticed that it’s that time again? What time, you may be wondering… election season, of course. Having recently transplanted to a quaint little town in the battleground state of Pennsylvania (just on the border of New York and New Jersey) my television set is flooded with political ads 24/7. Which at times, has my inside voice using words that would definitely land me in a stint of Facebook jail should I ever choose to post them there. 

Which leads me to the topic of this blog post. Now, it’s no secret that Greek Girl rolls to the right politically. Actually, for most of my life, I had not been a fan of musicians weighing-in on politics. Personally, I am the kind of person who can get along with anyone, even people who do not agree with me on hot button issues including politics. However, back in 2009 I saw a change coming that terrified me. So I did what all songwriters do, I wrote about it. I wrote a song called “We The People” on a cocktail napkin while I was working my pay the bills job as a cater waiter/bartender in NYC with my Mr. 

Most everyone who has followed my music knows I only have one “political” song and that is it. So why the change in my thought process? Why did I release that song and weigh in on something that could alienate music fans? Well, because it was not about left or right, it was about right and wrong. It was about individual people waking up to what was, and is going on around them, and getting involved in making a change. So many people like to sit around and armchair quarterback what is going on in the world. My one “political” song was written to remind people that the government works for us, and not the other way around. 

That being said, I wrote it, released it, and did some pretty amazing things with it. I have performed it all across the country at various political rallies, met some fantastic people along the way including the legendary Andrew Breitbart while singing it at a rally at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and even sang it on the Capitol lawn way back in 2010 with the Tea Party Patriots. I was invited to join a political commentary website called Politichicks, and made many like of mind friends in the entertainment industry including my good friend, the very talented commentator/musician Alfonzo Rachel (formerly of PJTV).

After I “came out” I then noticed something weird started to happen… Facebook, Google and Big Tech started to make changes to the algorithm, they started what has now commonly become known as “shadow-banning”. Now, hear me out. I am not complaining, but it happened slowly and started to hit most everyone. That is unless you were hugely famous, or of a particular political persuasion, if you know what I mean. They got so bad that they all but erased my friend Alfonzo from the internet. This is a guy who used to post a YouTube video and within hours it would have hundreds of thousands of views, and millions within weeks. If they can do it to him, they can do it to anyone, and that is exactly what they did. 

We all saw what they did in the name of “misinformation” during covid, and it has only gotten more partisan as the years have gone by. This phenomenon has in turn, made it quite challenging to promote my music & message. 

Nevertheless, I have stayed on social media despite the big tech shenanigans. I just do what I can and sprinkle my music and message, and hope in some small way that I can be an alternative to the ROT that has become mainstream “entertainment” today. 

So here we are, another election season upon us. We have made several video versions of my song “We The People” and uploaded them to YouTube. Youtube has left a few of them up, but they have also removed several. The most recent one they removed was literally a lyric video with the American Flag backdrop with the lyrics. Mind you there are no explicit lyrics, no cursing, nothing of a sexual nature, nada, nothing. As many who know me, know I tend to dress more like June Cleaver vs. Beyonce. So, it is really mind-blowing to me that YouTube who allows songs like “WAP” and all kinds of other explicit and offensive content to remain there, yet gives my channel a strike, and removes my song because they said “it promoted a dangerous conspiracy theory”. Someone might want to give YouTube the memo that they are a company based in the United States of America. Not sure how anyone could find the American Flag and the words “We The People” (which are in our Constitution) offensive… but then again, what do I know. 

So I uploaded the "offensive Video" to Rumble, and here we are, back to election season. We the People have two choices in this election. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. No person is perfect. We have seen life under both choices, and all Americans should take a good hard look at what life has been like for the last four years, and what is was like before. They can then decide how they want to vote. For me, as the daughter of a legal immigrant (from Greece), the choice could not be clearer. This is literally the most important election of my lifetime. I feel compelled to get my song out to try to inspire people and make a difference. 

So, despite the minions at Big Tech working overtime to bury my content, the Mr. & I have decided to go around them. We are launching a radio promotion for the song. Hoping to take it directly to the people, and hopefully, God willing, get the song out to the masses. Of course, I have to get it by the program directors. Hopefully they will like it, and play it. 

How can you help? Well, you can download the song wherever you like to download music: iTunes, amazon, etc., add it to your Spotify, subscribe to my Rumble channel, share the video, and you can call you local radio station and ask them to play “We The People” by Ava Aston. It would sure mean a lot to me. I am very appreciative of the time it took to read this blog. I know the world is busier than ever and everyone has a lot going on in their lives. Taking the time to listen to the song and share it can hopefully help to waken the masses to this do or die decision that is upon us all. Thank you again so much! 

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

Leap Please

Leap day is here. Pretty neat indeed, but I think I'd like to leap to the next one please. Normally I'm not the kind of person to want to fast-forward to the future, but this particular leap day, America seems to be relishing in the politics of hate. So if I could I would fast forward to four years from now when it's all over.

Funny, the last time we had a leap year it was also an election year. I think the extra day has done something to peoples brains. It's not surprising to find the usual suspects in an election... opposing ideas, plans, and debate. It's when you toss the media in the mix that things start to really boil, which is expected. However this year I think someone turned the heat to high and it's turning everyone's noggins to mush.

The vitriol is at levels I have not seen in my lifetime. Maybe it's that social media is playing a part in this election like never before. Access for everyday people to sit behind a computer screen and type whatever they like without regard to whether it is actually true or not. The rise of the "new media" has produced a multitude of blogs, and pundits popping up out of the woodwork. Suddenly everyone is a "political expert". People can now hide behind a computer screen and cut, paste, twist, splice, dice, and concoct articles and videos that are used like bullets to wound those they view as needing to be taken down. I find it frightening because often these efforts are not promoting the truth, but instead deepening the divide.

The high and holy conservative pundits sit on their thrones telling people essentially: "You must support thus and such or you cannot possibly be a real conservative or Christian". The same bodes true for the opposite side of the political isle... liberal pundits pushing their guy or gal as the case may be. It's like some of them are literally having a temper tantrum from atop their media perch: "How could you evangelicals choose Trump, oh the humanity."  

Many of us have seen it; a "friend" announces on their Facebook something to the effect of:

"If you support thus and such candidate for President then you can just delete me now. In fact I'll even save you the trouble, if you post or like anything by said candidate I will delete and block you myself."

These kind of posts always give me a giggle. I'm not sure the people who post them even see the irony of making such a statement. See we have a word for this in the Greek language it's called hypocrisy. Let's see according to the Merriam Webster dictionary the word means the following:

Hypocrisy: the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do: behavior that does not agree with what someone claims to believe or feel.

What a silly thing for a person to post. Stating that one is so staunch in their belief of freedom that they can not possibly tolerate anyone in their "safe space" (in this case personal Facebook world) who does not agree with their deeply held convictions of personal responsibility, liberty, independent thinking, and most importantly freedom of speech that they have to ban anyone who does not think exactly like they do. Doing so is completely and totally hypocritical. Actually I find it pretty funny, and seem to be having more and more laughs about people doing this very thing, as we get farther along in the election cycle.     

Which leads me to just a little bit wish I could hit the switch and jump onto the next leap year when all of this is behind us. To that magical place in time when people will have woken up to the fact that this is the real world, and there are no "safe spaces". When people will have put on their big boy and big girl pants and finally figured out that we are all free to think and choose our own thoughts. What we like, dislike, and even whom we choose to support for President. That even if we "agree" on some things, even most things, there will always be something for we the people to disagree about, and it does not make us bad people. My wish is that this practice of character assignation of people who do not 100% agree with each other is a fad that dies, and quickly.  

Happy Leap Day and Super Tuesday!

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

Should They Stay or Should They Go

What would Churchill Do?...

Immigration... seems like you can't go a day without hearing, or seeing the word these days. People are so passionate about it on both sides of the issue that it's almost becoming one of those taboo topics, like religion or politics that it's not polite to talk about because people get so heated. Well since I'm Greek which is code for (born without a filter) you had to know I would have to put my two cents in. WARNING: (This blog is not politically correct).  

It's everywhere from your local community to the talking heads on TV and most everyone understandably feels very strongly about it. I wonder though if it's far more simpler than anyone realizes. It really boils down to the law. Either we have a country with laws or we don't. We don't get to pick and choose which laws we are going to enforce... or do we? Sadly these days it seems to be the latter.  

Sounds like a line from a Trump speech does it? Dang right it does because he is right. Gasp... is Greek Girl a racist? No! HELLO (my dad immigrated to America from Greece before I was born with just $20 in his pocket) I'm the last person anyone could call a racist. It's really just about the law. Are we going to follow our laws or not? 

Yes America is the land of opportunity, we welcome the poor the tired, and we want to do whatever we can to help the least of these. The question is what about the poor and the tired who are here who are effected by the astronomical costs of illegal immigration? Think about it, what would happen to any random American who decided to go live in another country illegally. Lets just say Saudi Arabia for example... anyone who violates their immigration law is subject to deportation, fines and possible imprisonment. I'm willing to bet an American ICE holding facility is like club med compared to a Saudi Arabian jail cell.      

Forget Saudi Arabia, pick a country. Any country... be as simple as a Google search. It's all there. Australia for example has implemented one of the harshest border policies in the world. Characterized by three core points: turning or towing back boats of asylum seekers at sea; forcing asylum seekers to live in detention centers across the Pacific in Nauru and Papua New Guinea; and guaranteeing they will never be resettled in Australia. 

Compare that to America. Can anyone imagine American authorities doing anything like that? Of course not because that would be inhumane and the media's heads would literally explode at the slightest hint of anything like that. So instead we have people from God knows where who have come here to do God knows what, who have a virtual red carpet rolled out for them. Yes there are good, decent people who come here to find a better life like my dad. Even so, if they came illegally they broke the law, and on some level the point could be made how decent is that?  

Our country is full of sanctuary cities with oodles of assistance programs (in NYS we have SSI, WIC, Welfare to name a few) where people receive free housing, medical care, and spending money and in some cases free college (no I'm am not kidding). HELLO do we not right now at this very moment have boatloads (no pun intended) of indoctrinated college kids jumping up and down marching and demonstrating at universities all over the United States demanding free college, and that all student loan debt be eliminated? It's enough to make ones head spin. Here's an example that could cause a serious case of agida: right now at this very moment, there are residents of Islamic training camps in Hancock and Deposit, NY who are receiving SSI, WIC, and or welfare. All paid for by US tax dollars. 

Yet we had to have Obamacare so legal born American citizens could be forced to buy more expensive insurance with astronomical deductibles that cover less, things they don't want or need. Meanwhile we have illegal’s receiving all kinds of things that these programs when instituted were never intended to be used for what they are being used for today. Either by people who mean well turning a blind eye or by policy loopholes and or lack of enforcement. It's a serious problem... at the same time complicated and simple enough to be a sitcom episode. 

My dad went through the legal channel to become a citizen. It was hard, and he had setbacks like when he and my mom got divorced he had to start all over again, and go to the back of the line. He didn't complain, he didn't go to a government agency and the news and carry on about how hard it was. He got up every day and did whatever he had to do to provide for his family and meet the requirements to become a citizen legally. He washed dishes; he worked construction as a bridge painter. He worked his way up to owning his own restaurant and eventually even to own his own bridge painting company.

I remember a story about a time before I was born when he was painting bridges down in the south somewhere. He had another week until he would get paid, and it was hot summertime. He was hungry and thirsty, so he took his last ten cents to get a coke from a vending machine. You know the old fashioned bottles that have now come back into style. He put the ten cents in and waited. Nothing... so he hit the machine. Still nothing, it was hot and he was dying of thirst so he hit it again. Just before he turned to give up he kicked it, then all of the sudden cokes started coming out one by one. So he grabbed one of the empty plastic bottle holders that were lying on the ground. He filled several of them, and he thinks it must have emptied the machine. The beauty of it is that he lived on those cokes until he got paid again.    

Somehow somewhere in the days from that time to now there has been a shift, a shift from victors to victims. It seems were living in a day when some want to label an entire group of people as victims rather than enforcing the law and empowering people to utilize their strengths and talents and help them help themselves. Sadly in the midst of this problem as I mentioned above we have those who wish to do us harm and they are taking advantage of the gaping holes in US immigration policy. I fear what it will take for our leaders to wake up to the reality of what is actually happening.    

What do we do? We have to do something. One thing is for certain Lady Liberty is tired and America did not become a Great Nation by being a doormat. What happened in Paris is a horrible tragedy, it is happening all over the world, and it has been going on for years. No one person has the solution, but unless we want to see it happening here in America... Maybe that wall isn't such a bad idea after all.  

Blessings, Love & Music ~

Ava xo

www.avaaston.com

The Fourth Verse

Throughout history God has blessed America. It's time for America to bless God.

Yesterday was the 200th Anniversary of the writing of our National Anthem "The Star Spangled Banner". Many people these days don't give the lyrics a second thought. There are even some in the media who have totally misinterpreted the lyrics and feel that our National Anthem should be changed.

When I think about where our nation was 200 years ago, in the midst of a war, I am humbled by the words. Not many people remember or even know the true meaning behind the song. We are also in a war of sorts in our Nation today. There is a movement of people who want to take God out of everything and anywhere he might possibly be able to "offend" anyone. Yet they can not see that very act is causing so much chaos and confusion, thus weakening our Nation.

An event took place at churches all across the Nation last night called "Star Spangled Sunday" put on by the Family Research Council. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn the forgotten story about the Great Acts of Faith behind our National Anthem. Yes as much as some people want to wipe "Faith" from our founding and choose to misinterpret our founding documents, America was in fact founded on Christian principals. Our founders were deeply religious men who understood what happens when a Government can give you everything, it can also take away everything, including how you're allowed to worship. They were farmers, clergymen, ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things not in  their own strength, but with help from almighty God. They prayed and believed for divine intervention from the Lord which happened on many occasions. Stories of these miracles of course have been wiped from the history books. The Star Spangled Sunday event offered an eye opening look at the true story and meaning behind the lyrics to the beautiful song that is our National Anthem.

The event was a call to action to Christians across our nation to Stand Up for our religious freedom. A key point of the event was the Fourth Verse of the Anthem that isn't talked about much these days. Reading it knowing the true story of the situations that led the writing of the song, there is no doubt about the Faith of it's author or the meaning. Although not many in government today choose to utilize our Constitution, it is still incredibly unique and what has made America the beacon of hope for people across the globe for generations. People have risked life and limb including my own father to immigrate here. One little word though misinterpreted can make a big difference to people whose agenda it is to remove God and Christianity from society. They can use the misinterpretation as a weapon in a process of a very slow fade. Done over time to dumb down our society to the point where one day you look around and realize how far its gone and wonder how in heck the world did we ever get here. How did we ever let this happen to our nation? The founding documents say Freedom "Of" Religion. However the people who desire to remove Christianity from society twist it to say "From". Little word, big difference in it's meaning.

Our founders were not Muslims, they were Christians. Christians who fled a tyrannical government in England who risked everything to be free to worship God as Christians. They did not want to be forced to have a Government appointed church, Catholic or any other set denomination. Freedom "OF" means freedom to practice whatever denomination one chooses. Yes I know, many people choose to ignore God and want to be free to do whatever they want regardless of the consequences and so they twist a lot of things, including history. The problem is when we Christians turn the other cheek, remain silent and complacent, decades go by and all of a sudden we are living in a modern day war of sorts. Not that much different from the war of 1812 when Francis Scott Key wrote that beautiful song.

We are on the front lines of a war on Christianity. Government and organizations like the ACLU bend over backwards to make sure we do not offend homosexuals and Muslims. While at the same time will not lift a finger to respect the rights of Christians. In fact going out of their way to marginalize and prohibit Christians from exercising their Faith. So far as to even prohibit our Military men and women from sharing their Faith. Really? Think about that for a minute... America is where it is today because of the brave men and women who have stood in harms way in engagement after engagement throughout history; who have relied upon their Faith in God to deliver them. So here we are, government is standing for the rights of everyone except Christians. The question is what will "we" do?

As I watched the event last night so inspired by the passionate speakers, time after time chills ran down my spine as one after another they quoted lines from a song I wrote about this very issue. Ironically I wrote my song right around September 12th, 2009. The day after the very first March on DC, where Americans gathered to Stand Up and send a message to Barack Obama and his minions that "We The People" were not happy with his hope and change. During the War of 1812 the key miracles and God intervention leading to the writing of the song took place September 11th through the 14th.

As the daughter of a man who came to America with $20 in his pocket to live the American dream, I grew up with a reverence and appreciation for the incredible opportunity that is available here in America. Opportunity that does not exist anywhere else on the face of the earth. When I saw hope and change a la Barack Obama my heart was saddened. Sad that millions of people were hypnotized into a state by the media and entertainment figures and blindly led into letting others do their thinking for them. Allowing the government to speak for them and ultimately to speak for the rest of us. By instituting things like government run health care, and so many other actions that are diametrically opposed to the entire concept of our founding principals.

The question is what will we do... the following are some of the lyrics to my song:

"What's going on, I look around, and I don't recognize this place anymore. Foundations crumbling down, when only lies abound. We can not afford to sit back and ignore. 

"Time to Stand Up, Time to Speak Out, We've got to Fight to get it back... This Country's Our's and We're Taking it Back, We The People."

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jut7s68pnpg[/embed]

(Click to read entire lyrics here)

I wrote that song on a cocktail napkin while working my pay the bill job as a bartender at a catering event during Fashion Week in NYC. An environment full of ultra left leaning liberals who were all under the spell of Obama praising the hope and change. After five years have passed it is frightening to see how more eerily true the words become by the day.

The Star Spangled Sunday event was a call to action to Christian Americans to stand up and fight. How do we fight? No we're not all ultra wealthy, or media figures, or talking heads. What we are though is Christians. All of us, the moms, the dads, the firemen, the Pastors, the nurses, the military, ordinary people who do the things that make our country work, we must all stand united. We must start to pay attention like never before. We must support the things throughout pop culture that represent our values especially in film, and music. Because if we don't the mainstream media will continue to produce and promote entertainment that is denigrating our society. Then we must vote our values. The Family Research Council is on the cutting edge of a movement to ensure we have the tools to do just that. They announced two new initiatives to help Christians vote our values. To make an impact to stop this slow fade and fundamental transformation of America. Visit 123vote.com and ipledgesunday2014.com to get involved and learn how you can make a difference!

Remember, if we do not speak up someone else will speak for us. As we have already seen over the last five years, we will not like what they have to say.

Update

Want to catch up? ;o)

It’s been a while since I did an update I apologize for that.  Sometimes you just need to marinate for a little bit, and being an artist that goes double.  I posted a brief update and thank you in the Ava Army regarding the Veewall contest results.  Remember “The Ava Army” is the facebook group I started to keep everyone updated daily during the contest.  What?!... You’re not in “The Ava Army” no worries   ( join here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAvaArmy/ ) However I wanted to take the opportunity now that some time has passed to get perspective and to let everyone who was so supportive for the long contest or even those new to my music know what has been developing.

First I want to thank everyone again who was with me during that long process.  Many of you took time out every day to vote for me the entire contest and I am grateful for all of your support!  It took a lot out of me.  I don’t normally tell everyone but I wanted to share with you why.  Two years ago my husband Keith and I were rear ended in a bad car accident.  An SUV hit us going approximately 60mph while we were stopped at a stoplight totaling my VW Jetta.  Besides multiple herniated disks and other physical issues we both suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury.  Everything was further worsened by being rear ended a second time while stopped at a stop light (yes I said it your eyes are not playing tricks on you) less than six months later.

Needless to say the car accidents brought everything that was moving forward in my independent music career to a screeching halt.  With my TBI my vision was affected.  Where my eyes do not work together to focus like they should so being on the computer for extended periods of time is well lets just say is not what the Dr. ordered. ;o)

The Veewall contest being a daily voting contest involved endless hours on the computer to inform, request and remind people to vote daily for over three months.  As you can imagine by the end of the contest, coupled with all the cheating by other contestants and the contest’s refusal to adhere to it’s own posted rules… well needless to say Greek Girl needed a big fat break.  Not complaining by any means, I chose to go for it and try for the$100k, it was a gamble I knew it going in.  Hey you win some and you lose some.  When God closes a door, he usually opens a window.  In this case he not only opened a window but he turned Greek Girl around and pointed me in the right direction.  Which is what I want to share with you guys!

Most of you know about my weekly acapella video requests.  During the contest I got very sick (which is odd because I never get sick).  I was so sick in fact I lost my voice and could not even speak for almost three long weeks. In my entire life I have never lost my voice, ever (funny I know hard to imagine miss “I talk too much” not able to talk).  I was honestly afraid I wasn’t ever going to talk again let alone sing.  I would open my mouth and nothing would come out.  It was very frightening and I was sick for almost eight weeks total.

When I did get my voice back the 1^st song requested was “Stronger” by Mandisa. (click here to see it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qH8YyJRBZs ) Being sick for so long, I had not yet sung it all the way through before I did the video.  Not my normal procedure, but I was so anxious from not being able to sing I wanted to just do it.  Normally I do two or three takes and choose the best one. I’m really picky about pitch so I do a few to pick the best take that has most correct pitch throughout.  After the 1^st take I asked Keith “Was it OK?” he replied with his eyes welled up with tears “It was good and bad, I’ll tell you later, do it again.”  So I did it again, same thing, and onto a third time.  Finally after three takes he said "OK, got it".

So we went upstairs and he said “So, do you want to know why it was good and bad?”  Then he proceeded to tell me that in the beginning of the Veewall contest God told him that I was not going to win, but not to tell me.  Because I was putting all my faith and trust into “man”, not God.  That I had become so frustrated with my career stalling from the car accidents and subsequent ongoing medical treatment, therapy, etc., that I had become obsessed with winning the contest. My voice is my gifting from God, it’s his.  He took it away from me to show me that it is his voice and he can take it away at any time. That he wants me to use it for his purposes, not mine.

Kind of funny that the 1^st song to be requested after being sick was a CCM song. So when I sang that song Keith welled up with tears because he felt God telling him what he told me.  He went onto say “The good news is that is the best I’ve ever heard you sing, the bad news is you’re not supposed to sing anything but CCM”.  What is even funnier is most of the time when I do the acapellas Keith likes take two or three.  Again because I’m really picky about pitch and most times the second or third take is the most accurate throughout.  In this case he chose the 1^st take, and he said when I sang it that first time it was like a release happened.

So I have honestly taken these last months to just be still and let God direct my path.  Most of you reading this have already read my story ( if not click here to read  https://www.facebook.com/notes/ava-aston/this-is-my-story/10151397092436357 ) Music has always been a huge part of my life and I know that God put it in me for a reason.  The what, why, when, where or how, that is not clear yet. What I do know is I love to sing more than anything else and it is something that I do naturally better than I do anything.  Recently I read a note about finding God’s Call on your life.  It said that God’s Calling on your life is combing what you are naturally good at combined with what your heart aches for, in essence what breaks your heart.

Well in my case that is singing, and hurting hearts.  All my life my heart has broken for those in need.  Whether it’s animals, people, any part of Gods creation that is hurting.  The details that I do not know yet.  What I have decided is I am going to follow the leading and pursue CCM Music.  Although I do think putting Music into categories or boxes is limiting.  I think if the industry as a whole didn’t limit it so much it would sell more.  People don’t want to be labeled, people can like all kinds of music regardless of what “Genre Style” their demographics might point to them supposedly liking.

I’ve been being quiet, and writing.  Where it stands now is that I have two to three songs that I will be recording hopefully before Christmas.  Then a new album in the New Year.

With the continued shenanigans going on in the government there has been a lot of interest in my song “We The People” ( watch here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jut7s68pnpg ) We did the original video over four years ago (before it was cool to be conservative) and with limited resources. With renewed enthusiasm for the song building, we decided to do a New Video.  So Keith and I along with a new creative partner, an up and coming cinematographer will be doing a Brand New Video for the song if all goes according to plan to be released before Christmas as well.

In order to facilitate recording new music we decided to do an exclusive combo offer on all my previous music.  So until ALL my CD’s are gone, “The Ava Army Exclusive” combo deal will be available.  Get it ALL:  my 10 song CD titled“Gone”, limited edition CD single “We The People” and a digital download of my latest project titled “I Don’t Even Care” plus an 8x10 autographed photo, with shipping included All for Only $9.99. By buying one you will be a part of making more music as well as getting my music and message out to the masses.

To get the “AVA ARMY EXCLUSIVE” Combo Deal:

http://www.avaaston.com/avaarmyexclusive.html

We’re also working on obtaining backers and sponsors and a tour to benefit a Veteran non-profit I’m involved with is in the works as well.  It is centered around Faith, American Values and Family Friendly.  Keith had been planning it before the accidents, but we are now moving forward towards it.  We have made some changes to my website, please visit www.avaaston.com to check it out.  There is a new "investors/sponsors" button, so if you know of any companies or organizations that fall in line with my values please feel free to send them there.  As well as a donate button where individuals can get involved with any amount to be a part of bringing my music and message out to the masses.

So that my friends is what’s cooking.  The world is getting crazier by the day, we need a lot more light and a lot less of the darkness that has taken over most of the entertainment world.  So I am doing my best with what I have and the gifts I was given to be a part of making a change for the better.  I’m asking you to join me, by buying some music and helping to make it happen!

Thank you so much for your support.

Blessings, Love & Music.

www.avaaston.com

Disqualified

Disqualified not for doping or cheating but because he praised God for all of maybe 5 seconds. What is wrong with this picture?

I am a Christian, there I said it. So does that mean I am disqualified? Does that mean I can't participate?  What if I pray in public, will I be put in jail?  What about if I accomplish something amazing like winning a race and out of pure emotional excitement accidentally raise my hand to the sky and thank God for being with me?  Will I be told I can't compete and I just lost the race that I just won?

Well, that's exactly what happened to a High School Track team in Texas.  After winning an extremely important race a kid celebrated by thanking God.  Can someone tell me how this makes any sense whatsoever?  Why is it that someone thinks it is appropriate to punish someone for doing this?  It's not like he committed a crime?  It's not like he cheated or murdered anyone.  No, he simply raised his hand and thanked God.  Meanwhile we have a trial of a barbaric butcher who literally killed babies born alive and hardly anyone in the media will cover it.  Yet some Einstein at a High School Track State-Meet Qualifier thinks it's a crime to raise your hand to God thanking him? Enough so that the entire team is disqualified.  Hmmm... could our priorities today be just a little askew anyone think?

What I don't understand is that every day we as Christians are being disqualified time and time again.  No matter what we do or where we go we are constantly being pushed down, shoved out and not allowed.  We are told our beliefs are wrong and we must somehow get along and agree with everyone.  We are to "Coexist".  Coexist?  What in the world does that mean anyway?  That is unless you're gay, muslim, or basically anything but a Christian.

It amazes me because we have a society and media that is determined to punish people for wanting to be positive role models, Godly individuals with integrity, decency, morality, obey the laws and help their fellow man.  Somehow that is wrong.  Somehow we are disqualified.  Meanwhile we celebrate and reward mediocrity.

Jason Collins an NBA Player not very well known for his basketball playing I might add comes out as being gay and is celebrated all over the media like a hero.  He even got a phone call from the Oval Office.  On the flip side, NFL Football player Tim Tebow is criticized by the media for being "too Christian" and they think he should just keep that to himself.  So let me get this straight: bedroom behavior is important to know about and something worthy of celebrating/broadcasting, but one's religion is not.  Oh wait, unless the religion is Islam that is.

Just this week I learned that President Obama made it so it will soon be illegal to promote or talk about Christianity in the military.  In his first year in his first term he canceled national day of prayer.  God has been removed from our schools, public buildings and anywhere else he might be able to offend anyone.  What they don't realize is that God is Good.  Goodness blots out evil and darkness.  We have evil and darkness all around us and it's growing faster by the second as we keep getting disqualified and we wonder why.

A man was fired from Home Depot a few years ago for having a "Christian" cross pin on his orange Depot apron.  Meanwhile a Muslim girl sued Abercrombie & Fitch for not letting her wear a "burka" while on the job.  Check me if I am wrong, but if she were truly practicing her "religion" she wouldn't even dare step foot in an Abercrombie & Fitch Store, let alone want to work there.

So, why is it we have to bend over to "appease" all the non-Christian groups and interests but "We Christians" are constantly told we have to look the other way, shut up and learn to "coexist".  Even with people who want to kill us for our beliefs.  (Hello read the Koran, it's in there.)  If you ask me, those "Coexist" stickers are targeted at only one group of people, "Christians".   Christians are the reason Muslims are killing Americans, Christians want to cling to their Guns and religion.  Christians don't support abortion or paying for it with tax payer money.  So why is it that Christians can't pray in school but the Pentagon and other government buildings allow prayer rooms for Muslims?  Hypocrisy much?...

It's high time people do a little reading up on how exactly this country was founded.  Because some people are a bit confused on the whole Freedom of Religion thing.  America was founded on the Freedom "of" Religion not Freedom "from" Religion.  The goal was to avoid a tyrannical government who would impose a "State Run Religion" on it's people.  It was to be free to practice whatever form of religion you wanted, ie: Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, or nothing.  What we have though is a whole bunch of people in the government who are twisting the founding documents, taking them completely out of context and are hell bent on turning the government into a God and the end all be all source "for the people".  I don't know about you, but I am sick of being disqualified.  I think we need to stop turning the other cheek and start standing up once and for all.

The scary thing is that I wrote this song three and a half years ago, yet it is becoming more and more fitting by the day.  You see the more we take God out of everything the less we are "One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All." and the more we become: "One Nation Divided, Without God, with Fairness and handouts for only the politically correct."  Or those who are not disqualified.

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

We The People

What would they be thinking now...?

There's an election coming don't you know? What? You mean you didn't know the election for President is only 100 days away... Whatchutalkingaboutwillis?  All joking aside, this is kind of a big deal.  At least in my coconut it is anyway.

I mean I know it seems that most people in our culture are too afraid to offend anyone, so they tend to go by the old rule don't talk about the three dreaded topics: Religion, Sex and Politics.  Or I often hear people say "the news is too depressing, so I just don't watch it."  Maybe that explains why more people seem to know what Kim Kardashian was wearing last week when her "scared face" pic hit twitter with her bo Kayne West, what stars are coming next season on "Dancing With the Stars", the contestants on "American Idol", or most importantly that Kristen Stewart just broke Robert Pattinson's heart - gasp - can you imagine.   Seriously my friends, this just makes no sense to me.  In fact it is almost enough to make my noggin explode.

I don't really care what political side of the isle anyone leans towards.  We're all free to think and believe what we want.  The fact of the matter is good men and women fought and died for our freedom.  They fought and died so we could have the freedoms we have, and that includes the freedom to vote.  It's maddening to see so many in our culture today with their heads pretty much buried in the sand when it comes to our political process and what is actually going on in our country.

To me that is spating in the eye of our founding fathers.  Our country was intended to be "By the People" and "For the People".  But how can we have a political process that works if half of the country knows more about show's like "Toddlers and Tiara's" and yet has no idea that US Taxpayer Funded Aide was recently given to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the amount of $1.5 Billion Dollars (yes I said Billion with a B).  Why are we giving "foreign aide" to Egypt anyway, because last I knew there were plenty of places right here in America that hard working American's tax dollars could have been much better spent.  Although that's probably a whole other rant altogether.

What I'm saying is no matter who you are or what your personal beliefs are, all of us, we are All Americans.  We should all at the very least pay attention and educate ourselves as to what is going on in our nation.  I don't mean just listening to the news because Lord know they all have their own agendas.  What I mean is, listen to and read multiple sources of information.  There are plenty of places to go to gather information and decide and digest the information for yourself.

It is our duty as free Americans to educate ourselves on the candidates, and what they stand for.  Not listen to what is being fed to us by either side of the media, political slogans, platitudes or negative campaign ads.  It is our duty to know ourselves, our values, what our own individual belief systems are, and vote accordingly.  Then and only then will we have a political process that works the way it was really intended for the People and By the People.  Until then, we have a Washington that is broken, politicians who stay in office for way too long in many cases, and a public who is not taking control of the very freedom that was laid out for us so very long ago.  This saddens the Greek Girl...

That's why I wrote my song titled "We The People".  Because I love my country, I value my freedom, and I respect the men and women who died for my right to vote.  So I'm on a mission to share my song with every American before the coming election.  Please visit   www.missionwethepeople.com and help me to "share" the message of the song and video with Americans everywhere by visiting and sharing in all the usual places.  Because at the end of the day whatever you believe, we are All Americans and we are All "We The People."

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

Andrew Breitbart, Tweeter's Hold Your Thumbs

Andrew Breitbart ~ 1969-2012

WARNING: My filter has been permanently removed. (and this time I think it may just be broken beyond repair)  My Good Greek Girl disclaimer:
I did not personally know Andrew Breitbart, nor do I claim to be an expert on anything Andrew.  This is just my humble opinion about the behavior surrounding his recent sad passing. 

I was shocked as many were to learn about the passing of conservative blogger, publisher, author, and political commentator Andrew Breitbart.  He was many things to many people, to some he was a fearless leader and to others he was a mortal enemy.  Whatever you may have thought of him, he was an innovator, a pioneer, creative, and brave.  He was not afraid to talk about what he believed, or to passionately disagree with those who reviled in ridiculing him.  There is a lesson to be learned here folks, the question that keeps popping up in my Greek Noggin is, will anyone pay attention?

What am I rambling about?  Well I am personally saddened by the news.  Because not only did I admire Andrew Breitbart for his courage and creativity, but also because I met him at an event I performed at in 2010.  He was down to earth, kind and gracious. Even though he was running late to leave, he continued to stop to pose for pictures with his admirers.  There was everyone from little kids to little old ladies and everything in between... and little old me.  He gave a rousing speech that day, and he did as he always did, he inspired and fired up his audience.  He had a way of cutting to the facts, speaking the truth, and standing on his convictions regardless of the consequences. He was known to be hot headed at times, and even polarizing especially to those who lived to taunt him. However the thing I noticed was even though he was all of those things, I am not aware of him acting like an animal in his disagreement with others.

I had the pleasure of meeting him at an event where I performed...

I started to notice a disturbing trend Thursday in the news media, via twitter, facebook and all the usual suspects.  Just to be sure I was remembering correctly I went back and re-read some articles, and even his own twitter feed.  "This is War" he would often say, and as we know in any war, things can get bloody down in the trenches. He would often re-tweet the horrible things those who opposed him would tweet to him. It appeared he reviled in it, as if it let him know he was getting to his opponents.  One thing I saw was consistent though, it is one thing to disagree with someone and to be passionate, it is quite another to hurl malicious evil obscenities and death threats.  Something those who opposed him did on a regular basis.  Although he was himself fighting a war and bold in his arguments, defense of himself or in making his points, he did not behave in a grotesque manner.

This is what I find so troublesome.  How did we get to the point where one side is demanding to be treated fairly, equally and to be heard?  Yet these same people will not tolerate an opposing opinion? Why can we not have a civil discussion about the dreaded social topics, politics or religion without vilianizing and or demonizing the other person, and making them our enemy?!? Why did it have to be a war in the first place? Who is it that decided that there should be this systematic brainwashing of an entire nation into one political ideology anyway? No I'm not looking at the world through my kumbyah rosy colored glasses, but seriously... When did we stop being human beings to each other? When did we stop all being Americans free to be or think whatever we choose, and instead have to live in fear of being ridiculed for having our own opinion?

I was disgusted with some of the things tweeted after the news of his passing spread. The straw that broke the Greek Girls back and I think the thing that may just have permanently removed my filter this time was the Rolling Stone website article.  Regardless of anyone's political ideology for the love of God - WHERE is the DECENCY????  This was totally uncalled for.  Personally I think the "_____" in this case is the writer Matt Taibbi.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/andrew-breitbart-death-of-a-douche-20120301

Some examples of tweets to @andrewbreitbart: 

@dufus: Did we cry when Hitler died? No.. #Breitbart see you in hell asshole
@jeffglasse: Andrew Breitbart now enjoying afternoon tea with Hitler #goodriddanceyouhack
@andrewbreitbart: I don't support drawing disgusting cartoons to gain publicity over it. But nice to know u stand firmly behind Muslim hate.
Josh M ‏ @TheSocialest : Good riddance Breitbart. Hopefully they put James O'Keefe in your casket.
Natasha Yar-Routh ‏ @xiomberg : Andrew Breitbart is dead, good riddance to bad trash. He was a vile excuse for a human being
John Kapp ‏ @johnkapp : Andrew Breitbart was a racist, sexist, homophobe. Good riddance. Andrew Breitbart is dead. "Good! F*ck him." Why@mtaibbi couldn't be happier:http://bitly.com/xZXP9W

That should be enough to illustrate my point. I don't care what your beliefs are, what political party you subscribe to, what your sexual orientation is, or what your religion or non-religion is, no human being should be spoke to or written about that way - period. Have any of these seriously misguided people who tweeted this hatred ever heard the saying, "what goes around comes back around" or how about "do unto others as you would have done to you"? The lesson to be learned here is that this is no way to talk to anyone, period. You can disagree with people, and still have a conversation. In case anyone who would be inclined to agree with these hateful individuals, need I remind you the definition of a conversation. Lets go to the Merriam Webster Dictionary for the definition shall we?

Conversation: a (1) : oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas (2) : an instance of such exchange : talk <a quietconversation>b : an informal discussion of an issue by representatives of governments, institutions, or groups

The Greek Girl has another word these people should revisit...

Tolerance: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own.

Since so many of Breitbart's haters demand this word. Possibly they should revisit the definition and realize that the measuring stick they are using to measure Breitbart and other's they disagree with, points right back at them. If you demand tolerance then you should also be able to give tolerance. If you disagree with someone, anyone whether it be a media figure, your neighbor, your brother, your mother, I don't care who it is...  Act like a human being. Have a fricking civil conversation, exchange ideas, have a healthy debate even, but do not ever villify or demonize those who have different opinions than you do.

That is a very slippery slope my friends. If we do that, then we essentially are saying to each other, just keep your opinions to yourself, it's easier that way. Where will that lead us? Some of the most brilliant partnerships, inventions and ideas have come from people who have different points of view. That is where the magic and genius can happen.  I don't know, call me crazy but I believe it is wrong to hate someone just because they do not share your ideology. I also believe it is also wrong to try to silence someone just because you do not agree with them. Last time I checked, we were living in America.  Good men and women fought and bled and died for that freedom. When ignorant people espouse vitriolic hatred just because they do not agree, they disrespect and dishonor that freedom.

In honor of Andrew Breitbart's fearlessness for speaking out about what he believed in, I have decided to be fearless myself and to post the original "controversial?"  video version of my song "We The People".  I jokingly say "controversial" because I don't see anything controversial about capturing the essence of a movement. To illustrate through pictures the story of how people in September of 2009 decided to stand up and speak out against what they saw as the America they knew and loved being threatened.  To stand in support of the United States Constitution.

As a songwriter, that is my job, to write about the things I see around me and feel. Yes it may have offended people who do not share the sentiments of the Tea Party, but controversial? I hardly think so... I lost bookings, friends, and even opportunities over the video. My intention was to capture "the movement" in the video, which I think it did. My song was not written about left or right, it was written about right and wrong.  So stand up for what you believe in no matter what it is like Andrew did. Yes, and even speak out with those who might not share your beliefs... but do so with respect, and treat people - all people even if you disagree with dignity.

Goodbye Andrew Breitbart, your words and your mission will live on in those you gave a voice to, you're in the arms of the angels now.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava  xox