Can You Out-Challenge Yourself in Your Own Challenge?

Well I’m going to try my best to do just that!

It’s been three weeks and 2 days since I launched the idea of gathering Bon Jovi fans from around the world in an attempt to create rock n’ roll history by forming the world’s largest birthday celebration for Jon Bon Jovi. We’ve already registered participants in over 40 countries, the number of members involved continues to grow each and every day and I couldn’t be happier with the response this undertaking has been receiving.

But why stop there? Why not try and make this an even bigger occasion?

So on day 22, I decided to introduce another element to this international event by challenging myself and all the fans out there to show their true Bon Jovi colors by wishing Mr. Bon Jovi a Happy Birthday with a generous donation to Habitat for Humanity Philadelpia, a preferential charity of the Bon Jovi band and Jon’s Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation.

We’re hopeful that fans will donate what they can, whether it be $10, $20, $50 or whatever they can commit to. I haven’t established an exact dollar figure as a target or goal, instead I’m simply aiming to provide Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia with enough to build a new home for a deserving family in the Philadelphia area, a home we could label as, “The House That Bon Jovi Fans Built.”

All donations made through our sponsor page will be recognized as gifts in celebration of Jon Bon Jovi’s birthday. So, the challenge has now been officially re-set. Can you help us meet it?

If all we’ve got is us
Then life’s worth living
And if you're in, you know I’m in
I’m ready and I’m willing
I Am!

Is Bon Jovi the True American Idol?

Writer's strike or no writer's strike, millions of American television viewers will flip on the tube tonight, locate their local FOX station and tune into the country's number one reality-sitcom-drama… American Idol

Some find the audition outtakes simply hilarious... better than the Saget years on AFV, some find the awkwardness of juvenile karaoke stars learning to follow the cameras and still remember the lyrics while performing on live television purely entertaining and others actually watch the show for the hope of catching the glimpse of some undiscovered 'talent'.

Even though tens of millions of viewers cast their votes each week and the program dominates the television ratings, American Idol for the most part is questionable, even if they do occasionally showcase the odd nugget of worthwhile American talent...see Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson or Bon Jovi support act Chris Daughtry.

Over the past few seasons a lot of attention has been focused on bringing in celebrity mentors to work with the finalists and perhaps add some value to the program. These appearances offered valuable experience for the shows characters (I mean contestants), it provided entertaining filler to drag on the results episodes and the mentors were provided the ultimate venue to showcase a new single or album release.

Word this year is that the shows producers are placing less emphasis on the high profile entertainers that would be joining the show on a weekly basis. I’m sure the interest is still there from an industry perspective as record labels watch sales slip away day after day, week after week and could use that audience to promote their latest releases to.

Could this decision to exclude the big name ‘idols’ be due to the fact that American Idol may have outdone themselves last season? Did they already crown the ultimate Idol when Bon Jovi performed on the show? The response to the Bon Jovi appearance was so overwhelming that the producers of Canadian Idol felt it necessary to drag the Jovi-train up to Canada so that they could boost the profile of their own season finale.

If Bon Jovi was eligible to receive phone-in votes on American Idol, how many of the 60-some million votes would they have gotten? A majority I bet… sorry to all the Taylor Hicks fans out there. Did anybody even buy his record?

I’m not even going to try and figure that one out. My point here is not to bash AI, the point is the audiences, the judges and Idol competitions in two nations adore Bon Jovi. It’s time to track down those millions of Idol voters and get them to show their love for Bon Jovi and get them to include their influential power in wishing a worldly happy birthday to Jon Bon Jovi.

If Snowflakes Were Bon Jovi Fans...

I just spent three and a half hours clearing my parking lot of the mess that was leftover from an unexpected snowfall. Needless to say I am a bit delayed in resuming my daily mission to dismantle the world and re-connect it one Bon Jovi fan at a time. I may be delayed but I have not lost focus... even if this pesky snow refuses to stop falling.

As I spent my morning plowing my shovel through the delightful present brought to me by my nemesis 'old man winter', I couldn't help but think about my previous blog posting... and I had a LOT of time to think about it too! With each shovel full of snow that I threw into the snowbank I'd tell myself, "That's one more person who just registered to be a part of our Bon Jovi bash."

I would like to think that wasn't just wishful thinking… or we'd probably have everyone on the planet signed up:) Seriously though, I had to come up with my plan for a productive week-end.

Oddly enough, the most productive thoughts that emerged from my impromptu brainstorming session seemed to occur whenever my shovel seemed to catch into the frozen ground and the handle would pierce into and almost through my stomach. That sharp jolt of pain always seemed to trigger some sort of idea... now I just need to put them into action.

...And that is where I stand now. I have a few ideas that I feel will really help out our cause and as they start to fall into place I'll post my updates for everyone.

These days - the stars seem out of reach
These days - there ain't a ladder on these streets
These days - are fast, love don't last in this graceless age
There ain't nobody left but us these days

Enough Messin' Around, Let's Just Go For It!

Ten days in, thirty-some countries on board and an endless stream of eager Bon Jovi fans registering to stake their share in the most exciting fan rally in a very long time. Could we really be making this happen? We've reached the point where message boards and fan groups around the world are beginning to receive the much anticipated posts such as, "...How can this be a surprise if it's all over the Internet?"

Perfect! We're making waves folks.

I've mentioned before that I would like to grow this endeavor big enough that it really isn't a secret anymore but it is so big that our man of the hour, Mr. Jon Bon Jovi would be thoroughly surprised that so many of us committed to this and actually made it happen.

We have fans doing promotional work of their own and promoting us whichever way they can. Some folks 'down under' are even preparing to spread the word to concert-goers over the next week where the Bon Jovi tour has a few stops. Whatever it is that you're doing to help out, don't stop, but I think it's time to take things to the next level. .... now is the time to bring in the big guns.

Since the secrecy of this whole idea has already been thrown out the window, why shouldn't we try and attract a high profile spokesperson to raise awareness for us? Celebrity personalities have loaned their names to a lot less interesting campaigns. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, aren't there quite a few big name personalities out there that have a few hours of community service they need to repay to society? This would be as worthwhile a cause as any. Wouldn't you agree?

But who's our best option? I haven't really contacted any of the questionable characters out there but, I have started a recruitment campaign of sorts. I've already attempted to make contact with the Ellen DeGeneres show, she's a fan of the band and an outspoken music lover... not to mention a somewhat influential personality. I've also made my attempt to contact Oprah, who's Angel Network was the recipient of a generous million dollar donation from the Bon Jovi band... I think she owes him one :) Don't you?

There's a plethora of options to choose from. Who would you suggest or recommend? If you can't think of anyone, maybe each of you could make your opinions heard by sending your comments to my two previous suggestions. What do we have to lose?

In the meantime, I'll continue contacting anyone and everyone I can to boost our profile and astonish any skeptics out there.

You - you got a nasty reputation
We're in a sticky situation - it's down to me and you
So tell me - is it true ... they say there ain't nobody better
Well now that we're together
Show me what you can do

15 Million Would Be Nice But I Would Settle For 1 Million

It's been a few months now since Chris Crocker got the world viewing him and talking about his "Leave Britney Alone" video on YouTube. It made the six o'clock news, it was the top story on every gossip and tabloid television program and it provided late night talk show hosts with endless punchlines.

I have to admit that I haven't watched the video in it's entirety but with the international attention it garnered, I am pretty familiar the basic content of the message... and does my heart does ache for Ms. Spears...well? My heart does ache that this video has received more than 15 million views and it was a hoax. This probably isn't news to most of you and my comments may seem a bit dated on this issue.

If a joke can grab the attention of so many people, what could happen if a much more serious matter were seeking to raise awareness through the same social video site? Let's say a group of the world's biggest Bon Jovi fans wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for their favorite front man and they placed some of their dependency on YouTube to help get the message to other fans around the world.

Could a YouTube video be as successful for a much more legitimate cause? 15 million views is an outrageous number and you can't help but congratulate Mr. Crocker on a job well done whether it was intentional or not, whether it was a joke or not.

If the Bon Jovi box set 100 Million Fans Can't Be Wrong is the target audience we hope to reach in our Ultimate Bon Jovi Fan Search video campaign, we would settle with connecting with a conservative one percent of those fans to join our party. One million participants would be absolutely amazing and it would still only be a fraction of the accomplishments of Chris Crocker. We'll take it though!

I'm gonna live
I'm gonna survive
Don't want the world to pass me by
I'm gonna dream
I ain't gonna die
Thinking my life was just a lie
I wanna give
I'm ready to try
Willing to lay it on the line
I wanna be loved