Concert Katie

the same song over and over again

Book Review

Book Review: Think Like a Rock Star

Katie 1 Comments

Think Like A Rock Star is “How to create social media and marketing strategies that turn customers into fans” and is incredibly interesting, even if you don’t have a brand. (Although I guess technically my blog is my brand).  The book talks about a lot of bands and their strategies with dealing with the internet and even how artists dealt with their fans before the internet was as big as it is now (it talked a bit about Jewel in the early stages of her career and how there was an email list that was full of her fans that her manager/mom kept in touch with to keep in the loop.) and how to use the growth of social media to help you and not hurt you.  I couldn’t help but think of the social media presence of a few of my favorite artists and realize how a few of them are right on with their social media use and some of them are completely missing the mark and maybe need to give this book a read. ( I won’t name any names.)

In addition to just rock stars  – there are other companies mentioned as well and how they have changed the way they communicate with their customers – such as Fiskars, Dell, Fed Ex and plenty more.

If you are interested in the roles that social media has been playing with brands now that they are more widespread, definitely check out this book.  If you are any kind of brand looking to expand your social media presence and find creative and fun ways to interact with your fans/customers then you should definitely check out this book as well.

Continuing with the “rockstar” theme, each chapter contains a “backstage pass” which contains all the most important information from that chapter.  Like it says – in the rockstar world a backstage pass is GOLD.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

What’s better than getting new customers? Turning existing ones into FANS.

Everything marketers need to know to find, engage, and leverage the power of brand evangelists

Think Like a Rock Star provides step-by-step instructions that show marketing professionals how to connect with customers both online and offline to create a truly fan-centric brand. Using case studies of how rock stars like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Blink-182 cultivate fans, it teaches readers how to apply those lessons to create brand advocates who will grow profits, improve business frameworks, and contribute more than ever to the success of the brand. It also identifies successful and easily replicable marketing strategies of top brands such as Dell, Ford, Patagonia, and YouTube. Think Like a Rock Star is an indispensable tool for any marketing professional.

Foreword by Kathy Sierra, cocreator of the Head Firstbook series

Mack Collier is a social media strategist, trainer, and speaker who specializes in helping companies better connect with their customers via social media. His clients include businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietorships to Fortune 500 companies.

American Idol

Idol Top 5

Katie 0 Comments

Did you know – that a girl is going to win this season?  It’s an all girl top 5 thanks to the fact that the Top 10 was absolutely STACKED with stronger female singers and mediocre dudes.  Obviously, this is what production wanted and the fact that they’re  trying to play it off as some shocker, is the shocking part.

Two themes – Songs from the year of your birth and second – divas!

Candice – Straight Up – A nice mix up of the song but seemed safe.

Janelle – When I Call Your Name – Actually a better performance from her than most of hers have been lately.

Kree – She Talks to Angels – This might have been a risk to her but it just seemed boring and safe.

Angie – Ill Stand By You – While I liked the shout out for Boston since she is from MA, it seemed like her talking before starting threw off the whole performance.

Amber – Without You – Nice song choice but she can’t hit the high notes!

Candice – When You Believe – LOVED IT.

Janelle – Dumb Blonde – She has issues with breathing so she shouldn’t have been moving all around.

Kree – Have You Ever Been In Love – Nice performance but im pretty much over her.

Angie – Halo – I see what Mariah meant about her pronouncing words when she sings. There is just something about Angie I don’t like, but I think that she is one of the stronger singers.

Amber – What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life – Great way to end the night

 

—

Going home – Janelle.  Please?

 

And result night was full of surprises!  Candice got a visit from Paula Abdul! (Can she come back immediately and they get rid of Nikki?)  Janelle got a letter from Dolly Parton!  Clay Aiken came home! (home?) and Fantasia screamed some song.

And then, finally, Janelle was the one with the least amount of votes.

The judges did not use the save.

And then there were 4.  Who will it be? Kree, Angie, Candice or Amber?

GetGlue

Get Glue march (II)

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With Get Glue now letting you choose what stickers you can get, I’ve been trying to focus on a few of my favorite shows – Fringe and Gossip Girl because they are over and then I can figure out which ones I never unlocked so I can either trade or invite friends and get to unlock them (if only I could figure out HOW to invite friends?) and Dexter and Pretty Little Liars (none on this sheet though).

Now to come up with some sort of visual checklist so I can keep track of what I’ve got, what I don’t, and what I never unlocked! (GetGlueStickers.com should come in handy there)

Book Review

Book Review: Men at Work

Katie 0 Comments

Men At Work – Why Women Live Longer Than Men is a series of photos put together into a book by Cheezburger Network.  It is basically just men doing a LOT of dumb things and that is of course why women will live longer than them.  There is a ranking system of just how ridiculous what they are doing is – from 1 to 5 thumbs up – 1 being duct  taped, 3 being jury rigged and 5 being epic kludge – with each thumb up having a different kind of wrap or bandaid on it to show the level of severity.

Some of the photos are hilarious all on their own – others it is the caption that totally puts it over the edge.  But I think the moral of the story is, men do stupid things. A lot.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

From the New York Times best-selling author/website Cheezburger Network, a hilarious compilation of over 100 photos featuring the heights of male incompetence and showcasing the feats, follies, foibles, and questionable DIY activities of men at work in the home, the office, and just about anywhere.

Men at Work showcases dozens of original full-color photos based on the popular websites There, I Fixed It and FAIL Blog, two of the most trafficked Cheezburger sites. From precarious ladder placement and jungle gym scaffolding to questionable balancing of two-ton mechanical equipment, Men at Work dares to offer a possible reason for why women live longer than men.

 

Picture after picture offers valid explanation as to why this life span gender bias exists. It seems that whether they are washing windows, paving roads, or attending to questionable DIY repairs at home, men at work tend to balance risk with reward. If the ladder isn’t tall enough, turn it into a scaffold by using a picnic table as the base and then add some plywood, along with a concrete cinder block and paint can — voilà!, problem solved. Or, if that 50-story skyscraper lacks a window ledge, create one yourself with a carefully placed 2 x 4. This rollicking collection offers dozens of full color photographs that illustrate the notion that to live longer, perhaps men just need to work a tad bit smarter.

Book Review

The Angel Chronicles

Katie 1 Comments

 

A Privilege:

The Angel Chronicles, Book 3

The beloved Angel/Warrior team face pure evil in their final climactic story!

The first time they were sent down, Irish lives were led. Emily, the angel, ended up embedded in murder and lost in the realm of true love. While Matthew, the warrior, took over a life that left blood on his hands and anger in his soul.

With their second coming, Emily found herself facing an oncoming war that brought her to the shores of America. While Matthew tried desperately to unveil the evil character of a young man who was intent on locking his partner in a ‘gilded’ cage.

Now…Emily and Matthew find that their lives are all their own. Yet, all the memories, hatred, longing and regret have come hand-in-hand with this newfound freedom.

In small town U.S.A., Matthew finds himself loving his new life. From his military school existence to a new, ‘odd’ friend who’s arrived in town, Matthew’s looking forward to graduation and heading off into a brilliant future with Emily by his side.

Emily wants nothing more than to hide. Although doing her best to fit in, she lives a life on the edge, wondering when her past love with reappear to either forgive or seek revenge on the angel who let him down. Battling the shadows that seem to be breaking her soul in two, Emily soon discovers that her small, quiet town has a secret that’s beyond dangerous…

As she and Matthew join forces to help a ‘haunted’ victim, they open the door on a mystery neither of them can believe. A true villain has returned from the past, and not even their heavenly family will be able to save them. This time they’re on their own, as they face a fight that could lead them straight to Hell…and end the angel/warrior team forever.

Excerpt

Without a word, Matthew reached out, took Emily by the hand and pulled her down beside him. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “I knew my Emily was still in there.”Out of the blue, the room became incredibly hot, as if Gabriel had entered in order to give a lesson to his favorite students. “What?”

“That spark.” He pulled Emily’s face closer before she could push herself away. “You’ve been acting all this time like you’re just here to sit and wait it out until you’re lucky enough to go Home. But you’re still in there, Emily. You still have all that energy and belief in there and you want to do something. That’s the partner I know.”

Shaking her head, Emily listened to her own breathing intensify as she stared at his full lips and wondered why she felt so completely and utterly strange…vulnerable even. “I want to help this girl. This is a job, maybe my only job down here. She saw a ghost and she wants me to help her out, that’s all.”

“And you will.” Matthew captured Emily’s lips, and she could no longer feel the breath in her lungs. Completely different than the one kiss they’d shared up above so long ago, this one was far more demanding, as if Matthew was a young man determined to kiss his human love for the very first time.

Sitting back, Emily practically jumped off the bed.

“I’m sorry,” she heard him whisper behind her. “I guess I was just excited to see you again.”

Not trusting her voice, she remained silent.

“We have jobs, but we also have a life to live. Our own lives this time around. Maybe you should think about adding that into your angelic plans.” Matthew continued softly, “Jason isn’t here, Emily.”

The name being said out loud sent a chill down Emily’s spine. It reminded her of the vow she’d made a long time ago—a vow that an angel couldn’t break.

She cleared her throat. “It doesn’t matter if he’s here. We were sent to do a job, and maybe helping this little girl prove her story is what I need to begin.”

Standing up, Matthew looked as if he was a man who wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and erase the name he’d spoken aloud. He walked to the open window. “Well, I hope the job goes well. Good luck with it.”

“Matthew,” Emily took a step toward him. “Don’t leave like this.”

He nodded at the book on the bed. “You have your mission, Emily…your job. Ghosts, goblins, lost souls—knock yourself out.” He took a deep breath. “I wonder when you’re going to figure out that the living souls around you would like some of your attention as well.”

Closing her eyes, Emily shed silent tears as she heard his feet hit the ground beneath her window. A friend, a partner, the one who actually listened, was now just an angry young man racing back to The Armory—a place where warriors reigned.

Emily sighed. She’d done it again. No matter how hard she tried to be good, her mouth always got her into trouble. She needed Matthew to understand. She’d made a promise to a young man a long time ago; a promise that was supposed to last for eternity. How was she to know at the time that their eternity would include death by her hand?
Had the second time around broken their vow? Emily had no idea. But whatever happened she could not and would not offer Matthew her heart if payment was still due for her past sins. Above all, Matthew was the last person who deserved to be punished for her mistakes.

Author Amy Lignor

Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.

She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.

Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.

 

 

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Book Review

Book Review: Daughter of Jerusalem

Katie 0 Comments

I first heard about Joan Wolf, the author of Daughter of Jerusalem, because she lives in the same town that I grew up in.  My mom had found out that some of the ladies where she worked were going to be doing a book club and the book was one of Joan’s other books.  Joan started out writing romance novels and then branched off into Biblical Fiction which is a pretty interesting genre to me.

Daughter of Jerusalem focuses on Mary Magdalene, and it is interesting to see how Joan describes everyone versus the ideas I may have had already from their presence in Bible stories.  She definitely has a way with words and I really enjoyed reading this book.  I am not sure that I will continue to check out more books in the biblical fiction genre, but I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to read another Joan Wolf book.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

In Daughter of Jerusalem, readers will quickly identify with Mary Magdalene– a woman of deep faith who used her wealth and influence to serve Jesus. This fictionalized story of Mary Magdalene is, in the truest sense of the word, an inspirational novel for modern people who are looking to renew in themselves the message of Christ. It’s the greatest story ever lived, told by one of the most famous women who ever lived, and it’s a page-turner. Joan Wolf’s years of success as a novelist enable her to combine storytelling and a faith plot in this beautifully written biblical fiction.

Music

Music Monday: Reasons Be

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I was recently introduced to Reasons Be – a Los Angeles based band and check out their 4 song EP.  From the opening notes I was loving it.  I love the song Love the Way, that starts off a bit softer but then just keeps getting bigger and bigger as the song progresses.  The two voices sound so great together as well, I can definitely see this EP getting some heavy rotation on my playlists.  Hands Up is very catchy and fun, and it has a great beat to bop along with.

More about the band –

A band, a bond and a brotherhood: Scotty Dickert and R.E.L. are Reasons Be, a Los Angeles-based duo whose debut four-song EP reveals an endearing optimism and a sparkling tunefulness – a resplendent meeting of two musical minds.

This partnership began on the online marketplace Craigslist, when R.E.L answered an ad, posted by Scotty seeking a guitar player. It was a promising meeting; the duo immediately conceived their first song.

“He was the first and only guitarist we auditioned,” Scotty remembers. “Fate? The musical chemistry was instantaneous.”

Both Reasons Be members bring significant individual histories to the alliance. R.E.L endured a rough upbringing. After his mom died under tragic circumstances leaving his family in shambles, he found solace in music. He came to Hollywood to enroll in the Musicians Institute’s Independent Artist program; a move driven by his affinity for American artists – Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz and John Mayer – and his desire to relocate to a more fertile musical market.

Scotty, a native of Milwaukee, WI, had fronted a band from his hometown that performed together for seven years and had music featured in films and on MTV. When the band broke up he made immediate plans to head for Los Angeles. This move served dual aspirations: in addition to his musical endeavors – fronting a succession of bands and writing songs – Scotty is also an actor who has been cast in a variety of roles as a hippie sex toy, a super hero, and of course a rocker in a slate of commercials, television shows and independent features.

Centered on vocals and guitar, Reasons Be’s EP is a faithful representation of their live sound paired with the studio craft of Lee Miles (Puddle of Mudd, Rise Against, Shinedown). The accomplished producer-engineer embellishes the duo’s acoustic core with a pop-friendly studio sheen. “He is quite the visionary,” Says R.E.L “He opened doors we would have never imagined.”

Ultimately, Reasons Be is a creative democracy. R.E.L and Scotty come up with individual song ideas and email these to each other. Scotty often focuses on lyrics and melodies, while R.E.L elaborates on the musical blueprints. Meeting up for regular writing sessions, they then advance these concepts. “In previous bands I felt like I was doing all the work,” says Scotty. “Now, the more opinions the better.” Although they eventually see eye-to-eye, the duo affirms that healthy dissent and subsequent resolution often leads to a stronger song. “And if it comes down to it, we’ll wrestle to determine who wins,” laughs R.E.L

Two voices, one destiny: In their song “Hands Up,” Reasons Be evokes an inviting destination with the lines, “You’ll find a place where everybody knows your name.” This affirmation defines their journey as well, as Reasons Be is becoming known and appreciated for their compelling songs and winning chemistry. “The music that comes from our partnership is far better than what Scotty or I could come up with on our own,” concludes R.E.L “And it’s very rewarding.”

-Dan Kimpel, Author and Journalist

Concert Hanson

Hanson at iHeartRadio Theater

Katie 1 Comments

 

Last week, Hanson had announced they would be doing a private show in New York City for about 200 people and the only way to get in was to WIN.  I knew that I had to find every contest that there was out there to enter, but it turned out that ClearChannel reached out to ME because I run a Hanson site (www.hansonstage.com) and asked if I would like to attend!  Of course, I said yes.

The show was set to kick off at 7pm and stream live on iHeartRadio’s website.  We got there a little before 6 and shortly after were let inside.  Over the loud speakers they were playing Hanson’s new album – ANTHEM – which will not be out until June!  As much as I wanted to pay attention to all of the songs, the place was loud and it wasn’t that easy to actually enjoy the album in it’s entirety but from what I did hear, it is going to be their best album yet.

Z100’s Eric America introduced the band and shortly after there were Isaac, Taylor and Zac on stage – in suits!  They never have really “matched” on stage before and they looked sharp!  I’m not sure if this is going to make its way to the tour though because Taylor was absolutely dripping in sweat and even commented that this is why he never wears suits on stage.   They did a set of 11 songs, 6 of which were new songs from ANTHEM (although only 2 were new to me because they did premiere a couple for us in Jamaica in January.)

They kicked off the concert with the new song “Fired Up” and I think it was a great start to the show, even though most of us didn’t know all the words yet. (I say yet because they did a live stream a couple of nights ago where they performed the song, so we weren’t all completely unaware of it.)  The second song was I’ve Got Soul which was new for everyone, I don’t remember anything specifically about it – but it was good.  Then they did the new single, Get The Girl Back and Taylor made a comment about how we know it now.  (Get The Girl Back is available on iTunes for $1.29 – which includes the song AND the video which features cameos by Nikki Reed, Kat Dennings, Drew Seeley and Drake Bell…)

Get The Girl Back had been stuck in my head since the video premiered and this performance did nothing to help that as I cannot stop singing the “it’s about tiiiiime…” part, constantly.  The next new song they did was Cut Right Through Me which they premiered acoustically on AXS Live earlier in the week.  (They were on TV or streaming almost every day last week and it was far too much for me to keep up  with – but I do have it all on my DVR waiting for me to find some down time!)

Then they went through a few of their older songs – starting with Penny and Me, Thinking Bout Somethin, Give a Little, If Only and MMMBop.  The band is now 21 years old and MMMBop was released 16 years ago!

They ended the night with 2 more new songs – You Can’t Stop Us Now – which was our favorite in Jamaica and still our favorite after hearing it again and ended the night with Already Home which was a great song to end the night with and everyone who watched the stream has been raving about it online!

iHeartRadio will be posting some highlights from the show some time soon at http://www.iheartradio.com/hanson so keep an eye out for that!  The ANTHEM World Tour kicks off June 17 in New York City and will be hitting up South America and then North America so be sure to check out the dates for that (I have a link to them in my sidebar!)  and ANTHEM will be released on June 18th in the US and you can preorder it in a number of different packages on Hanson.net

 

Book Review

Book Review: Assured Destruction

Katie 3 Comments

Assured Destruction is about a high schooler named Jan.  She works at her mom’s business where she is supposed to shred hard drives and recycle computers.  Except that she keeps a few of the hard drives and creates online identities for them on a website she calls ShadowNet.  They even have twitter and facebook identities.  She protects herself, or so she thinks, behind a firewall and doesn’t think that anyone knows about what she is doing.  Next thing she knows, bad things start happening to the people whos hard drives she has on ShadowNet and she is responsible.  If the police find out – she’s toast and so is her Mom’s business since they are supposed to be trashing these harddrives, not keeping them and looking at their contents.

Things in Jan’s life end up getting a lot worse before they can even try and get better and she ends up finding herself in some deep trouble – both at school and with the police.  She tries to track down on her own who is doing this to her, and has a few ideas.  Of course – on top of it all there is the typical high school drama and cyber bullying – and is it possible that there are now TWO guys interested in Jan as more than a friend?

I absolutely loved this book – as a bit of a computer geek myself I was amazed with all that Jan was able to do – coding a virus in 20 minutes, creating iPhone apps! And I was really rooting for her to figure out what was going on and bring the bad guys down.  This is the 1st book in the Assured Destruction series and I am very much so looking forward to the rest because all this computer and coding and techy stuff is right up my alley!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review and participate in the blog tour. I was not otherwise compensated.

Assured Destruction Book Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Jan Rose knows that nothing is ever truly deleted. At least, not from the hard drives she scours to create the online identities she calls the Shadownet.Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, Jan is guilty on all counts. Maybe she’s even addicted to it. It’s an exploration. Everyone has something to hide. The Shadownet’s hard drives are Jan’s secrets. They’re stolen from her family’s computer recycling business Assured Destruction. If the police found out, Jan’s family would lose their livelihood.

When the real people behind Shadownet’s hard drives endure vicious cyber attacks, Jan realizes she is responsible. She doesn’t know who is targeting these people or why but as her life collapses Jan must use all her tech savvy to bring the perpetrators to justice before she becomes the next victim.

Michael F. Stewart‘s Bio: 

After crewing ships in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik’al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canada, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults.
American Idol

Idol Top 6

Katie 0 Comments

Two themes this week – Bacharach / Davis & Songs the Idol Wish They Had Written.

Angie – Anyone Who Had a Heart – Great performance to start the night with!

Amber – Say a Little Prayer – Another great performance!

Lazaro – Close To You – I think that the band kind of overpowered him a bit on this one. It was hard to hear him – but apparently what I missed, was AWFUL yeesh. Judges on the warpath for him I guess they REALLY don’t think that the 5 girls left can beat him? Cmon now.

Kree – What the World Needs Now – I liked how she started acapella.  Good performance, but she kind of bores me lately.

Janelle – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again –  I still don’t like her. Please go home.  If Simon was there still he’d probably say this was something you’d hear on a cruise ship.

Candice – Don’t Make Me Over – Ugh. She is so good. So good.

Angie – Love Came Down – Another strong performance, but I think I liked the first one better (though I think Im in the minority on that)

Amber – Love on Top – I think she was singing a little bit too high. Not in the right key… hmm. But the judges won’t care, right?

Lazaro – Angels – This is one of my favorite songs so obviously its hard to match up to Robbie, but I thought he did well with it

Kree – Help Me Make It Through The Night – Oh did Kree sing? Sorry, I fell asleep.

Janelle – The Dance – go home. im so done with this season.

Candice – Love Song – Did satan creep in on her song for a second?  Amazing way to end the show though! (But thank goodness it is over. I was getting pretty pissy.)

Bottom 2 – Janelle and Lazaro

Going home – Lazaro (Even though I think it would be HILARIOUS if he hung around longer)

—

And Lazaro goes home – so it’s official – a girl will win this season.  As if we couldn’t figure that out when they stacked all the girls and put in mediocre guys.  I honestly hope the ratings drop like a rock thanks to this stunt.   The 12 year old girls that watch this show (and I am one at heart) like to look at cute boys.

 

 

 

 

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