Concert Katie

the same song over and over again

May 2011

Book Review

Book Review: The Waiting Place By Eileen Button

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The Waiting Place is a series of essays which tell Eileen Button’s story from the perspective of her waiting for things.  Waiting for her boyfriend to propose, waiting for her baby to be born, waiting for church service to be over, etc.  You can read it straight through as a story or you can read an essay or two before bed and keep the book waiting for you on your nightstand.

Some of the stories made me laugh, others made me cry, but all taught be how to appreciate life’s little delays. This book also heavily focuses on the presence of God, so if you are not all that religious this might not be the book for you (however not all essays have a religious “theme”).  If you are religious however, I think you will really enjoy this book. Eileen’s husband works as a pastor and so I think it would be hard for her to have written anything that did not include God as one of the main characters in several of the essays.

The book has 22 essays in all and includes stories on waiting for:

  • the day to end
  • a place called home
  • the fish to bite
  • a baby’s healing
  • church to be over
  • a husband’s return
  • children to grow
  • a mother’s acceptance
  • a loved one to die

As Eileen says, “To wait is human. To find life in The Waiting Place, divine.”

The Waiting Place will be released on June 7, 2011.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Concert Javier Colon Meet and Greet

Javier Colon at the Ridgefield Playhouse

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If you have been watching NBC’s “The Voice”, you are probably familiar with vocal talent Javier Colon.  If you’re not, well you’re missing out on a great show with some great talent.

Thursday night Javier did a home town show in Ridgefield, CT (He is from Stratford), the only show he has done since being on The Voice and the only show he will do before heading out for the live shows. (Be sure to vote for him)

His opening act was Rebecca Correia, who is a friend of Javier’s since college. She performed 7 songs and has an absolutely amazing voice!  Be sure to check her out on iTunes if you aren’t familiar with her stuff – I’m sure you will enjoy it!
After a brief intermission, Javier took the stage.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect because I had never had the chance to see Javier before, but he did not disappoint.  He has an amazing voice and his original songs were phenomenal as well.  His performance went on for nearly two hours – with him chatting about songs and his family in between performing.
He mixed in cover songs with originals and all of them were sang beautifully,  he certainly is “The Voice” and if he doesn’t win it will be incredibly disappointing.  Someone yelled out from the crowd that he has to win and he responded “I’m gonna try!” and encouraged us all to vote for him once the live rounds air beginning June 7th! (Right around the corner!)

He talked a bit about how he was never really in to country before, but is now – and played part of Achy Breaky Heart and Friends in Low Places to demonstrate a few songs about why he didn’t like country.  Then he played “Love Me” and he said that song had turned him on to country and he liked how the songs told a story.  I am not a big country fan myself either – but I do also enjoy the storytelling aspect.

He also mentioned that his song “Ok, Here’s The Truth”, was written in a country fashion in that it tells a story and that you really need to listen to the lyrics to figure out what is going on in the song.  Of course, he told me to listen so I listened and was near tears by the end of the song!  I think there are a couple of versions of the song on YouTube and I recommend you check it out for yourself and pay attention to the lyrics – I don’t want to give anything away!

Since there was a piano on stage, he played a couple of songs on it – specifically Song For Your Tears and then a song by one of his favorite female singers.  At first he went in to singing “Oops I Did It Again”, but said that he was joking and then did a great cover of Sarah McLachlan’s Arms Of An Angel.

Honestly, I don’t think how amazing his voice is really comes out over TV, it is something that is best experienced live.

After the show he hung out at the merch table and signed autographs and took photos with anyone who asked!  Many in the crowd were family and friends so it was nice to see him interact with them.  It was also funny when he’d be talking to someone but spot someone else in the crowd who he knew, and would get all excited that he’d be chatting with them next!

Rebecca and Javier’s setlist under the cut.  Rebecca mentioned all her song titles before songs but Javier did not – so I might have names wrong and I know I am missing a couple from his set.

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Concert Meet and Greet

The Ready Set Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge 5/26

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Thursday afternoon I once again headed to the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge, this time for a live chat and private performance with The Ready Set, thanks to Kiss 95.7 (and my friend Pam who won and invited me along!)

Jordan was already in the room when we got in and JC from Kiss 95.7 was also there to emcee the chat.  The room was first asked if they had any questions for Jordan and then JC also had some questions submitted by listeners.  Everything was broadcast on UStream.

More Than Alive
Young Forever
Love Like Woe

Concert Gavin DeGraw Meet and Greet

Gavin DeGraw Acoustic Cafe May 24, 2011

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96.5 TIC had an Acoustic Cafe Tuesday afternoon at Black Bear Saloon in Hartford, CT.  Acoustic Cafes are always pretty small and intimate, and this one was no different.

Shortly after I arrived, Gavin arrived and went in to the room where the stage was for soundcheck.  Once he was finished, we were all brought in to the room where the stage was and a couple of minutes later Gavin was introduced and took the stage.

Previously, I had never seen Gavin before and he was on my “Life List” as a must see and I have to say, he did not disappoint.  He did 3 songs – Chariot, Not Over You and I Don’t Wanna Be.

After the set we got photos with him.  Gavin’s arm is in a sling but he was still shaking hands and hugging everyone the best he could 🙂

This acoustic cafe win was part of a Double Play – so I am also going to be on the list for David Cook’s acoustic cafe in a couple of weeks!

 

Meet and Greet Other Event

Big Apple Comic Con – Part 2

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As soon as I got my VIP stuff I got in line to get my autograph from Tom Felton.  He seemed to be talking to everyone so we had plenty of time to get photos of him while we were waiting.  It took about a half an hour to get up to him, which wasn’t too bad of a wait at all.

We had 3 photos to choose from and got to choose if we wanted it personalized or not. I chose to get mine personalized because I like to see how people make their ‘K’s.  I have to say, Tom’s K was pretty fancy!  He was totally sweet and called everyone by name as we got up to him. He was talking to the girls in front of me about the last movie and how it will be the best one, but it is bittersweet because it is the end. (I’ve been saying the SAME thing!) He called me lovely and asked how I was doing and thanked me for coming and he also asked me if the autograph he did was ok LOL  I like how he also added “Draco” on the autograph – he didn’t on the girls in front of mine.

 

Next up was 12:45 for the photo-op.  Somehow I managed to be about the 5th person in line for the photos.  He had taken off a plaid shirt he had on before I got to him in the autograph line, but put it back on for the photos.  The room was SO hot, I got in there and he was fanning himself with his shirt and I was like “It is so hot in here!” and he just turns to me and goes “YOU’RE RIGHT!” and we took the photo and chatted a bit and he thanked me for coming down and I thanked him for being there and told him it was nice to meet him.

He was honestly so, so nice.  Not that I expected anything less.  I used to get teased in college because I had an I <3 Draco shirt that I would wear to classes and everyone would be “why do you like him? he’s so bad!” haha But Tom is absolutely wonderful and my favorite from the series so I was glad that I got to meet him first.  I am not sure that I’ll go back to this Con again – but I’d probably consider it long and hard if Ron Weasley was there… (he is my 2nd fave)

About an hour later I went back and my photo was ready and waiting – I thought it would come out pretty icky because we were both sweaty and gross, but the cameras were amazing and it doesn’t look too bad at all!

After that I decided to head home – all the waiting in line was just too much for me, but I am quite proud of how well I handled the situation – especially since waiting for all the VIP stuff separated me from my brother for most of the day.

Book Review Giveaway

Book Review & Giveaway: The Arrivals

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The Arrivals is the debut novel from Meg Mitchell Moore.  The story chronicles 3 months of the Owens Family – Parents Ginny and William and their three children – Lillian, Stephen and Rachel, who are all at different stages in their life. Ginny and William think that they are emptynesters, but are in for a surprise when their oldest daughter Lillian stops by for a visit with her children Olivia and Philip.  Lillian’s husband has cheated on her and unsure of what to do, she goes running to her parents.  Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane stop by for a visit, but when Jane has complications with her pregnancy their visit becomes much longer as Jane is advised to be on bed rest. Their youngest daughter, Rachel, was in New York City but decides to come home after breaking up with her boyfriend, finding out she was pregnant and then suffering a miscarriage.

At first the amount of characters in the book was a bit overwhelming, but quickly you find out about each of them and by the end, you feel like you are a member of the family.  The story is broken down in to 4 sections – June, July, August and After.  While there are 4 different storylines going on, it is one big (not so) happy family and the dynamic is truly great.  They confide in each other, keep secrets from each other and help each other through all the problems they are having over the summer.

I also liked that when Olivia and her Grandfather and Aunt went to Ben & Jerry’s, it was noted that Olivia spent all their change on the penny smashing machine! I collect those pennies so it was nice to see the mention of the machine in the book! 🙂

About The Author

Meg Mitchell Moore worked for several years as a journalist. Her articles have been published in a wide variety of business and consumer magazines. She received a master’s degree in English literature from New York University. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three children. The Arrivals is her first novel.

Buy It!

To find out where you can purchase The Arrivals, available beginning May 25th, head over to Hachette Book Group

Win It!

The publisher has given Concert Katie 2 copies of the book to giveaway to 2 lucky readers! Please be sure to leave your email address in each comment.  For this contest, winners can be located in the U.S. or Canada.  No P.O. Boxes please. Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the title in the mail.

Mandatory Entry

Leave a comment with why you would like to read this book

Optional Entries
(1 entry/comment each unless otherwise noted)

‘Like’ Meg Mitchell Moore on Facebook
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Tweet about the giveaway:  “Win It! @Concert_Katie is giving away 2 copies of @mmitchmoore’s The Arrivals http://tinyurl.com/3gw4n62”
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Contest Ends June 2 at 11:59PM EST. Winners will be chosen by Random.org and notified via email.  Winners must respond to email within 48 hours or will forfeit their prize.

I was given a free copy of this book from the publisher in order to post my review.  All opinions are honest and mine.

Other Event

Big Apple Comic Con – Part 1

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Although I did not spend too long at the Big Apple Comic Con over the weekend, I decided to spread out my posts – mainly so that all my complaining would be in one post and all the good that happened be in another 😉  I’ll start with the negative so this story will have a happy ending.

 

I had never been to a Comic Con like this before so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I have to say that I expected there would be some level of organization.  We arrived just about 10am when doors were set to open.  There was a lot of confusion and there was only 1 person from the Con staff looking to get VIP people out of the main line and in to the VIP line so that they could be let in “first”.

 

 

I waited in the VIP line for about 30 minutes and got my wristband for entry, but was told that I should come back later to pick up my VIP stuff when the line was not as hectic.  Except that my VIP “stuff” included my voucher for a Tom Felton photo and autograph and Tom Felton was over to the left signing as soon as we got inside.  So my options were to either pay another $25 on top of the $100 I dropped on VIP to get an autograph, or wait in the mess of the line to get my vouchers.

And when I say “mess of the line”, that is an understatement.  The general ticket sales were all lumped in with the VIP ticket redemption and people kept getting shoved inside the door so rather than be an orderly line it was just a massive crowd which of course made things more difficult and then people were cutting in saying the were buying tickets but then traded in their VIP tickets instead. Not cool!

After about an hour I finally got my ticket scanned.  The hold up was that the vouchers were being individually added to our lanyards.  Now, if everyone who bought VIP gets a VIP lanyard and a photo-op and autograph voucher, wouldn’t it have maybe made sense to have someone add these items to the lanyards the night before? Or at the very least have another staff member there to help speed up the process?

The second showing of just how confusing everything was, was when it was time for the Photo-Op.  A lot of the Tom Felton VIPs were hanging around, but James Marsters photo-ops would be going on first (why they had them back-to-back when they were the most popular people at the place, I’m not sure) and no one knew where they were supposed to go, or where the people who wanted to buy a photo-op were supposed to go either.  When staff was asked – they told the person who asked to be in charge of forming the line.

Meanwhile, also in the photo-op area were a bunch of artists who were obviously there to try and make a buck.  Lines for the photo-ops were completely blocking their tables, though fortunately most people moved out of the way if they were told by someone that they wanted to go by to see the artists.

However, having hundreds and hundreds of people in such a small area meant for a VERY hot room.  Lots of body heat and I honestly don’t know if they even had the AC on in the place. It was awful.

When I finally had the chance to check out the booths upstairs – there was barely any room to walk by if someone was at the table on either side of the aisle.  I saw a couple of guys in wheelchairs and I honestly don’t know how they were able to make it around at all and I felt really bad for them.  (And staff was few and far between to ask for assistance)  Then when we decided to leave upstairs – the down escalator was off!

I didn’t even bother staying for Tom Felton’s panel because I just didn’t think I’d be able to stand in another line (my legs were in a lot of pain from all the standing) and could not deal with any more confusion.

Stay tuned for Part 2 when I left you know how my autograph and photo-op sessions went!

American Idol Giveaway

Win! Siobhan Magnus signed photo

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I have an extra signed Siobhan Magnus photo that will be given away to one lucky @Concert_Katie twitter follower!  To enter, you must be following @Concert_Katie on twitter and you must tweet the following:

I want to win a Siobhan Magnus Autograph from @Concert_Katie! Details:http://tinyurl.com/3svwncl


The contest will end on May 29th at 11:59PM EST.  I am willing to ship to USA and Internationally which means anyone can enter this contest.  Winner must be following @Concert_Katie on twitter to win and will be notified via DMs.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond with the information needed from the DM or else they forfeit the prize and an alternate winner will be chosen.

Travel

Oversold Flights

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On my trip to Tulsa, my first flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to switch to another flight and they would compensate them. I was tempted, but then I was paranoid that I wouldn’t make it to Tulsa in time for the show (even though I still had an entire day to get there).

On my way home, neither of my flights were over booked, but the gate across from me was offering $400 in flight vouchers to switch to a different flight. I wasn’t too worried about getting home so I would have done it… and most definitely for $400 – that could easily be another trip to Tulsa – or probably a number of other placed I’d like to go!

Has anyone out there bumped a flight for compensation? How much longer did it take for you to get to your destination? If you’ve never done it – what kind of compensation would make you consider it? Cash money? Flight vouchers?

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