Concert Katie

the same song over and over again

Book Review

Book Review: Backstreet Boys 30th Anniversary Celebration

Katie 0 Comments

This is a book about the creation and last 30 years of the Backstreet Boys career.  As a member of Team *NSYNC I was disappointed to see there was a call out about *NSYNC being on hiatus 3 paragraphs in.  While this book is written by 2 fans, you’d think we’d be grown up and professional enough now to let the 2 bands stand on their own.  Apparently not.  This was a major turn off.  A lot of the info in the book I had already known by being a “fan” for the last 20 whatever years or hearing the guys on various podcasts and interviews.

There were however a lot of photos included and some fan bios which were neat.

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

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Backstreet Boys with the ultimate tribute book—filled with amazing tour photography, band-member profiles, fan memories, and more.

Since breaking into the scene in 1993, the Backstreet Boys have sold over 100 million records around the globe making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists, and giving them the title of best-selling boy band of all time. They are the only boy band to have their first ten albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the first group since Led Zeppelin to do so. Celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band in April 2023, members AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Howie Dorough are still going strong and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Featuring a powerhouse foreword by singer-songwriter, DJ, author, activist, and one fifth of the megastar girl group the Spice Girls Melanie Chisholm (aka Melanie C or Sporty Spice), this loving homage to the Boys is written by super fans and BSBFanGirls.com owners Karah-Leigh Hancock and Emilia Filogamo and explores the band’s journey from relative unknowns to superstardom, including:

  • Personal backstories and journeys for all five members, including a tribute to Nick’s brother Aaron
  • An exploration of every chart-topping single, best-selling album, and sold-out tour
  • Fan stories and memories
  • Quotes and testimonials from industry professionals
  • Amazing tour photography
  • Fan memorabilia
  • And more!

Whether occupying a place of honor on your coffee table or gifted as the supreme fan treasure, relive the ’90s through the amazing journey of the Backstreet Boys, one that is truly larger than life.

Backstreet’s back, all right!

Book Review

Book Review: David Hockney

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Little People Big Dreams is back this time with a book about David Hockney.  I was not familiar with David at all before reading this book. Turns out, David is a gay artist who would sometimes fail his tests at school so everyone would think he was only good at art! It was interesting to learn so much more about an artist who knew who he was and what he wanted from a young age – went for it – and was incredibly successful with it!  These Little People Big Dreams books have great illustrations and a lot of great easy to read stories about famous figures.

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

About the Book

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of David Hockney, the inspirational British artist.  

Little David loved to draw and looked at the world in his own unique way. He always knew what his path in life would be… he would be an artist!

He went to art school and worked day and night to hone his drawing skills. He sold his first painting as a student, and in just five years he had a sell-out solo show of his work. When he moved from the UK to sunny California, he became known for creating bright, bold paintings.

From the Grand Canyon to the Yorkshire hills of home, David painted fantastic landscapes, including one made of 50 canvases all stitched together. An artist who delights in constantly reinventing himself, to this day David is eager to share his colourful work, and himself, with the whole world.

This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the incredible young poet and activist’s life so far.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.

Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS! 

Book Review

Book Review: King Charles

Katie 0 Comments

The Little People, Big Dreams books are at it again, this time with a book about King Charles. (It’s still kind of weird to be typing that!)  I hadn’t realized that he was the first royal to earn a degree after spending some time in boarding school.  He also started defending the environment before global warming was a well known issue.  In fact, the items I knew the most about him (married to Diana, father to William and Harry) were just glossed over on a page or two.  It focused a lot more in information I didn’t really know about him, which was great! I also love the illustrations in this book and how they’re written as easy reads and geared towards children.

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

About the Book

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of King Charles.

Little Charles always knew that, one day, he would have a big job to do. As the son of Queen Elizabeth II, he was a prince, and in the future, he was to inherit the throne of the United Kingdom.

As a young man, he developed a passion for one cause: the environment. Charles recognized that plastics and pollutants were causing harm to Earth, and as the Prince of Wales, he spent all his efforts championing climate justice and sustainability.

As a member of the Royal Family, Charles used his power to build important organizations such as The Prince’s Trust, a charity that works to improve the lives of young people across the UK.

And in 2022, when he became King, he pledged that he would spend the rest of his life serving his people with loyalty, respect, and love.

This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the royal’s life, from little prince to grown-up king.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling biography series for kids that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series of books offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover and paperback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. With rewritten text for older children, the treasuries each bring together a multitude of dreamers in a single volume. You can also collect a selection of the books by theme in boxed gift sets. Activity books and a journal provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children​​.

Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

Book Review

Book Review: Stuffed

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Stuffed is a book containing 65 mix & match recipes for sandwich cookies! Whoopie pies, macarons, ice cream sandwiches and more! The book breaks down these delicious sandwiches into 6 categories: 1. Oldies but Goodies, 2. For the Love of Chocolate, 3. The Cool Cookies, 4. Tart & Tangy, 5. Cookies with a Kick, 6. Cocktail Cookies and then the book is rounded out with chapter 7 – the fillings!

In addition to the recipes, there’s a lot of tips and tricks to make sure your kitchen and pantry are ready to go to make whatever type of cookie sandwich your heart desires.  What supplies you will need for baking, what ingredients to have on hand and tips on how to know your kitchen! Don’t want to be burning anything because you’re not familiar with your oven!

One tip for reading this book – make sure you’ve eaten before you start!  I had just finished lunch but still would like to eat every single one of these cookies in the Oldies but Goodies section. (My favorite pick is probably the Funfetti Cookies with Cake Batter Buttercream though! Homemade milanos are probably a close second)

All the cookies are photographed as well and I am sure that any attempt I make for any of these will not come out looking anywhere near as gorgeous… but if it tastes good, I guess we can call that a win!

Other favorites throughout the book include: Hot Fudge Sundae Macarons, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches and Sugar Cookie Confetti Ice Cream Sandwiches!

I was also surprised to see some savory options in the mix!  Definitely a lot of options to choose from!

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

About the Book

Double the cookie, double the fun.

Ice cream sandwiches, whoopie pies, macarons, homemade Oreos—this irresistible baking book has recipes for all these delicious sandwich cookies and plenty more. From Browned Butter Blondie blog creator Heather Mubarak, Stuffed features 65 mix-and-match cookie sandwiches for every occasion and craving, including both sweet and savory bakes that range from childhood classics with a twist (Nutter Butters! Chipwiches!) to sophisticated, party-ready treats (Strawberry Shortcake Macarons, Parmesan Polenta Crackers with Chive Cream Cheese). A whole chapter dedicated to swirly buttercreams, smooth ganache, fruity jams, and more lets you experiment with different cookie-filling pairings to your heart’s content. Or leave out the filling altogether for a super simple bake—the possibilities are endless! Home bakers of all levels will appreciate the flexible, choose-your-own-adventure format, while fans of Snacking Cakes, Dessert Person, and 100 Cookies will delight in a new trove of crave-worthy recipes. In a chunky package with a puffy case and a photo of every cookie sandwich, this book is stuffed with all the cookie recipes you’ll ever need.

Concert Hanson John Mayer

Nashville / Atlanta

Katie 0 Comments

Have you ever tried to go on vacation but the Universe tried to injure you *every day*?  That’s what my trip this past weekend ended up being.  I already wrote about the Fire Alarms going off at “Ain’t Too Proud” the musical.  That in and of itself is quite a story – but it just got worse from there.  Read on to find out what happened Friday, Saturday AND Sunday…

Friday night was John Mayer at the Bridgestone Arena.  We opted for “cheap seats” which ended up being quite steep and high up and I was mildly concerned that I wouldn’t be able to leave them (but I am home, so I did) and ended up dealing with a Tornado Watch during the show.  With being so far away, we ended up with the more “casuals” and had 2 or maybe even 3 couples near us who decided the right time to talk about John Mayer was while he was in front of them performing a show.  Can’t you just enjoy it while he’s in front of you and discuss it on the drive home like we did?  So obnoxious…  The Nashville show felt a lot different than Newark. I don’t know if it was because we were further away, if the closer to “hometown” shows for John feel different or if the Nashville crowd was just.. meh.  Appropriately this time, John started with Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.  The first two songs ended up being repeats from Newark, but then he ended up doing Heartbreak Warfare and In The Blood – the latter I was saying I would hope he would do because it had been stuck in my head.  He also threw in another of my favorites, Emoji of a Wave and then went into a medley based on signs of Something Like Olivia, My Stupid Mouth (YESSSS) and Daughters.  I had to laugh when he said he was going to play a brand new song nobody would know – but it was the same new one – Driftin’ – that he debuted in Newark. (I’m not sure he’s thrown anything else new into his sets?)  Then he said that the tour was just him solo but he was going to break that and bring on a special guest – a legend – and welcomed to the stage Sheryl Crow.  They did her song “Strong Enough”.    He also updated his stage banter before Your Body Is A Wonderland from Newark’s “is this song stupid?” and spoke a bit more about the song more sincerely.  I was hoping that we’d be Free Falling Free – but he ended up closing out the encore with it.   When we left the venue, there was an absolute downpour going on and while weren’t so happy about out $54 parking lot right next to the door to the arena, it made for a quick getaway and not getting completely soaked, so maybe it was worth it after all.

John Mayer Setlist Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN, USA 2023, Solo Acoustic

The next morning we got up early in an attempt to make it to the Brookhaven Festival in time for Deep Blue Something.  Initially, we were going to make it in plenty of time but unfortunately the traffic had other plans.  After making a pitstop for lunch, my friend says “There’s a person in the road”  I look up and there is a semi-truck in front of us that is stopped and a man walks out from the front of the truck.  He wanders to the left lane and ends up running a couple of cars off the road because they are trying not to hit him or anyone else.  We are in the middle lane and I think that once he made it to the other side of the road he would stop – but no – he ends up coming at our car.  My friend avoids him and we continue on, wondering if we should call the cops but not knowing quite where we were.  We ended up not calling, but hopefully someone did.  We thought we’d se a broken down car a bit further up, but there was nothing and the man did seem out of it but didn’t seem to have any visible injuries so we weren’t really sure what was going on and if he wanted to get hit or if he was trying to get help.

We made it to the festival and found the ADA parking lot that was supposed to be ‘close’.  Entered the festival, walked through the vendor area and 3/4 of a mile later… we made it to the stage.  Deep Blue Something was doing their last song as we were walking their (and from what I could hear, it wasn’t “Breakfast at Tiffanys”)  so we waited for Don McLean, who ended up enjoying the sing a long of American Pie so much, he sang most of it again.  Finishing out the festival was Band of Horses, but we opted to leave a bit early into their set because we wanted to beat the mad rush leaving and also hit up the Harry Potter Exhibition in Atlanta.

The Exhibition had interactive displays where you could win house points, a bunch of photo ops as well as some of the clothing worn during the movies. It was pretty cool, though I have to say that the price of admission seemed to be a bit steep for what it was. But it takes a good hour and a half to two hours to go through and then they have a cute cafe with some themed desserts and of course a gift shop – complete with a penny machine.

When we got to the hotel for the night, completely exhausted, we found that the front desk was swarming with a high school marching band trying to buy snacks.  Of course, I tried to skip the front desk and get a digital key, but they needed to see my ID so we had to wait. Ugh!

The next day it was supposed to be a pretty stormy day so our plans for getting to the festival were up in the air.  With thunderstorms in the morning we opted to sleep in, went to Walmart and picked up rain gear and got to the festival in time to see Lissie.  Or so we thought.  About 3 songs into her set she got cut short because the radar was showing lightning.  We were instructed to take shelter in our cars.  Yes, the one that was 3/4 of a mile away. (And the able bodied attendees, even further, they were being shuttled in)  We ended up snagging umbrellas they were giving away and hunkering down for the storm that rolled through.  Things got back on track with All-4-One taking the stage a bit earlier than scheduled, then The Fray, and finally Hanson!

This was a pretty expected setlist for Hanson as they have their typical “festival” setlist that is single heavy – though we were surprised with the inclusion of “Runaway Run”, and not at all surprised with the inclusion of “Georgia”.  They started the set with Fired Up which we were joking they would because our weekend started with the fire alarms.  And we also got a kick of them singing, “isn’t it hard, standing in the rain”  I mean, yes, sort of… poncho on poncho kind of makes things slippery.

After the show we hit up McDonalds for their bathroom and then made another pistop at Buc-ees! I was glad to pick up a few boxes of their animal crackers that I loved so much when we went last summer, but I couldn’t find any of the overbite chocolates that I had liked 🙁  Oh well, I’m trying to count calories and it would have just complicated things too much for me.

I am happy to report that I had absolutely no flight issues there or back home – direct flights from Nashville to Hartford and back via Southwest.  I guess with everything else going wrong, something HAD to go right for once, right?

Book Review

Book Review: Pop Rock Icons

Katie 0 Comments

Pop Rock Icons is a photographic book that shows a ton of Pop Rock Icons from the 60s and 70s.  I definitely wish I was alive at this time and am tempted to make myself a playlist from a lot of the acts featured in the book – The Beatles and Rolling Stones of course, but also Cat Stevens, Marianne Faithfull, Queen – and more.  It seems like there was just such an amazing and booming music scene during this era and I am sad to have missed out on it!

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

About the Book

Pop Rock Icons takes us into the extraordinary world of London, England at the time of the greatest countercultural upheaval that the country has known.

A real musical revolution began at the beginning of the 1960s, led by the Beatles, further ignited by the Rolling Stones and many others. The incredible rise of rock music continued until the end of the 1970s, when Punk arrived and launched a new wave of DIY rebellion.

“Today, we are more popular than Jesus Christ.”

– John Lennon

In photographs which capture the spirit of the times, [re]discover the optimism of the Beatles; the Stones’ dark rhythm‘n’blues; the energy of The Who; the innovation of prog rock with Pink Floyd and Genesis, as well as the explosive heavy metal of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The 70s gave us the glam rock of T Rex and the gritty pub rock of Dr Feelgood, without forgetting the rock giants: Led Zeppelin, Queen, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and the unclassifiable David Bowie.

Music Other Event

Ain’t Too Proud Musical

Katie 0 Comments

When I landed in Nashville I found out that my friend had gotten us free tickets to see the jukebox musical about the life and times of The Temptations for that night. We were about a dozen rows back and were excited to check it out when about an hour into the show lights near the emergency exits started flashing. No one seemed to be reacting but the lights kept going off and then eventually started talking about there being an emergency in the building. I looked up and the balcony seats were evacuating, but the show was still going on! Shortly after someone yelled “stop the production!” from the crowd and a voice came on saying “actors please clear the stage” and we were told to leave and that it was believed to not be an actual emergency but they’d let us know if we could go back inside or not.

We waited outside, but a lot of people started bailing out, but we were too curious to see what would end up happening and if the show would go on or not. After about 30 minutes outside, we were told we could come back in.  Everyone got some time to head back to their seats and the show picked up where it had left off – to thunderous applause.  I don’t know about you, but whenever we had a fire drill at my work, we never could just jump right back into it – we always had to discuss the fire drill for like an hour after we got back inside – so it was impressive that the cast just jumped right back in where they had left off.  Then it was time for the actual intermission (the guy next to us said the earlier one was an ‘outermission’) which I imagine was necessary for costume and set reasons and couldn’t have been skipped.  Act II began and we were what we thought to be maybe 10-15 minutes from the end?  Only for the lights to start flashing AGAIN!  This time they were a bit quicker to tell the actors to clear the stage – and the lead playing Otis yelled “SO CLOSE!” before exiting.  This time we were told we needed to evacuate again and that the show would NOT be continuing.  What we had seen so far was great, but I wish we had gotten to see the end!  It does sound like TPAC gave everyone who attended a refund for the tickets.  Maybe I’ll try to catch it when it is in Hartford to see how it ends.

 

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