Bon Jovi, I and 64,000+ Others

I got hooked on going to see Bon Jovi when I got free tickets to his HAVE A NICE DAY tour in 2006. This will be the third concert of his I've gone to. The second one was the free concert he did at Central Park last summer.

We headed to the new stadium as soon as Pointy got home. Lots got there before us as we wound up in Lot K when I wanted to be in A-E. As we walked to the stadium entrance, the skies decided to open up. Lucky, I made sure we had rain gear with us. It delayed the start of the concert as Meadowlands Stadium did not want anyone to get struck by lightning. In the meantime, Pointy and I ate our sandwich while we waited.

Lightning warnings passed, and they let Gavin DeGraw start his set at 7:20. Yes, it was still raining. Jon must have had an in with someone upstairs as it ended when Gavin's set was over. Jon and crew came out at 8:00.

Bon Jovi ended the concert with KEEPING THE FAITH and some great fireworks to end the song. I guess we made enough of an uproar for him to return to give us the last three songs. The show ended about 11:45pm.

Here's the set list:
BLOOD ON BLOOD - NEW JERSEY
WE WEREN’T BORN TO FOLLOW - THE CIRCLE
BAD NAME - SLIPPERY WHEN WET
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN' - LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY - NEW JERSEY
LOST HIGHWAY - LOST HIGHWAY
WE GOT IT GOING ON - LOST HIGHWAY
HAVE NICE DAY - HAVE A NICE DAY
WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL - THE CIRCLE
SUPERMAN TONIGHT - THE CIRCLE
CAPTAIN CRASH - CRUSH
BAD MEDICINE W/ BAD CASE OF LOVIN YOU - NEW JERSEY
IT’S MY LIFE - CRUSH
LOVES THE ONLY RULE - THE CIRCLE
LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME - Cross Road
MAKE A MEMORY - LOST HIGHWAY
BED OF ROSES - KEEP THE FAITH
NEVER SAY GOODBYE - SLIPPERY WHEN WET
SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN - THESE DAYS
SATURDAY NIGHT - Cross Road
SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD - KEEP THE FAITH
WORK FOR THE WORKING MAN - THE CIRCLE
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME - HAVE A NICE DAY
KEEP THE FAITH - KEEP THE FAITH
ALWAYS - Cross Road
WANTED - Cross Road
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER - SLIPPERY WHEN WET

Observations:
* Poor deer got hit :( (It was still there the next day when I drove into the city.)
* Men really do go on the side of the road.
* Some tailgaters were taking up multiple parking spots.
* Males were coming out of the bushes. Guess they couldn't wait on the Porta-Johns lines.
* Why? Why did they have more Male checker lines than Female checker lines?
* I did not have to use the plastic bottle caps in my pocket.
* Pointy wonders why new toilets did not have sensors but the faucets did?
* The Droid Incredible has an amazing camera. The fuzzy pics were from Olympus camera which I forgot to fully charge. The rest of the pics are from the Incredible.

Judy, next time, remember to bring the extra poncho and possibly a towel to wipe the seats dry.

Here are the pics from Bon Jovi The Circle Tour concert if you interested.

Dragon*Con 2008 Reflections

Yes, I'm still thinking about it. Can't stop as everyone is posting their pics and blogging about it.

My favorite airline, Continental, made sure I made my connections so I can arrive in time to catch the next to last Marta to my hotel. Boy, that was one long Marta escalator ride up to street level. Was I afraid to walk the streets late at night? Not this raised-New York gal. Plus there were signs that the streets were on 24-hour surveillance.

I did get a little peeved with the hotel. You would think the address was the main entrance. Nope, you can only use that entrance if you have the hotel room key. The hotel was on a triangular block. I had to drag my luggage around the pointy part of the block to access the entrance used for valet parking. Plus it had four steps. You know -- traveling from west coast 2pm to east coast 12 midnight -- did not need this. No problem, just wanted my room. Plus I get my freebie breakfast each morning before I headed to the DC hotels.

The next morning I headed to the Hyatt to get my badge for the weekend. Signage was not very good as I had to go out of the hotel to find street entrance to the registration area. You would think with my last name being at the end of the alphabet I would breeze through the pickup of my badge. Nope, everyone from Wood to Z was lumped together. I think this was one of the longest line. I think it took me a little over an hour to get my badge. I'm glad I went early as I'm sure the line got longer later in the day when everything opened at 1pm.

The hotels were swarming with people in costume already. There was still room to move around early afternoon. Different story after that. Everything under the sun came out. Of the areas I checked out, the only crowd free area was the International Tower of the Hyatt. This was where the Writer's Track was being held -- not many in costume there.

Atlanta police was in force to ensure people movement could happen between Hyatt and Marriott. You would not have been able to make the masses walk to the corner to cross *LOL*. Though I felt for the handicap as they had to take the long route around at the Hyatt as you had to do stairs in order to get to the Marriott -- shortest route.

Unlike the NY Comic Con, and I'm sure San Diego Comic Con, freebies are in short supply. Exhibitors and dealers are out to make a buck. You can find many booths that sell stuff that can make a costume if you did not bring one with you.

Of the two panels I attended, I had no problem with the first one. Lots of available seating. I got to see some of the famous vampire writers: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Suzy McKee Charnas, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Laurell K. Hamitlon and Kelly Lockhart. I've always wanted to check out Ms. Yarbro's vamp and now I want to also check out Ms. Charnas', too.

The second panel I arrived about 1 1/2 hour before start. The staffer said I need to go in a get a seat in the current session as they will not be clearing the room for the next panel. Got in, still plenty of seats in the back. I made my move as soon as the panel was over and found a seat upfront. The panel consisted of Raven Hart, Elizabeth Donald, Carol Nelson Douglas, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Mike Lee and Laurell K. Hamilton. Two more authors I want to check out -- Mike Lee and Carol Nelson Douglas.

Peachtree Centre Mall is generally closed as downtown is dead -- it's mainly a very large food court with several stores that serves the office workers during the work week. Well, Dragon*Con gave these foodies a reason to open. They were open early for breakfast and stay open late, like 11pm. Good luck in finding a spot to sit and eat your lunch. If you don't mind fresh air, go upstairs to the courtyard.

Cell phone service -- at least at the Marriott -- stink in the Exhibitor Hall areas. The people who needed to use it could not. How are you suppose to call someone about this great find? Not that I think you could hear anyone except yourself talk. As I did not use my cell at all, I wonder if my network was behind me.

Everything they say about the elevators are true. You can wait forever. Learn to get them at the very first floor or the highest floor.

Kudoos to Marriott staff in trying to move people along at the escalators. Very dangerous as they were always packed. Lots could get hurt if people did not move on. There was little room to stop and think which way you want to go once you got off.

I was leary about the weather as I thought it would be hot and humid. I took care of that. Walked early and late between my hotel and DC hotels. I did not participate in the parade. I kept majority of what I wanted to check out in one hotel ;)

Love the Marta. Great and cheap --just $4.00 roundtrip-- to move between airport and event hotels :) Remember, you need to use your ticket to get out.

The best part was meeting some great people. It's always great to put a face to someone you've talked to many times on the internet. And all those costumed people, more than willing to have their photos taken.

I'm not a Dragon*Con virgin anymore :) I need to experience it at least one more time to decide if it will be an annual ritual.

My First Comic Con

I'm no longer a Comic Con virgin. WOW! Definitely different from the Auto Show and business conventions. I went to all three days of the NY Comic Con held at Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York City from Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 20, 2008.

FRIDAY
After unplanned work *GRRRRR*, I headed into the city. I walked right in after the Con was opened to the general public for an hour and a half -- got my badge holder and lanyard. I checked out some of the booths as I went to find Sherrilyn Kenyon's booth (1907). It was the primary reason I was attending the Con -- see the Author Goddess. Sherri had a LINE. So I picked up a couple of the freebie book, peruse the store (yes, I bought stuff), and waited off to the side until I could give Sherri a "HI" and get a hug. She always give great hugs to fans she gets to know :). Sherri saw my Daimon Biting T-Shirt from K*Con 2007 and handed me "Under the Protection Acheron" button. Off I went to run errands for my bro and co-worker. For my bro, I went to see Sean "Cheeks" Calloway to buy his 2 sketchbooks. Cheeks was nice enough to draw Thor and Superman and autograph the books. Now I'm broke and have to hunt down an ATM machine *If you plan on attending one of these type of Cons, bring lots of cash. Rare do you find plastic accepted* I got majority of what Chris, co-worker, wants. Still got two more days to hunt for his stuff. Back to Sherri's booth I went. I introduced myself to the other Sheri who was manning AG's booth. I got put to work handing out freebie book, bags and restocking the other freebies (buttons, postcards, bumper stickers, bookmarks). Ed was taking care of the storefront. When the public was finally shooed out, I hung around to help clean up, restock what we can for tomoorow and discussed additional signage. AG's hubby and kid and Alethea Kontis finally arrived. I met them, got some DH wear for tomorrow and headed home. I worked on signage before heading off to bed.

SATURDAY
I met up with my bro to hand over the sketchbooks and hitch a ride into the city. I could always count on my bro for a ride. He dropped me off 10 minutes before the Con opened. Whoa, what a line to get in. I got to be in a line that was about 15 people wide and about two blocks long. It took me 40 minutes to get into the Exhibition Hall. What a difference from yesterday! They had Star Wars characters to entertain the masses as we slowly inched our way in. Once in, I hurried over to Sherri's booth, put up the signage and then disappeared. I spent the next several hours at the IGN Theatre.

** Disney's WALL*E -- This is the latest production from PIXAR. Multiple scenes from the flick were shown. It's a hit with me and I think it will be a great hit for all ages. It tugs at your heart.

** Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- Besides seeing the movie trailer, the audience got to talk to Ben Barnes (Price Caspian and what a cutie), William Moseley (Peter Pevensie), Peter Dinklage (Trumpkin) and producer Mark Johnson. Mark Johnson said there will be at least one more Narnia. I guess I should find time to see the first one soon. For me, it will still be a DVD movie.

** SciFi Battlestar Galactica -- I only sat through this cause I was waiting for the next offering. Besides the clip, the panel had Michael "Tigh" Hogan, Michael "Anders" Trucco, Rekha "Tory" Sharma and SciFi exec. There were lots of fans for BG. If you're interested, there are YouTubes that captured the panel discussion.

** Star Wars and Indiana Jones -- The press agent for LucasFilms presented videogame Star Wars: Force Unleashed, annual celebration in Tokyo 2009, animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and live interview with Seth Green and Matt Senreich who produce the stop motion Star Wars: Robot Chicken (YouTube has this really entertaining interview). Did you know there's a Lego videogame of Indiana Jones *LOL* cute. We got to see the trailer for the movie.

** Universal Wanted -- Timur Bekmambetov, director, presented this new action-flick based Mark Miller's graphic novel series. I did not know anything about this. The trailer shown makes me want to see it. It has some great stars in in -- Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. A great fan question was why don't the characters wear costumes. Timur said you would know they were assassins :D

** Universal Hellboy 2: The Golden Army -- Yes, we got to see a trailer. When the lights came back on, we saw that monsters/aliens joined the panel. Along with Guillermo Del Torro (director) was Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy), Selma "Liz" Blair , Ron "Hellboy" Perlman, Doug "Abe Sapien" Jones and Luke Goss (Prince Nuada). As promised, Guillermo dedicated his three-headed dog which got cut to a fan.

As I headed back to the Exhibition Hall and went in search of a late lunch, I came across this

WOW! *two thumbs up Jack!* Next time, I need to stroll outside of the Exhibition Hall cause I'm sure I missed other promotional items. But not this one

I did some leisurely strolls up and down the aisles, picking up stuff here and there. Not much though. After that, I headed over to Sherri's booth to help out for the rest of the day. I got to hang with Dimitri, NYC Dark-Hunter *shhhh don't tell Ash* Dimitri was steering minions to Sherri. I got to meet Loretta, a long time fan, who was helping to woman the store.

SUNDAY
As my BIL works retail on Sunday, I arranged with him to drop me off and pick me up. What a great idea it was!!! Unlike yesterday, I decided to bypass the regular entrance (me not like lines). Instead, I used the other entrances and got into the Hall pronto. Since the crowd was still inching in, I was able to visit many of the booths. By the time I was finished, I had more goodies than I got from the other two days. Plus I had a goal -- Sunday was Kid Day, pick up kid friendly goodies for my nephews and nieces. Onto Sherri's booth I went to help out for the day. On my breaks, I found more stuff :) The kids are so lucky to have me for an auntie. Once the public was shooed out again, I helped Sherri to pack until my BIL got me. I'm so glad as it would have stunk to lugged all the stuff to the bus terminal.

To see pics of Sherri's booth, go here.

WEEK LATER
I finally unpacked all the goodies and split them up between the two kiddie families and stuff for my brother and sisters. I even found the stuff I got for myself :D. Since I had extra, I'll pass along stuff to my SIL's niece and nephew. As I was going through the items, I thought what a difference in goodies that I got from this convention vs. business convention. At business conventions, I got stress balls, toothbrushes, items to clean your computer screen, dental floss, pens (lots of them), highlighters, bandaids, etc.

I had a blast and will be attending the next NY Comic Com, Feburary 6-8, 2009. But, this one is too far away. I'll be heading to the next Con in Atlanta, GA -- Dragon*Con, August 29-September 1, 2008. I did my ticket registration last year. Just need to take care of my hotel today -- thank goodness for frequent guest points. My work should take care of the airfare *VBG* If not, no big deal as I have frequent miles.

Wintuk

The family, 12 adults and kids, went to see Wintuk by Cirque du Soleil at Madison Square Garden in New York City. No, there's no big blue/yellow big top in NYC nor inside Madison Square Garden. Like CdS shows in Las Vegas, there's a theatre environment for this show. This is the first year and supposedly it will come back each winter.

The show is about a little boy who wants to see snow. Until the boy gets his wish, we see bikers do unexpected feats, roller skaters, juggling complexity with 7 pink balls, huge puppets, not your day-to-day hula hooping, jump rope, rag doll, two acrobats with silver bouncy balls, two ladies with aerial rope, group with flexible poles, tight (not really tight) rope act and other acts. Besides the boy getting his snow wish, the audience did to.

Even though I missed the first 10 minutes (unexpected traffic problems and Mom was running late) and based on all the other CdS shows I've had to pleasure to see, this was my least favorite. The kids and the adults that have not seen a CdS show enjoyed it. This was more for the kids than the adults.