Butterviews

I was asked by the One2One Network to review Once in a Blue Moonby Eileen Goudge.  And HA!  I got to see it before y’all.  The book officially releases October 6th.

However – I have to disclose something.  I love Eileen Goudge.  So.  I have to admit that this review will be biased.  Unless she totally tanks the book – the review is bound to be positive from me.

Here’s the synopsis:

Sisters Lindsay and Kerrie Ann have known hardship from an early age. Without guidance from their neglectful mother, their only aid came from an unlikely source, a retired exotic dancer by the name of Miss Honi Love. When the girls’ mother was sent to prison, Miss Honi tried unsuccessfully to save them from being separated and sent into foster care.

Thirty years later, Lindsay is still trying to reconnect with her sister. The owner of a bookstore in the sleepy California seaside town of Blue Moon Bay, she was lucky enough to have been adopted by a loving couple. Unbeknownst to her, Kerrie Ann has suffered a very different life. Bounced from one foster home to the next, she ran away as a teenager before becoming a drug-addicted single mother. Now, newly sober, Kerrie Ann is fighting to regain custody of the little girl who was taken from her.

Neither sister’s expectations are met when they’re finally reunited. But as the two sisters engage in the fiercest battles of their lives, they are at last drawn together despite their differences, restoring belief in the unshakable bond of family.

So – what did I think?

Without giving away the plot, I loved it.  It really resonated with me.  Granted some of the plot resonated a little TOO well with me given my family history and brought up some old stuff for me, but I think that’s a gift of the author’s.  In addition, I think a strong theme of the book as a whole is “family is what you create it to be,” which is something I believe and live every day.

The characters are well rounded and you really get to know them, warts and all.  What’s more – you grow attached to them, you start rooting for them.  A definite sign of a good book.

An aside: I want Miss Honi Love to come and live with me, please.

For the record, had I not been in on this, I would have bought the book when it’s released.  Translated – I loved the book and you should buy it.  If you’re already an Eileen Goudge fan?  You’ll love this one.  If you’ve never read her?  It’s a great example (although you’re then going to have to read the rest of her stuff.)

Did you know that Eileen Goudge has a FaceBook page?  And Twitter?  Check her out and then check out the new book.

This review is my personal opinion. I received the book gratis.

The One2One Network sent me the Broadway cast recording soundtrack of Rock of Ages to review. I gotta tell you… When you do reviews, you never quite know what you’re going to get!

Some info on the CD:

New Line Records just hammered the in-store release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of five-time Tony Award nominated “ROCK OF AGES.” For those of you not in the know, Rock of Ages is the new Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. Set in 1987 in a legendary Sunset Strip rock club, a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to the greatest metal songs of the 80′s. The musical is an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

I’ll be honest… I wasn’t sure what this was. I agreed, because, well, Rock!! When I agreed, I didn’t know that this was a Broadway show. It also took me checking out the artwork and such to realize that Constantine Maroulis is a castmember. At that point I realized that I would have to add a disclaimer here, because I am no longer objective. I had a serious (totally married, pious) crush on Constantine on American Idol. I wanted to pet him and put him in my pocket.

Once I found out this was a musical, using already established rock, I was a little concerned. I was really really hoping it wouldn’t be like those covers you hear, where a really rocking song ends up sounding like Muzak. But this is… Amazing. While they changed the songs a smidge to fit the storyline of the musical, the music is straight on. And in fact I want to see if they use a live orchestra, because it is GREAT. And then I was concerned about the voices. Nothing would be worse than a wimpy version of rock. I was amazed by them!!

And seriously – I thought it WAS Jon Bon Jovi singing “Wanted Dead or Alive.” By the way – My husband was a HUGE Young Guns fan, and this song sold him on the CD. And of course “Final Countdown” reminds me of every 80′s martial arts movie there ever was. Heh.

So, this CD took me completely by surprise. I absolutely loved it. And I maybe might have made an idiot out of myself headbanging singing to it. My husband has learned to just smile and nod. If you’re into rock (think leather and hair and slow dancing in junior high) than this is for you.

I want you to buy it. No, I do have a giveaway, but since only one of you will win, you should totally buy it. See the bottom of the post for the giveaway…

Tracklisting:
Just Like Paradise / Nothin’ But A Good Time
Sister Christian
We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands
I Wanna Rock
We’re Not Gonna Take It
Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Want To Know What Love Is
Cum On Feel The Noize / We’re Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)
Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night
Here I Go Again
The Final Countdown
Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)
High Enough
I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Oh Sherrie
The Search Is Over
Don’t Stop Believin

If you’d like to enter for a free CD of Rock of Ages for your own, I have a simple giveaway here… Nothing fancy. No extra entries for tweets or writing about it (I simply don’t have the time to do a full blown thing right now,) just a straight up comment giveaway. Comment on this entry, and make sure you leave your email address in the proper slot. That’s it. One entry each, please. Giveaway ends (and your comments must be there) by Sunday, 8/16 at 11:59pm pacific. Good luck!

OK. Here’s where I show how I’m a baaaaad baaaad blogger. The wonderful One2One network sent me to see Yanni Voices live. And I completely forgot to write about it until just now. I have no idea what’s happened to my brain over the last few months.

Actually, that’s not true – I know exactly where my mind has been. Building my business, my husband’s unemployment, and the fact that due to summer and aforementioned unemployment, I am never alone. Ever. It’s starting to make my brain cells deteriorate. Mea Culpas to both Yanni Voices and One2One.

Anyway. I got to go to a Real! Live! Concert! With my husband. Date night, woot! When I was asked to review the Yanni Voices CD, I was very pleasantly surprised, because I loved it. Although, I can be a little critical when it comes to music. I was REALLY surprised, though, when my Eminem-loving husband loved it too. So, I was excited when this opportunity presented itself. It almost didn’t happen – my mother had been admitted into the ICU 2 days prior. And since my dad was a little, oh, distracted (ya think?) we abruptly didn’t have a babysitter! Our kids both have special needs, and so we can’t just call up the local teenager. However, my best friend, Amy, came to the rescue, and watched the kids for us.

I knew where the Nokia Theater was – so that wasn’t an issue. In addition, traffic wasn’t too bad, surprising if you know the L.A., Staples Center area. The problem came when we got there. First – we had to find an area to get cash. I had completely forgot that we’d need to pay for parking ($25 – ouch!) Then we had to circle a few times before traffic allowed us to actually get in the correct lane for parking. it was a little crazy down there, since there was something going on at Staples Center too. Eventually though, we were able to park.

Here’s an aside… Why do people act as if no one else exists? We were directed to our parking spots by attendants. We then had to hold up the entire line, because we couldn’t pull into our spot, as our neighbor decided to adjust his suit, and mess with other stuff in his car, while leaving his car door open all the way. He saw us. He didn’t care. Rude.

Anyway – we had no problem getting our tickets, and in we went. It was a HUGE crowd. I don’t know why I expected less, but it was HUGE. And alcohol was sold. $13 beer hurts my husband. Funny, it didn’t stop him from buying it – heh.

I’d never been to the Nokia before. It was lovely. With our seats (it’s a very deep theater) I was afraid I would regret not having brought my little binoculars… But they had bigscreens so that wasn’t an issue.

Ok – two things bugged me about the concert. One, totally a Yanni thing, the other, a stupid people thing.

The only criticism I have of the concert itself? Part of their set lighting. There was this one middle spotlight that every once in a while pointed straight out, at us, the audience. We were nearly directly in the middle, and so that was a light beam that pierced straight into our skulls… This is a problem when you and your husband are migraine sufferers. We actually thought for the first five minutes that we would have to just leave, but then the lighting changed and we were good. That light came back every so often, but not enough that we had to leave. But we both had to take our meds to make sure we didn’t get a migraine.

The other thing? The crowd. The dude behind us talking – loudly – on his cell phone? Should be shot. And also? I don’t know who the first chair violinist was (I can’t find musician info on the website,) but the crowd went wild when he soloed. Now, the first time? Great! Show your appreciation, ’cause you obviously know who he is! Not that we did, but I can appreciate love of talent. However – every.single.time. is not welcome, because then I couldn’t hear most of his solo.

The rest of it though? Amazing. Simply amazing. The talent, the musicians, the lighting (other than that one,) the singers, the compositions – just a fabulous wonderful, exciting show.

My favorite part though has to be Yanni himself. When you watch him during… He just glows. You can see that he is having just such a wonderful time. I felt… I don’t know… Happy for him I guess. You could just see how much everyone and everything meant to him. Like a kid at Christmas. It was something special to be able to observe.

Afterward, I was invited to the VIP backstage thing. However, we couldn’t figure out how to get there from where we were, and the ushers and other Nokia staff just looked at us blankly. We just decided to go home and count our blessings, rather than make an issue of it. We hung out outside for a little bit (I needed the air after the crowds) and I took some pictures. Then, we headed home – and totally got lost on the way to picking up the kids. Sigh.

Thanks, One2One and the peeps at Yanni Voices! It was a special date night for my husband and I, and I appreciate the opportunity.

One2One did, indeed, arrange for my tickets to the concert, and provide VIP Passes. I did not receive compensation beyond that for my post.

I have another one from the people at the One2One Network. They sent me the new Yanni Voices [CD/DVD] to review. I should add that it comes with both a CD and a DVD – I’m just reviewing the CD.

EQUATION: Yanni – a memorable name in instrumentals and composition is known for his sweeping music. This time around, he threw a curveball… He has brought vocals to the forefront. The CD takes some of his classic stuff as well as new music – but introduces four vocalists: Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas, and Leslie Mills. All of them were discovered and mentored by Yanni. The album was released on March 24th. The Yanni Voices world tour kicks off in the U.S. on April 10th.

PLUS: There’s music and then there’s music. Due to my background, I’ll admit, I’m biased to this kind of orchestral music. I just am – can’t get around that. The composition is gorgeous, the instrumentals amazingly executed, and the vocalists are so talented I’m surprised we’ve not heard of them until now. There’s a little of everything tempo wise, so it’s not the same feel throughout. Each piece feels as though it’s a complete story – so when you move on to the next, it really feels like a new story. As for the individual tracks – while all of it is great: Track 1, Omaggio (Tribute), made me cry. Tracks 3 & 4, Our Days and Never Leave the Sun, both made me want to dance for my husband. Track 5, Before the Night Ends, is just plain beautiful.

MINUS: I’m not sure if it’s a plus or minus, but my husband listened to it with me, and his response was, “You can’t tell it’s Yanni.” The other minus I would say is – really – you’ve got to love it. I don’t think it’s a “so-so” kind of thing. I think you’ll either love it or hate it, it feels like that kind of extreme to me.

EQUALS: A positive review. A rave, actually. I simply love this CD.

Ballas Hough Band

The wonderful peeps at the One2One Network sent me the newly released Ballas Hough Band CD to review.

EQUATION: You all know all about Dancing with the Stars. What you may not know is that Mark Ballas and Derek Hough – two of the professional dancers paired with the stars – sing too! So – not only are they great teachers and dancers (they’ve each led their partners to victory) they’ve got this side gig going and recently released a CD, the self titled Ballas Hough Band, on March 10th. Maybe you can’t call it a side gig. They’ve been making music together for over 10 years. They wrote over half the songs themselves, and “Do it for You” was cowritten with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. The Ballas Hough Band will be hitting the road for a national US tour in the summer of ’09, and the One2One Network is getting them some much deserved attention. Along with those two headliners, you’ve got: Emily Grace (keyboard/vocals), Sam Marder (bass), and Harry Sullivan (drums).

The track listing for BHB is as follows:
1. Do You Love Me
2. Devastated
3. Closer
4. She Was The One
5. Longing For
6. Birthday
7. Fall
8. Do It For You
9. Breakthrough
10. Together Faraway
11. Underwater

You can follow them on facebook, MySpace, and their website.

As for the review – I should tell you where I’m coming from.  First – I have eclectic tastes.  I like a little bit of everything, and while I don’t play any more for a host of reasons, I’m trained in clarinet, flute, piano, and pit percussion.  I’ve played everything from the classics, to marches, to scores, to pop.  So – I listen to everything, but I always have a different spin on things.

PLUS: It’s catchy.  It’s really catchy.  It’s pop-y.  I found myself bouncing my head before a lot of the songs really got started.  It’s musically sound.  They can sing.  For me – this would be perfect music to clean to.  I know that doesn’t sound like a plus – but it is in my head.  It’s something that I can get things done to.  It’s a bit boy-bandish which could be a plus or a minus.  I can’t decide which category THAT little tidbit should go in, but hey – boy bands can rock it, so I’m putting it on the plus side.

MINUS: It’s a little bit formulaic.  There’s no surprises here.  I hesitate to say this – but I think that they may attract a younger demographic.  I’m not saying ‘tweens young – but say early 20′s females.  That’s not necessarily a minus, but it does limit their reach.

EQUALS: I think that this is a fine starting effort.  They’ve all been playing together forever, so I think they’re going to go through some growing pains finding their market and making their true voices shine.  But if they plow through and do the work, they can really come through to become a successful band that lasts.   So, all in all – I’m keeping the CD, and giving them a positive review!