Rocking Out for a Good Cause

In mid July my partner in crime Jen told me that The Foo Fighters were going to be playing in NYC. I knew right then and there I had to go. I went online to see how much the tickets were and found out the only way to see them was to win tickets through Global Citizen.

I immediately thought I'm not going to win. I never win anything. But I decided to try anyway so I went onto the website http://www.globalcitizen.org  and signed up. I began to learn that this was more than some concert at a park (Central Park).

Global Citizen is a place to learn about the issues effecting our world. They believe:

 "That every person has a part to play in writing the story of the end of extreme poverty."

They give a person who signs up points for tweeting and sharing the articles on FaceBook. They also give you points for signing petitions. I did all this to receive 27 points and put my name in the drawing for concert tickets. Then in the 3rd week of August I found out I won two tickets to see The Black Keys, The Foo Fighters, and Neil Young with Crazy Horse (YAY ME!) I ran around screaming "I WON!"

So on September 29, 2012 I entered Central Park with 60,000 people ready to rock out for a good cause.

The show started perfectly with John Legend singing John Lennon's "Imagine." Everyone including me had goose bumps. It was the perfect song sung at the perfect place. Okay I'm not going to lie, I shed a couple of tears.
The festival had it's celebrities, which included Olivia Wilde & Selena Gomez, they came out and talked about the different causes Global Citizen are working on. I would like to say everyone listened to all the horrible and good things happening in the world, but they didn't. Instead people used this time to check their phone, have conversations, find the bathrooms and do anything but listen. It broke my heart, but at the same time I knew all those people were there for the music.

The real concert finally began with The Black Keys. I was extremely happy since the last time they were in NY, they sold out and I didn't get to see them. They began their set with my favorite song"Howlin' for You." My feet could not stop dancing no matter how much they ached (I  had been to wedding the night before in 5 inch heels). They blew me away and I would have loved for them to keep on playing, but at the same time, I couldn't wait to see The Foo Fighters.

Then it came the time I had been waiting for The Foo Fighters took the stage. It was the perfect scene in NYC. I was in the most beautiful park surrounded by trees and high rises that were lit up in the cloudy dark sky listening to my favorite band open with the song "Times Like These." The crowd went wild.

The best moment came when Dave had the audience sing Hero with him. 60,000 people singing at the top of their lungs brought chills to my body. They sang a lot of their hits that I happen to love. I couldn't help but tear up when they sang "Walk," which has become my personal anthem. They ended the night with the song "Everlong"just like they have ended every concert I've seen them at. Yes my heart broke when they got off the stage. I'm sorry but they spoiled me the last time I saw them by singing for three hours.

Next to hit the stage was Neil Young with Crazy Horse. I'm not going to lie I was ready to leave at this point. I was tired (not a good idea to go to a concert after dancing all night at a wedding), but I stayed for three songs and was impressed how they can still rock at their age.

I made it out of Central Park exhausted and very impressed with the event. I hope Global Citizen puts on more events like this.

~Maria

*All pictures were taken by Maria E. Monteiro*

Movie Review: House at the End of the Street

Cast:

Jennifer Lawrence: Elissa

Elizabeth Shue: Sarah

Max Thieriot: Ryan

Gil Bellows: Weaver the cop.

Runtime: 1hr & 41min
Rated: PG-13

Plot: Mother (Elizabeth Shue) and daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) move into a new town after a divorce. It just happens there was a murder in the house right across the woods from them a couple of years earlier. A thirteen year old girl killed her parents and then ran off. The town's people think she died, but their kids believe she lives in the woods. The one person that does still live in that house is the older brother Ryan (Max Thieriot). He was lucky to be away when the murders happened. Ryan is seen as the dark shadow over the town and people tend to stay away from him. Elissa befriends him and quickly builds a relationship with him, which her mother is not too thrilled about. Elissa and Ryan's romance blooms just as danger begins to grow.

My Opinion: To be honest I wasn't too thrilled to see this film and the only reason I saw it was because it was the next movie playing. I sat down in my broken seat ready to hate it, (the theatre was packed I had no choice but to sit there) but a few minutes in I found myself falling deep into the story. One of the biggest reasons is Max Thieriot. His lost puppy eyes makes you fall for him as soon as you see him. You just want to jump into the movie and rescue him. While watching the film I became a high school girl with a crush. Taking a moment to think of Max. Okay back to the review: I also liked the relationship between Elizabeth Shue and Jennifer Lawrence. It felt authentic and made me believe they really were mother and daughter. By the way, Elizabeth Shue looks amazing and I thought looked even better than Jennifer Lawrence. Now to the girl who played Carrie Ann, Ryan's younger sister, was a bit much and at times even reminded me of the girl from The Ring. It's that hair in the face look. Hello Hollywood it's been done to death. Lets find a new look maybe the hair slicked back. I'm just saying. Anyway, the twist in the end of the movie that I actually saw coming, ended the movie perfectly and even made story a little sad. Now this wasn't a really scary movie, but there were moments I had to dig my face into my husband's arm and even whispered to him "I'm so scared." Blame it on the scenes with pure silence. The House at the End of the Street proves that a movie does not have to have tons of people die gruesome deaths to be suspenseful; it just has to have a good story.

It's Rating Time  

The Story: 3.5 stars out of 5 stars: It's a good story, but I felt it a little rushed. It could have been a little more developed.

The Acting: 4 out of 5 stars: It would have gotten 5 stars if it wasn't for the minor characters. I found them boring and unimportant, even the girl who plays Elissa's friend.

The Filming: 3.5 out of 5 stars: The scenes were beautifully filmed, but there were some scenes that really did not need to be in the movie and just took up space. 

Overall Rating: 3.9 stars

Bottom Line: Go see it with a date, but if you want to wait for it to be on DVD that's not a problem either. This movie was good, but it's not one of those must see now films.

~Maria

World Premiere of Shymers Book Trailer

I am so excited to share the trailer with you for my young adult, dystopian/paranormal book, Shymers!

(Disclaimer: All pictures but that of cover and girl are not my property and were found on the Internet)

What do you think?

~Jen

New Season of The Walking Dead is Almost Here!

Anyone who follows me on Twitter and Facebook knows I am a huge fan of zombies and specifically, AMC's The Walking Dead. AND THE NEW SEASON STARTS IN JUST A FEW WEEKS! Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

I stopped watching horror movies after I had kids and turned into a major wuss, but for some reason, I can still watch zombies. Strange, I know. (For the record I also like vampires, but not the sparkly kind). I first got into zombies after seeing Shaun of the Dead quite a few years back. After that, I couldn’t get enough of the undead. Now I’m so far into it that I’m going to my first zombie walk on October 13^th in St. Paul. I have white contacts and a professional makeup artist lined up, so I hope to look deliciously terrifying. 

I also wrote a book in which a teenage girl from southern Minnesota finds herself in the middle of a zombie outbreak. For some reason I couldn’t write about zombies without making it a funny story. Maybe it was my subconscious trying not to take a zombie outbreak too seriously because deep down, I’m terrified that one day it will actually happen. After all, the government is training the Army and law enforcement officers for a zombie outbreak (no joke–if you haven’t heard about it, check out this article: http://huff.to/U3SZg9).

When I first heard about The Walking Dead I was thrilled.  The best part of it is that the show turned out to be really good. I’m not talking Phillip-Phillips-on-American-Idol really good, but a-whole-new-fandom-of-Norman-Reedus-born-because-it-is-amazingly good. (If you don’t know who Norman Reedus is, go look him up. You can thank me later). The plot, the special effects, the acting, everything is top notch.

     Everyone who watches the show knows the surviving gang is going to be in a prison this season. I found this an interesting concept. Really, you could lock yourself up in a cell with ample food and water for days without having to come out. You could taunt the zombies all you want and they couldn’t do a thing to you. But I’m guessing that isn’t the direction the writers are planning to go. There is supposed to be some really evil guy called The Governor (no, it’s not Arnold Schwarzenegger) who bullies Sheriff Rick and his gang. Considering Rick has quite possibly lost his mind, this should be an interesting show down. 

     Plus there’s the whole mystery as to who is Lori’s baby daddy. If it comes out as a zombie, does that mean it was Shane’s? But they all are carrying the virus, right? I’m guessing there won’t be time or resources for a paternity test with everything else they have going on. I may not like Lori as a character, but I feel sorry for the sister now. She has to fight off people who want to eat her when all she wants is a tub of ice cream with pickles.

     Then we have the crazy chick in the wood with two armless zombies on metal leashes that saved Andrea from being written off the show (thank you very much to the writers as it wouldn’t be the same without Andrea). I have no idea where the new chick will fall in the story line (a new love interest for Daryl perhaps?), but she’s tough and managed to have two men as pets, so she has my vote.

    There are so many possibilities for the new season. I have total faith in the writers that we will see another nail-biting, holy-crap-did-you-see-that year of good, solid entertainment.

     The moral of this post is, if you haven’t seen The Walking Dead and you don’t mind seeing freaky dead people walking around with missing limbs and trying to eat other humans, then you really need to check this show out.

*Warning—the show has a TV-14 rating. It’s not for the young or weak of stomach.*

~Jen