Nick News, BSB News, Shirtless Pic of Nick

Hi all. As promised by my title, I have some Nick news, BSB news, and a shirtless pic of Nick. You'll have to wait a bit for the Nick picture (or cheat and scroll down), but I'll start off with some Nick news.

Nick has been doing some chats on nickcarter.net and I was able to attend all of them except one because of work. It has been nice to see Nick and hear him talk to us and answer our questions and sing. I wish there was a way where we could submit our questions beforehand for a chat in the future so that Nick could pick out his questions that way since there's a lot of rambling going on during the chat, but it's just great to see him and chat with us. Guess I'll save my questions for the next chat.

Also about Nick's website, there is currently a contest going on for fanclub members to design the cover photo for his website that will change every month with a different winner. I think this is a perfect idea since a lot of fans like to dabble in graphic design, including myself. There are some nice entries submitted by fanclub members and it seems like everyone had fun with this challenge. The first photo is the photo that Nick wanted us to use to design and the rest are my submissions. I used befunky.com for the graphics. I hope I win one month.

 

Staying on the subject of Nick's website, he also asked fanclub members what kind of merchandise we would like to see and I submitted some ideas. I like the idea of personalized autographs, exclusive songs/dvds, and Nick's artwork. I also like the idea of Kaotic Army apparel, but I remember when he first addressed us fans as the Kaotic Clan during the last cruise chat with Howie so I'm partial to that name lol.

I really hope Nick can keep up with the ideas and involvement he has for his website. He has so much going on right now, I just hope it doesn't fall to the sidelines. Being the hard worker he is I'm sure he'll try to keep up with it.

Staying on the subject of Nick, I wanted to bring up some songs for two different reasons. The first song is "Parallel" by Heffron Drive. I guess the guy singing is from Big Time Rush, but I just like the idea of the lyrics...or so I thought. The more I listened to the song, I realized that the background vocals sound a lot like Nick's background vocals from "Falling Down." What do you guys think? I don't think it's a complete rip-off, but I definitely hear that in common. Here's the link to the song: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/4855512073381700/.

The other song is "Party Monster" by Krewella. This song would be an awesome, fun song to play for DJ Nicky to play at the afterparties or the cruise! Okay, maybe I just like it but I like how it's fast paced and it sounds like a videogame so Nick would probably like that lol. Also, these lyrics fit the party atmosphere perfectly..."I wanna party, so party here tonight. We are an army (Kaotic Army) of broken hearts for life." Also, it would be cool if Nick could start taking requests during the afterparties. Writing all of this makes me want to go to the Chicago afterparty really bad, but I won't be able to take the train back home that late so I probably won't be able to go which sucks! Here's the song for anyone who hasn't heard it: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/4855512073366646/

On to another subject. I remember Chicago having two dates listed for the Nick and Knight tour when the dates were first leaked. Then, the September 26th show went on sale and I got my ticket. Last week, I received an email from Live Nation listing a Nick and Knight show and I just thought it was the show I have my ticket for, but looking at it more closely it listed the next day, September 27th so I guess they did add another date. I still didn't buy my ticket because I'm surprised it wasn't advertised better and I'm afraid that it'll get cancelled or something. Also, it isn't listed on the House of Blues website, which would be the venue. I think I'm waiting it out, but will probably be there. The more I get to hear Nick sing, the better lol. I figure there is no rush buying the tickets because it's standing room/general admission so it isn't like I'm fighting for close seats. Also, I don't think it's listed on nickandknight.com. I don't want to buy tickets too soon like I did last time for the In A World Like This show where I didn't even have the proper seating chart.

By the way, that show is coming up in about two weeks! Excited to see the guys (especially Nick) and nervous that I'll get stranded after the show lol. I need a chauffer or something haha! Also, I noticed this particular show has been advertised on BSB's facebook a lot so I think the sales were bad because of the concert being shut down early last time. Don't worry, BSB! This diehard Chicago fan will be there!

In Nick Twitter news...did anyone miss this picture?!...

 

...If so, you're welcome. I think Nick stopped a couple of hearts with this one haha!

If you are reading this sentence, I'm assuming you survived the hotness of Nick Carter and can see the next picture he posted.

I think it's awesome that Nick stands for causes like this and for me, stuff like this makes him even more sexy. If anyone isn't familiar on this topic, check out a documentary called Food, Inc. I support no GMOs ever since I learned about it through the documentary mentioned. They also have a book out too.

Other Backstreet news...I know this is a bit late, but on May 18th, BSB's Millennium album turned 15! It seems like I just heard those songs for the first time yesterday. I wish I could say that I listened to the whole album that day, but I've just been too busy. I love all the songs on this album, but right now I would have to pick "Back to Your Heart" as my favorite song.

Now for some random stuff. On May 16th, I went to a book signing in Naperville, Illinois, with my brother to meet Paul Stanley from Kiss. This was a fun experience and he is such a nice guy. I told my brother that he should be in my picture too so he gets two pictures and to make sure he goes first. Well, it was a little crazy as most of these things usually are and I think my brother was a little nervous so I ended up meeting him first and without Richard in the picture. He said hi and I said hi and he asked me how I was. He said thanks for coming out and told him that was my brother coming up next and he said "Hi brother!" when it was time for Richard to come up. It was cool to meet him and get his book.

This reminded me of the time we met Ozzy and he was so nice as well. It's funny to see grown men get shy around their idols, but I totally get it haha! I didn't know what to wear so I ended up wearing my "Rock N Roll Goddess" t-shirt which I thought was appropriate lol. Here's a couple of pictures (Hope Richard doesn't mind me putting his picture up, but he'll just have to live with it lol):

 

Then that Sunday I ended up visiting my old university campus in DeKalb, Illinois with my bestie who I met at NIU. Go NIU Huskies! Since it was a Sunday and classes ended, nothing was open but it was still nice to visit after not being on campus since graduation in 2006. It was sad seeing the memorial from the February 2008 shooting, especially since I knew one of the victims as being her community advisor one semester. She was a sweet, bright girl. RIP Ryanne. Here's a picture of the memorial at night (not my picture):

 

We did visit two antique stores and one was called Cracker Jax. It is a small, unique store that had New Age type stuff as well as antiques. I seen something I wanted to buy Nick and give it to him at one of my vips, but for whatever reason I didn't buy it. I might order it though. We'll see.

Overall, that was a fun trip and the weather was great that day!

Right now it's Memorial Day weekend and I spent Saturday doing some errands, today with Richard's dogs Sophie and Star, and I'm looking forward to the extra day off tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and God Bless our men and women in the armed forces and those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.



Nick and Knight

When I heard the Nick and Knight announcement this week, I was excited to hear that I'd get to hear Nick sing some more. Financially, it didn't come at a good time. I was really watching my spending because the second cruise payment was due this week, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to a Nick concert so I'm going. I purchased my general admission ticket and am lucky enough to do vip with Nick. I can't wait for this show because it'll be at the same venue (Chicago House of Blues) as the venue I seen Nick for his other solo shows and it was always a blast. A squishy, hot, my feet are killing me blast, but a blast none the less. The things I do to hear Nick sing lol.

To be honest, I don't like how Nick is doing this as opposed to a solo tour just because I'm not a fan of NKOTB or any other boyband (with the exception of BSB even though I don't consider them a boyband). I think them teaming up equals to higher ticket prices because Jordan is there, Jordan fans making it more hard to get up close to the stage, and less vocals from Nick. I absolutely had the best time on Nick's I'm Taking Off Tour and would have liked something like that again, especially since I consider it one of my favorite BSB moments, coming close to last year's cruise.

I also was annoyed with the vip info changing at the last minute. First it was $150 for an individual picture with Nick, then it was $150 for a group of four with Nick (I wouldn't have bought that), then it was two fans with Nick (I was imagining how that would be LOL), and lastly it went to an individual picture but for $250. I had a feeling that Ground Control would realize that a group photo of any kind wouldn't work, but I knew they would raise the price. I'm just disappointed that they posted all of this without making sure that's how it was going to go down. Don't announce anything until you got it all set and ready and realize how important that moment and picture is for every fan. It was really nice how Nick addressed the issue on Twitter and made it back to individual pictures. It was also a nice coincidence that he tweeted that right after I tweeted him asking if he could make it back to individual.

I was actually considering doing the Miami show too, but I won't be doing that because that'll be more money spent. Also, when the Nick and Knight dates were leaked, Chicago was listed as having two shows and I'm kind of hoping they only do one just because I can't spend any more money and that way I wouldn't feel left out lol.

This makes me thank BSB for doing vip pictures at the Chicago Theatre for $150 for just me and the whole group! That picture is so special to me and turned out wonderful thanks to Justin and I literally look at it everyday. It's so special to me! Even though we didn't get a soundcheck that day, I'm just glad the price was reasonable. As much as I enjoy hearing soundchecks, I would probably just do the picture if that was an option and it was cheaper that way.

Back to Nick and Knight. I still have to catch up with some of the publicity on it from this past week. It was frustrating to have to be at work and well...work while knowing all info was being released online lol. I did watch the guys on GMA and that was short, but nice to see Nick. I also watched the Wendy Williams show and that was a fun one. Wendy asked Nick how the other BSBs were responding to this project and Nick's reaction made it seem like they are not totally 100 percent on board so I found that interesting. They had a BSB quiz on the show and I was getting frustrated with the BSB fan because it took her awhile to answer the quiz questions lol. Then I was able to watch Watch What Happens Live and that was a fun one. I still have to watch the after the show videos online and was told those were funny. Here's a picture of Nick and Jordan on Wendy Williams:

I heard the first single of Nick and Knight, "Just the Two of Us." It needs more Nick lol. It's good, but as a Nick fan it would have been wonderful to have a whole solo album from Nick only. You can hear it on Perez Hilton's site. I didn't preorder the album yet because if it's going to be sold in stores, I'll just get it that way.

I did the uturn Nick and Knight poster thing and that was something fun to do and I posted it on Twitter. I wish they would follow me on Twitter and it would be even better if Nick could follow me on twitter, but they are busy and popular guys lol. Here's the uturn poster I made:

Speaking of busy, Nick has so much going on. I'm happy for him, but I hope he gets some sleep in there and some downtime.

I'll be busy getting ready for my Chicago IAWLT show, Nick and Knight show, and the cruise! I'm so happy and thankful I get to be at these events. I'll also be seeing a Kiss show with my brother and going to a Paul Stanley book signing with him as well.

As far as other things go, I'm gearing up for programs at work that includes storytimes, craft programs, and I'm trying to establish a youth creative writing group.

Hope everyone got their Nick and Knight tickets and I'll see you at the Chicago show!

Nick's Wedding

I've been meaning to update my blog, but I just haven't had some time because of working and my mother once again being in the hospital for her breathing complications. Luckily, today I'm making time.

So what's been big in BSB news? Well, any diehard BSB fan knows Nick got married last weekend and is currently on his honeymoon. I wish him the best and I want to see him happy and enjoying life, but I was sad for myself that day lol. It also didn't help that my life is kind of sucking right now.

Some pictures have already been released of the wedding and I think in next week's In Touch, there will be a spread on it. We'll also get to watch it on VH1 when I Heart Nick Carter premieres in June. I don't know how much I'm going to enjoy watching the show, but it will be nice to see Nick. Here are a couple pictures:

The second picture is so Nick lol.

A lot of fans and even friends of mine who are non-fans seem to point out that in a lot of the pictures released, Nick isn't smiling. I did notice that myself too, but there are a few pictures of him smiling and I'm sure he won't be frowning the whole time when we see the reality show. I think with his busy schedule, his wedding really didn't sink in until it was happening and he was probably nervous. He probably was upset that his family wasn't there too. But what do I know? lol

On a happier note, Nick looked incredibly handsome! However, I still think this picture from the BSB 20th Anniversary Celebration is the most handsomest picture of Nick. Wow, Nick! This picture has over 33 repins on my Pinterest and 4 likes so I am not alone on this one.

The rest of the guys were there for Nick's wedding and I'm so glad they were able to be there for him in such a way. Unfortunately, none of Nick's family attended. Aaron tried to make it, but flight delays messed that up. That made me feel sad for Nick and I'm sure that bothered him. Too bad the family couldn't put aside the bullshit for just one day; and it would have been nice for Nick to have attended his sister, Angel's, wedding instead of having the bachelor/bachelorette party for the reality show. I really hope one day him and his family can get along, but I know how that can be.

Nick posted this picture on his Twitter for all the haters.

To be honest, this picture kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I think anyone who is harassing them about their relationship is just making themselves look stupid and wasting their time, but I think Nick and Lauren should ignore it all and not address it in any way. Also, I wish Nick would understand a little bit more about how it might be hard for some fans to accept he's married now, even though this shouldn't be used as an excuse to use Twitter and whatever else to spew rude comments to Nick and Lauren. Certainly, he can post whatever he wants, but I think it's best to just ignore the harassing comments.

Onto other BSB news. BSB won the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Moment from This Is The End!!!!! I was so happy that all of our fan votes paid off and that the guys won! I just watched the show to see them accept the award and of course nothing was televised. 

Tomorrow is BSB's 21st Anniversary! I've been seeing pictures of last year's 20th Anniversary Celebration and so wish I could have been there. It was great to watch on the internet though. At least I had that lol. How will everyone be celebrating? I'll be listening to some BSB music and remembering some of the great memories I've had with the guys. BSB are asking us for some memories through instagram and I posted a picture of me and the guys from last year's Miracle on State Street holiday concert where I got my first picture of just me and the guys! I'll also be celebrating by getting things ready for the Chicago show and vip and the BSB cruise! I feel so lucky to be able to go on the cruise again!

Speaking of the concert and cruise, I am thinking I probably won't be able to do the after party if I want to get home alive lol and I have a couple of ideas for the door decoration on the cruise.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and BSB 21st Anniversary!

And the Ticket Madness Continues...

My ticket madness for the 2nd U.S. leg of the IAWLT tour continues. I decided to pull up the Ticketmaster page again to see what tickets are available since today is the regular sale open to everyone.

They finally put up the correct seating chart and I realized that I'm farther back then I thought. I knew it was f-ed up to sell presale tickets without the correct seating chart, but I thought I could remember the placement from last time. Apparently not.

I have a seat in section 204 row E and I thought the stage went all the way to that section, but I guess not. Would have been helpful and just plain decent and logical to have the proper seating chart ready for the presale.

I decided I'm still going to keep my ticket because it would be $80 more to upgrade and because I want to make sure to see the whole stage and be center. I figure I have plenty of time to be up close during vip and the cruise.

A ticket was popping up for section 102, but after all this aggravation I feel like just keeping my $80 and now I wouldn't get 25% off my ticket because that offer was only available for one day.

I learned a lesson. I'm not going to do a presale unless they have everything ready, especially the correct seating chart. It sucks and this sort of thing is probably happening because they know the diehard fans will put up with stuff like this because we are so eager to see BSB. Can't believe this whole thing took a week.

Now I'm hoping for a perfect vip experience and a great show. I'm thinking my seat is still good and I'll be there. Hope Justin will be the one taking the pictures during vip. He's the only one that cares to do it right.

As far as everything else goes, I enjoyed today's 50 degree weather (lol) and worked out on my elliptical in the garage. Trying to get cruise body ready lol.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Got My IAWLT Ticket...Again!

LOL, you read right. Got my ticket again. First of all, this whole week has been stressful and weird for so many reasons, but this added to it.

So first I received an email from Live Nation saying I would be able to get a $5 discount from the last IAWLT show in Chicago being cut short but that it would be able to be used only after the presale, therefore defeating the purpose.

Then, I receive an email saying that I could get a 25 percent discount but with the same caveat being that it couldn't be used until after the presale.

Well, I knew calling Live Nation/Ticketmaster wouldn't be pleasant and I wasn't going to put up with crappy customer service over $5, but I decided I needed to call after hearing I was entitled to 25 percent. I knew they would just ignore my email (and they did) and I didn't feel like losing $30 that could be put towards my transportation and other things so I called.

It literally took two hours and I kept telling the piece of work over the phone to connect me to their manager and they refused. She was also contradicting herself. First she said a manager wasn't in the building and then she said she spoke to her manager. She had me shaking and my heart beating fast. I explained that how could I get the 25 percent off when I didn't even know about it a day later. That's also why I called right away before the next thing they pull is that I waited too long.

Long story short, I ended up calling back again and got someone to cancel my first ticket with no fee and kept refreshing the page on the internet to buy a ticket in the exact same row (which by the way, the first lady I had over the phone said she couldn't find any similar seats...the one I found online and bought was literally three seats down the same aisle). I wouldn't doubt that the first lady just had me on hold and was doing nothing on the line.

I still ended up with my 25 percent discount, but I had to get a different seat and do the purchase online myself. Btw, I calculated the actual discount being less than 25 percent, but it still saved me $22.

Seems like the only way to get the discount if you did the presale is to cancel your first order and hope you get a similar seat when placing your re-order and that's a gamble. I'm just lucky I happened to get basically the same seat (probably because I only need one ticket, not two or more together).

This time around, I was also able to get my ticket sent to me in the mail so I can use as a keepsake.

Good luck to anyone trying to work with this company and the way the first lady I had handled the situation was completely unnecessary. I can't understand why I couldn't speak to her manager. Hell, she could have even put another co-worker on the line and they could have lied saying they were the manager if she really didn't want me to speak to hers. I even said to her that I wasn't trying to get her in trouble, I just wanted to speak to him or her because they have the authority to give me the discount. Then she sarcastically said "Oh, I'm not worried about getting into trouble" but then why not transfer me to your manager? What an absolute piece of work. I actually felt sick a bit after the conversation and thought I cant do any of this anymore.

I thank the BSB for making things right and the business side of all of this completely sucks and takes away from the experience. I don't know why Ticketmaster can't just honor the 25 percent discount to those who already purchased their tickets during the presale. Any diehard fan would have been to the last concert and would want to do the presale to get the best seats.

I definitely hope that my vip and concert experience is a lot better than this. I really think after the cruise, I'm done with all of this and will just continue to keep up with everything Backstreet online and of course the music, but I don't know about any more traveling and concerts. Plus, after the cruise I don't think anything will be going on because BSB will have to at least take a year to make another album.

I'm glad I got everything straightened out, but it shouldn't have been that difficult. There shouldn't have been two different emails with two different discounts that could only be used after everyone bought their presale tickets.

I Got My 2nd Leg IAWLT Tour Ticket...and Silver VIP!!!!!

So I was a little disappointed that the presale was so soon (no time to plan and think) and that I couldn't use my measly $5 off code from the last show that was called off early because I wanted to do the presale, but I got my ticket and vip!

After the usual crappy quirks that Ticketmaster/Live Nation pulls, I ended up with Section 204 Row E and Silver VIP. With the pit sections and the catwalk part of the stage, I should be 5th row!

I purposely didn't want to do a pit seat because they'll be enough of that sort of the thing on the cruise and I wanted to make sure I got something in the middle because last time at the same venue I couldn't even see the whole stage from the side, therefore missing much of the light show.

I did get an option for some closer seats along the side, but I heard last time that someone got a seat and it turned out that there was no seat due to the pit sections and I didn't want that to happen to me. Plus, I would have to turn around when the guys use the catwalk. The seats I got are definitely better.

The only end result crappy thing that happened was I wanted the ticket mailed to me for a keepsake, but the website overlapped itself and had a link to terms right over the box to click for the cheapest way to mail the ticket. I ended up doing a printout of the ticket. At least I saved $3 but I would rather have the real ticket for scrapbooking. Oh well.

I decided to do a Silver VIP because I know I shouldn't have a problem getting to the venue early and this is the only show I'm going to do on the 2nd leg (with the exception of the concert on the cruise). Of course I would have liked to do Gold VIP just so I get a picture of me and the guys alone, but that would have been $100 more and I'm trying to not go crazy here lol. This way, with Silver VIP I get to see the soundcheck, Q and A, and get a picture of the guys and me even though it's with other fans.

I'm excited and nervous. I just better find a cab afterwards.

No word on where the afterparty will be and that's what I'm waiting to hear to see if I'll be able to go.

I have to work the day before and the day after since it's on a Wednesday. It'll be a busy, exciting week.

IAWLT 2nd Leg Tour Dates Announced!

Hi all. So the 2nd leg of the In A World Like This Tour dates were announced on Good Morning America yesterday morning. I missed the announcement because I was at work, but seen the video online and I'm excited! Here is a link for the tour dates that includes U.S. and Canadian dates:

http://www.backstreetboys.com/events (Be sure to click on the next page for more U.S. dates)

There were rumors that the announcement might have been about the documentary, but we got tour dates. I would like to hear more about the documentary release date though.

Immediately after I see tour date information, I start planning out what I'm going to do.

I'll be attending the Chicago show on Wednesday, June 11th at 6:30 p.m. at the First Merit Bank Pavilion.

This is the same venue where BSB's concert got cut short due to a sound ordinance law and the opening acts going on too long (management should have made sure that wouldn't have happened). I had a feeling they would pick the same venue despite what happened last time because there isn't too many venues to choose from that are outdoor venues and they seem to want that during the summer. Ideally, I would have liked if they played Ravinia in Highland Park, IL, but that's a smaller outdoor venue that wouldn't be able to accommodate the stage. I would have liked them to go to the venue in Tinley Park, IL, but that one holds too many people I would say. Plus, I don't know how I would be able to get to that one. I probably would have forced myself to drive to that one, but now I just have to deal with the venue they picked.

The second thought I had was that it was on a Wednesday. I will have to request off that day and have a program to put on the day before, but it's doable. Maybe this weeknight will make it easier to find a cab...hopefully.

The last thought I had was that it is good that they are starting the show at 6:30 p.m. because of what happened last time. I hope they also play more for us at this show then the other tour dates because we missed out last time. We'll see.

I noticed on Ticketmaster's website that the tickets are between $20.25-$173.10. This is more than last time and that's probably because Avril Lavigne is the opening act. Which brings me to my thoughts about Avril. I love her music because of her kick-butt attitude and her lyrics and think this will be the first opening act of BSB's that I will be excited to see. I've only seen Avril perform live once and it was only because Nick was hosting a Kiss Star Party in Chicago and Avril was one of the performers. That day while I was waiting to see Nick walk into the venue, I was able to go right up to her. I could have gotten her autographs but at the time I didn't like her music and she was being rude to her fans that were right by me. I wish I would have gotten her autograph because she wasn't rude to me lol, but at the time wasn't a fan so didn't get it. Now I'm a fan of her lyrics and rocker attitude.