This is just another fruitless reminder that I have a Zazzle shop open with an extensive line of personally designed Jovi merchandise for sale. (With NEW LOWER prices now!)
Currently, 25% of the total sale are set up to benefit the American Diabetes Research Foundation, so it would be a GREAT time to load up on some fun Jovi gear. ;)
P.S. Are you a candle lover? Excited for the upcoming seasonal scents? Find out how to buy candles and support diabetes research!
Guess what? FALL is coming! And that means the YUMMY scents of pumpkin and apple spice, orchards and pecans, cinnamon and warm baking pies. And Halloween and Thanksgiving are only around the corner...
Why not pick up a couple of candle sets to make your home seasonal and festive, AND know you're doing good by supporting a very important cause?
I've teamed up my diabetes organization (NJBG Support) with PARTYLITE CANDLE COMPANY FUNDRAISING to help raise money for diabetes research.
There are two ways we are selling products:
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OPTION 1: We are selling three popular candle sets for special prices, of which PartyLite will donate 50% profit to our charity cause. (See image below)
If you are interested in one of these sets, please email me and let me know which set you'd like. You can pay via cash, check, money order, or PayPal. Please write out checks and money orders to me, Becky Mahan, and send PayPal payments to my email address (cali.jovi@yahoo.com).
(click for full size)
OPTION 2: Additionally, our consultant set us up with a PartyLite show, which is exclusively online. You can order anything from the entire PartyLite catalog on our site and still provide a profit donation to the ADA walk; however, it will only be 25% instead of the 50% for the above sets. Anything ordered online will be delivered directly to you from PartyLite, as with any other online company order, with the exception of “Specials”. Special orders must be shipped by myself personally, and shipping fees will be discussed separately.
If you would like to order this way, please follow these instructions:
1. Go to http://www.partylite.biz/sites/Adrienne 2. Click “Shop” in the horizontal menu bar 3. Click “look up host” 4. Enter my name, Becky Mahan, and our online show will show up. (The date/time only means the deadline to submit orders; you can order before then!!) 5. From there, any order you put in will be credited to our show and charity. *If you go back and change or add to your order at a later time, please make sure that my name/show is still being credited.
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If you are interested in partaking in this fundraiser, please submit your orders to me (or online) by October 5. This is the final deadline.
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask. :)
I appreciate your consideration in this fundraiser, and I really hope you find something you like! And of course, if you are not interested in candles but would still like to support our endeavors and diabetes research, you can make a direct donation to our walk with the American Diabetes Association via cash, check, or online donation at http://main.diabetes.org/goto/beckymahan.
The new lyrics of the week have been posted: the opening lines of the new song, "Work For the Working Man".
And I felt it deserved to be the song of the week. Whether you have been there at one point in your life, or are blessed enough to never have been, I'm sure you can relate to this song.
I won't ramble on about my opinions and fears for the coming tour and potential hypocrisy on the part of the band - I'll leave all politics and such out of it. This post is meant to be purely emotion. Heart to heart. Because it's quickly become the story of my life, and I'm struggling day by day now to make it.
I don't like this solo version, but the lyrics literally felt like a knife when I heard them tonight.
Lord, I'm trying to keep the faith...but where are you?
Work For the Working Man I'm here, trying to make a living And I ain't living just to die Never getting back what I'm giving Won't someone help me, someone justify Why these strong hands are on the unemployment line And there's nothing left, what's on my mind
Who's gonna work for the working man? Work for the working man (Work) Get the hands in the dirt, who's gonna work off the curse (Work) Brother I've been damned, if I don't raise a hand Work for the work, work, work for the working man Work, work, working man
Empty pockets, full of worries I had to get two jobs and it was hard enough getting by But with the grace of God I'm getting us through But only know that I know how to do That I'm the only one who's gotta look my family in the eye Day after day, night after night
Who's gonna work for the working man? Work for the working man (Work) Get the hands in the dirt, who's gonna work off the curse (Work) Brother I've been damned, if I don't raise a hand Work for the work, work, work for the working man Work, work, working man
I lost my pension, they took my ID These were my friends, these were my dreams These were my hopes, these are my dreams Can you hear me?
Who's gonna work for the working man? Work for the working man (Work) Get the hands in the dirt, who's gonna work off the curse (Work) Brother I've been damned, if I don't raise a hand Work for the work, work, work for the working man Work, work, working man
These were my friends, these were my dreams These were my hopes, these are my streets...
I know most of you have already seen this, but I found it interesting. (Sorry, I have NO clue what the interviewer is saying...nor how Jon did, LOL...but his answers were interesting.)
As I've said from the beginning, I dearly hope Jon isn't talking the pretty talk with no regard for the walk. As someone who is now being hit severely by the economic hell we call our country (and state) right now, I am even more sensitive to it. With song titles like "Work for the Working Man" and all his vocal advocacy for Tommy and Gina, I can't help but think I will lose complete faith in him - and the band - if tour prices continue to rape us this time around...
But enough of my negativity. Enjoy the interview. ;)
Life is not going the way it should right now. The economy and absence of any form of income is absolutely destroying me currently, and I'm ready to go audition for the remake of the 'Dry County' music video - starring me.
Blah.
But then Jovi finds a way of seeping into the corners of my life and just bringing a smile on my face - even if I'm so tired and broken inside that I want to curl up in a hole and cry.
Here are some pics of our ever-handsome Jonny at the Project H.O.M.E. 20th anniversary celebration in Philly on Wednesday. *sigh* That smile just melts my heart.
Hokay, so here's the dealio. It's been a CRAZY day with the launch of the new Backstage w/ JBJ forum and website and everything. And after losing 25,000 (*wince*) posts built up over the course of five years on the previous board, I have switched my profile successfully over to the new site.
The NEW BSWJBJ has some pretty wicked content, including a logo redesign contest (SO entering that one) and a referral program to recruit new Backstagers. (Just in time for the tour...*wink*)
Anyway, what's really cool is that there are prizes for top referrers (is that a word?) and the grand prize is a day as BON JOVI TOUR MANAGER IN LAS VEGAS.
Um, yeah, not going to win that one (I'd need 50 referrals), but I would hopefully like to get 15-25 so I can win me some nice autographed merchandise, because I honestly have been trying to get Jon's autograph - on anything - for years.
The 1-year Backstage membership packages are as follows:
$149.99: Signature Membership (comes with an album flat signed by JBJ himself, premium quality Year 21 Backstage t-shirt [Signature Member edition], welcome letter from Jon, Year 21 membership card, and a $10 donation to the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation in your name)
$79.99: Standard Membership (Year 21 Backstage t-shirt, membership card, welcome letter from Jon)
$49.99: Online-Only Membership (enjoy all of the online features of our Signature and Standard memberships without the merchandise packages.)
(just so you know, I have the $49.99 membership - don't be misled by "online only" vs. "standard". You still get FC perks and access to everything online, just no physical gifts like the shirt and letter. *wink*)
So if you were planning - or are NOW planning, lol - to join the new, improved, revamped Backstage W/ JBJ, please click THIS LINK: http://www.bonjovi.com/?referrer=1538563
That will credit me with your sign-up, but you HAVE to join through that link. (Also as a precaution - since I just checked the link and it's a little tricky to figure out where to join exactly - put my name "RaiseYourHands" in the referral field when you sign up. They'll ask if anyone referred you, and you can put my name then.)
I would SO appreciate if you'd help me out. Thank you!
So I'm sitting here like a naked man on ice, hopping up and down in anticipation of the new Backstage launch and the friggin emails with the new password that have YET TO BE DELIVERED.
Yes, I found the new site and the new forum - and I probably wasn't supposed to yet. LOL. Backstage is probably pissed at me for leaking the URLs all over the place.
MWA-HAHAHA!
And while waiting, I came across this post on the current/soon-to-be-old Backstage forum: a review posted on Amazon.com with some insight from Jon himself.
Thought you might find it interesting - I certainly did.
Enjoy. :)
"It's an interesting question to ask: Is that a fair dose of motivation or is that a chip on your shoulder?"
Jon Bon Jovi posed that question to himself, and it's worth pondering. You might think that a man whose band has sold more than 120 million records and played before tens of millions of fans in the course of an illustrious 26-year career would be content to rest on his considerable laurels, at least for a while. You might think that, but you'd be wrong, and the new Bon Jovi album, The Circle, provides irrefutable proof. As its title suggests, The Circle marks a powerful reassertion of Bon Jovi's commitment to the hard-hitting, uplifting rock & roll that has been the band's indelible signature since it began. The band share an abiding bond that informs and defines their music. It is a circle that remains unbroken.
"The album title," Bon Jovi explains, "has several meanings. Some may say that with this album we have come full circle. Others may see the circle as never ending. I see it as very hard to get in to and even harder to get out of," the singer says with a laugh.
Having had 5 studio records in this decade, there are songs on each record that represent the world around us. And while they don't always like what they see, they try hard not to see the cup as half empty. From the new single "We Weren't Born To Follow" to the powerful "When We Were Beautiful," the songs are as uplifting and anthemic as anything Bon Jovi and Sambora have ever written.
Another reason for the anthemic sound of The Circle is the re-emergence of Richie Sambora.
"This is meant to be a stadium, turn-the-guitars-back-up record, and that's a testament to having Richie at my side," Jon says. "I can't tell you how much that's meant. With me and Richie, one and one makes three.
That flame burns at the heart of The Circle. "When We Were Beautiful" shares its title with the superb Bon Jovi documentary by filmmaker Phil Griffin. Like the film, the song is atmospheric and haunting. It opens with a sense of crisis: "The world is cracked/The sky is torn." Jon Bon Jovi hears the song as a true departure for the band.
"That's a unique song," he says, "We've written hits, but this is something more, this is something different. I didn't want to sugarcoat things. Those lyrics are factual. As a country and as people, we hit a wall. But the idea is to try to get back to `when we were beautiful.'"
The new studio album, The Circle, was produced by John Shanks, who also worked with the band on the two preceding Bon Jovi albums, Lost Highway (2007) and Have a Nice Day (2005). The album has an underlying positive theme that is apparent throughout the songs. Whether it's questioning your vitality in "Fast Cars," or asking what the future holds in "Work for the Working Man," the songs are about the prospect of people having to find new directions in their lives. In these trying times every word relays the truth.
So The Circle, then, like all of Bon Jovi's best music, stares down the troubles that afflict our lives, and offers a bracing vision for overcoming those obstacles. It's stirring, and it's an emotion that, strong as the album is, will find its most convincing expression on the concert stage. And this is why Bon Jovi have managed to play over 2600 concerts to over 34 million fans in over 50 countries.
"I can't believe I'm even saying this, but I can't wait to go on the road again," Jon Bon Jovi exclaims.
I try to refrain from posting non-Jovi entries here, but once in awhile I will post something I feel important enough to share with you all. This is one of those times.
Many of you know that I am a fierce advocate of finding a cure for diabetes. I am very passionate about the whole cause: funding and furthering research, supporting the endeavors of prominent organizations such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), both of which have made considerable contributions and advancements in the fight to cure diabetes, and even running my own grassroots community program NJBG Support (Not Just By Giving).
My boyfriend of three years was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 8 years old; his sister was diagnosed 3 years later at the same age - with no family history of it! Both of them are lucky: they have their diabetes under control for the most part, and experience few complications. Very few people living with diabetes can say that, especially those diagnosed with type 1 - the deadliest and most dangerous of the three types of diabetes.
Contrary to popular belief, diabetes is not caused. You don't get it from being overweight, eating unhealthily, or consuming massive amounts of sugar. Diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the pancreas, whether by design or after aging, fails to produce either enough or any insulin to break down glucose/sugar in the body. There are eating/lifestyle habits that can contribute to or accelerate this failure, in which case type 2 diabetes can develop. But type 1 is a genetic auto-immune disorder that starts in childhood - giving it the nickname "juvenile diabetes". You can read more about the science of diabetes here.
Without going into the nitty-gritty of the extensive research I have done on the disease, I will simply leave it at the fact that diabetes is deadly. It complicates the lives of those living with it, and is currently incurable...which means almost imminent death from it. However, I truly believe (as do the ADA and JDRF) that there IS a cure to be discovered. I believe that together, we can pool our resources, our efforts, and our hearts to help stop this disease...and save millions of lives.
I dedicate a considerable amount of my spare time to campaigning for the cause and promoting education, awareness, and research. Every year, I walk for the ADA's Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes - a 3-mile journey in 200 major cities across America where volunteers raise money and walk to show their support for the ADA's endeavors, and of course, for diabetics. Last year our team raised $900!
This year's walk is October 17, and I have started my fundraising campaign. If you would care to sponsor me on this walk (and thus donate to the ADA's research foundation), you can make a secure online donation at http://main.diabetes.org/goto/beckymahan. Any amount, large or small, is deeply appreciated. On the average, sponsors donate $10. And every donation is tax-deductible!
You can also donate a more creative (and personally-beneficial) way: I have arranged for 25% of the sales profited from my online Jovi merchandise shop to be donated to the ADA (remember that design contest last month?). All designs are my own creations - so you get to donate to a worthy cause, AND you get a really awesome Jovi shirt...or mug or mousepad or totebag.... :)
Finally, I want to thank you all in advance for your thoughts and donations, and thanks for taking the time to read about a cause deeply important to me.
I came across this video on YouTube in my random searches, and have to admit I loved it. It's a great little compilation of funny/silly/quirky moments caught on tape with the guys - onstage, backstage, entirely offstage, whatever. And it's really fun!
Maybe it's a little cheesy to have a big ol' smile on your face and get slightly sentimental about a YT video montage, but it was just another one of those "Damn, I love these guys" moments.
Check it out. It's good for a Friday night chuckle. :)
Edit: OOH and I just found part 2! This has some audio so you can hear them talk - and there's a lot of BJTV footage in there.
Apparently the band - or at least Richie - DOES listen to us. Once in awhile.
I'm sure you've noticed - or at least heard others talking about - the lackluster solo in 'We Weren't Born To Follow', right? Jon screams "guitar!" and then Richie seems to timidly approach the spotlight and flick the strings in a short, simple, overly safe little pattern. And fans are left going...uh...wait just a minute!
Well, Mr. Sambora spoke with MusicRadar about the solo and its response. Here's what he had to say:
"When I recorded the solo to that song, I played a very melodic, kind of Beatles-esque break. That was the mood I was in. As soon as the song got leaked to radio, people went crazy, sending e-mails and Twittering and everything: 'We love the song, but what's with that solo? We want a rippin', burnin' Richie Sambora solo.
"So I said to Jon, 'Hey, do you want me to change it? We got time. And John was like, 'Sure. Go lay down another solo and we'll drop it in the song on the album.' So that's what I did - I cut it yesterday, in fact. It's a monster."
But does the guitarist mind having fans, in effect, 'produce' part of a song? "Nah!" he says, with a laugh. "When I played sessions, it was all about serving the song. Sometimes you have to test things out and see what works. I'm totally cool about the whole thing. And I guarantee that when people hear the new solo, they'll be stoked. Ask and you shall receive."
I am VERY happy to hear this -- I have said since the first time I heard the song that it was severely lacking in Richie talent. It's a fantastic anthem, but damn it, throw in some rippin' guitar and it's naturally 10x better.
I'm going to hold you to that guarantee, though, Rich - I better be 'stoked'!! ;)
Confirmed by Obie himself! The new tracklist for the Nov. 10, 2009 release of The Circle will be as follows:
1. We Weren't Born To Follow 2. When We Were Beautiful 3. Work For The Working Man 4. Superman Tonight 5. Bullet 6. Thorn In My Side 7. Live Before You Die 8. Broken Promiseland 9. Love's the Only Rule 10. Fast Cars 11. Happy Now 12. Learn To Love
***Further information - though not so official - says that the U.S. tour will kick off in Hawaii on Feb. 14, 2010, followed by the rest of North America, then Europe INDOORS (??? my boyfriend will just love that...not) and apparently 20 dates at the O2.
Again, wait for confirmation from Obie for that one - don't bother waiting on Backstage because they have yet again failed to provide us "members" with our promised privileges. (A letter is going out soon, by the way.)
I will post anything Obie confirms here, so watch this space. :)
From the paparazzi to cyberspace, from me to you. lol. Maybe it's because I'm in a romantic, sappy mood from watching three romantic comedies with my roommate tonight, but I just love how they're holding hands.
It seems I'm the last one in the Jovi blog world to get to this, but here's my 9/11 tribute (blame the tardiness on west coast lag time ;))
Where were you eight years ago on this day? Were you at work, sipping a cup of coffee? Were you grumbling about having to get out of bed early? Were you struggling with your kids to get them ready for school? Fighting with your wife or husband about the latest miscommunication? Maybe you weren't in the States - already somewhere in your afternoon or evening, going about your day completely normally.
For everyone in America, though, whatever we were doing around 9 a.m. New York time was suddenly - and brutally - interrupted, and our lives changed forever.
I was still in bed, fast asleep, but started waking up as I became aware of very unnatural sounds coming from the television in my parents' room next door. Panicked reporters, stunned newscasters, screaming and crying from apparent interviewees. My mom said softly, "It's like a nightmare..." My dad muttered something and walked out of the room, past my doorway, and I knew something was wrong. I went into my mom's room to see her sitting up in bed, her hand over her mouth, crying. I followed her gaze to the television and saw the second World Trade Center engulfed in a sickening, billowing mass of smoke, before it collapsed to the ground right before my eyes. It was 6:26 a.m. (PST)
I never witnessed Pearl Harbor or World War II - or any war, really, for that matter, and stories from my parents' childhood of the Vietnam War and the Communist scares, etc. were always stories of another time. Another place. When horrible people did horrible things, innocent people were murdered, countries clashed with each other over religion and politics and territory. The world was good now, I assumed. I was fairly young - naive enough to believe that notion, anyway - and the idea of someone authorizing the hijacking of four American airliners to slaughter innocent civilians and assault our country in a mass suicide murder (and that people would actually DO it!) was beyond me.
I stayed home from school that day, watching the events unfold on the television, trying to make sense of it all as I saw things I had never seen before - and never wanted to see again. I remember a nauseating feeling of mixed anger and sadness, hurt and pain as I watched the effects of the heartless and cruel murderers who had done this. It wasn't for months, even years afterward, that I realized what an impact it all truly had on my life, and what a cruel world really does lie outside of my home walls.
My point, in this personal narrative, is that America suffered a massive loss that day. And all the aftermath - the pain, the grieving, the memorials, the tributes, and later the controversies and debates and whispers about U.S. government knowledge of the attacks - is a tangled mess that remains burned in all of our memories, if we were old enough to remember it. We were dealt a low blow. Hatred and anger are no strangers to me, but I've learned that they do no good - and in fact are the causing factors of the attacks on 9/11 in the first place!
Since then, I have been to Ground Zero, one of the most emotional experiences of my life. And it was then that the full impact hit me like a ton of bricks.
I hadn't discovered Bon Jovi at the time of 9/11, but I have definitely seen their tribute in Times Square, and the notions of united strength, liberty, and perseverance in the face of great tragedy that underscore Bounce are not lost on me. Bon Jovi has always been a true-blooded American band, proud of their country and flag, representative of the people that live the land. And every time I see this video or hear this song, I remember...and cry.
So please take a moment to watch it. Even if you've already seen it a hundred times. Even if the song is so over-played that it's boring, or is so under-played for a reason. And listen to the words in the simultaneously fierce and tender "Undivided". The more symbolic, hidden-beneath-another-story "Bells of Freedom".
Hatred from the outside will do its best to shove its ugly head in our world and turn it upside down. It did on September 11th, 2001. But instead of making our nation fall, it did the opposite. We cannot fall when an instigator harboring impure intentions tries to make us. But hatred from within WILL divide us. Don't let it.
Remember the day.
Unfortunately, my SkyDrive has been shut down for copyright violation apparently, so I can't share the MP3s. Sorry about that...but if you want the MP3 of 'America the Beautiful', email me and I will gladly send it to you.
Just because the sexy wingman has a special place in my heart, too. Besides his enormous talent, big heart, and infectious personality, the man is just one big sweetheart. It would truly mean the world to me to meet him one day.
These are from the Access Hollywood interview in 2008 - just before the cancer benefit show they did for the late Sambora senior. I just love these pictures, though...and if anyone has them watermark-free, I will love you forever. Really. That jawline and facial features, those soulful brown eyes, and that heart-warming smile....*melt*
Oh right...but the talent and personality are what matters. ;)
So in my Visual Communication class, our main semester project is to design a magzine cover. Any topic. Any theme. Any style. We play the part of the magazine's editor, and the sky is the limit as to what we create...as long as we incorporate what we've learned including design, typography, etc. We haven't gone over everything yet, of course, it's only the start of the semester! But our professor advised that we at least start fiddling with ideas and styles so we aren't scrambling the night before the project is due.
Well, this is RIGHT up my alley. I love graphic design - it's one of my favorite hobbies/pastimes, and while I certainly don't claim to be a genius with Photoshop, I had fun doing mockups of my idea for the project.
And of COURSE it involves Jovi. You're surprised? ;)
So what do you think of these two designs? Remember, they're pretty rough, and I still have a lot of finalizing, tweaking, editing, etc. to do before the final project. But I need to know if the basic idea is good enough to consider or not:
Guess what? FALL is coming! And that means the YUMMY scents of pumpkin and apple spice, orchards and pecans, cinnamon and warm baking pies. And Halloween and Thanksgiving are only around the corner...
So I'm sitting here like a naked man on ice, hopping up and down in anticipation of the new Backstage launch and the friggin emails with the new password that have YET TO BE DELIVERED.
I try to refrain from posting non-Jovi entries here, but once in awhile I will post something I feel important enough to share with you all. This is one of those times.
(Thanks for the heads up on this, Hath!)
