Lonn Friend on Bon Jovi

If you have the One Wild Night CD and artwork, you've most likely seen this in the cover booklet. I was cleaning out my document files tonight and came across a type-up I did of it, and I thought I'd share.

It still rings true - every single word. Bon Jovi puts on the best damn show on Earth, and fans and concert-goers have memories that are literally soundtracked to Jovi tunes. The fan experience is a package so deeply steeped in emotion, passion, and excitement that it's one of the most rewarding and special experiences in the whole music world. And I think this is (still) the best, most true-to-heart, succintly written reviews of the band to date.

GETTING ‘IT’ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE BACK SEAT OF A CAR, FEELING THAT VIRGIN BEER OR POT BUZZ, SEEING STAR WARS BACK IN THE BEGINNING WHEN ABSOLUTELY EVERY HUMAN BEING ON PLANET EARTH WAS GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING AT THE SAME AWESOME MOMENT IN TIME: THESE ARE THE INTENSELY PERSONAL, EMOTIONAL, EPIPHANY-TYPE EXPERIENCES THAT ARE RIGHT UP THERE WITH BEING A BON JOVI FAN AT A BON JOVI CONCERT. IT’S BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE. THE BIGGER-THAN-LIFE MUSICAL CIRCUS OF ROCK COMES TO YOUR TOWN AND NOTHING IN YOUR HUMBLE, ORDINARY, PEDESTRIAN EXISTENCE CAN TRANSCEND ITS IMPORTANCE. BON JOVI FANS ARE TELEPATHICALLY CONNECTED AT AN ALMOST COSMIC LEVEL. THEY COME FROM EVERY SOCIO-CULTURAL ENCLAVE, FROM DIRT-ROAD, TINY-TOWN MIDDLE AMERICA OR POLISH PROVINCE; NEW YORK TO NEWFOUNDLAND, BURG TO METROPOLIS, VALLEY FLOOR TO MOUNTAIN PEAK. WITNESS THIS GLOBAL COMMUNION OF THE MOST ROCKIN’. LAY YOUR HANDS ON THE BIBLE OF BANG, BEAT AND LYRIC, SPANNING TWO DECADES OF EARS AND HEARTS FAITHFULLY SERVED. YOU THINK I’M WAXING TOO POETIC FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT? JUST WAIT. I TAX MY OWN TORTURED TONGUE TO EXPRESS WHAT MUST BE EXPRESSED. THE MAGIC OF BON JOVI LIVE, FRONT ROW GIRLS SO DEEPLY IN LOVE THEY WOULD MORTGAGE A PART OF THEIR SOUL THEY HAVEN’T YET IDENTIFIED FOR A LOCK OF HAIR FROM THE JERSEY BOY WHO MADE GOOD, THE FRONTMAN WITH THE SUPERNOVA SMILE AND STAGE PRESENCE OF THE HISTORICALLY FEW AND FAR, FAR BETWEEN. BOYS FINDING THEMSELVES SUPERSTARS FOR A NIGHT BECAUSE THEY, TOO, DIG THE TUNES – BUT EVEN BETTER, THEY’RE DIGGIN’ THE WAY THE CHICKS GET WHEN THEY’RE DIGGIN’ THE TUNES. BON JOVI LIVE IS AN AUDIO APHRODISIAC, A GRAND-PURPOSE LUBRICANT OF MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT. IT IS THE CEMENT FOUNDATION OF ONE OF MODERN MUSIC’S MOST ORGANIC, LEGITIMATE, TABLOID-TESTED, UNSHAKABLE, FAN-DRIVEN SUCCESS STORIES. THEY WERE ALL MERE BOYS BACK THEN. THEY PLEDGED AN ALLEGIANCE TO ROCK AND TOOK OFF FOR PARTS UNKNOWN. GREAT SONGS, GREAT PLAYING, A CHEMISTRY OF MAN AND WEAPON DIVINE IN ITS ELEMENTS. HERE WE ARE TWO DECADES LATER, AND YOU CAN FINALLY HOLD IN YOUR HANDS THE SOUNDS LOST IN THE ETHER, SOUNDS THAT ONCE MADE YOU LAUGH OR CRY, MADE YOU…BOLD, SHY, LOW, HIGH, YEAH HIGH! ONE WILD NIGHT IS BON JOVI’S OWN “BOOK OF LIVE” DIVIDED INTO 15 CHAPTERS, EACH ONE A MINI-NOVELLA. THERE ARE STORIES OF FAITH AND PRAYER, LOVE AND PAIN, FRIENDS AND FANTASIES. SOME ARE DUNE BUGGIES ON A ROCKY DESERT FLOOR; OTHERS ARE SMOOTH-GLIDING BENTLEYS OF IMPECCABLE INSTRUMENTATION, TINY SYMPHONIES THAT CARRY YOUR HEART TO PLACES YOU NEVER WANT TO RETURN FROM, EVER. THE INSPIRATION FOR A LIVE RELEASE HAD BEEN FLOATING AROUND IN THE MINDS OF EACH OF THE BAND MEMBERS FOR YEARS. BUT IT WASN'’ UNTIL BON JOVI TOURED THE U.S. IN THE FALL OF 2000 AFTER A FIVE-YEAR TOURING HIATUS THAT THE TIME SEEMED PERFECT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK. IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT BEING ONSTAGE, ARM’S DISTANCE FROM THEIR LIFEBLOOD, THE FANS. “THIS RECORD IS SOMETHING THE FANS HAVE BEEN REQUESTING FOR A LONG TIME,” COMMENTS JBJ. “WE DIDN’T NEED TO DO A LIVE RECORD FOR US. BUT WE DID NEED TO DO IT FOR THEM, THE OLD GENERATION AND THE NEW GENERATION. ONE WILD NIGHT IS ABOUT PURE APPRECIATION FOR WHO AND WHAT GOT US HERE.” IN WRITING THE BAND’S BIO, I THINK I’VE FIGURED OUT WHY JON CALLED ME PERSONALLY AND ASKED ME TO DO IT. I BELIEVE ITS BECAUSE BEYOND MY JOURNALISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF BON JOVI AS THE COMMERCIAL, ARTISTIC, POP/ROCK PHENOM, I ALSO KNOW THEM AS JUST GUYS. BECAUSE BEHIND THE MUSIC, YOU’LL FIND THESE INCREDIBLY NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS COMPOSED OF THE SAME QUANTUM MATERIAL AS YOU AND ME. DIG DEEP DOWN TO THE CORE OF WHO WE ARE AND THERE IT IS, THE DNA CALLED ROCK ‘N’ ROLL. IN WHATEVER FORM YOU’VE EXPERIENCED THEM, IF WHAT BON JOVI HAS GIVEN YOU OVER NEARLY THE PAST 20 YEARS HAS BROUGHT YOU EVEN PARTWAY THERE, THEN ONE WILD NIGHT WILL TAKE YOU THE REST OF THE WAY HOME. OKAY, SO THIS BIO WASN’T SLICK AND STATISTICAL, BUT YOU CAN BET YOUR SADDLE-SORE ASS IT WAS THE TRUTH!

LONN FRIEND/APRIL 2001

Helping us get through it all...

I'm posting this for a friend - he is a Bon Jovi fan and has Neurofibromatosis ("NF"), a genetic disorder that causes nerve tumors and various complications. The band's music, as it does for many of us, has helped him get through the struggles and challenges he faces with the disorder.

This is a video he created to spread awareness and educate others about Neurofibromatosis - and, naturally, it is set to a Bon Jovi soundtrack: We Weren't Born To Follow.

Please take a moment to watch it and learn about the cause:

My life today...because of Bon Jovi.

I'm pulling up Glenn Osrin again because I've been loving everything he posts lately -- including his latest 4-part series on Love's the only rule for Bon Jovi fans, an inside look at the ties and bonds between Jovi fans all over the world.

And it got me thinking - just how much of my life today has been shaped by the people I've met through the Bon Jovi fan club? And more generally speaking, by Bon Jovi themselves?

The answer is: a hell of a lot.


Point in case - my boyfriend of nearly 4 years, my best friend in the entire world and ever-constant source of support and strength in everything I do, I met through Backstage JBJ in 2006. Online. On that old cream/white and red message board, where the yellow smiley faces were actually funny (particularly shock-face guy and pulsing heart-eyes). Where the Boredom Thread became my daily home, and where, on a random day in October, sitting in my former history teacher's office as his aide, I was playing around on his computer, logged into Backstage, and met a guy named "Stratocaster" (his online name; his real name is Björn). He lived - and still lives - in the Netherlands, but we met in person 8 months later, fell in love, and the rest is history.

Since that particular meeting, a more complex web of networks has formed -- some 50 or so "Boredies," from all over the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Great Britain (and later, Australia too) became my online Jovi friends. And I've had the pleasure of meeting nearly all of them over the last four years. Björn and I flew to the east coast and stayed with Trish in Philadelphia, PA for a week and Joanna in Hoboken, NJ, and met over a dozen of our mutual Boredie friends for dinner, backyard BBQs, and city-touring in PA, NJ, and NYC. (A mutual friend and her husband even trekked down from CANADA for this reunion!)

I've also met dozens of California fans - which is not surprising since I live here! - and we get together at least once a year for Jovi festivities. From San Francisco, where I got together with several NorCal fans for another fan's graduation party, to Los Angeles, where mostly SoCal fans meet up for dinners at Universal Studios CityWalk, to friends' homes in San Diego (where I live), and even to Las Vegas (which, I know, is not CA), where ALL of us - NorCal to SoCal - got together to see the band play at the Hard Rock Cafe in April 2009.

Oh, and this past month when I traveled to New Jersey to see Bon Jovi play New Meadowlands, I stayed with Jennifer (whom I met through Backstage), got together with about 20 other fans (whom I met through Backstage), and then traveled to Holland to see Björn, and GERMANY to see that friend who graduated in San Francisco (whom I met Backstage)!

It's not rare for me to visit and spend time with these amazing and wonderful people. They have all brought me such happiness and love, and given me support and friendship since I was just a goofy teenager who screamed every time someone even mentioned "Bon Jovi."

And I continue to meet more and more fans from all over the globe -- most particularly at concerts, where the default introduction is, "Hi, I'm [insert username] on the boards, who are you?" Say your real name and 50% of the time they look at you blankly. Say you're "RaiseYourHands," and comprehension dawns with "OH! So nice to finally meet you!"

Come on, don't tell me that's never happened to you! ;)

So aside from these new cherished friends, how else has Bon Jovi changed my life?

Well, because I met Björn, and because he lives 5,000 miles away, I had to travel a bit if I wanted to see him. And if I was traveling that far to visit him anyway, we might as well do some sightseeing. And travel further onward to foreign cities and lands. Places I've wanted to see my whole life.

So...since 2006 I have now been to the Netherlands four times, Belgium, London, Paris, Luxembourg, and Germany...plus Las Vegas, New York City, Philadelphia/PA, New Jersey, and resorts in the mountains and on islands around San Diego. It's a part of my life now, to travel, and we usually visit Backstage/Bon Jovi friends along the way.

So really, I never would have had the opportunity to travel and see these places without Bon Jovi. And that traveling yielded an endless process of learning...so I am smarter and more worldly thanks to Bon Jovi! LOL.

See how crazy of a domino effect this all is? And all of these points track down the line to one thing: Bon Jovi.

It's a wonderful, beautiful ride. And I am indebted to this band for so much, they will never possibly know how deeply they've affected my life and me, as a person.

From seeing the world to greeting, meeting, and reuniting with fan friends, I am one happy member of this Bon Jovi family. And I can't wait to see what the years to come have in store for us.



I've been everywhere
Still I'm standing tall
I've met a million faces
And befriended them all...





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PHOTOS:
(1) Boredie Reunion in PA - 2007
(2) Boredie tailgate at New Meadowlands Stadium - 2010
(3) Boredie dinner at Chickie & Pete's - 2007
(4) Me in front of Big Ben, London - 2008
(5) CA Jovi fan reunion in Las Vegas - 2009
(6) Me in front of the Eiffel Tower, Paris - 2009
(7) CA Jovi fan reunion, Los Angeles - 2008
(8) Amsterdam w/ Bjorn - 2010
(9) CA Jovi fan reunion, San Francisco - 2007

Greetings From Vegas

Greetings from fabulous Las Vegas!

(We're staying at the Luxor!!

<---------------------------)

While Bjorn and I are romping the Strip, sipping cocktails and soaking in the sights, Bon Jovi has been enjoying a bit of a vacation as well. Even though I brought my laptop and we have free internet access (a first in our many travels!), there hasn't been too terribly much to report on the Jovi front.

However, the band just Tweeted and Facebooked (yes, those are new verbs in this generation) that they are back on the road and ready to hit Minneapolis next, so the set lists, pictures, and news should resume their steady stream I imagine.

If you missed my last two posts, be sure to check them out: the band is doing another live stream from Dallas, TX this Sunday...and they have announced three new summer tour dates (including a 4th Giants/New Meadowlands.)

Which brings me to this week's poll - because I have the best parents and boyfriend EVER, I will be realizing my long-time dream and traveling to New York next month to see the legendary Giants performances. I am BEYOND ecstatic. I'm still trying desperately to get my hands on tickets, but until then, I was curious who is going to which shows. I guess the anonymity factor in a poll doesn't help me know WHO is going when, but it's cool to know which of the nights are the most anticipated.

I for one am trying for the 27th and 29th of May, because I just kind of know from years of being a Jovi fan that the opening night will be standard vanilla. And I'm traveling cross-country for NON-vanilla, thank you very much. ;)

So let me know when you're going. I cannot WAIT to meet some of you!

Oh, and the contest for the Jovi goody pack has ended, so when I get home I will draw the winner at random and announce it this Sunday.

Have a great rest of your week my friends!

Random rant about ignorant fans

This is simply a rant, because I found it in my Google alerts and it pissed me off.

This came up tonight in my daily Bon Jovi Google alert: http://www.eff36459.blogspot.com/2010/02/bon-jovi-revisited.html

First off, the girl is clearly clueless when it comes to Bon Jovi - she admits herself that she doesn't like them much, but her sister loves them, that they've never had quite the impact on her as Celine Dion (I personally found that hysterical, lol), and that one of the only good things about them is Jon's sexy good looks.

First off, my toes curl when I hear people say that - call it my devout love and deep admiration for everything that band does, as well as everything Jon is BESIDES a good looking man (father, husband, amazing philanthropist, musician, business manager, come on!) It just really tweaks me when women ONLY like Bon Jovi for Jon, or ONLY want to meet them/see them/get close to them to get in his pants or grope him. (And please don't think I'm outing everyone who thinks he's good looking or who fawns over him, because I think the man's damn sexy myself - have you SEEN my reactions to him in concert? LOL. I just know, unlike quite a few "fans" out there, that there is FAR more beneath that polished exterior.)

So, with that said, the other thing I cannot STAND is when people don't take the time to do their research and not allow the media to spoon-feed them. This girl in her post describes Richie as "an alcoholic and slightly creepy."

REALLY?

My jaw dropped when I read that, and then my poor roommate had to endure a 10-minute rant about how completely NOT true this is. Doesn't Richie's rehab and pulling out of that mess with liquor count for ANYTHING? Doesn't the fact that it was a short stint, that he himself sought help, and that he pulled himself together mean ANYTHING? He can hardly be labeled an alcoholic, come on. When you compare him to countless other rock stars who have never made it this far (or have, and are struggling to keep standing, like Aerosmith members for instance) it's simply not fair to accuse him of that. And creepy? I had to laugh at that - everything I have EVER heard about the man completely negates the definition of "creepy." Jon himself describes him as the one who lights up the room when he walks in - full of laughter, mischief, and the biggest heart you've ever seen. So all I can think of is that this chick met him in person (which I almost hope she did, because otherwise she has NO ground to stand on) - in which case, I'm extremely curious to know what he did or said to come across as creepy.

Wow, this was probably over-doing it as far as a reaction to a simple few lines in this poor girl's blog, huh? lol But it just set me off on related topics, and gave me an outlet to share my frustrations and one of my biggest annoyances: ignorance. Seriously, DON'T TALK unless you KNOW what you're talking about.

Sorry, hope you don't mind this rant. But I'm sure many of you feel the same way, eh?

I need fan quotes!

Did you see the band in Honolulu last week? What about Seattle last night?

Care to share a few words about the experience?

I'm writing a feature article on The Circle tour for my journalism class, and I need quotes - particularly about the fact that the band hasn't played in Hawaii in a long time, or how they started in Seattle (the west coast) for once. Experiences with the catwalk, VIP sections, or Inner Circle are welcome too!

So if you have something to say and want to be quoted (it won't be published), feel free to comment here or email me. And soon, if possible!

Thanks!

And the Sunshine Award goes to...

My friend Shelly honored 12 of her favorite bloggers with the Sunshine Award, myself among them. So I thought it was only fit to pass it on. :)



These are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within the post.
2. Pass the award onto 12 bloggers whose blogs you enjoy the most.
3. Link the nominees and their award-winning blogs within your post.
4. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

These are my choices:

1. The Goddess Hathor, The Goddess Hathor
2. Tara Leigh, Home
3. Big Apple Jovi Girl, It's My (Bon Jovi) Life
4. SoulGirl, A Little Bit of Soul
5. Queenie, Queenie's Corner
6. Hath & Friends, Bon Jovi: The Circle Tour
7. Shelly, Stay
8. Kiwi, Life As We Know It
9. Kris, Welcome To Wherever You Are
10. Deena, Charitable Donation
11. Catte, Catte's House
12. JillianK, The Layover

Final mag...again.

Okay, I mean it this time - this is the FINAL magazine cover. LOL. It has to be, because it's due at 3:00pm tomorrow.

So I HOPE you all like it!

I spent another good 2 hours tweaking, scrapping, fixing, aligning, changing, switching, moving, and generally redoing the entire cover. Added a bit of color that I think works well, realigned the headlines so Jon's photo isn't hidden, changed fonts, added a little flair.

What do you think now?

Final magazine cover - thoughts?

I finally finished (I think) the magazine cover design I had to do for my Visual Communication midterm. I blended designs and headlines from the original covers I did several weeks ago, plus tweaked and added new stuff.

What do you all think? Feedback is really appreciated!

Project for class: magazine covers

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:

P.S. I'm working on Richie ones, too. :)

CONGRATULATIONS DEENA!

*EDIT: I am a freaking moron and mixed up the details with this - it was not with eHarlequin, but a publishing group called Noble Romance Publishing, and it wasn't a contest, just an open submission. Yeah, I need a few more points on my listening skills apparently. :( **

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I have been DYING to just scream this out at the top of my lungs, and after getting the okay that it was public news from her, I can. I just HAVE to brag!

Many of you know our lovely Deena personally, others may know her just from her brilliant FF works Second Chances, What Happens In Vegas, Stay, and her most recent short story Charitable Donation......but what you probably don't know is that she has just officially become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!

A few weeks ago, she entered an open call with Noble Romance Publishing for a short story submission involving sexual role-playing. Since we always edit and critique each other's work, she sent it to me (and a few other close friends) -- and damn, it was good. I urged her to submit it, told her to stop second-guessing herself, to bite the bullet and hit "submit" for freakin goodness sake, LOL...everything she would have done for me.

AND SHE GOT IT! She received a publishing contract with them, and if she signs, her story, At Your Service, will be published as part of a role-playing short-story anthology (and they told her they want her as a stand-alone short if they don't get enough other submissions!) and will be published in e-format on the publisher's site.

She has said she will let me know when it is published, and you can bet your bottom dollar it will be all over this site so you can read and enjoy it too!

So when you get a sec, drop Dee a line and send along your congrats -- and if you haven't read her work yet, do it. Her main site has a directory of her stories.

You already know this, Dee, but I am SO proud of you. Your hard work has paid off, you did it! This is but a huge stepping stone in what could be a very successful career, and I can't think of anyone who deserves this more. I love you!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Tuesday Goodies

I woke up to a couple Jovi odds and ends today, which totally made my morning. ;)

Firstly, Jon was spotted on a stroll with Dot in East Hampton, NYC:

Mmm-mm, I do love a man in a hat and shorts!!

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Second, get your singing voice ready for BON JOVI KARAOKE this Thursday, May 28 at New World Stages in NY.

THEME: Bon Jovi Songs
JUDGES: Nancy Opel, Chris Cicchino, Nick Cordero and Matt Saldivar of The Toxic Avenger

Votes are based on audience participation so come on out and decide…who will be in your Top 5?

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Test your knowledge of the band at Parade Magazine's website - they have an interactive quiz set up by Peter Oberc from drycounty.com.

Pssst - it's pretty easy; I got 100%! ;)

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For you single home or apartment-dwellers (or for those lucky ladies whose husbands will allow shrines like this) - check this out:

A giant wall decal of - you guessed it - Jon Bon Jovi.

The small one is 70 x 152 cm - 139 EUR = 27.3 x 59.3" - $195 aprox.
The big one is 85 x 184cm - 168 EUR = 33.2 x 71.8" - $235 aprox

You pick the colors and everything. Guaranteed to last or your money back!

The website, unfortunately, is in Spanish, but if you speak it even conversationally, you can figure it out.

I don't know about you, but I personally find it cool. Creepy, in a way, perhaps, for a family...but for your own bachelorette pad, why the hell not? It would go smashing with my Jovi collection.

Time for SUMMERTIME!

Oh my Lord, I just had to share. I took my last exam today and am finally DONE with my classes! *cheers* This brings a grueling year to an end...and a hopefully relaxed, easy-going, FUN summer.

I cannot express how much I need this. I have to house/pet-sit this weekend, so I will have a place all to my own and I plan on basically hibernating and sleeping for about 3 days straight. I'll get up to feed the animals, but then it's back to bed! LOL I'm bringing my laptop, an arsenal of Jovi DVDs and my music, and I am just going to veg. You have NO idea how utterly amazing that sounds. Like, I seriously might never come home.

After that, I have one month before I jet off to Europe again for adventures in the Netherlands (again) as well as Paris, France (!!!) and hopefully, Germany to visit an old friend! 

But until then, I am going to fully enjoy my free time (aside from work in the afternoons) and will spend it sleeping, relaxing, seeing friends when they come home, and of course...writing. ;)

It's SUMMERTIME BABY!

In honor of the season...




(I will SO be doing that a lot the next three months.)