book contest!

Night huntress series book contest! :D
click on the title to find out how to enter.

I haven't read the books yet, but I was told that the books are great and I fully intend on reading them... when my pile of books isn't quite so huge, ahaha. also, having some money to buy new books would help, too.

For everyone that's as broke as I am, enter the contest! :D

(will be x-posted to my LJ later this afternoon! :] )

Happy Halloween!

okay, i know i should have updated this blog by now but i've been lazy. Fortunately it's just the last two shows, so i should be able to recall everything that's happened, lol. And post pictures. By the way, you need a password to get access to my photobucket album from now on. i'll let you all know as soon as i've uploaded the pictures.

yesterday was my first day off and i didn't really do anything but get food and relax... and i went to see locksley last night. they were pretty good. but... god, it's so weird to go to a show like that. there were like 60 people in the venue... it was a good show, but the energy... was missing, ya know? i really get why all those security people can't believe their eyes and ears when they experience their first hanson show, haha.

i made a few short clips with my cell phone and i'll upload them later. the opening act was hilarious. you'll see why.

okay, so i'm off for now. see you guys soon.

just wanted to say hi!

in case anyone's missed me! ;)

i'm still alive and back in north carolina. actually, that was a lie. charlotte is directly at the border and my hotel's in south carolina, haha. but you get the point.

i still have to post about the last 2 shows and upload pictures and videos, but i just wanted to say that i FRIGGIN' TALKED TO TAYLOR YESTERDAY!

i just asked him about europe... and he said that they wouldn't come back with THIS album, something we already knew, haha. i told him that i'd heard about that already. (i just wanted him to confirm it.) and then i was like "everyone misses you over there", so he suggested to make a couple of hanson-clones, lol. i replied with something like, "that'd be awesome" and the girl standing beside me was like "i'd pay for that!" LOL!

all of my shows were awesome (lancaster was decent, haha. which was to be expected, but apparently the new york show sucked, so i was lucky that i went to lancaster and not NY) and i'm gonna write some more soon. probably tomorrow. I NEED TO GET SOME SLEEP!

i still can't believe i talked to him. but he was there, i was there, and there was hardly anyone around, so... i couldn't just go and NOT say SOMETHING. and i'm happy i did. :)

anyway. gonna get some rest now, so talk to you guys soon! :)

Hello from Atlantic City...

I didn't have the chance to post this this morning, haha. So even though I'm in Lancaster now... Hi from AC! ;)

a few pictures...

Hartford, CT


have they ever just hopped off the bus before? i don't think so.



here comes the birthday boy.




"and as a birthday present i want everyone to take their shoes off. if you don't take your shoes off that means that you don't love me." Sure Zac. ;)





follow the balloons... *nods* ;) He gave them to a baby later on and that was so incredibly cute, haha.

Hartford and Atlantic City

First of all, it's almost midnight and I should be asleep, but I can't even go to sleep because Sam's snoring! Really badly. *sighs*

Anyway though, I have just checked h.net and I really wish I'd gone to the Poughkeepsie show, lol. This setlist is frickin' amazing!

1. Something Going Round
2. Been There Before
3. Higher
4. If Only
5. Follow Your Lead
6. Great Divide

-acoustic-
7. Never Been To Spain (started off by Ike solo)
8. One More
9. Lay Me Down
10. On The Rocks (Zac solo)
11. Love Me (Tay solo)
-acoustic-

12. Fire On The Mountain
13. Dancing In The Wind
14. Blue Sky
15. Where's The Love
16. You Never Know
17. Penny & Me
18. Your Illusion
19. Crazy Beautiful
20. Oh, Darling
21. MMMBop
22. Can't Stop
23. Hey
24. Watch Over Me

-encore-
25. Coming Back For More

Amazing? Not quite. Fucking awesome. But anyway. Did I mention that we camped out for the Hartford show? No? Well, yes we did and it was... definitely an experience. This place was kind of... ghetto? Seriously, it's definitely something I don't want to experience again anytime soon, lol. A cop was there to protect us all night long and we had tents, so we felt safer, but still. We were about 20 people there, all girls and the neighborhood was really bad. Had it not been "Zac's birthday" show I totally would have gone back to my hotel.

Anyway, we're still alive and in one piece, so that's good, haha. As I said before, the show was really awesome. The crowd was so energetic and Taylor seemed so incredibly pleased, haha. I did say that I was second row, RIGHT in front of Taylor, right? *dies a little*

Before the acoustic set the people in front and second row put on those silly birthday hats and before Zac played FOTM he was like "So it's not Hanson tattoos anymore?" Haha.

Uh, what else? The whole show was great and I just don't know what to say or how to explain, haha. You've all seen the FUTY and the video/s on youtube, right? I'm still trying to find us in the FUTY, lol. We weren't that far away from Walker.

As for Atlantic City... Caroline decided to come along for one more show (technically her last one was Hartford, but she came with us to AC, haha. And I'm really glad she did because she's an awesome tour buddy.) The drive was pretty long and we arrived around 7.15pm and checked into our hotel (the Super 8, 5 blocks from the Showboat). And then we were getting ready and rushing to the venue... Caroline didn't have a ticket yet and mine were on will call, so we were in a hurry. And let me tell you that this place is fucking huge. The House of Blues is located on the second floor of this huge building that looks like a boat (at least one half of it) and there's this HUGE casino on the first floor, hundreds and hundreds of slot machines and one-armed bandits. Seriously, I've been to Vegas, but I don't remember seeing anything like this, haha. I wish I'd had my camera with me. :/

The show was awesome too. We could have easily gone to the front and be up close but we decided to stay in the back and have some fun there. Caro and I had a Tequila sunrise (my first show with alcohol, haha. But it was only one drink and we weren't screaming and making fools of ourselves ;) unless you count dancing and jumping and clapping and singing along) and we all had glowstick-bracelets. At least 5 on each arm and we're kinda convinced that Taylor could see them, lol. At least, I was doing this waving arms thing at one point and then he started doing it too. :P I like the idea of him seeing us there in the back, lol.

So far, I've been really lucky with my shows and even though I'm kinda bummed that I missed this amazing show tonight, I've had my fair share and I really have no reason to complain, lol. I heard FOTM electric first. :P

Okies, I guess I'll try to get some sleep. If Sam shuts up already, lol.

P.S. Can I get this exact same setlist tomorrow? Pretty please. -.-*

Atlantic City, NJ Setlist

1. Something Going Round
2. Higher
3. Been There Before
4. Thinking of You
5. Follow Your Lead
6. Great Divide

Acoustic Set
7. Strong Enough to Break
8. Go
9. The Walk (Zac Solo)
10. BELIEVE (Taylor Solo)

11. Fire On The Mountain (ELECTRIC with Taylor on drums)
12. Blue Sky
13. Where's The Love
14. Running Man
15. Soul Shine
16. Penny & Me
17. Crazy Beautiful
18. MmmBop
19. Minute Without You
20. Hey
21. Watch Over Me

Encore
22. This Time Around

Hartford, CT 10/22

Okay, you guys have seen the video of Zac's little cake party on stage, right? In case someone hasn't seen it. click

What is there to say? The show was fucking amazing, the crowd was so incredibly energetic and the guys seemed to be in such a good mood and really pleased about the crowd and their enthusiasm. Caroline, Danielle and I were second row (Danielle third) right in front of Taylor. I've never been THIS close at a show and I couldn't stop looking at him. He's so fucking amazing, it's not even funny. I think he might have been amused because he seemed to look at us a couple of times and smile. You never know but I definitely like the idea of him seeing us and approving, lol.

Setlist:

1. Something going round
2. I want to take you higher
3. Been there before
4. A minute without you
5. Penny & me
6. Follow your lead
7. Great Divide
8. Georgia (A)
9. Go (A)
10. Underneath (A)
11. Fire on the mountain (Zac's solo)
12. Dancin' in the wind
13. Blue sky
14. Where's the love
15. Hope it comes soon
16. Can't stop
17. Running man
18. Oh Darlin'
19. MmmBop
20. If only (w/ Let's get it on)
21. Hey
22. Watch over me
23. Lost without each other (Encore)

And then there was the cake fight, haha. No need to write down everything since it's pretty obvious in the video! ;)
I tried some cake. And it tasted like Twinkies, lol.

I'm still in awe, kind of. This show was so amazing. Actually, all 5 of them were.

I have to get ready now because we want to go and get some breakfast before Caro has to leave and it's 1 pm already. I'll just post the setlist of last night's show and then type some more and upload pictures of the walk in hartford later on.

pictures everywhere...

providence

foxboro 1

foxboro 2

please remember you can look at them, save them, use them for graphics, but please don't pretend they're yours. thank you.

First day in Hartford, CT

Okay, first off, it's freezing cold outside but Caro and Sam want to camp out for tomorrow's show, so we're heading to the venue soon. We drove by the venue last night and 4 girls had already been there in their sleeping bags. How crazy can people get? Apparently 2 of them are Aura and Jayde, in case anyone knows them, lol.

I'm not really sure about this because the neighborhood doesn't look too good. I mean, it should be alright if we all stick together and by tonight there should be more people, but still. This show's important to my tour buddies though and I don't want to let them sit there on their own, so I'll just go with them.

I'm uploading the pictures I have so far while typing this and I'll make a separate post about it when I'm done uploading and before I leave the hotel.

It took us a while to actually find the hotel and the venue... apparently there are two Main Streets and two Webster Streets - one in Hartford and one in East Hartford, which's basically like 2 different cities. Crazy, seriously. The hotel is in East Hartford, the venue in Hartford, but it's only a few miles, so we can just drive to Webster Theater and park the car in the parking lot I guess.

I'll let you know how this goes. I really don't feel like sitting out there in the cold with some crazy people but what can I do? Wish me luck.

Foxboro, MA Oct 19th

I'm still really, really sick. But I'm alright and happy at the same time. Last night's show was super-super-amazing.

Seriously, whoever said that they felt like Hanson wasn't "into this anymore" clearly did not go to the same shows I attended. *shakes head* (I saw this post on livejournal yesterday stating exactly that and that they felt like the walk was going to be their last record. CRAP! What would they do without music? Yes, they have families but they couldn't not make music. That's just so impossible. Plus, they have plans for a new album already. They put so much effort into everything they do. Touring gets tiring, of course it does. If I had to be out there on the road for weeks - and spend so much time with my BROTHERS! - I'd sure as hell go crazy!)

I posted the setlist already, so I just have to talk about my day. Sam and I actually didn't get to the venue before 12.30pm. We got numbers (61 and 62) and Sam went to sit down with Christina whereas I sat down and talked to Heather until the walk started.

The guys were in a good mood and it was great to walk barefoot even though it was FUCKING COLD! Yeah, but we're awesome like that, hahaha.

Anyway, when the walk was over, the guys were on this wall (I don't really know how to explain... they were on this walkway that led to the venue and it was higher than the pavement.) and doing a little dance, lol. It was so incredibly funny. Maybe someone got a video of that. That'd be awesome.

Someone gave Taylor a pack of Starbucks coffee and he was pressing it to his chest and going "It's close to my heart." or something. Hahaha. It was incredibly funny because Heather and I had been talking about Taylor's Top 3 things just before the walk started. The things were music, sex and coffee but we weren't sure about the order. Coffee comes first, obviously. :P

Caroline, Sam, Heather, Nicole and I went to Qdoba (this mexican place) after the walk and I got some quesadillas.
Then everyone minus me and Heather had suddenly disappeared - I don't know where everyone went, lol. But it was alright. I was talking to Heather and the girls sitting next to us. The staff brought us Munchkins and Hot Chocolate and I heard someone say that Hanson got that stuff for us. So... YES I WANT HANSON FOOD AND DRINKS! lol. j/k. But it really was freezing cold. Like 5°C. Even with hoodies, jackets, blankets and sleeping bags... it was really unpleasant to sit out there in the cold. So, the funniest thing happened. Doors were supposed to open at 6. But they let us in early. lol. So the number system totally didn't work out. Half of the people weren't even there when they announced that they'd let us in early. So, Sam, Nicole and Heather got second row and Caroline and I got perfect spots on the far left side of the stage (but in the back). You had to go down a few steps to the floor/stage and we were up and could see EVERYTHING. It was so awesome.

I was cracking up during Deeper because Caroline and I had been talking about the SETB documentary just before the show started and how awesome Taylor was. "Can you just pull that pickle out of your booty and sing?" *mwahaha*

Lay me down was really sad and I loved how respectful the audience was. Everyone was quiet, not screaming or "I love you"'s. And I think the guys appreciated it also.

Okay, and now Caroline just texted me and we are all going to have breakfast together somewhere, so I have to go and get ready. I'm sorry the pictures aren't up yet, but I'll do that asap. :)

Setlist Foxboro Oct 19th

1. Something going round
2. Hole in my life
3. Great divide
4. Get up and go
5. Follow your lead
6. I want to take you higher
7. Penny & me (A)
8. Deeper (A)
9. Lay me down (A)
10. Where did it start (Zac's solo)
11. Everyday (Isaac's solo)
12. Yearbook (half-acoustic/half-electric)
13. Blue sky
14. A minute without you
15. Can't stop
16. Soulshine
17. Running man
18. Been there before
19. MmmBop
    
20. Cried
21. If only
22. Hey
23. It's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock'n'roll) - w/Everybody Else and Dave Barnes.

bottom line: AWESOMEAWESOMEAWESOME!

Setlist Foxboro Oct 18th

1. Something going round
2. I want to take you higher
3. Been there before
4. A minute without you
5. Follow your lead
6. This time around
7. Great Divide
8. Strong enough to break (A)
9. Go (A)
10. Ain't no sunshine (A)
11. Fire on the mountain (Zac's solo)
12. Where did it start (Taylor on drums ;) )
13. Blue sky
14. Where's the love
15. Can't stop
16. Penny & me
17. Leave the light on
18. Oh Darlin'
19. MmmBop
    
20. Thinking of you
21. Lost without each other
22. Watch over me
23. Dancin' in the wind (Encore)
    

Foxboro, MA Oct 18th

Foxboro, MA, Day 1

We left Providence around noon on the 17th. It's only 20 miles or something that's why we arrived at the venue shortly after. We'd planned on camping out for the Saturday night show and so we went straight to Showcase Live and got our numbers. (10, 11 and 12)

The day was not spectacular at all. We mostly hung out at the venue (in our cars because we weren't allowed to line up in front of the venue), checked into our hotel and got some food. Since we weren't allowed to spend the night in the parking lot of Showcase either, we went back to our hotels around 11pm or so and met up with the others (Caroline is staying with 3 girls named Nicole, Heather and Danielle) at 8am on the 18th.

Yeah, and so we spent the day there, haha. They let us line up at 10am, something they NEVER do, haha. But everyone was really nice. They even got us some stuff from Dunkin Donuts.

The walk was pretty cool. The guys seemed to be in a good mood and they stayed for at least 10 minutes after the walk had ended. Isaac went around and handed out those cards so people could register their walk and stamped their hands, haha. I don't know what Taylor did behind the table, but he was definitely doing something... either collecting the filled out cards or... whatever.

It was pretty nice, indeed. I got like a million pictures. Not really, but quite a lot.

As for the show, we ended up second row. The venue was tiny and so the guys were RIGHT THERE. And believe me when I say that Taylor looked SO HOT. He was wearing a black tank top and jeans... just damn. I couldn't stop staring at him, lol.

They played Where did it start and Leave the light on, as well as Fire on the mountain and Ain't no sunshine and that was pretty cool. :D

I didn't write down the setlist this time around, so I'll have to look it up online. (They did play This time around though, hahaha. And Penny & me and Taylor didn't even mess up! :P)

Since this one girl squeezed in, I was third row because I'm just not pushing, haha. I couldn't see very well anymore so I went to the back and got some water after MmmBop.

And that's pretty much it. I think Taylor said that there were 307 registered people for the walk and lots of them seemed to stick around by the bus, so I didn't bother to go there. It was freaking cold (it still is!) and I've been sick for the last 2 days. I'm basically drugged right now, haha.

Whatever. It's 11.30am on the 19th and Sam and I will leave soon and meet up with Caro and the others at the venue. I really can't be bothered to line up today. Plus, I need to find a bank and get some cash.

P.S. Pictures will be up later on.

before we leave for Foxboro...

just wanted to post about my time in the US real quick. i flew in on the 14th and fortunately didn't have much trouble getting my car and everything. So i went straight to the hotel and took a shower and everything. after that i went over to sam's house and we were driving around and getting some food at taco bell.

the next day we went shopping (bath & body works is going to be the end of me, seriously! i got a really cute sheep for free! baby sheep!! i named it sheppy. lol. i'm gonna take a picture soon and post it on here. caroline was trying to cconvince me that i should get zac to sign it, haha.

caroline made this awesome birthday card for him and i totally should take pictures... *nods*

the drive from charlotte, NC to providence, RI was CRAZY! it was like 824 miles and we left right after the jack's mannequin show. which was awesome by the way. unfortunately we missed treaty of paris since we were looking for the venue and didn't find it at first even though it was right next to burger king where we'd parked the car, lol. anyway, eric hutchinson was alright.

and andrew was awesome. so was his band. they played holiday from real, i'm ready, bruised and dark blue... and lots of new songs. i bought the new cd and it was definitely worth going even though sam and i should have left a lot earlier. due to us not leaving until 11.30pm, we didn't make it in time for the walk. i had to stop around 4am because i was too tired to keep driving and then there was this huge traffic jam before washington. so we went off the highway and went to ihop to get some breakfast. i had those really delicious chocolate chip pancakes.

i freshened up a little and washed my hair (in the bathroom of ihop, mind you, haha.) and then we continued driving up to rhode island. the crazy thing is that we drove through no less than 8 states in just one day, haha. north carolina, virginia, maryland, delaware, new york, new jersey, connecticut and rhode island.

we got here at 6pm, i called caroline and she came downstairs to help us carry our stuff upstairs. the hilton's... well, most people here seem to be really stuck up, of course, haha. but we met this nice guy last night after the show when we bought some candy and he said that he's a spice girls fan and could totally relate to our hanson fandom, lol. ;)

anyway, we had a good time last night. caro and i were both convinced that the show was going to suck, but fortunately they proved us wrong. zac was all smiles and i'm really glad about that since caro said he seemed to be sad earlier.

the show was pretty good. nothing out of the ordinary except for dancing in the wind. that was kinda random and taylor playing the guitar was kinda hot to watch. :P

the venue was pretty awesome and even though i thought that hanson made have some difficulty getting the fans to respond, they didn't. of course not. haha.

zac was smiling a lot, taylor looked as hot and beautiful as ever. the curfew kinda sucked, but 20 songs are fine i guess. ;) they probably cut the setlists of the opening acts short. we didn't even get to see everybody else. dave barnes was okay. we shall see them tomorrow. ;)

alright. i have to go now and get ready so i guess i'll finish this post or rather post another one later this week. :)

have a good time, y'all. <3

Providence, RI Oct 16, 2008

Setlist:

1. Something going round
2. I want to take you higher
3. Dancin' in the wind
4. Where's the love
5. Been there before
6. Great Divide
7. Penny & me (acoustic)
8. Go (acoustic)
9. Follow your lead (acoustic)
10. Georgia (acoustic)
11. This time around
12. Blue sky
13. If only
14. Can't stop
    
15. Use me
16. Crazy beautiful
17. A minute without you
18. MmmBop
19. Hey

Encore:
20. Rock'n'Roll Razorblade


Caro, Sam and I hung out by the bus after the show... and got pictures with Zaccy. Well, once again... my eyes are closed, but at least it's better than the other one from April, haha. Note Isaac and Sam in the background, lol.

Zac is SUCH a sweetheart. Seriously. No matter what I say/said about him, he truly is an amazing guy. And apparently "here to serve us". lmao. ;)

He also signed my iPod and I got a couple of funny Ike pictures. Of course, Ike disappeared after a few minutes and Taylor signed like 5 things before he hopped on the bus. He seemed apologetic though, lol.



(I do have another one but it's blurry, so... I just don't have any luck, lol. Or maybe we should have used my camera, haha. Caro loves her picture with Zac.)



More pictures, videos and everything else will be up asap. We're planning on camping out for the first Foxboro show though so I won't be online for a while.

Have a great time and talk soon!

Charlotte, North Carolina

I'm sitting on Sam's couch right now, waiting for her to get ready to go. We want to go shopping and eat lunch (well, me since I'm really hungry). The Jack's Mannequin show starts at 7.30 tonight and we'll leave right after the show. It's 800 miles up to Rhode Island. Geez. That's like a 14-hour-drive. ò.Ó
I'm just glad that we won't have to do a lot of driving after that. It's only like 20 miles from Providence to Foxboro.

I did get enough sleep last night, like 8 hours. So, it should be alright. It kinda sucks that Sam can't drive, but I'll live. Coffee and energy drinks are my friends. *nods*

So far, not much has happened. Sam and I were driving around last night and stopped at Taco Bell to eat a soft taco. It's kinda hard to eat, lol. But it was pretty good.

Hope y'all are doing alright.

P.S. It's 79°F/26°C over here and I can't believe that I'm at a place this warm in mid-October, haha. It's gonna be cooler up there in RI/MA/CT/PA though. I think.

i'm still alive!

just wanted to let you know that i've survived my flight to NC... i'm sitting on sam's sister's couch right now, but i'm gonna go back to the hotel pretty soon because i really need to sleep. i got like an hour last night and i'm not going to get sleep tomorrow since i have to drive the 800 miles up to rhode island.

i'll keep you updated!

<3

goodbye for now!

i'll be leaving for the airport in the next ten minutes or so! talk to you soon! *waves*

getting ready for take-off

it's almost 2am and i'm supposed to get up at 4.45. i just can't sleep, haha. my plane's supposed to take off at 11.45am, but since my mom's taking me to the airport i have to go early.

doesn't matter though. it's still better than going by train, haha.

i'll be in north carolina at 3.30pm EST. and then i'll pick up my car and drive to my hotel and call sam. i don't know yet if i'll her tomorrow (or later on) or on wednesday. depends on how tired i am i guess, haha. but i might go and say hi. i can go back to my hotel early and go to bed i guess. if i'm not too excited. ;)

we're going to the mall on wednesday and then to this show in the evening. jack's mannequin and treaty of paris. i'm looking forward to that. and THEN... then we'll drive up to rhode island and meet up with caro. oh geez. i won't get much sleep. i can tell. haha. but whatever. ;)

i'll keep you updated. stay tuned.

twilight

or rather... eclipse. i've just started reading the third book of the twilight series and it's just so, so good.

i was pleasantly surprised when i opened the book to find a poem there i'd known before and always found very
appealing and quite brilliant. it was in my english book back in school when i was still a teen and i've loved it just as much back then as i love it now.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those favor fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

- Robert Frost

is it a bad thing that i'm totally torn between the vampires and the werewolves? lol. i mean. edward's great. most certainly. he's so perfect whereas jake is not, but i'm drawn to the warmth, or should i say heat?, that jake provides.

bella is one lucky girl, lol.

what's going on?

what has everyone been up to? i feel like i'm completely out of the loop. i haven't been doing too good lately, i have to admit, so it might be my own fault.

it's another 6 days. i can't believe it's so soon now.

anyway. it looks like my plans for new zealand have been shattered, haha. so, apart from packing and getting ready for the USA, i'm thinking about what to do. i seriously might just go to england instead and get on charlotte's nerves, haha.

it's either that - or i could apply for a canadian WHV. i'll consider my options in the next few weeks.

Vote for TOMS!

hey guys.

the TOMS wrap boot has been nominated for the cooper people's design award. hop over to the site and vote, please!

click

thanks and have a great weekend!

So, another 3 weeks...

i've booked my flight yesterday and i'll leave on october 14th and be back on nov 3rd.

sam and i are planning on spending halloween at this amusement park in north carolina. i know i'm gonna pee my pants, lol. i just know it.

it's gonna be 7 shows now because sam's going to the falls church show on the 28th and i could either stay in NC all by myself.... or go with them, lol. so i decided to go with them, haha.

caroline's coming to the shows in providence, foxboro and hartford, so i'll get to see her again and that's pretty awesome. :D

i just have to figure out how to get to the airport because i'll leave on tuesday and come back on monday, so... everyone i know's going to be at work. bummer. but i'll figure it out i guess, haha.

also, i really hope that my navigation system will work... mom and ronny are in the USA right now and i don't know what he did... it doesn't work. GAH! my camera decided to die, too. apparently it's just the battery, so i've bought a new one on ebay and i hope that it'll be here soon. and HOPEFULLY it really IS the battery that's dead, not the camera.

k... that's it for now. ;)

Sara Bareilles in Cologne

So I went to the Sara Bareilles show in Cologne last night. And fuck, it was worth it. She's a beautiful, talented, funny woman and it's fun watching her perform. She couldn't have said it better. "I can't believe this is our job!" Haha.

She's quite a joker and the audience was charmed, there's no other way to say this. If you like her music and have the chance to go and see her - DO IT! Her voice is awesome!

'Twas quite funny when she said how they all have had so much fun touring the world and she was quite fond of Germany. "We all want to move here now. There's just one thing... we don't really understand German. But you guys all can speak English. You're so much smarter than we are." Haha.

And every time she said "Danke schön.", the audience laughed because it was just sweet. And then one time she was like, "don't laugh when I say this." Haha.

And then, fuck, I was so happy about this. She played "Oh Darlin'"!!! And it sounded sooo good, too. I recorded half of the song, so watch it. The video sucks, sorry. lol. But that's not the point. ;)

You can watch it on HERE.

Also, the venue is awesome. It's a really small disco/club and it was so nice. I'm going back there in December to see Ben Kweller and I'm looking forward to it now. =]

Oh and here's the setlist:

1. Bottle it up
2. Vegas
3. Morningside
4. Love on the rocks
5. Between the lines
6. Fairytale
7. Oh Darlin'
8. Cruel heart
9. City
10. Many the miles
11. Love song

Encore:

• In your eyes
• Gravity

I just love gigs! I'm going to see Bryan Adams twice next week... and maybe Maria Taylor tomorrow. I don't know yet, but the show's only 7 € (I got an email from the venue where Conor Oberst was supposed to play last week. He cancelled a day prior to the show, haha, and so the venue offered that people with a ticket to this show could see Maria Taylor's show - 50% off. So I might go tomorrow. We'll see.)

I'm also thinking about going to a Jason Mraz show. Anyone seen him live? My friend Charlotte recommends him, so I might go, haha.

coming back for tour...

i couldn't resist. i'm going back to america for a couple of shows.

10/16/2008	Providence, RI	Lupo's	All	Now!
10/18/2008	Foxborough, MA	Showcase Live	All	Now!
10/19/2008	Foxborough, MA	Showcase Live	All	Now!
10/22/2008	Hartford, CT	Webster Theatre	All	Now!
10/23/2008	Atlantic City, NJ	House of Blues	18+	Now!
10/26/2008	Lancaster, PA	Chameleon Club	All	Now!

and this time, sam's coming with me. i still can't believe i'm going to see them again!!

New album!

And it's worth checking out!

Kyle Riabko (whom I had the fortune to meet and discover while he was on tour with the Sixers, who in turn were the opening act for Hanson on the spring leg of the "The Walk Tour") has just recorded a new album called "The Parkdale Sessions".

It's going to be in stores on September 15th, but until then you can listen to the whole album for free on his website. (Just click on the title above!)

My personal favorites:

Set you free, Left behind, The guilty ones, 30 minutes 30 seconds, Song for Amanda, Sayin' goodbye.

Kyle's new album is one of the best new cds i've listened to in a while. quiet, but somewhat cheerful melodies combined with his voice guarantee relaxation. Perfect for a quiet evening at home while sipping a glass of red wine, either on your couch or in the bath tub.

Go and check it out now!

changed my mind...

i might just use this blog for everything i feel like sharing with the world. who knows when i'll actually get to use it again? since the band decided that it'd be a good idea to have another baby in december (and this might be the reason why there's no european tour) and i'm going to new zealand on february 1st, i have NO idea when i'll see them again. unless they decided to come to australia. *sighs*

whatever. i'm going to delete the other blogs. i haven't been using them anyway.

well, looks like this blog's going to be pretty much dead...

for a long while. With Hanson not coming over this year, me not being able to go to the USA again and going to New Zealand on February 1st. makes me sad. :(

I miss them so bad! What I'd give to fly over there in October and go to a few shows with Sammy... *sighs*

tour's over... until next time!

let's hope that fall will be here soon! ;)

so, i'm at my aunt's place right now...

and i'm really glad i came. so this may sound sappy, but since it's been - almost - 10 years since my dad died (may 27th), i'm just glad i got to talk to her. it's always fun talking to her because she's really smart and you can talk to her about any- and everything, may it be music, culture, diseases, deaths, politics, religion, WHATEVER.

she's the one who knew my dad, really knew him and got to experience a side of him i never knew and talking to her made me realize that most of my assumpti0ns and just things i thought must be true and/or the reason why my dad did some of the things he did are true.

i remember this one time like a month before he died.... i went over to his place and he was like "i'm sorry i haven't been a good dad sometimes"... and he told her that too. he was like "i know there's no excuse, it's no excuse." and she said that he used to be so proud when i was little. he used to carry me around and tell people what "great" things i could do.... you know, the things parents always tell other people no matter if they even wanna hear it... and his family? well... let's just say that this is one fucked up family. i really understand why he was the way he was and it makes me sad that i couldn't help. it makes me sad that he had to be alone, feel alone and just... not worthy. and it makes me sad that he had to die all alone.

no matter how often i've said that i hated him... i never did. it just hurt too much to admit that i cared and wanted him to care about me as well. and maybe i thought that if i told everyone else that i hated him, maybe i'd believe it one day... something like that.

but i really do love him still. and i wish things could have been different.

anyway though, it was fun to see my cousins Tammy and Steven again. Tammy has a 3-year-old daughter and she's just the cutest.thing.ever. She's pregnant again, but not due before December. her husband Julio is mexican. and i like him, haha. he's really nice.
Steven's girlfriend Sara is pregnant too and she's due any minute now. the poor girl can barely walk!

we had a nice barbecue yesterday and i was supposed to just stay for a few hours, lol. but then Tina (my aunt) and i got to talking and before we knew it, it was like 1.30 in the morning. and it was 3.30 when we finally went to bed. haha. ;)

alright. i gotta get up though and get ready to leave. i'm supposed to meet up with sammy. ;)

Hello from San Francisco, CA!

how's it goin'?
i've been here for 2 days now and it's nice. i'd really love to live in a city by the sea, i have to say. both myrtle beach and hampton beach are really nice cities too. i don't really want to go for a swim, but living by the sea must be great. haha.

well, i think IF i could choose where i wanted to live, i'd choose the east coast though. don't ask me why, lol. for a couple of reasons i guess. one of them being this pacific time thingy. 9 hours behind MEZ is really not what i want, lol. so far i haven't been able to get used to it anyway. i went to bed around 11 pm last night, lol. (which's 2 am on the east coast) and of course i wouldn't want to live in a state that has arnold schwarzenegger as a governor. i mean, seriously. haha.

san francisco seems nice, the cable cars are kinda fun. they do have a lot of homeless people here though. more than i've seen anywhere else. unfortunately i won't be able to see the golden gate bridge since it's practically on the other side of SF and i don't have a car. i'm not willing to spend 80 bucks on a 3-hour-sightseeing tour. sorry. ;) i've seen other bridges before. i remember seeing one... wherever... in 1993. it's not that spectacular anway.

so, anyway. i've enjoyed my first strawberries & cream frappuccino ever today. it's pretty good. lol.

just because i'm that cool. ;) :










here's the video of "time of my life". enjoy!
http://www.mediafire.com/?xjj4jlzdhgl

let's focus on the good, funny things, shall we?

durham , NC:

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers w/Hanson (Time of my Life Cover)

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers w/ Isaac Hanson (Start the day early)


my own video (which's better quality) of the time of my life cover will be up soon. hopefully. along with a few others, i hope.

zac and isaac after the myrtle beach show...

here's the video. finally. and i've just realized that i totally ignored zac after he gave me the card back. lol. i replied to this girl saying that it might ruin the surprise, so i didn't even say thank you to zac. lol. aw well...

i still love him very much. next time i'll make sure to thank him. ;)

you'll have to dl the video in order to watch it. sorry. youtube, tinypic and photobucket wouldn't work. :/

http://www.mediafire.com/?dcdxndoznmu

more thoughts about Durham...

the more i think about it, the more unsure i am whether i liked this show or not. i definitely liked the setlist, but... i don't know. all those crazy people kind of ruining the day for everyone else... it's so sad.

taylor even apologized that they weren't able to sign stuff before he hopped on the bus and they disappeared. seriously. he's. TOO. NICE. i love him hardcore. not the creepy kind of love, of course. but i guess i don't have to say that, huh? you know that i'm not OBSESSED. i don't stalk him or his brothers. in fact, i stayed in the back most of the time because i didn't want them to think i'm crazy for going to so many shows. i don't know.

i hear that taylor has a restraining order on this johnny guy. so i wonder if this is the same guy that tried to kiss him in tulsa last year. i just can't believe that someone would do this to taylor. come on. he's NOT GAY! and even if he was, people can't treat him like shit. seriously.

the more i think about it, the more i wish i hadn't gone to this show. the positive and good memories outweigh the negative ones by far, but since this was the last show, i kind of can't shrug it off. finishing the tour with asheville or myrtle beach would have been better. *sighs*

poor guys. seriously. i hope they know that not everyone's creepy like that.

Durham... last stop of this leg of the walk tour '08

alright. the show was okay. but. i don't know. i think there were lots of really crazy people and that's why i didn't enjoy the show as much as i enjoyed most of the others. after some people had been arguing with tim (their tour manager), there were 6 cop cars all of a sudden and of course the guys didn't come out after the show. if this tour hadn't been so great over all, i'd probably be disappointed, but even though this last show wasn't... like THE PERFECT END or something (oh, wow. i did it again. ♫ murder wears a friendly smile like the perfect end in a plastic vial, no pain... ♫ ) i still feel somewhat satisfied. it's kinda sad that taylor didn't sign my birthday card, but zac and isaac will have to do, lol.

after reading a post on h.net, i've learned that those people weren't even fans, just some crazy people outside the venue who made fun of hanson. and then there were those weird gay guys who're completely obsessed with taylor and apparently harassed him on the walk (and also on the walk in asheville/myrtle beach. someone said that those guys were walking next to taylor and all of a sudden one of them tried to hug him and then was like "oh, i forgot you can't touch the barbie..." or some s@!t like that. seriously! WTF??? apparently zac pushed his way through the crowd and walked next to taylor, making sure that those guys didn't get close enough to taylor or something. *shakes head* this is CRAZY!!)
so, that's probably why taylor didn't come out after the show in MB - and why they didn't sign things after the show in durham. it's just sad that people would treat them that way.

not only do they have to deal with death threats (zac confirmed it a while ago in an interview), but with crap like that... i'm surprised they're still willing to bond with their fans, talk to them, sign stuff, take pictures and just being the complete sweethearts they are! :(
seriously, in my opinion, if they're rude to people, they either deserve it or maybe they're shaken up because of people treating them in a non-appropriate way.

it makes me mad that people would disrespect them to such an extent and i do understand completely why they aren't willing to put up with crap like that radio station thing i'd posted about a few days ago. it seems that they really have respect for everyone. wait til i've finally figured out how to upload these videos. isaac's made it very clear that they respect people. and women. something that lots of guys still don't do.

anyway though. the show was okay, even though those squallers really pissed me off. i found a post on h.net and i'm just going to copy and paste it:

basically when the guys got up to do change in my life, taylor did his africa speech first (i assume becuase they knew they weren't gonna do gd a capella), and johnny started yelling out "i love you taylor" and just random stupid stuff like that. at one point zac went to lean into the mic to say something and tay kind of held him back. but there was a very clear change in the tone of taylor's voice, and he actually stopped talking completely for a few seconds every time he yelled. the first time the crowd kind of nervously laughed.. but the second and third times it was just dead silent and uncomfortable. i was actually afraid tay was gonna walk off or something.

so then, when they all finished talking and stepped up to the mic to start change in my life, johnny yelled something again, and zac said "wow. he clearly has no sense of timing or tact."

so they sang the song. and then tay and ike left and zac sat down to do fire on the mountain, and he prefaced it with "it'd be nice if everyone even the guy who keeps yelling could shut up."

i was THRILLED with zac for calling him out.

seriously. i don't even know what to say. i think i have it on video. :/

the setlist:

01. Great Divide!
02. Been There Before
03. Can't Stop
04. Where's The Love
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life
07. Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)
08. MMMBop (acoustic)
09. One More (acoustic)
10. Change In My Life (a cappella)
11. Fire On The Mountain (Zac's solo)
12. Got A Hold On Me
13. Blue Sky
14. If Only
15. A Minute Without You
16. Running Man
17. Oh Darling
18. Penny & Me
19. Watch Over Me
20. Hey
21. Lost Without Each Other
22. Something Going Round

ENCORE:
23. Rock & Roll Razorblade
24. Feelin Alright (w/ Kate Voegele & SK6ers)

that's all. trying to upload the vids now.

just some thoughts at 3.30 in the morning...

surprisingly i'm not that down at the moment. maybe because i'm still in the US, not back in bremen like last time or maybe because there's a lot to look forward to. first of all, this isn't the end. i'm definitely going to see them again before this year's over - god willing, lol. and second of all, there are other things to come.

new zealand for example. when i get back home i want to get a part-time job or two asap and start saving money. i still have money left, but i don't wanna spend it all, ya know? sam wants to move to north carolina and probably move in with her older sister, which means that she'll be able to go on tour next time. well, hopefully. it truly sucked that she couldn't go at all.

so i MIGHT go back to the US for a little while IF there's a winter tour over here. but before that happens, i really expect them to come back to europe. they just have to. not only because *i* want them to, but because you all deserve to see them again. it's been too long since they've been in europe. *nods*

also, when i come back to germany, i'll have to start making plans for NZ. and other plans. i haven't figured it out yet. at the moment it's just some crazy idea, but i'd really like to DO something to help other people, preferably kids in africa. i admire blake what's-his-name who founded TOMS. the idea is amazing and even though i'll never be able to sell that many shoes, haha... maybe i'll be able to make a change somehow. (i don't even wanna sell shoes! lol. i'm not interested in shoes at all. i like wearing them, because honestly, not having shoes is a bad and sad thing. i didn't even realize that something simple like a pair of shoes is LUXURY. but it is. by deciding to take my shoes off and walk 10 miles barefoot (it was so cold in wisconsin back in april, so i didn't take them off for the first two walks because i was afraid i might get sick and i was physically unable to walk barefoot in burlington. you've seen the pictures, right?) i took action i guess. and not only that... if *i'm* hurting after walking 1.6 kilometers barefoot, how must a little kid feel after walking TEN kilometers?

i knew about the issues with AIDS and poverty in africa before, but i never really thought about how bad it really is! and i always pictured myself as the average european, but maybe i'm not. i've never even been in the position of not having money let alone lacking basic things like clothes and food. there's always been someone there helping me out... although i can't recall a single time when i actually had to ask someone to give me money so i could buy food or something. okay, we aren't rich, but we're not poor either and it's awful that so many people can't help theirselves and have no-one that would do it for them. what's it like to be a kid that's never been given anything new in their life? what it's like to take care of your younger siblings because your parents have died from AIDS even though you're still a kid yourself? what it's like to want to go to school so badly that you're willing to walk twenty kilometers a day - barefoot? and then sit in a room with no chairs and tables, a notebook that you might have to share with someone else in your hand, and a pencil that's been broken in two pieces because there aren't enough pencils for everyone?

this is just ridiculous. yes, i've hated school with a passion ever since 6th grade. i didn't want to go. not because i didn't want to learn, but because of other problems and issues that i don't want to go into right now.

but these kids WANT to learn and yet lots of them are being denied a proper education which's necessary in order for them to start helping theirselves.

it must be both devastating and inspiring to see what those kids go through every single day of their lives. i've talked to this girl, katie, who's been to africa for 6 months... and the people over there are so different from european/american/australian people. they don't feel sorry for theirselves. they simply don't have the time to sit there, whining and dwelling on depressive thoughts because they have to work to feed their families. it breaks my heart to know that millions of children lack basic needs and have to die at such a young age due to poverty, hunger, diseases. and especially because of AIDS. i didn't even know that it's possible to prevent the mother-child-transmission. i think taylor said that it's 17 cents a day. 17 cents for medication that can make sure that the child's born without the disease. approximately 15 dollars for the life of a kid. 15 dollars to allow this baby to be born healthy and possibly grow up and live longer than the expected 3 years of a baby with the disease.

i hope you guys don't mind me talking about this. i just can't get it out of my head and need to get it off my chest in order to kind of clear my thoughts.

i might not be able to post the videos that i promised earlier... for some reason i haven't been able to upload them... it sucks. anyway though... they'll start boarding soon, so i have to go, but hopefully i'll be able to post more later - and finally tell you about the last show, the last walk and the walk in myrtle beach.

have a great day!

<3

p.s. i SHOULD have bought all of the merch you wanted me to buy... but i'll have to check when i'm back in baltimore since i left half of the stuff at sam's place. ;)

tour's officially over!

i'm sad. :'(








more coming soon! (pix, videos, audios, posts)

Happy (belated) Hanson Day!

so i hope you guys had a great day. for you fanclub members: check out the futy section. taylor's giving everyone hugs. lmao. ;)

speaking of hugs... i've heard this really funny story about a girl talking to zac the other day. i think she said something like that it must be creepy to give strangers hugs and he was like "yeah, totally freaks me out." and pulled her into a bear hug. lol. i <3 him.

i'm so sad that this is going to be the last show tonight, but at the same time i'm excited for reasons i might share with you guys soon. lol.

have a great day!

p.s. is it as hot in germany as it is over here? i'm MELTING!

Myrtle Beach, SC - May 6th

alright. in my opinion, asheville was even better than myrtle beach even though the show last night was great and isaac and zac came out to sign things.

the setlist is posted in last night's post - and yeah, naddl, it's indeed money (that's what i want). guess that was one of the special 11-year-anniversary things.

the venue was pretty cool and before hanson came on stage around 10.30, stephen kellogg invited isaac to come join them and HE BROUGHT SHOTS! lmao. now that was funny. and then they did the 'drinking song' together. (can't recall the title of the song atm.)

lol. i wonder if he'll invite zac on stage tonight. ha. i dunno, we'll see.

seeing that i've posted about people complaining about "zac's attitudes", after seeing him last night after the show - i really don't know why he'd be mean to someone unless they deserve it. they all must be FREAKING EXHAUSTED - i know I AM! and still, they come out and sign stuff, talk to people and even take some pictures. zac's never been rude when i was around. true, this was only my second time hanging out at the bus after a show... i don't STALK them, but maybe that's why i've never seen him being rude to someone.

the thing is.. they don't HAVE TO. but they do it nevertheless and that's pretty awesome.

note: the pictures of after the show are now uploaded. click on the title to view them. i'll upload the pictures of yesterday's walk later.

i know that i still have to upload some videos and whatever i've promised to upload or write down or whatever, haha. but i just haven't had the time.

the video from last night is now uplaoding. and i hope it'll be finished soon because i have to check out.
post and pictures of yesterday's walk are coming... soon. ;)

and apparently i can't upload the vid right now. ugh. oh well... so THAT'S coming soon, too. stay tuned.

so... Zac signed my birthday card... twice.

LMAO.
god, i love him. he took the card and signed on the front and then was like "oh, you wanted me to sign the inside." *snorts* geez. ;)

he was really cute though. signed the card again and took the time to write "have a great birthday" AND SPELL IT CORRECTLY! lol.

and he totally danced a little to the song (sweet home alabama! lol.) and totally made ike stop doing whatever he was doing and listen to the song. HAHAHAHA. nice. and someone even started singing along, it was great. i thought it might be weird, but it wasn't. haha.

taylor didn't come out after the show, but that's alright. maybe he will tomorrow. and if not... at least i have a funny story to tell. ;)

zac apologized again when he handed me the card back.

you can listen to the video. lol. you can't really see much.





hopefully i'll be able to upload the vid and the pictures tomorrow. i'll let you know.

the show was great. a lot shorter than yesterday's show, but the setlist was great anyway.

1. Great Divide
2. Where’s the Love
3. Runaway Run
4. Been There Before
5. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
6. Money (acoustic)
7. Georgia (acoustic)
8. I Will Come to You (acoustic)
9. Yearbook (half acoustic/half electric)
10. Blue Sky
11. Minute Without You
12. Can’t Stop
13. If Only
14. Running Man
15. Watch Over Me
16. Hey
17. MMMBop (electric)
    
18. Lost Without Each Other
19. Something Going Round
20. Encore: Magic Carpet Ride
21. Great Divide (a cappella)

k, i should go to bed. it's 3 in the morning and i'll have to get up early.

Asheville, NC - May 5th

alright. i'll have to type a post about last night's show real quick. i don't want to forget half of the things that happened, dammit.

i was done with telling you guys about lancaster, right? i hope so.

so, asheville. was pretty sweet. the walk was pretty cool. somewhat calm (maybe because i was at the end of the "line" the whole time?!) and it was actually really nice. for once i didn't have to run to catch up with taylor, lol.

after half a mile they stopped and taylor started talking (i'll upload the video later on. i don't have time at the moment since i have to head back to the venue!) and if you've read my post, you already know how touched i was. am. whatever.

i walked behind and then in front of isaac all the way back to the venue and just listened to him talk. 'twas nice.

after the walk was over, i went back to the hotel and then got some food and parked my car next to a super 8 motel to go online, lol.

time's been flying lately, seriously. i don't even have time to write proper posts.

soon it was time to head to the venue. i got there around 8.30 i think and was just in time to see the sixers performing. well, actually, they were in the middle of their set, but i was in time to hear stephen kellogg announce a "special guest", namely taylor hanson. lol. apparently, they wrote this song together - and so taylor came on stage before hanson's performance. anyone ever heard that that's happened before? if it has, it rarely ever does, huh? well, i'm guessing it's a fools banquet thing. even though i'm probably not supposed to know that. shame on me. ;)

so, taylor came out and played piano. *nods*

i have an audio of the song, but i can't upload it right now. sorry.

taylor disappeared and the sixers started playing another song... this french kissing song. and... listen good, ladies, lol. stephen dedicated the song to taylor. LMAO. i thought i might just die of laughter. well, explanation: taylor's music was probably on while stephen's first french kiss happened. ahahaha. very nice. ;)

i have to say, the venue was really cool, too. the staff was friendly, the room was air-conditioned (well, at least they had a huge fan!) and it was just really cool. there was plenty of space in the back and i could still see them, so it was great!

okay, so... the setlist...

at first, there weren't any surprises...

01. Great Divide
02. Been There Before
03. Can't Stop

but THEN.... it happened. i couldn't BELIEVE it!!!

04. Runaway Run
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life

the acoustic set:

07. Georgia (acoustic)
08. Go (acoustic)
09. MMMBop (acoustic)
10. Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)

and then it happened again:

11. Never Let Go (Taylor solo)
12. With You In Your Dreams

before taylor actually played NLG, he rambled on and on, lol. but it was SO cute. he told us about the kids in africa and the look on their faces when they put those brandnew shoes on their tiny feet... and then he mentioned his own kids and that he sings them to sleep with NLG? how cute is THAT? the whole audience was like AAAWWWWWW. ;)

13. Got A Hold On Me
14. Blue Sky
15. If Only w/Let's Get It On
16. Running Man

and... OMHFG! seriously, they played that!

17. Magic Carpet Ride

it was AWESOME!

18. This Time Around
19. Watch Over Me
20. Hey
21. Lost Without Each Other
22. Something Going Round

yes. 22 songs... and the encore's yet to come.

ENCORE:
23. Coming Back For More (w/ Stephen Kellogg)
24. It's A Long Way To The Top (w/ Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers)

25. Great Divide chorus (a cappella)

WHAT. A. SHOW!!!

so, apparently, this coming back for more song is going to be on the new membership kit. i had no idea. lol. um.. ;)
but it's quite catchy. i really like it.

i should have some audios up for you soon. ;)

oh, and also. did you know that ike's retarded? lol. what would we do without zac telling us the truth and basic facts? ;)
lol. it was funny though, because right after before they started playing mmmbop, ike was like "yeah, it's a few days" (referring to the 11-year-anniversary) and zac turned around and said "it's a few HOURS." haha. and i could have sworn that he was giving him that "duh!" look even though i'm not really sure if i've just imagined it. haha.

it was just too funny.

yeah, so... i have no idea how they could possibly make this show tonight even better? lol. we'll see. last night was amazing! that's for sure.

and now i have to go back to the venue. i'll keep you updated. (stay tuned for my post about the walk through alligator adventure land"... or something like that. lol. :p

<3

Lancaster, part 2 and why i love this band so much!

first of all, make sure you click on the title to view the video of taylor's speech in ALLENTOWN. (in case i hadn't posted it yet, i can't remember and i don't really feel like checking either. i still have to post about lancaster and today's walk and i feel like i don't have enough time to say everything that i want to say, but at the same time i kinda have to and do it fast because otherwise i'll forget everything just like i did last year. if... no... WHEN they come to europe, we'll have to post everything. definitely.)

second of all, you'll find pictures in my photobucket (you'll find the link in the 'part 1' post. just click on the title.

the lancaster and asheville videos will be up soon. hopefully.

anyway though. back to lancaster.

the show was amazing despite the strange venue. i don't know if you got the picture yet, but i didn't SEE them. not until the encore anyway. the venue had like 3 floors and was so tiny that only people in front row could actually see. same goes for the people on the other floors. i ended up on the third floor, second row at first. i could see kate voegele performing through the plexiglass, but after her set was over, people started to move closer together and i couldn't see anymore, so i went to the back and sat down on the floor. why stand all night if you can't see anyway, haha.

the sixers were good, but after seeing them quite a few times it's not that much fun anymore. especially because kyle's not there anymore. geez, he's a cutie, lol.

well and i don't remember if it was while the sixers were still performing or after that that this girl showed up, asking me if i was having fun down there on the floor, haha.

i had a blast, i have to say. moire was really fun and told me this story about zac accusing her of being "a cheater and liar". ò.Ó
turned out he thought that she'd downloaded "you're enough" illegally because she asked him to play it, but she'd heard it in hampton beach. it took her like 5 minutes to convince him and in the end he apologized and gave her a hug. lol. but still... lol. she was like "i'm here to meet my favorite band and you're INSULTING me?" lol. OMG. that must have been priceless.

zac seems to be a bit bitchy at times (and he doesn't like piracy, but we knew that already, lol.) - there is a thread on h.net about it, but i really think that people should just stop complaining. well... of course everyone's allowed to say what they want to say, but seriously. i don't think zac's a rude person in general. he might be stressed out. it's tour time, his wife's pregnant and i bet he has to deal with a lot of people he'd much rather avoid, but he's still out there, cracking jokes, signing stuff, taking pictures. he's a sweetheart. that's what *i* think.

on a side note, did you guys hear about this radio station drama? apparently hanson was supposed to show up and this radio station DJ's were total jackasses and tried to take advantage of their jobs and make girls do humiliating stuff in order to meet hanson? something about kissing the DJ's feet and they even suggested that this one girl like... make out with her DAD? yikes. the guys called the radio station and asked them if that stuff was true and at first they tried to lie to them and say that they weren't doing any of this, but the guys got the picture and asked them to do what they wanted these girls to do. of course they didn't and hanson canceled the appearance.

from h.net:

A few days we found out about the fact that a radio station in Philadelphia that was asking our fans to do crazy and perverse things to win a chance to see us in the radio studio.
We called the station asking if it was true, and after they tried to lie to us and tell us they were not doing anything like that we pushed a little harder and found out the truth. Our stance was simple. “We will not come into the studio unless the radio DJ did everything they asked fans to do” and they were not willing to man up and do it.

I know all three of us felt very frustrated about how much disrespect they were giving our fans, women, and us by asking our fans to humiliate themselves to meet us, and to be clear radio guys are the scum of the music business and at best deserve to be kissing the feet of our fans.

anyone still wondering why they have so many devoted fans? i haven't heard of another band that's willing to cancel appearances that would probably bring them some publicity (apparently this radio station guy is friends with Howard Stern! but while they seemed okay to be asked questions about their sex lives and stuff like that, they obviously aren't okay with people disrespecting their fans.) and stand up for their fans. it's a disgusting thing to do and i don't think that people should take advantage of their job. this girl posted on h.net, saying that one of the security guards of the falls church venue got fired because she told a friend who knows the owner or something that he let his girlfriend and her friend up front after the opening acts which's not fair since lots of people had been there all day. people have to realize that they can't come waltzing in just because they "know" someone, ya know? also, he kept screaming at her and giving her a hard time, so i think he kind of got what he deserved. what goes around, comes around...
of course it's bad that he's lost his job, but he shouldn't have taken advantage of his position in the first place.

anyway though, i think i love these guys even more for doing this. personally, i do respect them and i think most of their fans do. there are always these people who don't get it and just want pictures and everything. even on the walks. i understand that most of them can't go to more than one show, but still. they're so passionate about this and that's why i'm starting to really admire taylor for his speeches. watching the TTW episodes might get tiring but believe me... it's different when you're there. you can practically feel the passion radiating off of him and that's truly amazing.

taylor never gets tired of pointing out that it's US who can change the world. it's not about one person changing everything, it's about every single one of us doing and giving little things. it's about realizing what it's like to lack the simplest things. like shoes. we have a choice. every time the walk starts i DECIDE to take off my shoes. those little kids don't have a choice. lots of them are born with the disease, many don't get older than 3 years and i can understand that taylor looks at his own daughter (all of his kids, actually) and is like WTF? what if it was her?

it's not about guilt. in fact, it's not about quitting your job and give everything you have. the smart thing to do is get a better job. try to make impacts and changes... not sometime, but NOW.
it's crazy that i'm sitting in my car, typing this post on my laptop while sipping a strawberry milkshake. i've spent thousands of dollars for this trip and i don't regret it. i might have realized a lot more things than i ever though i would. i'm still not HAPPY. it's going to be a long way to actually be happy and maybe i'll always be a generally sad person. i don't know what i've possibly done or why i can't shrug it off and BE happy. it's hard. my life's been a mess for the most part and many people don't even know it. or me. but it's alright. this is not about me or making anyone feel for me. i'm sure every single one of you has to deal with life, failures, sadness, losses. obstacles thrown your way are supposed to make you stronger and while i'm still scared shitless, while i still want to be a little child, i've realized that god doesn't hate me. i don't know how i'm going to do this, but i'll pull through. i might be sad, deperate at times, but i still love life. i don't want to die and i love seeing happy people.

i'm scared. i want to hide in my room (which's not even my room) and never come out again, but i'm going to.

i'm going to new zealand in a couple of months and i really wanna think about doing something to HELP. i met a few members of the SC street team and they were collecting money to donate it to HIVSA. 'twas a good thing that this girl, linsey i think, got the chance to speak up while the guys were still there. zac gave them twenty dollars and both isaac and taylor seemed to like the idea. and after that LOTS of people wanted to donate. lol.

they'd raised 600 dollars so far. i'm curious how much it'll be after tomorrow. hopefully a lot.

honestly, i don't know where i'd be right now if these guys hadn't given me enough strength and the will to carry on those past 2 years. if i hadn't randomly looked up hanson on google... i don't even want to know where i'd be right now.

i'm so incredibly thankful for that and maybe, one day, i'll tell them.

alright. this post was supposed to be about lancaster and i haven't talked much about that so far.

as for the setlist, it's coming right up. just let me copy and paste.

1) Great Divide

2) Been There Before

3) Minute Without You

4) Can't Stop

5) Crazy Beautiful

6) Hole In My Life

ACOUSTIC

7) Strong Enough To Break

8) Go

9) MmmBop

10) One More

11) The Walk (Zac solo)

Electric:

12) Got A Hold On Me

13) Blue Sky

14) If Only w/ Let's Get It On

15) Running Man

16) Let Love Rule

17) Penny and Me

18) Hey

19) Something Going 'Round

ENCORE:

20) In A Little While

21) Rock N Roll Razorblade

22) Great Divide chorus (a capella)

yeah, you already know that i pretty much freaked out when they started playing in a little while. GOD, FINALLY. i don't know if you can hear that on the audio, but this girl in front of me asked if that was "my song" and i told her that i wanted to hear it SO BAD. lol. yeah, so she let me go to the front and i was just the happiest girl, haha. so... i could actually SEE taylor and zac performing. it was great!

i had fun talking to moire and thanks to her i had a really, really great show.

i wonder if they'll come out after the show today... mh. i've pretty much given up on getting my iPod signed. i don't wanna be greedy. but being able to hand ronny a signed birthday card... that'd be amazing.

oh well... we'll see how i feel after the show. they might not come out because they have a show tomorrow and it's like 300 miles away. maybe i should try my luck tomorrow... hanson day... blah. maybe they'll come out then. even though they have another show the day after tomorrow.
we'll see. it's 7 o'clock now and i think doors will open now, but i already have my ticket and might just show up around 9 or 9.30.

i'm looking forward to going to shows with you guys. anyone willing to do the camping out thing at least once? i've never done it before and i'd love to do it. lol.

k, guys. i'll keep you updated!

Lancaster, PA audios

for sam.

One more
The walk
Got a hold on me
Running man/Let love rule
Penny & me (electric)
Hey/Something going round

alright. Ladies and Gentlemen, the post about Lancaster, PA (part 1)

so, i was too tired last night to post. i still am, lol. but i'll have to drive down to asheville, NC in about 2 hours and thought i'd keep you updated before i go. i'm uploading pictures and videos right now.

so i got here around 1.30 in the afternoon and signed on h.net to check if the walk was supposed to start at 3, which means that it'll start around 3.15 to 3.30. i think they came out around 3.25. lol.

so i headed to the venue, parked my car in the parking garage right across the street and waited in the car til 2.50 or something.
the walk was pretty cool. there were a lot of people and taylor was amazed at how people just kept walking towards him (when he stood up on a hill half-way through the walk and then again at the end as he waited for everyone to finish this mile) in a seemingly neverending stream. or whatever. lol. i thought it was cute.

i also wanted to applaude him for saying that this is "the walk", not "the hunt", "the chase" or whatever, lol. you know, everyone always wants to walk near them even if they have to walk on and block streets. so the guys (well tay and ike) and the staff were always like "please stay on the sidewalk. ON THE SIDEWALK." lol. seriously. a bunch of kindergarten kids would be easier to handle than a bunch of crazy hanson fans.

i found it sad and annoying when those girls walking next to me for a while (without taking their shoes off) were like "do we really have to walk a mile? i'm not going to do this if i don't even see their faces!"
um... this is NOT what this is about? i'm perfectly fine with walking by myself, without getting pushed and ran over. i can see them when they stop and taylor starts talking. usually for a full 10 minutes. lol.

anyway though, apart from this little incident, i had fun.

i'd planned on going back to the motel after the walk but in the end decided to just stay and wait in the car. i finally finished reading my "streiflichter aus amerika" book.

oh and i didn't get my hand stamped because i didn't want to wait in line for hours on end. big mistake. then again, if i HAD gotten it stamped and HAD gone in before everyone else who didn't take the walk i wouldn't have met moire and that was definitely fun! the venue was... weird. lol. i'll show you some pictures; unfortunately my cell phone camera sucks, but i hope you'll know what i mean by "weird", haha.


that's the stage. (yes, the WHOLE stage!)




that's kate voegele. through plexiglass.





and here's hanson. lol. well, taylor and zac. i couldn't see isaac. but i'm lucky i got to SEE them at all.





i know those pictures are crap, but anyway. lol.











after the encore: taylor talking (and god, is it a bad thing that i think that taylor saying 'fuck' is... like HOT? lol.) and GD a capella.



(more to come!)

Taking the Walk Episode 32

... i REALLY have to go to bed... but i just had to say that TTW episode 32 is up... and you can actually see me like twice for like 0.07834578435 seconds. lol. ;)



g'night y'all.

I. LOVE. THEM.

the end.

(i'll post more later on!)

(the one screaming right after isaac told the crowd that this song's on L&E - after they played the first notes - would have been me. lol. i didn't dare doing it earlier because i was afraid it might not be what i wanted to hear! ;) the two girls that let me go to the front for the encore: thanks again. lol. i highly appreciated it! :DDDDD )

into the dungeon... (Allentown, May 2nd)

remember this FUTY? yeah, so i was there... and it really feels like a dungeon, too. it's a non-air conditioned venue with mostly impolite and unfriendly staff. at least the security guys weren't friendly. whatever. the guy working at this diner place said my nails were pretty (why, thank you.) and the guy checking ID's called me a sweetheart for being patient and letting him ID 3 women, who apparently had younger kids in there (there were two different entrances. one for under 21 and one for over 21.) first even though they technically weren't in line. and he must know some german or something because when he looked at my passport he pronounced "deutsch" correctly. ;) with an american accent, sure, but it sounded like "deutsch". haha.

so, here's the setlist:

01. Great Divide
02. Been There Before
03. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
04. Can't Stop
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life
07. Penny & Me (acoustic)
08. Ain't No Sunshine (acoustic)
09. MMMBop (acoustic)
10. A Song To Sing (acoustic)
11. You're Enough (Zac's solo)
12. With You In Your Dreams
13. Watch Over Me
14. Blue Sky
15. If Only/Let's Get It On/If Only
16. Running Man
17. Oh Darling
18. Hey
19. Lost Without Each Other
20. Something Going Round

ENCORE:
21. This Time Around
22. The Ugly Truth
23. Great Divide chorus (a cappella)

With you in your dreams definitely was a surprise but it's just not a good song to play live. the song always makes me sad and i was sad already. around me were tons of girls with their friends, having a good time and this kind of annoying but cute people singing to each other and staring at each other mostly and it just... well, this is the first time i really felt ALONE. and it's just not good.

when i came back to my hotel after the concert, OF COURSE i had to get stuck in an elevator with a group of wedding guests, all of them looking pretty in their suits and dresses. i was sweaty and the mascara was mostly under my eyes instead of on my lashes. great. i love that. :/ oh, and it was only for like 15 seconds, haha. the elevator's working fine (*knocks on wood*), but those were 15 seconds i would have preferred to spend alone.

i almost lost my iPod, too. i was looking for it before the show started and must've dropped it, but i thought that maybe i forgot it in my hotel room or the car, so i didn't look for it on the floor. this girl was nice enough to come up to me and ask me if it was mine when she found it.

so, despite me really wanting the guys to sign ronny's birthday card and my iPod, i just wasn't in the mood to stay after the show.

the walk was fine. there were lots of people. apparently about 250? but it was alright, because i could actually SEE them when taylor was talking. last night i could hardly see them on stage because the venue sucks and i was all the way in the back. oh well. apparently it was horrible in the front. someone said that lots of people actually passed out because it was so HOT!

the hotel i'm staying at is the crowne plaza/holiday inn. the sign on my door says that they usually take 300 $ per night for this room, haha. that's why it's such a nice room i guess. and the bed's just... amazing! i've only paid 96 $, so don't worry. ;)

well... pictures and videos are uploaded. feel free to check them out:

Video 1
Video 2
Pictures

Falls Church - May 1st

IT'S MAY!!! OMG!!

anyway though. since i didn't attend the walk today, my post will probably be rather short.

here's the setlist:

1.) Great Divide
2.) Been There Before
3.) Can't Stop
4.) Where's The Love
5.) Crazy Beautiful
6.) Hole In My Life
7.) Penny & Me (acoustic)
8.) Go (acoustic)
9.) MmmBop (acoustic)
10.) Change In My Life (a capella)
11.) Everyday (Isaac's solo)
12.) Got A Hold On Me
13.) Blue Sky
14.) If Only / Let's Get It On / If Only
15.) Running Man
16.) Let Love Rule
17.) Hey
18.) This Time Around
19.) Watch Over Me
20.) Lost Without Each Other
21.) Something Going Round

Encore:
22.) Never Been To Spain
23.) Rock'n'Roll Razorblade
24.) Great Divide (a capella)

amazing show! they did this thing they do on UAL during TTA. 'twas fun! :D you know, one side sings "and we won't go down" and the other sings "you can't say..."

i talked to this guy that was there because of the Sixers, but he liked hanson. did the walk this afternoon and seemed to really enjoy their music. i like that. there are way too many girls! lol.

i would've stayed after the show because i really want them to sign my iPod and maybe Ronny's birthday card... but this neighborhood here is REALLY creepy! after i'd walked a block or so, there was NO-ONE on this street but me and i have to admit that i found that really scary. i'm glad i got back to the hotel okay. (every autopsy-episode i've ever watched was kind of spinning in my head, haha.) well, there are 5 more shows, so maybe i'll get a chance...

alright. i really hope that i'll feel good enough to do the walk tomorrow. one of my stupid teeth has been bothering me again and i'm living off painkillers right now (i'm pretty sure i mentioned that in the last post!) i literally felt sick to my stomach earlier. sometimes i really just wanna get them pulled. there's nothing that's worse than a toothache! NOTHING! not even broken bones hurt that badly!

alright. stay tuned for my post about allentown. :)

Rock'n'Roll Razorwalks, pretty shirts, hotel rooms, posers, jealousy and having fun at the mall

alright, so i've been really busy lately and it's going to be even worse for the next 7 days. 6 shows in 7 days. and after those 6 shows... it's OVER. ugh. i don't even wanna think about it. they better come to europe soon. before i go to new zealand. dammit.

anyway though. hampton beach.

i read a comment on the hanson livejournal community the day before the show. someone asked for a ride to HB and so i offered this girl a ride. i picked her up around 11.30 and we were off to hampton beach. katie's really nice and we definitely had a really good time. she just came back from africa where she'd spent 6 months, mostly working in an (AIDS) orphanage.

we got there around 1.30, the walk was supposed to start at 3, so we stayed at the back of the venue in the parking lot. usually the walk's start there. well, not this time. and speaking of time: not at 3. we almost missed the walk because (apparently) the venue "forced" the guys to do the walk early, so it started around 2.15.
luckily we decided to check why everyone was leaving and therefore didn't miss walking with hanson on the beach. but it was HARD! seriously. taylor was RUNNING just like he always does and we had a hard time keeping up. it's funny how this walk was a walk for hanson, but exercise for the rest of us, haha.

luckily, we only walked on the beach for the first half mile, then continued walking on the sidewalk. despite my blisters and the fact that one of my feet has been bothering me for weeks, i was SO glad that i could finally walk on concrete, lol.

isaac once again emphasized how appropriate it is that there are so many girls attending the walks because there are so many young women with the disease in africa.

after the walk was over katie and i went back to the car, which was parked like a few feet away from the tourbus, lol. and we saw zac come out of the venue and talk to someone on the phone (probably kate, lol.) FOREVER! we left after a while (there were a lot of people hanging around, waiting for him to... do whatever, lol. but we didn't want to bother him.) and got some food and went on the beach again. it was incredibly cold, but it was so cool.

when we came back to the car, zac was STILL on the phone and we left again, this time going to a restaurant nearby. that's where we met up with danielle, a friend of katie's.

around 6.30 we went into the venue - and missed zac fooling around with a gun in the parking lot, haha. oh well.

kate voegele didn't open for them in HP, so it was just the sixers. i have to say that i miss kyle. he was so much fun. this new guy... i don't know, he's kinda weird.

the show itself was pretty cool since they played one more and you're enough (which zac dedicated to a girl that's going to get married soon. apparently she asked him to play "oh darling!" when she met them before the show, but he said he wasn't sure... so he dedicated the song to her. pretty cool. at first i thought he'd said something about this weird girl carrying a 'marry me, zac' sign, but i probably just thought i heard him say something like that. whatever. there's a video on youtube. it's pretty good quality too, so you should go and check it out.) and that alone was worth everything. even the 700 km drive down to maryland right after the show.

before they played mmmbop, isaac told us this little story about them meeting a japanese interviewer in 97 and then again last year or something and she was like 'when i asked you what you were going to do in 10 years, you said 'music' and i didn't believe you.' and zac's comment was something that REALLY sounded like 'in yo' face, bitch!' lol. what's wrong with them? lol. zac saying 'she can go and f*** herself!' while talking about some stupid crazy bitch of a so-called fan and taylor yelling 'you can suck it!' when some people walked past the guys and the fans after a show, making fun of them and mmmbop. AHAHAHA. i love them! go guys!

the drive down to MD was crazy. i was incredibly tired and had to stop two times and sleep for an hour or so, but i got here okay around 12.45 pm. the hotel is... can i just say disgusting? i spent the first night on a blanket on my stripped bed with only my winnie the pooh blanket to cover myself because the bed sheets definitely weren't fresh. there were chips and hairs in my bed and it was just totally gross!

on a sidenote, i'm sorry that it's taken me so long to write this post. i've been incredibly busy and i'm not feeling well at the moment. i'm probably suffering from an overdose of painkillers which makes me tired, but i can't help it. toothaches suck. big time.

so, it's thursday already, but i'll try to finish this post today.

i finally met sammy and her family and they've all been really sweet. everyone gave me hugs over and over again and made sure that i felt comfortable. that's pretty cool.
sam and i went to the mall on monday and had tons of fun at build a bear (i have my own tay bear now, lol.) and - generally speaking - spending money. i've bought a few gifts and we had fun walking about this and that, but mostly about the guys. it was great, lol.

back home, i got to read "jordan"'s posts on livejournal. see, this jordan claims to be taylor and the worst thing is: everyone believes it. not sam, but everyone else on his friends list. so, apparently taylor and zac have been together for 8 years or something (right!), river's not taylor's son, but zac's (uh-huh!) and he's going to write a book about his life. the whole truth about anorexia and drug addiction. (yep!) oh, and they're not going to tell river that he's not taylor's son, so that's why he posts it on LJ. *nods*
there's more, but it's just so ridiculous that i could cry and laugh at the same time. how can ANYONE believe that TAYLOR (of all people!!) would spend his time on LJ reading fanfic (for sure! *rolls eyes*) and posting crap, confirming every rumor? and the posts don't even SOUND like something taylor would write, but yet everyone claims that it totally does sound like taylor. maybe i'm just too stupid or naive, but it totally doesn't. and it doesn't make sense either. *smacks head against wall*

and i SWEAR that most of the things he's written so far are stolen from this story... "plaything". *shakes head* the nerve of some people... AHAHAHAHAHA!

by the way, have you seen the sayreville setlist? :/

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. Can't Stop
4. Minute Without You
5. Crazy Beautiful
6. Hole in My Life

Acoustic
7. Strong Enough to Break
8. Go
9. MMMBop
10. Change in my Life

11. Got a Hold on Me
12. Blue Sky
13. If Only
14. Running Man
15. Where's the Love
16. Let's Get it On
17. In a Little While
18. Your Illusion
19. Watch Over Me
20. Hey
21. Something Going Round

Encore
22. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
23. Lost Without Each Other
24. GD acoustic (I think she means acapella)

JEALOUS!!!! SO JEALOUS!!! oh well... whatever. i'll live.

i'll probably skip the walk today since i'm not feeling well... i really hope that it'll be better tomorrow! :(

as for the fanclub member exclusive shirts, i finally got them in the mail this week. well, sammy did, haha. and they're so cool, especially the lavender 'leave the light on' one. it's SOOOO pretty. i'm going to post pictures (not only of the shirts) soon. right now i just want to finish this post and lie back down. i have to be okay for the show tonight. i wish i already had my ticket, then i could just skip the opening acts and go to the venue around 9 or whatever. oh well...

okay, so i guess that's it for now. hope y'all are doing well.

<3

a walk with hanson on the beach...

i won't have time to write a real post, but i've uploaded my pictures. i really, really like these pictures! walking with the guys on the beach is definitely something most people have never done before. ;)

before i go, the setlist:

1.) Great Divide

2.) Can't Stop

3.) Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

4.) A Minute Without You

5.) Been There Before

6.) Crazy Beautiful

7.) Hole In My Life

8.) Penny & Me (acoustic)

9.) MMMBop (acoustic)

10.) One more (acoustic)

11.) You're Enough (acoustic)

12.) Got A Hold On Me

13.) Blue Sky

14.) If Only

15.) Running Man

16.) Let Love Rule

17.) Watch Over Me

18.) Your Illusion

19.) Hey

20.) Rock'n'Roll Razorblade

21.) Something Going Round

Encore:

22.) The Ugly Truth

23.) Great Divide (a capella)

one more? you're enough? dammit... these boys are just... too much. haha. it's so awesome!

alright. i'll talk to you guys soon!

<3

Sam!

before i post about the show in hampton beach, i'm going to make a post about sam, haha. so, she and i FINALLY met yesterday and i'm so glad about that. everyone (she, her sister tiff, her mom and her dad) has been so sweet and it totally makes up for this jerkface working for immigration office not welcoming me, lol. you know, the guy who preferred to eat pistachios?

anyway though, we watched tv and talked for hours, so when i finally went back to my hotel (to find out that those bed sheets weren't fresh, there were chips and hairs in my bed! eeeeew. i stripped off the bedding and used my winnie the pooh blanket, lol. i really hope that i'll actually have fresh sheets tonight!) it didn't feel like i'd just spent 7 hours or something with them.

oh and i've finally seen this karaoke finals thingy with hanson as judges? know what i'm talking about? this weird show where talentless people SING? (my EARS! lol.) on the beach? yeah...

anyway though, if it didn't sound kind of lame i'd tell the guys how thankful i am for meeting so many great people just because this band is out there. sam's been a huge part of my life for 10 months now and... well, i'm just going to keep her, lol.

tiffy's really sweet, too. haha, she kept hugging me (everyone did at least two times. i don't think i've ever been hugged that often on just one day before! lol.) and i think she really liked my presents... so did sam. and talking about sam's gifts: this girl is CRAZY! you don't even want to want how many things she got me... tons of candles and lip balm and delicious shower gel (well, i didn't TASTE it, lol. but it smells SO good!) and - what's it called? you know, these boxes that play a tune when you open them? well, taylor's on the cover! oh my god, haha... but i guess the craziest thing she did is that she got me a guitar! a real guitar! i'm going to take pictures of all my stuff and post them on here.
i feel bad that i couldn't bring everything i wanted to bring. oh well.

anyway, i have to get ready to head over to her house... i'm gonna post about the show after i've taken a shower.

and sam? ily! <3333333333333

The Walk & Concert in Northampton, MA

okay, so... the walk was CRAZY! taylor led us up hill and down dale through northampton and he himself said that it's never been like this before, haha. the group was so split up, it was crazy.

i decided to walk barefoot, despite the blisters on my feet. so i just bandaged them and took off my shoes. well, i didn't get any blisters this time around, i just to pull out a fir needle out of my foot afterwards. ouch.

the walk itself wasn't spectacular. i was busy trying to catch up with everyone else. well, one thing is worth mentioning. you know that those megaphones have this button to MAKE NOISE? lol. sounds like a police car... and it FREAKS.ME.OUT. lol.

anyway though, zac and isaac were already on their way, but taylor was waiting for everyone to catch up. i love him. lol. if only he didn't have to use that stupid button, haha. it was funny though.

that's it basically.

the show was great. REALLY great.

setlist:

1.) Great Divide

2.) Been There Before

3.) A Minute Without You

4.) Can't Stop

5.) Georgia

6.) Crazy Beautiful

7.) Hole In My Life

8.) Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)

9.) Go (acoustic)

10.) MmmBop (acoustic)

11.) Everyday (acoustic)

12.) Your Illusion

13.) Blue Sky

14.) If Only

15.) Running Man

16.) Oh Darling!

17.) Got A Hold On Me

18.) Watch Over Me

19.) Hey

20.) Lost Without Each Other

21.) Something Going Round

Encore:

22.) Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) w/ Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
23.) Great Divide (a capella)

your illusion!!!! and a long way to the top.... and everyday... AH! it's amazing! :D

isaac messed up the lyrics to strong enough to break. haha. ;)

other than that... um... no idea. lol. zac did the jumping off the drums thing again and taylor sat down on the stage, lol. like... he leaned back against the podium the drums are on and encouraged people to scream louder by... waving his hands around. lol.

alright. so, i'm off to hampton beach now. i'm going to pick up a girl named katie on my way and i'll probably stick with her for the walk and the show. and tomorrow... i'm going to meet sammy. ha. jealous? you should be. ;)

by the way, sam, if you read this: i'll be walking around like a zombie tomorrow. haha. so please excuse my behavior, whatever i'm going to do. ;) :p

talk to you guys later.

<3

p.s. the pictures of the walk are on photobucket. click on the title of this post.

a few more pictures... be prepared!

margaux and i walking in front of zac:



because it's cool...



and this, my friends, is the UGLY TRUTH. haha.

TOMS shoes

check out tomsshoes.com and let me know if anyone wants a pair. after this blister incident i've realized what a difference something simple like a pair of shoes can make.

i'm definitely going to buy some more shoes while i still have the chance.

awareness is good - action is better.

also, i think it's about time that the german street team thinks about what we could possibly do. this whole institution has been pretty much useless ever since i joined it, but maybe it's about time that we change that!? where are you street team members anyway?

The Walk Speech in Albany, Apr 22nd (video)

so, here's the video i was looking for. the walk in albany... and ike giving this amazing speech. never mind the fact that he kind of stumbles over his words in the beginning. i think it's amazing. people were so quiet and it was just amazing that no-one screamed, but listened to them talking.

definitely the most interesting walk i've been to. so i hurt my feet (they did more than 'burn a little bit', taylor, lol.), but it kind of was worth the trouble.

watch the video and you'll see.

"Everyday" (Isaac's song)

in case you guys don't know the song, check out this vid on youtube. (click on the title!)

Take a "Walk" with Hanson

and this one's good, too. go check it out! as always, the title links to the website where the article is posted.


As this piece is being written, the members of the band Hanson - Zak, Taylor and Isaac Hanson - are likely walking the streets of Rochester, N.Y., followed by what is most likely a throng of enthusiastic fans.

This is not a video shoot, or some forced recreation of the hysteria that followed the success of their 1997 wild pop hit "Mmm Bop."

This walk is about inspiration.

It is about the now-indie band being inspired and hoping to inspire others.

Hanson is on the third leg of a tour supporting "The Walk" - their self-released CD of new songs that was partly inspired by a trip to Africa. The physical walk they take with fans before each show, a one mile "Barefoot Walk," is to raise awareness about the AIDS crisis in Africa and to hopefully inspire social change.

"We've done the walk in all situations, rain or shine," said Taylor Hanson, gearing up for the trek through Rochester. "The only way we won't do it is if there is a chance it would put fans through some undue misery."

The pre-concert walk has brought out a mix of Hanson fans.

"There are some that are just surprised," Taylor Hanson said. "They are not really expecting you to walk out the front door. But in a lot of cases they are people that have been to a bunch of these walks and they are almost part of the crew. They are really interested in what we are doing and in some ways proud to be part of something. It has been very rewarding."

Hanson admits that he and his brothers thought long and hard about "preaching" about anything, but in the end realized that their goal has always been to affect their audience.

"There is a moment of truth there when you wonder if people will stick with us or if it will fail miserably," he said. "It comes down to realizing that we couldn't not bring our other passions to the table. It comes down to being inspired and if you are going to affect people, why not in a way that would motivate you."

Not that the band's existence these days is built solely on social consciousness. They are still an indie band that is trying to survive in an ever-shrinking music business, a plight that is as consuming as their charitable drive.

"Indie music is really the heartbeat of who we are right now," said Hanson.

The band has a documentary that can be watched in installments on YouTube and another that airs on www.hanson.net The group utilizes as many Web resources as possible to reach out to fans.

In 1997, the band sold 4 million copies of its debut "Middle of Nowhere," earning three Grammy nominations. Just seven years later, after parting ways with its label and cutting ties with the corporate side of the music business, its first indie record, "Underneath," sold 40,000 copies upon release, making it one of the top-selling indie records of all time.

Hanson plays the Calvin Theatre tomorrow night. Tickets are available through iheg.com or by calling the Northampton Box Office at (413) 586-8686. For information on the band's pre-concert mile jaunt through the streets of Northampton, log on to www.hanson.net

A older, wiser Hanson comes to Calvin [Theatre]

You really should read this article. It's one of the best i've read so far and i enjoyed reading every single sentence because it's solely about the THINGS THAT MATTER! click on the title if you wish to read it on the website the article is published.


Go ahead and write Hanson off as a one-hit wonder. 27-year-old Isaac Hanson, the eldest member of the trio that took the pop music world by storm over 11 years ago, frankly doesn't care.

"The past is just that, it's the past," he said matter-of-factly. "It's what gets you to where you are. It allowed us to have an incredible group of fans and it's what's allowing us to evolve and change with the times."

Fans and new faces alike will pack Northampton's Calvin Theatre Friday night for a near sold-out show featuring the towheads from Tulsa, with openers Kate Voegele and locally-based Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

"If you are only familiar with 'MmmBop' or 'Where's the Love?,' or something from our first record, or are only familiar with the concept of Hanson as in you really don't even know the music, all you remember is a couple of videos with a couple of guys with long hair. Come to a show," Isaac said. "If you walk up to me after a show and you say, 'I never came to a show and I really didn't like it,' fine."

His statements are fair enough. The band's name alone evokes a wide range of comments, the majority of which are negative. Though it may not always apply, the expression that "first impressions are everything" certainly rings true in the case of Hanson. It's difficult for most to get past the image to which Isaac refers - one they established when their youngest member, drummer Zac, was only 12 years of age.

Now married with four children and one on the way between them, the brothers have come a long way from the days when the Spice Girls were invading the states suggestively asking Americans if they wanted to be their lovers, and the Backstreet Boys had not yet graduated from playing theme parks and high school auditoriums.

The difference between Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson and their contemporaries, however, is deeply-rooted passion, a force that drove them first to command respect from labels that consistently slammed the door in their faces, and later to fight for themselves against record executives who insisted they churn out bubblegum hits for the sole sake of selling records.

After several years of coming to terms with the changing music industry, one in which mega-corporations own nearly every radio station and dictate the small selection of songs that reach the airwaves, Hanson decided to take a risk when they began their own independent label, 3CG Records, in 2004.

The band's gamble proved to be worth the high stakes. That same year, their sixth studio album, "Underneath," reached number one on the United States Independent music chart.

Since then, their music and message have taken them all over the globe. Their current tour, "The Walk," in support of last year's release by the same name, is what brings them to the Calvin.

When asked to what he attributes the group's longevity, there is little hesitation.
"Kickass fans," Isaac said firmly. "Honestly, I think we are lucky. Not only do the three of us really love what we do and want to continue to do it for a very long time, but we also have a really unique situation which is the fan base that we reached right at the beginning of our career has been a very loyal group of people, a very passionate group of people, who has continued to come to show after show and has continued to buy records."
The group of people he speaks of will be equally audible Friday evening well before the Calvin's doors are opened, as Hanson's partnership with TOMS Shoes will take them on a barefoot mile walk around the area to promote awareness for children in need.
The band's work with TOMS, along with their continuing effort to create awareness for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, both go beyond supporting worthy causes by connecting them to their peers, an age group the band believes has power that extends beyond their own recognition.
"They can figure out things they can do themselves that ultimately are a heck of a lot more effective than giant organizations…you cannot underestimate the value of people," says Isaac.
Another group of people not to underestimate are Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, a Northampton-based band whose members share more than just a love for music. They all call UMass their alma mater. In fact, they recently visited campus to sing the national anthem at a men's basketball game.

Their sound is unique in its sheer honesty and simplicity. The music, said frontman Kellogg, is intended to "break your heart and make you laugh."
As for how he thinks the band will be received at Friday's performance, he said, "If you have a pulse, you will have an amazing time." Regarding their homecoming, he said he's "so damn excited my toenails are going to fall off."
Why did Hanson choose the Sixers to accompany them on "The Walk?"
"We like Stephen a lot. We have been really impressed by him as a musician and a songwriter. He's got a great voice and a good sound and he's a fun guy," said Isaac.
And Kate Voegele?
"You got an artist who is just at the beginning of her career and is looking to build, and has a good opportunity to get on the road and potentially bring some of her fans to our shows and so on and so forth. I think it's a mutually positive thing," Isaac said.

Whether the show as a whole makes your toenails fall off or leaves you with all appendages still intact, it'll likely leave fans with a deeper respect and those unfamiliar with their music with a new appreciation. Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8.

Skye McIntyre can be reached at smcintyr@student.umass.edu.

Teresa Reilly can be reached at treilly@student.umass.edu.

i limped the walk... and everything else i've been wanting to say...

the walk in albany was AWFUL! it was incredibly hot the day before yesterday and so i ended up with no less than 6 blisters on my soles. and they HURT! they still do. seriously, i decided to do the walk yesterday, but when it was over? i wanted to die, haha. and let's just not talk about the concert? ;)

but i guess we should just do this in correct chronology. alright, so i've posted the setlist already. and i've mentioned that i was kind of blown away by them playing ain't no sunshine, got a hold on me and joy to the world as well as the walk. no kidding, i like go, but i don't have to hear it like every time.

let's go back to the walk though. apart from the fact that i severely damaged my feet (and apparently i wasn't the only one because i've seen quite a few people people limping and poor isaac's feet weren't too well either. haha, but i'll tell you later), it was a nice, organized walk, lol. i especially liked ike's speech. i'll check if i find a video posted somewhere, but he i'll tell you what he said. he told us that he'd talked to a guy who'd been surprised that there are so many girls/women doing this walk with them. but since a lot more WOMEN suffer from AIDS and since it's women who might give the disease to their kids when giving birth (the medication women need during the last trimester of their pregnancy which prevents that the kids get sick too costs 17 cents a day.) he thought it is appropriate that there are so many females doing the walks and taking action, standing up for their rights since those women (who are our age or even younger) can't do it themselves.

k, there's no video on youtube yet, i might check again tomorrow.

caroline, margaux and i went back to the hotel (and by the way, i haven't mentioned that i actually had company for the two shows in Albany and Burlington. Caroline's from Canada (well, originally she's from Switzerland, but whatever, lol.) and Margaux's from France and she's doing an internship in Canada.) I picked them up at the bus station in Albany on Tuesday and we drove back to the hotel in Clifton Park and went to the venue from there. They actually had a huge parking lot - FOR FREE! well, i guess that's because Northern Light's (the venue) practically in the middle of nowhere. (no pun intended, haha.)
yeah, the walk was supposed to start at 2 and while we are all living on hanson time and expect them to BE LATE, it was kind of ridiculous, but the walk didn't start until like 3.20. apparently they pushed back EVERYTHING an hour, because the concert was supposed to start at 7 but kate voegele (and by the way, it's pronounced WO-GELL, for all the german girls that were wondering, lmao. this name's so of german origin, i'm telling ya.) didn't went on before 8/8.15. (nothing compared to the show in burlington, lol. but right now, we're still in clifton park. ;) )

anyway though, when they finally DID come out and the walk started - it was hell. i didn't realize until it was too late and at first i thought that there was just something stuck on the soles of my feet. like pebble stones or something, well, turned out that my soles had already been blistered. after half a mile i couldn't even really WALK anymore, haha. well, i wasn't the only one. margaux had some blisters herself, even though they weren't as bad as mine - they still hurt. ha, it's probably because pessimists like isaac and me always expect something bad to happen. it's a self-fulfilling prophecy as paul watzlawick would say. *nods*

anyway though, so this is caro and i:



taylor and isaac made their little - or not so little - speeches and then we went back to the venue to hear another speech (haha.) and get our hands stamped. well, i did. margaux did too, but caro didn't want to. (she really should have! :p)

anyway, we drove back to the hotel and returned to the venue a little after 6. on our way to northern lights we'd bought ourselves some dinner (and trust me, i didn't even know that mcdonald's could get any grosser! lol. i was wrong! caroline was like 'is this even meat? it doesn't taste like meat!" ahahaha.)
door opened around 7.15 or something and since i had to pick up my ticket (that's what i thought, because in fact i never got an actual ticket!) i went to the "walk & will call people line". yeah, and they really let people with stamped hands in first. so, basically i could've been in 3rd/4th row, but since caro and margaux were still outside, i decided to buy myself a drink and wait for them. ha, unfortunately caroline had to take her camera back to the car, so she needed my car keys... well and then they were gone for like an hour, lol. she texted me that they'd seen zac and would be right there, but i didn't find them. well, i guess "meet me at the bar" was kind of a stupid thing to say because there were like 3 or something, haha. well, i spotted them around the same time they saw me, during the sixers' set and so i went back over to the OTHER side of the bar. we had a good time after all. i'm not sure what being in the front rows was like in albany, but if it was anything like in burlington, no thank you.
there was enough room to dance and everything, and we could actually buy drinks during the show, so it was good!

yeah... the songs? you already know about them? there's nothing left to say, haha. the boys were either really tired after the show or they had to leave soon because they never came out, in fact they told us to go somewhere where's light (it was so DARK back there! lol.) and that the guys couldn't make it. so we left. haha. we saw zac through the windows though. first, he was on the phone in the back of the venue and then he was back in the front, taking pictures with some people inside of the venue.

oh well, it was about 1 am when we were back at the hotel. i took a last bath in my jacuzzi and went to sleep around 2.15. and had to get up at 8, lol. so not cool. seriously, you don't want to see the rings under my eyes. :p ;)

so, caroline, margaux and i met up at 9 o'clock the next morning... to get breakfast and checked-out around 10/10.30. the best western in clifton park is a nice hotel, the only thing that really pissed me off was the internet connection, that didn't work most of the time. apparently that's a "best western problem" though because the hotel in burlington? yeah, didn't get a connection there either. that's why it took me so long to post.

yep, so we were driving... and when we were about 30 kilometers from burlington, i turned around a corner and enie (because the voice of my navi system is enie van de meiklokjes', lol.) was like "oh, there's water. take the ferry." lol. haha, it was so funny. caroline was cracking up every time she told me to turn around. "OH GOTT! wo sind SIE denn hingefahren? wir müssen UMDREHEN!" haha. yeah, i guess it really is funny. ;)

haha, that was so unexpected. i really didn't know that there was a lake in vermont? lol. caroline didn't either, so i guess it's alright. ;)









caroline and margaux:



caroline and i:





yeah, so we went to the hotel, checked-in early and went - or limped - to the venue which wasn't far away, but to me it felt like 10 miles. and let's just not talk about the walk? lol. i didn't have any band-aids, at least not those that are specifically made for blisters, so i tried to walk as best as i could. surprisingly i was even able to catch up with taylor - and i cheated only a teeny tiny bit, lol. he went around a turning circle and i kind of cut a corner, but it was just a few steps, i promise. others didn't even go round the circle. isaac and the people around him arrived at beginning of the circle (well, i know that a circle technically doesn't have a beginning or an end, lol. but it's like, you drive into this street and at the end of it, there's the circle, so it does have a beginning and an end, kind of. ;) ) when taylor and the people surrounding HIM had finished it and they stopped and taylor was like "go around. go around!" no cheating, ha. lol. isaac gave in, lol.

well, as for zac. he was being funny, like always. jenna (i hope that's the correct spelling, lol.) and caroline were talking to him about their canadian 'the walk' project and then they got to talking about what he does in his free time, which - surprise, surprise! - is not reading a good book, but playing video games. ahahaha. while we were all walking next to zac, this girl came up to him, asking him for a picture and he was like "no, i don't do pictures on the walks" or something like that. haha, go zac! seriously, what do people think those walks are for? hunting down hanson and asking for pictures or autographs? certainly not! he was being polite though.

seriously, those boys are too nice. i noticed them talking to people on people's cell phones (well, taylor and zac did.) and it was so funny because one time zac was like "which brother? well, this is zac." lmao.





after he was done talking to whoever was on the other end of the line, he was like "uh, whose phone is this?" lol.

when we were halfway through the walk, there were those two cute little blond boys standing behind a closed french window, waving. and zac waved back. it was just sooo cute. he's going to be an amazing father. i can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl. lol.





notice the restaurant's name? lol. margaux's a genius! lol.

well, yeah, i think that's all... after the walk margaux and i went back to the hotel, checked walmart.com and then left to buy some bandaids. i spent almost 30 dollars for bandages and bandaids, haha well and also two packages of pain killers. yep.

meanwhile, caroline and jenna went to get some coffee at starbucks and we all met in our hotel room. margaux and i did "surgery" lmao. and caro went downstairs to get my reebok's from the car since i totally couldn't wear my TOMS with those bandages around my feet, lol.

jenna:



speaking of TOMS, sam just told me that my two new pairs of TOMS i'd ordered online arrived yesterday. ;) YAY! :p

anyway though, the concert... we went back to the venue around 6.45 or something and there were a lot of people standing in line already. like A LOT OF PEOPLE! the show was sold out btw!
and all of a sudden, around 7, the power went off. like everywhere! lol. we couldn't buy dinner or do anything but wait what was going to happen. fortunately no-one really started to freak out because the staff made sure to reassure everyone that the concert wasn't going to be canceled. still though, doors were supposed to open at 7... well, 7... 8... the power was still out.

check out this link:

clicky!

A tractor trailer took down power lines near an intersection of busy Williston Road in South Burlington, Wednesday evening. The accident left multiple businesses without power and nearly forced an impromptu outdoor concert.

Police say a tractor trailer was driving between Gracey's Store and Deli and the Vermont Liquor Outlet when it caught a wire, taking down a power pole and high tension lines hung across Hinesburg Road. The pole landed on three parked cars, totaling one.

Down the road at Higher Ground the power outage created another kind of headache. 90's pop phenomenon, Hanson, was scheduled to play for a sold-out crowd of about 900 screaming fans when the power went out five minutes before doors opened. When the lights went out organizers started planning for an outdoor concert in the parking lot.

"We definitely wanted to not cancel the show so we already had plan in the works to bring it out here if we had to and we got a stage all set up in the back and on wheels," said Z Mecca, an employee at Higher Ground.

Fans chanted the band's name as they waited to find out if the concert would be indoors, or out. (and BOY, that was ANNOYING!!!)

"Well it was first just like chaos," said Kayla Trombley, who skipped school and drove up from Rutland with her friends to see the show. "Everybody's like oh my god, what's going to happen?"

Luckily, Green Mountain Power managed to get the lights back on just before 8:15 p.m. The show got off to a late start but went on as planned.

an outdoor concert would have been interesting, but the show was awesome. ;)
again, they let the walk people go in first. caroline, margaux, jenna and i were in 6th or 7th row and i stayed there for the opening acts, but before hanson came on stage i decided that i wanted to go to the back. those girls behind us were pushing and drinking and just really annoying, plus i felt like ready to pass out, my feet hurt and i just thought i'd feel better in the back. which i did. there was a bar at the end of the hall and i sat down on the floor (on my shoes because the floor was really cold, lol.) and watched the first part of the show from there. i couldn't always see all of them, but i could see taylor's head most of the time and sometimes zac's and isaac's. it was great. i could sit there, clap and sing along and kind of "dance", haha. i felt comfortable there.
when they started playing "if only" i got on my feet and stood there for the rest of the show. seriously, i'm not mad that i gave up my spot. caroline told me that people went crazy when i left, haha. oh well. there was this one guy telling me not to touch his sister when i made my way to the back of the venue and i was like WTF?, but ignored him and kept walking. um... i'm not sure he understood that this is a concert and that it's likely to get touched by some people? ahaha.

oh well, i don't give a shit.

here's the setlist:

1.) Great Divide

2.) Can't Stop

3.) Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love) <333

4.) Been There Before <333

5.) Where's The Love

6.) Crazy Beautiful

7.) Hole In My Life

8.) Change In My Life (acoustic) <333333333333333

9.) This Time Around (acoustic)

10.) MmmBop (acoustic)

11.) The Walk (acoustic) <333>

12.) Never Been To Spain <33333333333333

13.) Blue Sky

14.) If Only

15.) Running Man

16.) Let Love Rule <333>

17.) Got A Hold On Me <33333333333333333333333333333333333333

18.) Hey

19.) Something Going Round

Encore:

20.) The Ugly Truth <333>

21.) Great Divide (a capella)

nothing i hadn't heard before, but it definitely was a great show even though it was long past 10 before hanson came on stage. ;)

there was this other band playing at Higher Ground that day. a band called "The Brew". they were still playing when hanson's show was over (i so wanted to write 'shower'. lmao. OMG.) and suddenly they played mmmbop. lol. obviously, they didn't know the lyrics, so it really was just "mmmbop.... mmmbop.... mmmbop" lol. but one of the security guys opened the door and jenna, margaux and i went in and listened to them for a while. lol. 'twas kinda fun. there weren't many people in there. probably not more than 30 and everyone was dancing. ;)

after we left the venue, the other girls went to the back of the venue to wait for the guys to come out, i decided to go back to the hotel and LIE DOWN! lol.
they were back pretty fast. apparently they only had to wait like half an hour. if i'd known that they'd come out so soon, i probably would have stayed, lol. but oh well... it's alright. i'll get them to sign my iPod before i leave the US. lol. if it's the last thing i do. hopefully not though. ;)

zac signed both of caroline's drumsticks and she even got a picture with him even if it kinda blurry. she said it was so DARK. lol. there were no lights either, just like in albany.

haha, talking about pictures with zac... nicole emailed me earlier, apologizing for the picture, lol. but it's alright. i'll live! :p ;)

well, this morning i drove caro and margaux to the bus station in burlington and hung out with them for another hour before they had to leave and went back to montréal. it was really great meeting them and maybe we'll be able to meet up again when hanson's in europe. since margaux is from france... ;) btw, if they come to paris, we'll be able to go. lol. i thought that we had to skip it since i can't speak french, but if margaux's there... she can speak english, lol. ;)

we'll see.

definitely an experience i wouldn't want to miss and even though my feet still hurt and i don't know if i'll be able to do the walk tomorrow, i loved (almost) every second of the past 2.5 weeks.

also, sam's just reminded me of something i wanted to say: now i REALLY know how awful it is to not have something simple like a pair of shoes. i can't even imagine what it's like for a little child to walk 10 km a day - barefoot! - just to go to school. i know that this isn't about guilt, taylor doesn't get tired of saying that, but it makes me realize just how different our lives are. everything i have, that i never even thought about what it was like if i didn't have those things... it's amazing how much those kids want to LEARN. i know i wouldn't walk 10 km a day barefoot to go to school. i hated school. i couldn't have cared less if i'd never had to go back there again. but maybe that's because of all the people i had to see every day. it wasn't about learning things, it was about feeling uncomfortable with everyone being there.

anyway though, i just wanted to say that maybe you should take a minute and just think about everything you HAVE and that others don't have. again, this is not about feeling guilty or about donating everything you have and sleep under a bridge yourself, this is about being aware that things really are wrong and that it's time to change whatever we can for the better. it's not a hard thing to do to give a few dollars if you can afford it. it's not a hard thing to buy a pair of shoes or download a song - or do whatever you can think of to help improve someone's life. this is what this is all about: making people realize that they're powerful enough to change things and then actually do it. it doesn't matter if you're just one person. it doesn't matter if everyone else around you thinks you're nuts. i don't know if this is something that makes hanson fans so special, but for some reason i think that they are willing to listen, to see and act - more than other people do.maybe taylor's right and we are already a step ahead. we don't only have passion for music, for this band, but we are willing to give. sure, there are crazy people who are in for the wrong reasons. there are people taking the walks so they can be close to the band and get a picture or whatever. i'm not going to lie... i don't hate the fact that we do these walks with the band. i probably wouldn't have walked yesterday if hanson hadn't been there. i don't wanna pretend that i'm in only for the right reasons and that i don't care if hanson's there or not. after all, i'm just a human being, just like everyone else (or maybe not, because there's no such thing as everyone else. everyone's kind of special... in a way?) and i do love these guys. i WANT to see them, but i would never, NEVER ask them for pictures or autographs or ask them stupid questions while walking.

(wow, i totally forgot to mention this... in albany, there was this girl wearing a "natalie who?" shirt!! i mean... WTF? are you SERIOUS? caroline told me she SHOWED it to ike and even asked him if he got the joke/meaning, whatever... :O those people make me feel incredibly ashamed! apparently, isaac was like "yeah, yeah, i get it." but didn't really say anything. *shakes head* and this other girl was wearing a shirt saying "isaac, you can bop my mmm" COME ON!!! can we please just act like ADULTS? they're married. it's NOT funny! everyone can talk about whatever they want when they're not around, but seriously? flaunting around shirts like that, openly disrespecting their wives when everyone knows that they kind of adore them? it's just. NOT. cool! )

edit: actually, it was ZAC, not isaac. lol. i have no idea how i managed to mess that up. probably because we were talking about ike and nikki and then remembered that girl with the natalie shirt and... whatever. lol. just so you know. and i'm pretty sure that isaac didn't like the shirt either (if he saw it). lol.

well, either way, fortunately most of the people attending the walks are civil.

anyway, i'm sure i forgot half of what i wanted to say/post, but i'll stop for now. need to get some rest. it's almost 3 in the morning! ;)

click the title to view my pictures of the walks in albany and burlington. (you'll have to select either the albany or burlington album on the left in order to view the pictures. for some reason photobucket created a sub-album, so i had to change it and make two sub-albums. whatever. ;) )

also, i'd just like to say that you can save and use the pictures for whatever you want, that's why they're not tagged (that and the fact that i'm too lazy to tag millions of pictures!), but it'd be nice if you didn't pretend they're yours or something.
the pictures i get from other people (like the two from margaux i've posted above!) are tagged for a reason. i didn't take these pictures. credits to margaux, and once i have them, to caroline for taking these pictures.

p.s. i think i got a couple of cool shots of the burlington walk. ;)











i have to say that i really like his ponytail, lol. and especially his bangs. it's cute. i don't care if you don't like it. ;) i do. :p



p.p.s. and just so you know: zac won the walk! LMAO. we were on our way back to higher ground and i was walking in front of zac. first of all, we stopped at a traffic light because it said "don't walk"... zac was like... "let's walk", lol. so we did. and then he moved his hands, as if he wanted to swim through the crowd and was like "i'll win the walk today" and started walking faster. he walked past taylor and indeed won the walk, which taylor proudly announced over the megaphone, lol.

also, i meant to thank taylor for risking his life for his fans!? lol. we crossed a street before we went into this turning circle and he was standing in the middle of the road, forcing cars to stop so we could all cross the road. lol. sweet.

p.p.p.s. taylor was wearing a selfmade "i took the walk" shirt last night. anyone up for a bet? there are going to be millions of similar shirts. *snorts* i was thinking about making one, but it'll be different. lol.

and now it's almost 4. OMG. good night, y'all.

setlist Albany, NY - April 22nd

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. A Minute Without You
4. Can't Stop
5. Hole in My life
6. Penny and Me (acoustic)
   
7. Aint No Sunshine (acoustic)
   
8. MMMbop (acoustic)
   
9. The Walk (acoustic)
   
10. Got a Hold On Me
11. Blue Sky
12. If Only
13. Wheres the love
14. Oh Darling
15. Watch Over me
16. Hey
17. Rock N Roll Razorblade
18. Something Going Round
19. Joy To the World
20. lost without each other

ha, only 20 songs, but it did feel like more. seriously. And 2 Encore-Songs. woohoo.
I was like: Ain't no sunshine? Got a hold on me? The Walk? Joy to the world? Are you kidding me? lol. It was amazing!!

I do have pictures of The Walk and i'll post them, probably tonight after the show - or if i have time this afternoon. if not, then definitely tomorrow.

i might also write more about the concert last night, right now i'm just really tired and i have to leave in like 35 minutes.

have a good day, y'all. <333

edit: this setlist isn't complete. crazy beautiful's not on there and i KNOW that they played that. so, it's 21 songs! :D

internet connection trouble...

i've been experiencing some serious connection problems which is why i haven't posted for a while. since i usually update daily (sometimes a few times, haha), it's kinda odd that i didn't post last night. oh well...

just as i thought, i really wanted to slap myself for not going to rochester. IN A LITTLE WHILE? i mean, seriously! DAMN! i really hope they'll play it again. if not tonight, then maybe tomorrow or something. i'd also love to hear "everyday", but i kinda doubt they'll play it 3 times in a row. we'll see.

the setlist, in case you haven't seen it yet:

1. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (Blues Brothers)
2. Great Divide
3. Can't Stop
4. Wheres the Love
5. Georgia
6. Crazy Beautiful
7. Hole in My Life

Acoustic:
8. Been There Before
9. Go
10. Everyday (Isaac solo)

11. Blue Sky
12. If Only
13. Running Man
14. Let Love Rule
15. Watch Over Me
16. Penny and Me
17. Hey
18. Lost Without Each Other
19. Something Going Round
20. In A Little While

21. This Time Around

22. The Ugly Truth

And "Been there before" acoustic... awwww. oh well... i'm about to pick up Caroline and Margaux from the bus station in Albany. The Walk's at 2, so we'll see how that goes...

If this stupid internet connection lets me, i'll update tonight. If not, well, then i might not post until tomorrow! :(

i could have been in rochester today...

but since i feel a little sick, i decided to skip this walk/show. my throat's sore, but i'm feeling better already. i just hope that i won't get REALLY sick! that'd just suck!

well, since i didn't have a ticket for rochester, no harm done. but still... i'm pretty sure that i'm going to want to kick my own ass for not going as soon as i see the setlist. oh well...

i'll go to all the other concerts left, minus sayreville, so i'm good. ;)

i've been thinking about what to do next and i think i'm going to look for a job when i'm back in germany. a part-time job. and it'd be great if i could work at night. ronny might be asking his boss if they need people to sort mail. well and if not, i'll find something else. even if it's something stupid. it'll only be for a little while since i plan on going to new zealand by the end of this year/early next year.

i also plan on going to some other shows once the guys come to europe... and maybe, just maybe i'll be able to visit sam again and fly to new zealand from there. i wouldn't mind seeing a christmassy hanson show... or two. ;) but right now, those are just vague ideas, no plans.

i really do feel better since i'm here in the US. i really think that my life's okay right now and that's something i haven't been thinking for such a long time.

haha, i even signed up to stayfriends. do you guys know this site? and a girl i used to hang out with sent me a message (we went to kindergarten together, then to elementary school and then to comprehensive school. after she graduated in 1997, i met her once or twice, but i haven't seen her for years! part of the reason why i didn't could be that she has issues with her parents and moved away 8 years ago - and hasn't talked to them ever since. it's kinda sad, isn't it? so, even though i do have issues with my family sometimes, maybe i'm not worse off. they might be ignorant from time to time and most likely, they'll never get me, but maybe that's alright. i've always been striving against the stream. i'm the fish that swims into the other direction, not following all the other fishes. ha, that sounds kinda philosophic.) as well as my ex-boyfriend. not nils though, but my first boyfriend. haha. sweet.

i also meant to tell you guys what happened after i'd arrived in baltimore, but with the royal oak drama going on i totally forgot that i wanted to post that.
so, i was entering this parking garage to pick up my car. all of a sudden i stopped dead in my tracks, frowned and thought "i'm hearing hanson." LOL! they were playing "something going round" in this parking garage! and i was like "woah, man. baltimore's awesome!" lol.

i hope y'all are having a great time! life's too short to worry about "the trouble that tomorrow brings". (sorry, i had to. lol. "dying to be alive" IS a great song! they're right. seriously.)

hello from new york! (the state, not the city!)

me... somewhere... in the middle of nowhere! ;)







and here's my new rental car. it's a crysler sebring, blue obviously. ;) isn't it pretty? i wanna keep it! lol.







it has like EVERYTHING. electric windows, cruise control, power door locks and i just have to push this button on my car key to open the doors and the trunk. it's amazing!

still trying to figure out what this power button on the rearview mirror is, but whatever, lol.







pretty random...




ha, being klutzy again, taylor? ;)



don't worry... i feel your pain! :p



g'night y'all!

♫ ... the closest thing to crazy... ♪♪

i'm in Albany now. well, Clifton Park, NY to be exact but it's really close to Albany. ;)
checked in in a Best Western hotel this afternoon and let me tell you: this room is awesome!!

ever enjoyed the joys of a jacuzzi? (AKA whirlpool) no? well, you should because it's FUN!! lol. my day's been pretty good. after staying at a super 8 motel on my way from baltimore to albany last night, i arrived in clifton park around 4 pm.

yeah, and then... i hopped straight into this wonderful bath tub - after i'd called my mom and ronny and talked to them for 45 minutes. ouch. this cell phone bill's going to KILL me! ahaha.

then i spent an hour in the bathroom, listening to katie melua (so relaxing!), sipping my orange soda (with ice! i'm in the United States!) and reading this funny book called "Streiflichter aus Amerika" by Bill Bryson. it's so very amusing, lol. Bill Bryson is an American who'd lived in England for twenty years and then came back to the US... his columns really are THAT funny, you should read them sometime!

i'm lying in my bed right now and i think i'll have a sandwich now, i'm kinda hungry.
also, i'll have to get up early tomorrow and drive westwards to rochester. there are three shows coming up in the next three days. OH.MY.GOD. lol.

oh, and one more thing? my life's awesome! be jealous! ;) (j/k)

Who the hell is Bob? :p

Alright, so this is an article about the guys on the website of a german magazine. surprisingly they got most of the facts right, even though Kate is 24, not 23. They even mentioned the meaning of the song and that's pretty awesome to put it in taylor's words. ;)

They mention the struggle with IDJ and the newfound 3CG as well as what they've done lately (recording Great Divide in South Africa) and say that they're touring the US with their new album.

What made me pretty much laugh out loud is that they spelled MMMBop incorrectly. From now on, i won't wonder "where did johnny go?" but ask myself "who the hell is Bob?" lmao. good one, for sure!

click the link if you want to have a look at the article.

the drama in Royal Oak

first of all: i wasn't there and i'm kind of torn if i wish i was or if i'm just glad that i wasn't because this is just downright scary.

last night's show started really, really late (i think around 10.45 pm?) because someone found a bullet in the front row. they had the cops come to the venue and do security checks and everything. rumors about someone having a knife and someone having been stabbed were flying around, along with the rumor that something happened to one of the guys (i think some people thought that there was something wrong with ike because of his blood clot history!). they also mentioned death threats, but i kinda think that they would have canceled the show if that was true.

so basically i'm really glad that everyone's alright.

zac wrote a FUTY last night (or this morning), i'll link to the website, but i'll also post it here:

I know many of the fans who were at the show in Royal Oak tonight might have been wondering why we went on so late? I will put it simply…

Someone found a bullet in the front row.

In a situation like tonight you find yourself thinking… how much do I trust our fans? How hardcore is too hardcore… But to be honest we trust all of you to watch our back even if it turns out there is someone who has it out for us. I would not want to be the person who was on the wrong end of a pissed off Hanson fan.

It was a great show and even with the way the night started, and about halfway through the set when we found out where the bullet came from (off duty cop) we were able to stop looking for the best cover we could dive to. In the end we had a great time. Here is to not being made into Swiss Cheese.

not sure if the entry will be visible to non-members, but it should be alright to post it here in THIS case. plus, it isn't a video or anything, just a message.
it should be visible though because it's not in the member's FUTY section.

can i just say that i'm shocked but in awe because of his sweet words? seriously, i've never been a "zac-girl", but isn't he just the cutest thing ever?
and he's right. i'm pretty sure if someone tried to hurt them, everyone would come to their defense and protect them. i know i would. does that sound crazy?

the show had to be amazing by the way. here's the setlist:

1) Great Divide

2) Been There Before

3) Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

4) A Minute Without You

5) Can't Stop

6) Crazy Beautiful

7) Hole In My Life

ACOUSTIC:

8) SETB

9) Go

10) Mmmbop

11) Everyday

ELECTRIC:

12) Oh Darling!

13) Blue Sky

14) If Only

15) Running Man

16) Let Love Rule

17) Every Word I Say

18) Watch Over Me

19) Runaway Run

20) Rock N Roll Razorblade

21) Lost Without Each Other

22) Something Going 'Round

ENCORE:

23) Peace Train w/ SK6ers and Kate

i'll admit it: i'm jealous again.
i hear that after the show they came out and signed ALL the stuff people wanted to get signed. they're amazing. that's all i have to say.

makes me realize once again why i'm a fan of THIS band. awesome music, awesome guys.

the end.

Bloomington, IL - April 18th

alright, first off, the setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. Can't Stop
4. Crazy Beautiful
5. Hole in my Life
6. Penny & Me (acoustic) taylor forgot the lyrics....again <~~~ indeed. and i was so surprised i screwed them up, too. ahahaha.
7. MMMBop (acoustic)
8. A Song To Sing (acoustic)
9. Never Been to Spain
10. Blue Sky
11. If Only uhm....taylor just zipped up his pants.....i dont know if i should laugh or cry <~~~ how could i MISS that?? *bangs head against wall*
12. Running Man
13. Oh, Darlin'
14. Watch Over Me
15. Hey
16. Lost Without Each Other
17. Something Goin 'Round

Encore:
18. Where's the Love aaaaaaaaand taylor forgot to, you know.....sing <~~~ i love you, taylor, lol. ;)
19. Great Divide (acapella)

alright, i've copied and pasted the setlist, including the comments this girl wrote on LJ. the red comments are mine though.

'twas a good show! apart from the pants-zipping (which i missed, lol.) there really wasn't anything special. zac seemed a bit... i don't know... eager to leave the stage? lol. taylor was the only one who jumped off the stage to shake hands, the other two disappeared straight away. oh well, maybe they had to go and call their wives or something. :p

they didn't play that many songs either, so the show was good, i had fun, i could see (i was in this grand tier thing... you know how arenas have those 'blocks'? 'twas just like that and the venue IS an arena after all... when i bought my ticket i was mad because the website totally couldn't handle a bunch of crazy hanson fans and just died! so, i had a couple of good seats (row 3 on the floor - there were only 6 rows - and row A in one of the grand tier thingys), but i have to say that i was happy about row C. i probably wouldn't have even SEEN them if i had been on the floor. row C was just the right height!) and maybe the next show will be another kick-ass show instead of a GOOD one. ;)

SK6ers played 'piano man' again and i couldn't have been happier! :D :D i just love, love, LOVE this song!!

well, and i gotta go to bed now because i've got to catch a flight at 10 tomorrow which means that i'll have to get up at an ungodly hour. ugh. lol.

talk to y'all soon!

the WALK on ISU grounds (Bloomington)!

anyone else love this picture? :p ;)




so i just got back from the walk. today it didn't start at the venue but the quad of ISU (Illinois State University) and that alone made it awesome because a lot more people were there!

it was chaotic, but it was a great experience! this time, they played "great divide" which they've never done before! :D :D
they even signed some stuff after the walk, but had to leave like 15 minutes later... guess they still have a soundcheck to do! ;) i didn't get anything signed, but that's alright, i thought i'd let the people you haven't had the chance get their booklets, shoes, tickets, whatever signed. i still want them to sign my iPod, but since i'll go to a few more shows, i'm sure i'll get another chance! ;)

also, i did my first COMPLETE walk barefoot today. go me! ;)

so, i took a couple of pictures, some of them are kinda neat, even though there are better pictures, for sure! anyway, i really prefer to focus on the band, not on taking pictures. that's why i'm not going to take pictures at concerts. a) lots of venues don't let you bring them in and b) i hate standing still during shows just because i have to take pictures that aren't blurry. and c) i'd totally miss out on the concert experience. i might stick to it even if- WHEN they come over to europe!

i'm gonna upload the pictures now and post the link on here. might take a while though, so please be patient. :)

edit: pictures are now online. click on the title to view them. enjoy!
i'm off!

edited Covington Setlist!

Great Divide
Been There Before
Minute Without You
Can't Stop
Crazy Beautiful
Hole In My Life

*acoustic*
This Time Around
Go
MMMBop
The Walk (Zac Solo)

Blue Sky
If Only
Running Man
Joy To The World
Watch Over Me
Hey
Rock-N-Roll Razorblade
Something Going Round

*Encore (with Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers)*
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock And Roll)

AAAHHHH! this is so cool! and i missed it. *slaps self*

and i knew i'd be jealous...

okay, so they've only played 18 songs (plus the great divide a capella thingy i guess), but still! Joy to the world? How cute is that? i love that song!!

setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. Can't Stop
4. A Minute Without You
5. Crazy Beautiful
6. Hole In My Life
7. This Time Around (acoustic)
   
8. Go (acoustic)
   
9. Mmmbop (acoustic)
   
10. The Walk (acoustic)
    
11. Blue Sky
12. If Only
13. Running Man
14. Joy To The World
15. Watch Over Me
16. Hey
17. Rock N Roll Razorblade
18. Something Going Round

and i really want to hear "the walk". for some reason the song's really grown on me. i've always loved the lyrics, but i enjoyed listening to the song lately too. ;)

oh well, i'll be seeing them tomorrow... maybe they'll play it then... and if not... well, chances are that i might hear it SOMETIME. i hope.

pictures i promised earlier...

so, here they are:

my car:






hotel room in Chicago: (yes, that's the room!)
overnight stay: ~ 145 $
parking: 12 $ /day
internet connection: 10 $ / 24 hour period



motel room in bloomington:
overnight stay: ~ 50 $
parking: free of charge
internet connection: free of charge




if i EVER go back to chicago, i'm so not going to stay IN chicago.

article: Walking the Walk!

this is a very neat newspaper article. i really, really like it since it's FOR ONCE not riddled with stupid comments about hanson's bubble gum pop-py past. thank you, dan!


Go ahead, take your shoes off. Now, your socks. There. Comfortable? Good: You're ready to join the Hanson brothers, who've also doffed their shoes and socks.

But not for the sake of comfort, alas.

Nope, the "MMMBop" boys from Tulsa are trading in comfort for some hard-earned social awareness.

And they've got the calluses to prove it, swears Zac Hanson, who, at 22, is technically the baby of the sibling bunch.

Actually, the "baby" is happily married and about to greet the birth of his first child around the time that Hanson winds up its spring tour, which is headed to Bloomington's U.S. Cellular Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Now about that footwear, or lack thereof ...

Prior to the concert, at around 2 p.m., says Zac, the shoes-and-socks removal will start. And not just on their part.

The Hansons are inviting anyone and everyone willing to follow suit to join them, starting at the north end of the Illinois State University quad. The ensuing mile-long trek will wend its way around the ISU campus, ending up at the Bone Student Center.

Since the name of the Hansons' latest album is "The Walk" and the name of the tour is "The Walk Tour," it all makes sense that way.

But what's really at stake here, he says, is the sibling trio's work to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic and related poverty ravaging Africa.

They've partnered with hipster shoe manufacturer TOMS, whose "Shoe Drop" campaign involves the company donating one pair of shoes to a child in Africa for every pair sold here stateside.

Accordingly, Hanson concerts feature a moveable TOMS shoe store, where the footwear is available for purchase.

As part of the campaign, Hanson traveled to Africa to record the charity single "Great Divide" and help TOMS deliver more than 50,000 pairs of shows to kids in need.

Of this weekend's ISU walk, "We hope it will be warmer," Zac says, adding that sometimes the rigid rules about doing it barefoot are sometimes bent to conform to hard reality.

"When we were in Canada," he recalls, "there was snow and ice on the ground, so we felt it wasn't appropriate to ask people to take off their shoes. Even then, there were still people who wanted to walk barefoot."

The point of all this pre-concert hoopla, says Zac, is not to make a big deal about the "MMMBop" brothers with the formerly flowing tresses strutting around town, their toes exposed.

By exposing their own feet along 5,280 feet of pavement, "we hope we can make people realize what it means not to have a pair of shoes for a mile or the 20 minutes it takes to walk that mile. And a mile really isn't that long, though your feet may be sore and you might wind up with a blister or two."

The same could be said, Zac admits, of the process of baring your creative souls to the world at large at a really young age.

When "MMMBop" was sitting atop the Billboard singles chart 11 years ago this spring, Zac Hanson wasn't even a teenager yet.

He was all of 11, while big brothers Isaac and Taylor were leading the way at 16 and 14, respectively.

And now here he is married and about to welcome another human life into his circle.

"I was talking to my wife last night, and, yes, it's funny to think about myself that way, as I'm about to become responsible for another human life," says Zac. "Some of my best friends are just getting out of college and they're still talking about dating and that kind of stuff."

Ah, well, it's all about perspective, right?

Yes, indeed: "I was 10 or 11. But we had really good people around us and a really good manager, so I didn't have that classic child-star thing where someone takes all the money -- even though that has happened to a lot of child stars, who end up in rehab, or somebody gave them the worst contract in the world and they don't have the money they think they should have."

The Hansons in Hanson are not all the Hansons, by the way. Though not as prolific as, say, Ma and Pa Osmond of Utah, Clarke and Diana Hanson spawned a brood of seven, which means there are four non-singing Hansons to the three singing ones.

They began their harmonizing careers doing a cappella renditions of '50s-'60s pop standards like "Splish Splash" and "Rockin' Robin." In 1992, they went professional at Tulsa's Mayfest Arts Festival, then recorded a couple self-made albums, one of which, 1996's "MMMBop," sported the hit that would make them stars.

The turning point, says Zac, was the brothers' performance at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, which led to a signing with Mercury Records. A year later, on May 6. 1997, Mercury released "Middle of Nowhere," which sported a slicker re-recording of "MMMBop." The upbeat anthem became one of the year's biggest pop hits and gave them three Grammy nominations (Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal).

"I think if you're passionate about something, you shouldn't be afraid to grasp onto responsibility at a young age," Zac says in retrospect, even if that responsibility included coping with disappointment after their second record label, Island Records, merged with the rap-leaning Def Jam Records.

Resisting pressures to lean accordingly, the group parted company and went the indie route, which took time, Zac admits, for recovery. But in 2004, their self-made album "Underneath" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Independent Album Chart and No. 25 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

"I'm cynical about the business, very much so," says Zac. "But at some level, you have to put on a happy face and not stop making music."

Ten years and some major business upheavals later, their happy faces are permanently affixed, he insists.

"And we're not gonna stop making music."

(Dan Craft /pantacraft.com)
click the link if you want to view the article on pantacraft.com!

MERCH LIST!

Julchen: LTLO shirt (S), BLUE SKY tank (M), guitar picks, stickers

Naddl: BLUE SKY tank (M), guitar picks

Steffie: GEORGIA shirt (S), guitar picks

Bitzy: BLUE SKY tank (S), guitar picks

Katja: guitar picks

Sylvie: stickers

Monika: guitar picks

Yvonne: GEORGIA shirt (S), guitar picks, keyring, tote bag

remember that the blue 'zac' picks are pretty rare. it's likely that you won't get one.

you know, tis kinda funny...

i'm back in bloomington, illinois - and it's 27° C / 80° F right now! LMAO. seriously, i don't wanna make you envy me, though i'm pretty sure you kind of do that already with me being here and seeing hanson... tis alright! i really wish all of you could be here with me. imagine the fun we'd have! *sighs*

oh well, they'll come to europe before this year's over... ngi ne themba! :p

k, i've read all of your posts and i'm gonna make another one and list all the things everyone wants me to bring. tell me if there's something wrong or if i've forgotten something.

i hope you all are having a good time! i certainly am.

also, i was once again amazed at how BIG hotel rooms can be. i'm gonna post some pictures of my rooms in chicago and bloomington. just so you know what i'm talking about!

(apparently i can't upload pictures right now. i'll do it later!)

Hanson merchandise

alright, girls... looks like the GD shoes won't be available for another two months... which means that i won't be able to buy them for you! :(

they're fixing the problem but with all those shoes they have to replace and whatever... according to TOMS it's gonna take two months.
bummer, seriously.

well, but if you want anything else, let me know. those who've mentioned that they want something else, please comment and let me know because i'm getting slightly confused, lol. don't want to mess up everything.

so, i'm about to leave chicago today. kinda glad to go back to bloomington, haha.

possible fall-tour in europe?!

so i've read a post on h.net. one of the british girls that were attending the wisconsin shows said that according to taylor they plan on touring the UK in OCTOBER!

and while october doesn't sound too bad, the "plan on" is what's irking me, haha.

we shall see. guess we won't find out until they anounce the tour dates. just thought i'd keep you guys informed.

i'm still in chicago, but i have to say that i don't really like it here. the city's okay and the contrast of the beach on one side and the skyscrapers on the other side is seriously breathtaking, but the hotel i'm staying at is seriously the shittiest hotel i've ever seen. haha. as i mentioned before, my room's a shoe box, right in front of my door is a staircase which means that it's really loud, which's pretty annoying late at night or early in the morning. apparently people can't climb some stairs silently.

they charge 12 $ per night for parking and the hotel parking lot is TINY! i was lucky that i found a spot this morning when i came back from indy. (after i'd driven around town for like 45 minutes, looking for this parking lot where guests can park their cars - without finding it of course!), internet access is not complimentary either. as if the stay itself wasn't expensive enough. well i guess that's chicago for you. if i ever come back, i'll make sure to stay somewhere outside of chicago. might be a lot cheaper.

i'll be heading back to bloomington tomorrow. the show's on the 18th. stay tuned.

Indianapolis - April 15th

the setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Can't Stop
3. Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love)
4. Been There Before
5. Where's The Love
6. Crazy Beautiful
7. Hole In My Life
8. Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)
9. Go (acoustic)
10. Mmmbop (acoustic)
11. A Song To Sing (acoustic)
12. Blue Sky
13. If Only / Let's Get It On / If Only
14. Running Man
15. Let Love Rule
16. Watch Over Me
17. Penny And Me
18. Hey
19. Rock'n'Roll Razorblade
20. Something Going Round
21. Encore: Lost Without Each Other
22. Great Divide (a capella)

Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love)? Rock'n'Roll Razorblade? <3333333

the show was amazing. again. lol. honestly, i've never been to a hanson show that completely sucked, but there are the ones that just kind of stick out because they were better than others. Nicole (the girl i met up with) asked me where this concert ranges... and honestly, i'm not really sure. top 3? top 5? there have been so many really, really, REALLY good shows, but this one was definitely one of them.

Nicole and i had been hanging out at the back of the venue and watched the guys go back and forth, so when we decided to go to the front and inside, there was a so-called broker on the other side of the street. we had to head back to the car to take our cameras back (no idea why we had to when others with even better cameras were allowed to bring them, but whatever!), so we kinda got to talk to him... well, he offered us second row tickets for 30 bucks each and out original tickets. after pondering over it for a few minutes we finally decided to just pay for them - and let me tell you: we had a blast.
alright, so we've paid like 70 bucks for this show, but second row, center? definitely worth it! they had folding chairs in this room and at first everyone stayed in their seats until the sixers were on stage. After their set, the security lady let us get up, let the people in front row step close to the barrier, then the second and third row. that was basically it. three rows in front of the first row of chairs! how amazing is that?

there was pushing from the left, so after a little while Nicole was suddenly standing behind me, but i think she had a good time nonetheless.

the guys seemed to be in a good mood, even zac was interacting more with the fans than he did before. well maybe that's because i got to talk to him and everything, lol. but i THINK that he was more quiet during the first shows.
he definitely wasn't quiet this time around. not on stage and not after the show. taylor and isaac kind of rushed through, signed a few things and people were told that they couldn't get their pictures taken with the guys.
well, zac took his time. he signed EVERYTHING people gave him, stopped to talk and crack jokes and after the majority of people had left (taylor and isaac went back into the bus!), someone asked for a picture and he was like "yeah, just let me sign everything first!"
so, everyone also got their pictures taken. haha. okay, you do not want to see my picture. i didn't expect nicole to take this picture so soon, i was kind of... i don't know, lol. anyway, i'll show you, but you better not save it to your computer, lol. zac looks gorgeous, of course. me... not so much. ahahaha. well, since it's fairly easy to get a picture with zac, maybe i'll get a better one... if not, then sam told me to remember the positive things. like ZAC HANSON'S ARM WAS AROUND ME! lmao. <33333



lol. i can't even look at the picture without going "OMG, you look R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!", but anyway, haha. i'll just try to focus on the eyecandy in this picture! ;)

the show itself wasn't that spectacular. it was really, really great, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. 'twas "just" a kick-ass show! :D

as always, pictures are on photobucket (click the link above).
one more thing: zac and taylor signed one of my 'the walk' booklets. two out of three ain't bad, huh? ;)

p.s. zac even scribbled down nicole's name when she asked for it! he's just a sweetheart! i kinda doubt taylor or isaac would have done it. :D

i took... a run in Indianapolis, IN

so even though i left at 9 am, i still didn't make it on time for the walk in indy. thanks to a complete closure of highway WHATEVER, i was driving in circles, trying to find my way to indiana. that together with the different time zones caused me to arrive in indy around 2.45. like, just a few minutes too late. so i parked my car, jumped out of the car and ran after them, lol.

i caught up with them when they stopped after the first half mile and quickly took of my shoes to walk the rest of the mile barefoot. well, i was trying! ;)
NEXT TIME i'm going to walk a mile barefoot! dammit!

i don't have many pictures of the walk and those that i have are only of taylor and isaac. so sorry.

BUT, good news. after we arrived at the venue once again, taylor and ike were talking to the fans and i headed for my car - and there... was ZAC! ahahaha. talking to someone else who sat in a car, but then left and i was like running directly into him, so i was like "hey zac!". OMG, lol. i actually said hey and i'm sure it sounded somewhat calm and sane!? ;)

anyway, you guys might be interested in the conversation... i asked him about the walks and he said that they weren't sure. according to him, it's probably doable in the UK, but as for other countries, there might be some problems with different languages. he was like "let's take germany for an example" or something like that and i replied, that i could help them out, ahaha. so he grinned and said that he'd taken a good guess. ;)

he also said that they try to encourage people to do whatever they can on their own. and that was when my cell phone went off. hanson was crooning " a song to sing" with zac hanson standing right next to me. how embarrassing, lol. i accidentally dropped my camera, but luckily it's still working, haha.

so, i'd never thought that zac would be the one i'd talk to, ahahaha.

*snorts* well, i THINK that i didn't come off as totally retarded this time around, haha.

kay, that's it for now. i'm still on my way back to chicago and it's 2.40 am and i should really get going because it's another 230 kilometers to chicago. *sighs* i'm tired. lol.

i'll tell you about the show later on. when i'm back in chicago and AWAKE! ;)

oh, and he was asking if my feet... yeah, i totally didn't get the word he used! but he wanted to say that his feet always feel ____ after walking a mile barefoot. well, i don't know? hot, sore? whatever, lol. but i was feeling fine, so i said no and then was like "can i ask a question?" or something, lol.

k, ttyl!

stupid picture post

just because i can!

me in my own little shoe box AKA my hotel room in chicago.

and yes, i know i look horrible, haha. that's what you get from a serious lack of sleep. ;)






























my signed SK6ers CD:



whatever he wrote on there, lmao. no matter how hard i try, i just can't read what stephen wrote... it certainly isn't Bree, lmao. ah well, it's kinda funny, actually.

i've also bought myself a few other cds. Sara Bareilles' album since i can't get it over there, Natasha Bedingfield's latest album (not available on amazon.de either) and a best of Aerosmith album. whenever i hear "dude looks like a lady" i think if taylor, lmao. poor guy! he so doesn't these days... ;)

turn the radio up and push the pedal to the ground (or the differences between driving a vehicle in the US and germany)

i've just arrived in chicago and while driving i was thinking about the many differences...

so, basically, what makes driving much more easy-going over here in the United States?

• there's a speed limit of 65 mph (100 km/h)
  
• people don't tend to be as aggressive as in germany (or europe for that matter). i've never been in the situation that someone driving behind me was practically touching my rear bumper. they also don't flash people or drive with their blinker's on to indicate that they want to drive faster than you.
  
• they actually know why zip merging is called zip merging, something most people in germany still don't know. (N.B. "Reißverschlussverfahren")
• there are gas stations, fast food restaurants and hotels along the highway - a variety of them is located at almost EVERY exit. it's not very likely that you'll run out of gas or starve to death.
  

and the disadvantages?

• moseying along a highway for miles and miles with 65 mph IS incredibly boring.

i think i've figured out why the speed limit even exists though. have you SEEN those highways? let me show you some pictures:









get it? can you imagine what those streets would look like if those big cars they drive over here (let alone the TRUCKS!) raced down the highways with 100 mph? ahahaha.

and i won't even mention the potholes! lol. mom would say " da kommen einem die weihnachtsplätzchen von '66 wieder hoch!" lol. ;)

well, yeah, so i'm in chicago. ha.

it's a 106 miles to Chicago...

(well, 207), we got a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes (not), it's dark (not) and we're wearing sunglasses! (hell, yeah!) HIT IT!

sorry, i just had to. lmao. Sam was cracking up when i just told her that... ;)

i'm off to Chicago!
see y'all later!

p.s. i used to have a poster of the Blues Brothers with that quote. Ike rocks for mentioning the quote in the latest FUTY! :p (click the link. mine looked a bit different, but whatever... ;) )

Meyer Theater / Green Bay, WI

i totally forgot to show you a picture or even mention how awesome this venue is. it looks amazing, the seats are so comfy and the staff is nothing but friendly.

i was in row 2 up on the balcony; in the center with a perfect view on everything that was going on on stage.

click on the link above to see a picture.

'tis all.

Green Bay, WI - April 13th BEST. SHOW. EVER!

OMG, you guys, i'm SO pumped right now. i can't believe this! this was such an awesome show! i don't even know what to say!

the setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Can't Stop
3. Been There Before
4. A Minute Without You
5. Georgia
6. Crazy Beautiful
7. This Time Around (acoustic)
8. Go (acoustic)
9. MmmBop (acoustic)
10. Never let go
11. Oh Darling!
12. Blue Sky
13. If Only
14. Running Man
15. Let Love Rule
16. Watch Over Me
17. Hey
18. Lost Without Each Other
19. Something Going Round
20. Encore: Let's Get It On
21. The Ugly Truth
22. Great Divide (a capella)

I mean, seriously? AWESOMEST concert ever. i know that that's not technically a word, lol. but awesome is just not... awesome enough?

TTA acoustic... NEVER LET GO! And they played Let Love Rule and Oh Darling! And even though Let's get it on and Great Divide a capella were just a few lines... 22 songs? hasn't happened before (on this leg) i think!

Today's also been my 1-year-anniversary. Last year i saw them them in dublin for the very first time!

and dammit, i forgot which song it was, but zac reached for a towel and wiped his forehead and neck and taylor went over to have his own forehead wiped... lmao. god, that was just incredibly cute... and yeah, i know that 'zaylor'-fans might have a fit right now. LOL!!

the walk this afternoon was incredible and so was this show, despite the fact that it was seated and that there were quite a few people who stayed in their seats during the whole show... i seriously have no idea how they did that, but whatever. the crowd rocked, hanson rocked, it was a kick-ass show. the end. lol.

on a side note: i talked to the sixers before i left and they're actually really nice. just told stephen how much i loved "piano man" in milwaukee and he told me that they've been trying to play different songs to like make it more challenging... and probably to keep the crowd entertained! lol. also, kyle (i think that's his name? the skinny guy that reminds me just a little of zac because his grin is so big! lol.) asked for a piece of gum since i was carrying around a pack of gum... so i let him have one. lol. sweet. ;)

well, it went pretty well, so i might really talk to one of the guys if i get the chance, just watch it! lol. right now i feel like i can do anything i want and i totally refuse to feel guilty anymore! this might be a waste of time and money to many people, but to put it in the sixers' last song's words: I've had the time of my life...

i'll be heading to chicago tomorrow, but i might squeeze in another show (indianapolis on the 15th)... we'll see. i wish you all could be here and enjoy this with me! they so HAVE TO come back to europe!

alright, i'll try to calm down a little and get some food. i don't really get much to eat over here, lol. not that that's a bad thing... *snorts*

i'll keep you guys updated! <33333

i took the walk in Green Bay, WI - barefoot!

this time i did it - half a mile with shoes, half a mile barefoot. next time i'll do the whole walk without any shoes on! but as taylor said: we don't want to see the soles of his feet (and feet are pretty gross anyway! lol. i agree! :p )

the weather's finally a little better, the sun was out when i left my hotel at 1.45 pm. after this disastrous morning! my nose started bleeding all of a sudden and i couldn't get it to stop! 'twas horrible, especially because it kept getting later and later and my nose was STILL bleeding! luckily, the venue's not far away and i left the hotel with a tissue in my nose. lol. OMG! so embarrassing! 'twas just a tiny piece, so i don't think everyone noticed it, but i still felt kind of weird to walk around with something white in my nostril!

it's stopped though, thank god!

so, same procedure as every time: wait for the guys to show up because they're always late. ;) twas okay though.
i was walking next to zac for a while after i'd run past ike, who was in the back, but quickly went to the front and walked beside taylor. so i can say that i was with the group he asked how they're doing, lol.
i've thought about something to talk about with one of them and i think that if i ever work up the courage to talk to them, then i'm going to ask if they're planning on bringing the walks to europe. or do you think that's stupid and i shouldn't ask that? i don't know... for some reason, even though i've just said last night that i'd feel most comfortable talking to isaac, i think i'd ask taylor if i got the chance...

so, someone tell me if you think that this is an appropriate question? i don't wanna come off as dumb, lol. crazy, yeah, because crazy is good. (ask taylor, he'll tell you! ;) )

so, the pictures are uploading at the moment. i didn't take that many today, around 20.

apart from this one time half-way through the walk i wasn't close enough to them. and taking pictures while walking is just really difficult. this one girl almost ran into a tree. lol. but i think she was talking to ike, not taking pictures! ;) still though, we were being told to watch out for trees, glass and rocks. :p

speaking of trees... taylor's example for "taking action" today was not donating a baby, but hugging trees, lmao. not really, lol. this isn't what this is about. we don't have to go around hugging trees! ;)
just thought it was kinda funny.

alright, the pictures are up and i'll take a nap now before i head down to the venue!

bored out of my mind...

since hanson's on stage in madison and i'm sitting here in green bay i really am bored. sam's not online (i hate weekends!) and i'm just totally bored and jealous even though i'll see them tomorrow and everything... gah. but still, their setlists have been kind of amazing lately...

check out today's setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. Where's The Love
4. Can't Stop
5. Runaway Run
6. Crazy Beautiful
7. Hole In My Life
8. Georgia (a)
9. MMMBop (a)
10. I Will Come To You (a)
11. Strong Enough To Break (a)
12. Never Been To Spain
13. Blue Sky
14. If Only
15. Running Man

(more to come)

i was starting to get worried because taylor'd been the only one singing lead... weird, isn't it? anyway though, i guess they know what they're doing...

i've also done this little blogthing thingy:

What Sabrina Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

and the weird thing is that much, much of it is actually true. not sure about the first paragraphs, but the last ones? most definitely.

16. Let Love Rule
17. Watch Over Me

i'm officially jealous. i don't know the song (let love rule), but i'm dying to hear it. meh. i knew i should have gone... i knew i should have persuaded someone to buy me a ticket or something... i'd planned on doing this show, but in the end decided not to go because i couldn't buy the ticket. ticketmaster didn't have an "international shipping/pick-up option" for this show... dammit.

oh well, maybe they'll play the song again at one of my shows. along with Runaway Run because i really wanna hear it too. -.-

18. Lost Without Each Other

it's totally random, but i've just realized that american dr. pepper really does taste different from british/irish/continental-european dr. pepper. tis weird. one should think that they use the same recipe?

i think i'll go to bed soon though. i really wanna talk to sam. meh.

19. Something going Round

Encore:
20. Rock'n'Roll Razorblade
21. Great Divide (a capella)

"when hanson's not on stage the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days..." well said, zac.

Runaway Run? Georgia (acoustic)? Let Love Rule? Rock'n'Roll Razorblade?
SO. JEALOUS.

g'night. :/

the guitar picks!

because naddl was interested in getting those... here are the pictures of the guitar picks! credits to moela_2003 (h.net) for taking these pictures. they're 5 $.

some more pictures of the shirts!

because you asked for it!






sorry, they're all crumpled and everything... i had to make sure not to lose them last night, lol.

some thoughts about last night and Milwaukee in general...

alright, so i've left milwaukee like an hour ago and i'm now sitting in front of a super 8 motel on my way to green bay. just thought i'd pop in and dwell on my thoughts since green bay's not that far away and it's too early to check in in my hotel in green bay anyway.

so, remember how everyone was like "ugh, this is such a bad part of town in milwaukee, blah blah..."? well, let me tell you that i'm still alive. there was no ghost haunting the hotel (at least it didn't bother to show up in my room if it's really there!) and there was absolutely no problem walking from the hotel to "the rave" and back.
sure, you could see that it wasn't a part of town where rich people live, but it wasn't that bad either.

i haven't seen much of milwaukee due to the crappy weather, but i've come to the conclusion that wisconsin is just not that exciting, lol.

as for last night's show, i totally forgot to mention that the Sixers rocked! i was totally blown away when they covered one of my all-time favorites: Piano man by Billy Joel.
I alwayy wanted to hear that song live and i'm so, so happy that they did that! Wooohoooo!

Hanson was running late (as always), but since the show rocked da house, i'm not going to complain about that. 'twas awesome, even without MmmBop. ;)
Funny thing that i've been to two shows where they didn't play it whereas others are wondering if they EVER don't play it. lol.
i really just think that it had to go because of MFM. they usually don't play that one, so... it makes sense, don't ya think?

As for the new shirts, i probably should have mentioned important things like sizes and prices before, but i'll do that now.

The Georgia shirt is 30 $ and the sizes range from S to XL if i'm not completely mistaken.
The Blue Sky tank is 25 $ and the sizes range from a Youth S to a Youth 2X (XXL).

Also, they have a set of guitar picks for sale (it's 5 $ i think, but i'll have to check back...), which i think is pretty cool. i might get one.

Leigh said that the new merch will come to the h.net store eventually, but she doesn't have a time frame yet. Might take weeks or even months, you never know... Still, I want the 2 fanclub only shirts...

one more thing: when i was standing in line, waiting for the staff to let us into the venue, i overheard some girls behind me, one of them asking "so, what's this walk thing about?" and the other one replied "well, i don't care." i thought that that's kinda sad. this is such a good thing they're doing and personally i'm proud of them for doing it, for raising awareness AND making people take ACTION! but maybe that's just me... ? anyway, it just make me think that they're probably still a lot "teeny boppers" around, because otherwise wouldn't they be interested in something like this? well, i don't care if they don't... i DO care.

Alright... i think that's it for now... talk to you guys soon!

New Shirts!

^^ "Georgia" shirt.





^^ "Blue sky" tank top.

Milwaukee, WI - April 11th

And again, the setlist:

1.) Great Divide

2.) Been There Before

3.) Where's The Love

4.) Can't Stop

5.) Crazy Beautiful

6.) Hole In My Life

7.) Strong Enough To Break (Acoustic)

8.) Go (Acoustic)

9.) Man From Milwaukee (Acoustic)

10.) Change In My Life (Acoustic)

11.) Blue Sky

12.) If Only

13.) A Minute Without You

14.) Running Man

15.) Penny And Me

16.) This Time Around

17.) Watch Over Me

18.) Hey

19.) Something Going Round

Encore:

20.) The Ugly Truth

21.) Great Divide (a capella)

Let me tell you guys that this show was f***in' amazing!
so, so, SO much better than La Crosse! And the show the day before yesterday was anything but bad... but this one today... it just kicked ass!

I mean, seriously... Man from Milwaukee? Hole in my life? Change in my life? The Ugly Truth? How did they know?? Alright, so MFM didn't come as a surprise, but it was so freaking awesome!

And you know what? I left my hotel room at 7 and went to the venue. Had to wait for about 10-15 minutes until they actually let us in, but they let us wait in the basement so we wouldn't freeze to death... went to get my ticket, got it without any problems or waiting... and then i went inside. The Rave's actually a pretty decent venue. I was kind of surprised, I have to say...

After I'd bought myself some water, I went... no, scratch that. I went to the merch table and bought the two new shirts, lol. I'll post some pictures after I'm done typing my post! After that I got the water and then started looking for a place where I could see... First I stayed in the back, but the more people came, the more I realized that I wouldn't really be able to see back there. So it was either going back to where the merch table was or going to the front... I decided to check out the front - and believe it or not... on the far right side weren't too many people, so I stood there, like... I don't know, I'm SO bad at guessing, maybe like 5 meters away from Taylor. Sure, the piano totally blocked my view, but I could see Zac and Ike (depending if I moved a little more to the left or to the right) and as long as Taylor wasn't sitting, I could see him as well. 'Twas the perfect spot for a concert! Enough room to move, no pushing, close to the stage. Ha!

Taylor was wearing another Hanson shirt. Last time he had the new Georgia shirt on, this time he was wearing the black The Walk tee. I saw a guy in the audience wearing the exact same shirt and at first I was like "hm... I don't know, it looks kinda weird on a guy...", but Taylor... well, you know Taylor can wear anything. ;) :p
I think he looked gorgeous today... for some reason this show reminded me of shows back in the days... you know, Zac with his long hair and Taylor... well, looking younger? lol.

And you could totally tell that the staff doesn't experience an audience like this very often. This one guy seriously cracked me up. I was trying to sing along but found myself outright laughing at him because he stared at those two girls in front of me with such an awkward, disbelieving look on his face, it was just too damn funny.

Well, those girls kinda got on my nerves since all they could do was SCREAM. annoying, seriously. And one of them, woah, it was ear-piercing. A few others were busy drinking and smoking, which's kinda irritating, then again, no-one pissed me off to the extent where i couldn't enjoy the show anymore.

The setlist... well, needless to say that I'm totally satisfied. Well, okay, they didn't play MmmBop. Guess they sacrificed that for MFM, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hear that song next time I see them again... and all the times after that, lol. But seriously, I'm just really happy that they were in such a good mood and that the crowd totally rocked the house. I'm a bit torn in between Manchester last year and this show now... by all means, those were the best shows I've been to so far.

Alright, I'm gonna upload those pictures and then try to calm down and get some sleep. I have to check-out early tomorrow.

i took the walk in Milwaukee, WI

and let me tell you that this one has been crazy, lol. there were more people than in la crosse and it really was just kind of stressful this time around. the police were there, blocking the streets so we could walk. anyway though, it's really cold and windy outside and i know that i should be glad that it didn't rain but i can't help but wish that it was warmer outside. there is no way i'm staying at the venue, especially not on my own.

i'm currently uploading the pictures i took... and yeah i'm sorry that most of them - once again - show taylor. he's just a camera magnet, lol.

i kinda like the last one i took of zac though.

anyway though, this has been the 50th walk for them, so it was kinda special... of course for me it was just the second, not quite as impressing.

it's 5.45 pm, but i don't think doors will open before 7, so i won't go there yet. what's the point in hanging around there with no-one there to talk to? i've decided that i'm going to enjoy the show from the back this time around and have a closer look at the merch table. i wonder if stephen kellogg & the sixers have merch to sell? if so i might just buy a cd. they're pretty good.

also, the venue doesn't allow cameras, so i won't take it with me. and since i'll be in the back anyway it doesn't matter.

my foot's still hurting me (of course i did not go and see a doctor last week), but i'll just suck it up and try to ignore it.

well... i wonder how long this box office thing is open... at least until the show starts i assume. there might be people coming along and buy tickets, huh? i really, really, REALLY hate will calls, but unfortunately it's the only option they offer. i would have preferred to print the tickets myself or something, but they don't even offer THAT... *sighs*

oh well... ;)

now if i could just get a faster connection? i've been trying to upload those pictures for like an hour and a half now and i'm still not done...

i really hope they're going to play man from milwaukee tonight. now that'd seriously make my day. how awesome would that be? that said, i can't help but thinking about the quote sylvie has in her siggy... taylor's reply as to how they got so awesome (well, we went to awesome school and we tried to take the kick-ass lessons but they wouldn't let us take that, so we just got awesome) LOL. seriously, taylor is SO funny sometimes.

while walking today i overheard zac saying that this guy looked really confused (there was a guy standing in a driveway and he either just completely spaced out or couldn't believe the madness going on around him) and the way he said it... well, you guys know zac, he can make anything sound and look funny. ;) it was almost as if he was making fun of him for no reason at all - and that was just amusing to no end.

i'm kinda glad that the next two shows are seated... i really love seated shows. plus, i'll join in on the madness next time they come to europe. should be more fun since i'll actually know people there, hahaha.

also, i've received an email earlier today from someone working for TOMS who's apparently read the post and seen the picture i posted. to make a long story short: i've been offered a new pair of TOMS and this is just totally... AWESOME! lol.
and this time i'll make sure that i use scotchgard before i wear them. hopefully that'll protect them. still though, it's safer to wear them when it's warm and sunny outside. i wonder if this scotchgard thing is some kind of "imprägnierspray"? i've never used it before and turned down the offer of buying it whenever i bought some leather shoes. anyone familiar with this stuff?

well, i just hope that these photos will be ready and uploaded by the time i have to leave, ahahaha. not that i'm in a hurry because i'm not too keen on seeing kate voegele 13 times. she's okay, but just like jade gallagher (the girl that opened for hanson in manchester and london last year)... it kind of gets boring because the songs sound so much alike. and i don't know any of her songs anyway, haha.

well, i'll post more later - after the show. see y'all.

(pictures are uploaded now... click on "i took the walk in milwaukee, WI")

in a way... this is some kind of art, no?

okay, let's lay down some rules, shall we?

first off: do not wear TOMS shoes when it's raining unless you've made sure that they're protected.

second off: do not unscrew caps unless you've made sure that the bottle's stood somewhere - perfectly STILL - for at least 10 minutes.


resolutions:

1.) buy new pair of TOMS and make sure you only wear them when it's not raining. in case you're wearing them and it starts to rain, take them off and walk barefoot if necessary.

2.) throw away ruined shirt.

3.) keep ruined TOMS for a private "style your sole" party.


this so wasn't a good day for me. i'm just really glad that it's over.

let me know if you guys still want the shoes - and in case you do, leave a message and let me know what size you wear.

review...

i took the walk!

credits to lfehouse (on h.net) for this picture.

overall, my stay in La Crosse has been pretty pleasant so far. it's 10.37 am and i'm going to check out soon. next stop: Milwaukee.

by the way, i've talked to a few girls yesterday, so it wasn't that boring to be there on my own. lol. they're from la crosse so i won't see them again, but still... it was nice. Jenny actually paid a thousand bucks for a m&g and they guys were pretty stunned, lol. well, but the money goes to charity i think, not to the radio station she's bought the tickets off. so i guess that's alright. ;)

still... you thought *i* was crazy for doing this... lol. at least i get to seem them more often... ;)

that sounds so selfish, but i'd rather buy like 10 pairs of shoes, shirts, download songs or just donate money directly (like i did last year when hanson and bryan johnson (a bryan photo) were in africa and were able to donate 15.000 $ to this school).

alright, gotta get ready to leave. talk to you guys soon.

the great divide shoes...

so i helped myself to a nice pair of TOMS. and let me tell you... if they are this comfy even after you've worn them for hours, i never wanna wear another pair of shoes again, lol. it's like walking barefoot. i'll let you know...

check out the pictures above!

La Crosse, WI - April 9th

first off, the setlist:

1. Great Divide
2. Been There Before
3. A Minute Without You
4 Can't Stop
5. Georgia
6. Crazy Beautiful
7. I've Been Down (Acoustic)
8. Go (Acoustic)
9. Mmmbop (Acoustic)
10. A Song to Sing (Acoustic)
11. Never Been to Spain
12. Blue Sky
13. If Only
14. Penny & Me
15. This Time Around
16. Watch Over Me
17. Hey
18. Something Going Round

Encore:
19. Lost Without Each Other
20. Great Divide (A capella)

okay... my feet hurt. my ears hurt. i can't hear. but it was worth it. totally.

i wanted to hear hey and never been to spain live! <3333333>

BUT: the show was fun! 19 songs is not THAT excellent, but it's better than 16, lol. so, for the first show of this leg, i'm satisfied. i don't have any pictures this time around because i wasn't sure if they allow cameras. turned out they did, but i guess the pictures would suck anyway. as i mentioned before, i'm just too small. dammit.

anyway though, i'm sure tons of people will post pictures somewhere. since i got my hand stamped, i got in with all the people who took the walk and ended up 4th row. at the end of the show i was like in 6th row, but twas alright. i didn't camp out or stay there all day. in fact, i just went there around 1 for the walk and then left after it and went back to the venue at 6. so i really can't complain.

anyway, so here's the video i promised earlier:

http://de.tinypic.com/player.php?v=2agkgfk&s=3

i'm pretty pumped at the moment, but at the same time i'm really tired and kind of emotionally shaken up. i'm kind of glad that the next show isn't tomorrow... lol.

i took the walk in la crosse, WI

check out the pictures on photobucket. klick on the link above (i took the walk) to have a look at the pictures.

i've just decided that this trip was totally worth this experience - and the best thing is that it isn't over yet... it's barely started.

there are probably better pictures than mine, but at least i took them... i was there! lol. even though i'm just a little too short... so there are always other people's heads in the way... oh well...

i've also made this little video... it's only part of taylor's speech (the video's roughly 4 minutes long), but i thought you might wanna see it even though you've seen all the the walk episodes i guess. either way, check it out here:

(the video's not yet available. i'll fix the glitch later!)


alright... i gotta get ready to head back to the venue for the show! :)
talk to you guys soon!

P.S. i'm just totally blown away... i can't believe this! lol.

we can conquer this great divide...

so it's almost time for the first show. i'm feeling slightly sick and i guess it's because i'm just totally nervous. i've bought a sandwich on my way to la crosse, but i don't think i can eat it. ugh.

i'm still trying to decide whether i should take a cab or drive to the la crosse center myself. there's a parking lot right across the street, so i could park there i guess.

also, i don't know when i should head there. the walk's supposed to start at 2.30 and now i don't know if i should go there in the morning and try to find someone to talk to and spend the time with or if i should just go there around 1 or something... ugh. i really wish i knew someone there, haha.

well, i guess it's going to be alright, but still... i'm getting scared...

i wonder if there are any other fans in this hotel... the hotel's pretty nice, actually. nothing too fancy, but since it's not that expensive... i have a tv (even though i haven't watched tv yet, i'm listening to "the walk".), a fridge and a microwave, a comfy bed and an armchair as well as a desk and another chair. i'm good with the bed though, haha.
the room's clean and the soda/candy machine is just around the corner.

also, i don't know what to wear tomorrow. am i really supposed to walk barefoot? lmao. it's like... cold outside? plus, i wonder if they're still doing the walk even if it rains... hm... well, guess i'll find out soon, huh? which reminds me... i have to check if my feet look alright, lol.

alright... calm down, bree. calm.down.

*takes a deep breath* maybe i should read something or whatever... it's 7.40 pm over here, but the weather's been shitty all day, so i'd rather not go out again. plus, i'm not hungry, so it wouldn't make sense anyway.

will post more tomorrow or whenever i feel like posting... :)

anything but ordinary?

i'm sitting at the super 8 motel in bloomington, IL with my laptop on my lap (you know i JUST realized why a laptop is called laptop! LMFAO!!! oh my god... i have to travel thousands of miles just to find out that it totally makes sense that a notebook's called laptop! LOL!!!)

anyway though, so yeah i'm sitting here on the bed with a toothbrush in my mouth, listening to david gillespie as i'm getting ready to check-out. it's 8.30 in the morning and i'm finally somewhat awake. lol.

this has been one hell of a trip. when i finally landed in NY, it took me forever to get through immigration authorities. This guy... i don't even have words for him. you know, the line i was in moved SO slowly. everyone who'd been behind me in line but was directed to another counter was faster in there then i was. well, i found out why when it was finally time for me to go up to the counter. this guy was just really, really SLOW! and you wanna know why? because he was busy eating pistachios!! this is like unbe-freaking-lievable, but it's the truth!
he didn't even say hello or something... well, thanks for the nice welcome to the United States, lol.

fortunately the guy at customs duty was really nice. asked me how i was doing (well, i know that's a common thing here in America. they don't really expect me to answer, hahaha. ), what i'm doing in the US, if i was traveling alone and finally if i had anything in those suitcases other than clothes and personal stuff. so i said that i had a few bars of chocolate in there (yeah sammy, i know you're addicted to it now, lol.) and he replied that that's alright. since i didn't have any fruit or vegetables, he let me pass... and then the fun of queuing began again. *rolls eyes* i hav this theory that americans really just like to stand in line, lol.

anyway, it took me two and a half hours to finally get to the gate where my flight to atlanta was supposed to leave only to find out that they'd changed the gate... anyway, there was enough time left, so i went from gate 3 to gate 27 after i'd called my mom/ronny and sam.

i already told you that i didn't understand most of what sammy was saying. for some reason i understood ronny and mom better, i don't know if it was because i called them on their landline or because sammy's just quiet? well, talking in a low tone... lol. i don't know, i shall find out soon.

anyway though, the plane left on time and brought me to atlanta, GA. i have to say that even though "georgia" was stuck in my head, i didn't really like it there. the airport was kinda scary and i just... i don't know. i just didn't really like it. ("georgia" just came on! lol.)
even though atlanta's supposed to be warm and sunny, lol. it so wasn't. it was cold and windy. the worst thing was that i had to take both of my suitcases, my carry-on trolley and a bag to the place where the hotel shuttles were and it was so goddamn heavy! i swear this stuff weighs about 100 pounds (about 45 kg) and my whole body's aching now. there are muscles i didn't even know i have...
took me about 2 hours after i'd gathered my luggage to get to the hotel because i couldn't get to the shuttle fast enough with all my stuff. there are about 6 parking spaces and whoever comes first, takes one, so whenever the shuttle showed up somewhere i was somewhere else and either didn't even see it or the shuttle was full before i got to it.

well and before i went to the parking lot i had to work up the courage to call a hotel, lol. aw man, i guess that alone took me an hour or something. lol.

well, nothing else happened on that day/night... i got up at 6 in the morning and left the hotel at 7.15. and when i got to the airport i seriously wanted to die. people were standing in line for security check like throughout the whole airport! i was like WTF? are you serious? well, they were and i think it took me like an hour to get through security check. after that i went to one of those stores and bought myself some crackers and soda as well as chewing gum and then headed towards the gate. another 30 minutes or something of waiting and then i could finally go on board. i'm telling ya, i was just really happy that i could finally leave atlanta.

we left atlanta with a delay of 25 minutes and so i arrived in bloomington around 11.00 CST. i just went to the restrooms and then directly to the baggage claim only to find my suitcases already there. everything went smoothly, i got my rental car without any problems. it's a white nissan sentra and i'm going to take a picture to show you the car either later on today or tomorrow.

the lady from Alamo showed me the way to the super 8 motel and so i drove directly to the motel, but unfortunately it was not even 12 and check-in's at 2 pm, so i went online and talked to sam for a while before i decided to go and find another restroom as well as something to eat. i found a supermarket and stocked up on crackers and soda (and let me tell you that this dr. pepper limited edition thingy is absolutely disgusting!) - it's what i've lived off the last 2 days, lol. i need to find some fruits or something, lol.
anyway though, i came back at 1.50 and checked-in. the guy at the front desk was really nice and told me that he has a german friend (and he always pronounces his name incorrectly, lol.). so basically i went upstairs to my room, talked to tiff (sam's sister) for a while and then went to sleep until 9 pm. talked to sam some more until 12.30 i think and then went to bed again. pretty much a boring day, but i could hardly move anyway, lol. i'm still in pain but it's better today.

by the way, the weather's not as pretty as yesterday. it was all sunny when i arrived, now it's clouded and i think it rained last night.

i'll live though even without the sun... ;)

alright... i'll get ready to head out now. ttys!

well....

On the plane Frankfurt - New York

hey there, i can't post this right now since i'm on the plane - right above England at the moment. I'm about 550 miles away from home - 10.000 meteres (32.000 ft) above the ground.

There are tons of little white clouds, looking like cotton candy below m e and once again i feel like going out there and go for a walk on those clouds with the sun shining down on me. it's fascinating how flying always makes me feel like this. i don't know why peope would be scared of flying when so much more happens to people down there. Anyway though, i just got my first drink and some peanuts and since it's 12.50 pm in germany i guess they're going to serve lunch soon. looks like i'll have "pan roasted breast of chicken with herb sauce, accompanied by carrot batons, green beans and diced roasted potatoes."

how fancy does that sound? lol. they'll offer ginger cookies for dessert. the mid-flight snack's going to be ice cream and the menue also states that they'll serve vegetarian pizza topped with spinach and ricotta and another cookie for dessert. while i don't mind the ricotta, i could do without spinach. isn't it just the most disgusting vegetable ever? except for sprouts maybe.

we've reached the coast by now and below me is more dark water but it won't take that long before we fly over ireland.

and then... well, i guess then the journey really begins. i've said goodbye to mom and ronny around 10 this morning, sent jessi a text message (because she'd texted me to wish me a safe flight and told me to have fun...) and then i passed security and everything. which wenbt smoothly, surprisingly.

the best thing about this flight is that i don't have to share my to seats. lol. by the way, i was right, lunch is on its way. i can smell it. but yeah, the seat next to me is not taken and that's pretty awesome i have to say.

and i'm so going to watch "national treasure - the book of secrets" now! awesome! i wanted to watch that movie, but missed it. yay! so, see y'all later!

***************************************

i've been on the plane for approximately 7 hours now and suprisingly i haven't been bored yet. i even got some sleep - probably not more than an hour and since i didn't get much sleep last night either, this is going to be so hard. once i'm in new york i'll have to stay there for almost 5 hours - and then another 12 hours in atlanta. i have no idea what i'm going to do there. i h ave a feeling that i'll have to sit on my suitcases all night because i didn't get the ticket formy flight from atlanta to bloomington yet. i guess i'll get that in atlanta tomorrow. i'll have to ask once i check in in new york.

this is so not going to be pretty. i probably should have booked a hotel room near the airport. *sighs*

oh well... we'll see i guess.

they're about to serve that vegetarian pizza, so i guess i'll write more later.

xoxo

******************************************

sitting in new york now and i've just talked to sammy. well, i didn't understand most of what she said because it's so incredibly loud and crowded in here... i really wish i could have gone outside or something, but i told her that i'd call her tomorrow from my hotel room... so it's alright i guess.

*************************

i'm at a super 8 motel in atlanta and i'm just totally exhausted. i'm gonna take a shower now and then go to bed! will let you know about this craziness later on...

okay, i don't know if you think this is weird...

but i really do love quoting songs. i do it all the time and it's fun! plus, if there's a beautifully written song that describes what i'm feeling, why bother to find own words? i could never say it better.

it's crazy, but hanson has so many songs that seem as if they've been written for me. that's why i keep quoting...

anyway though... 24 hours to go! actually, in 24 hours i'll be on the plane! GAH!!! lol.

i still have to finish packing my things and then i'll probably post some pictures later on.

i wanna run with you until i lose control...

you know what really and truly sucks?

no? well, let me fill you in. my family sucks. with the exception of my 'stepdad', everyone thinks i'm nuts... alright, so they can think that because i think that they're boring and wasting their lives, but what do *i* know? ::rolls eyes::

my mom doesn't get it. she hates concerts. she thinks they're too loud, that the people there are just a bunch of screaming freaks and she basically just doesn't understand why anyone would go to a concert. um... okay... it's pretty much pointless to try and get *my* point across. but at least she's not telling me that i'm wasting my money like every time i see her.

my grandma and my brother are just being completely narrow-minded. and gran doesn't even know about the shows. she thinks that i'm going on a vacation, ahaha. so, traveling, broaden my horizon and on top of it getting to see 'my boys' is just a waste of time and money?

what do they want me to do? like... get a job (and we're not talking about interesting jobs either! of course it has to be a boring desk job. exactly the reason why i quit in the first place... because it was B.O.R.I.N.G!), save up money for a rainy day and make sure that i'll have lots of money once i retire. um... let me get this straight... i'm 26, not like 66. maybe i won't even live that long? i mean, seriously, you never know! i don't get why they worry so much about the future when it's the present they should care about. i'm just tired of wasting my life. i want to travel and see things, get to know people and just... LIVE, goddammit! i've practically been living under a rock for the past 4 years, hiding away in my room because i just... couldn't face reality and my life. i don't want to do that anymore though.

"i wanna run with you until i lose control
don't wanna worry 'bout gettin' by
i wanna breathe when i'm breathin'
and see what i'm seein'
take a one way ticket tonight..."

basically, i don't want to just dream of a better life anymore. i want to live a better life. and i'm going to.

and i'm trying my best "not to feel guilty when you say i'm wasting my time".

i'm going to have the time of my life. now. and i'm not going to regret spending money on this band. they've been a big part of my life for two years now and i couldn't imagine what my life would be like if i hadn't listened to "penny and me" and hadn't bought their cd... i don't WANT to imagine it. these guys have given me so much strength, the opportunity to find myself in their music - and i'm grateful for all the wonderful people i've met because of them.

i'm extremely thankful that i have met someone who's become my best friend in such a short period of time - even though i'd sworn to never use that phrase again... you can't imagine how good it feels to actually know someone that understands, no matter what. i don't have to explain myself over and over again and whenever i'm down and kind of running in circles, afraid to fall right back into this deep, black hole called depression, she's there, ready to pick up the pieces and glue them back together.
thanks, sammy. you rock! <333333333

alright. i'm gonna stop rambling now. just had to get it off my chest.

back to excitement! only one more day! *squeels*

P.S. i know there are some people who don't think i deserve this. i also know that there are some people who think that i do deserve it. bless you guys! for the rest of you who's just jealous to the point where you can't even be happy for me... well, fuck you! i know that i'd be happy for each and every single one of you. while i understand that probably everyone's a little jealous because i get to see them again (i'd be jealous too, trust me!), i do not understand why people would treat me differently all of a sudden.
i'm not naming names. you guys know if you belong to group #1 or #2.

my other blogs...

make sure to check out all of my blogs:

http://theysaygoldfishhavenomemory.blogspot.com/

(hanson/tour related)

http://staringat-theblankpage.blogspot.com/

(every day life...)

http://goodbyetoallmyyesterdays.blogspot.com/

(new zealand)

on the plane step with both my feet...

have i ever told you guys what this song really means to me? "penny and me"? it's not just any song. it's the song that brought me back to the band i love more than i could ever love any other band.

it was the first song i listened to before i ordered my copy of "live and electric", after listening to just one song online.

well, i was just listening to this album and P+M came on... and it made me cry because i'm just so glad that i found my way back. well, actually, i've never been a die-hard fan before P+M. even back in the days... i owned middle of nowhere and snowed in and live from albertane and i knew all the lyrics and stuff about the guys, but i just wasn't as into them as i am now, if that makes any sense.

anyway though... that's only part of the reason why i shed a few tears.

you know.. the lyrics...

On the plane step with both my feet
Riding in seat number three on a flight to NYC
Got my bean in a coffee cup next to my seat
Catch the view and another good book to read
Sitting at home or the friendly skies missing her eyes
It’s always Penny and me tonight

that's basically what i feel at the moment/what's going to happen in just a few days. i AM going to be on a flight to NYC on sunday... not in seat 3, but 39A, but still...

i'm going to read during the flight and i'm going to drink coffee and hopefully see the skyline of new york for the very first time. i'm going to listen to music (i'm not going anywhere without my iPod) and just think about things, like i always do...

i think i'm starting to get excited...

der countdown läuft, baby... :p

Create yours at BlingyBlob.com!

so much to do...

okay, i think i might have to go and see a doctor before i leave. my foot's been getting worse. it really hurts now and i don't know what's wrong with it.
gah. i hate that.

i have to start packing, clean up my room, finish chapter 3 of "thinking of you" and finish proof-reading sylvie's "captured", update my iPods (yes, iPods! there's just no way the battery will last longer than 12 hours... and i'm going to have one hell of a trip!) and finish reading three books.

i've pretty much given up on the "writing letters" part. *sighs*
and the boxes in the basement are just not that important. lol. plus, it's so COLD at the moment, there's just no way i'll spend hours in the basement going through some stupid boxes.

as for my trip from frankfurt to bloomington, this is going to be an adventure.

frankfurt - new york
11.20am (CET) - 1.55pm (EST) flight duration: 8 hours 35 minutes
lay over: 4 hours 50 minutes

new york - atlanta
6.45pm (EST) - 9.31pm (EST) flight duration: 2 hours 46 minutes
lay over: 12 hours 43 minutes

atlanta - bloomington
9.44am (EST) - 10.43am (CST) flight duration: 1 hour 59 minutes

flight duration (total): 30 hours 53 minutes

fun, huh? lol. however, the flight back isn't so bad.


bloomington - atlanta
11.20am (CST) - 2.08pm (EST) flight duration: 1 hour 48 minutes
lay over: 3 hours 22 minutes

atlanta - paris
5.30pm (EST) - 8.15am (CET) flight duration: 8 hours 45 minutes
lay over: 1 hour 40 minutes

paris - frankfurt
9.50am (CET) - 11.10am (CET) flight duration: 1 hour 20 minutes

flight duration (total): 16 hours 55 minutes

by the way, for those of you who aren't familar with time zones:

CST (Central Standard Time)
EST (Eastern Standard Time)
CET (Central European Time)
PST (Pacific Standard Time) * will need this later when i go to san francisco

for europeans:
CET = MEZ (Mitteleuropäische Zeit)
EST = MEZ - 7 hours
CST = MEZ - 6 hours
PST = MEZ - 9 hours

another two weeks 'til take-off. :D

time to get down to business!

i have to start thinking about what i'm going to need and start packing.

i know one thing for sure: the security guys at the airports are going to think that i've gone crazy. ahaha. most of you probably know that you can't put electronic equipment in your suitcases/regular luggage. you have to take it on board with you which means that i'll have a LOT OF carry-on luggage.

YES! :p

i'm done, i'm done! *bounces*

everything's booked and now i can... well, not relax because i still have an awful lot to do... and not even 3 weeks left, but i'll manage somehow, i hope.

i've just booked my last hotel room in chicago... i'm so proud! lol.

by the way...

this hasn't anything to do with the upcoming tour, but i thought i'd share anyway...

so i showed my stepdad the "the walk" stickers and he was like "i want one!". at first i thought he was kidding, but check this out:



Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!





Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

Creepy much?

so, apparently the neighborhood of "the rave" is not the best... i've heard about bulletproof windows at a nearby taco bell, but the venue has a parking lot and if you pay those 10 - 20 $ security will make sure your car's safe there.

as for the hotel i'll be staying at (the ambassador inn), it's near the venue. so far, so good. except for the fact that this hotel is like haunted. and those of you who have had a discussion about supernatural beings and powers with me know that i do believe in stuff like that. which means that i'm officially creeped out!
(read the story... my blog title should link to the site!)

i really, REALLY hope that charlotte's going to be there with me. lol. i SO do not want to be there all by myself.

well, i should know by the end of the weekend.

as for the shows in albany and burlington, i'm going to have some company there. i'll meet up with caroline and her friend margeaux. they're both from canada and i'll be meeting up with them in albany. the next day we'll drive up to burlington together. i'm really looking forward to that. caro sounds like a really nice girl! :D

anyway, i have booked all of my hotel rooms by now, with the exception of the 3 days i wanted to spend in chicago.
and i still need to rent cars. i'll book them next week i guess. i'm pondering over booking them directly through an agency's website (i kind of like www.hertz.com) or hotwire. hotwire offers great deals, but excluding insurance. i'd have to buy those directly at the pick-up point and i have no idea how much those insurances are. so it might be better not to book through hotwire. oh well... i'll figure it out somehow.

i can't believe it's only 3 weeks til i'm going to leave...

post #1

well well well... so i've decided to set up a blog and keep you guys updated... i just guess that i won't have the time to get back to every single one of you, so here's the deal:

i'll try to post on here on a regular basis. the advantages? A) you'll know where i am and how i'm doing and B) i won't have to write some kind of diary because everything i need to remember will be on here. sounds like a plan, huh?

so, first of all, i'll let you know where i'm supposed to be, what i've planned so far. as many of you know, i'd decided to go to 7 hanson shows. well, i've changed my plans because i needed a place to stay anyway and my plans didn't quite work out the way i wanted them to, so... i'll be going to 13 (yes, THIRTEEN) shows. yes, i'm crazy, insane probably, but you know what? i don't care. being crazy is FUN, believe it or not!

so, the shows i'll be attending are:

april 09 la crosse, WI
april 11 milwaukee, WI
april 13 green bay, WI
april 18 bloomington, IL
april 22 albany, NY
april 23 burlington, VT
april 25 northampton, MA
april 26 hampton beach, NH
may 01 falls church, VA
may 02 allentown, PA
may 03 lancaster, PA
may 05 asheville, NC
may 07 durham, NC

i'll spend a few days in timonium, MD after the last show in april and meet my sammy. lol. i seriously can't wait. :)

well, and after the last hanson show in may, the end of this leg of the tour.... i don't know how many legs there are, lol. doesn't matter anyway... so, after the last show i'll be flying out to san francisco, CA and see kate nash live in concert at the infamous fillmore! i just couldn't resist! ;)

oh, and i'll leave on april 06 and come back on may 22.

anyways, will write more later. i still haven't booked all my hotel rooms and whatnot.

27 days to go.



Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!