Earlier this week, the hubby and I ventured down to our local arena to a concert. I was excited about it. The hubby? Less so. When I first heard Evanescence, one of my favorite bands, was coming to town, I bought two tickets. I asked my friend, Jen, my usual concert buddy, if she wanted to go. Alas, she’s in nursing school and had class that night. Next I asked another friend, Kim, but she’s a teacher, she lives two hours away, and it was a school night. No go there either. Most of my other friends who live anywhere near me aren’t fans of the band. The friends who are fans live in states like Texas, not exactly just down the street. That left the hubby, who thinks Evanescence is only okay. He thinks all their songs sound the same. Gasp! (I might add he thinks the same thing about Nickelback, who I went to see last year.) But being a good sport, he tagged along.

First off, let me just say I’m SO glad I didn’t just wear a T-shirt. Dummy me didn’t even think about how cold the arena would be. I mean, hello, it’s still hockey season and the ice is still on the rink. They just cover it up for other functions on non-game nights. By the end of the night, I was sneezing and keeping Puffs in business.

The opening band, Finger Eleven, was pretty good, despite the poor lead singer being “sick as a dog”. Their guitarist was very entertaining as he bounced and danced around stage. If I had that much energy, I’d bottle it and sell it to moms of little children and long-haul truck drivers and writers on deadline. I didn’t know most of their songs, but I still enjoyed their set, particularly the last song, “Paralyzer”, which I did know.

Next up was Chevelle. They’d opened for Nickelback too. I didn’t like them then, and I don’t like them now. They’re one of those screaming bands, where the singer sounds like he’s going to rip his vocal cords into shreds as he sings. And their music was so loud and bass-heavy that I could feel my internal organs bouncing against my ribcage. I was sincerely glad when their set was over — both because I didn’t like them and the fact that I would know all the songs by Evanescence and could get up and dance to get warm.

When Evanescence came out, the crowd got really loud, me included. I sang to every song, stood and danced the whole time. Poor hubby, the only time he really got excited was when the guitarist started to play the opening to “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. Granted, the rest of the crowd loved that too. I thought Evanescence’s part of the show was good, even though the sound seemed a bit off a few times. I did notice Amy Lee, the singer, go over to the side of the stage at one point and make a motion to one of the guys running the sound boards, so she must have noticed it too.

I’m in the mood for another concert, so I’ve been watching the touring schedule for Lacuna Coil and Without Temptation, who are touring together in the U.S. Lacuna Coil is an Italian band, and Without Temptation is from the Netherlands. So far, the nearest they’re coming to here is three hours away. Hmm…

Be sure to check out hubby’s humorous post about the concert on his blog.

I believe it was last year when fellow young adult writer Heather Davis finaled in the Golden Heart and had to pick her photo to be used during the awards ceremony that she asked for feedback on her blog regarding which photo to use. Now, I’m doing the same. I had the hubby take a bunch of pictures of me today in different outfits at various points around our yard. Now I need help deciding which photo to use.

Of the photos below, which of the orange ones do you like best? Then which of the black ones? And finally, which picture do you like best overall? Thanks a million!

Orange 1

Orange 2

Orange 3

Black 1

Black 2

Have you ever really anticipated reading a new book, seeing a TV show or watching a movie only to have it not live up to your expectations. As a writer, it’s really frustrating when a good story concept doesn’t achieve it’s potential. I felt that way recently after watching the British TV show Hex. Evidently when it first aired, it was billed at the British Buffy, and I can see the influences. But while I enjoyed some of the characters and watched both seasons (it was canceled after the second), it never had the spark and genius of Buffy. And I really wanted it to, at least to come close.

Azazel, Cassie and Thelma from Hex

The Hex storyline is that Azazeal (played by Michael Fassbender, who is Stelios in the movie 300) is the leader of the Nephilim, the fallen angels who have been around since the beginning of time. He’s been trying for 500 years to have a son with a mortal woman, and he’s found his latest lady in Cassie Hughes, a pretty blonde who goes to a boarding school in the English countryside. Okay, so we’ve got our Angel and Buffy characters there — young little blonde who attracts the been-around-for-hundreds-of-years bad boy from the dark side, someone who should be her natural enemy. Only she can’t resist him. But I believed Buffy fell for Angel. Heck, I fell for Angel. But I never believed Cassie felt anything other than some lust for Azazeal. The “relationship” happened too fast, and it didn’t have those touches like the guy who is technically evil wanting to be good and love the girl. When Azazeal says he cares for Cassie, I don’t believe him because the writers didn’t make me believe him.

Willow, Oz, Giles, Cordelia, Xander, Buffy, Spike, Angel and Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Like on Buffy, there’s a cast of secondary characters on Hex. Roxanne is the snobby rich girl who gets what she wants but who eventually turns into a good person (Cordelia, anyone?). There’s Leon, the kind of goofy guy who eventually grows into his own as a hero (shades of Xander) even though he’s never going to be as strong as the girl he admires (Ella Dee) because she was born to serve a greater purpose and has superpowers. And never fear, there’s a character who’ll remind you of Willow, even though Thelma isn’t a witch (that’s actually Cassie, though we see little of this). Thelma is killed early on by Azazeal, but she’s still around as a ghost who like the fact that she can eat all the junk she wants out of the snack machine and not gain wait. Thelma is the best character because she’s really funny. Oh, and while Willow eventually discovered she was a lesbian, Thelma is from the very beginning of the series.

Honestly, the story concept was intriguing, and the characters would have made for an interesting story progression. I don’t fault the actors for the show not living up to the potential it had. I lay that blame at the writers’ feet. They didn’t seem to dig deeply or fully flesh out the characters so that they were three-dimensional and we cared about them. They made some decisions that had me scratching my head. For instance, Cassie was supposed to be the lead, but she dies something like 6 or 7 episodes in, never to be seen again. Azazeal, the male lead, says adios partway into season 2 based on the reason that powers higher than him have said he must vacate his and Cassie’s son’s life. We shift in season 2 to focus on the battle between Ella Dee, the last of the Chosen Ones (shades of Buffy again) and Malachi, the child of Azazeal and Cassie (who grew up in a very short amount of time) who is supposed to bring about the End of Days. Even though there’s a sweet love story between Ella and Leon, Ella feels some temptation toward Malachi because he’s dangerous and forbidden because she’s sworn to kill him and is in some respects like her (Buffy and Spike, per chance?).

All this said, I was interested enough in the show to watch until the end. I wanted to know what would happen next and if the writing would get better as it did after the first season of Buffy. It did get better, though not enough to save the show. Had it gone on to a third season, I would have continued watching just because I was curious how the story would end and the fact that Thelma was really funny. But it could have been better had it lived up to its potential.

I’m not a doctor, but I play one in the yard.

Okay, not really, but the surgical mask is what I’ve resorted to when I need to do yard work during the height of spring allergy season. So, this week, I’ve been weeding and mulching the flowerbeds while wearing the latest in yard work fashion. To venture forth without it is inviting the pollen in the air to turn me into a sneezing, snuffy-headed, crazed woman. I’d rather look like a dork, thanks.

So, last night’s episode of Battlestar Galactica, the season finale, promised to show us who the final five Cylons are. If you’ve not watched, read no further…

Okay, so I thought it was hysterical that Tigh is one, provided these characters really are Cylons and something else isn’t up. Not particularly surprised that the Chief is one, in an ironic sort of way, but I hadn’t thought about the president’s aide or Sam. Although, if Sam really is a Cylon, he wins for hottest guy Cylon. Did you all think that Chief Tyrol took it rather easily though?

And what about the fifth? It’s quite possible that I’m just slow, but is the fifth Cylon the president or Kara?

My interest in the show had been waning just a tad, but the way the finale ended has me fully interested again. But we have to wait until 2008 for new episodes. 2008? Seriously?

In other TV news, Kendra has a link to an absolutely hysterical YouTube video featuring the boys from Supernatural. I laughed out loud more than once. Check it out here.

Today has been the best day. First of all, since I’m an RWA board member, I got to make some of the calls to finalists in the Golden Heart and RITA contests today. It is so much fun making someone’s day. One lady cried, one said she couldn’t breathe, all were very happy. When I got my list of finalists last night, I was about to bust because my buddy Mary Fechter was on the list. It was all I could do to wait until noon today (the official start time of calls) to call her.

While I was on a call with a finalist, Nicole Burnham called me to tell me that I’d double finaled in YA with Coven (the newest ms, the paranormal one that I absolutely love) and The Wishing Tree. I’m so looking forward to National!

And it’s been so much fun seeing lots of my friends final — in addition to Mary, there’s Stephanie Rowe, Terry McLaughlin, Annie Solomon, Gemma Halliday and Tanya Michaels in the RITA; and Moni Thompson, Theresa Ragan, Anna Sugden, Lindsey Brookes, Beth Burgoon, Kim Howe, and many others in the Golden Heart. I’m just thrilled for everyone.

Okay, for those of you who watch Battlestar Galactica, you know this Sunday is the the season finale and the final five Cylons will be revealed. So, who do you think it is? Do you think Starbuck is one and she’ll make a reappearance? Is Baltar a Cylon or has that been a red herring? Is it someone who has spoken out a lot against the Cylons like Chief or Callie? Wouldn’t that be a shock and ironic to them! Or can President Roslyn’s visions be explained by the fact that she’s a Cylon? That would prove an interesting jumping off point for next season — the president of the Colonies being a Cylon and not the one we maybe expected (Baltar). So, what are your theories?

I’ve been working on new young adult book ideas with my agent, ones we’re going to send to an editor who has expressed interest in my writing. Hopefully something good will break soon.

What did we ever do before Google? How many times have you had a question and thought, “I’ll just Google it” and found your answer in moments? No more sitting around driving yourself crazy because you can’t remember the answer to something.

Google comes in really handy when you want to know things like what the names of songs are used in movie trailers. I found the wonderful band Within Temptation by Googling to find out the name of a song (Stand My Ground) used in the movie trailer for Blood and Chocolate. I discovered I actually like a Nine-Inch Nails song (Just Like You Imagined) by hearing it in the 300 trailer. And recently I watched the British TV series Hex and wanted to know what the theme song was. It took some Googling, but I eventually found out it’s “Number 1 Crush (Gothic remix)” by Garbage.

While we’re on the topic of music, the hubby and I are going to see Evanescence in concert next week along with Chevelle and Finger Eleven. Evanescence is one of my favorite bands, and I hopped on buying tickets as soon as they became available. I think we have good seats. In preparation, I’ve been listening to the band’s newest CD, The Open Door, released last fall. It was one of those CDs that for whatever reason didn’t hit me as memorable during the first listen but now I love it. I think that first listen must have hit me strangely because I was so used to the songs on the Fallen and Anywhere But Home CDs and these new ones were unfamiliar. Now I’m a big fan of all three and am fully prepared to get up and dance and sing at the concert.

The hubby has entered the world of blogging. Go check it out. Leave him some comments so it’s not just me leaving him comments when he’s just sitting in the next room.

I remember when I first saw the trailer for 300 and said to myself, “I can’t wait until this movie comes out.” After a morning of judging short stories in a high school contest, I took a midday break and scooted out to the mall to return a pair of shoes that killed my feet when I tried to wear them and to see 300 on the big screen. First, let me say, I was surprised to see someone bring their little boy to this movie — and not surprised when they left. The violence is one thing, in itself probably too violent for a child to see, but there is overt nudity too. It’s an R-rated movie people. Don’t bring the munchkins. That said, I really enjoyed it. But then, I’m not six years old.

So, here are my 10 Reasons to Go See 300:

10. Amazing CGI and cinematography. When you realize that this movie was shot against a blue screen on rocks that looked like big pieces of papier-mache, the end result is amazing. It’s obviously not real, but it’s beautiful in that graphic novel sort of way.

9. A nice mixture of emotions — anger, determination, pride and even some bits of humor thrown in.

Bad guy from Persian army: “Our arrows will blot out the sun.”
Stelios: “Then we will fight in the shade.”

8. A strong female lead in Queen Gorgo, played by Lena Headey. She’s not an ornamental queen. She’s smart, strong and can kick some butt when needed.

7. David Wenham (Faramir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) as both a Spartan soldier and the narrator of the story. I can’t resist an Aussie voice.

6. The allure of the underdog story — 300 Spartans versus tens of thousands of Persians.

5. Six packs. No, not of your favorite beverage. The guys who played the Spartans worked out and trained for months to get into the shape they needed to be in to believably portray these ultimate soldiers. That bit of characterization through physical fitness comes across when the 300 are compared to others trying to stand against the invading force. And I can’t say they were hard on the eyes either.

4. The soundtrack. It’s no secret I love movie soundtracks, and this was one where I stayed until the end of the credits to listen to the music.

3. It’s a movie that has that epic feel that needs to be seen on the big screen, at least for your first viewing.

2. Stelios, played by Michael Fassbender. He’s funny in the midst of the battlefield but still the ultimate soldier.

1. Gerard Butler as King Leonidas. Not only does he look good and sound good (hey, I like those Scottish accents too), but I really liked how his character showed the range of emotions. The fatherly love he shows his son while still teaching him how to fight, his pride in being a Spartan, his determination to stay free and keep all Spartans free, his humor (”There’s no reason we can’t be civil,” he says as he eats an apple and strolls across a battlefield littered with Persian dead to meet Xerxes.), and the way he and Gorgo express their deep love for each other in few words but very meaningful expressions and actions.