The best concert ever

So December 5th, 2009 marked the best concert experience i have ever had! I was privileged to be in the presence of Rooney as well as Tally Hall and the Crash Kings. Never have i felt a strong connection with any artist as i have with Rooney and their music. I first heard of them in 2001 because of the lead vocalist's appearance in the Princess Diaries (Yes, i was a tweenager and thought he was incredibly swoonworthy, but there's more than meets the eye). Anyway, i bought their self-titled cd and absolutely fell in love with it ("That Girl Has Love" really is worth a listen as well as "Blueside", the whole cd is filled with wonderful songs). I continued listening to them, bought the second cd, Calling the World (all songs are brilliant but my favourites are "Are you Afraid?", "Help Me Find My Way", "When did Your Heart go Missing?", and "Paralyzed"), and the rest is history (as well as the future, my support for these guys will never ever ever disappear, y'all have that in writing now) :) Anyway, I had the chance to see them perform live and the way that Robert (the lead vocalist) sang each song, it was as if he poured his heart into the audiences' hand, he was just that passionate! Music is something that is supposed to speak to you, it's something that a lot of modern day artists have failed to accomplish. Rooney is the exception to that statement. The songs just tug at my heartstrings and allow me to envision what the songwriter (Robert actually writes a majority of the songs himself, Talented man!) is going through. A lot of the scenarios in the music made me empathetic as i've been down that road before and never knew how to deal with the situation. I am truly appreciative to have been able to get a glimpse of the band by meeting the members. I can honestly say that they are wonderful people and that they really care about their fans. At the shows, they take time out to talk to their fans, which a majority of artists nowadays don't. Rooney has shown me a different side of the whole Hollywood realm that you can still remain who you are and not having to constantly be in the public eye (no names shall be mentioned) and, overall, shown me what it is to show compassion towards fellow mankind! All of you who have stumbled upon this should really take some time out and listen to them! You won't regret it, I certainly haven't! Viva la Rooney!

Pop Culture

Ok so i haven't written on here as often as i had set out to do but i've got some time and felt as though this needed to be updated. I've gotten back into my old hobby of Autograph Collecting. Getting autographs from celebrities i know, love, and care to write to is just an exhilarating experience. Granted the waiting period can range anywhere from 1 week to 1 year but so what, the thought of an artist reading your letter and knowing that their work is being appreciated seems to be the only driving force. By this, i mean, that they're reading this letter and getting an insight as to how a person views them, this can either be a positive or negative influence. From an artistic standpoint, i would love to receive feedback on how well i portrayed someone in a film or how i captured that raw emotion on canvas. It's edifying, of course, to receive positive comments because you feel you've done something right for that specific thing. A form of conditioning, i suppose. But anyway, going back to autograph collecting. From the letter writer's perspective, i'd also love to have a piece of that artist with me in some form so that way it's a personal connection. I've written to several people and have had a fairly good success rate (~126 autographs out of 160). But out of all of those i'd have to say Geoffrey Rush is my absolute favourite. He's just an amazing actor and really knows how to give back to his fans, which many stars (especially nowadays), don't do or don't know how to do. It's appauling to me as a fan of many to even consider my fanship to them because of the lack of respect. I mean, i brought you to your success and now you completely deny me? I made you and now i've got the power to break you, is the attitude a lot of stars need to have bestowed to them. Regardless, Geoffrey Rush absolutely deserves any kind of merit given to him, because he's given back, he's one hundred percent driven by his fans and we're one hundred percent driven by him. It's mutual respect that everyone in this world deserves (but it must be earned). I love the autograph he sent me, he wrote a few little facts down about future projects and even complimented me on my name which was really nice of him! Of course i love all my autographs but his just stood out to me (not because of the compliment). Also, do you remember as a child, receiving letters, cards, packages, etc.? Well receiving that yellow manila envelope in the mail every so often feels like Christmas! It's a heartwarming experience to know that your favourite star/artist took the time out of his schedule to read your letter and respond accordingly. Here's a list of some of the stars i've got:

1. Steve and Terri Irwin
2. Bam Margera and April Margera
3. Weeman
4. Jerry Bruckheimer
5. Johnny Depp
6. Orlando Bloom
7. Geoffrey Rush
8. Keira Knightley
9. Constantine Maroulis
10. Hugh Laurie
11. Jesse Spencer
12. Jennifer Morrison
13. Jonathan Jackson
14. Joe Pesci
15. John Travolta
16. Jorge Garcia
17. Martin Klebba
18. Jason Lee
19. Zach Braff
20. Shia LaBeouf
21. Don Most
22. Bonnie Wright
23. Oliver and James Phelps
24. Michael Phelps
25. Ian Thorpe
26. Amanda Beard
27. Grant Hackett
28. Robert Pattinson
29. Daniel Radcliffe
30. John Cleese
31. The Rock
32. Lucy Lawless
33. Michelle Pfeiffer
34. Erin Moran
35. Jenna Elfman
36. Ronnie James Dio
37. Neil Diamond
38. Gavin Degraw
39. Joan Baez
40. Rachelle LeFerve
41. Peter Facinelli
42. Matt Holliday
43. Dan Hinote
44. Rik Mayall
45. Ben Barnes
46. Betty White
47. Rowan Atkinson
48. Ben Stiller
49. Robin Williams
50. Dan Castellanata
51. Jeremy Sumpter
52. Vince Vaughn
53. Jefferey Dean Morgan
54. Chris Tucker
55. Christian Bale
56. Anne Hathaway
57. Virginia Madsen
58. Sally Field
59. Sarah Michelle Gellar
60. Jamie Gertz
61. Carmen Electra
62. Kate Bosworth

if you want to get involved in this hobby, all you need are:

• 2 manila envelopes (one addressed to star, the other a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope)
• a photo of your star
• a letter of appreciation to your star
• for foreign countries insert an International reply coupon into the packet.

insert the SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) into the envelope addressed to your star. insert in the photo of your star (should be same person :) ) as well as the letter and if for foreign countries use the IRC (International reply coupon). seal the envelope and mail off.

Note: for a complete list of stars, a good forum to use is fanmail.biz.

let me know if you get some awesome successes! Happy Collecting!

Fresh Baked Rolls

Ok, so this isn't going to be like Julie and Julia, where i go through someone famous' recipes in one year. But i came across this brilliant recipe from Penzey's Spices catalogue. Cinnamon Rolls, thrice proofed. The lightest, most delectable, and (not to mention) easiest dough to work with. It most definitely beats the store-bought rolls; i suppose everything homemade does, since you know what the ingredients are and hydrogenated oil isn't on the label. I suppose most people don't realize that, since we're now in a time of conveniently wrapped meals and everything is already done, no fretting. I must be one of the rare old-school 20 year olds who prefers to make things from scratch than go to Chipotle's or Einstein's and waste wads of money on foods that have half a day's worth of calories in one sitting. Anyway, enough complaining, with these rolls i was able to diversify them and create three flavors: standard cinnamon rolls, cheese pizza rolls, and Provencal Lavender/citrus rolls! i think i really have a knack for this :) We'll see!