Bring "Coming Home" to our hometown!

I don't ask for much, but I need (as my pal Pete would say) "a solid" to start the new year right.
The New Kids On The Block are my favorite group (perhaps you've heard ... or seen) and the guys have a new concert DVD coming out next month. But Donnie Wahlberg, Jon Knight, Danny Wood, Joe McIntyre and Jordan Knight also have a cool contest going on:

The New Kids are asking their fans (like me) to "demand" them to come to fans' hometowns for a screening of their "Coming Home" DVD and a Q&A session. An avid fan, I've been plugging away, trying to get the guys to come to Poughkeepsie. Here are Donnie and Jon giving the details...

Here's where I need help: Please click on the image above and vote for Poughkeepsie. Simply hit the button and, if prompted, enter the ZIP code 12601 or 12603 or just type in Poughkeepsie and help bring the group here.

Right now, Po-town ranks No. 152 in the voting, which includes 2,743 cities. Poughkeepsie is ahead of towns like Ann Arbor, Mich.; Reno, Nev.; and even Baltimore, Md.! Voting ends two weeks from today (that's Jan. 21) and the results will be announced the next day.

Thanks in advance!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from "Sean's Space!"

My traditional, two-week Christmas vacation began just hours ago, so I thought I'd share this year's Christmas card with my loyal "Sean's Space" readers.

He knows if you've been bad or good ... trust me!

It's been quite a 2009 for "Sean's Space," including meeting singers like"American Idol" champ David Cook , '80s super-group Air Supply, local sensations Voices of Glory and most recently, former Hootie and the Blowfish front man-turned-country music star Darius Rucker.

We started the year by meeting former "Saturday Night Live" star Jimmy Fallon (and we even made an unexpected cameo on his "Late Night" show — well, kinda — in the spring) and got to hang out with "Hannah Montana" co-star Moises Arias.

Among other "Sean's Space" highlights in 2009, I got to see my favorite group of all-time once more in concert, and even made a trip to the West Coast which included a week in La-La Land.

So thanks to everyone who's stopped by the "Space" in '09, and I look forward to sharing more memories with ya in 2010. In the meantime, feel free to check out my Twitter page and have a Happy New Year. But until then...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm "berry" intrigued by this

Speaking of being a fan of a particular singer, for example...

I've never tried this beverage, and I always stand there with a quizzical look on my face: It's put out by the Jones Soda Co., and it's called Strawberry Manilow, an obvious homage to the best singer of this or any other generation, Mr. Barry Manilow. Now, over the years, I've spent hundreds of dollars, if not more, for tickets to the 10 (count 'em, 10!) Barry Manilow concerts I've seen in four states. Still, I'm not willing to plunk down a buck or two for the soda named after my fav singer. I've never been a fan of strawberry-flavored beverages (I can't even fathom chugging that Quik strawberry milk), let alone blackberry or raspberry, so I'm pretty sure I'll never be trying this stuff.

I'll still enjoy Barry's music, including his upcoming CD, but this soda ... not so much.

It's finally "Coming Home" to my home

Everybody's a fan of someone — an actor, a singer, an athlete — and everyone's got a story about freaking out as a result of our fan-dom. Here's mine...

See this? This is the new "Coming Home" DVD from my favorite group of all-time, New Kids On The Block. The New Kids tweeted about the DVD (with special, limited-edition bonuses) going on sale last Wednesday and the website taking advance orders crashed. All day! Now, I'd thought I was one of the lucky ones who was able to order: I'd created an online account early, submitted my payment but never received any confirmation — not an e-mail, not on the Web site — nor the link to the download of the guys' new, unreleased song. So, freaking out, I proceeded to call the company marketing the DVD and taking orders several times over a span of several days, worrying Am I in the system to get the bonuses? and Should I cancel my order and buy another to be assured I'll get the bonuses? only to be reassured by customer service reps on the other end of the line.

Turns out, they were right: My fears were for naught.

Less than two days after my final frantic phone call, I got a confirmation for my order, making my Christmas a little less hectic.

Now you can stuff a Sith

A giver by nature, I love this time of year. Come Christmastime, I'm a shopping machine.

So I couldn't help but find these "Star Wars"-themed bears from Build-A-Bear Workshop some of the most adorable presents waiting to end up under the Christmas tree. Admittedly, the "Star Wars" geek in me shined through, too, when I saw them. (For more info on these bears and more, click here.) I mean, c'mon! They're cute lil' bears, filled with fluff, complete with amazing "Star Wars" costumes ... who could want more? (Yeah, being a giver by nature, I've created a few bears at the Workshop in my time. I'm a fan of that place.) If nothing else, they'd make a great way to get young kids (like, really young kids) into the 32-year-old pop culture phenomenon known as "Star Wars." Start with a bear, move on to action figures and then work up the actual movies ... starting with the original 1977 "A New Hope," of course.

But, what's that you say? You're not a big fan of the Dark Side? Not a problem.

The good folks at the Workshop also have Jedi customes for your favorite bear. Honestly, I've always found the lure of Darth Vader and the Dark Side much more appealing than the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi here — maybe it's because of the awesome red lightsabers, as opposed to the blue or green lightsabers ... I don't know — but to each his own. Luckily, the people at the Workshop have both sides covered, no matter who eventually wins the battle for ultimate supremacy of the galaxy!

Saving big bucks "Step By Step"

I collect autographed memorabilia. I like to save money on autographed memorabilia. The New Kids On The Block are my favorite group of all-time. Where am I going with this?

Well, take a look at this: It's an authentic platinum record of the New Kids' break-through 1998 release, "Hangin' Tough." It commemorates the guys selling 1 million+ copies of the album. It's comes framed and signed by all five of the New Kids (that's Danny Wood, Donnie Wahlberg, Jonathan Knight, Joe McIntyre and Jordan Knight), and is limited to just 100. You can buy it (or a similar signed platinum record of the guys' self-titled, 1986 album) by clicking here. The price: $625.

Don't get me wrong, if I had the discretionary income, I'd cough up the dough. But ... I don't have to!
That's because I've already got all five of the New Kids' autographs on this 8x10 photo the guys signed for me when I met the group back in May '08. And here's the best part: I got the autographs for free when I met the New Kids!

And ... other than a signed baseball with all five New Kids' autographs that's been listed on eBay for $247.49 (originally $449.00), I can't even find another item online with each of the guys signatures, which makes my free autographed picture (which is now framed and hanging in my living room) even more valuable in my book!

This certainly is cheesy

No matter how hard you might try, there's no escaping "Hannah Montana!"

Now, in the past, I've written about finding Hannah in the cereal aisle and also in the refridgerated section of my local grocery store, but this one blew me away: Yes, that is "Hannah Montana"-branded macarconi and cheese! While the scrumptuous stuff doesn't come in the shape of Hannah's/Miley's face, it does come in the shape of a microphone (which Hannah uses to belt our her hits), a musical note (duh!), a guitar (which she strums on occasion) and a star ('cause ... well, c'mon! It's Hannah!). At first, I thought it this was a version of my beloved Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but nope — the Disney folks are now delving into the mac-and-cheese biz! And apparently (I get this info from reading the front of the box here), it's a good source of iron and contains no preservatives.

Oh, but it gets even better than that...

As if eating "Hannah"-themed mac-and-cheese wasn't enough, if you flip the box over, you can cut out a collectible "Hannah Montana" trading card. Clip 'em! Save 'em! Trade 'em with your friends! Add 'em to the collection of "Hannah Montana" merchandise you already have! (Of course, it's probably a wise idea to cut out the card after you eat the mac-and-cheese, so neither the "mac" nor the "cheese" spills out.) Makes ya wanna boil up some water, grab a wooden spoon and start making some mac-and-cheese, doesn't it?!

Hootie — the Blowfish + me

This is either the worst or most hilarious photo I've ever taken, depending on your point of view. I opt for hilarity! Yes, that's me and former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker after his show here at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie. And the picture is the result of my GF doing her best with the red-eye reduction feature I'd inadvertently turned on.

Still, it's a unique memento from a fun night out, where we heard some of my favorite songs from college mixed in with some of the songs that made Darius the CMA's New Artist of the Year just a few weeks earlier.

Now, avid readers of the "Space" here might remember I've got a few rules about listening to country music, but for the exception of two or three songs, I didn't really feel like we were at a country show. Instead, it was just like listening to "Hootie" (and, c'mon, who didn't just call Darius "Hootie" back in the day?!) singing some cool songs. It was the same voice doing some new songs, many of the ones that drew a pretty diverse crowd with fans of all ages ... some of them even wore cowboy hats, there weren't as many cowboys hats as at last year's Gretchen Wilson show here. (For the record, I did not wear a cowboy hat.)

Even though we'd only heard a few of his country hits, we weren't disappointed, as Darius sang a few of the tunes that made him famous some 15 years ago.
Now, I'm not old, but I felt it when, in the days leading up to the show, I'd learned two people I know — one a sophomore in college, the other a senior in high school — had never heard of Hootie and the Blowfish, let alone their hits like "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You," all of which Darius played and all of which we loved.

As you can see from the ticket he signed for me (not to mention that amazingly horrible/hilarious picture he posed for), Darius was extremely fan friendly. Toward the end of his final encore — he played "Purple Rain" by Prince by the way ... how cool is that?! — the guy even traded his mic for a Sharpie to sign autographs for fans in the front row. A good friend of Tiger Woods' and an avid golfer himself, Darius finished his show by taking off the Tiger Woods hat he wore all show long, signing it and tossing it into the crowd in my direction; sadly, being a Tiger Woods fan, I wasn't lucky enough to catch it. But don't worry about me; it's all good.

'Cause nobody snagged a better picture with Darius than me after the show!

New Kids do "The Right Stuff" for tots

Since I'm mentioning the New Kids On The Block's recent charitable acitivities, here's another:
My favorite group of all-time are holding a one-night-only show at Boston's House of Blues to raise money and collect toys for Toys for Tots. The $60 tickets for the event sold out in 2 minutes when they went on sale.

Sadly, work commitments preclude me from going, though I'm sure fans will post video of the show online shortly after.

That being said, don't think I've forgotten about the tots! Toys for Tots has long been one of my favorite charities: "The tots need toys," as I often say, and it's important for all kids to have a happy holiday. You can click here for more information on the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

Rachael's "stoup"-pendous recipe

Don't ask me why, more than two years after we attended a "Rachael Ray" show taping, I just thought of this now, but here goes...

When we were in the audience, Rachael made a "Cacciatore Stoup with Turkey Sausage Meatballs" — a "stoup," she told us, is "thicker than a soup, but not as thick as a stew." When we got home, my GF made it and it was de-lish! (That's a Rachele term, btw.) Anyway ... I stumbled across the recipe and thought I'd share it, 'cause it was some good eating. Just click here for the recipe, and you can be making some food that's definitely yum-o! (And yes, yum-o is another Rachael-ism.)

Picky eater that I am, I just went through the recipe myself and crossed off about half the ingredients that I won't eat, thus making the recipe even simpler!