Thursday, October 25, 2007

Feeling the Blues on Sunday

Forty-two years after releasing their first album, the Moody Blues are coming to our Mid-Hudson Civic Center here in Poughkeepsie on Sunday.

Just like when the Goo Goo Dolls, Taylor Hicks and Gretchen Wilson played at the Civic Center, we'll be up close to the music.

The Blues on the cover of their greatest hits CD

Yeah, admittedly, I'd only knew a few of their hits when their Poughkeepie show was announced, but it's kinda hard to turn down a chance at free third-row tickets!

Let me give you some perspective: I was in sixth grade when "Your Wildest Dreams" came out in 1986; and somehow, I knew of "Nights in White Satin," even though it came out four years before I was born.

(Admittedly, it was only last month when I bought their greatest hits CD for $3.98 from BMG Music Service that I realized it's "Nights in White Satin" and not "Knights in White Satin" as I thought it was when I was a kid. Although it makes sense now: How tough could knights be if they went into battle draped in white satin?!)

Anyway ... if the guys are still around more than four decades after their first release, they've got to be pretty good, right?

Hope to see you at the show!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

A little mo' Bo

Thanks to loyal "Sean's Space" reader Julie from Stormville for this tidbit...

Former "American Idol" runner-up Bo Bice released his second post-"AI" CD on Tuesday, as seen here.

"Sean's Space" enthusiasts like Julie might remember Bo impressed my GF and me back in the spring. We saw him back in May when he played The Chance here in Poughkeepsie. If you want to read more about that show, click here for pics and video.

Again, not knowing much about Bo before his concert here on Po-town (other than that cutie Carrie Underwood beat him out for the title), we were pretty impressed by his acoustic set here in town.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Look for us with Rachael Ray Thursday!

Tune in to the "Rachael Ray Show" on Thursday and try to catch a glimpse of my GF and me!

We were sitting in the third row to the left, as you face your TV screen. See if you can find us!

This is what I was wearing, so look for me!

While actress Angie Harmon is the special guest on Thursday, they did not tape her segment when we were there. Instead, taken directly from Rachael's Web site, here's what we saw...

Then, should you be worried about
your quirky pet? A top vet reveals
if your furry friend is normal and
busts some huge pet myths.

Sounds like fun, right? The cats and dogs were adorable, and we all learned a little something ... hopefully you will too!

Additionally, Rachael makes that Turkey Meatball Cacciatore Stoup that I wrote about earlier. The recipe isn't up on Rach's Web site yet, but look for it after the show airs. She makes the meatballs using milk-soaked bread instead of boring ol' breadcrumbs and let me tell ya: My GF has made turkey burgers using that method twice since we saw the show and I've got one word to describe them...

DE-LISH!

And I almost forgot...

In addition to the TWO "Snacks of the Day" that we got at the taping 'cause we saw TWO episodes being made, we also got a complimentary copy of November's edition of "Every Day," Rachael's magazine.

For more info on "Every Day," click here.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Fame, fame everywhere...

Dude, I can't get away from all the famous people!

Heading back from Madison Square Garden last Thursday night (24 hours after meeting Rachael Ray), I came across Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who was filming a scene for an upcoming movie in the middle of Grand Central Terminal.

Actually, I didn't run into Morgan himself, but when I got into GCT after taking the subway from Times Square, I saw all these gawking onlookers forming a pathway and my interest was heightened.

Turns out someone was filming his scene and the production crew needed room to move their equipment. Being inquisitive (read: nosy), I found out it was indeed Morgan Freeman.

As it turns out, I was at MSG covering former Marist College basketball star Jared Jordan, who's now vying for a spot on the New York Knicks' season-opening roster.

Here's the pic of Jared that I snapped outside the Knicks' locker room before the game, and that we used on the front page of the following day's Poughkeepsie Journal Sports section.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

A big hooray for Rachael Ray

OK, I'm going to tell this story backwards (with the stuff that happened at the end first, followed by what preceded it), so bear with me...

We met Rachael Ray yesterday!!!

So, my GF and I went down to the East 44th Street studio where they tape her daily TV show on Wednesday, and we had a great time. The taping was really cool (again, I'll get to that later) and on the way out the door, we stopped in the lobby to take each other's picture in front of the bright orange Rachael Ray sign.

As we're collecting all our goodies (including our TWO Snacks of the Day!), we hear a voice behind us saying, "OK, have a great night!" and we turned around ... it was Rachael!!!
This was like 6:30 at night, and having spent the entire day at the studio taping more than two full episodes, she looked like she was ready to go to the gym, but she was kind enough to stop and sign an autograph for my favorite autograph collector.

See, this is what your average, normal, run-of-the-mill ticket to the Rachael's show looks like...
This beauty, however, is a ticket to Rachael's show with the cutie's autograph, complete with a happy smiley face...
Even as exhausted as I'm sure she was, Rachael was a real sweetie at the end of her hectic day, just as she was the entire time we were in the studio...

After waiting in line outside the studio for about 90 minutes, about 120 of us were corralled into the green room (which, ironically, had blue walls!) where we noshed on snacks while being surrounded by huge pics of Rachael — there was Rachael on a motorcycle, Rachael playing with her dog, Rachael posing with firemen ... you get the idea. They had munchables like bagels and muffins and Sara Lee bite-size frozen cheesecake pieces. (I ate 6 of them ... yum-o!) OH! And there was also all the Dunkin' Donuts you can eat, 'cause you know she does those commercials for them.

We then marched into the studio and got seated. We got seats right in the third row (there are only 10 rows) and we could see everything! Just like on TV, we rotated around the set when Rachael moved.

So I can't say much about the first show Rach taped 'cause they made us sign confidentiality agreements. They had a cooking contest ... that's about all I can say. OH! And also that our "Snack of the Day" for that show was New York Style "Everything" Bagel Chips and they are soooo good! (A week later, I'm still munching on mine.)

After a quick costume change, Rach taped about 3/4 of another show, and this one I can tell ya about: A vet came on with guests who brought their pets who do wacky things. There's a dog that twirls around in circle on the carpet and a cat that curls up in the sink and toilet among others. The "Snack of the Day" for that taping was a collectible tin of milk chocolate drops from The San Francisco Chocolate Factory. (Again, YUM-O! Look ... I'm even talking like her! Next I'll be saying "Oh my gravy!" like Rach said during the first taping.)

That second taping featured a cooking segment, where Rachael made Turkey Meatball Cacciatore Stoup. (A "stoup," kids, is thicker than a soup, but not as thick as a stew... I learned that at the taping, too!) Here's the recipe!

In all, it was a cool day and Rachael was very nice, unlike a certain red-eyeglass-wearing talk show host I'd seen back in the day.

The first show we saw taped should air on the first or second Monday of November, and the other one (the one with the wacky pets and the stoup) should be on before that. Look for us in the third row!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

"It's Britney, b****!"

Yes, that's the opening line of Britney Spears' new single, "Gimme More." Lovely, isn't it?

I know this 'cause over the weekend I paid $.99 on iTunes to download this latest gem, the title track from her forthcoming CD, out next month. Apparently, I'm not the only idiot to do so: It's still the top song on iTunes, more than a week after it came out.

Now, I didn't just buy it 'cause I'm clinging to my last strand of fan-dom for Brit. No, no ... my reasons were more humanitarian than anything:

See, I'm thinking about the kids: namely, Britney's sons — 2-year-old Sean Preston and younger brother James Jayden, 13 months.

With their mom's career all but in the tank, I thought those kids could use all the money they can get, even if it's 99 cents at a time.

OK, so this was BEFORE all the drama (pronounced draaaah-maaaah!) that occurred Monday ... you know, that whole losing custody of the kids for allegedly driving them around town without a valid license thing — just the latest in a long string of screw-ups that will cost her "Mother of the Year."

Seriously, did anyone ever think Kevin Federline would be deemed the better parent of these two?!

As for her new song, it's pretty bad. Just sing the words "gimme more" over and over and over to yourself about 87 times, and you've pretty much got the jist of it.

But, yeah ... as far as that opening line to "Gimme More," it's hard to believe that someone classy enough to start her much-needed comeback with that line could get her kids taken away from her!

I've got three words for Britney: Don't gimme more!