This is the first picture I took from the opening song of the concert.
Before I went to this concert I had never listened to Eric Church. It’s amazing how a concert was able to introduce me to new music and turn me into a fan. Throughout the concert, the singer would engage and have great interactions with the audience. The way he did so was so personable and helped to create a special connection. The mix of country and rock was such a thrilling experience. It was very high energy and gave a mind-blowing performance. Since this was the first time I had listened to his songs, I was able to notice the very heartfelt lyrics and the passion in his voice.
This clip shows the feeling and overall vibe I felt during my concert experience.
The whole atmosphere was electric, venue included. It took place at UBS Arena in New York. Winning V.I.P. tickets really enhanced my enjoyment even more, putting the cherry on top. Having those tickets and enjoying great food in the dedicated lounge made this experience top-notch. From arriving, going in the lounge, and having amazing seats, this concert created unforgettable memories.
From start to finish, this concert will leave a very long-lasting impression. It’s been a few years since I went to this concert, and it feels like it was yesterday. Even if you hadn’t listened to Eric Church before, you’ll leave feeling like a true fan. When he takes the stage, prepare to sing along, laugh, and be amazed.
Stonewood Tavern is a great bar and restaurant not far from our home in Northern New Jersey, and we love going there. And it is such a great place to eat for many reasons. The wooden barn look and the small town ambiance being one, but the great variety of great food for sure playing a big role in it. From Seafood, over Mediterranean to Mexican and American, the variety is huge. Salads, Soups, Pizza, Burger, Sandwiches, Pasta are just some of the menu options. My husband and I love going here for dates and anniversaries. And while my husband always either gets their signature Burger or Seafood Risotto, I am more adventurous and have tried my way through much of their menu already. Save to say we will go back there soon again. They also deliver to our house which is a great cherry on top.
Get in, everyone! Let’s take a trip to the colorful, magical, All Air-Cooled Gathering on the beautiful grounds of the Swim and Sport Club in Flanders NJ.
The weather was perfect for spending a day in the park with this well-loved, long-lived, super colorful collection of vintage air-cooled vehicles.
What do you mean, air-cooled?
Car engines generate heat; the cooling system aims to keep an engine at just the right temperature for optimal performance. Today’s cars are almost exclusively liquid-cooled;
Due to their simplicity and ease-of-maintenance, air-cooled engines were once very popular. They were more reliable, with far fewer parts that could fail.
See the fan in the upper-right? That’s the cooling system on a Volkswagen.
This car show is specifically for air-cooled cars; there were a few American air-cooled cars being shown, but they were sorely outnumbered by Volkswagens. These cars were ideal for reliable performance and easy maintenance and repairs that even a novice could do. As such, these iconic cars became cheap, versatile freedom machines for people all over the world.
The Beetle
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook
The first Volkswagen Beetle was made in 1938; the last Beetle was made in Mexico in 2003. In those 65 years, more than 21 million Beetles were built and sold, and many are still rolling down the road today. There were some pristine examples on display, such as the one above. Perhaps even more charming are the ones showing their age and experience.
I loved to see the custom Beetles! There were several modified for rugged terrain.
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook Page
The Scooby Doo Gang never looked cooler than when they were riding around in their Dune Buggy. There were a few of those, too:
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook page
Beetles are the traditional taxi-cab in Mexico. This one was awesome:
Kharmann-Ghia
The sporty contemporary of the Beetle is the Karmann-Ghia, designed by Italian coach-builder Carrozzeria Ghia in the 1950s. Often dubbed the “poor man’s Porsche”, the Karmann Ghia was based on the Volkswagen Beetle, but it had a distinctive body design that set it apart from its more utilitarian counterpart.
This is a beautiful car, and there were some gorgeous examples of it on display in Flanders.
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook
VW Bus
An incredible variety of busses turned out – the yellow one above was incredible and perfect. It makes you think of who of your favorite people you’d put in the seats for a fun road trip. Check out the windshield windows:
This one is ready for a self-contained, fuel efficient camping adventure:
This van was intended to be a work truck; tradesmen in Germany don’t drive pickup trucks, they drive VW vans! Look at the handy tool boxes on the side:
Here’s a newer van/pick up type vehicle:
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook
VW Thing
This strange looking car was the German Army’s Jeep, and later marketed as a utility vehicle.
Porsches
Porsches kept their air cooled engines until 1998, when Germany decided that they were too loud. The Porsches at this show were incredible – some were nostalgic of 80s movies and the yuppy status symbols they showed, others were classic beauties from well before my time.
Credit: Bart Shoemaker’s Facebook
This was my favorite car of the whole show. A 1966 Porsche Speedster. I’d love to drive it.
Lots to see and do at this event – I can’t wait to come back next year!
“No one is born into this world to be alone.” – Jaguar D. Saul, a big and friendly giant.
When someone hears that a show is 1,077 episodes, their first thought is, “Who has time for that?”. I understand the intimidation, but there really is no other show more worth your time. By the end of watching it, you’ll actually be wishing there were more episodes. This is a show about many different themes, but in my opinion its main theme is freedom. I think the liberation of yourself or the liberation of a group of people is destination everyone wants to arrive at. And one of my favorite parts about One Piece is how the show inspires that within all of us while we watch.
What is One Piece about?
Monkey D. Luffy’s crew, the Straw Hat Pirates.
One Piece follows the story of a pirate named Monkey D. Luffy and his loyal crew members on an adventure to find the legendary One Piece. The One Piece is an unknown treasure left behind by the Pirate King (Gol D. Roger) who is shown to be executed by the World Government at the beginning of the show.
Three main themes that make this show great:
Friendship – the bond between Luffy and all of the friends he makes along the way is something we have all experienced before. One Piece teaches us that good friends will always be there for you. Life is richer and safer with companionship.
Luffy picks a fight with one of the most protected, evil figures ruling the world despite the consequences. This man is a slave owner and treats everyone around him poorly, including Luffy’s friends. Luffy stands up against his injustices.
Adventure – Luffy’s pirate crew explores all kinds of islands, from an island in the sky with a city of gold, to an island deep below the sea containing a species of fish-men. Luffy has no fear when facing challenges and it inspires the viewer to do the same.
Island on the back of a giant elephant.
Dreams – every person on Luffy’s pirate crew has a dream. Luffy’s mission is to accomplish his dream and help his friends accomplish theirs along the way. Luffy encourages everyone in the show to never give up on their dreams because dreams make life worth living.
One Piece pulls on your heartstrings more than any other show I have watched. There is an innocence and fun to One Piece that makes you feel like a kid again when you’re watching it. But it also ties in very adult themes like death, racism, trauma, loss, slavery, hunger, and really almost anything else you can think of. It is a perfect show.
Self publishing is a form of publishing writings of any form by yourself. It means to skip the process of finding an agent, being rejected (several times maybe) and finally finding a publisher, who will publish your book, your screenplay or other writing of yours. Skipping all these and cutting to the case yourself is hard work and it will require a lot of learning, since you will become the writer/author, marketer, promoter, and publisher yourself. This is a lot of responsibility for one person but many have done it and many have done it successfully.
Why even consider?
Right off the bat it becomes self-evident that self publishing is a lot of work, an uphill battle if you will. So why should anyone even consider doing this? Why not go through the trouble at the beginning of becoming a traditionally published writer/author and save a lot of work later on?
And there are two answers to that. Money and control.
Let’s say you are an author who writes urban fantasy novels, 75k to 100k words long. How much money would you make off books sold if you are traditionally published compared to self published? “Generally, the standard royalty rate for authors is under 10% for traditional publishing and up to 70% with self-publishing” (Yoo, 2023). Let’s say you sold 6,000 copies of a $14.99 book. Traditionally published, you earned $10,740 while self published you made a whopping $34,440. That is a huge difference!
When you sign a contract with a traditional publishing company, you write over the rights to all your characters, locations, etc of that story. That means you can not take the same characters or world and write a new book or series with those, as they no longer are yours. You also do not set the price, decide how much advertising your book gets and what kind. Many things are out of your hands and for me personally, that is a huge ick. After all, no one cares as much about your book as you do.
There is many many resources out there to help you learn how to become a self published author. One of my favorite is the 6 Figure Author Podcast , where Lindsay Buroker, Joseph R. Lallo and Andrea Pearson share all their knowledge and experience as long term self published authors. One of their videos actually covers exactly this subject:
Trad vs. Indi
Traditional published:
-Less work for you
-More time for other things/writing
-Your books will appear in traditional bookstores like Barnes & Nobles
-You are not on your own and have a lot of help from professionals
Self published:
-You keep a way bigger cut of the cake in regards to royalties
-Everything is in your hands
-Better suited for people who love learning and want to make being a writer/author a full time career
-There is so many resources out there today that will help you along the way
The Hybrid
There is always the option to go with a hybrid model, in which you have some books self published, that will get your name out there into the big stores and onto New York Times Bestseller lists etc, and then you publish more books yourself to keep a bigger cut and make even more money.
I don’t travel very far on the usual day out, but there are a few places that I enjoy visiting around my area- the closest being the Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail. This trail, as the name suggests, used to have a line of train tracks going down it before they were ultimately removed. This left behind lots of interesting artifacts from the past regaurding the train that used to be there, such as the bridge (pictured above)
There is lots of nature to behold as well during your walk on the trail. It’s very long, and a difficult walk sometimes as a lot of the trail passes through old and new wet lands. I’ve actually walk this trail so much that I saw a new body of water form over my time there! It’s a really nice walk in nature, so I highly suggest it.
I am a person who loves nature, so here is another trail for you:
This is the amazing view of Rattlesnake Mountain! I had no idea this trail existed until a friend took me one time, and now we go there all the time for hikes! The view is very clear, and you can see the sky and tons of mountains and hills in the distance. There are lots of rocks you can sit on and it’s easy to picnic on the top. Overall, a really great mountain view if you’re willing to give some energy to the hike.
Lastly, not exactly “close by,” but I am going to consider it close by since I personally already have to drive 18 minutes to get to the nearest town.
This is Bagful O Bagels, currently my favorite place to go to for, well, bagels obviously. But they don’t only sell bagels, but other kinds of bakery foods and bagel dogs too! You can also find a large variety of drinks to pick from and a bunch of chips as well! Overall, it’s a great snaking spot and the bagels are amazing!
Those are the three places I really enjoy visiting in my area. I hope you will consider going to some of these places, because they are awesome!
I was so disappointed. I think it made me realize that movies, like, could be bad. That never occurred to me until that moment
Seth Rogen, on the topic of the 1993 film Super Mario Bros.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie coming out this past April- as well as the fact this year is it’s 30th anniversary- has brought 1993’s Super Mario Bros.: The Movie back into public consciousness, and even with renewed interest and appreciation it is still considered one of the worst films to many- including Seth Rogen, who voiced Donkey Kong in the new Mario film- and is rated at 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.1/10 on IMDb.
It’s Not Just the Reviews
The film itself was filled with production problems, the root of many of them being the fact that the script was filtered through a total of 9 writers and 2 script doctors, whose attempts at editing the film to be more lighthearted caused the final writer choices to quit and be replaced with the rehired 4th and 5th writers.
Because of all the changes, actors didn’t bother memorizing lines
Bob Hoskins (Mario) and John Leguizamo (Luigi) spent the majority of production drunk, which led to Hoskins breaking a finger
Dennis Hopper (President Koopa) once spent 3 hours yelling at the producers and directors for being unprofessional
Richard Edson (Spike) and Fisher Stevens (Iggy) fully improvised their lines, ignoring the script completely
The shooting schedule ended up several weeks longer than expected and over budget
The directors were eventually not allowed to help with re-shooting or editing
So, How Is It Good?
Early Concept art of Koopa Square, based on descriptions from the 2/19/92 version of the script, by Walter Martishius 2/5/92. Sourced from the SMBArchive
In order to appreciate this movie, you need to forget what it’s supposed to be, it’s downfall is actually the fact it’s a video game movie, the first video game movie. At the time of this film’s creation Nintendo really didn’t put a lot of time into building the world of the Mario games and there was no previous attempts at creating a film from a game, in the end the only real connections between this film and the Mario series are character names and the concept of fungus. The directors worked with what they knew- cyberpunk style dystopian sci-fi. The plot is understandably goofy after all the script changes, but the gritty yet futuristic visuals is where this film shines.
Max HeadroomPresident KoopaDirectors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel gained popularity for the creation of Max Headroom, who President Koopa looks somewhat like.
I feel like in order to enjoy this movie you need to turn your brain off and take the plot for what it is while taking in the visuals, especially the CGI- which is now only slightly dated and was groundbreaking at the time.
An image of Boom Boom BarThe De-evolution (Devo) chamber after turning someone to primordial gooPresident Koopa transforming into a T-RexMario and Luigi with some GoombasKoopa SquareAnother view of Koopa Square
And really, in what other movie can you see a man devolved into a suit-wearing monkey via sci-fi evolution gun?
See It For Yourself!
In 2019 the SMBArchive found a VHS previously owned by a producer with never before seen footage and extended versions of scenes. After restoration by Garrett Gilchrist, The Morton-Jenkel Cut was made available online for free on the Internet Archive. You can view it embedded below or at the Internet Archive.
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, usually a space that is big enoug for a human to go in! These caves are usually formed by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground.
Where is this Cavern?
This cool looking cavern is located in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.
Personally, I have been to a lot of the tourist locations in my town, or in the towns over since I have grown up in the same area for about fifteen years. Natural environments are a wonder to me, so I would love to see more of them. I went to a cavern when I was in Ireland, and I have been in awe of them ever since.
Wanna know more? Visit their website!
There are tours, a gift shop, and a little souvenir/gift shop all on the premise.
TINI, the singer I’ve admired since I was 8 years old. I will finally have the opportunity to meet her.
TINI is one of the most important pop singers in Argentina. She stands out for her incredible voice and her presence on stage.
To be honest, there was a time when I went to a TINI concert but it was not as such a concert of her, but a concert of a Diney channel series “Violetta”. At that time she was known for that series, “Violetta” was the series that gave her fame. That’s where I met her. I went to one of the many concerts they did with this project. The tour was called ” La despedida de Violetta (Live)” which happened in 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violetta_(TV_series)
She is doing a tour around the world, To date, she has visited about 10 countries with her tour. And it has been a resounding success in every country she has visited. Now she is about to finish this incredible tour and she will do it in the US, visiting three cities, being her first time in the country.
I remember as if it happened yesterday when I received the news that she would bring her TINI tour to the US. My reaction was like ” I can’t believe this is happening”, I was shocked. Because really my dream has always been to see her, to be able to enjoy her music and her presence.
My expectations are skyrocketing, my anxiety too. I am preparing everything for that day. I know it’ll be unforgettable.
The fans here in the US, we are super excited and we have prepared many fan actions for each concert. Really, when I say that It will be unforgettable, I mean it. The concert with which the tour will close, is taking place in New York City on November 3. And Tini promises that it will be a show full of surprises and that it’ll be a very special one.
TINI ANNOUNCES U.S. TOUR DATES: ‘I FEEL EXCITED AND GRATEFUL’
The Argentinian singer talked to HOLA! USA about her upcoming tour.
Sunday night September 10, 2023 I attended the Giants vs. Cowboys game at Metlife Stadium. Even though the weather wasn’t great and I left the stadium drenched it was a great night to be a cowboys fan.
The kick-off was set for 8:20 pm and the favorite to win was the Dallas Cowboys with an over/under total points scored set at 45. In the first quarter the Cowboys completed two touchdowns and one field goal. The second touchdown was made by DaRon Bland with a 22 yard interception. The Cowboys continued their lead throughout the entire game. In the second and third quarter of the game the cowboys scored another two touchdowns and one field goal. Both touchdowns were scored by Tony Pollard setting the score at 33 to 0. Three minutes and sixty nine seconds into the fourth quarter, KaVontae Turpin makes a seven yard run touchdown putting the Cowboys at 40 to nothing against the Giants.
Total yards: 265 (Cowboys), 171 (Giants)
Passing yards: 143 (Cowboys), 63 (Giants)
Rushing yards: 122 (Cowboys), 108 (Giants)
Yards per play: 4.8 (Cowboys), 2.8 (Giants)
It was an embarrassing game for the Giants to say the least. By the third quarter the Giants fans were clearing out with their heads down and disappointment in their eyes. Meanwhile me and the rest of the Cowboy fans were walking out with our heads high. This was a great first week for the cowboys to start out the new season. Moving forward this was only the first game and there is a lot of the season that needs to be played. Like dak prescott said, “For us, it’s about not getting ahead of ourselves. Continuing to stay disciplined, to show the discipline. Not only what we did through these four quarters, but taking that and making sure we use it throughout our preparation this week.”
