Or, you know, for those of you who might be traveling to Europe this summer, doing that whole “backpacking around Europe” thing, which always sounded so glamorous when James Michener wrote about it, but is probably a lot harder than it sounds. Anyway, thinking about catching a concert?

One of the summer’s hottest concerts is no doubt going to be Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour, and her ticket partner in the U.K. is Viagogo, who sponsored this post. Getting Madonna Tickets is a lot harder than it used to be, you had to sign up for something called the Icon Membership in order to be able to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public, but the cutoff date was May 1st. In order to purchase VIP ticket packages or individual tickets, you’ll now need to go to the Viagogo website.

When you go to the Viagogo site to buy Madonna Tickets, you’ll be able to see, for each location, where the seating is so that you know which section to choose tickets for. You can also buy Sticky & Sweet Tour VIP packages as well. Prices start at £80 and go up to £388 depending on how close you are to the stage and whether you are sitting or standing.

In addition to Madonna Tickets, Viagogo also has tickets to Sporting events such as the French Open and Wimbledon, tickets to events at the Beijing Olympics, Golf events like the Ryder Cup and the British Open, Formula One Racing, as well as football, rugby, cricket, horse racing, and more. On the Arts & Theatre tickets page, you can get tickets to the Opera, the Ballet, Theatre productions like Hamlet and King Lear, Musicals, Comedy Shows, and even High School Musical on Ice!

You can also buy “Hospitality” tickets, which from what I understand from the site, means you get wined and dined and treated like royalty before and during the show. For example, for Madonna’s show in London, the Hospitality package includes:

* Top price ticket from the promoters holds to see Madonna live in concert
* Two and a half hour hospitality event before the show in “The Candy Shop” at the concert venue
* Champagne reception on arrival
* Three course meal with fine wines and coffee
* Full complimentary bar during the pre-show hospitality (excludes champagne)
* Stylised “Candy Shop” room dressing and floral arrangements
* One hour post show party in a private suite at the concert venue
* Full complimentary bar during the post-show party (excludes champagne)
* Resident DJ
* Exclusive Sticky & Sweet VIP tour gift for each guest
* Commemorative VIP laminate for each guest
* Presentation wallet containing event documentation for each guest

Price:
Full Hospitality Inc. Ticket: £468.83 inc. VAT
Hospitality Only No ticket: £308.83 inc. VAT

Notice it says TICKET, singular. Planning to take someone with you? Two Hospitality tickets is going to set you back a BUNCH of money, but I bet you’ll have a pretty memorable evening!

So there you go, U.K. readers, if you are looking for tickets to summer events, stop by the Viagogo U.K. website to get all the info you need.

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HD or High Definition Radio delivers better-than-CD quality to a receiver in your house or in your car, all you need is a local radio station broadcasting their signal in HD. Think of how much better a tv show or movie looks when you watch it on an HD tv channel, that’s how much better music sounds on HD Radio, whether you listen to new country music stations, Top 40 stations, or classic rock.

If you have an HD Radio in your vehicle, and you are traveling to Florida this summer, check out the Florida High Definition Radio stations. Like most other states, Florida’s radio stations have been upgrading their equipment to have the ability to broadcast HD signals. So far, there are 1500+ HD radio stations.

Another cool way to use an HD Radio is by using iTunes tagging. Using an HD receiver that holds your iPod, when you hear a song on an FM HD radio station that you like, you hit the “tag” button. The song’s info will be saved from your HD Radio receiver to your iPod, and will show up in a playlist called “Tagged” in iTunes the next time you sync your iPod to your computer. So you can click, download and buy the songs you want directly from the Apple® iTunes Music Store. Very cool!

I spend such little time in the car these days that I don’t even know which stations in my area are broadcasting in HD, but now I’d like to find out so I can hear the difference for myself.

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The Arizona Game and Fish Department would like everyone, whether you live in Arizona or not, to get some important information about why it is so important not to consume alcohol while operating a boat. In 2007, 50% of all fatal Arizona Boating accidents were alcohol related. Nationwide, one-third of all fatal boating accidents are related to alcohol use.

Boating Operating Under the Influence is just as illegal as operating a car under the influence, and just like driving, the legal limit for alcohol while operating a boat is .08. The penalty is the same as well, a Class One Misdemeanor.

Anyone planning to operate a boat can take a Boating Education Online course, and learn important information not only about the effects of alcohol on boating, but also life jacket wear, required safety equipment, rules of navigation, and other boating safety laws and responsibilities. To learn more, please watch these two videos:

Boating Sober Commercial:

Boating in Arizona:

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The post title comes from a quote on the Ecosmarte Pool site; they’ve purchased this review so I can give you some info on how you can have a pool that is clean and safe to swim in without using salt or liquid chlorine to keep it clean. I got quite an education on pool maintenance while researching this post, since I don’t have a pool and didn’t have one growing up, either. I knew that pools used liquid chlorine to clean the water, but I had no idea how the process worked until now. So, how does Ecosmarte clean your pool without chemicals?

The ECOsmarte system creates two sanitizing agents, copper
ionization and liquid oxidation. As water flows from your pump
back to your pool it travels through the ECOsmarte
ionization/oxidation chamber. While in the chamber, the water will
either receive copper ions or become oxygenated depending on
the setting of the switch on the controller.

Both the ionization and the oxidation sanitizes your pool water,
killing bacteria, algae, and viruses. It is simply the best
chemical-free method to sanitize your pool water.

One way to clean the water in pools is to use salt chlorinators, which turn salt into chlorine and hydrogen gas through a chemical reaction with the help of an electric current. The current is housed in a chamber containing a generator which uses an average of 500 watts of AC power for a 20,000 gallon pool. In 3 to 5 years time, the generator may need to be replaced, at a cost of over $400. Water splashing from a salt water pool can kill plant life, sterilize the soil, and is actually banned in some places in the United States and Australia. In addition, the salt can cause damage to pool covers, solar covers, and to landscaping placed around the pool.

Ecosmarte eliminates the need for messy chlorine generators by using an ionization/oxidation system that was originally developed for the Apollo Space program to create clean drinking water. It uses an average of only 40 watts of DC power to treat 20,000 gallons of water. The copper bars in the ECOsmarte chamber cost less than $100 to replace and they should last 4-7 years. The ECOsmarte chamber is warranted for 5 years and should last indefinitely. The water in Ecosmarte pools is said to feel “silky”, and is as safe as bottled water. You won’t have to run to the shower to rinse off after a swim, your eyes won’t feel irritated, and it isn’t harmful if swallowed.

Ecosmarte also sells pool filters. The most common form is the sand filter, which can filter 15 to 20 gallons per minute per square foot of filtered area. The filter contains grains of sand through which the water passes, and debris gets trapped in the grains of sand. I had no idea!

Ecosmarte donates 5% of their profits to the environmental charity of your choice, including the World Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and American Forests. They are committed to providing customers with a 100% chemical free, clean pool that is safe for people and the environment. Customers praise the clear water and appreciate that it doesn’t dry out their skin. After looking at images of sparkling clear pools on the website, I know I wish I had a pool so I could try out the Ecosmarte system for myself!

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I’ve teamed up with Empire Today in part because I have a seriously bad situation going on in our back playroom. I’ve mentioned before that the previous owners had a dog that apparently used the playroom as a bathroom, and although we’ve cleaned the carpet back there, the pad underneath and the floor are ruined.

I’ve heard that jingle (bet you have too!) “800-588-2300 Empire!!”, and I thought that the company just sold carpet. Turns out they also sell hardwood, laminate and ceramic flooring, window treatments, and bath and shower liners-you know, the kind where the liner walls just drops right in to your existing bath or shower. Don’t remember the jingle? Around the Chicago area, it sounds like this- “Five eight eight, two three-hundred, Em-pire!” The “Eight Hundred” is added for other areas. It was covered in concert by PEARL JAM, and is shown at the beginning of the movie Wayne’s World.

The “Empire Man” was first introduced in 1977 and has become so popular, he is shown in commercials, has been made into a line of collectible bobblehead dolls, is featured each year in the annual McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and inspired the Chicago Cubs to declare an official “Empire Day” at Wrigley Field in 2007! Watch this:

Proving that there is a Wikipedia page for everything, you can read about Empire Today’s history by reading the Empire Today Wikipedia page. The company is based in Northlake, Illinois, and “operates in over 50 major metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada, making it the leading provider of home improvements and home furnishings in North America”. After looking through their site, I would love to schedule a free visit by Empire Carpet to redo my playroom, maybe a nice Berber that’s durable and can stand up to my children

Now, here are some of the services that make Empire stand out from it’s competitors. With approved credit, you pay NO INTEREST and make NO PAYMENTS for one year, you can purchase Empire products even if you rent rather than own your apartment or home, they will bring samples of the flooring you are interested in to your home at no obligation, most products can be installed the next day, AND, they give out a free gift that varies with their current promotions with your purchase! Which is why the poor Empire Man is sitting here in this commercial:

If I didn’t want to replace the carpet in the playroom, I could always get Hardwood Flooring from Empire Today instead. They carry both traditional and specialty hardwoods in either natural or stained finishes. With a nice Area Rug on top, thick enough to be comfortable for playing and sleepovers, that might just be a better solution for us anyway.

That number again (sing with me!) is 800-588-2300 Empire, call them today for a free in-home estimate and check out their website for all of their flooring and other products. This is the YouTube page for more videos, including cute ones featuring kids singing the jingle

Thanks for reading all about Empire Today!

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