In a perfect storm of pop madness, New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys are joining forces, Ryan Seacrest confirmed, and embarking on a U.S. tour starting Summer 2011.

Both bands toured South Florida this year (you can read my reviews of those shows here and here), which leads me to hope that they’ll be making a stop here on next year’s NKOTBSB tour.

To get an early taste of this awesomeness, be sure to tune in to the American Music Awards on Nov. 21 to catch all the guys performing together.
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What do you do when you want to roast chicken for dinner but it’s so hot you don’t want to turn on your oven?

Don’t.

Let me introduce you to my new favorite gadget, an oven that won’t make your house feel like a sauna: the NuWave Pro Infrared Oven.
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Josh Webb and Sarah Mulé started a cupcake baking business this year with the goal to have a storefront location for The Chunky Cupcake. (Ray Graham / Palm Beach Post)

Behold, the cupcake. For all its basic simplicity, it’s taking the culinary world by storm.

There’s not much to it, really… cake and frosting and flavors, but it has spawned blogs and websites, artwork and cartoons, clothing, accessories and TV shows — and hundreds of businesses across the country.

This year, I fell prey to the mighty power of the tiny cupcake. I started my own cupcake business. What started out as an idea mentioned in passing, has turned into a serious passion for pastry.
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The wait is over!

Season 3 of HBO’s True Blood premiered last night and, thankfully, picked right back up where it left off last season.

Warning: If you haven’t watched it yet, go do that first and then come back here. Spoilers abound.

So, as you remember from the end of last season, Bill has been vampire-napped from the fancy French restaurant and a confused Sookie is left wondering what happened.
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The Backstreet Boys bring back memories at American Airlines Arena. (Mike Storms / Storms Media Group) (Click photo for more concert pictures)

Photos: Backstreet Boys, plus more Florida concerts | Page2Live.com: Backstreet Boys turn back time in South Florida

I remember the first time I saw the Backstreet Boys in concert. My best friend Sara and I were 13, and beyond excited to have gotten tickets to the Boys’ show at the South Florida Fair.

It poured that night, but we didn’t care. As far as we were concerned, we were in heaven.

And so it started. We became part of those girls who “looooooooved” the Backstreet Boys.

And you know what? We still do.
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New Kids on the Block play the Fillmore Miami Beach. (Photo by Sarah Mule)

On Thursday, The New Kids on the Block performed at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Yes, really. The New Kids on the Block.

No, they’re no longer kids. Nor are they new. But in the eyes of the women who loved them 20 years ago, they’re still just as popular.

The New Kids, who were formed in Boston in 1984, consist of Donnie Wahlberg (actor and brother of Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight.

When The New Kids were at the height of their popularity in the early ‘90s, I was 6 years old. And I, like millions of other young girls around the world, bought into the hype, which included persuading my parents to spend a small fortune on New Kids merchandise.
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Sevendust plays for the sold out crowd at the South Florida Fair. (Photo by Keith Miller/The Palm Beach Post)

Fairgoers Wednesday got an extra treat thanks to a performance from rock/metal masters Sevendust.

Sevendust and opening act Hed(p.e.) performed as part of the South Florida Fair’s yearly concert lineup.

I was a little unsure when I heard that the show was going to be in the Expo center rather than the amphitheatre, but the Fair folks and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ (how’s that for a name?) Local 500 group of stage hands did an amazing job of turning a portion of that huge Expo Center into an intimate performance venue.

This mini-arena, designed to accommodate about 2,000 people, was completely sold out – which is no surprise considering even the last row of the general admission seats afforded a great view of the stage.
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Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 mug for the Cruzan crowd (Taylor Jones / The Post)
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If you didn’t know that Blink-182 is just coming back from a four-year break, you certainly wouldn’t have been able to tell Saturday night.

The guys from Blink, along with Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects and Asher Roth put on one loud, crazy sweaty show at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach.

Third in the lineup, after Roth and AAR, Fall Out Boy took the stage with their song, “Sugar, We’re Goin Down,” off of their album From Under the Cork Tree.
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Wow.

First of all, this post is filled to the brim with spoilers so if you haven’t yet watched the season 2 finale of “True Blood,” stop what you’re doing and go watch it right now. And then come back here and read this.

Moving on …

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This is one of those do-not-miss television moments.

Tonight – finally – we find out just what it will take to stop evil Maryann. But we know it will not be without great sacrifice … if she can even be stopped at all. Who will be her final victim this season?

What else will be resolved tonight?

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