Pearl Jam toe-to-toe with Ticketmaster

In response to Sylkes' comment on today's Ticket Rage post. I do remember Pearl Jam going at it with ticketmaster. I think at the time it was a good eye-opening thing. People started to think about these fees and additional ways that we get stiffed for normal transactions. Ultimately though it didn't accomplish much and the result was that less fans got to see their shows because less venues would work with them. I wish I could find that goofy picture of them standing there in front of a senate subcomittee hearing with right arms raised being sworn in. Some info on it found on this page and Pearl Jam's side of the story here. I remember PJ ultimately losing out and having to cancel part of a tour because of venue problems.
The system supports itself... but there is an example when some people CAN make a difference on this issue. A big act that arenas wanted and needed to have come tried to set better rules... too bad it didn't work out... I do remember hearing that next time around everyone was much more cooperative with Pearl Jam, but I don't know if that trickled down to the consumer or not. Sylkes' point about scalpers and other problems with the ticket system is well taken as well...

Ticket Rage

I'm in a state of rage. RAGE I tell you. I've been getting tickets for a number of baseball games this summer. I've bought tickets from the Red Sox, As, Giants, and Nationals. My most recent purchase was Giants tickets for my cousin and her husband when they come to visit in a few weeks (I purchased tickets for myself previously).

Not only do you have to pay high ticket prices for National League baseball games that feature two terrible teams in what will be a half empty stadium (and in general a "product" seriously diluted from what it was just 10 years ago). (Incidentally the SF papers were touting this year's team as a contender for the World Series. I literally laughed when I read that. Let's get this straight, a team with two hitters and a couple mediocre pitchers is going to challenge for the NL and WS title? I'm all for boosting your home town, but how can those journalists claim any sort of integrity here. At least in Boston they will trash the team if it's bad and boost it if it's good, but they certainly don't boost it when it's bad -though they might trash it when it's good. Anyway, the point is, what a joke.)

So, not only do you pay high ticket prices for the worst seats in a half empty stadium for a team that just won't challenge for anything other than a .500 record this year, but you get slammed with all sorts of other fees. Here we go:
Convenience fee: $4.50 per ticket. PER TICKET. So, not only do I pay the ticket price, but I pay for the "convenience" of buying a ticket? How do they get away with this? YOU DON'T SELL OUT YOUR STADIUM, YOU SHOULD BE GIVING ME MONEY BACK TO BUY TICKETS! As if that isn't bad enough (did I mention PER TICKET - completely ridiculous), there is an additional PROCESSING FEE of $3.50. Processing what? Think your done with fees? Not so fast. To get your tickets, you still have to pay. You can choose from a variety of options, all of which have a charge from $2 to $14. The "recommended" way to get your tickets is to print them out yourself. Of course this costs an additional $2.50, but hey, they recommend it! No kidding they recommend it. They do nothing except collect $2.50, and you press the print button on your web browser. Gee, for all the work they are doing getting THEIR product to me, these fees sound like a deal!

Let's say I wanted to go to a game by myself and I wanted to get the cheapest seats in the house. Standing room seats to the Giants are $12.00, which would normally be a good deal except that you can't see anything from the standing room section and the ushers are fairly diligent out here about verifying that you are going to your seat. Add the convenience fee, $16.50, add the processing fee, $20.00. Want to actually get your tickets before the game? Let's slap you with a $6 delivery charge. Grand total for my 1 - cheapest, worst, ticket in the stadium: $26.00. Well, it doesn't take a former algebra teacher telling you to see that the fees are MORE THAN 100% of the ticket price. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS AND TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!

I don't understand how we as consumers allow this. If you went to Burger King and they had the value meal for $5.50, then added $2.00 charges per item for the convenience of you getting your food, with an additional processing fee to ring it up at the register, and another fee for them to actually hand you the food, would you ever go back? Would they stay in business? It's ridiculous. Wanna buy some clothes? No problem, just take the item up and let them ring up an additional $15 in required convenience and handling fees.

I think the root of the problem is that we just accept this and let them get away with it because of the demand for the tickets. In places like Boston where the whole season almost sold out before opening day, they can get away with stuff like this (though they aren't as bad). The demand is there so they milk every penny out of us to pay overpriced, whining, steriod using, superstars, who mail it in as soon as they get the big contract. Of course that is part of what is fundamentally wrong with baseball and not for this discussion. But, something needs to be done about that. I don't mind paying high ticket prices as much if that's all I'm paying. But to pay high ticket prices and dress up about $15 in extra charges is ridiculous. The systems they have in place for ticketing likely run with little maintenance, and if there is maintenance, THEY should be the ones picking up the charge for the cost of them to distribute their product. Not me as the consumer. THEY should be covering the handling charges for them to do whatever they need to do, THEY should be covering the processing fees.

I have no conclusions to make here, this is just a rant; I am enraged by this behavior. The Giants were the worst of the bunch, but the others all had some type of additional fees. It's a sad state of affairs and I wish I didn't tolerate it. But here I am buying tickets all over the country paying these fees. In fact, I am a big part of the problem...

Lunchtime Survey

A lunchtime survey just revealed that 0 out of 8 people think of Bill Lee when hearing the phrase, the spaceman.

Ridiculous. What kind of place is this so called "california"

Comicle...

During my last few years in Boston, I really warmed up to the Boston Globe. I transitioned from just reading the sports section to reading the finance section, real estate section, local news, and special sections (of course still the sports section too). I didn't get crazy enough to read much national news, and the sports journalism was still what drove me to buy the globe, but I did branch our and start to enjoy the paper more as a whole than just one section. I really began to appreciate the Boston Globe, whether I agreed with the subject matter or not, for what I felt like was often concise, well presented material.

The San Francisco Chronicle, commonly referred to as the "Comicle" because it's such a joke, is easily the fluffiest daily newspaper I have ever seen. I have probably read newspapers from about 10 different cities and a few national publications at differnt times through the years. I am simply in awe that this paper exists in a daily format. The FREE daily paper for commuters, which may even be published by the same company, is even better. The front page contains the usual array of pet stories and obscure happenings you expect to find in a high school newspaper. A title from yesterday's front page, "Athiests Reach out in S.F.", which turned out to be a piece on an athiest meeting that took place in Berkeley last week. ON THE FRONT PAGE! Other headlines reveal gems waiting to be read such as, "Dog Park Closed for Renovation", "This Tree Sees All" (a story about an old tree), and "Elderly Man Catches Cold" (a story about one person's attempts to hold his apartment at 78 degrees year round). Meanwhile, interesting local news stories that have a direct affect on residents of hte city, such as: MUNI fare hikes, hotel workers on strike, or world leaders visiting the city, get buried - if reported at all. The analysis and coverage of most major events in the city are just plain spotty. I'm shocked surprised to find such a joke of a newspaper serving a city of close to 1 million people, and even more shocked that the paper has enough circulation to continue printing. Who is reading it?

By the way, I mentioned the free paper; there must be a city ordinance here allowing anyone who wants to put up one of those paper distributors on the sidewalk the right to do so. This city is full of wacky ordinances and I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them. I'm going to attach a photo once I take one, but I counted FIFTEEN paper distributor machines on the sidewalk in two different places on my morning commute today, FIFTEEN. Clearly a little excessive, wouldn't you say? Coupled with the fact that they are often set up next to two or three mail dropboxes, it's a little ridiculous to see a 50 foot spread of boxes along the sidewalk. I'm not sure anyone notices though, because there are a few at almost every street corner in some parts of the city. Perhaps the populous has become desensitized to their presence.

Back to the topic of papers: I recently received a free subscription to the Wall Street Journal as part of a class I was taking. I remember us getting the Journal at home when I was young. It seemed like it was always sitting on the driveway and then would go straight to the trash. Well, my inital experience was the same. At first I just let unread copies of "the Journal" pile up in my recylcing bin. However, as time went on I started reading a bit here and there as I found points of interest. Now I find myself not bring books on the MUNI, but bringing the Journal because I find it so interesting.

I think one of the reasons I like it is that they generally aren't trying to see papers by pushing ideas or a point of view. Of course it's journalism and the biases of the author are generally reflected in what he's saying, but that is a lot tougher to see in the Journal. For the most part, it's articles and reporting on various topics holds a lot of the author's commentary out of it. Again, this is not always the case, but I find it more so in the Journal than in other publications.

I don't know exactely when the shift occurred that made me interested in national and world finance and business, but it clearly has. As I read an article on stocks, bonds, and long term investments today I couldn't help but note the change in my reading habits. The Journal doesn't even have a sports section. I suppose the truth is that I've already read the sports news online (or plan to) each day, but it's still a change for me in terms of what kinds of news I am interested in and exposing myself to. This can be nothing other than a clear cut sign that I am aging, or rather maturing. It makes me wonder if this is just specific to newspapers, or if my perspective is broadening in general. At the moment I have no answer for that, however, I am starting to look forward to reading the mix of business, business, finance, and national news found in the Journal every morning...

Gatsby's Green Light

I can't think of a better close to a book better than F. Scott Fitzgerald's, "The Great Gatsby". The last few lines are pure genius and have haunted me for years. They bring me back to this book for another reading year after year and back to my mind on countless occasions. In a book of simple language though sometimes complex ideas, Fitzgerald absolutely nailed it in the closing paragraphs.

I first read Gatsby in high school at the hands of an overbearing English teacher who wanted me to take her interpretation as fact. Though I bowed to her interpretation for essays, I never let go of my reading of it.

I think of it through Nick's eyes. Surveying a quiet, desolate area that was once alive and contemplating to himself. Too bad there aren't more people making moving, meaningful movies right now. Gatsby would be a good one if you could capture the tragedy of it all. Here it is below:

"He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It alluded us then but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning-

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

The imagery alone in that ending is staggering. Though the green light alludes us, we will run after it faster and try harder to capture it. This is what writing is all about. I can't help but think about the green light and what it stood for for Gatsby.

Interestingly enough I always knew that line as the "orgiastic" future. Apparently an editor changed the word after Fitzgerald's death and orgiastic got inserted where it should have been orgastic. There's a little piece on this found here, and more than you would ever want to know avaialable at another site.

more coming on the green light when I have time...

the struggle continues on the screen and in the human soul...

The struggle between good and evil, coming to a world near yours... My mind has been reeling all day thinking about good vs. evil, both in and outside the context of the film. By the film I of course mean the imminent release of "Star Wars Episode III". Some of the things I've heard about the movie have me contemplating the evergoing battle between good and evil that is present in religion, pop culture, and anywhere else you might care to look.

It's surprising that I find this movie interesting me quite a bit when the last two were simply terrible. Though I of course would see the movie anyway for the audio/visual Star Wars bonanza that it will be, I must admit it's the subtler themes attracting me to this one. I hope they do deliver.

The idea of good and evil is one we are fascinated by in our pop culture. However, it really is a totally arbitrary thing to label one good and another bad. It's all a matter of motivation and perspective. Speaking in terms of the movie, it had never occurred to me that a young Darth Vader didn't know he was inherenty "bad". I always assumed he was consciously heading toward evil. The idea that the lines got blurred for him as a young "jedi" so that he couldn't tell the difference fascinates me.

Both as a movie viewer and human being this point can't get enough attention because of its application in everyday life. Interestingly enough, Lucas may have spun this out there with political motives, but of course once it's out the door it's mine to interpret as I please. Whether I'm interested in his politics or not the idea is completely apolitical.


I'm struggling to bring this out of the context of the movie and get accross what I'm trying to say, yet the part that interests me is the "blurring of the lines" between good and evil. It makes me wonder where the lines are blurred so that I can't see clearly anymore in my own life and in our world.

I guess the whole idea of good and bad is based on some sort of moral/ethical code stemming from religion, laws, or other sources. Given the number of laws, religions, and other basises for thought out there, it's understandable why it be so difficult to tell what is good or evil. Labelling something good or bad is virtually impossible since it can be the total opposite for someone else and all the while everyone involved could thing they were on the "good" side. However, I could write a book on that topic and I'm already rambling enough. The point here as a friend of mine mentioned to me today is more that every man has shades of good and evil in them. We inherently have it, which is one of the things that makes this theme so attractive for us to read about, view, and think about. The question I wonder is can we see the difference within ourselves or are we blinded by other factors from making a sound call on that? I also wonder where the lines are blurred that I haven't noticed. Am I unknowingly sliding in one direction or another, and if I were, would I know?

I wish I could articulate this better, but hopefully I'll improve as my blogging continues...and the beat goes on...

Deli Haus

I could be the only one out there who still thinks about this place. The Deli Haus was a real dive of a restaurant in the heart of Kenmore Square. I don't know who of my little group found the place, but I would suspect it was Sylkes, and what a find. In the later high school years when cars allowed us the freedom to escape the boredom of suburban life, my friends and I would head in to the Deli for a late night snack (whether we were hungry or not). A few friends never went, but there was a core group of Deli Hausers. A trip to the Deli was the right way to end the night. I don't remember it's exact hours though I can only recall one time we went and found it closed, and that was because of a holiday. We'd arrive sometime between 10PM and 1AM for a few hours of killing time with food and conversation. I still don't know why more people didn't take advantage of the place. Even after Red Sox games you could sneak in there and wait out the traffic for an hour in relative peace. It was tucked away under apartments, slightly set back from the sidewalk so that you had to walk down from street level to enter.

The menu (found here) showed surprising variety and wasn't all that cheap but you could always find a few gems. For my part, it was the $2.95 grilled cheese (with fries for an extra .75). It was delicous. Cool music was always in the air and the wait staff - which got so that they recognized us but never warmed to us - was adorned with tatoos, piercing, colored hair, and various alterna-garb that helped set a edgy tone to the place.

Some of the most interesting conversations I ever had up till that point took place in the smokey, loud, environs of the Deli. Now as I think back on the conversations, they seem the epitome of idealistic youth: future plans, ideas, where we wanted to go, what we hoped to do, dreams, ideas, dreams. If you got the same crowd together in the same atmosphere today I suspect our conversation would be a lot darker, perhaps a lot more negative. But it was light and fun and sometimes deep and somber and sometimes angry... It was us getting out, feeling away and free, and just being teenagers. I still remember looking across the table to see Bill and Pete digging into pizza bagels while Sylkes and Kurt slugged down about 4 cups of joe debating the hot topic of the moment. All the while, I with my grill cheese and fries soaking in the atmosphere and jumping in and out of debates. Not only that, but I can still recall the sounds and smells of the place, as well as the way I would feel sitting there bantering with friends. I think the biggest draw was that all of us felt... comfortable, there.

Sadly, Kenmore now has all kinds of new large buildings and hotels and has lost a lot of it's of-the-beaten-path-Boston character and charm. The Deli went away a few years back and is probably now a high end hair salon or something similarly as ridiculous. It produced as diverse a crowd or students, locals, visitors, and insomniacs as you're likely to find anywhere in Boston. Apparently these people haven't heard the news, which led me to hope that it had somehow reopened, but further investigation proved otherwise.

At any rate. The Deli Haus, an unforgettable dive - not just for itself, but also for the countless nights of my youth capped off with a trip there. I mourn its passing.

Homeless

Seeing so many homeless on a daily basis makes it easy to turn contemptuous toward them and cease to view them as people but more as a social problem needing a "fix" like alcoholism or drug addiction. It's tough to maintain a true perspective in this city. Back home the situation was much more manageable. This morning, I counted 5 homeless on my short trip to work (most of which is spent in the cozy confines of the MUNI with other early morning commuters).

Of course this has been obvious to me since I got here. What hasn't been obvious is my changing attitude toward the issue. When I came out of the muni station and was immediately asked for money, I didn't say anything nasty, but mentally I snapped at the guy. This disturbs me. Everywhere you go in this city there are homeless people sleeping, holding out their hand for money, holding signs, urinating. In some cases their stench is absolutely unbearable. Yet I can't seem to look past those things to see the person there. I would love to be the kind of person who goes around and talks to them and shows them every care and consideration, but I'm just not. I guess the problem is that I feel like I *should* be. Down in the financial district we all walk by the same people every day, yet it's like they aren't even there. I just ignore them or shake my head no and walk by. In Boston I used to carry a couple of quarters and if anyone asked me (frequently no one did) I'd give them away. It was my little way of doing something other than brushing by like they weren’t there and don't exist. Here, the problem is so much greater doing even that small thing feels tougher.

For me personally, the truth is I'm not about to get seriously involved in solving this issue. Sure I will contribute a few times a year in some small way to an organization focusing on the homeless, or once in a long while volunteer somewhere serving the homeless, but beyond that it's not something that mobilizes me. Yet I am disturbed enough by my recent reaction and lack of compassion to reexamine if this is something I can, or want to be, part of the solution for. Maybe I should just go back to giving change when I can. I guess part of the difficulty is that it's so hard to relate because I can never see myself on the other side of the hand (which by the way is inexcuseable). I imagine many of these people never did either though... this gives me much to consider...

I'm struggling a bit to get going on this blog and figure out what I want to do with it. Why am I writing this you ask?? Good question. Almost trying to convince myself of something, aren't I? Well, what are the items from these thoughts?
1) Carry change to give away again. Who cares where it goes, it goes to someone more needy than me.
2) Reexamine my role/interest in helping solve social issues such as homelessness.

I suppose that's a start that won't be too difficult for me to get going with... We'll see what happens...