One For The Road: prices

Showing posts with label prices. Show all posts

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Just a RANT about Anti-Smoking Commercials

You know what really makes me SICK?

Several DECADES ago, our government put their foot down, and decided to no longer allow cigarette advertisements on TV. None whatsoever.

So now that it's 2016, why in the hell do I have to watch commercials showing a guy explaining how much it sucks to live his life when he has a hole in his throat? I won't watch, but I also mute the TV, because the last thing anyone wants to hear is a guy having to hold a machine against his larynx to be able to talk, and I don't want to hear it. And it's not only him. This company has launched several anti-smoking advertisements recently, with a few different "victims". Some of them have recently died, and they are sure to let us know that.

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Not only that, but now we also have to see tons of new anti-smoking commercials, such as these.

I'm a smoker, and I have been since I was about 21. Most of the past 23 years I enjoyed smoking a few cigarettes a day. Some of those days I smoke wayy tooo much. People enjoy smoking. Cigarettes.. Pipes.. Cigars.. Marijuana.... But I stray from the point.

I used to pay $3.25 for a pack of smokes back in the 90's. These days a pack is at least $6. Sometimes they're $7.50.

You're not allowed to advertise cigarette sales. Please stop advertising only the worst possible scenarios that result from smoking!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wanna Go See Rush? Rolling Stones, Perhaps?

Image Source

I was considering going to see one of my favorite bands, RUSH (for the 7th time), and so I went to the online ticket place, which is almost always Ticketmaster. The Nov. 30th show is not only nearly sold-out, but the only tickets remaining are the ones that are always last-remaining: opposite side of the arena. Those tickets are over $90.00 !!! There were even a few over on the side (they're gone now).. way on the side, like literally side-stage, for $114! Stub-hub has some floor seats for $249-$800. What??

Here's the point. And this point is why I'm writing right now. It's no secret that the older bands, who have been around a while, can pull in some high ticket prices. But I'm frankly disappointed in Rush for entering into this category now. The last time I saw them was only about 3 years ago, and we paid about $30 for lawn seats at the Verizon Wireless Theater in Selma - for their 30th Anniversary tour.

Now, check THIS out:

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a Yahoo Music article by Chris Willman

The last time the Rolling Stones toured, there wasn't quite as much of a panic over tickets. But then, that previous trek involved 147 shows.

This year's tour? Four gigs.

No wonder there's an international mania to get into the group's arena shows in London Nov. 25 and 29 and New Jersey on Dec. 13 and 15. Tickets for the two Newark gigs haven't yet gone on sale. But it's already "As Tears Go By" time for the millions of fans who tried and failed to get the 30,000 or so tickets that went up for grabs Friday for the two O2 Arena shows in Britannia.

Just remember, though, hope is never lost… if you're Donald Trump. Because there's always the secondary market, where scalpers are already asking record sums. It's been reported that the Getmein.com website has tickets listed for up to $21,120, although it's hard to imagine any seat that is not actually on Mick Jagger's lap going for a penny over 20K.

These exaggerated fees won't go to the Stones themselves. Face values for the London tickets ranged from about $152 to $601 in American dollars. Fox News suggested in a headline that these were "the most overpriced gig(s) ever." But given that a huge percentage of the tickets will be scalped for several times their initial value, it's clear that overpricing is in the eye of the reseller, and as far as scalpers are concerned, 600 bucks is bargain pricing.

Mysteriously, tickets for the Newark shows are already being auctioned on eBay, even though a limited presale doesn't begin till Saturday and the general on-sale date isn't until Oct. 26. Six seats (or non-seats, actually) in the pit for the Dec. 15 show are being offered for a "buy it now" total of $49,999. Someone else is offering pairs of floor seats for $33,999 and $29,999 ("or best offer").

Do these scalpers already have those tickets somehow in hand to sell, or are they just optimistic about their many employees being able to break through the Ticketmaster firewall when ducats do go up for grabs? Possibly only the New Jersey attorney general knows for sure. (Source)

Click here to read the rest of the article..

I personally wouldn't go to a Stones show if you paid me, but that's just me, and my musical tastes. But something is seriously wrong when these guys have to charge SO much for a freaking ticket to see them! I remember when you could go to a concert AND buy a t-shirt for under $40! Those were the days.

/rant

So, with that in mind... here is RUSH, live in Columbus, OH, Sep. 20, 2012:

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Monday, March 5, 2012

Decisions Decisions

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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Music Festivals & Concerts

Via / Source

They forgot to mention the $50 T-shirts! Otherwise this is right-on. I've been to several Ozzfests that were exactly like this, and the worst thing about it is they always happened in the dead of July or August. We all know how Texas weather is in the summer.