Sunday, December 05, 2004

The Misanthrope—Sunday’s Lighter Side

Ah well, perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked.
Pearl Buck, novelist.

Only for the Rich. Baseball ticket prices are going the way of basketball and football, even thought baseball plays more than twice the number of games. The greedy Los Angeles Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, once again raised ticket prices. Field level seats will increase from $45 to $70. Don’t expect to see lower to middle-class families sitting in the good seats at Dodger Stadium. The prices continue to escalate and are only affordable to business people courting clients, lobbyists subtly twisting politicians’ arms, and to the rich Hollywood and Beverly Hills crowd who want to be seen, of course, many of their tickets are complimentary.

Meanwhile, feel free to take your family to the outfield bleacher seats and pray a riot doesn’t break out around you. Bleacher seats sell for $6 apiece, which is a very good price, if it came with bodyguards. Of course, alcohol is not sold out there, so naturally the drinking occurs in the parking lot before the game. This way, you don’t even get three innings completed before fans become unruly.

The pleasures of going to Dodger Stadium no longer exist for The Misanthrope’s family. We’d suggest listening to the game on the radio, but the signal is weak and the broadcasting team even weaker. (see Bring Dodger Announcer Ross Porter Back).


Rock and Roll Circus. The Rolling Stones produced their own television special in 1968, but it had never seen the light of day officially until this year’s DVD release in time for Christmas. The Misanthrope who has contributed far too much to the bands coffers, decided to rent it instead. Talk about feeling old. The Misanthrope is now older than all the thirty-something or almost thirty-something performers on the DVD. The seriousness surrounding this spectacle of bright colors and leading-edge (not just a corporate buzzword in this case) music, made one think the music was going to change the world. In the end, it created a few long running fads, great classic rock songs, some of which now shill for car ads, lingerie, perfume, software, and tennis shoes. No band or rock and roll artist is immune to commerce and greed.

It’s no wonder Mick Jagger did not release the DVD until recently. The Stones were flat. The super group of the event John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards stole the show with a great version of the Lennon and Paul McCartney’s song "Yer Blues." Jethro Tull was outstanding, The Who showed their talent, and the bar was raised and the Stones limbo’d under it.

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