Manipulated by the mouse

Judging by the number of people who are checking out my humble blog for news of Hannah Montana, I'm guessing that this "scandal" is manufactured and will make Disney, Vanity Fair and Miley Cyrus bushels of cash.

First, the "nude" photo itself is ridiculously modest. Miley Cyrus is as nude as she is under jeans and a blouse. For god's sake, she's covered with a sheet, and is only "nude" in the small, dirty minds of those who would think of her that way. You can see "nuder" fifteen years olds on any beach in America.

Second, Disney accuses Vanity Fair of making money by taking advantage of a 15 year old. And how many years has Disney exploited this pre-teen for their benefit.

Third, Miley Cyrus is on the cusp on not being a wholesome pre-teen anymore, and in America, my friends. a wholesome teenager just doesn't sell. Disney and Cyrus are working hard to make their young starlet into a vixen.

Fourth, this is the nonsense that America is working at when we are struggling with war, poverty, hunger, torture, loss of liberty, criminal leaders, and hundreds of other problems that we don't have to worry about if we are concentrating on the bare shoulders of Hannah Montana.

This is a show business kid, and you know what Steely Dan says about show business kids, "making movies of themselves. You know they don't give a fuck about anybody else."

The plot to a new Stephen King novel: a president's daughter is waterboarded because she won't give up the location of her Hannah Montana tickets

Stephen King is refreshingly candid in his short interview published in Time Magazine this week.

And why wouldn't he be?

He's got enough money to buy the entire state of Maine. And wouldn't it be cool to have Stephen King for a landlord, except for that tapping on the wall every evening, and the voice of a little girl humming plaintively, "Nobody's Perfect."

A reflection on a great night out

There are nights out, and there are nights out.

Last night was memorable. My sister Patty took the kids to Illiano's for pasta, and knowing they were in safe hands, Lucy and I fled to Northampton.

It was warm, and muggy. It seemed like the trees had turned overnight, and the streets were filled with punks and students and life.

At the Iron Horse, Mike Doucet greeted us warmly, and we chatted for twenty minutes about things two old dudes in their fifties do - kids, physical ailments, friends.

And then we danced. I've forgotten how much fun it is to dance to Beausoleil. They are skilled hands at finding the rhythm and soul in an ancient music. I've been knowing Doucet for a long time, and his playing and singing just get better and better. Coincidentally when I got to work this morning I looked at a picture of my sons Brendan and Colin together, taken 20 years ago at a Beausoleil concert on Foss Hill at Wesleyan. It made me think of the connectedness of life (Beausoleil, Louisiana, Middletown, family). And it made me miss talking to Brendan.

Billy Bragg was as good as the first time I saw him in an Iron Horse production at some saloon I think in Sunderland in 1985. That night, I had just gotten my membership at WWUH, and I interviewed Billy backstage. He is as funny, smart and talented then, as he is now. While he never had a lack of confidence, or any hint of stage fright, he has warmed with age, readily poking fun at his years (singing, "all my friends got fat" in Waiting for the Great Leap Forward) and his own weight ("These heavy matters don't worry me, because I'm a heavier dude than I used to be" from the new and great Johnny Clash - An Old Clash Fan Fight Song). Of course there were the few lengthy philosophical excursions, but his bit on whether music can change the world, I still disagree. Billy contends that it wasn't the Clash who politicized him, but being with the audience at an anti-racism Clash show. I'd argue that without the music, that audience would never have been there. And as ridiculous as it may seem, I would say that my thoughts have been shaped by musicians as diverse as Barry McGuire, Bob Dylan, Ian Anderson, Randy Newman, Elvis Costello, the Clash, and yes, Billy, you. In the old days, I often came away from a Bragg show thinking, "Damn, this guy knows more about my country's history and politics than I do." I'd like to think that I don't have that regret today.

I also met several WWUH listeners at the show, and each one thanked me for introducing them to Billy Bragg, and for speaking out and playing the music I do each Wednesday morning. It's nice to know someone is listening.

A final thought. Last night reminded me of what musical performance ought to be. Yeah, I had fun at the Bruce Springsteen show, but dancing three feet from the band, or hearing a concert in a beautiful old theater, are everything a concrete and steel coliseum or sports stadium are not. And all without the hassle of scalpers! Listen you Hannah Montana fans, forget about the ticket brokers, giant venues, Disney-packaged music and you're dorky friends and find a punk club where you can really discover who you are.

So, there are night out, and there are nights, out. And last night was one to remember.

Oh ho, has someone at the Courant been reading my Hannah Montana posts?

Tomorrow's paper (already in the online version) will carry this story about the Hannah Montana ticket scandal.

I scooped 'em.

BTW, I've learned that Hannah Montana is no relation to Helena Montana, but that she was born of a man with an achy, breaky heart. Lord help her.

Hannah Montana and me

Over the past several weeks, since I posted a blog about the ticket sales scandal involving Hannah Montana tickets, the number of visitors to this site has expanded exponentially. I actually wrote the blog because like many other Springsteen fans, I felt cheated out of good seats while ticket brokers (scalpers) seemed to get plenty.

I guess the same thing must be happening all over the country, but the media seems to be missing this important story. I think a presidential candidate could make a name for him or herself by revealing this plot, and finding a solution.

This post will guarantee many more visitors who might inadvertently read something else that could make them worry about a topic more important than a teen idol.

Another wrinkle in the Hannah Montana ticket scandal

It will be with some pleasure that I'll watch parents of angry pre-adolescents bring down the ticket scalping industry. But it seems possible.

I suspected that scalpers had some kind of software to get them to tickets faster, now it' clear.

The Hannah Montana scandal

There are some angry parents of pre-adolescent young women who had hoped to see the Hannah Montana concert live when it comes to the Hartford Civic Center. It seems that when the tickets went onsale to the general public, only about 3,000 of the 13,000 tickets remained, after distribution to ticket brokers (scalpers), corporate sponsors, comped friends, and fan clubs. It explains why the Civic Center can sell-out in 3 minutes. Same thing happened with Bruce Springsteen. After the sale, thousands of tickets showed up in the secondary market (scalpers), and for several times their face value.

There was a report about the ticket re-sale market on Colin McEnroe's show yesterday afternoon, and again this morning on the Dunaway/Smith show on WTIC-AM.

One wonders why concert venues and producers would cooperate with ticket resellers (scalpers), for shows which will undoubtably sell-out on their own. One theory is that since artists now routinely take 100% of the gate, by selling tickets to resellers (scalpers), concert venues and producers can actually realize a fee over and above the face value of the ticket, which by contract, must go to the artist.

And as of Oct. 1, ticket scalping in Connecticut is totally legal. So, if the theory is true, the audience gets cheated, the artist gets cheated and the venue and the scalpers make more. Hopefully artists will catch onto the scam and demand a cut of ticket blocks sold by venues and producers to the secondary market (scalpers).

It is just enough to turn me away from stadium shows for good.