Fall down, go boom.

Joan Kennedy just got herself added to the growing number of people that I have heard about who have passed out on the sidewalks of Boston. Way to go, Joan, you little hussy.

Just you wait, soon EVERYONE is going to be doing it. That is, if they haven't done it already and just don't have the cahones to admit that it has happened to them.

Not buying concert tickets... a rant

So I wasn't able to get seats for this leg of the Tori Amos tour, and I am highly peeved. I missed the pre-sale because the date for the show that I wanted to attend (Boston) wasn't up at the pre-announced time on ToriAmos.com. It ended up showing up DAYS later, and, sorry, I can't be glued to the computer 24/7 to wait for the tickets. When I finally saw it, the pre-sale was sold out.

Saturday morning, right at noon when the tickets were supposed to go on sale, Ticketmaster.com was offering seats in the REAR BALCONY of the Orpheum. And that's IT. Needless to say, I was not happy, and after checking with the friends with whom I had planned on attending the show, we didn't end up buying them. This is absolutely ridiculous, and I am (in the immortal words on Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda) DISAPPOINTED. Much as I was with the U2 situation from three weeks ago, where we ended up not getting tickets either. Well, there go my concert plans for the spring.

Congress REALLY needs to reexamine the process of ticket sales and on-line ticket sales in particular. This is totally ridiculous. I don't even CARE about the extra fees; at this point, I just want the opportunity to BUY the stupid tickets. I don't know who is buying out all these tickets, but I find it hard to believe that each ticket being sold actually has an ass to go into the seat.

I don't like Mondays... tell me why

First, a big shout out to Boston Mayor Tommy Menino, who put the fear of God into all crazy Bostonians, who made barely a peep on the streets last night, despite the Patriots taking home their third Super Bowl trophy in four years. Go Pats, but for the love of God, keep down the racket. Especially when I am suffering from the fourth consecutive day of migraines.



Next, it is a bad idea to watch a miniseries about Nazi invasion of the Channel Islands before going to bed.



Third, has anyone else been following the story about Weyco Inc, the Michigan company that is firing employees who will not quit smoking, as they have implemented a no-smoking policy both in an outside the workplace as of 1 January? Under Michigan law, this guy is protected as he is a private employer. Next people on his list: the overweight. Now I get why this guy is doing this: one would like a healthy work force, and the rising costs of health care paid by the employer, and the amount of health care needed proportionally by smokers to non-smokers can be considerable, but this is just OUT OF CONTROL. What gives the right of an employer to regulate what his employees do, so long as it is legal, outside the workplace? If the health care costs are such a big problem, change the employer contribution so that the employee has to fit more of the bill. This company already made it a policy not to hire smokers.



Now as an ex-smoker, I can testify that smoking is not a very healthy habit. Hell, I could barely climb a flight of stairs without getting winded when I was at my worst, but STILL, I defend the right of those who choose to smoke to smoke. And I oppose the employer having ANY say about what a person does on their own time. What is this?? 1984?? DAMN THE MAN!

Something amusing

Yes, I am taking a great deal of amusement from some poor kid's lost pet.



I am evil and should be destroyed.

When Johnny Carson got to the gates of Paradise, do you think that St. Peter said, "Heeeere's JOHNNY!"? I bet he would have liked that.

Oscar Fever

Last night, I get a phone call from my friend Sauce.
Sauce: "Do you KNOW what tomorrow is?"
Me: "Tomorrow? Tomorrow?? January 25th... THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS COME OUT!!"

::mutual squeals of delight::

Later that evening, I get a call from my mother. I relay the earlier conversation I had with Sauce.
Mom: "You two are really crazy, you know that?"
Me: "Yes, I am aware of that. But at least we each have someone to be crazy WITH!"

The invitations to the Oscar party went out yesterday.

How I broke it first, but you broke it worse

So I discovered yesterday, after dropping my mp3 player on the ground (not the first time,) that the output jack on the mp3 player was not working despite trying various sets of headphones and speakers for my computer.

I cried for about an hour, as it was no longer under warantee, and I pretty much adore the damn thing. My sister, good soul that she is, tells me to call Tech Support for the player, even though that is no longer covered by the warantee either (did I mention that this was a Christmas gift so I don't have a receipt? yeah, THAT'S practical.) Anyhow, just pay the fee and maybe they can help, right?

Right.

Upon calling the Creative technical support hotline, I was instructed by the support help representative who answered my call, Phil, to reset my player to make sure it wasn’t an electrical problem, and he walked me through the process, even though I kept trying to explain that I dropped it and a part was loose.

Phil knows best.

During the part of the process of restarting the player called "rebooting", the mp3 player experienced an electrical spark (both visual and audible) and started to give off a burning smell, like there was an electrical fire. I am holding the player when this happens.

When I tell Phil this, he says, "You're kidding me!?!"

I say, "No, I am putting the player down now."

The smell of burning circuits surrounds my work area. Phil makes a note of all this in my record. Phil tells me to send the product in for service, regardless of not having the receipt.

Somehow, I think that repairing the connection on the output jack would have been easier than replacing all of the fried circuits, Phil.