So I popped over to look at upcoming concerts in my city tonight. I saw that Modest Mouse were coming to a rather nice venue near me. They’re a group that I’m intrigued by; I’d love to see live; I’d enjoy giving you a review of what it would be like to experience the hype, you know, the whole thing of it all. And there’s a few tracks on their latest record that turn me on quite a bit. I click on the “buy now” button and my heart sank…. it directed me, immediately to TicketBastard. I knew then that I wasn’t going. Now way, no how. But just to quell my evil curiosity, I clicked on through and looked to see how bad it would be if I were. Sure enough, a $29.25 ticket ends up being $45.48 after all the service charges and fees. And that’s after I choose the $0 option of having it mailed to me!
People!!! Come on!!! How can we continue to allow this corporation of money-hungry, soul-raping bastards do this to us? Fuck that, I’m not going. Johnny Depp could invite me to the front of the stage, between sets, and offer himself up naked for a blowjob, and I’d not pay TicketBastard for the privilege of it! (I’d give him cold, hard cash, of course, just in case he’s reading this.) It’s just unbelievable how these venues are connected to these shysters; and musicians either say or know nothing. Darling readers, do you pay like this where you are? I mean for the concerts, not the blowjobs, of course. But really, TicketBastard should get in the sex business because they’re already exploiting us, don’t you agree? It must be getting late, I’m hyperfocused on that again, oi!
Well, that wasn’t the end of my evening. I’ve been avoiding the current news as much as possible because this healthcare debate just makes me rant at the TV and it upsets the new puppy. If you’ve been reading these pages for any length of time you know what side I’m on. I’ll make it short and sweet. If you’re worried about the US turning into some socialist hegemonic State then I suggest you do a little reading up on what exactly that might mean in light of the following facts:
- you drive to work on roads funded by Federal tax dollars
- you expect a Federally tax assisted fire truck to show up if your house goes up in flames
- you have contributed all of your working life to the care of our elderly via Medicare and Social Security (which are Federally funded programs)
- you expect Federal dollars to assist in the education of your children
- you expect the Federal government to fund your State university’s research toward everything from local agriculture to international economic strategies in order to keep tuition low enough to send your kid to school there
- you expect the National Guard to show up when there’s a natural disaster to keep people from looting your private property and protect your family from violence when those made homeless become desperate due to lack of food, water, and adequate healthcare. Oh and when volunteers arrive to help give them those things they should be aided by National Disaster Relief funds which are Federally funded and distributed as well.
That has been the status quo for the past 70 or so years of our lives in this country. Adding to that a Federally funded, universal plan to provide adequate health care doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. But you can go ahead and make a huge fuss if you want. You can also go fuck yourself for being a hypocrite.
This vocal minority who are foaming at the mouth about the horrors that will befall us if we allow everyone access to medical care regardless of employment status actually don’t read much and are ridiculously ill informed on the realities of the healthcare systems of Europe. A friend asked me today what I’d write on walls if I could. I replied, “Read a fucking book and stop sniveling!” The actual problems found in the UK with their NHS (which these critics are so eager to compare us to) are the result of the de-regulation that has occurred since Thatcher began her attempts to dismantle and privatize it.
But the idiocy rises, these are all quotes from the last few days:
“The latest development came on Fox News, a right-wing channel, which discussed whether the acceptance of foreign doctors and nurses into the NHS was a gateway for Muslim terrorists” The Herald If you think this is a sensible argument then NOFX is singing about you. Idiots Are Taking Over (lyrics here)
“US critics have accused the service of putting an “Orwellian” financial cap on the value on human life, of allowing elderly people to die untreated and, in one case, for driving a despairing dental patient to mend his teeth with superglue.” The Guardian Total nonsense, as shown in that article, and by the way, dentistry has been increasingly privatized in the UK since the early 1990s.
“Last week, the most senior Republican on the Senate finance committee, Chuck Grassley, took NHS-baiting to a newly emotive level by claiming that his ailing Democratic colleague, Edward Kennedy, would be left to die untreated from a brain tumour in Britain on the grounds that he would be considered too old to deserve treatment. “I don’t know for sure,” said Grassley. “But I’ve heard several senators say that Ted Kennedy with a brain tumour, being 77 years old as opposed to being 37 years old, if he were in England, would not be treated for his disease, because end of life – when you get to be 77, your life is considered less valuable under those systems.”" The Guardian That’s just crazy-talk, and from an elected official, folks.
Oh, and you might be a little interested in boycotting Whole Foods for a while. Apparently their CEO thinks his plan for fixing our problem of the uninsured masses is better than anything the Democrats have come up with. You can find it here. And please let me know if you think tax reform, tort reform and transparency in patient billing will clear this mess up, ok? Honestly, reforming the tax laws will provide incentive for people to donate money to help insure our indigent population??? The comments over there are kinda fun!
Is there a clear connection between TicketBastard ripping us off and idiots fighting to keep something they don’t understand (that is literally cutting short their lives and the lives of their children)? Perspective, people! But of course, evil Capitalism hopes to distract us from the real issues with these pesky ticket fees and Johnny Depp fantasies. Don’t take the bait, darlings! Get out there and talk to people, read something intelligent, or at the very least post a smart comment somewhere online, xoxo
Yeah, I needed a little cheering up after that one… pic of Johnny helped, sorry guys! xoxo
We spoke in detail about this ridiculous NHS backlash thing, Tart, so I won’t bore anyone with a retread, but this, mark my words, will be the one thing they will eventually tie Obama’s noose on to — ‘legacy’ politics, as championed/invented by Blair, often are double-edged swords &, regardless of how fucking right the man is in wanting healthcare for all, regardless of status, the detractors will always find a spin to tarnish the intention & result. Especially when there’s big pharma-money involved (access for all = treatment costs must come down to accomodate = less profit for the cunts who own big pharma-corps = foot-stamp paddy it’s my ball fuck off out of my yard).
As for ticketmaster, what the fuck are you, you Americans, doing using such a known & repeat rapist to look after the vulnerable female farm? You might as well walk around with the ass material of your pants cut out, wearing no underwear, with the phrase “Askin’ Fot It” tatooed over your shitpipe.
I fear you’re correct on this prophecy, and even tho it’s a minority opinion the rhetoric is absolutely wild. But, a year down the line, this will come to this country. We will have universal access to health care because the system simply cannot continue to support itself. Even the insurance companies and pharma companies know this. Corporations cannot continue to shell out the $$ to pay for the obscene amounts of fees requested by these people for products in this so-called “free” market. It *will* require regulation.
And ticketmaster, well, one thing that has not been discussed alongside this concert ticket scam very much is the simple fact that over here the monopoly is not only on music entertainment venues but also tied up in sports arenas and that partnership is/was the death of all of us. The fucking idiotic MEN, yes you, (sorry to have to point the finger but it’s true), you – who are so surging with fucking testosterone, who have to play at killing each other on the sporting field, you MEN, are so blinded with unguided fury that you will shell out wads (any wonder that word is so easily used in both a financial and sexual manner??) yes WADS of cash (you blow your wad on these sporting events). So, willing as you are to be raped in the ass by TicketBeast for the pleasure of releasing your male fury vicariously via your favorite sports team, you have brought down evil upon us all. There, I’ve laid it out plain and clear
love, Tart
I didn’t think anyone knew about my tattoo!
You want a pillow to go with that puckered hole?
Aye, you’ll need one!
Oh, please. You know you would pay anything to anyone, including a 50% surcharge to George W. Bush himself, to give Johnny Depp a blowjob.
I agree with you about healthcare. Those lies – the death panels and such – will live on in infamy and will be Obama’s legacy. He’s already sunk. I don’t know why he’s not able to drown out all this noise… but somehow he’s not.
You hush, woman… I need some sense of mystique here on my own damn blog, don’t I?! (but yeah, she being my wife of forever and a day, she knows the bitter truth of it)
And DC, I forgot to mention, in my fervor to castigate the masculinity of America, how very grateful I am to you lending us your silver-tongued verbiage on the matter. Please don’t ever hesitate to expound on your opinions, so eloquently put, here on this little blog of mine. Even if you do torment me with them on facebook, it’s only fair that others share in your genuis — I’ll not hog it, xoxox
All of this on a Saturday. Please do the following…Create a diversion to distract Black Helicopter, quickly escape out the back and enjoy a nice day.
If Americans got together to take the savings from their new health plan to open a ticket brokerage, we could kick Ticketmaster in the nuts (assuming these capitalist pigs are men, which they probably are)
call me for the coup!
hehehe I knew that must be you over there. I don’t worry about the black helicopters anymore, ever since that night out by the hottub
and yes! see!?! all we need is a plan…. and a leader!
want want want xoxox
Heh, funny you mention the ticketmaster thing. There was an article in the local papers here in Philly talking about that. Basically… it’s not just ticketmaster (as evil as they are), a lot of the bands demand fees so they can grab more money… and they deserved to be boycotted.
I don’t know how the music scene is where you’re at, but if it’s all LiveNation, ClearChannel, RapeMeUpTheAssInFees bullshit, you should try to rent out a basement of a church, get some bands to play, and rip shit up. I refuse to pay ridiculous fees for shows, and even missed beloved Dillinger Four (one of my favorite bands for years, never saw them live) due to ridiculous fees since they were playing with NOFX.
Also, yeah, i’m sick of hearing people bitch about socialism…. seriously, then these god damn backwater farmers need to stop taking the checks the federal goverment gives them in subsidies… oh wait, that’s not socialism, that’s just “Amurikan”. They also need a history lesson in all the programs that FDR stole from socialist Eugene Debbs, who happened to be locked up in jail for being unpatriotic during times of war since he spoke out against it.
Shit, now i got myself all worked up.
silverunity
http://www.midwesternhousewives.blogspot.com
whoa. and i got the picture of Che Guevara while talking about socialism? weird.
OK, see, my whole post is now complete
The gravatars are randomly assigned and attached to your email, silver, hahaha. But that kinda made my day, so thanks for stopping by!
And I have to say, here in Chi-town we have it extremely good. Most (98%) of the shows I want to go to are at independent venues, not using any of those ass-raping corporate monsters (most use ticketweb). It’s the big venues where the really, really famous bands play that are tied into them. And honestly, I guess I’m lucky to not like the famous bands much or not care much if I miss em. But even Metric, who are pretty big, played at Metro here, and that place is uber cool, independent, with low fees (etix).
This weekend I got to see 14 bands for $20 at a great outdoor festival. How in the hell do ya beat that? Plus, Riotfest is coming in October and it was only $90 for a five-day pass which includes gigs at 6 venues with over 30 bands. So no, no complaints about other options here. But I do feel sorry for those top 40 music lovers who really wanna see Bloc Party! And I had to say no to Morrissey, having not seen him since early Smiths days, sniff, sniff…
And yeah, Debs was the MAN!
Wherein a Tart supports the people’s party with gravtars.
Just used $15.00 in TARP money to cover my Pearl Jam/Ben Harper ticket fees. Amurika, fuck yeah!
$15!!!!???!!!! wow, way cool
now I wonder how much Meursault will charge when they hit it big and make it to our fair shores? hehehe, start kissing up now!
Fucking millions, Tart. It has to pay for my yacht in the Med after all.
oh really? Well…. I’ve got no snappy comeback! I’ll fucking pay it, fine. You’ve already denied me the show of my dreams last night by having it in Edinburgh, for fuck’s sake.
Oh, I love it when you’re angry!
Before I die, I want to see you and Matthew togther, very drunk in a pub in Edinburgh….(the one me and matthew were once thrown out of by the landlord for swearing too much) just talking. I could sell tickets for that…it would be popular enough for Ticketbastard to want in for a cut.
Of course, the real problem is Ticketmaster essentially has a monopoly. I thought we had laws against that, but clearly they aren’t working. That’s how radio was flushed down the toilet.
Loved your rant. As one of the uninsured since I lost my fulltime job 4 years ago after 17 years, I never got my hopes up for a bill to pass. But then I’m one of the most cynical people I know. The insurance companies and the GOP were not going to go down without a nasty fight.
Yep, I join you in your cynicism unfortunately! Thanks for reading… nasty fight indeed. xoxo