Just finished watching "Milk". (And in the comfort of my own home, no less. Being a card-carrying member of the WGA finally paid off)
Anyway...great film. Really powerful. And Sean Penn? Crazy good. Very glad he won best actor. He totally deserved it. By the way; is it me, or was this year's flock of films a lot better than previous years? For the first time in a long time, I cared about who won, and I believed everyone who was nominated (and won) actually deserved it. None of that bullshit Russell Crowe winning best actor in 2000 for "The Gladiator", then being shut out in 2001 for a brilliant performance in "A Beautiful Mind" because the Academy wasn't cool with a repeat, so they gave it to Denzel Washington for an eh performance in "Training Day", when everybody knew Crowe deserved to win. That's the kind of shit that makes me want to find the members of the Academy and knock some heads together. And what is "the Academy", anyway? Are they like the freemasons? How do you get in? Do you have to run naked through Grauman's Chinese Theatre on opening night at the Gay Porn Film Festival? Seriously. Love to know.
Shit, I got way off track. Normally I don't post about politics or religion or social issues, because it just starts a shitstorm and I never have an umbrella. And talking social issues with people you know is like bring a gas can to a good old-fashioned witch hunt. You can be sure there's gonna be a lot of screaming, and somebody's getting burned. So here I go breaking my rule. A woman I know also saw the film, and told me she really liked it. Said it really made you think, really opened your mind to the plight of gay people. Next words out of her mouth? "Now, I don't think they should be allowed to be married". I bit my tongue. Actually, I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. She went on to say God didn't approve, and civil unions were fine, but the movie really made you think about the hardships they've had to endure. I think my hair was on fire at that point. It made me so angry. She honestly didn't see her hypocrisy. To her credit, she said those were just her beliefs, so she's not a bigot. But damn, seriously?
Here's my thing about gay marriage. Ready? Who gives a flying fuck? And I mean that. Think about it. Why the hell does anyone care who gets married? You didn't care when I got married, but all of a sudden you care that your neighbors are getting married? I sure as hell didn't care when you got married, or to whom. It's not my business. It's not your business. We shouldn't even be having this discussion, you shouldn't be reading this ridiculous waste of cyber space. It shouldn't be an issue. But it is. So, here's my alternate take on gay marriage: who gives a flying fuck what you think? I understand that for religious reasons, many people see the marriage of two people of the same sex as wrong. That's your prerogative. That's your belief, and no one is taking that from you, or trying to negate it. You have a right to believe what you want. But marriage isn't always a religious thing. People also get married at the courthouse, not by a man of the cloth, but by some guy in a bad suit. Did God give the bad suit guy the right to marry people? No, the state did. So now the state is God?
Come on people. Really. If a gay couple tried to get married in your church, well, then, maybe you'd have an argument. But you're going to say people you don't know and have never met can't get married in somebody's house, by some crazy hippy lady with a license to wed? Gay couples just want the same legal rights as straight couples. And don't give me that civil unions crap. They don't work. They only invite discrimination. Take a look.
I just can't get past the bigotry that's out there. And I'm not saying I'm perfect, that I've never discriminated. Of course I have, everyone has. But I'm not a bigot. I have my beliefs, but I would never, ever tell you that you can't have yours. (Even if you're a moron) And I do my best to listen and see the validity of your views. (Even if you're a moron) I've heard your arguments, and I think you're a moron. But that's my belief, and you are welcome to disagree. Moron
For those of you who may not know, I was a film student in college. I spent my time studying both the art and theory of film, from directing and cinematography to producing and writing. It was fun, and it was expensive. So, if you don't happen to have an extra hundred grand lying around, turn on your T.V and flip to TCM. (That would be Turner Classic Movies, for those of you not in the know).
I have always enjoyed TCM's 31 DAYS OF OSCAR®, even before I started studying film (and before I agreed to do a review for it). They show Academy Award®-winning and nominated films for a month; what's not to love? Not a crappy film to be found. This year, the theme is "TCM University". Each day is devoted to a different academic field, like biology or world history. But it's not boring like biology or world history. We never studied "2001: A Space Odyssey" in Evolutionary Biology. Not that I actually took Evolutionary Biology, but whatever. There are more than 350 movies on tap, in 93 different courses. And you don't have to get up at 8:00 a.m! Bless you, TiVo.
31 DAYS OF OSCAR® runs through March 3, and you can get the "class schedule" (I'm so witty!) on TCM's website .
Oh, I'm supposed to say one more thing. The 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m on ABC. I hope I don't get fired for making reference to a rival network.
I have always hated Ticketmaster , but this just seals the deal. We (4 of us, with a total of 6 computers, in 2 different states) logged on to get Springsteen tickets the exact second they went on sale. None of us could get through. We got this message: "Our ticketing system is currently unavailable due to routine maintenance". Routine maintenance? At 9am when tickets for 20 different shows go on sale? What the fuck is that?? Needless to say, we didn't get tickets. I emailed to ask what the fuck happened. Here's what I got:
Thank you for contacting us. We regret any inconvenience you may have experienced. When a popular event goes on sale, such as Bruce Springsteen, there are literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of customers simultaneously attempting to purchase tickets across all distribution channels. Like any limited commodity, tickets are sold as long as seats are available, and sometimes they go quickly. If 500 fans are simultaneously buying four tickets each, 2,000 tickets can be sold in a matter of seconds! It's the same reason why a typical 18,000-seat arena can sell out in a few minutes.
When a well-known and talented artist schedules live performances, invariably the demand for the finite number of tickets increases dramatically. This was clearly demonstrated in the case of your selected event.
Thank you for using Ticketmaster, where we continually strive to provide World Class Service to every customer, every day! We very much appreciate your business, and hope we were able to resolve any problems or answer any questions you had. Please reply to this email if we may be of further assistance.
So you're telling me that 9 gazillion Springsteen fans logged on at the exact same time and crashed the system? OK, let's go with that. Then why didn't the entire system crash? Just for shits and giggles, I tried getting tickets for other Springsteen shows in the area: Nassau Coliseum, Hartford...I got the good old "can't find tickets sucka" message. (Duh. It was 9:10 at that point) So why did my particular concert venue crash and burn? BOTH shows. Trying to get tickets for either show gave you the same error message. Huh.
Wait, wait, it gets better! In my letter I made mention of the fact that there are tickets available on Ticketmaster's "sister sites", marked up to ridiculous prices. Check this bullshit:
Ticketmaster does not, as a matter of practice nor specifically in this instance, remove seats from general availability in order place them in resale on TicketsNow... The tickets you reference having been listed on TicketsNow may have been acquired in pre-sale or in the general on-sale by individual fans, as well as some tickets brokers. TicketsNow is a safe and secure digital domain that provides support for the secondary ticket marketplace. Neither Ticketmaster nor TicketsNow own the tickets listed. Tickets are sold at current market rates, meaning they are priced based on the demand for tickets.
See that last part there, the "current market rates" part? So...let's assume Ticketmaster does not own the tickets on its sister sites. Say it really is just a safe domain for the "secondary ticket marketplace". Secondary tickets...that means someone has them and is trying to sell them. Market rates based on demand...that means tickets are sold at a higher rate because people are desperate for them. Let's see...that would be, uh, wait, it's on the tip of my tongue oh yeah SCALPING. Ticketmaster is, in effect, providing scalpers with a safe, anonymous, and legal way to bend unlucky fans over the barrel. How forward-thinking of them.
Sadly, the average fan has no recourse here. Ticketmaster is virtually the only way to buy tickets for concerts, sporting events, hell, even the circus. You can't even get tickets at stadium websites anymore. They direct you to Ticketmaster. The company has a monopoly on ticket sales, and we have no choice but to bend to its will...or the will of its "sister sites".
Of course, we could all screw scalpers and TicketsNow by refusing to buy secondary tickets. Those fuckers would lose money instead of turning a profit, since they've got tickets nobody's willing to buy. But that will never happen. Why? Because we're fans. We live for the game, the music, the show. That's what fans do.
You know the very very very best part? If you go to the website, Bruce Springsteen is right there on the front page "tickets on sale now!". Seriously? Suck it. Just suck it.
