Monthly Archives: April 2005


Boycott Ending?

Maybe.
I’ve have successfully avoided any Clear Channel operated music venues for, well, since clear channel entered the concert promotion business and still enjoyed a lot of good music.
Now comes this possible good news:

Clear Channel Communications, the world’s largest radio broadcaster, will spin off its live-entertainment unit…

This, of course, wouldn’t have anything to do with:

Get ready to hear music to your ears: Concert ticket prices are about to come down.
Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Coldplay are set to go on tour — but the real news for music fans is an expected drop of as much as 30 percent on some tickets, concert experts said.
Clear Channel Entertainment, the world’s largest concert promoter, is leading the way, cutting the prices for its lawn seats.
The show-biz giant is considering running a big ad campaign with the tag line “Music Sounds Better on Grass,” sources said.
No-frills seats at Clear Channel venues that used to go for as much as $40 will now cost $20. On top of that, Clear Channel is ditching the $4 facility fee it used to charge, all in an effort to lure back sticker-shocked music lovers.

Or, this:

Clear Channel thought its combination of assets would create a powerful, across-the-board platform for advertising sales on its billboards, at concert and sports venues and on its 1,200 radio stations.
Instead, the combination irked music fans, record labels and artists, who complained that Clear Channel used its might to punish artists who didn’t play by its rules and contributed to the sharp rise in ticket prices at venues it controls.

Final decision on the boycott to come after the spin-off happens and I’ve evaluated the new ownership structure.
Via Eschaton.


Friday Ark

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.
I’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals as I see them (photoshops at my discretion and humans only in supporting roles).
Leave a comment or trackback to this post or email me and I’ll add yours to the list. Check back regularly for updates throughout the day on Fridays and somewhat less frequently over the weekend.
Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey’s Musings.
Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and will be hosted this week by Running Scared.
And, check out Laurence’s fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.
Archive editions of the Friday Ark.
Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther Vertebrates
Didn’t Make It
Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)


A Taxing Situation

Check out the per capita state tax confiscation in your state. Be aware that, as Stateline.org notes, this is not the entire story:

Because the Census numbers don’t include tax levies by local governments, which often pick up certain state services, economists say a better measure of tax burdens nationwide is a snapshot of both state and local tax collections.

Is your state government making an effort to move up in the rankings?


The Basics of Jeans Marketing

What’s the key to that spendy pair of jeans:

“Right now you could have a pair of jeans that cost $1,000, and people would buy them,” Lawrence Scott, the owner of Pittsburgh Jeans Company, said last week. What, Mr. Scott was asked, is the indispensable element in the making of a perfect pair of luxury jeans?
“Same as always,” he said. “It’s going to come down to how your behind looks when you pour yourself into them. No matter how good the wash or the detail or the label, if it doesn’t look good on a behind, it won’t sell.”

Well, I don’t plan on pouring my butt into my jeans anytime soon so I’ll be perfectly happy to get my next pair, like my last pair, on sale at a nearby mervyn’s: maybe $30. I’ll find something a little more useful to do with the savings…