Sunday Off

02009-07-19 | Uncategorized | 7 comments

I enjoyed a slow morning in Sparks. Watched Tokyo! on my laptop, a 2008 film that contains three segments written by three non-Japanese directors. Didn’t care much for the first two films that, but the third and last film, by a Korean director, was amazing and easily the best of the three. Beautifully filmed!

I received an email from a fan who did not like that the concert at Boulder Station was “only” 75 minutes long. (((BTW, we played very well and received a standing ovation)))

I get at least one or two emails like that after every show in Las Vegas. Most casinos, with the exception of the Nugget in Sparks/Reno who let us play for 90 minutes, limit performances to 75 minutes (((as do clubs where we do two shows a night))).

It’s pretty simple, really. Casinos want to lure people to gamble. They offer shows at a decent ticket-price and hope that some folks stay to play the slots after the concert. The longer the concert, the less likely it is that people stay in the casino afterward – I am sure this is based on research or experience.

Let’s look at the ticket-price-to-concert-length ratio:

Ticket prices at the Celebrity in Phoenix, where we played a full show, were $45 and $65. Tickets at Boulder Station in Vegas went from $24.50 to $45.50. 120 minutes for $45 = 2.67 minutes per dollar, versus 75 minutes for $24.50 = 3.06 minutes per dollar. Or, if you prefer, the Celebrity charged 37 cents per minute and Boulder Station charged 32 cents.

So, your dollar actually buys you more music at Boulder Station. That’s pretty much all there is to it. A solution, of course, would be for clubs and casinos to print their time-limit on every ticket. Or should they?

Also, if you want to see a band in a small venue, chances are that they will play two shows and the performances will be shorter. That goes more or less for the Blue Note in Manhattan, Anthology in San Diego, One World in Austin &c.

Other stuff:

The Freedom to be No One
Poetry is abandoned in favor of reason.

And music is abandoned in favor of accounting. We abandon poetry and music at our peril, because I believe we need and crave grace and elegance and creativity in our lives. And, beyond music and poetry, those qualities also need to inform the things we use, the things we surround ourselves with and so on. Quality over quantity. A few useful and beautiful things are worth more than thousands of possessions. (((a great 75 minute performance is a great performance and easily better than a mediocre 120 minute performance… although I have to say that we had a really, really good night in Phoenix last week – but you’ll get my drift!)))

one hundred push ups
Stephen and I are on that push up plan. On the grass in Newport, in Santa Barbara, in the Rialto theater’s green room, in the Vegas hotel today. So far neither of us reports any problems playing guitar…

Slashdot Science Story | Swine Flu Kills Obese People Disproportionally
“Bloomberg is reporting that the World Health Organization discovered a single, surprising characteristic that’s emerged among swine flu victims who become severely ill: They are all fat. Infected people with a body mass index greater than 40 suffer respiratory complications that are harder to treat and can be fatal. The virus appears to be on a collision course with the obesity epidemic. WHO officials are gathering statistics to confirm and understand this development.

Played around with the Brushes iPhone app. That would certainly work really well on the rumored Apple tablet… A useful invention would be some kind of silicon-tipped brush, which would offer more control than a finger-tip.

7 Comments

  1. Carolynn

    Some people will gripe about anything — re: the 75 minute concert. No need to explain, but I did enjoy your explanation. : )

    Reply
  2. yumi

    Connecting Sunday to Monday’s posts. The quote on poetry and the music started me going…

    “Poetry is abandoned in favour of reason.”
    The poetry of Nagarjuna, the color and texture of his words are simplified for reason. Sad. The radiance would be gone and that would be like taking the humor out of Chuang Tzu’s wonderful and unique way of teaching.

    “They assume what they call “Buddhism” to be a religion, broadly comparable to what we understand by the word “religion” in the West.”
    It reminded me historically of the first generation Japanese immigration wave and the need for the communities to continue Buddhist teachings. A new religion with foreign ways in America resulted in the Buddhist Churches of American. The word, “temple” being so foreign and unfriendly, even a possible threat in the vocabulary was replaced by the word, “church”. The format of teaching the next generations were created to blend into western society with choirs, songs…anything to add to the acceptance.

    As I listened to your beautiful beginning of, America the Beautiful, I couldn’t help but see a tie in the thought process of that time period not too long ago.
    A time period for this country to re-evaluate if what divided us was greater than what connects us.

    Reply
  3. Brenda

    May I inquire very gently to whom “They” would be?

    Reply
  4. yumi

    Of course. From this paragraph of Stephen Batchelor: “The status of Buddhism is as problematic as that of Nagarjuna. The word “Buddhism” has no exact equivalent in the Asian societies where the Buddha teachings flourished. It was coined by Western scholars in the 19th century in order to describe the diverse views and practices found through Asia that trace themselves to the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. Scholars likewise regard as normative the institutional structures such as monasteries and temples common in Asian societies. They assume what they call “Buddhism” to be a religion, broadly comparable to what we understand by the word “religion” in the West.”

    Reply
  5. yumi

    From the portion of Ottmar’s link called: “Other stuff”. “The Freedom to be No One”, by Stephen Batchelor.

    Reply
  6. Brenda

    Thank you Yumi. :) I did read “The Freedom to Be No One” in “Other Stuff” and there is sooooooooooooo much that I am unable to even grasp but I appreciated the extent to which Stephen Batchelor was sharing. I like it when people care so much to teach others their passion. So I did learn a little bit because you and he (Stephen) cared to share your thoughts.
    Thanks! Yes, Ottmar offers the opportunity. Thanks also! :)

    Reply
  7. Carol

    Thank you, Brenda, and I’m happy you could identify who “they” are, Yumi. It’s a good idea to check into it. All too often it’s “what THEY say anyway” etc with little substance behind it.

    Reply

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