Shadows in the Rain

The Phillies' equipment truck has completed the 1100 mile trek to Clearwater, Florida, and we are now only days away from the reporting of pitchers and catchers. I CANNOT WAIT! The Phillies have a very winnable division- the Mets and Braves seem very flawed- and this very well could be year they finally make the playoffs again. I just hope that the 40 cases (yep. CASES.) of jelly beans that the Phils brought to Spring Training will be enough.

I received an e-mail this week from my favorite local baseball team, the Red Sox, notifying me that I had not been selected for the opportunity to purchase tickets for Opening Day, Patriot's Day, or all Yankee games. For the blissfully unaware, here is how Sox ticket sales seem to work these days. The park only has a capacity of about 36,000- a big chunk of which is season tickets. The remaining tickets (except for Opening Day, Patriot's Day, Yankee games, Monster seats, and Roof Deck seats) are put on sale to the general public in January. And by "general public", I am fairly certain I mean "Ace Tickets" and "StubHub." Anyways, you pick the game you want, and are put into a Virtual Waiting Room, where you wait until you are randomly selected to have the opportunity to purchase tickets. A timer counts down from 30, 29,...3,2,1, 30,29,...3,2,1,30. This process repeats ad infinitum. Eventually, you give up. Or go insane. Or both.
Before last season, I had 5 computers at work repeating this process for 7 HOURS, before one escaped the Waiting Room, and offered me Standing Room Only tickets, with fairly obscene fees attached. Fees for my CONVENIENCE. (Apparently, 35 HOURS of computing time was convenient.)
After you fail to get tickets for those games, you get to sign up on RedSox.com for a ticket lottery for the "prime" tickets. In the next few weeks, you will receive e-mails from the Sox telling you that your entry was not chosen for the ticket opportunity, but thanking your for your "unparalleled loyalty."
Then you get to watch the games on NESN HD or pay crazy prices on the secondary market. And fantasize of a day when the Sox will play in a ballpark with a capacity of 60,000 and the Virtual Waiting Room is nothing but a (very) bad memory. Not unlike Willie Harris.

In other insanely-overpriced ticket news, The Police appear to be reuniting for a tour this summer, which will possibly include Fenway Park. (No official announcement has been made yet, but many signs point to this happening.) I have never really been a fan of The Police. During their later years, I listened to such bands as Queensryche, Dokken, Cinderella, and Stryper. During their early years, I listened to other stuff. When someone mentions Sting to me, I think of the movie Dune. But I respect their material, which is more than I can say of most bands.
Mostly, though, I am very curious to see how much $$$ their tickets are going to sell for on the secondary market. I wonder if The Police fans will get to enjoy the wonders of The Virtual Waiting Room, before shelling out a week's pay (per ticket) to a scalper? (Apparently, thoughts of the Virtual Waiting Room bring out the schadenfreude in me.)

This commercial should have been the most ill-advised marketing choice of the week. But it wasn't. This was. Who's idea was this? Are they trying to promote back issues of the Verizon Yellow pages from 1995? I just don't see how Jewel is relevant today. Because she hosts "Nashville Star?" I don't really think the circumstances exist under which I would willingly watch that show- maybe it's popular. But she doesn't perform on it, so that shouldn't have been a factor here? I am a bit befuddled by this whole thing. I do know, however, know that if I saw Jewel playing live on the T, I'd fucking get off that train as soon as humanly possible. And I'd never use the Verizon Yellow Pages again. I don't think I'm in the minority here, either.

In GOOD music news, I recently picked up the self-titled release from Speaking to Stones. Just an incredible album. My only complaint is it's only about 50 minutes long. I like EVERY song on the album, which doesn't happen that often. Excellent lyrics, musicianship, vocals. This album should appeal to fans on the rock spectrum from AOR to metal, and all points in between. HIGHLY recommended. My favorite song is "Still Life." Check it out.