Friday, April 19, 2013

Let me be an approximation of reality

After last night's Spotify listening session, I can't get Fedde Le Grand's song "Let Me Be Real" out of my head.



This morning, it occurred to me that there are some parallels - some - between the song and some of the discussions that Loren Feldman and Larry Rosenthal have been having of late. (See Loren's April 15 post for one such example.)

Of course, the fact that this song was brought to my attention via a music-sharing service in which I was influenced by people that I have never met - well, that's the way it goes.

Kind of the musical version of the map approximations that Nate Wessel has discussed in the past. (See my thoughts.)

And as long as we're talking about the differences between virtual reality and reality, here's what Phil Baumann wrote.

Not that Baumann's statements explicitly have much to do with music, but they do.

Monday, April 15, 2013

A minor problem at the Alberta Rose Theatre (UPDATE: RESOLVED)

[APRIL 25: SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST.]

I still have friends in Portland, Oregon, and one of them alerted me to an interesting pricing strategy for this event at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland. The event features Tony Furtado, Kenny White, and DEAN!

My friend, his wife, and their son (who happens to be a musician himself) were planning on going - until they found out the pricing policy for this event.

$15 General Admission | $17 for Minors (under 21)

Most venues charge 18, 19, and 20 year olds the same price that 21 year olds are charged. Minors under 18 will often pay the same price, or perhaps even get a discounted price.

It's rare to see minors charged a HIGHER price than adults, but the definition of minors ("under 21") gives a hint about why this is happening. [CORRECTION 12:30] Via email, the Alberta Rose statedMy friend called the Alberta Rose, and was told that a higher rate was charged for people under 21 because they don't buy alcohol. The venue serves both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and you'd think that they could make up the difference in price by charging high prices for the non-alcoholic drinks. This would also allow them to recoup their money from adults who don't drink.

But apparently the Alberta Rose has settled on a different policy - one that angered my Portland friend and made him decide NOT to take his family to the venue.

I couldn't find any other Alberta Rose events that had this two-tier pricing strategy, so perhaps this is an experiment. If so, it may have already gone awry.

[APRIL 25 UPDATE]

My friend has just posted the following:

"I am pleased to report that this situation has been resolved. There was apparently some miscommunication between the agent and the venue. The price is now the same for minors and adults alike. We are looking forward to going to the show!"

Friday, April 12, 2013

When Zoominfo gets confused, you can inhabit a song

Not everything that you see on the Internet is true.

I was performing a vanity search on people that have the name "John Bredehoft," and I ran across a record in Zoominfo that included the following information:



Now some of you have already figured out where this is going. Initially, I didn't. There have been instances in which people with the name "John Bredehoft" have been confused with me, so I initially figured that some poor guy in Kansas had his information scrambled with my own.

Initially I missed the fact that this guy in Kansas had the same middle initial that I do.

And initially I missed the fact that the Zoominfo page included a number of references to this very Empoprise-MU music blog, dating back to 2009.

Eventually I put two and two together...and nearly burst out laughing.

No, there is no person in Kansas with the name John E. Bredehoft.

If you haven't figured it out yet - and as I said, it took me a while to figure out - take a look at this Empoprise-MU post from 2009. Zoominfo somehow took that post and performed a gross misinterpretation of it. I do admit that I know Glen Campbell, but not the one who made that song famous. (Although the Glen Campbell that I know does play a mean ukelele.)

It could have been worse. I've referenced many other songs in this blog, including White Punks on Dope and Anarchy in the UK.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Bringing it all black home

I have scheduled a post about trash collectors to appear in my Empoprise-BI business blog in the near future, and it reminded me of a vaguely-remembered incident in which someone went through Bob Dylan's trash. That someone was Alan J. Weberman, self-styled Dylanologist, whose exploits were covered in a Rolling Stone article.

But while reviewing the article, I ran across something that was forward and visionary. It appears that Weberman, from his extensive study of Dylan, discerned a great truth that would affect 21st century music:

Ann," Alan howled on a sweltering Sunday morning last August. "Ann . . . Ann. Today is Sunday!"

Ann Duncan, standing in the middle of the Archives, was working at a painting of Bob Dylan. Ann is an artist and is working on a series called "Great Moments in Rock." Her first subject is a portrait of Bob, shooting himself into his Current Bag. "Mmnn," she answered. ". . . I know . . . yeah . . . yesterday was Saturday!"