1. Sanasa Sanasa! 22Apr08

    Not wanting to stray from the current trend of media reviews I thought I’d offer an insight into what’s been keeping me somewhat sane over the past few weeks. As hard as it may be to believe, the show I’m talking about is The Simple Life. Yup, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie’s scripted antics have had me laughing every day that I’ve been working and similarly with The Karate Kid, I’m not ashamed one bit.

    Most people slate The Simple Life because Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie are, “nothing more than spoilt brats!” but that’s all part of it. They know they have this image, and they know that because of their priviledged upbringing that they can’t fend for themselves in the real world, that’s part of the comedy. It really grinds my gears (thank you Peter Griffin) when people say that they hate the show or that it’s not funny because of how stupid or thick they supposedly are, yet they’ll gladly laugh at Mr. Bean. It’s the exact same comedy.

    But aside from the odd bit of facetious criticism I love this show, purely for how silly and childish it is. I remember over the summer with Christy joking about it and repeating the catchphrases. We know we looked and sounded like asses but we had a laugh. As much as I can act like others and give off a disgusting intellectual superiority complex towards it I choose not to because the humour may be simple and it may be scripted but it’s only a TV show, a mere half hour’s worth of entertainment that if taken at face value is a great watch and isn’t deservant of half the rude comments that are made towards it.

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  2. Sweep the Leg Johnny! 21Apr08

    Today I stumbled upon an absolute gem of a film that’s been evading my DVD collection for as long as I can remember. That was until I took a trip to the local Asda and found it for £4! Yes, they had the nerve to reduce one of the greatest films of all time to a mere £4. Unbelievable.

    What epic franchise could I be talking about? Surely not Peter Jackson’s overly budgeted and disappointing Lord of the Rings, no this is a film that defined my childhood. Yes  you guessed it, (probably from the picture to the right) I’m talking about John G. Avildsen’s 1984 classic, The Karate Kid. Now you may scoff at my exclaimation of brilliance regarding this rather dated, poorly executed film…but I don’t care. I adored The Karate Kid and still do to this day. Why? Because like I said before, it defined my childhood.

    If it wasn’t for The Karate Kid there would have been no Power Rangers, no family comedies like Little Ninja’s or the abysmal 3 Ninjas. The then modern superhero who combined snazzy american catchphrases coupled with the loosley defined “martial arts” would have never been born. I’d have never spent my Saturday mornings at the local Dojo learning the basics till I gained my purple white belt, nor would I have spent the following Sunday kicking and punching whatever sofa cushions I could lay my hands on.

    The astounding thing is that such a small film has really permiated into society with catchphrases like “Wax on, wax off” and “Daniel-san” needing no explanations. Every reference I notice takes me straight back to those Sunday mornings as a kid. It seemed at the time though that I was on my own. Most kids appeared to grow up with the Back to the Future series, knowing what a flux capacitor was and getting the “great Scott!” jokes made. But still, as much as I missed out on variety as a child I never would want to change what I watched as a kid as I absolutely love The Karate Kid. Nostalgia totally rocks! […]

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  3. Touts, Scalpers and Scum 18Apr08

    Over a family meal a few weeks ago I got into a heated argument with my older cousin about the ethics of ticket touting and selling for above face value. He reasoned that with Football tickets, especially European cup games, the fans have to buy them in advance and that there is no guarantee that your team will be in the final match. ‘But why sell them for above face value?’ was the question I wanted answering. The only justification I was given was that of team rivalries, ‘If a Manchester Utd. fan is willing for pay over face value why shouldn’t I?’ and it’s the same attitude given to music tickets as well which is why this country is in dire need for change.

    After seeing Muse play at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust last week I was excited to come back and blog about how it was one of their best gigs and how I was beyond lucky for being able to go. But one thing above all stood out for me, and that was the ticketing problems. Before the show I went to the box office to see what options there were for upgrading my tickets, but while I was there I saw many people being turned away because they had purchased fake tickets from ticket touts.

    Yes, money people thought they were spending towards a charity went into the pockets of a ticket tout!

    Not only do we have an increasing problem with touts selling tickets for unreasonable prices but we’re still facing the issue of fake tickets being on the market. With sites such as Gumtree doing little to support those who have been ripped off by sellers of these fake tickets, fans are left wondering who to turn to? The police try but given the unfamiliarity between the touts and buyers little can be done to prosecute and bring about a difference.

    As someone who loves live music I see all the time how ticket touts are scouting online for any way to capitalize on gigs. Whether it be obtaining presale passwords, ticket images or even face value gig tickets to sell on for more. They’re adapting to the way in which tickets are being sold, no longer relying on fans turning up with an extra ticket to hand, but actually taking tickets that would have been purchased by a legitimate customer.

    “Professional” Ticket Touts who actually make a living off of selling tickets for above face value are nothing more than leeches on society. They’re people who feel that it’s acceptable to rip off whoever possible in order to make a quick buck. It’s utterly disgusting. In the past there was slight justification in touts as they amounted for a mere 3% of ticket sales. But now that they have adapted and are beginning to steal tickets that fans want to purchase for face value, that number has risen to 60%.

    What annoys me even more is that they have the audacity to see themselves as legitimate business, forming ASTA (the Association Of Secondary Ticket Agents) a self regulating organisation formed of 40+ members which was set up to combat legal issues surrounding the “Secondary Ticketing” market with fans being ripped off. By implementing such organisations like ASTA touts are placing themselves in a firm position within the live events market, making any attempts to ban touting even harder as they’re currently being recognised by the government as an official body. As if this approval wasn’t enough major artists such as Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have been auctioning their tickets. Granted only a select few tickets were auctioned but to have two of the biggest pop artists seemingly endorse such high prices just goes to show what little respect they have for their fans.

    However there is hope from this awful situation. Various websites such as Scarlet Mist list tickets for sale at face value. Meaning fans who are unable to attend an event can sell on their tickets in an ethical way. Even music fansites are offering similar services, most notably being the Muse-bay service provided by the moderators on Muse’s official messageboard.

    So what is it, as fans, that we want? What can the government do to stop this from happening? Well the CPA (Concert Promoters’ Association) have lobbied against touts, calling for an outright ban. Understandably this was thrown out and deemed “…neither practical nor in the interests of consumers to ban ticket sales through a secondary market,” by MP John Whittingdale. In a way he’s correct, the secondary market is useful in terms of allowing people to pass on their unwanted tickets, however to say that it’s not in the interests of consumers is wrong. Change to the current legislation is in order.

    However I don’t think a ban is needed, infact what is needed more than anything else is simple regulation. Not by a self regulatory body such as ASTA, but by the government. Regulations that ensure that fans are not cheated out of tickets by touts buying them out before they get a chance and doubling the price. How can this be achieved though? We can’t stop touts from buying tickets, true. But what we can do is set the price in which they sell them for. There are laws against monopolisation and tickets should be included within the commodities. By setting it so that people can only sell tickets for a certain percentage over the face value not only keeps the secondary ticketing market alive enough to survive but also ensures that customers aren’t overtly ripped off by greed.

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