Adam Burish has an idea about an old Motor City hockey tradition.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Edvard Munch at the Art Institute of Chicago
Thanks to generous friends, I was able to see Becoming Edvard Munch, the temporary exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago yesterday, April 5, without paying. The admission price I avoided was $12 ($7 kids) and $10 for the special exhibit. The museum's admission price is rising to $18 ($12 kids) next month. That means that except for Thursday and Friday nights (no admission charge), a family of four will pay $60 to enter the museum. That doesn't include parking ($20), audio guide ($5), coat check ($1) or souvenirs. Membership is $80 for individuals, which includes children.
I think $60 for a family to attend a publicly-funded museum is outrageous. Instead of making admission such a hardship for families, the Art Institute could cut costs. For example, it could close on Mondays, like most museums outside Chicago. It could also have family specials at more convenient times--maybe the first Sunday of the month is free until noon. It really bothers me that working families support this museum through the taxes they pay to the city, the state and the federal government. So families are paying to support a museum they cannot afford to visit. I wouldn't have a problem with the Art Institute charging whatever it wanted so long as the public funding were pulled. If the Art Institute received no public funding and it remained open six days a week, would admission really increase all that much?
The Art Institute's permanent collection is fantastic. I enjoy it. But I'm not going to spend $18 to see it. The admission fee shouldn't keep away less-fortunate Chicagoans, either, especially since they pay to support the museum anyway.
Art should enjoy support from the people who enjoy art--not from everyone. Some time ago, I would receive annual email pleas from friends and relatives to write my congressmen to ask them to make sure the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (art pork) remained in the federal budget. This was U.S. Rep. Sidney R. Yates' obm (D.-Ill.) baby. Throughout his half-century of service in the House to his ultra-liberal North Side/suburban constituency, he raised their taxes numerous times, spent billions of their money with his esteemed position on the House Appropriations Committee (nicknamed the College of Cardinals for its power), never instituted national health care, and never steered federal money into his district. But boy, did he make sure that line item for the arts stayed in the budget!
I think $60 for a family to attend a publicly-funded museum is outrageous. Instead of making admission such a hardship for families, the Art Institute could cut costs. For example, it could close on Mondays, like most museums outside Chicago. It could also have family specials at more convenient times--maybe the first Sunday of the month is free until noon. It really bothers me that working families support this museum through the taxes they pay to the city, the state and the federal government. So families are paying to support a museum they cannot afford to visit. I wouldn't have a problem with the Art Institute charging whatever it wanted so long as the public funding were pulled. If the Art Institute received no public funding and it remained open six days a week, would admission really increase all that much?
The Art Institute's permanent collection is fantastic. I enjoy it. But I'm not going to spend $18 to see it. The admission fee shouldn't keep away less-fortunate Chicagoans, either, especially since they pay to support the museum anyway.
Art should enjoy support from the people who enjoy art--not from everyone. Some time ago, I would receive annual email pleas from friends and relatives to write my congressmen to ask them to make sure the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (art pork) remained in the federal budget. This was U.S. Rep. Sidney R. Yates' obm (D.-Ill.) baby. Throughout his half-century of service in the House to his ultra-liberal North Side/suburban constituency, he raised their taxes numerous times, spent billions of their money with his esteemed position on the House Appropriations Committee (nicknamed the College of Cardinals for its power), never instituted national health care, and never steered federal money into his district. But boy, did he make sure that line item for the arts stayed in the budget!
$1.5 billion and no roof?
I don't understand how the New York Yankees spent $1.5 billion to build new Yankee Stadium and couldn't manage to include a retractable roof with all that money. Comiskey Park (opened 1991, no roof) cost Illinois taxpayers $175 million. Milwaukee's Miller Park (opened 2001, retractable roof that barely works) cost southeastern Wisconsin taxpayers $400 million. In Bronx, all that money and no roof? Inexplicable.
The average price of a Yankees game ticket rose 75% in one off-season from $41.40 to $72.97, tops in baseball. The most expensive ticket in baseball had for a long time been in Boston, due to its smallest stadium in baseball, extremely popular team (200-game sellout streak) and its desire to compete head-to-head with its wealthy New York rival. The average Red Sox ticket is $48.80. After my numerous request to the Cubs to raise ticket prices so their payroll could be competitive, the Cubs' average ticket price is third, at $47.75. And other than seeing the team itself, I think Cubs fans pay for a substandard experience. As I've noted numerous times, the restrooms are disgusting, the concourses are cramped, the seats are uncomfortable and have terrible views, there is no video/replay board, the scoreboard is a joke, concessions are few and far between, and there's no gift shoppe. And there are too many day games. And the upper deck is unsafe. And it takes forever to leave--because of the narrow concourses that were never designed to hold 38,000 fans. Wrigley Field is a national treasure, and maybe it should just hold minor-league exhibitions while the Cubs build a 21st-Century replica with retractable roof in Hoffman Estates.
The Mets replaced their 70's-era dump, Shea Stadium, with a new ballpark. (Yankee Stadium looked like it was from the 1970's as the team completely renovated it in the middle of that decade.) I suspect the revenue streams from those new ballparks in Bronx and Queens will end up making Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium obsolete.
The average price of a Yankees game ticket rose 75% in one off-season from $41.40 to $72.97, tops in baseball. The most expensive ticket in baseball had for a long time been in Boston, due to its smallest stadium in baseball, extremely popular team (200-game sellout streak) and its desire to compete head-to-head with its wealthy New York rival. The average Red Sox ticket is $48.80. After my numerous request to the Cubs to raise ticket prices so their payroll could be competitive, the Cubs' average ticket price is third, at $47.75. And other than seeing the team itself, I think Cubs fans pay for a substandard experience. As I've noted numerous times, the restrooms are disgusting, the concourses are cramped, the seats are uncomfortable and have terrible views, there is no video/replay board, the scoreboard is a joke, concessions are few and far between, and there's no gift shoppe. And there are too many day games. And the upper deck is unsafe. And it takes forever to leave--because of the narrow concourses that were never designed to hold 38,000 fans. Wrigley Field is a national treasure, and maybe it should just hold minor-league exhibitions while the Cubs build a 21st-Century replica with retractable roof in Hoffman Estates.
The Mets replaced their 70's-era dump, Shea Stadium, with a new ballpark. (Yankee Stadium looked like it was from the 1970's as the team completely renovated it in the middle of that decade.) I suspect the revenue streams from those new ballparks in Bronx and Queens will end up making Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium obsolete.
TV Update
Terminator
The BAG bites the dust: a Terminator shoots Derrick Reese (Brian Austin Green). I was stunned. First Jessie (Stephanie Jacobsen) is written out of the show, and now her boyfriend Reese, John's uncle, is shot when our group of friends, realizing Savannah is in danger, head to the corporate campus to rescue her. Funny how they arrive just as an attack is under way. I am as incredulous as Catherine Weaver: why were Savannah and Weaver targeted?
Does Weaver remind anyone of Miss Parker in The Pretender?
When are Ellison and Sarah going to figure out Weaver is a machine? I hope before it's too late and she targets them first. Did Weaver notice that our friends have a cyborg working with them? JohnHenry did.
I liked Cameron killing that guy who was going to remove her chip in the March 27 episode. Who are these people working for? I wonder if Weaver and the Connors will end up working together. They need to retrieve Sarah from incarceration first.
Kings: interesting show that I'm struggling getting into. An English-speaking kingdom is fighting a war with Gath, a nation with whom it maintains diplomatic relations. (Odd.) Gath's tanks are marked "GOLIATH"--so much for Biblical subtlety. The kingdom's capital, Shiloh, looks a lot like Manhattan with some updated 21st-Century buildings. I'm only halfway through the pilot, so I'll post again when I finish.
24: Would it be possible for a large, powerful military contractor like Starkwood to threaten the executive branch and attempt to take over America? That seemed to be its desire as the clock struck midnight and Starkwood's soldiers threatened to engage FBI agents on Starkwood property in Virginia. The series continues tonight.
Lost: The Dharma members end up setting the seed for their own destruction by allowing The Others to save Ben's life and then taking him back. Big mistake, it turns out.
BTW What's up with Sun and Frank? Are they still in the 21st Century? What are they up to? Sun will not be able to find Jin if he's stuck in 1977.
Hurley worried about tough questions like, "Who was president in 1977?" The Worthless One, Jimmy Carter, DUH.
The Unusuals (new abc series that follows Lost on Wednesdays): not sure if the series is going to be as good as the trailer. Interesting that NBC is replacing "ER" (which I never cared for) with another cop show, Southland.
Dancing with the Stars: Shawn Johnson or Melissa Rycroft? Does this series really need to be 3 hrs./wk.? Yeesh.
The Office: I'm still catching up. Michael tried repeating everything his new boss said, right back to him, like a little kid. Pam's reaction: “I can tell Michael’s mood by which comedy routine he chooses to do: the more infantile, the more upset he is. He just skipped the Ace Ventura talking butt thing, and he never skips it. This is bad.”
NCAA Men's Final Four: If North Carolina beats Michigan State tonight, that will be three wins for UNC in Ford Field this season, compared to none for the Detroit Lions. And Detroit played five additional games.
The BAG bites the dust: a Terminator shoots Derrick Reese (Brian Austin Green). I was stunned. First Jessie (Stephanie Jacobsen) is written out of the show, and now her boyfriend Reese, John's uncle, is shot when our group of friends, realizing Savannah is in danger, head to the corporate campus to rescue her. Funny how they arrive just as an attack is under way. I am as incredulous as Catherine Weaver: why were Savannah and Weaver targeted?
Does Weaver remind anyone of Miss Parker in The Pretender?
When are Ellison and Sarah going to figure out Weaver is a machine? I hope before it's too late and she targets them first. Did Weaver notice that our friends have a cyborg working with them? JohnHenry did.
I liked Cameron killing that guy who was going to remove her chip in the March 27 episode. Who are these people working for? I wonder if Weaver and the Connors will end up working together. They need to retrieve Sarah from incarceration first.
Kings: interesting show that I'm struggling getting into. An English-speaking kingdom is fighting a war with Gath, a nation with whom it maintains diplomatic relations. (Odd.) Gath's tanks are marked "GOLIATH"--so much for Biblical subtlety. The kingdom's capital, Shiloh, looks a lot like Manhattan with some updated 21st-Century buildings. I'm only halfway through the pilot, so I'll post again when I finish.
24: Would it be possible for a large, powerful military contractor like Starkwood to threaten the executive branch and attempt to take over America? That seemed to be its desire as the clock struck midnight and Starkwood's soldiers threatened to engage FBI agents on Starkwood property in Virginia. The series continues tonight.
Lost: The Dharma members end up setting the seed for their own destruction by allowing The Others to save Ben's life and then taking him back. Big mistake, it turns out.
BTW What's up with Sun and Frank? Are they still in the 21st Century? What are they up to? Sun will not be able to find Jin if he's stuck in 1977.
Hurley worried about tough questions like, "Who was president in 1977?" The Worthless One, Jimmy Carter, DUH.
The Unusuals (new abc series that follows Lost on Wednesdays): not sure if the series is going to be as good as the trailer. Interesting that NBC is replacing "ER" (which I never cared for) with another cop show, Southland.
Dancing with the Stars: Shawn Johnson or Melissa Rycroft? Does this series really need to be 3 hrs./wk.? Yeesh.
The Office: I'm still catching up. Michael tried repeating everything his new boss said, right back to him, like a little kid. Pam's reaction: “I can tell Michael’s mood by which comedy routine he chooses to do: the more infantile, the more upset he is. He just skipped the Ace Ventura talking butt thing, and he never skips it. This is bad.”
NCAA Men's Final Four: If North Carolina beats Michigan State tonight, that will be three wins for UNC in Ford Field this season, compared to none for the Detroit Lions. And Detroit played five additional games.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Blackhawks 1, Blue Jackets 0 (OT)
Oh, my, as the announcer said, Kris Versteeg breaks away and ends the game at 3:10 of OT!
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Office
The Office
NBC
Thursdays - I don't know what time
Reveille Productions
Michael Scott is an arrogant, narcissistic ass whom Steve Carrell plays to precision. And I just love episodes in which he is humiliated, insulted and figuratively gets his ass kicked. So it was in The Golden Ticket and The New Boss, both of which I believe aired last month, in March. For The Golden Ticket, I was laugh-out-loud dying at his embarrassment, anger and humiliation. In The New Boss, not only is the new boss all-business and take-no-prisoners, he gets into a power struggle with Michael. Of course Michael is all-fun-and-games (Party Planning Committee) and is grossly inappropriate in terms of dealing with black people, especially bosses, so it's even funnier.
NBC
Thursdays - I don't know what time
Reveille Productions
Michael Scott is an arrogant, narcissistic ass whom Steve Carrell plays to precision. And I just love episodes in which he is humiliated, insulted and figuratively gets his ass kicked. So it was in The Golden Ticket and The New Boss, both of which I believe aired last month, in March. For The Golden Ticket, I was laugh-out-loud dying at his embarrassment, anger and humiliation. In The New Boss, not only is the new boss all-business and take-no-prisoners, he gets into a power struggle with Michael. Of course Michael is all-fun-and-games (Party Planning Committee) and is grossly inappropriate in terms of dealing with black people, especially bosses, so it's even funnier.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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