Keeping with last week’s theater kick, I’d like to expose the best-kept secret on Broadway- stage tickets to Spring Awakening. The show would come highly recommended at full-price, but this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is available for an incredible $31.50. Apparently the seats were added from the director’s desire to have the cast on stage throughout the performance. Initially, only actors would sit on the sides, but he thought it looked strange when the entire cast was performing and nobody was seated. The tickets can be purchased here by any layperson, but don’t expect a show before July with only 37 seats on stage.

Hot Tix

After waking up at 8:30am on Saturday morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go, my friend and I headed to the one place we knew would have a crowd- Times Square. The line was supposed to just provide a time killing activity and maybe tickets to a show as a bonus, but we ended up seizing the rare opportunity with purchases for both a 2PM and 8PM performance. Binge culture I guess. The point is, this five-hundred discount-seeker perpetual line from 8am-8pm made me ask: is someone losing money? It is my opinion that the Hot Tix system has become so popular it pulls from would be full-price purchases. There were countless wealthy people in our line that were using Hot Tix as their first approach to tickets. People don't even consider the box office, Ticketmaster, etc. because they can go to Times Square, pay half price, and pick from three dozen shows for that day. My sense tells me there are revenue management models for each play run by brilliant accountants with much more information, but instincts tell me we're nearing the break-point. Until a change is made though, head to Tkts.

Erin Go Bragh

Just finished the month long St. Patrick’s celebration, and will now recover until May. So, the standard questions from non-celebrants are: who was St. Patrick, and why does America care so much more than Ireland? He is the patron saint of Ireland, and March 17th was the day he died. What the flip is a patron saint? Apparently it is a saint that is associated with a group, and will therefore listen more closely to their prayers and such. Patrick converted people to Christianity in Ireland for thirty years, so that’s his spot. The second question is probably more illusion than truth. The Irish certainly celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It is actually a national holiday and part of a five-day celebration in Dublin. Sure, NYC is the biggest parade and Chicago dyes the river green, but that is more circumstance with millions of residents and a river on hand than greater passion.

Hope everyone had a safe and fantastic toast. Today is St. Joseph's Day, the patron saint of Sicily and arguably all of Italy, if you're looking to keep the celebration rolling. Cheers!

Et tu Drew?

I have a sour taste in my mouth and tingling pain down my back. Here's the new site of my former writing friend and this blog's creator. Best of luck with the new page. You're always welcome back here, tech posts and all.

Dear McCaskey Family-

Please stop dissolving the 2006 Super Bowl Bears. We had that defense locked in through 2008, but now Lance Briggs is demanding a trade. Our defensive coaching staff produced league-leading results, but now Rivera is gone. No other job, just gone. I’ve heard through the rumor mill that this was because linebacker coach, Bob Babich, was one of Lovie’s boys and promised the job in three years when hired. Sweet politics. So, the icing on the cake? Thomas Jones traded to the Jets for a second round pick. What the flip? The team is projected to be almost $19M under the cap, and has little room for improvement. I honestly would’ve been cool if you said, “we did nothing, drafted no one, spent the off-season in Tahiti.” The team is solid. Sure, I’d prefer Peyton to Rexy, but that’s just not in the cards. My advice: pick up offensive linemen and a punter in the draft. Done. But of course, that all changes if you keep trading superstars for air.

Think Hendry ’04, and make a run. The NFC will be just as terrible next year.