The Irony of Stolen Police Tickets

In one of my previous posts I made mention of seeing The Police at Wrigley Field. I would have to say it was the best concert "surprise" of the summer. I don't know what I expected but it exceeded my expectations and it was cool sitting in the outfield but the events leading up to the concert proved to be more interesting than I had hoped.

I had purchased some extra tickets for my kids and my one niece. The day before show I went to the place where I put the tickets for my niece and they were gone. It was immediately obvious to me that they were stolen in the great guitar heist. Bastards! Now what? Well, I found the online receipt for the tickets and my wife decided to call, Live Nation, the promoter. Let me say this, the customer support at Live Nation was awesome. They could see that I had purchased the tickets and offered to void the originals and leave valid tickets at will call. Excellent!!

My wife thought that we should call the local police (the man, not a local knock off band) and let them know about the tickets because maybe they would be interested to meet the folks that showed up with the now invalid tickets. Sounded logical to me...Once again, we were totally underwhelmed with how indifferent they reacted. They could not have cared less. WTF. Are these the same public servants that get nuts over whether or not your license plate sticker has expired? Am I wrong to be disappointed as to how my local law enforcement dollars are being spent?

My only wish at that point is that the thief and his girlfriend showed up at the show only to be turned away. I will probably never know if he sold them or tried to use them but somebody got turned away. Small pleasure for me.

After all of that, my wife and I, the kids and my niece all enjoyed the show. Big pleasure for all of us.

Rededication

I have been flogging myself for not writing...so I am going to rededicate myself to my amateur journalism activity. I really do enjoy it. Running around a lot this summer made for a convenient excuse but that's all it was, an excuse. I am going to plug my blog into my life for a while and see what kinds of drivel I can come up with for all you welcome visitors.

It's raining like mad here lately. Some rain is tolerable...lots of rain is not. The flowers and the grass look as if they might disagree with me on that.

Somebody finally got ahold of my credit card numbers and started with all kinds of random charges. Really wierd. I caught it early. Card is done...shredder time. I dislike crooks.

Never got the guitars back...never heard from the local police. The last time I called them, the officer was perturbed that I called. Hey Kojak...you work for me. Be polite. Is that too much to ask? I guess so...

Teaser warning!!!

Tomorrows story...the case of the missing "Police" concert tickets...

Now I must get back to the self flagellation...

A welcome overdose of guitars

Yesterday we went to the Crossroads Guitar Festival which was held near Chicago.

What a long, wonderful day. Here's a local review and another and yet one more.

The gates opened at 9:00 A.M.; the first act went on at noon and the last song ended at 11:00 P.M. The breaks between artists were minimized by a turntable type stage. While the players were playing out front the roadies were roading out back. Next act...flip the switch...lets go. I would say we didn't wait more than 5 - 10 minutes for any of the changes. Here's a quick report card on the day...

Venue - B

I'd never been to a concert at this new soccer stadium before. It's new. The parking was good, the Bridgeview police handled the traffic in and out fairly well which is always a plus. Plenty of concession stands. However, someone badly miscalulated how much water and food would get consumed by all day rockers. They did eventually get some water in there but it was scarce for a while. True to form, the venue did not run out of $6 beers and I would bet there were 4 beers swilled down for every bottle of $4 water. I drank one beer because there was no water and got an immediate headache. I don't really drink at concerts as my beer intake here indicates.

The food was above average. They added some food stands in the guitar village. Among other vendors, a famous Chicago Rib Joint (Robinsons) was there and it was killer good. Food stands were eaten out of house and home at around 6:00 P.M. They once again recovered by bringing in some additional food a little later. Overall, a nice recovery.

I loved the seats we had. At the first Crossroads show in Dallas, the seats are bleachers...not good for the back. This was a modern plastic molded seat with a back! Deluxe.

The staff in the concessions, guest services and security all should be commended. Those concessionaires worked their butts off.

Sound - C

Overall very disappointing. I walked around the venue to check the sound at different locations and there was not a great improvement anywhere. Loud. Yes. Ear protection at times proved very comfortable. I woulda thought with this kind of lineup that the production techs might have done better. Outdoor venues are tough so maybe cutting them a little slack is in order.



Artists - A++ and a gold star

Wow. Virtuosos in all shapes, sizes, genders, races, ages, genres...wow. Bill Murray was really good as the emcee. Pretty good shtick.

Blew me away - Jeff Beck with his 16 year old daughter playing bass. No, not just playing the bass, shredding it like dear old dad does on his Strat. Beck's closing number was a take on the Beatles "A Day in the Life" and I wanted him to play it again immediately. I can't wait to get the DVD so I can see and hear that again.

Derek Trucks and his lovely wife Susan Tedeschi. Derek is virtuoso and Susan is right there. They need to start breeding virtuoso children now!

B.B. King is 81 years old. I have had the pleasure of enjoying BB a number of times. He did great for a guy his age and the crowd had a love fest with this legend. I ate it up knowing that B.B. is getting up there in age and we are lucky to have him at this point.

Albert Lee is just plain fast on those frets. Whoa! The whole "country" set with Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Allison Krauss and Union Stations Jerry Douglas was excellent. EC jumped in on the finale with "Tulsa Time".

Steve Winwood was a treat. I have seen EC many times and the tunes that they did together for the show were highlight material for me. I never knew Winwood could handle a guitar so well. His work on "Dear Mr. Fantasy" glued me to my seat (with the back!). EC was EC and that's always a treat.

Others of note...Robert Randolph...I've seen him do better. The sound sucked for his set. Johnny Winter looks frail. He rocked it though. Sonny Landreth...knows his way around the neck. John Mayer...the real deal...the kid can play.

If you like guitar players, playing or music at all...wait for the DVD and snap it up. If you haven't seen the original Crossroads DVD get that one as well. You won't be sorry. Put on your favorite band or concert t shirt, pretend you paid $4 for a bottle of water and have a good time.

The Great T Shirt Game
My wife, M, and I decided to make a list of all the "band" T shirts we saw throughout the day. Holy crap! Concert goers love dem T's. The list is below. Unbelievable amount of T's

AC/DC

Aerosmith

Alabama

Alice Cooper

Allman Brothers

B.B. King

Beatles

Black Crows

Black Sabbath

Blues Brothers

Bob Dylan

Bob Marley

Buddy Guy

Counting Crows

Cream

CSNY

Dave Mathews Band

Dicky Betts

Doors

Doyle Bramhall

Eric Clapton

FogHat

Frank Sinatra

Frank Zappa

Godsmack

Gov't Mule

Grateful Dead

Green Day

Guns N' Roses

Hound Dog Taylor

James Gang

Jeff Beck

Jerry Garcia Band

Jimi Hendrix

Jimmy Buffett

John Lee Hooker

John Lennon

John Mayer

John Prine

Johnny Winters

Jonny Lang

Keith Richards

Kiss

Led Zeppelin

Les Claypool

Little Charlie and Night Cats

Los Lobos

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Madonna

MegaDeath

Metalica

Moby Grape

Motley Crue

Neil Young

Nirvana

Page & Plant

Paul McCartney

Pearl Jam

Phil Lesh

Phish

Pink Floyd

Prince

Robert Cray

Robert Johnson

Robert Plant

Roger Waters

Rolling Stones

Santana

Sonny Landreth

Steve Earle

Steve Miller

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Vai

Stone Temple Pilots

Stray Cats

Sublime

Supertramp

System of A Down

The Band

The Benders

The Blasters

The Clash

The Police

The Who

Tom Petty

Trailer Park Boys

Umphreys McGee

Van Halen

Willie Nelson

Z Z Top

90 of them and there had to be more.

Frank Sinatra?

This made me smile

I saw this as a signature on an e-mail I received this morning.

Politicians & Diapers.
Both Need To Be Changed,
And For The Same Reason.

I couldn't agree more.

Taking a few minutes from my crazy schedule to check in...running in all directions and enjoying the trip...cool picture huh?

All is well here...no guitars, no kids in custody, oh well...I've moved on...loving my new guitar and scoping out others to rebuild the collection. It will be nice of my insurance carrier to help fund this project. I suppose it would help if I actually made a formal claim. I'll get to it.

I've been playing lots of golf. The weather here has been great. Golf is an excellent "meeting" device. I get the opportunity to be outdoors with family, friends or colleagues in a social situation and I have to admit I love chasing that stupid little ball around.

Seeing the Police at Wrigley Field was cool. The concert started out very slowly. I was thinking that it might not ever "move" me but it did after 3 or 4 tunes. My final review would have to include the word "excellent". This is one great rock trio. Sting's voice held up, Andy's guitar playing is unique and very cool and Copeland is one of the best around. I'm really glad I got to see them.


Doesn't matter....
Barry Bonds...shut up about him already. I don't care. It just doesn't matter.

This matters....
BP has gotten a permit from the state of Indiana to increase the amount of pollutants they can put into Lake Michigan. What? You have to be kidding me. Unless they change their mind and do not do it, I will never knowingly purchase one of their products again. (Note to Indiana - Did you ask your neighbors if you could pollute the lake we all share? WTF is wrong with you? Answer my second question first so I have an understanding of what kind of malfunction we're dealing with here.) Please sign the petition here to let these folks know that we value our natural resources.

I am sorry about the long absences between posts. I am resolving to be more diligent...Who knew that writing a blog would come with its own brand of guilt?

Hello It's Me

No word on the missing guitars. The police said they will let me know when they get a break. Hell, they know who did it; they caught an accomplice; bust 'em and get my stuff back! At the speed this is not moving This would be a very long and boring mini series on Law and Order.

J's Summer Concert Series

Went to Northerly Island on the lakefront in Chicago and saw a Ben Folds and John Mayer concert. Nice outdoor venue...Excellent show. I know there are a lot of Mayer detractors out there but he was personable and he can play the guitar. The show was well produced and his band quite competent. I had a hard time not moving...always a good sign. Ben Folds was very entertaining as well. He's a pretty funny dude and the music was right on.

Going to see the Police at Wrigley Field on Thursday. It should be an interesting show. I've never been to a concert at Wrigley.

Next on the calendar...Crossroads Festival at Toyota Park on July 28th. Allman Brothers and Robert Randolph at the end of August...

Not a bad little run...unfortunately I will not be in town when Lollapalooza is in Chicago. My kids are lined up to go, so at least I will get first hand reviews anyway.

America

Happy Independence Day. I love the USA. My wish for all the people of the world is based on peace and founded on freedom. Special thanks go out to all those that have served or are now serving our country. Your sacrifices strengthen this land. Your "leaders"...that's another story.

The above thanks do not extend to the politicians of this country that are lining their pockets on the backs of their constituents. Nor do thanks go to politicians completely devoid of ethics and those that believe they are above the law. America is great despite your handiwork. As a citizen of this great country, I am embarrassed by the vast majority of our national representation. You should be too. Let's figure out how to get this back on track.

Random Acts of Journalism

- The best Fathers Day gift I received was just being with my children for more than a few minutes...although the salami gift was right in there.

- I am convinced I will always miss my father. Fathers day brings that home to me every year. Those of you out there that still have beloved parents or any of your love ones...I want you to know how lucky you are and hope that you don't squander your time with them. This is not intended as a personal plug but if it has that effect it's ok with me.

- I love summer in the Midwest but only as opposed to winter in the Midwest. I actually love summer all year long but if you are in the Midwest you have to leave to find summer for a good part of the year. I hope I continue to get the opportunity to leave.

- I am learning that the police department is not very communicative about the status of their investigation into my stolen guitars. They know who did it. Why can't they just get it done and let me know that my guitars are coming back to me? Arrest him already.

- Who is your favorite poetic songwriter? I can think of a bunch but there was a time when Jackson Browne wrote some beautiful poetry put to music. Neil Young? Bob Dylan? Ben Folds? James Taylor? Joni Mitchell? Bruce Springstein? Ted Nugent? (Just kidding on Ted)

That's all for now...just needed to check in

Something good

Life is full of surprises...some good...some not so good

Surprise!!! Five of your guitars were stolen.
Surprise!!! The punks who stole the guitars were the ones you identified as prime suspects
Surprise!!! That microwaved chicken recipe was awesome.
Surprise!!! The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox are trying to "out stink" each other this season. It's neck and neck...
Surprise!!! The local police have still not recovered my guitars even though they apprehended one of the thieves.
Surprise!!! Oil companies are making record profits
Surprise!!! G.W. Bush is an oilman.
Surprise!!! Has anyone heard from my son? I know he calls people because I pay for his cell phone.
Surprise!!! I am really learning to love the game of golf.

Here is the coolest of my surprises today...I purchased a new guitar to replace one that was taken. It is a Fender "Eric Clapton" signature "Blackie". WOW!!! Do I love It! I didn't have this particular model and I find it to be near perfect. Great feel. Great sustain and it's beautifully made. So...being burglarized led me, albeit in a non preferred way, to something that I might have otherwise missed. Amazing.

Life is whacked. That's no surprise...

No News

I was hoping that I would hear something from the good guys this weekend. Nothing...

I put a call in to the detective this morning and he is out until Wednesday. I don't know that he would tell me anything anyway.

I still remain hopeful that my stuff will be returned...

Thank you Tommy B

There is someone in custody. To my knowledge they have not located the guitars yet. The person that they arrested was not at the ill fated party but it is someone I identified as an accomplice based on information I gathered from some of the kids at the party. This person was known to the kids as someone that the prime suspect might call to help him with this kind of robbery. Why is he in custody?

The police went to question him on another matter and the kid took off. They caught him and noticed that he was wearing an unusual watch. I didn't know the watch was missing until the police asked me if I was missing a watch. I checked my most valuable watches and other jewelry and nothing was missing. I don't think they ever entered the rooms where this stuff is kept because the dogs were locked in that room. What I failed to think about is that I left a Tommy Bahama watch in the kitchen in a little chest that I use to put loose change and other miscellaneous things. The watch turns out to be distinctive because it has an inscription on the back. It was a gift at an industry golf outing. I described the watch to the police including the inscription and, bingo, the kid was wearing my watch. I have to go ID the watch tomorrow. This is an unbelievable twist...my "inscribed" watch on the wrist of someone that, to the best of my knowledge, was not ever in my kitchen. I know and the police know that this kid knows who took the stuff and hopefully they will get him to tell them who gave him the watch and where the rest of my stuff is located. I am 99% certain who that other person is and the good news is I think the police know it too.

I spoke to the mystery suspect myself a couple of days after the event. He categorically denied knowing anything about it. But, of all the kids I talked to, he was the only one that I caught in a lie. If you are indeed innocent of a serious crime why is lying necessary? If you are not innocent, lying comes easy.

I gave these kids every opportunity to bring back the stuff, no questions asked. Amnesty. Nope, these punks thought they were smart. Well, it looks as though they are not so smart; they are stupid beyond reason. Chances are good that they will now pay the price for their actions and I believe they begged for that to happen.

Stolen Xbox - $499
Stolen Guitars - $10,000+
Stolen Tommy Bahama Watch - $250
The police finding your stolen Tommy Bahama watch on some idiots wrist - Priceless

I think we got em!

I will provide details as they become available but it looks like the thieves are cornered. The only question now is whether they still have the guitars or not. My detective skills were good but not as good as a professional. The police are now involved and it looks as if they are going to be able to solve the crime.

C'mon law and order...

I have me

I am becoming resigned to the fact that my guitars are gone for good. Man this has been a lot harder than I ever could have imagined.

I have replaced one of the guitars I thought I might have trouble finding. It's the one in the picture. Its the 50th Anniversary Fender Stratocaster. It's coming Monday and I am going to play the frets off it when it arrives.

For all you guitarists, keep all your paperwork for your babies together, take their picture and most of all, safeguard them.

To the jerk that stole my guitars...you are scum. You will always be scum. You took my stuff but I have integrity, pride and the respect of those who know me. You are trash. You are worthless. Civilization marches forward despite you. I lost stuff. Somewhere along the line you lost you. I win.

Be on the Lookout for Walking Guitars!

Well it's official. My guitars were not stolen. They apparently ran away from home. All these 19 and 20 year olds that always seem to know everything don't know a thing about what happened Friday night. Selective stupidity is kind of convenient.

We know who stole the guitars

I'm pretty sure we know who took them. Now we have to get our stuff back. The suspected kid is nothing but trouble. If we can't convince him to give them back without consequences we are going to have to do whatever it takes. We may have to contact the authorities and deal with the issues that come along with that. Or we may have to get more convincing with this idiot and hope that this kid can see the light before it's too late for him. If the authorities get their hands on him he's going away for a long long time.

Did a lot of talking to a lot of the kids that were at the house. It was an ugly scene. And the loss of our stuff was just what was needed to have it leave an indelible mark on us.

We are not a happy campers. We obviously suck at being victims. And all of those involved are victims...thanks to the sleazebag(s) that did this. We need to do a 180 on who gets to be the victim here.

That is not my actual Gibson 335 up there. Mine is left handed and had gold hardware...

I can't believe this

Hello out there...sorry I've been away so long but my life has been speeding by but the travels are over for a while. Phew...

Here's whats going on in our little house today. I am totally stunned.

My wife and I were in Florida for the weekend catching some sun with some friends and closing up our house there. We had a wonderful time. We came home late last night. I am really bummed.

What Happened

We come home to find out that 19 year old daughter decided that a party Friday night would be a good idea. 21 year old son left town to see a buddy so he was gone. We have told the kids over and over (i think a million times is a conservative estimate) that there is no underage drinking at our home and no parties while we are gone. The consequences are too severe and we don't want any part of it. We were not ambiguous on this point. You guessed it...a million reminders is not enough...there was a party and apparently some drinking. We lock up our booze but the kids obviously brought their own.

We found this out because 19 year old daughter came clean today because there was an altercation with one of our neighbors. It seems one of the party attendees attempted to get in his front door at 4:00 A.M. and left peacefully after being told to get the fuck out of there by our neighbor. Another neighbor had CD's and DVD's stolen out of his car on the driveway. Daughter figured we would hear about this. She was right. I am really freaked out.

19 year old daughter is a little freaked out herself...I think her desire to host parties is gone. Hard way to see what it was your parental units were trying to lay out for you...Her mother has grounded her for an eternity I think.

Why I am freaked out

I came home from work today to find that 5 of my guitars had been stolen. You heard me 5 of my guitars. I am numb. They left 3 guitars...Nice of the bastards.

They stole my Melancon custom which was one of my favorites and the one in the picture, the Gibson 335 custom that I got for my 50th birthday, my Fender 50th Anniversary Strat, my other Fender Custom Strat and my Les Paul Custom. Fuck you whoever you are. I will find you and you will not be happy about that. You stole my music...these were my instruments...I cherished them.

Whose kids are these that steal from people they know? What kind of garbage did you foist on us?

Why not call the police?

We can't call the police because we will get cited for the underage drinking party that was happening at our house while we were away. Well, isn't that special? We get robbed and if we report it we go from victim to victimized. There is there something wrong with that.

We will have to try to find the worms ourselves and get our stuff back.

I am heartbroken...just this side of devastated. I am angry. I am disappointed.

I just want em back...

Note to G Dub

Mr. Bush, I believe Ben was trying to tell you something all those years ago...



"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

To My Fellow Ticketless Fans...What the Fo

I'm still pissed off about what happened with the Crossroads Guitar Festival Fan Club presale. I have never had a problem getting my Eric Clapton fan club tickets before and, in fact, have had great success in getting tickets to see EC. I have never gotten my tickets and sold them to a broker. Apparently the "secret" code for fan club members hit the internet in advance of the sale. Hence, all tickets were gone immediately. Gee, I wonder if any brokers got them? The more appropriate question is, I wonder how many fans got them? All the fan club members I know had the same story. Basically locked out...immediately. I don't think this is what Eric Clapton had in mind for his fans. Maybe he has nothing to do with it but I'd like to think he appreciates those who appreciate him...

Tickets for the festival are likely to cost me a fortune. Having been fortunate enough to attend the original Crossroads festival, I was really hoping to share the experience of this with some of the other music fanatics in my life. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ouch! Man I hate that concerts have gotten out of reach for most people...

General admission tickets are going for around $300...I don't think I am young enough to do the general admission thing in a venue this large. I might get crushed and if it's hot enough on the field I might beg someone to crush me to save me from slow roasting in the inevitable sea of drunken fools.

If you want to sit in a seat it will cost you form $500 to $1000 per. WTF! Let's see, if I need 6...thats a minimum of $3,000...maybe I should wait until the DVD comes out. I could buy 6 of them, a new HD TV and a new HD DVD player for the cost of the tickets. Ridiculous...just frickin' ridiculous.

Home at last

Well I am back in the good old USA. It is really nice to be home again. I am not going to complain a lot about being in Italy for about 3 of the last 6 weeks but it is harder than it might seem. The 7 hour time difference is tough to recover from.

My trusty iPod served me well on the flights to and fro...I don't think I could have made it without the music.

I will post a few stories from my travels in the coming weeks but I am a little brain dead right now. Well...a little more than usual anyway.

Two musical moments from the trip...I went in to get a piece of pizza in a little slice shop in Siena and the sweet sound of Grand Funk Railroad was coming from the ceiling...the song was Inside Looking Out. The pizza was good; the song; food for the soul.

We were walking through a piazza in Florence when I spotted a very ratty looking dude...obviously homeless. Coming out of his clump of belongings was the sound of Led Zeppelin. Nothing like a little Whole Lotta Love to help you connect with an Italian street person. It sounded really good to me.

I missed you all and I missed being in the US. As wonderful as Italy is, there is no place like home...

We humans aren't very nice to each other

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Police identified a 23-year-old South Korean student Tuesday as the gunman who killed more than 30 people in a rampage at Virginia Tech. They said at least one of his handguns was also used to kill two people in a dorm room across campus the same morning.

The killing of 32 people Monday at this placid university in southwestern Virginia was the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history.


BAGHDAD, April 18 -- Four car bombs killed 131 people and wounded 164 others across Baghdad Wednesday, the U.S. military said, as bloodshed spiked two months into a U.S.-led crackdown meant to pacify the Iraqi capital.

Some news accounts suggested the death toll may be higher. The Reuters news agency, quoting local officials, said as many as 170 people had been killed, and the Associated Press said at least 183 had been killed.

These above are small parts of news articles just taken from news websites.

Does one of these stories make you feel worse than the other?
One lunatic shooting innocents
Groups of lunatics blowing up innocents
Are we callous enough to think that because those dying in Iraq are mostly Iraqis, it's ok?
Why does our media go crazy with coverage, outrage and emotional broadcasts for one of these events and not the other?
Is it because Iraq is a political issue?
The story above demonstrates clearly that it's a humanitarian issue.

They are both horrible circumstances. I can't imagine how devastated I would be if I lost a loved one in either one of these two horrific events. But I also can't isolate my feelings for the victims just because of where the innocents were slain. Murder is murder. People are people. Children are children.

Where is our leadership? Where is our media? Where is our outrage?

I was really hoping to laugh

I finally watched Borat last night. What a disappointment. The movie and concept just didn't live up to all the talk and hype. Funny? Maybe if I was in fifth grade...Hell, I think Taladega Nights had more laughs...

Very basic scatological humor, political incorrectness, cheap sexual humor, antisemitism, naked men wrestling around, using unsuspecting people to further his whacked humor....Not very creative, not very original and not very funny. If this movie is considered a good movie, I am missing something. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I giggled a few times. I was uncomfortable more than I was amused.

I'm glad I didn't go to the theater and waste $6.00 on this. So that is my rating, NW6 (not worth $6.00). In fact I will go NW.05.

It's my opinion and my sense of humor and I failed to sense much at all.