Get Off My Desert Lawn!

Tag: blog

  • The Invisible Tip Jar

    I went to the Pantera concert last night (8/29) here in Vegas. Great show. Side note – I was extremely impressed with Amon Amarth. In all my years I had never had a chance to see them. I liked them so much I actually bought a shirt after the show, and I never buy an opening act’s shirt.

    Which brings me to my annoyance.

    Tipping has gotten out of hand as everyone knows. Being from Vegas I understand tipping helps, and by no means am I a cheap tipper. Most times I tend to overdo it.

    BUT

    This was the second time this has happened. The first one being the Ghost show a few weeks ago.

    Last night I bought 4 shirts at $40 a piece, along with a poster and tote bag. $200 plus tax. My total bill was $278, as I was told.

    In years past, the shirt guy would turn his iPad around to show me the itemized receipt, then I would be offered a screen to ask if I would like to leave a tip.

    Now, there’s nothing shown. It’s take it or leave it, you’re holding up the line.

    Like I said, the same thing happened at Ghost. A little more – $280 – but only three shirts and a tote.

    What is one supposed to do? Wait in a Disneyland type line of people, then question everything at the end of the transaction?

    I’m all for tipping, but as far as I could see, neither place had a sign that said “Whatever percentage will be added to each transaction.”

    I’m just supposed to assume that the concert shirt tax rate in Clark County is now 50%?

    That’s how they get you to not question anything. Show was great. You’re pumped up. You want that $40 shirt.

    $100 please.

    No problem. Here’s my card.

  • Brain Dead

    I went to the Weird Al concert this past weekend. I’ve never seen him perform before. While he is extremely entertaining, there was a part of the show where I had to stop and wonder.

    Not wonder about what song he was making fun of, or why I had never gone to one of his shows before. I had to wonder about me.

    When it was time to sing FAT (Michael Jackson’s BAD), Weird Al came out in a fat suit complete with a fat mask. If you’ve seen DODGEBALL, Weird Al’s face looked exactly like Ben Stiller at the end of the movie, when he’s eating chicken.

    Since coming on to the music scene, Weird Al has always been a symbol of harmless fun. While I don’t follow his career closely, I’ve never seen or heard him say anything disparaging about anyone. I don’t even know what political party he sides with.

    So, what’s the problem? Is it that Weird Al was in an outfit that was four times his body size, singing about fat people?

    No.

    The problem was that as soon as he came on stage, I thought OH SHIT.

    Twenty, thirty years ago I would have been laughing my ass of at his theatrics. Instead, all I could think of was how many people he was going to piss off.

    That’s when I realized I was brain dead.

    Millennials, Gen Z, the woke, cancel culture, stupidity, whatever you want to call it, has obviously embedded itself in my brain. As much as I make fun of those groups, they have a tight grip on my head.

    While I should be amazed at how skillful Weird Al is in a fat suit, I’m looking around the audience to see if anyone is shaking their head.

    I felt like I had lost the battle.

    The funny part is I didn’t feel bad for me. I felt bad for Weird Al.

    While I hope to God I’m wrong, I know there will be many more who watch the song the way I did. No one is ever alone in their thinking. All I can do is hope no one says anything because that’s when the trouble starts.

    Unfortunately, someone, somewhere will.

    It’s a shame we can’t just enjoy comedy for what it is. Or anything for that matter. What pisses me off the most is that subconsciously I’ve allowed the stupidity to take control of my brain.

    Has my independent thinking gone by the wayside?

    Am I brain dead?