Metro Pulse- Entertainment- Midwest
 
April 25th- May 2nd 2011

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As we prepare to embark upon the spring/ summer season and circulate about at events and festivals as the weather FINALLY turns hospitable here in the Midwest, it is troubling to this reporter, who is also a throat cancer survivor, to witness the mobilization of our illustrious fast food industry in introducing the following products to peddle for the summer to our precious youth, products which are POISONOUS to me personally due to the overwhelming sugar content and WORTHLESS NUTRITIONAL VALUE, products whose promotion will flood the airwaves attempting to influence the buying public ( which includes your kids) and define the archaic mentality of the fast food industry in regards to the HEALTHY CHOICES they offer our children and others, in other words:

NOT !!!!!!!!!!

Among the stellar choices offered for the summer season:

In June, 7-Eleven will be doubling up Slurpees into cups with dual chambers, a customized valve and two straws that let you drink one or two Slurpee flavors at a time, a DOUBLE sugar blast for y'all.

In May, McDonald's is introducing McCafe Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, do we know how many grams of sugar are in this serving?. Ask someone at your local McDonald's and see if they know and email me back if you can get a STRAIGHT VERIFIED answer as there is NO label to read. I imagine the bulk concentrate package it is created from would have to be divided by how many products can be created from it to ascertain the individual sugar content of each serving as determined by size.

Dairy Queen has launched Lemonade Chillers, in regular and strawberry and is selling it as we speak. Same here. Ask someone at your local Dairy Queen what the sugar content is and email me back if you get a STRAIGHT answer. Remember, this company is a Berkshire Hathaway division, controlled by Warren Buffett, a very conscientious operator and sensitive to the needs of their customers, their staff SHOULD KNOW how many grams of sugar exist in each serving, big or small. Let me know.

Sonic has visions for a shake dubbed Double Stuf Oreo Blast. The ice cream inside is made with Oreo cream filling ( the worst for sugar content as it is SO concentrated in these products) and this product is slated for release in May.

Arby's releases a Jamocha Oreo Shake in May in a muted attempt to cannabilize Sonic's product sales on their Oreo product and capitalize on the ingrained Starbuck's mentality of coffee flavors in everything.

Jack in the Box will bring back its blackberry shake for the summer, YAY.

In May, Dunkin' Donuts will debut the first Mountain Dew Coolatta, a frozen slush drink that is loaded with artery clogging amounts of sugar for sure, a trademark of these frozen slushie products.

Starbucks is re-releasing its Mocha Coconut Frappuccino on May 3 for a limited time, again ask your local shop what the sugar content is in each size and email me back. To their credit, Starbucks DOES offer sugar free alternatives to some of their selections.

In mid-June, Cold Stone Creamery will bring out its Cake 'n Shake, made with cake-batter ice cream, milk and yellow cake pieces. I shudder at what the sugar content is in this concoction.

In May, KFC will be the first fast-food chain to sell no-calorie Pepsi Max. Congratulations.

The overwhelming message here is that the fast food industry has determined in their infinite wisdom that these sugary drinks of WORTHLESS nutritional value are where they perceive their future profits to be, a sad commentary in itself, and the message sent back should be to NOT buy these products for your children or YOURSELF and send the CLEAR message they need to tighten up and REASSESS their priorities to find healthier alternatives for your children to promote for consumption and for their ALL IMPORTANT bottom line.

Remember IT IS DOCUMENTED that sugar has the same additive qualities as heroin or cocaine in the body (especially young developing bodies) and is responsible for an array of diseases including heart disease and DIABETES, among many others.

I can safely say that sugar was a MAJOR contributor to MY cancer and a MAJOR reason I fight to keep my consumption of this poisonous substance to me UNDER 15 grams a day to prevent a relapse of my cancer situation, some of these "sugar cocktails" noted above have that more sugar in the first few gulps than a whole day's allotment for me, and it is well documented that sugar is the "fuel" of cancer. SO you know what's what.

Remember, we need GLUCOSE in our bodies for optimal health, I am referring to FRUCTOSE in my disdain for these products and MAKE NO MISTAKE that the concentration of that particular substance in beverage products is my complaint and why no one should buy it.

If the government wants to get in the health care business, this all needs to be addressed PRONTO to stem the epidemic of diseases currently inundating our country and a much needed reprogramming of the tastes of the American public to healthier fare.

I know these retailers offer water and unsweetened Ice tea options in most cases, which is commendable, but my point is well taken, do not support these UNHEALTHY options and encourage the SUBLIMAL pressure discreetly and coyly used by the advertising community and manifested thru the media to create demand among the most vulnerable and impressionable of all of us, children and young adults.

Have a healthy and SAFE summer.

Back to the beat.

Members of the Phish fan club have been alerted to a presale which will happen this last week of April for the last 3 shows of their summer jaunt which ends right here in Chicago at the U.I.C Pavilion on Aug 15, 16 and 17. No ticket prices or any other information on PUBLIC onsales at press time but be advised that these 3 shows will be hot as fans of this band will travel from far and wide to see these last performances and because the Pavilion seats only a little over 10,000, meaning all 3 shows equal just over 1 and a half arena gigs or 1 outdoor amphitheatre plus a few thousand depending on the lawn size.

Also remember that the fan club presale will delete a healthy number of seats from the onsale inventory, making seats scarce on the onsale to the public. Phish has been at the forefront of insuring their fans are NOT held hostage by brokers by instituting will calls with photo and credit card ID prompting IMMEDIATE ENTRY TO THE GIG, ticket limits and paperless non transferable ticket options that impede the ability of brokers to profit off of Phish mania, the closest thing to the Grateful Dead out there at this time. Time will tell what rules are applied this time around.

It is duly noted that the projections for the price of gasoline (Petrol in the UK) for this summer exceed $6.00 (YES SIX DOLLARS) a gallon here in the Midwest and ABSOLUTELY threaten the nascent recovery taking hold in this delicate summer entertainment season after last year's disastrous season.

Losers will be the sheds , the outdoor amphitheatres who rely on cheap tickets to fill their lawns and this spike in gasoline prices will certainly crimp impulsive ticket sales on the day of the event (along with the weather in certain cases) and discourage travel to the far outlying areas where these facilities are located, and will dampen the whole season for everyone, a most ominous development for ALL venues, not to mention all facets of the travel industry, including hotels and airlines.

For the record, all gas sold in the Midwest is blended to a special formula MANDATED by the EPA indigenous ONLY to the Midwest and MUST be processed to code thru Whiting, Indiana before delivery to outlying gas stations in the multi state area, which is why Chicago gas prices are always among the highest in the nation.

Exacerbating the problem is the fact that Cook County , which encompasses the vast majority of the Chicagoland area, has the highest gas taxes in the nation and the City of Chicago has the highest sales tax in the nation, a wicked double dollar punch for city and county dwellers and certainly a potential MAJOR deterrent for discretionary travel and spending on entertainment OF ALL TYPES.

R. Kelly plays the Allstate Arena on June 16th in a continuation of the tour promoting his release from last year "Love Letters".

5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, better known as the Sears Centre in Hoffmann Estates Illinois, will be the destination for 20,000 plus people potentially on April 27th, all wishing to audition for the highly anticipated "X-Factor" singing and talent competition slated for it's premiere this fall on Fox TV.

The 20,000 potential attendance figure is based on turnouts in other cities and hopefuls are required to get a wristband on April 26th for entry on April 27th beginning at 6AM, parking will be $20.00, a deal for a shot at winning $5 MILLION DOLLARS in a recording contract with Syco/Sony music which is being touted as the "biggest prize in television history".

For the record, you CANNOT have an existing recording contract and MUST be 12 years old or older to compete.

Even though Simon Cowell, the acid tongued ex judge of American Idol owns this show and doubles as a judge AND producer (the show is also playing in the UK), HE WILL NOT be in hand for this round of auditions. Good luck. Food will be available in tents on site for those able to calm their nerves to feed and nourish their souls.

Elton John is returning to Las Vegas , beginning a scheduled 3 year residency this Sept 28th at the Coliseum at Caesar's Palace, now with a little baby named Zachary in tow. Zachary was born on Christmas Eve 2010 to a surrogate and was adopted by Elton and his partner/husband of 12 years, David Furnish.

Billed as the "Million Dollar Piano" show, Yamaha has been working on producing an UNBELIEVABLE piano as the showcase for the show for 4 years now, and this show is similar to Elton's highly successful "Red Piano" show a few years back that played 240 performances over 5 years at the same venue. The first block of tickets go on sale 4/25 and range from $55.00 to $250.00 WITHOUT tax and fees. The dates are 9/30, October 1 and 2, 6-9, 13-15, 18, 19, 21-23. More dates to follow. This will effectively tie up Elton for the foreseeable future in regards to solo tours or the highly successful Billy Joel/ Elton shows of the recent past.

Speaking of Billy Joel, Rolling Stone is reporting that Joel is returning the advance he was paid to write his memoirs , tentatively titled "The Book of Joel" to publisher Harper Collins because he has decided that he is NOT interested in rehashing the past, effectively cancelling out the release of the already written book, and prefers to let his impressive catalog of music speak for him. This is after advance copies of the already written book were sent out to the press, now there is a collector's item eh?

A Chicago extension of the Elton John franchise is playing at the Drury Lane Oakbrook in the guise of the Elton John/Tim Rice penned "Aida" musical which is here thru May 29th. Go to Drurylaneoakbrook.com for show times and ticket information.

The NFL has released the 2011 schedule, even though at press time a lockout is still in place.

Notable matchups include Dallas hosting Miami on Thanksgiving Day, ditto for Detroit hosting World Champion Green Bay at Ford Field , and to top off the Thanksgiving Triple header Baltimore's Ravens with John Harbaugh as coach will take on the San Francisco 49'ers with his brother Jim Harbaugh in his inaugural season as coach, surely a historical event in NFL history.

Our Chicago Bears get an early Christmas present by playing GREEN BAY IN GREEN BAY on Christmas Eve night, not to mention the fact the Bears are dialed in to go to London on Oct 23rd (week 7) to play Tampa Bay if the lockout is settled. And, they play Monday night Oct 10th in Detroit , the first time in TEN years the Lions are hosting a Monday night game.

In a confusing afterthought, the Bears are the VISITING team in London, not Tampa Bay, is that because the Glazer family, owners of the Bucs, also own the UK soccer colossus Manchester United, making them the home team in a foreign country??

And, Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart are back in the studio recording a new record , great news for fans of each.

Till the next time   MD
Michael .E. Dehn
metropulseinc@hotmail.com