May 16th - May 23rd- 2011

If you have a mobile device accessing our content, please go to MetroPulse.mobi for the mobilized screen for your appliance.

Watch for TicketPulse®.net and TicketTicker®.net coming soon. The purpose of these ventures in development is to educate the public on THE NATURE and PROCEDURES of purchasing tickets and direct them to worthwhile opportunities (and venues) by which to maximize their enjoyment of the myriad of entertainment options available in our vibrant and beautiful city at the BEST PRICE and AVAILABILITY.

The recent announcement that Groupon, the tech darling of Chicago and the WORLD, has inked a deal to coordinate and help execute the dynamic pricing fulfillment for dominant promoter LIVE NATION in regards to liquidating their excess ticket inventory thru a new joint entity called Groupon Live only underscores the need for such guidance and concise information.

For the record, in addition to the Groupon venture , Bono of U2 , who is a partner in the venture capital firm Elevation Partners, has a stake in a company called Marketshare, which has been tapped by Live Nation/Ticketmaster to upgrade it's software, refine the stats that create pricing trends (dynamic pricing) and try to make the company MORE responsive to consumer demands, besides thwarting scalpers. (?)

How that works from a company that OWNS secondary ticket resellers (Tickets Now, Ticket Exchange and I Love All Access) and that they paid $265 MILLION dollars CASH for Tickets Now by itself is beyond me, it ENRAGES me to think their perception of the public is that we are THAT STUPID when clearly THEY ARE THE SCALPER.

The common denominator in the Groupon/Live Nation deal coming to fruition was one Guy Oseary, the manager of Madonna, who also sits on the board of Groupon in addition to working with Live Nation on their all encompassing 360 deal with Madonna, which is defined as overseeing all aspects of her career (touring and merchandise) worldwide EXCEPT music publishing.

An experimental venture last fall in Phoenix Arizona with Live Nation and Groupon for select shows that was successful was an encouraging sign that the project had legs, and Groupon has had earlier successes locally by selling Art Institute passes, Navy Pier admissions and Wrigley Field rooftop seats, among others, identifying this area as prime for growth and expansion in targeted discounting.

This represents a major coup for Groupon, recently a winner of the Illinois Tech Association's City Light Award, as a RAFT of competitors have surfaced since news of their explosive WORLDWIDE success has become public in the last year as they were identified by Forbes Magazine as the fastest growing company EVER, and it bodes well for their name recognition and expansion as the company eyes an initial public offering later this year after rebuffing a MULTI BILLION dollar offer ($6 Billion to be exact) for the ENTIRE company from Google recently.

Being a Chicagoan has it's advantages because Groupon has recently introduced Groupon Now, a local app with TIME SENSITIVE deals , but NOT in real time, that is ONLY available in Chicago via the mobile phones I-phone, Android and Blackberry.

You sign up on the Groupon Now web site by ZIP CODE, which filters you to 10 local, adjoining regions offering a variety of dining, shopping and entertainment options, including shows, a potent advantage in the extension of a ticket selling tool for languishing shows for the upcoming summer season in this nascent deal with Live Nation.

However, all the hype and selling tools in the world can't sell a bad product, and the QUALITY of shows offered in the discount deal with Live Nation will tell the tale as to how successful this arrangement will be for all concerned, not to mention the ominous GAS PRICES this summer as most of the "sheds" and outdoor venues that Live Nation owns or controls (89 in the US at last count) that will probably offer tickets in this arrangement, are located in outlying areas in most markets, and this may very well be an impediment to people buying the discounted tickets as there are OTHER real costs involved with getting them to the gig other than discounted ticket prices, not to mention what discretionary income is left to spend on concessions and merchandise when they get there.

I hope NINE dollar beers are a distant memory for their sake or they are in REAL TROUBLE.

Our tale of the Cubs and their attendance woes in last week's Metro Pulse® are a stark reminder that the economic recovery is anemic and faltering at this point and is reflected in the "stagflation" the economists are touting as in place in 2011, this is an economic term that is defined as growing inflation on KEY consumer items coupled with stagnant payrolls and job growth, as well as income retrenchment and CUTBACKS in existing job positions. We currently stand at about 9 percent unemployment according to the May figures released by the US. Dept of Labor.

In an interesting sidebar designed to educate you on the nuances and SHORTFALLS of statistical reporting by the government , I want to explore the Birth/Death model, a stat included in EVERY month's employment figure released by the government, but with EMPHASIS in the spring.

This stat is described as no more than an educated guess (FLAWED) predicated upon the assumption of HOW MANY companies in the given month MIGHT have been created, and, by extension, how many jobs they are responsible for bringing into the economy.

In the last 2 years, these estimations have caused the government to OVERESTIMATE job creation by large amounts, in 2009 the government had to readjust the year's number by a staggering 902,000 jobs OVERSTATED, in 2010 the gap was 370,000 jobs overestimated.

These facts were obtained from John Crudele of the New York Post (jcrudele@nypost.com) and CLEARLY illustrate the MISLEADING way facts and so called figures are bandied about in the public domain to assuage the public into believing false assumptions about the state of the economy at any given time, ESPECIALLY in the spring, when facts create trends used in decision making for the YEAR.

The ramifications of these "assumptions" are potentially enormous as it affects major decisions on how the Federal Reserve may or MAY NOT provide monetary "STIMULUS" to the economy based on these flawed stats and figures.

Metro Pulse® is committed to reporting the facts as we see and discover them , and give credit and reference where warranted and due and this tangent directly reflects upon the ability for people to buy tickets with discretionary income, which directly relates to JOBS.

I don't have to tell you about the rising prices on gas, food and basic commodities we are all seeing in our respective worlds, and the real estate disaster that has the middle and upper middle class hamstrung in the options available with the buying and selling or REFINANCING of this key asset in their portfolios due to the RIDICULOUS stupidity and IMCOMPETENCE of the banks (think executive assignment), and the ramifications of that reality that permeates into affiliated industries reliant upon real estate like construction (defined as the trades-plumbers, bricklayers etc) and banking and retail home improvement providers and stores and brokers.

Not to mention the sobering reality that the value of your house has plummeted, and continues to plummet as your carrying costs (taxes and upkeep) continue to rise and this ""declining value mentality" seeps into everything you do economically and dramatically affects your buying decisions and how you spend your dwindling discretionary income.

This will be the determining factor in the success of the Live Nation/Groupon venture as it's all about the economy and the discretionary income available, no matter what the deal.

Thank you for enduring our economics and statistical analysis lesson for this week.

Paul Simon opens the week with 2 gigs here in Chicago in support of his new release "So Beautiful", Monday May 16th at the intimate Vic Theatre and Tuesday May 17th at the larger Chicago Theatre. The brief tour is slated to end at press time June 2nd at the House of Blues in Boston after playing the Wang Theatre/Citi Performing Center, also in Boston on June 1st in a similar theatre /club performing combination in that city. The tour will also hit East coast destinations in Washington and Atlantic City.

In a poignant reminder AND PLEA from last week's Metro Pulse®, please text the Red Cross at 90999 on your cell phone to help the victims of the tornadoes in the South with a TEN DOLLAR donation charged to your phone, a horrific tragedy to hit our shores and the worst tornado outbreak in history, as well as a GREAT loss of life and LIVELIHOOD STILL being tabulated.

This situation is exacerbated by the serious flooding of the Mississippi river as we speak and some limited areas in Arkansas and Louisiana are being sacrificed by the Army Corp of Engineers to REDUCE the swelling of the river in Baton Rouge and New Orleans that would impact MANY MORE PEOPLE as the crest of the river moves toward the mouth of the Mississippi, the third longest river in the world, a horrible 1-2 punch for our beleaguered South so PLEASE HELP OUT. Thank you.

This week in Chicago is a watershed in that 2 of our city's icons are leaving the stage almost to the day of each other in their respective illustrious careers.

Mayor Richard M. Daley leaves office after a record breaking 22 years in office on May 16th.

His father, Richard J. Daley, ran the city from 1955 to 1976, so between the father and son in this century and last, they ran our city a staggering 43 (Yes FORTY THREE) years. That means out of my 55 years on this planet living in Chicago, only 12 years of that existence had a different bloodline at City Hall. Yikes. And those 12 years consisted of 3 mayors, Jane Byrne, Michael Bilandic (now a federal judge) and the late Harold Washington, who died in 1987.

It is being reported by multiple outlets in the city, led by Newsradio 78 (780 AM), that the outgoing mayor, due to his tenure in the State's Attorney office prior to being elected mayor in 1989, will be collecting a hybrid CITY AND STATE pension totaling some $184,000 a year with the state picking up MOST of the tab based on the prorated average of his last salary year in state employment. The city is covering $66,000 of this payment; the cash strapped State of Illinois the rest.

Ah, to be a revered public servant.

And Oprah Winfrey, whose single handed scheduling maneuver prompted the NBA to move the semi finals Bulls game at United Center versus the Miami Heat from Tuesday to Wednesday to accommodate the taping of her last shows EVER at that venue this coming week on Monday May 16th and Tuesday May 17th that will be aired on May 23-24 is also calling it a day after 25 years. Ironically, May 25th is the air date of her LAST SHOW EVER on ABC.

Winfrey, a worldwide icon, intersected with the outgoing mayor when they jointly appeared to announce the renaming of 100 N. Carpenter Street by the Harpo Studios on the near west side as Oprah Winfrey Way on Wednesday May 11th.

And, in a recent Chicago Tribune interview, she stated she will be around in Chicago long after her show ends, as her principal production hub remains here in Chicago, where Rosie O"Donnell will take over her old studio for her upcoming talk show debuting in the fall on the Winfrey owned OWN network, Oprah's new project.

An interesting book written by Yale religion professor Kathryn Lofton called "Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon" suggests that after researching 1,560 show transcripts, 105 issues of O magazine, 17 issues of O at home, 68 Book Club selections AND 52 Spirit newsletters, she has determined in her estimation that in 1994 Oprah mutated from talk show host to religious icon by NOT focusing on dysfunction (think Jerry Springer, Maury) and REFOCUSING on GOOD NEWS and self empowerment, in part by embracing traditional methods long employed by ministers and clergymen and manifesting a corporate "Makeover" espousing those ideals.

The mantra of being forgiven for your inequities and shortcomings AND being shown the path to self enlightenment and improvement at the same time appears to be the magic formula, YOU GO GIRL.

I hope your network reflects and harnesses the same success and good will that the last 25 years did on your show, thank you for you, Ms Winfrey, you are an inspiration and we are proud to say you hailed from Chicago.

In a fascinating footnote, Winfrey follows MANY other successful talk show hosts that hailed from the Windy City and set the table for her feast, notably recent hosts Jenny Jones and Phil Donahue, but more importantly Tom Duggan, who hosted the FIRST EVER late night talk show from right here in Chitown in 1957, a full year before Steve Allen introduced the Tonight show franchise to America in 1958, Dave Garroway, Studs Terkel, Irv Kupcinet,"Mornin Miss Lee " Lee Philip, who was featured on Channel 2 CBS from 1952 to 1986 and was the first network show to teach women self breast examinations right here in Chicago and went on to create a soap opera empire with the "Young and the Restless" and the spinoff "The Bold and the Beautiful" as well as the 60's cutting edge "Playboy After Dark" with homegrown publisher Hugh Hefner as host, a little racier than the tepid talk show format, but a Chicago institution nonetheless, and a major cultural footnote in the evolution of pop culture that resonates to this day in the US and abroad.

Hefner, who just took Playboy private after all these years, is 84 and marrying 24 year old Crystal Harris this summer. See what I mean , HE STILL gets the women. Hail Viagra, the LEGAL wonder drug. Congrats to him but what ever happened to Holly Madison, she was hot, man. I heard she was in a "Peep Show" in Vegas or something?

The Cars are back after 23 years and play the Rivieria Theatre on Wed. May 18th supporting a new record named "Move like This' which sounds pretty good to this reporter, the first single from the release "Sad Song' has garnered decent airplay and response, they return to play Lollapalooza in August.

Never a band to milk the circuit by playing STRICTLY oldies, the reunion of the The Cars was tempered by the death of original bassist Benjamin Orr of pancreatic cancer in 2000 and was prompted by chief songwriter Ric Ocasek's creation of a batch of new songs, which sparked the return.

In a nod to higher education and it's priorities, "Snooki" (a.k.a. Nicole Polizzi), the hairspray junkie, alcohol infused ex (so she says) black out hook up queen and volatile AND promiscuous star of "Jersey Shore", the MTV surprise hit, was paid $32,000 for 2 FREE Question and Answer SHOWS at Rutgers University recently, but the confusing aspect of this event is deciphering why the regents of the university decided in their infinite wisdom to pay "Snooki" more than Nobel winning writer Toni Morrison, author of the groundbreaking "Song of Solomon", who is slated to be speaking at the commencement ceremony for 50,000 people for a reported $30,000, 2 grand LESS.

No worries, The New York Post is reporting that the Rutgers brass assured the public that NO taxpayer money was used in this deal, the loot came from the student activity fund, THANK GOD.

Thought it prudent to convey tidbits of wisdom that was disseminated to the future leaders of our world in a higher educational envirionment at this event, notably "Study Hard, but party harder" and "When you are tan, you feel better about yourself", what a HOOK UP this turned out to be.

"Snooki" even did a girl's hair in her distinctive "POOF" hairstyle on stage, how entertaining.

Is the new nickname for Rutgers "Slutgers"?

Besides the students COULDN'T even DRINK at the event, OMG.

Speaking of sluts, SLUTWALK comes to Chicago June 4 (slutwalkchicago.org) and is part of a WORLDWIDE movement spawned by the offhand comment of a Toronto constable during a safety demonstration at York University in Toronto, who intimated that women in general can avoid sexual assault by "not dressing like a slut".

This event was given birth and came into being , ahem , on April 3rd 2011 when more than 3 THOUSAND demonstrators pulled out their "slutware" and marched in Toronto to show that there is NO correlation to provocative clothing and the spectre of assault, and the movement has events staged ALL OVER THE WORLD in the coming months, including Chicago, men and women are encouraged to wear the most revealing and as little clothing as they desire (like high heels and thigh high boots, g- strings, thongs, fishnet stockings, etc) to make the point that the victim was asking for it (sexual abuse) by the way they dress, which was PRECISELY the point that enraged the women in the first place, and rightfully so as provocative dress is NOT tantamount to asking to be raped.

Still seems like a great place to meet someone if you are single, though,. In a GOOD WAY. At least you would know what you are getting into depending on what they are or NOT wearing. The particulars are as follows.

Meet at 11am, walk leaves at 12pm

Place: The walk starts from Thompson Center Plaza. The walk will travel east along Randolph Street, south on Michigan Avenue (along Grant Park), west on Jackson Boulevard, and north along Clark Street to the final meeting place at Daley Plaza.

Go to slutwalktoronto.com for more general information on the movement.

From Sex to drugs- The State of Illinois has defeated a measure allowing medical marijuana for sale under certain medical conditions, like CANCER. Sigh.

From Sex to drugs to Rock and Roll-

The Hard Rock chain, 171 restaurants strong worldwide, is going on a nationwide tour celebrating it's 40 year anniversary this summer in a travelling display of selected memorabilia starting May 18th and Pink Floyd is rereleasing their entire audio catalogue of music this fall complete with new additions and unreleased material on CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray formats.

The Pink Floyd releases will come in 3 editions, Discovery, Experience, and Immersion and a new "Best Of" called A Foot in the Door.

These releases will include vinyl offerings AND phone apps to be announced later. In addition, a NEW Pink Floyd website is in development with the first release of the 4 sets to be on September 26th 2011.

In a poignant footnote, former Pink Floyd lead guitarist David Gilmour joined former band mate Roger Waters on stage on May 12th 2011 at London's O2 Arena to perform in Roger Waters' tour of The Wall.

David played lead guitar on Comfortably Numb using his black Fender Stratocaster guitar and also brought his mandolin out at the end of the show for the final song, Outside the Wall.

The concert, which is being filmed for a future concert DVD release, was also attended by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. He joined Roger and David on stage at the end during Outside The Wall playing tambourine and will make a nifty footnote for the upcoming DVD due sometime after the Wall tour ends in July in Spain.

This may very well be the last time Waters tours as he is 67 years old at this point and happily married to his 4th wife and has completed his stated mission of touring "The Dark Side of the Moon" and his self created autobiographical masterpiece "The Wall' worldwide, a fitting coda to a stellar career, as money can't be an issue for any of the remaining original members of Pink Floyd at this point, time will tell as the Rolling Stones are planning a mega tour to commence next year to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the band, so anything is possible, stay tuned.

If you are feeling blue in Chicago because of the rain soaked , cold, sun starved spring we are having, consider Paul Reiser, former star of nineties sitcom "Mad About You', whose self titled "Paul Reiser Show" was cancelled by NBC after 2 (YES 2) episodes recently. Maybe Reiser is now "Mad At Them".

Fox also cancelled "The Chicago Code" which is airing it's last 2 episodes in the next 2 weeks so you know the "Code" is no more in Chicago.

Don't panic as NBC has picked up the option for "The Playboy Club' , a 60's mobbed up fantasy (yes, that means the Chicago Outfit) set right here in Chicago that glorifies "chasing bunny tail" and the rampant OPEN sexuality of the 60's as viewed thru the character of a Playboy Bunny.

How come we can't have a "Friends" type show cast here and why are the typecasts always so nefarious with plots regarding our town?

Wait, the sitcom 'According to Jim" on ABC was family friendly, but it was cancelled, and "Superman" the movie begins filming here in late summer, so you know. At least superheroes dig us, "Batman The Dark Knight" also filmed here a few years back, prominently featuring our city's incredible architecture and landmarks.

Sadly, the NEW Batman movie soon to begin filming has chosen Pittsburgh of all places to be the new Gotham City.

Fox Sports.com is reporting that the baseball season thru 5/15 has seen 26 rainouts in the majors this year, an astounding amount so early in the season as there were 21 ALL of last year. The Cubs have had several, a crippling attendance factor because 33 of their 82 home games were scheduled in April and May this year, a fluke in the way the season played out, and really hurts all involved as making up that kind of lost momentum financially will be tough for the vendors at the park. You don't have to tell us here in Chicago about a cold rainy season as we have had a Horrific spring, look at the floods on the Mississippi and I rest my case. For the record, 50 rainouts in 2004 is the Major League all time rainout total so a quarter thru THIS season we are OVER halfway to that historic total.

The Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon" will launch its national tour in Denver in Dec. 2012 in another snub to Chicago in regards to luring the much heralded openings of national productions launched here.

Upcoming production "War Horse" opens in Los Angeles, and "Sister Act" and "The Railway Children" are BOTH slated to open in Toronto bypassing our toddling town yet again. The Railway Children has a cool steam train featured in it's production, but the fact that Chicago is bypassed in these national tour launches is not a good sign for the infrastructure that supports the theatre and tourism component here, even though we will EVENTUALLY get these shows as they work their way across the country, but it may be years down the line.

Now for some laughs- Select Chicago clubs offer open microphone nights FREE for aspiring comedians who can deliver an approximate 4 minute impromptu comedic dialogue and they are as follows

Every Monday night- at The Shambles 2050 W. Division Street at 8:30 PM

Every Tuesday night at Lottie's Pub 1925 W. Cortland Ave at 9 PM

Every Thursday at Chicago Center for the Performing Arts 777 N. Green Street at 8:45 PM

Every FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Schubas 3159 N. Southport Ave 9 PM.

Expect to be offended at least once and feel free to come and go as you please, Shambles and Lottie's even have prizes and giveaways for outstanding performances.

The Goo Goo Dolls with special guest Michelle Branch play Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island on Sat July 16th.

July 14th has guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani playing The Venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.

In a previous Metro Pulse®, I reported on the X Factor competitions held at Sears Centre in Hoffmann Estates on April 27th and word comes that an 88 year old Addison woman made the cut. Singing "I Got Rhythm" , Mary Tanner, a silver haired grandmother type is in the running, as reported in the Daily Herald.

Her husband of 58 and a half years died in 2009 and he was an inspiration for Mary to try out as she felt he would have wanted her to. How sweet. Once a go getter, ALWAYS a go getter, Good luck.

Billy Joel is returning the bulk of a $3 million dollar advance to Harper Collins publishers for his memoir "Book of Joel" because he is NOT interested in talking about the past. His buddy Elton John told Rolling Stone in February that his substance abuse problems OFTEN interfered with the tour mechanics when they toured together in the "Dueling Pianos" tour in the last decade, and described his numerous stints in rehab as "Rehab light".

I wouldn't want to talk about the past if it was the future also, good luck on his recovery, Elton returns to Vegas this fall, as I reported in a recent Metro Pulse® he is billing it "The Million Dollar Piano" and tickets are already on sale for late September dates at the Coliseum, he will share the stage with Celine Dion and Rod Stewart as they rotate scheduling around each other as each has a multi year contract with the venue at Caesar's Palace, promoted by AEG.

And finally, Brad Keywell, our hometown tech incubator supreme a.k.a venture capitalist (he is cofounder of Lightbank, initial funding source for Groupon) is looking to create a NON PROFIT festival of sorts for technology called "Chicago Ideas Week" that is slated for Oct 10-16th.

It intends to develop a buzz for our technology sector and create interactivity and CONNECTION among our citizens in these fields, there are notable speakers already lined up , and Brad has committed $1.5 million dollars to the project, go to Chicagoideas.com for more information. I will be covering this further as the event draws near and more information becomes available.

I want to say in closing that Metro Pulse® fully supports this "Chicago Ideas" endeavor and has some cutting edge ideas for Brad regarding it, we Chicago guys gotta stick together and I could help Groupon also in it's entertainment offerings in many ways if consulted, and I AM SURE THEY COULD HELP ME, look forward to talking to you in the near future.

Respectfully

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

Editor's Note and clarification.

I reported in a past Metro Pulse® about the perceived censorship that was subjected upon Bob Dylan in regards to the set list he was allowed to play at his FIRST EVER concerts in China this past April 6th in Beijing and April 9th in Shanghai.

On May 13th, Dylan posted a rare statement on his web site that clarified that he was able to play the song set list HE submitted to the Chinese authorities, prompting the Chinese government via it's Cultural Ministry to issue a statement saying that Dylan would play "approved content", but the insinuation is that Dylan wisely avoided overt protest and activist anthems in his song list submission so to not offend the government and eliminate any hassles with them.

We are the "Original" Metro Pulse® since 1981. We are celebrating our 30 year Anniversary this year.