Assholes

I have had an annoying email sent to me by a couple of people. The email bothered me in two ways. First was the amount of forwarding that had gone on with people adding comments. The second was the email content itself.

I wouldn't be shocked if you have had it sent to you. In short, it starts with a guy who makes a phone call to a wrong number. The person on the other end snaps at him. So he calls the guy back and calls him an asshole. The email goes on and on about how this guy would keep calling the wrong number to call him an asshole any time he was having a bad day. It made him happy to annoy the guy. Then we find out some dude in a BMW cuts him off for a parking space. The car just happens to be for sale (Wow! What a coincidence!) so he calls the guy and begins to call him an asshole. Then he has the bright idea to bring his two victims together to fight it out thinking they have been calling each other. He goes to watch the fight after calling a television station and the cops.

The whole thing is written like it is a true story. I call bullshit. The odds of it being true are remote. Why would anyone think this actually happened? Furthermore, it someone continually called me up to call me an asshole I would find a way to track them down and then take care of the matter.

But back to the two things that annoyed me. The forwarding of the email. With each forward there was a comment. Either "Cool!", "Awesome!", "ha ha", or some other act of encouragement. In other words, these fools bought the story. I would even say they are condoning the actions of the supposed "hero" of the story.

But read it again. The true asshole is the guy who keeps calling the wrong number just to call the guy an asshole. The supposed "hero" is a real dick. He can't get over some guy snapping at him so he must seek out his petty revenge? Who really wants to hang out with someone like that? Who wants to hang out with anyone that approved of his actions?

Which in a long winding way brings me to my next set of assholes. People who bitch about the musical acts at Summerfest. Over the past two weeks they have been announcing the headliner acts for each of the stages. With 11 days of music to fill, this cannot be an easy task. Especially when you are trying to provide music for various tastes of music. Plus you have to realize they are competing with other local venues- mainly Alpine Valley and to a lesser extent some county fairs- to book the act. They need to find groups that are on tour and in the area so they can bring them in. The logistics can be a nightmare. They also will try to lure a group to come in if they are not in the area or on tour just to play a show (something I am hoping they will do with Metallica). The bottom line is that they will not be able to accommodate every music fan out there.

That doesn't stop the bitching and moaning that goes on. Whether it be on Facebook or the local paper, someone is always complaining bout how bad the music is. They usually tag it with calling it "Bummerfest". How original! These assholes want to dampen the joy of people who are excited to see acts they like.

It makes me curious. I would like to know what they would consider to be a good lineup. Do they think they can do the job of the people booking the acts? My guess is they do even though they don't know shit about what to do.

Sure I would love to see 11 days of bands that I like. I would have complained about the shows 15 years ago but am happy I grew up. I am content with finding at least 2 good shows I want to see. Anything beyond that is gravy. Though the ticket to get in to see most acts is cheap- $8 during the day$15 after 4pm (big acts at the Amphitheater require a separate ticket), a night of drinking can cause some damage on your wallet. But still, $15 bucks to see a concert is a fantastic deal.

This year I am happy with what I have seen so far. Night Ranger on the first night makes me happy. Better though is seeing the Scorpions on their farewell tour. Its been 20 some years since I saw them last. Other than those two shows I am not quite sure what I will be seeing. Maybe the Offspring again. I may check out Public Enemy for some people watching. Other than that there is little that is interesting me so far. As I mentioned I am hoping for a good rock act to fill out a spot at the Amphitheater. They always try to touch various genres and a metal act is sorely lacking. Thankfully Nickelback is scheduled for the Bradley Center and thus won't be there.

I am done ranting. Looking forward to a nice weekend. Time to relax and drink some beers. Have a good one and rock on with your bad selfs.