Orel Family

Three time previously, I have written about how different media outlets cover an event. In May, 2018 , it was coverage of protests in Gaza after the US opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. In January, 2019 , the topic was the end of the US government shutdown. In April, 2020 , the divergence was over the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, there are several things going on, including, most prominently a major conviction in a big tax fraud case and a major Senate election. But the topic seems especially relevant now, as less than a week ago there was a brouhaha on twitter over "The Hunter Biden files," in which is was alleged that twitter had suppressed a major news story. So, without further introduction, let's see who is suppressing what, this time. Here are the "above the fold" pages, currently on the various sites. Taking the same sources as in the April 2020 post. Some of these aren't like the others. CNN:  The Senate run-off is most prominent, followed b...

April 12, 2012. I was a day away from my 50th birthday, and I was preparing to see  Bruce Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" Tour for the first time. I got an early present from Backstreets Magazine : my first photo gig. For the first 3 songs of the show, I got to set up with the press photographers, bring professional grade equipment, and take as many photos as I wanted... so long as Backstreets got to publish them. I wrote a blog post about the experience, which I titled, appropriately enough, " The Bucket List Gets Smaller. " A few days before that show, my children both decided they wanted to go, too. On show night, while I was waiting with the other photographers to get credentials, Lori and the kids were admitted in to the arena with the other General Admission ticket holders. Springsteen came out with the E Street Band and, beyond what I could hear in the basement, the band ran through several songs including Marvin Gaye's " Can I Get a Witness ....

May 15, 2005, a nice spring Sunday afternoon. I was helping to lead my son's Cub Scout troop on a hike on a local trail network. My cell phone buzzed. "Matt, this is Bobby, I have front row on my screen. Do you want them?" YES!!! 5 hours later we were at Wolstein Center in Cleveland, in the front row, for Springsteen's performance there that night. I've never met Bobby in person. He lives a couple thousand miles away. But he was part of my community. He also had my Ticketmaster account, and when that ticket was spotted, he was me and I was on my way. After the hike was over, anyway. Other times, I bought prime tickets for friends to use, to shows I wasn't going to myself. Bruce Springsteen has never had a formal fan club or ticketing service. No Grateful Dead Ticket Service, no Ten Club, nothing like that. So, various circles of fans grouped amongst themselves. This extended from sharing "backdoor" phone numbers before internet sales became the thing...

Tickets went on sale this morning for several Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shows for their next USA tour, starting next February. By the time of the first scheduled show at Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena on February 1st, it will have been more than 6 full years since his last US shows in September 2016. Since then, he's released an autobiography, gone on a book tour, made a western album, produced a film that was exhibited at a major film festival, played a few charity gigs, made an album with the E Street Band, sold his catalogue to the record company for a half billion dollars, had one planned E Street Band tour scuttled at the last minute due to COVID concerns, and had two stints of his one man show, "Springsteen on Broadway." Profitably busy, one might say, and now it's time to hit the road. Prices for "platinum" tickets in Tampa. Yes, those are real. Springsteen's ticketing policy has varied over the years: In 1999, for example, virtually e...

 Here is the front page of the Fox News web site, at 3 different times today. 1) 4:59pm 2) 5:27pm 3) 11:02pm

Colin Hay at Royal Oak Music Theater, March 27, 2022 "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin" seems like a suitable title for the past two years of pandemic life. COVID-19 isn't gone, but we're collectively doing our best -- some more than others -- to carry on as if it's no longer a defining factor. So when a friend called and said he had 7th row center seats staring back at him from a computer screen to see Colin Hay , my first instance wasn't to say, "who?" Rather, it was, "yes, I'll go... Who?"  Colin Hay was the primary songwriter and singer for Men At Work , the popular Australian band. He's touring solo acoustic, and his show is well worth catching. I don't know how full the 1,700 seat Royal Oak Music Theater was, but it sure felt like a good turnout and an enthusiastic crowd. I wasn't familiar with Hay's solo output, but it didn't really matter. He gave most songs extended humorous introductions. Everything ...