RIP OFF?????

Rip off? It would appear to be. The Key West Amphitheater aka Truman Waterfront Amphitheater.

The project was financed with Key West tax dollars. Initial cost estimated at $4 million. I do not know if it cost more when finished.

My complaint is with ticket prices. Especially for Key Westers who paid to build the amphitheater.

Willie Nelson is appearing February 17. We are contemporaries. I have enjoyed him my entire life.

Decided to get my tickets promptly. Tickets went on sale yesterday.

Tickets were advertised at $69 and $99. The $99 seats the reserved ones. I opted for the reserved seats. Two.

Good luck finding a reserved seat ticket for $99. The same with General Admission where you can sit on the lawn. I could find neither a reserved seat nor general admission ticket at the $99 and $69 advertised prices.

Instead, the reserved seating tickets ranged from roughly from $300 to $450, depending who was selling them. For 2, $600 to $900.

The sit on the lawn seats $122. $444 for 2.

I refuse to spend that kind of money. Perhaps I have become a tightwad in my old age. On the other hand, I would not have spent that amount of money 40 years ago.

A disgrace! A definite rip off! Why should we of Key West who paid to build the Amphitheater pay that kind of money?

Another consideration. Key West is primarily made up of working class persons. They can’t afford such high amounts.

Key West continues to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

The Mall on Duval is dying a slow death. An excellent idea initially. It did not work out. Business persons claim they are losing money.

The City Commission voted to extend the pilot plan to 2/17. Two weekends a month. A close vote. 4-3. Then the idea will be dead.

I started coming to Key West 30 years ago. One of the finest businesses at the time was Key West Fragrances and Cosmetics. Popularly known as Key West Aloe.

The store was beautiful. The fragrances moving. The items to buy for the body special and generally not available anywhere else.

I began using the Key West Aloe aftershave 30 years ago. Use it to this day.

Frank Romano and Joe Liszka were the founders and developers of Key West Aloe. At some point in time, they sold the business. Today it only exists in Key West with 2 small sales stores. The large sales store and factory long ago moved to another aea by the new owners.

I never knew Joe. He had died when I met Frank. Met him at WeBeFit. A gym specializing in helping senior citizens.

Frank and I became friends. He lived on Key Haven as I did. I attended parties at his home.

One of the finest people I have met. Frank is now gone also. Our paths are all the same.

I mention Frank and Joe because it was on this day in 1971 that they opened Key West Fragrances and Cosmetics.

Syracuse/Louisville in football at 4 today. Louisville favored.

I can’t wait for the Syracuse football season to come to an end.

Bumble Bee Tuna. A famous American food. Filed for bankruptcy yesterday.

Technical name Bumble Bee Foods. Began business 120 years ago.

It is rumored that a Taiwan based company will purchase Bumble Bee in the bankruptcy proceeding for just under $1 billion. Bumble Bee will continue do business as a result.

A recent Princeton study did not speak well of the U.S. I agree with the study’s conclusions. Negative does not always hurt. It can serve as a wake up call.

The Study is titled: The U.S. Is Not Losing Its Democracy, It’s Already Gone.

The conclusion to the study is that America has become an oligarchy. Made possible by the Congress. The situation described in the Study as the “foxes remain in charge of the hen house.”

Comments re the Study were published in Collective-Evolution on 11/22/19.

I recommend it as a READ! Definitely!

I am setting forth 4 quotes from the Study. They have a way of saying it all.

“You would think that, with the rise of science and technology, we would have been able to bed a far more prosperous nation. Instead, we have seen a vast reduction in our standard of living, and are being forced to work longer and harder in increasingly menial and unfulfilling jobs across the land. We are ever more being subjected to the control-hungry vicissitudes of mega-corps that are swallowing up American entrepreneurship and prosperous self-employment.”

“…..our democracy is currently broken.”

“…..economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impact on U.S. government policy, while average citizens have little or no independent influence.”

“The foxes remain in charge of the hen house.”

Lindsay Graham and Joe Biden have been friends for years. No more. Graham has asked the House Intelligence Committee for all records re Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s  involvement with the Ukraine government when he was Vice-President.

Something about bribery claimed. The charge has already  been investigated every each way with absolutely nothing coming up.

The charge by Graham is clear indication he has sold his soul to the company store. The company store in this instance being Trump.

Graham has an election next year. He does not want to alienate Trump for fear Trump would arrange for him to have a primary. A primary many believe Graham could lose.

Giuliani back in the news. He has indirectly come out of the hole he has been hiding in the past few weeks.

One of Giuliani’s associates in whatever went on in  the Ukraine is Lev Parnas. Parnas presently under indictment.

Parnas’ attorney said his client was willing to tell Congress that David Nunes met with an ex-Ukrainian official in the Ukraine to get dirt on Biden. There may have been more than one meeting.

Enjoy your day!

 

10 comments on “RIP OFF?????

  1. The amphitheater did sell the tickets at the advertised prices of $69 and $99, the later selling out on less than one minutes. I believe that the inflated prices are now from people who bought tickets for the purpose to resell at a profit. Unfortunately, out of the control of the amphitheater.

    • 1. I was on the computer at precisely 10 am. Within 2 minutes, I had viewed 3-4 sites that sold tickets. I saw none $66 and $99. 2. I doubt the sites I saw were people trying to make a buck. They all appeared to be professional ticket sellers. 3. Respectfully, what is the source of your information re there were $69 and $99 tickets, how you know they sold out in minutes, and 3. who the people were who bought and are selling at inflated prices. I am not unhappy I will not be at the show. I am upset at what I feel is a screw job to the people of our community.

      • The KW theater box office still has Willie Nelson GA tickets $69 + $8 fees. The KW theater website has online GA tickets $69 + $21 fees.
        I was tenth in line @ the box office on Friday 9:20 am. At 10 am the women working the box office were ready with the first customer’s credit card however reserved seating was sold out within seconds so everyone (even first in line)had to settle for GA. Reminds me of trying to book Yosemite or Arches campsites as they go online … he who has the fastest internet scores.

      • 1. I was on the official ticket website for the amphitheater at 10 and was able to get tickets, my friend tried less than a minute later and the seats were sold out. 2. The various site you saw selling tickets at inflated prices were ticket resellers trying to make a buck, wether or lot there were Individuals or not doesn’t matter – those sites were not the official site for the amphitheater. 3. Unfortunately it does appear that ticket sellers bought up a portion of the tickets and are reselling it inflated price but that is not the fault of the amphitheater And I’m not sure what can be done about it

  2. I find it difficult to understand how restaurant business can be down, by closing vehicular traffic a few weekend nights a month. Is business actually down at some restaurants, or are they just annoyed at the extra problems it causes by having to service the different crowd? I’ve been on Duval during these nights and I think it is a MUCH better environment than when there is noisy, smelly traffic while I’m having dinner.

  3. Despite what the blind cult wanted to think was true, the goons at the DOJ found that the FBI officials in charge of the agency’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia were NOT working to undermine President Donald Trump. Furthermore they also found that the FBI did NOT open the investigation based on the infamous Christopher Steele dossier nor leaked information from the CIA, as Trump and other conservatives have also claimed. Now these are the guys that are willing to spin and lye about just about anything, so the facts must be pretty overwhelming to make this determination.

    However it should be noted that they did wait until the quiet news weekend to release their findings in an effort no doubt to have the least possible impact.

    So, no TDS (tiny dick syndrome) here either, NOT a witch hunt, just facts, not lies.

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