Ads Ads who wants another Ad?

Hear this and sorrow. It will only be a little while before all sports go this route.
Like in Europe.

Jerseys will be so patched up with company logos players names, team name and players numbers will undecipherable... and referees will have great excuses to not to call penalties because they won't be able to decipher number or name.
Too droll wouldn't it be?

But on the other hand, let me posit this:
if owners and players share in advertising revenues why not fans who buy such jerseys?

Just think:
you buy a jersey which carries ads for, say. XX companies.

Companies which pay royalties to teams, owners and players for the privilege to spout their name as walking, skating, running, biking etc. ads.
Well, isn't it all about revenue sharing the NHL players are striking right now... to get a bigger slice of the $$$$$ pie? Isn't it?

Then, you buy one with the number of your favorite player,
you fill out proper ownership papers, then you hope that the team forwards this information to the companies; and the companies - in honoring their commitment to pay for these ads will send you a royalty check for every time you wear that jersey and thus advertise that company.
Sounds a winner, eh? Dream on!

But really you, the new wearer and walking advertiser for company X, ought to be entitled to get your $$ slice of that $$$$$ pie?

Slogans, Ads, Ramblings

I am trying to sleep but so many thoughts are swirling, like slogans they keep flashing in and out. I guess I have seen too many such on the web, screen and emails pages.

And they, insidiously, have crept into  my subconscious.Some do amuse me.

Because some are so inappropriate...see below. 

And infuriate at same time, all too often.

Just hate this "big brother is watching over me" feeling I get seeing those ads on email and other pages.

Taking space and time away from reading PERSONAL messages!

"Bosley Hair restoration"- I really don't need that, despite tearing some out every time the Aeros loose! :-)!

"Beautiful Asian Women waiting"- well, let them! Wait!

"Meet the love of your life" - Thanks, but I have already.

"Beautiful Single Men in Houston" - No thanks, happily married for mumble years!

"Best windows for your house" - guess I need to forward that to management.

"VRBO" an experience you'll never forget" - guess so, rat holes for rent, maybe?

And so many others...

interesting though, why send ME ads for both men and women waiting?

Ah well, the joys of the Internet intrusion into life!

So here are some slogans which have been flashing in and out for some nights, when I should have been sleeping soundly!
Why those? Why now?  What the heck for?

• Live or Die for Opera

(well that might be appropriate given the drama inherent to this art form) BUT without any kind of musical talent and given my thirst for living... no to die!

• Stand Up for Opera (and Theater as well)

That certainly a YES...going back to mumble years ago when I stood in line as early as 3 AM (when a STAR sang) otherwise 10 AM was good enough) on a Sunday - being NOT a school day - to buy standing room only tickets for that night's opera or theater.

One stood in line to garner tickets for Orchestra Standing room. In those days simply tiers of ledges without railings, etc. and just a few inches elevated from the one before. That WAS the desired location for most standees! Of course IF a tall person stood in front even a narrow stage below, one could not SEE, hear yes, but see NO.

One could simply sit cross legged (Ah, flexible youth!) to HEAR it  and so was a bit more comfortable.

Then I ran across some 'old timers' in the standee life and was introduced to the 'GALLERIE' standing room. Yes, way up there under the roof, when everyone on stage seemed like ants, but with ONLY one ledge and with a rail in front, a wall behind, one could be really quite comfortable seeing AND hearing-sound rises as you know! And, really, after a quick look though binoculars to discern the details of costumes and stage set, one was rather happy to prop up on the rail or lean back on the wall for a change, and enjoy! AND the price was even better! Ideal for a cash starved highschooler! Of course I haven't stood for opera or theater in quite a while.. last time some 8 years ago at the MET and that was a rather different experience..numbered standee slots! and only one ledge!

Le Louvre

To paint or not to paint

That is more difficult to explain. It is such wishful thinking. My hands sometime just itch to depict something, but alas I simply can neither paint, sketch, draw, or sculpt- but certainly enjoy looking at all arts. Taking photos gives me  perhaps a bit of that feeling of creating something!

• I  could have danced all night...

Sure did do that a lot decades ago, during the Vienna Ballsaison (News Year's Eve start, ending with Mardi Gras Tuesday), when a formal or Gschnas Ball began at 10 PM and lasted to 6 AM.. and "Ganz Wien Tanzte" - and all Vienna danced! One slept a couple hours after work or school, ate dinner at home and off to the ballroom via trolley carrying dancing slippers in a bag to be put on once arrived. 

One danced, one sat on the steps of sweeping stairwells in the palaces (a poor student could not afford to buy a 'table ticket'), one mixed and mingled, one switched partners as often as possible depending on what dance was played. There were guys who excelled in Viennese Waltz, others had THE IT for boogie woogie and jive, and a very few had the Latin Rhythm down pat...which requires a stiff upper body, swivel hips (all that Pre-Elvis, lol) and the fastest feet ever! What fun! Then home with the streetcar, stopping off at a Wurstelstand to buy a bowl of Hungarian Gulyas soup - hot and soooo spicy - and cheap. Soak one's feet fro half an hour, gulp a strong espresso or two and off to school or work! And repeat the whole again the next night! Over Thursday to Sunday nights only! Midweek nights were forbidden!

• Live, Love and Die for Hockey (well... that begs the question)

Just being a fan and bystander, I don't feel that is so applicable. Now, were I much younger, much prettier, much 'northerner ;-)'.. it just might have be possible that I could've lived for hockey- become a hockey player IF the talent was there. But die... no, definitely NO!
Or alternatively dated one,  that would be the love part :-)!.

Now I just enjoy the fast paced action, the ambiente, the raucous (not so much) crowds, and the lively discussions before and after games amongst experts and fans.

• Nothing starts on time in Spain except La Corrida

The pageantry, the excitement, the aficion among the audience at a Corrida, it is indescribable.
One has to have seen it at its best. The elegance of movement, the bravery of el toro, the hush that falls when the moment of truth arrives and the wild exhilaration in appreciation of either torero or-yes I have seen that= the Toro to be granted an indulto. And than to sit among the true aficion! Talk with and about the toreros.
Visit a ganaderia in Central Spain or Mexico,  talk bloodlines with the ganaderos and watch a capea - 
Or see a rejoneador on horse - a modern centaur- as one with his steed:
I know, I know, it is no longer appreciated by many.
A charreada (San Antonio has one) is a poor substitute, but still shows up supreme horsemanship by charros and charras in fanciful outfits. Alas, with the 'incediary' situation in Mexico, especially along the borders, it would be foolhardy to drive there just to see a corrida. So one meets with others and debates while watching videos.

That part - the debating of all things - is now about the one thing left that pleases and gets the blood roiling.. LOL!