The glass slipper has shattered, Cinderellas no more?

The Athletic's Jordan Brenner posted some nice thoughts about whether or not the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament's Cinderellas are dead.

In the end, I think Jordan is feeding us what the NCAA would love for us to feel but I think it misses the main point.

We LOVE Cinderellas because they, as a small or mid-market institution of higher learning find magic in a bottle for 1-3 weeks of play during March/April. Just plucking them from those "Davids" and inserting them into "Goliath" isn't the same at all.

I'm loving seeing Iowa make it through the first weekend in 27 years, not because I went there, but because I have so many close friends and family who have. But without NIL allowing Head Coach Ben McCollum to pluck most of his stars from Drake and move them 114 miles East is unheard of in recent history. Cinderella is having them all at Drake and making the magic.

I do not begrudge NCAA athletes now having the opportunity to earn money that their Universities made off of them for half a century. But we cannot just say it's now lift and place and voila, Iowa is a Cinderella.  Iowa, loaded and strapped with all kinds of NIL cash, still far less than many other Universities, will NEVER be a Cinderella when it comes from a Big 5 conference. It's the antithesis of Cinderella in all of its forms.

VCU, George Mason, Butler (who beat VCU), Davidson with Steph Curry, 2025 McNeese, Florida Gulf Coast, Loyola Chicago (in 2018 AND 1963) and St. Peters.  The casual fan has never heard of some of these places but Bracket-Heads all over definitely have. These are the schools that, when matched up against a 1-5 seed, you love to watch them get all scrappy and bring their brand of hoops that got them there, to the national stage.

Cinderellas literally prove that scene from Hoosiers where the rim is still 10 feet high and the free throw line is 15 feet from the basket and it doesn't matter how much "space" there is above and around that 4700 square feet of floor, it's the same as it is in your practice facility. Perspective.

I do think the era of NIL is pushing Cinderellas to the side line. Their slippers never to be returned by their March Madness Prince and cut-pasting a mid-major into an SEC, Big18, ACC, Big XII conference team will NOT suffice.

Mental Health is taking a hit with COVID

By no means am I a mental health expert, but I am a human being that, at times, struggles with my own brain.

For the most part, I think I've held up pretty well during this pandemic outbreak but with the resurgence and with people fairly close to me (not relatives, but living near our home) testing positive, the thoughts that "We're being surrounded" and "there's no escape, it's inevitable" IS taking its toll on my mental well-being.

For the last couple of nights, I have awoken from a nightmare of myself struggling to breathe.  It is frightening to say the least and I find myself drowsily checking to make sure I really can breathe and that my airway is clear.

In late March/start of April 2018, I was hospitalized with a double whack of pneumonia and an undetermined virus after traveling back from India via Dubai. It was scary. I could barely breathe, my legs had swollen up to enormous size as I was retaining all kinds of fluids and my immune system had been compromised.  

So, I know these feelings of which I dream and based on what folks are saying happens if you catch COVID and are high-risk, I am at risk for this happening if I catch it.

I rarely live my life in fear. It's not who I am. But the feeling of helplessness I had in 2018, of having to be in quarantine, keep distance from my family, including my 10 year old son at the time, was something that in NON-Pandemic times was something that could break a man.  Amplify that by the entire ICU wing of the hospital being overrun by cases like me and it escalates that feeling exponentially.

Even has COVID has been around, we are taking extra precautions but still not living like hermits.  We socialize at a distance, are very careful with who we let into our home and avoid all large events and traveling.

But as the Patriarch of this family, this shit is taking it's toll.  To the "fuck mask" people, why can't you just realize that this is how a decent majority of people feel? You can sit there and say it's no worse than the flu all you want but it IS worse than the flu. You have the right to be as free as you want but you cannot complain with businesses shutting down, schools going back to remote learning and restrictions being put in place all because your fee fees where hurt in the beginning and as a country we couldn't do what New Zealand did (and had to do again) to stamp this thing out.

But these seeds of distrust were sown at the highest levels of our Government. The same people who downplayed the severity of this are the same ones now attacking an election results that didn't fall their way.  If you're hitching your wagon to that train of idiots, well, when the "fuck your feelings" truck comes back around to run your ass over in the future, you can't complain.

History will show that the head idiot in charge right now truly was the worst ever. His inability to suck it up and deal with the truth and yet again, spin lies, falsehoods and misinformation have set back decent political discourse in this country for decades.  The genie is out of the bottle now, he's running rampant and fooling people. But hey, he tells it like it is, except that everything he tells is bold-faced lies.

American Sniper : my thoughts

I've had a few days to reflect on it and have watched all the bullcr@p flying back and forth from the right and left.

80% of the posts I see and the drivel I'm hearing are missing the damn point about American Sniper.

Maybe I'm lucky because I heard an hour long interview with Chris Kyle when the book came out (which made me buy the book) but his point of writing the book was to show the incredible toll military service and especially what he had to do as a sniper, took on his marriage, family and mental health.

I think Eastwood accurately captured a LOT of this when he was at home and was at a party in his own backyard and he zoned out and then went after the dog. The heartbreak of watching his little brother on the tarmac who he was really happy to see, but his brother just wanted the hell out of there. The inability to deal with "real life" upon his multiple returns until his shrink made him go talk to others who have lived, who had been "saved".

When I hear "right wing propoganda/nazi-like and immoral, egotistical, psychotic" references about the movie or the man or the equal "libtards hating on an American hero and yeah, kill shots on the muslims" it's driving me absolutely batsh!t crazy because you've all missed the damn point over and over again.

Yes, war is horrible, they happen and that's an ENTIRELY different debate about the real "psychopaths" who send our young men and women into harm's way but for those who dedicate their life to service, to protect us and our freedoms, a lot of irreparable damage happens to some of them.  That same damage is what ended up being the cause of Chris Kyle's death. He admitted in that interview that he wasn't back to normal but he was as healthy mentally as he could be at that point. He was helping a LOT of fellow veterans who were coming back with severe PTSD and issues. He was doing what a lot of other people should be doing and making sure there's funding for.

I see the elected officials from the RIGHT more than willing to send the troops but unable to pass funding for proper care and mental health when they return.  I see the same on the LEFT ALSO voting to send them and then deny funding to give them the right equipment to do their jobs when they are there.  And I see hundreds of thousands of bumper stickers saying to "support our troops" and scratch my head to wonder if that just means when they are out responding to conflicts around the world, when they come home to massive fan fare and celebrations or if it even includes those dark, desperate times when they are having issues adjusting back into civilian life.

THAT'S THE POINT OF AMERICAN SNIPER. It's what Kyle said it was in the interview I heard.  not the kill shots or his arrogance. Not Hollywood elites spouting off or other SEALs responding back.  It's the damage Kyle inflicted on others as well as what was inflicted on him.

Holy Crap, where they hell have YOU been?

So, 18 months since I've touched this.

No excuse other than work is crazy, life is crazy, world is crazy and frankly, this takes a lot of discipline to keep going and my borderline A-D-D self has two million other things to do.

That said, I need to get back to writing again.

It is a form of therapy, partly for my mind that has trouble resting and ultimately, as a way to stay sane in a world cluttered by bombardment of emails, issues and problems.

Shame on me but I control it.

A Hearty Welcome...not!!

I just want to say welcome to the 113th Congress.

My expectations for you are lower than whale sh*t on the bottom of the deep blue sea, so you don't have to do MUCH to jump over that bar.  Remember, I'm sure whatever decisions you make, it's all about how you position yourselves for the mid-term elections and NOT how it helps the rest of us working stiffs.

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

There is ONE exception and that is Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) who returns today after suffering a devastating stroke that impacted his speech and motor skills.  After a year's worth of therapy and the spirit of a true American Military Veteran, he will climb the 46 stairs into the Capitol building on his own today.

One man who frequently works across the aisle for the people of Illinois and the country.  The rest of you lot should learn from him.

R.I.P. "Big" Rick Majerus

RIP Rick Majerus.

For many of us at Marquette during the mid-80's it sometimes was a love/hate relationship or, in my case, a hate/love relationship.

He hurt my feelings when I was 13 years old at an Al McGuire, Medalist basketball camp.  I think he was trying to relate to a pudgy 13-year old but as Rick sometimes had a knack of doing, he used very poor word choice.  Yeah, "c'mon buddy, move your big fat ass" would rank up there with bad word choices at a basketball camp.  Sorry, I was a sensitive boy back then, not the hardened son-of-a-bitch I am now ;-p

So, yeah, 5 years after that incident, I'm faced with him being the MU head coach and I don't like him one bit.  What's weird is, looking back on it, he truly made Limoncello out of Lemons.  20-11 and 19-11 back then was only good enough for the NIT (especially since we were an Independent) but with the talent he could scrounge up, that was a miracle and frankly, after him, well, it was the Great Disaster called Bob Dukiet proving the old adage, "you know what you know, you don't know what you don't know" or better yet, "the grass is NOT greener on the other side of the fence".

It took 12 years for me to meet up with him face-to-face again.  I know I was much wiser and realized how foolish I had been.  It was a really quick meeting and in a restaurant (duh, two fat-bodies needing to munch) and I chatted with him about 'the incident'.

We had a laugh, he wished me well, and I, him.  It was right after he took Utah to the '98 finals and lost to Kentucky.  I had come to respect him long before that meeting but it was nice to share even just a moment with someone who loved Marquette so much having been a product of both the High School and the University.

It's sort of a cruel that a man who actually had a very warm and generous heart would end up succumbing to a disease of the heart.  Although most details are not known, those of us who have followed his career know that he's had to take time off due to whatever issues he was having over the last 12+ years since he couldn't finish out his first year coaching Utah.

May God Bless him with eternal salvation.

You can't complain if you don't vote? Says who?

I really despise election season.  This year more than in the past, the fear-mongering rhetoric is at all time high.

Some call it racism in disguise but frankly, it's just a plain problem of the two-party system that the tone of negativism is now the only way you can pander to the extreme factions of your party.

But the most hilarious line I see during EVERY election is the old "you can't complain if you don't vote" bullsh!t.  And that's what it is, bullsh!t.

Let's see, where do I start? Um, okay, the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which protects my freedom of speech by being an American.  It does NOT qualify that with "oh, ONLY if one votes".  Let's stop there since frankly, I don't need any other reasons.

So clearly, by our own Founding Father's wisdom, I CAN complain if I don't vote.  And let's not forget that when they wrote that piece of wisdom, women and minorities weren't considered eligible to vote and they only GOT that Right by what? Oh yeah, complaining when they didn't vote.

Get over it you blowhards, you're only saying this to justify your OWN knowledge that you're likely backing a losing candidate and therefore, by saying it, it lets you rail on for the next two or four years annoying all of your Facebook friends who don't give a sh!t about your politics.

Pencils Down, Work NOT Checked (again)

The other day I ranted a bit about marketing emails (which I opted-in to receive) showing up in my inbox and the sender or their contracted agency NOT ensuring that the images have been loaded to the live environment.

Two days later and they still haven't learned.

HEY DISNEY, maybe you need to change suppliers here, eh?  Poor quality is something NOT expected from you and we know how nuts you are about image.

Important Election Season Announcement

October 16, 2012

North Aurora, IL (October 16, 2012) - During this venomous and bitter election season, some specific issues have become evident to Brian LoCicero and therefore he has a prepared statement included below.  There will be no questions entertained subsequent to the release of this statement and no interviews will be granted.

Fellow foursquare citizens:  Although I've been playing the foursquare 'game' for several years now, I find it increasingly annoying that the number of specials or offers either being given for checking in or, most of all, obtaining the position of Mayor have been woeful at best.

foursquare's forged relationship with American Express has basically eliminated any discount that I can obtain by checking in to some of my favorite places as I'm not an Amex cardmember and frankly, most businesses that I frequent are not seeing it worth their time to utilize the business interface to post specials or reward players.

Further, for many businesses, their Mayor's are employees.  For private businesses, this is perfectly fine but for retail businesses, the point isn't to have an employee, who seemingly should be there everyday, hold Mayorship but in fact, the customers should be the ones competing for that prestigious position.

It is with a mildly heavy heart that I announce that I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination from my iPhone for another term as your Mayor of such lovely places as Mother's Restaurant, Randall Crossing Restaurant, Honey Jam Cafe and the most esteemed Village Mattress.

This doesn't mean I won't check-in from time to time especially at a new restaurant, store, or event but since there is absolutely no benefit to becoming Mayor, my run has to come to an end.

Thank you, and God Bless America!

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About Brian LoCicero
Swallows a lot of aggression with a lot of pizza

About Foursquare
Early mobile app that was a great concept but seems to have fallen flat when Facebook rolled out their own version.

this release may contain forward looking information but seriously, if you're using this to make major decisions in your life or to figure out whether or not to invest in foursquare or Brian LoCicero, you're making a huge mistake ;-p

Pencils Down & Check Your Work

I'm getting increasingly tired of companies that I'm fond of, outsourcing their campaign emails and then continuously having issues, but not changing up suppliers or even responding to me when I let them know it's all fanarkled up.

The biggest offender is Pet Supplies Plus who RARELY has the images that are embedded in the HTML email loaded on their live servers.  When the entire email is image-based, this means your users open the email to nothing but blocks and 'alt-text'.  A couple hours go by and I re-open that email and viola, there's my happy email campaign.

Today, however, the usually buttoned up Disney Corp has blown it.  A Jake and the Neverland Pirates email is broken down.

In both cases, they do provide the link so that if you can't read the email, it'll take you to the web page, however, the images are looking for the same source and therefore, even the web page is blank with loads of 'alt-text' all over the place.

I realize that in most organizations, email campaigns are relegated down to the cheapest labor or outsourced to the big companies (Fishbowl, Constant Contact) who offer below ground costs, but it is one of the most common touch points with your brand loyalists and in a lot of cases, some early impressions with your new customers.

Get your shizzle together and proof your work, have a quality control step that someone in the organization has to punch through on the LIVE site to ensure everything has loaded before you give the push order to send the email.  It's really simple and doesn't cost you very much.

Uncle Tubby

To borrow a tag from my friend Heidi, I'm Uncle Tubby. It just means I *try* to eat well, but have a general lack of self control and indulge in whatever I damn well want.

To that end, under a challenge from my wife, I've joined Weight Watchers to see if I can make any headway.

Surprisingly, it's highly customizeable and thank Jesus they have an iPad app, otherwise I'd have an issue here at the start where I need to track everything passing these sweet, kissable lips of mine.

Original goal here is 30 pounds. Sure, in the words of Al McGuire, it's like a deck chair falling off the Queen Mary, but at this point, my fat arse needs to start something.

Yes, I'm still alive

Sadly, life happens, work happens, family happens and when they all happen together, like they honestly do for most people, then some of the free-time pleasures are sacrificed like blog posts.

As I stare the end of the year in the face, I try to resolve to be better at this.  Some say I have a talent, most don't but nonetheless, there's passion, anger and millions of words that usually need to burst out of this brain of mine.

I'm not going to make this a New Year's Resolution, but I am going to make a concerted effort to be organized, not be afraid to have a 50-word post and not put pressure on myself to create masterpieces for each post.

We'll see.

Busy holiday season coming up but will force time to write about what's gone on this year.

Reason 532 why I love...

...working on the same floor as all of IT support:

Hearing the rolling of the track wheel and pressing of keys on a Blackberry from INSIDE the stalls in the bathroom.

Added bonus when an alert tone goes off for a text message or a new email.

Dudes, drop your deuce and leave the crackberry at your desk.

Funny Work emails: Episode 1

I think we all would love to reply-all to a company-wide email with smart ass remarks, but then, in this crappy economy we all need our jobs more than we need food.

Here's today's gem, which, we get every two weeks throughout the year:

     All,
     A reminder that Housekeeping will be cleaning out both the 4th and 6th floor refrigerators this coming Friday.  Please see to it that all your personal items are removed before then.
     Thanks,

I would love to reply with:
     "Oh, thanks so much for the reminder.  I need to get that severed woman's head and hands out of there before the authorities find them."

The next time you tell someone it must be fun they travel for business....

So, although I've had a bit of a hiatus on the business travel front, I had to head to North Carolina today for a quick, one-day meeting with one of our Kantar OpCos.

I always love how, when people find out you travel for work and they don't, they usually ponder out loud, and right to your face, how fun it must be to travel for business.  Going all those fun places, having it paid for....

And so all of my friends who DO travel for business, and some of you put me to shame with the amount you do, have our war stories from the road and here's mine from today.

Day started out pretty normal although there was "weather" in Missouri and the thoughts were that it would head towards Chicago thus putting flight departures in jeopardy.  But by the time I got to O'Hare, things were running fine and my flight still showed as leaving on time.  But that's where it starts going a little funky.

I was able to go through Premium Security which usually means a shorter line and with people who normally fly for business, know the routine and don't take long to get through.  But not today.  It was backed up something fierce and well, given that we shot and killed the #1 leading terrorist in the world, I could forgive it.  Until I got up to the conveyor belt and started pulling out the laptop, taking off the shoes, etc.  There was this couple who was traveling with their cats (in those little pet carrier type duffel bags) and I guess one of the cats decided to share with everyone his nervousness by having some explosive, target-spraying liquid joy which went all over its owners and on the floor.  THANK GOD the woman in front of me yelled back to me to look out because I damn near stepped in it in my stocking feet.  I heard one TSA agent drop some nasty language and there was another unlucky TSA guy who had to come over with spray and paper towels to clean it all up.

I overheard the one owner saying "Well, she's a nervous flier".  A TSA agent standing by her said "Well, some people just don't understand these things".  Really?  Look, I'm a pet owner and even _I_ realize that my dog is a schizophrenic traveler which is why we don't bring her to the airport.  If your pet can't take it, don't you think you're doing a bit more damage to them?  ughh.  Drive a damn car already.

So the incoming flight (to my one leaving) pulled up at the gate about 15 minutes late and the gate agent was too busy schmoozing with some of the Executive Premier Platinum 500K World Rulers to go down the jet way and get those waiting, off the plane.  Eventually our pilots and flight attendants show up and head down to turn around the aircraft and whilst the pilots were looking over the plane, they've found a "mechanical issue" that needed attention.  At least they found this before we all boarded.  Well, you likely won't be able to see this in the picture, but the "mechanical issue" was a huge gouge that was on the front nose fuselage.  Yep, they must have hit a bird or space shuttle debris.

Here is a lovely mechanic plotting (with a black marker) the area that will eventually need to be replaced.

So thankfully since Chicago O'Hare is United Airlines global hub and headquarters, there was a spare plane sitting around and with only about a 35-40 minute delay, we pushed back from the gate.

The flight was uneventful thankfully and we landed in Raleigh-Durham about 20 minutes later than originally scheduled.  My pre-arranged ride to the hotel was waiting and ready to go and off we went.

We arrive at the Courtyard Marriott, I wave goodbye to my ride and go to check in.  Oh, Mr. LoCicero, we have this waiting for you.  We unfortunately have overbooked and we've arranged for you to stay across the street.  Now this can go one of two ways, either a worse location or a better location.  Thankfully I've been here before and the suggested new place is a big step up.  It's actually a conference center that's run by the UNC-Chapel Hill Business School.  Good room, good digs, free pantry for all guests that has unlimited free soda and Dove Ice Cream bars....what's not to like?

However, my 0.4 mile trip between the two locations was an adventure from hell.  After being given my "walk" papers, I was told that they had called a ride to take me over there and it was just 10 minutes away.  10 minutes became 15, became 20 and finally this broken down taxi-van showed up.  The front desk clerk ran outside to ensure this was the right ride for me and it was.  I got in and he looked at me and said, where are we going?  That's my first warning sign.  I told him the Rizzo Center across the street and he looked at me like I was speaking Hungarian.  So off we go.

I asked him if we were in the wrong lane and he said know that he knew where he was going.  About 2 minutes later we pull in, to the aLoft hotel?  Um, this isn't the place dude.  I told him once again, I'm supposed to go the Rizzo Center.  Oh, he knows now and off we go.  I don't think we turn the right direction and I make him stop.  He says he DOES know where he's going and now he's getting mad at me for questioning him so much.  I pull out the iPad and fire up the Google Maps GPS and see that he's totally going in the wrong direction.  He promises me he knows how to get there.

We pull up at what looks like a regular apartment building and he jumps out getting ready to dump me off and I tell him that I'm not getting out until I call back to the Courtyard.  I talk to the front desk guy and tell him we're not even close to the place.  He asks me if the driver has taken me to the aLoft hotel and I laugh saying that we've already been there and this is the second place.  He lets me know that he'll call back to the driver and tell him where to go.

We finally get here and from this point on, everything has been grand.  I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.  Fingers, toes, eyeballs and hair crossed.

The next Airline bailout

The next time US-based Airlines ask for a bailout or for increased fees and tariffs, I think we need a little collective bargaining for the passengers.

So Congress passes the Passenger Bill of Rights, but ultimately that's window dressing on the core problems.

Running an airline supposedly means that you're expertise is logistics.  Logistics, in this case, of moving human beings and cargo around America and the world.  Supposedly.

Well, people, we're an ornery bunch and since we all have brains in our heads we can pretty much make sure that we're getting on the right flight and usually end up in the right place.  But our luggage, well, those poor bastards don't even have a brain.  They are helpless bug kill on the windshield of airline transportation.

As you can guess, my luggage has been lost on a relatively important trip to New York City.  I have no idea how one bag, checked in at the AA Premium Status desk at the 2nd busiest airport in the world (ORD) on a direct flight to LGA doesn't make it there.  In fact, all the bags made it except mine and another poor fella.


How can people who are supposedly masters of logistics be so poor at it?  How, in a day where someone's blow-up doll being shipped by FedEx or UPS can be scanned and tracked multiple times across this fine land of ours with almost GPS-like precision, do the airlines who make infinitely more money have no clue where my bag is after it was put on the treadmill at O'Hare?  They just don't give a rat's ass AND you have to pay for it (unless you have status, are flying business class or flying Southwest!)

I watched with amazement how, in almost Third Reich fashion, people were getting their carry-ons pulled out of line when boarding this afternoon.  In fact, even I thought a few of them were questionable.  But the airlines are forcing people to go this way.  Since a carry-on bag stays with it's owner (see above where I mention that we have brains and make sure we get from one place to another in spite of the airline) it too makes it to its destination and there's no careless behavior going on behind the doors we're not allowed in.

It's truly a catch-22 of travel.  Can't bring that huge carry-on that you know will make it there, so you have to check it where it'll get lost, so then you'll have to bring carry-on again.

What I can't fathom is that they put stickers on every piece of luggage that have bar codes and unique bag-tag numbers.  When I check out in ANY retail store nowadays, they have hand-held scanners that are wireless and they can scan the UPC codes on larger, awkward items in my cart.  There are numerous softwares that can be used to manage logistics.  How, in the millions of dollars they charge for flying can an airline not afford to put these all together?  If I had the wherewithal, I'd be banging on boardroom doors proposing a new system and charging a fair price for it.

Our government can detect whether or not I have 4 oz of shampoo in my carry-on but a big logistics company has no f*@&ing clue where a 38lb bag is??

Oh Wilbur and Orville, why have you cursed us so?  Flight was BORN in this country and the current US entities are doing everything they can to kill it a very slow, painful death.  Please note in the following graphic, there is not ONE instance of a bag going astray due to the customer/passenger.  And they want to know why everyone is cramming on their carry-ons?????

This is likely where my bag is, although I highly doubt US-based airlines would even know how to get above the Earth's atmosphere.

The Encore, why the delay?

Okay, so I've pretty much been out of the "concert circuit" for some time now.  Maybe only attending one show a year.

Last year it was AC/DC, this it's Jimmy Buffett last Saturday night.

I'm struggling with the ego stroke that is saying goodnight, walking off the stage and then coming back on for an encore after letting all the drunks/crazies yell and clap and bang the seats to a deafening roar.

Yes I know this is more or less tradition but it's always hilarious to hear some sudsed-up knuckle head say "Do you think they are going to come back out?"

• Yes, they are coming back out, the house lights aren't up yet or haven't you noticed
• If people cheer or don't, they probably are STILL coming back out, although I've heard several tales from the Stone Temple Pilots where they couldn't come back on because of Weiland's bad drug problems and I personally saw Greg Kihn say "f*ck it" when a crowd of 100 just wouldn't stroke his ego.  Well, he had played "Jeopardy" about 3 times during his set, so his material was thin and what the hell could he have played as an encore anyway?
• It's also long been used so that they can wipe down and dry off, but do you really need to for 2 or 3 more songs that you're going to play?

I think it's funny that no matter how famous they are, their egos are just as fragile as when they were little kids learning how to play and they need the affirmation even if they've been playing for 20+ years on stage.

I don't expect anyone to change this but I just find it puzzling on why some people go batsh*t cheering on their faves *hoping* they are going to come out when, if they are true fans, they know the "key songs" that haven't been played during the night.

I've stopped any/all wild, celebratory demonstration of emotion since the thousands around me will continue and cover me.  I guess my few years working in the music business (1990-1992) have just jaded me and it's only JUST catching up with me 18 years later.

Maybe the next time I'm presenting to a client, when I have 2 slides left, I'll say "thanks, goodnight, wave and blow kisses" and walk out of the room only to come back and finish with a bang.  yeah, no.

signed,
bitter old rocker outside of Chicago