U2 … Me Too?

24 Mar

Thanks to my new job, I’m getting to be quite knowledgeable about email marketing and how to do it well. Today I thought I’d call attention to a way to do it poorly.

Yesterday I got an email from the Patriots that said because I was a season ticket holder, I was “on the list” and would be able to buy tickets for U2’s September 20 show at Gillette Stadium early, before the general public has at ’em next week. I was told I’d be receiving an email today and that I’d have to act quickly because “the best seats will be gone before [I] know it.” That certainly caught my eye. After all, I am a U2 fan and I love their new album.

But here’s where the sender screwed up: For one thing, I’m not a Patriots season ticket holder. In fact, I’ve never even been to a Patriots game. Sure, I’ve been to concerts at Gillette Stadium before, and I’ve seen U2 before, but nope. Never a Pats game. Whoever was segmenting the mailing list or deciding who to mail to just didn’t synch up the data correctly.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the sender didn’t deliver on its promise. As I write this, it’s now about 28 hours after I received the preview email, and while pre-sale tickets are now on sale, I haven’t been told how I can get mine. That’s crazy, and if you ask me, it’s stupid too. Perhaps the Patriots figured out I wasn’t really a season ticket holder and thus, I’m not eligible to participate in the pre-sale. Well, that’s not my fault. They still told me I’d been selected to participate, so I expect to have my chance. (And if that is the case, and they figured out their mistake, then they should have emailed to apologize and try to correct their mistake.) And sure, the day’s not over yet. But it’s now 7 p.m. and I’m thinking the marketing folks have gone home, so there won’t be any follow-up email.

I hope I’m jumping the gun here, and that I will get my pre-sale info, because I sure would like to see this show and I sure would like to have the opportunity I was promised. If I have to compete with the rest of the fans on Monday, that’s just going to be annoying.

Update, 8:45 p.m.: So of course it happened this way. At 8:28 the email arrived, and when I logged into Ticketmaster less than five minutes later to buy tickets for me and two friends, all the available ones that didn’t cost $242.50 were gone. Of course. But at least we had our chance … sort of. So I guess this post was a jinx or something. And now we’ll just try again on Monday at 10 a.m.

Sweet, Sweet Hanging

23 Mar

In I Love You, Man, Paul Rudd plays Peter, that probably all-too-common guy who is so whipped that all his friends are his girlfriend’s girl friends and he has no guy friends to call his own. So when he proposes and needs to fill out his wedding party, Peter is at a loss. His family tries to set him up on “man dates,” but those all go predictably awry. Then one day, Peter meets Sydney (Jason Segel), and his life becomes more complete. These two hit it off instantly, and proceed to bond over fish tacos and a love for the band Rush.

Led by the thoroughly likable performances of Rudd and Segel — who are joined by a supporting cast that includes Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, some of the Best Week Ever players, and the Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno — I Love You, Man is, to borrow Sydney’s term, delightful. Though heightened for comic effect, Peter’s predicament rings true, and the two guys’ chemistry just feels very real. To put it most simply, I Love You, Man is totally sweet, easy, fun, winning, and it just works. This is a movie that will charm audiences for a long time. I’m giving I Love You, Man a B+.

Who’s Gaming Who?

22 Mar

All is not what it seems in Duplicity, writer/director Tony Gilroy’s followup to the Oscar-nominated Michael Clayton.

Set in the world of corporate espionage, Duplicity follows Ray and Claire (Clive Owen and Julia Roberts), former MI-6 and CIA agents who team up to pull off a scam involving two competing drug companies.

But who can be trusted when there’s so much at stake?

Are Ray and Claire really on the same page or are they looking out for themselves, and will the plan really come together without anyone finding out? Continue reading →

Zzzzzzzz … Hopefully

20 Mar

Apparently, today is World Sleep Day, and since I have nothing but love for sleep, I thought I’d mention it here.

I am excited and prepared to celebrate the holiday by going to bed at a decent hour tonight so I can get more hours of shut-eye than I have been getting the past few days. (Whose fault is that? My own.)

According to the official site for the holiday, the theme for this year’s World Sleep Day is “transportation,” and I look forward to being transported to a dream world where everything is wonderful and peaceful and fun, so I can wake up in the morning fully rested and ready to enjoy the weekend.

Zzzzzzzzzz…

There’s More to This Story

20 Mar

So that explains it. A year ago, I noticed some strange graffiti on a wall near the Star Market in Allston. My post was picked up on Universalhub.com and Boston.com, and all kinds of people came to this site to see what all the fuss was about. Well, 12 months later, I’ve found out in the Improper Bostonian of all places that the supposed film criticism was not that at all, but a reference to a Demetri Martin joke. Well, I guess that explains it. And don’t I feel silly now.

A Bit of a Mess

20 Mar

Sometimes a movie is pleasant and all, but it just feels pointless. So it is with Sunshine Cleaning. The story of Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams), a young woman who starts her own crime-scene cleanup business with the help of her slacker sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), Cleaning was one of the finds at the Sundance Film Festival more than a year ago. The film was produced by the same folks who produced Little Miss Sunshine, and like that film, Cleaning also stars Alan Arkin as a cantankerous old man who has a good relationship with his grandchild. But a similar name and costar are really all these two movies have in common, and that’s probably why it took so long for the film to actually hit theaters. Cleaning has very little of the charm and emotion that Little Miss had, despite having Amy Adams in the lead. There’s a pretty creepy subplot involving Norah and the daughter of a deceased woman, and Rose just, well, I never really felt like I wanted to root for her. The movie’s not a total mess or anything, but it’s definitely not as quirky as it thinks it is. I expect the fate of Sunshine Cleaning will be much like the scenes Rose and Norah clean up, with nary a trace of it left in just a couple hours. I’m giving the movie a C+.

Enough!

19 Mar

It’s not quite Stephen Colbert with a pitchfork, but here’s Keith Olbermann’s special comment about AIG, Citigroup, and all the other Wall Street scandals.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29783656#29783656.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Marty’s Moves On

19 Mar

So the Allston location of Marty’s Liquors is closing this weekend. Don’t worry, I’m not going to wax nostalgic about the closing of a liquor store. I have no memorable stories about the time I bought a six-pack or a keg or anything there, or of a great wine discovery. But Marty’s does hold a sort of special place in my heart, I guess, because when I first moved to Boston 12 years ago, I thought it was cool that a store right down the street was named Marty’s. (Yeah, I’m that much of a dork.) And yes, I made a few purchases there over the years, but whatever … my alcohol tastes were never of the Allston variety. Besides, I learned pretty quickly to stay as far away from the corner of Harvard Ave. and Comm. Ave. as possible.

But anyway, even though I shed no tear over the closing of Marty’s Liquors, I will come to its defense in one way: The reason this store is closing is because it couldn’t come to terms over a rent increase by its landlord, the Hamilton Company. Sound familiar? That’s because Hamilton was my old nemesis when I lived at 110 Babcock. I have nothing but sympathy for Marty’s if they’re being pushed out because of those greedy bastards, who raised my rent $200 when they bought the building and then never did anything to improve the quality of life there. Hamilton is the reason I bought a condo when I did (though it must be said, the whole condo-buying thing worked out pretty well for me). This situation kind of makes me want to go buy a bottle of wine at Marty’s just for old times sake. At the very least, I’ll raise a glass in its honor.

"Why can’t my hair last?"

19 Mar

George Clooney is vlogging — that’s video blogging for those not hip to interweb lingo — and despite the fact that he’s doing it to raise awareness of the situation in Chad, the quick dispatches are actually kinda funny, including this one here, where George laments how his hairdo, expensive as it is, should have survived the trip to Chad. Enjoy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29666704#29666704.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Happy Time

19 Mar

A funny thing happens when you’re happy … You have less to blog about, and less incentive to blog because you’d rather be living your life offline.

At least that’s how it has been for me lately.

And I know my “life is good” attitude runs counter to the general mood of the public (it certainly runs counter to that of many people I know), so I’ve also made a conscious attempt not to make too big a deal about it for fear I’d appear to be rubbing it in.

But I am happy these days, more so than I’ve been in a very long time.

And I just wanted to say that because, well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →