Tag: free

A Musical Tale of Stones, Tubes, & More Stones

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

It’s not often that you can see a classic band from the 60s or 70s with more than one original member. A notable exception are The Rolling Stones with original members Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Charlie Watts lasting from 1963 through 2021 until Charlie passed away. Add Ronnie Wood in 1975 until now, and that’s a group with history, legacy, legitimacy, and longevity.

So, it was with some excitement that I saw The Tubes from the mid-70s coming to my little hometown theater advertised with 3 original members including wacky frontman Fee Waybill, known for his many wild costume changes during a concert. That’s how their extended tour that appears to have started in 2022 was touted. Sadly, along the way, one of the three original members passed away. Down to 2, but quite a duo, Fee Waybill and Roger Steen, writer of their cheeky song “White Punks on Dope.”

I was all in to see The Tubes. Please note that I didn’t say I bought a ticket. Not many others did either. I was convinced the theater had done a ticket giveaway as they sometimes do to at least get sales of their concessions, and that I had missed the email for the free tix. I went to the box office and mentioned that I heard (from me talking to myself) that they were giving away free tickets to fill seats. Uh, no. But as long as I was there, they gave me a free ticket. I was encouraged to sit anywhere I wanted. Open seats were plentiful.

I arrived just in time to hear “Sushi Girl,” a very 80ish tune and favorite of mine. That was kind of the highlight of the show. For me, it was downhill from there. I don’t want to disparage Fee, Roger, and the other new Tubes band members. They are still out on the road touring and living the rock & roll dream. Good for them. But Fee as the frontman is 73, looks 83, and moves around like he’s 93. It was hard to watch at times. At least he brought his “nurse” to assist him with his costume changes.

Can someone please help The Tubes change the digital graphic projected onto the screen to reflect a 2023 tour rather than 2022. Aren’t digital graphics free?

And about those costumes? At the end of “Wild Women of Wongo,” Fee had stripped down to this.

Continue reading “A Musical Tale of Stones, Tubes, & More Stones” →

Born To Shun

~ Jim Flanigan

While the rest of Chicagoland was attending Bruce Springsteen concerts at historic Wrigley Field on Wednesday and Friday nights, I was busy checking for loose change between our couch cushions. My summer concert budget has dropped to zero after some home repairs/improvements. Rather than spending my youngest daughter’s college fund for tickets, parking, concessions, and a Bruuuuuuuce t-shirt, I passed on making the always challenging journey to Wrigley. Just kidding. We don’t have a college fund for our daughter. By the way, it’s cool having a ballpark right in the middle of Chicago, but that makes for some transporation challenges unless one lives near a CTA train stop. We live at least 30 miles away from the closest.

It turns out that I could have saved on tickets by just sitting outside of Wrigley.

But it’s not like I didn’t see a concert. There was no challenging drive, train ride, bus transfer, etc. to see this show. I hopped on my bike to catch this group in our town’s downtown park.

Continue reading “Born To Shun” →

A Delicious Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan

We have a couple of local pizza spots we prefer. One of those spots gave me bad service two pick-ups in a row. My kids would say I overreacted, which is why they will never come with me to get the pizzas. Yes, they did taste just fine, but we can all agree that they were not as ordered when I picked them up. Of course, I complained. I complain about things that are just fine, so I was not going to miss the opportunity to gripe about something that wasn’t correct. The pizza joint told me they would send me a coupon for a free pizza. Great! I am easily placated by shiny or tasty things.

A week goes by. No coupon. Another week. No coupon. Never one to miss an opportunity to complain, I did. The pizza pushers had no explanation. They promised to resend the coupon. Fine. I was resigned to never receiving a coupon. But then it showed up. It was dated a couple weeks prior. Was the delay in receipt perhaps the postal service’s fault? They never make mistakes, right?

And then the second coupon arrived a couple days later.

We used one coupon for a free pizza, and they got the order correct. I decided that the right thing to do was to return the second coupon. And so I did. I returned to the pizza place and handed the kid behind the counter the second coupon … when I picked-up our second FREE pizza. Am I a bad guy?

Editor’s Note: Look, I’m never one to defend Jim. He’s a jerk, but he did purchase something else along with each free pizza. Anytime he opens his wallet to pay for anything, it is an event worth noting.

Want a FREE Apple Watch?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

Of course, I won’t be the one giving you a totally FREE Apple Watch. Come on, I’m already offering you an almost free (under a buck!) award-winning book of short stories. But I can point you in the right direction to get a FREE Apple Watch. I have to admit, I was skeptical. But I registered, and this arrived by FedEx.

Continue reading “Want a FREE Apple Watch?” →

FREE Book!

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

I had planned to shamelessly and incessantly plug my book of humorous and contemplative short stories about the afterlife from the beginning of the year until now. However, I got derailed with this local election race which I surprisingly won. To get back on the promotional track, I’ve decided to make my book available to you, the loyal followers of this blog, for FREE through Monday. Just link to www.bit.ly/beyondtales to download my book for FREE for your reading enjoyment on your Kindle or Kindle app.

There really are no strings attached. Just download. I hope you enjoy it, and I would be most appreciative if you leave a rating or review on Amazon. Read on!