What's in a Name? MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.

Let's forget for a moment that I'm probably the last one to the party. Let's ignore that perhaps this change took place two years ago, and I just wasn't paying attention (mostly because I can't afford to actually go to anything). Let's focus instead on a few months ago... when I was listening to the radio and heard them say "Coming to the Comcast Center this summer--" and I thought, "Where's THAT?"

Seriously--"The Comcast Center." Is that really supposed to be enough for me to go on? I doubt there's only one.

A little drive up the highway revealed to me recently that the Comcast Center is what USED to be the Tweeter Center. Good God. How does one keep UP? If every time a new corporation buys up the same place they CHANGE the NAME, how is anyone ever supposed to know where the hell they are going? I mean, had they said on the radio, "Coming to the Comcast Center--formerly the Tweeter Center," I'd have been with them. Though still totally aggravated.

Here's my real beef--aside from the fact that I can't actually tell what venue is what anymore: WHY is it necessary to slather your name all over everything? WHY? Do you really need the credit so badly? Have we gone so far with branding and whatever other baloney factors in, that we have to RENAME everything with our corporation name? "Check it out--we bought this. See our name?"

I get that these corporations spend huge amounts of money to acquire these venues. Well, big deal. They HAVE huge amounts of money--they are gonna buy things. I get that the reason they have huge amounts of money is because people recognize them above and beyond "the other guys." But actually I dare say they have huge amounts of money for providing some kind of service that doesn't suck more than the other guys--and THAT'S why anyone cares what their name is to begin with.

Would it not be enough to have banners emblazoned with their name and logo all over the arena or stage? Would it not be enough to have every paper cup and napkin printed with their name and logo? Really? Would that not be enough?

MARK MY WORDS: if I'm ever rich enough (I mean frighteningly, Bill Gates rich), I am buying all the local venues. And I'm giving them all their names back. Great Woods, Harborlights, hell--even the Garden (though the current corporate owners kind of found a way to sneak that back in). I'm giving them back their dignity. And the Worcester Centrum. Because calling it the Worcester Centrum CENTER is redundant--hello? I'm giving them a name that has nothing whatsoever to do with the person paying the rent, and instead to do with what that place embodies in essence. I miss those names. I miss what they represented. Mostly I miss knowing EXACTLY where the show was when it was announced on the radio, instead of having to Google it.

And when I buy up all the venues, and give 'em their rightful names back, I just may put the cover art of my latest CD on all the napkins. But that will be more than enough.

Should I Take it "Personal"-ly?

For those who don't know, I have a profile on Yahoo Personals. It's been up there for a while, just the free one, waiting for someone interesting to come along that will make me think it's worth the $25 a month to e-mail them back or whatever. Hasn't happened in a while, which is just as well because I couldn't really spare the $25 at this point.

But can I just tell you that like EVERY DAY I get e-mail alerts telling me that someone has viewed my profile? EVERY DAY. Often multiple times a day. "Kim, 1 person has viewed your profile!" "Kim, 3 new people have viewed your profile!" And that's it. They viewed, and MOVED ALONG QUIETLY. It's not like these profile-view announcements are followed up by "Kim, you have three new messages!" Nope. They looked... and they passed.

Why do I need to know this? Why on EARTH would I want to know how many people took the time to check out my profile and then went, "Nah..."?

Now, I'm sure there's some setting that will enable me to stop receiving these updates, but then I wouldn't have had anything to blog about, would I?

No, seriously. I'm gonna look into that and totally change it.

You know, it's depressing enough not to get any good hits when I get hit. The last thing I need to know is how many people aren't even bothering.

Of course, I would honestly rather they not bother than be THIS guy:

"Hi , My name is Sketchy Loser (name changed),

I am currently married but looking foward. I have 2 daughters and I do not want to hurt them .I know when people get divorced it doesnt help the children at all. So I guess you could say I am married and looking.

I know this is not what you are looking for but i was attracted to you and thought I would say hi anyway.

I like to cook, like rock to country, non smoker, greast sense of humor, love to kiss and cuddle.

I hope to hear back from you , Sketchy Loser"

Okay, let's forget for a moment that his spelling and grammar are atrocious, and right there I am pretty much turned off. Yes, I admit it; I want an intelligent man, capable of capitalization and proofreading. WHAT about my profile (and I'll tell you right now the answer is "nothing") would lead this ass-hat to believe that I want to date a MARRIED GUY? I mean, he puts it right in the second paragraph: "I know this it not what you are looking for..." But I'm a player and figure I'll take a shot and see if I can get some action. You're a big girl--you might be desperate...

*Shudder!*

Meanwhile, I love how Yahoo is always like, "Not getting enough profile hits? Maybe it's time to change up your profile! Change your picture! Blah, blah, blah!" I mean, seriously? Changing my picture is going to suddenly get me more action? I don't see it. I mean, sure, if the picture was bad or something. It's a great picture. I like my profile. It says the things that are true about me, with humor, and gets across what I want to say. If I can't find a match based on reality, then do I really want a match? Not so much. But it makes it all sound a little suspect. Like Yahoo somehow pushes you back into the top of the search engine based on how recently you've updated things instead of based on your actual criteria fitting with the criteria of another person.

Anyway...