Random things

Here I go again, turning my inner thoughts into blog posts . . .

• Watching TV last night, I learned that Monopoly now has a 'faster' version that uses a little debit card instead of the usual paper money. Does that strike anyone as just . . . wrong? It seems wrong to me. Paper money is an important part of Monopoly! It's not the same experience if you use a fake debit card. Also, are we raising a generation that doesn't use actual, physical money? "Mommy, what's a quarter?" Children need to be taught that money is more than just numbers on a screen. And the most offensive thing about the new Monopoly - the fake paper money could be used for so many other fake monetary needs! When I was growing up, if you needed to use some fake money, you went to the Monopoly box. Kids today are going to lose that experience.

• I'm not hip with the Hannah Montana phenomenon, but I was pretty surprised and upset at what I read about her current tour in this article from VH1. Tickets for her show are selling out within minutes. Thousands of parents are logging on at the same time for a small number of tickets, and they aren't getting them because scalpers are using software to purchase large numbers of tickets themselves which they resell for many times the original value. First, why mess around with online ticketing at all? It just makes things worse for people who actually want to see the show. I think people should have to go somewhere, stand in line, and get first-come-first-served, the way things used to be. Today's online free-for-all seems very unfair to me. Second, why do the record companies and fan clubs need to keep so many tickets for themselves? Musicians aren't going to make any new fans, or keep the fans they already have, if their shows are full of industry people, friends and family, and fan club members. Shouldn't concerts be held for the general public? Shouldn't the average fan get a chance to see their favorite star?