The Dixie Chicks

[BarTopDancer]

Alex made a typo. Alex made a typo.

Oh wait, maybe I shouldn't taunt Alex. He'll probably make MA a lot harder next time.

Oh well. Alex made a typo. Alex made a typo.

[Prudence]

I think it's safe to say that I will anger political parties, pundits, and performers world-wide when I note that I like to put peanut butter on both hot dogs and hamburgers. Yum!

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Prudence

I think it's safe to say that I will anger political parties, pundits, and performers world-wide when I note that I like to put peanut butter on both hot dogs and hamburgers. Yum!

I'm glad I already ate.

[Stan4dSteph]

Wooo! NY! I know Spitzer's running. His ads are already on. But what does that have to do with the Dixie Chicks?

Shouldn't this discussion be more about whether or not celebs should use their status for politics and/or charity? There was a very interesting analysis of this in a recent Premiere magazine.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph

Shouldn't this discussion be more about whether or not celebs should use their status for politics and/or charity? There was a very interesting analysis of this in a recent Premiere magazine.

Are you suggesting the content of the discussion should relate to the title of the thread? that's crazy talk

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph

Shouldn't this discussion be more about whether or not celebs should use their status for politics and/or charity?

Ah....yes, I suppose.

A lot of this comes from a perspective of assumptions I have based on the public persona of the celebrity in question. Do they walk the walk they talk about or is it an Animal Farm case of all are created equal but some are more equal than others? When Al Gore stops flying on private jumbo jets half way across the world to give a 2 hour speech, perhaps I'll start listening to him regarding the evils of burning fossil fuels. I think a satillite link would work quite well.

A couple of examples - Martin Sheen spent a night on a sewer grate so he would know what it was like to be homeless. HAH! Big flippin' deal. He knows he has his multi million dollar mansion (presumably...at least a very nice home) to go to in the morning. The homeless don't have that, so he knows squat and it was a ridiculous publicuty stunt. Bono, on the other hand, takes his charitable work with Africa very, very seriously and while I have no idea what he gives to his own causes, I would suspect (and S4Steph can pobably fill in the details) it is quite extensive.

So....I suppose I make a lot of assumptions based on what I'm seeing and/or reading. But I don't know how else to be, really. If a celebrity is going to use their public status to voice opinions or concerns, I need to see that they take such things seriously in their own lives before I can begin to take them seriously.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

If a celebrity is going to use their public status to voice opinions or concerns, I need to see that they take such things seriously in their own lives before I can begin to take them seriously.

The Democrats carry an unfair burden in this regard. The Republicans can trot out any number of violent, drunk/addicted and multiply divorced country stars, actors and talk show hosts at their events to demonstrate that they are the party that represent the people and traditional values. Why? Because a form of hypocrisy is at the heart of the lives of the Christian base: the need to embrace the moral life with the convenient understanding that we all fall perilously short.

W taps into that with his past drinking and drug problems. Clinton, who was a genuinely religious man while also being a complete dog, tapped into it as well, as did Reagan who preached family values while being completely uncomfortable walking the walk in his own life. By contrast, Gore and Bush, Sr., who seemed to live easy, committed lives, alienated a lot of people. (After Gore lost, there were all these pictures of him dancing, partying and sweating after he conceded. Everybody said, "Where was that guy?")

Because the Democratic party's celebrities and base have not mastered the theme of "doing the best you can" while clearly doing the opposite, they take a lot of heat.

[Nephythys]

Dixie Chicks Cancel Concerts due to slow ticket sales

Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks'"Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates.

Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site.

Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.

The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest.

[Gemini Cricket]

From the same article:

Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.

So, they're not dropping the number of shows. They just have more Canadian venues now.

[scaeagles]

This goes with my theory that they'll be adding more dates in areas that are more anti Bush and dropping dates in areas that are not. It's all about ticket sales. There's talk here in Phoenix that they'll end up dropping that show all together because ticket sales aren't just slow, they are practically non existant.