Buffett wasted on Boston (Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude?)

Boston Herald ^ | March 24, 2004

[presidio9]

Oh no, the Parrotheads are coming. The Parrotheads are coming.

Lock your doors. Put bars on the windows. Call the cops!

Why is it that Boston, which has delusions about being a world-class city, every now and then behaves like East Podunk? Latest case in point: two proposed Jimmy Buffett concerts at Fenway Park.

Now it's no great secret that for Buffett fans - Parrothead Nation - the concert itself is only half the fun. The real event simply must include a little tailgating in the Margaritaville spirit. (How else to properly show off those wild and crazy Hawaiian shirts?)

So when the Fenway concert idea was first proposed, Mayor Tom Menino got into the spirit of things and proposed a Parrothead Village. That could mean closing off some streets around Fenway, possibly including a nearby parking lot so fans could park their RV's and set out the grills and the coolers. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Ah, but the mayor apparently didn't reckon with the Fenway community, Councilor Michael Ross, who represents the Fenway, and Patricia Malone, commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing.

Ross insists that not only should there be no tailgating - no time, no way, no how - but that concert goers must be reminded of same with a warning right there on their tickets.

Malone insists, ``There is not going to be tailgating per se on the streets of Boston around Fenway Park.'' And she has told Red Sox officials that no tickets can go on sale until all those details are worked out.

Sox officials, not surprisingly, would like a ``controlled'' Parrothead zone (no RV's, etc.) where, of course, they could make some extra bucks selling those margaritas.

All of this ought to leave Parrotheads fightin' mad. Maybe it's time Buffett just picked up his guitar and moved this show down the road - back to the Tweeter Center where life was good, no one got hassled and the idea of ``wastin' away again in Margaritaville'' - if only for a couple of hours - didn't send officials into a panic.

[dead]

Is there anything about Boston that isn't annoying?

[jimbo123]

Talk about annoying, Buffett is a hypocritical Clintonoid.

[New Perspective]

I went to his labor day show a couple of years ago at the Tweeter center. I was never really a big fan, until I went. It was a 2 day event, with a giant tailgate party the day of the concert. I have never had so much fun with no many people I didn't know. I did not see 1 problem, and everyone acted as if you were their best friend. It was simply a quality atmosphere, drinking in moderation, people cleaning up after themselves, and a wonderful night of quality music.

[billorites]

"Is there anything about Boston that isn't annoying?"

I found leaving Boston to be quite gratifying.

[theDentist]

Is there anything about Boston that isn't annoying?

Yes. There's... ummmm...........

no, guess not.

[presidio9]

Is there anything about Boston that isn't annoying?

The Red Sawx losing a playoff series in dramatic fashion and the crushing heartbreak visible on the faces of their formerly delusional and obnoxious fans. That never gets old. I wish it was October right now.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Originally I thought this was about Warren Buffet and was gonna make a different comment.

I have nothing against the Parrot heads. They wanna get drunk and enjoy an hour or two of light island rock, more power to them. As long as Jimmy "shuts up and sings" it should be loads of fun.

[eddie willers]

Bwahahahaha

[ecurbh]

Ping

[HostileTerritory]

says the guy with the New Jersey flag on his homepage!

Boston has its annoyances, but I left NJ for Massachusetts 10 years ago and have never regretted it for a minute. (at least not between June and November.)

[HairOfTheDog]

Why don't we.... ;~D

[HostileTerritory]

Jimmy Buffett is a Clintonoid?

[FourtySeven]

I've hated Jimmy Buffet ever since I got stuck on I-70 driving away from Columbus towards the PA turnpike to go home for spring break one year when I was at college. The traffic was backed up for MILES, with stupid "parrot heads" walking in-between the cars selling rediculously overpriced t-shirts.

By the time I moved past the exit that apparently everyone in the world but me was getting off (two HOURS later, with the bulk of my 7 hour drive STILl in front of me), I could've shot Mother Theresa herself if she was wearing a Parrothead t-shirt!

I'll never understand what people see in a guy that sang about cheeseburgers.

[TheBigB]

Buffett is a raging liberal.

[Repugnant Reptile]

Just move it to Foxboro. Everyone would be happy except the Red Sox owners.

[presidio9]

I left NJ for Massachusetts 10 years ago and have never regretted it for a minute

I imagine that there have been people who left Swampland for Hati and looked on the bright side.

[HairOfTheDog]

I guess he isn't as effective as a raging liberal as he is a terrific lyricist then. I love all his music, have for years, and remain unaware of any political leanings he has.

But then.... I don't obsess about politics ~all~ the time.

[Sam Cree]

"Buffett is a raging liberal."

In his autobiography, "A pirate looks at 50," which could more appropriately be titled "Jimmy Buffet Goes on Vacation With His Family," Jimmy talks about how, even at 50, he still distrusts "authority."

Yet, as a "liberal," he believes in leftist philosophy, the philosophy which requires the ulitmate authority, an authority that allows a totalitarianism in which the state interferes in even the smallest aspects of one's life.

Takes alot of brains, Jimmy. Same to you, Willie (Nelson). These guys don't see real clearly.

Still, I have heard from folks who should know, that Buffet is a nice person, and I like his music pretty well. Willie's too.

[Vision]

Why is it that Boston, which has delusions about being a world-class city, every now and then behaves like East Podunk? Latest case in point: two proposed Jimmy Buffett concerts at Fenway Park.

This is an unhappy person

[Sam Cree]

Yeah, I continue to enjoy my Buffet CD's, in spite of my previous post.

It would be tough to hate Buffet and enjoy the Keys, since most every bar there has some guy playing whose repertoire includes "Margaritavile," etc.

[TheBigB]

"Some people claim there's a woman to blame, but I know it's all Newt and Bob Dole's fault."
--Jimmy Buffett, at a fund-raiser for Bill Clinton, modifying the words to his song "Margaritaville," Newsweek, October 2, 1995.

[presidio9]

Takes alot of brains, Jimmy. Same to you, Willie (Nelson). These guys don't see real clearly.

Chances are good that the cause is not glaucoma...

[HairOfTheDog]

I think he is just a guy, with a mish-mash of experiences and opinions, some of which make sense, and some of which don't, same as all of us. He is a good songwriter and entertainer who sings songs that are the perfect background to a good time. I don't complicate my life more than I have to by tracking the politics of people who are not running for office, it is enough trouble to keep track of the politics of those that are.

[olde north church]

Yeah, Boston is better than NJ.
The Dems win in NJ because of electoral fraud, not because most of the people really vote that way. Mass on the other hand --->

[Fierce Allegiance]

I am briunging my daquari whacker -gas powered blender

[Fierce Allegiance]

do you have the capacity at your company to make one of these? see my post #26

[jordan8]

Isn't Parrothead Nation pretty much in bed by 10 p.m. these days?

[presidio9]

[HairOfTheDog]

Good points in that book, presidio. Most really popular entertainers should do just that.

More people like them when they do, which should be the goal of any entertainer.

[TruBluKentuckian]

I agree 110%.

If we applied our political beliefs to everything in life, there's much we'd miss out on. My favorite author is John Steinbeck, and we all know he wasn't a very conservative person. If I refused to read him because of that, I would have missed out on the incredible pleasure of The Grapes of Wrath, Travels With Charlie or East of Eden.

I feel the same way about Jimmy Buffett. His music has given me so much pleasure over the years that as long as he keeps his politics generally out of it, I don't care.

[HairOfTheDog]

~That~ is really cool.

[Sam Cree]

I thought his book was kind of silly (Pirate Looks at 50), but I ended up feeling like I liked him after reading it.

'Course his songs make me feel the same way.

[TruBluKentuckian]

"I thought his book was kind of silly (Pirate Looks at 50), but I ended up feeling like I liked him after reading it.

'Course his songs make me feel the same way."

I think that's kind of the point of Jimmy Buffett. He reminds us that maybe we take a few things too seriously. Sometimes we have to stop and smell the margaritas.

[Fierce Allegiance]

They may be cool but way overpriced. Definite attention getter at tailgate parties, so i am told.

http://www.gasblender.com/

[TheBigB]

Hey, I like Buffett's music. Back in College, in my Freshman year, one of the guys whom I hung with on my floor died in a car wreck. We went down to Yazoo City, MS for his funeral. Driving back, we played Songs You Know By Heart over and over the whole way.

Still, I can't help but get PO'd when they overtly insult MY beliefs and the politicians I support. Buffett played many concerts in support of Buddy MacKay for Gov. of FL back in '98. He said about Jeb Bush, "If his last name was Smith, he'd be working in True Value Hardware." Now, how am I supposed to just say, "Oh, it doesn't matter" like that? Can't do it.

[presidio9]

I confess to loving the music of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

[HairOfTheDog]

Right. It's an attitude and I don't think he takes himself too seriously, which is never good. He'd be fun at a party. Dad wondered if maybe he would play at my wedding (to heck with our budget!) I know his discs are guaranteed to play at it!

I didn't read that book of his, but I read his novel Joe Merchant some years ago.... He tied in his experiences as a float plane pilot in that one.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, as long as we are confessing.... I love the Beatles and John Lennon, even the hippy stuff. ;~D

[Charles Martel]

Yet, as a "liberal," he believes in leftist philosophy, the philosophy which requires the ulitmate authority, an authority that allows a totalitarianism in which the state interferes in even the smallest aspects of one's life.

As you said, the boy doesn't see clearly. There may yet be hope for him, though... he's a hunter. Ted Nugent needs to invite Jimmy on a real hunt somewhere - Jimmy can leave his 28-gauge quail gun at home.

Overall, Buffett is a poster-boy for the old saying: "Too Soon Old, Too Late Wise." Wise up, Jimmy.

[presidio9]

Me to. What's more, I watched "Bull Durham" the other night, and I still think it's a good movie.

However, I no longer listen to the Dixie Chicks...

[HairOfTheDog]

I no longer listen to the Dixie Chicks...

Well, we have to draw the line somewhere, or we'd have no principles at all! ;~D

[presidio9]

Well, we have to draw the line somewhere, or we'd have no principles at all! ;~D

Right. And then after I stopped listening to them, they went and bashed President Bush before we invaded Iraq...

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I didn't like them before, so they are easy to give up.

[Middle Man]

"Same to you, Willie (Nelson)."

I would've thought Willie would be a true conservative after the IRS stole $16 million from him. Too many tequila shots.

[presidio9]

Exactly. I also gave up Brussels Sprouts for Lent...

[dead]

I've been to about 2 dozen Buffett shows over the last twenty years.

I don't remember much, but I must have a good time, because I keep going back.

[Sam Cree]

Buffet likes to fish too.
Those things show a good side of him, I think.

Although I think upland bird hunting is the more effete side of the sport, if that's what he does ;-)

I like upland pretty well, actually, have spent some happy times at it.

Yeah, when I heard that he played at the Clintons' inaugeration, it took me a few months to get over it and talk myself back into liking the guy.

Your poster boy comment is pretty apt.

[CommandoFrank]

The best part of Boston is the road out...

[dead]

The Red Sawx losing a playoff series in dramatic fashion and the crushing heartbreak visible on the faces of their formerly delusional and obnoxious fans. That never gets old. I wish it was October right now.

As a NY Mets fan, I can honestly say that that is the only joy the Yankees ever give me.

The Mets had their shining glorious moment doing that to the Sox, but the Yankees get the crown for their relentlessness in that important mission.