tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post7485899095207316891..comments2024-01-07T06:59:04.212-05:00Comments on The Playgoer: Friday RoundupPlaygoerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-61703853555297202892009-12-14T12:49:15.476-05:002009-12-14T12:49:15.476-05:00It sure has changed, that's for sure. It's...It sure has changed, that's for sure. It's always terrible when someone dies (actually what's been more common the past few years has been cars or cabs losing control and plowing into pedestrians, that's happened a lot more than shootings) and I agree ... it is a bubble. <br /><br />I honestly don't like going to Times Square anymore, even though it's a lot safer than it used to be ... too much like a theme park.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-76520297334979021122009-12-14T11:03:17.599-05:002009-12-14T11:03:17.599-05:00Thanks for the Scam 101, Joshua. I see your point...Thanks for the Scam 101, Joshua. I see your point. <br /><br />I also draw your attention to another photo from the Broadway Baby store that David Cote has posted of a bullet hole right in the bullseye of the Wicked book. Joke is, that's Cote's book!<br />(http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/12/bullets-over-broadway-times-square-shooting-hits-home/)<br /><br />I should say, of course, that despite my having some laughs at the expense of the "New" Times Square, something really disturbing happened here and a guy was killed. No matter how mean a scammer he might have been, there's probably a sad story behind that. And so far we're just taking the NYPD's word that the pursued man shot first before the cop did.<br /><br />To me the broader significance of the event is to remind us what a bubble the Broadway Theatre District has been living in ever since the gentrification of the 1990s. (A shooting in plain day is NOT so unusual in other cities around the world. ) At some point that has to have an effect on what's ON the stages themselves.Playgoerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-29281548359177129142009-12-14T10:04:06.685-05:002009-12-14T10:04:06.685-05:00It's really about intimidation, the CD scam .....It's really about intimidation, the CD scam ... they ask you your name, write in on a CD and tell you that you just bought it ... you got two big guys there looking like they're gonna give you a beating if you don't pay for the CD they just defaced at "your" request, according to them. <br /><br />Yeah, you can keep walking, say no ... you or I would probably just laugh and go, get the fuck outa here ... but bear in mind, they also pull this on people they believe can be intimidated ... tourists from Japan, Europe ... senior citizens, anyone they believe they can physically intimidate. And they say "they" bought the CD from them ... so it could feel legal to the mark.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.com