This is something I learned from listening to The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
To tell if someone is sincere in their apology, a true apology comes in 3 parts:
I'm sorry.
I'll never do it again.
What can I do to fix this?
Randy said most people will say the first, sometimes the second, but most people never say or do the third. It takes all three for an apology to be sincere.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Singin' The Manilow Blues Part 3
Rarely have I had a Part 3 to any of my posts, but I wanted to post this:
This came from Manilow UK (United Kingdom):
Hi everyone
Well, things certainly have gotten exciting around here!
On the one hand, I'm really sorry to have caused so much pandemonium by postponing and canceling a few shows.On the other hand, I'm very glad that these shows mean so much to you.
Frankly, I'm not exactly sure whether the upset is that I cancelled a few shows or the way I cancelled them.
It seems to me that as soon as my doctors scheduled my surgery, I posted the rescheduling information with enough time for everyone to make new plans. After all, it's only a few shows, I thought.
The doctors tell me that I need between four and six weeks to recuperate so canceling six Hilton shows didn't seem like such a big deal and since the San Diego/Sacramento shows hadn't really been on sale for too long, it didn't seem as if that would cause too many people a lot of trouble.
But I guess I was wrong. So sorry if I was wrong. I really wasn't going to announce my personal, private hip troubles again, but I guess I have to since the freaking out seems to be getting out of hand.
You know, my friends, we're only human. I know many of you think I'm not, but stuff happens to humans. Deaths in the family, sicknesses, technical problems, late arrivals, etc. We all do the best we possibly can all the time to never disappoint you. But stuff happens to us humans. And as hard as we try, we just can't always be perfect.
Out of all the complaints there were only two people who wrote, "I hope Barry's okay". Only two. That was an eye-opener.
You must believe that when things like this happen- cancellations, postponements, delays - there is always a legitimate and unmovable reason for them.
You all must know by now, that me, Garry, John, Marc, Vicki, Kirsten and everyone at Stiletto take your loyalty and friendship very, very seriously and with the utmost responsibility.
If things like this happen, you have to know by now that we have looked at every way to fix problems and that there is absolutely nothing that we can do before we make decisions like this. We all know that it's going to cause people to be upset and it kills us to have to change things.
Causing you guys pain and upset is awful for all of us. We would never make these decisions if there were any other way out.
Once again, my sincere apology to anyone who has been affected by my personal problems.
I'll try to recover as fast as I can.
Barry
My prayers are with Barry, but I still have a few questions:
This was sent to the UK Fan Club, is this going to go out to the rest of the fan club?
The second question is: When is someone going to let San Diego and Sacramento know the shows have been postponed? They are still advertising and selling tickets for concerts that are not going to happen.
Third: How would anyone know something was medically wrong with him, given the hotline message sent to EVERYONE saying he was healthy and doing great?
Oh, and one more observation: For a long time Barry has read the message boards and pretended he knew nothing about them. I guess the cat is out of the bag now, he can no longer deny reading the message boards.
Again, my prayers are with Barry, I hope his surgery goes well.
Update: 11:52 am: Management has decided to post the message on the manilow.com
Update # 2: 8:44 pm: Somewhere around this time this message was removed from manilow.com
This came from Manilow UK (United Kingdom):
Hi everyone
Well, things certainly have gotten exciting around here!
On the one hand, I'm really sorry to have caused so much pandemonium by postponing and canceling a few shows.On the other hand, I'm very glad that these shows mean so much to you.
Frankly, I'm not exactly sure whether the upset is that I cancelled a few shows or the way I cancelled them.
It seems to me that as soon as my doctors scheduled my surgery, I posted the rescheduling information with enough time for everyone to make new plans. After all, it's only a few shows, I thought.
The doctors tell me that I need between four and six weeks to recuperate so canceling six Hilton shows didn't seem like such a big deal and since the San Diego/Sacramento shows hadn't really been on sale for too long, it didn't seem as if that would cause too many people a lot of trouble.
But I guess I was wrong. So sorry if I was wrong. I really wasn't going to announce my personal, private hip troubles again, but I guess I have to since the freaking out seems to be getting out of hand.
You know, my friends, we're only human. I know many of you think I'm not, but stuff happens to humans. Deaths in the family, sicknesses, technical problems, late arrivals, etc. We all do the best we possibly can all the time to never disappoint you. But stuff happens to us humans. And as hard as we try, we just can't always be perfect.
Out of all the complaints there were only two people who wrote, "I hope Barry's okay". Only two. That was an eye-opener.
You must believe that when things like this happen- cancellations, postponements, delays - there is always a legitimate and unmovable reason for them.
You all must know by now, that me, Garry, John, Marc, Vicki, Kirsten and everyone at Stiletto take your loyalty and friendship very, very seriously and with the utmost responsibility.
If things like this happen, you have to know by now that we have looked at every way to fix problems and that there is absolutely nothing that we can do before we make decisions like this. We all know that it's going to cause people to be upset and it kills us to have to change things.
Causing you guys pain and upset is awful for all of us. We would never make these decisions if there were any other way out.
Once again, my sincere apology to anyone who has been affected by my personal problems.
I'll try to recover as fast as I can.
Barry
My prayers are with Barry, but I still have a few questions:
This was sent to the UK Fan Club, is this going to go out to the rest of the fan club?
The second question is: When is someone going to let San Diego and Sacramento know the shows have been postponed? They are still advertising and selling tickets for concerts that are not going to happen.
Third: How would anyone know something was medically wrong with him, given the hotline message sent to EVERYONE saying he was healthy and doing great?
Oh, and one more observation: For a long time Barry has read the message boards and pretended he knew nothing about them. I guess the cat is out of the bag now, he can no longer deny reading the message boards.
Again, my prayers are with Barry, I hope his surgery goes well.
Update: 11:52 am: Management has decided to post the message on the manilow.com
Update # 2: 8:44 pm: Somewhere around this time this message was removed from manilow.com
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Singin' The Manilow Blues Part 2
Well, the fur is still flying in Manilowland.
Here is the text of the Hotline sent September 28th:
Hi everyone,
Boy oh boy, this is a very busy and productive time in Manilow-land! I thought I’d bring you all up to date on what I’m working on since there is so much happening.
Manilow TV is a very exciting project and it’s just about ready to go. The videos that I’m about to share with all of you were never meant to be shown publicly. They were meant for me to study and for archival purposes, but I thought that some of you would find them interesting and entertaining, so I’ve decided to share them with you. It’s taken a huge amount of technical work to put them online. Many people have worked long and hard to put this project together, but I’m so grateful to all of you for sticking with me for all these years, I decided to let them out. I sincerely hope you enjoy them and that they bring back great memories for all of you and surprises for those of you who never got to see those performances.
The Hollywood Bowl concert is fast approaching and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve never performed an evening there and it should be thrilling for all of us. We’ve got the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra backing us up. Hearing all of these gorgeous arrangements and orchestrations finally being played by a 50 member orchestra should be fantastic. I can’t wait. Hope you can make it.
Now about the next few CD releases.
My “Fifteen Minutes” CD isn’t ready to release yet. As I’ve told you, it’s more guitar driven and rock oriented than I’ve ever done Since I’m in uncharted waters, it’s taking me longer to create this one than I expected. I’m very proud of the 17 songs that Enoch Anderson and I have written. They’re emotional and edgy and they all tell a story. I think you’ll like it. However, it won’t be done until next summer.
In the meantime Clive Davis has asked that I record a CD called “Barry Manilow Sings The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time”. I know I said that I was done with recording cover albums, but getting to sing and arrange songs written by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Burt Bacharach was a very difficult thing to turn down. We’re nearly done with this CD and I must tell you it’s turning out to be one of the most beautiful albums I’ve ever made. It’s an honor to sing and arrange songs written by the greatest composers of all time. Releasing three albums of music in 18 months is amazing. Lots of work, but very satisfying
and creative.
Between all of albums, Manilow TV and a brand-new live show in Vegas, I hope you don’t get sick of me!
I’ve been getting comments about how thin I look these days. That’s me. Skinny guy. But I’m healthy and filled with energy and thank goodness, I still have my hair! So please don’t be concerned about me. As long as I have my music and all of you, I’m fine.
Thanks everyone for everything.
Love,
Barry
Here is the text of the email that was sent to a handful of people on September 29th:
With so many great projects underway…..we need to juggle some of the upcoming concert dates.
The San Diego and Sacramento concerts dates are going to move to the Spring. We’ll release the exact dates as soon as we have them.
And unfortunately…..we need to cancel two weekends in Las Vegas…..October 29-31 and November 12-14. Refunds for the two canceled weekends will be available at the source of your ticket purchase. Tickets purchased through the BMIFC will automatically be credited to your credit card.
We’re sorry we had to make these adjustments.
San Diego is still selling tickets to, and advertising, the concert. I don't know if Sacramento has gotten the word yet. Every day there are fans coming online who have just found out their shows are cancelled. Tales of people who bought tickets for themselves and their children, stories of people who were planning their anniversary or birthday celebrations with the concerts, some people saving for years just so they could see Barry. And still no official announcement on the cancelations.
Meanwhile Barry is in the studio recording the Greatest Love Songs cd. He started recording again on September 30th. I'm not sure if he's even aware of what is happening in the rest of Manilowland.
Here is the text of the Hotline sent September 28th:
Hi everyone,
Boy oh boy, this is a very busy and productive time in Manilow-land! I thought I’d bring you all up to date on what I’m working on since there is so much happening.
Manilow TV is a very exciting project and it’s just about ready to go. The videos that I’m about to share with all of you were never meant to be shown publicly. They were meant for me to study and for archival purposes, but I thought that some of you would find them interesting and entertaining, so I’ve decided to share them with you. It’s taken a huge amount of technical work to put them online. Many people have worked long and hard to put this project together, but I’m so grateful to all of you for sticking with me for all these years, I decided to let them out. I sincerely hope you enjoy them and that they bring back great memories for all of you and surprises for those of you who never got to see those performances.
The Hollywood Bowl concert is fast approaching and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve never performed an evening there and it should be thrilling for all of us. We’ve got the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra backing us up. Hearing all of these gorgeous arrangements and orchestrations finally being played by a 50 member orchestra should be fantastic. I can’t wait. Hope you can make it.
Now about the next few CD releases.
My “Fifteen Minutes” CD isn’t ready to release yet. As I’ve told you, it’s more guitar driven and rock oriented than I’ve ever done Since I’m in uncharted waters, it’s taking me longer to create this one than I expected. I’m very proud of the 17 songs that Enoch Anderson and I have written. They’re emotional and edgy and they all tell a story. I think you’ll like it. However, it won’t be done until next summer.
In the meantime Clive Davis has asked that I record a CD called “Barry Manilow Sings The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time”. I know I said that I was done with recording cover albums, but getting to sing and arrange songs written by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Burt Bacharach was a very difficult thing to turn down. We’re nearly done with this CD and I must tell you it’s turning out to be one of the most beautiful albums I’ve ever made. It’s an honor to sing and arrange songs written by the greatest composers of all time. Releasing three albums of music in 18 months is amazing. Lots of work, but very satisfying
and creative.
Between all of albums, Manilow TV and a brand-new live show in Vegas, I hope you don’t get sick of me!
I’ve been getting comments about how thin I look these days. That’s me. Skinny guy. But I’m healthy and filled with energy and thank goodness, I still have my hair! So please don’t be concerned about me. As long as I have my music and all of you, I’m fine.
Thanks everyone for everything.
Love,
Barry
Here is the text of the email that was sent to a handful of people on September 29th:
With so many great projects underway…..we need to juggle some of the upcoming concert dates.
The San Diego and Sacramento concerts dates are going to move to the Spring. We’ll release the exact dates as soon as we have them.
And unfortunately…..we need to cancel two weekends in Las Vegas…..October 29-31 and November 12-14. Refunds for the two canceled weekends will be available at the source of your ticket purchase. Tickets purchased through the BMIFC will automatically be credited to your credit card.
We’re sorry we had to make these adjustments.
San Diego is still selling tickets to, and advertising, the concert. I don't know if Sacramento has gotten the word yet. Every day there are fans coming online who have just found out their shows are cancelled. Tales of people who bought tickets for themselves and their children, stories of people who were planning their anniversary or birthday celebrations with the concerts, some people saving for years just so they could see Barry. And still no official announcement on the cancelations.
Meanwhile Barry is in the studio recording the Greatest Love Songs cd. He started recording again on September 30th. I'm not sure if he's even aware of what is happening in the rest of Manilowland.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Singin' The Manilow Blues
There are some really sad things going on in Manilowland.
To get the full crux of this story, you would need to start off by reading my friend Suzanne's blog, Manilow Musings.
Now, in full disclosure, I had a ticket for Barry's November 13th show that is no longer going to take place. I also had tickets for June concerts that were also cancelled. Thankfully I've not lost money on airline fees and hotel room cancellation fees (if they allow you to cancel at all), the only thing I got charged for was a cancellation fee by Ticketmaster in June. I wait until a few days before the shows to make my hotel and airline accommodations, that way I'm pretty certain that this concert is actually going to take place. Typically, when I made arrangements to see Barry in the past I've not had to do this, but these days it seems the cancellations are becoming more and more frequent.
Here are some comments and observations:
First off, Stiletto (Barry's Management) didn't make a formal announcement of the cancellation of the shows, so it took about 24 hours before the Hilton actually stopped selling ticket and room packages for Barry's shows. I don't know how many people were affected in those 24 hours, but it shows a complete lack of concern for Barry's paying public - fan or civilian - for Stiletto to allow that to happen to Barry's customers. Barry's concerts in California are still selling tickets - with the now cancelled dates on them, and even holding a drawing for a free trip to a show that isn't going to happen as scheduled. You see, these venues want to hear from Barry's management that these shows have been rescheduled.
All of this is snowballing because Stiletto refuses to put out an "official" message on the web site concerning these concert dates. They were hoping to bury this to keep the momentum going for Manilow.TV and Barry's concert at the Hollywood Bowl, which, by the way, they've put out another "Hotline" message for. Now that the concerts in the other So. Cal. areas have been postponed, you (and your money) should now be free for the Hollywood Bowl. At least that's the message Stiletto is sending whether it means to or not.
The other sad part is how this is affecting Barry's fans. As Suzanne talked about, even the diehard fans are crying foul over this. I already know of two people who have previously left the MMN message boards over the lack of civility between fan club members (and that's just the two latest fans, there are more who have left). I have a feeling there may be more to come given the amounts of money these people have spent and lost with this latest round of cancellations.
Even if they don't leave, they will be more hesitant to spend the money they did in the past.
Now there is the unconfirmed rumor that Barry is leaving the Hilton, which leads to speculation as to whether there will be more cancellations of the remaining shows for 2009.
To get the full crux of this story, you would need to start off by reading my friend Suzanne's blog, Manilow Musings.
Now, in full disclosure, I had a ticket for Barry's November 13th show that is no longer going to take place. I also had tickets for June concerts that were also cancelled. Thankfully I've not lost money on airline fees and hotel room cancellation fees (if they allow you to cancel at all), the only thing I got charged for was a cancellation fee by Ticketmaster in June. I wait until a few days before the shows to make my hotel and airline accommodations, that way I'm pretty certain that this concert is actually going to take place. Typically, when I made arrangements to see Barry in the past I've not had to do this, but these days it seems the cancellations are becoming more and more frequent.
Here are some comments and observations:
First off, Stiletto (Barry's Management) didn't make a formal announcement of the cancellation of the shows, so it took about 24 hours before the Hilton actually stopped selling ticket and room packages for Barry's shows. I don't know how many people were affected in those 24 hours, but it shows a complete lack of concern for Barry's paying public - fan or civilian - for Stiletto to allow that to happen to Barry's customers. Barry's concerts in California are still selling tickets - with the now cancelled dates on them, and even holding a drawing for a free trip to a show that isn't going to happen as scheduled. You see, these venues want to hear from Barry's management that these shows have been rescheduled.
All of this is snowballing because Stiletto refuses to put out an "official" message on the web site concerning these concert dates. They were hoping to bury this to keep the momentum going for Manilow.TV and Barry's concert at the Hollywood Bowl, which, by the way, they've put out another "Hotline" message for. Now that the concerts in the other So. Cal. areas have been postponed, you (and your money) should now be free for the Hollywood Bowl. At least that's the message Stiletto is sending whether it means to or not.
The other sad part is how this is affecting Barry's fans. As Suzanne talked about, even the diehard fans are crying foul over this. I already know of two people who have previously left the MMN message boards over the lack of civility between fan club members (and that's just the two latest fans, there are more who have left). I have a feeling there may be more to come given the amounts of money these people have spent and lost with this latest round of cancellations.
Even if they don't leave, they will be more hesitant to spend the money they did in the past.
Now there is the unconfirmed rumor that Barry is leaving the Hilton, which leads to speculation as to whether there will be more cancellations of the remaining shows for 2009.
Not Quite Nightmare Before Christmas
This is a comedian, Jeff Dunham and his friend, Achmed, the suicide bombing terrorist. This is not for children.
| Jokes.com | ||||
| Jeff Dunham - Santa Claus | ||||
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| Jokes.com | ||||
| Jeff Dunham - Christmas Carols | ||||
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
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