White House Press briefing discusses Citibank name on new Mets Stadium

Tony, some are concerned, particularly on the Hill, that this Citigroup bailout is smacking of AIG all over again. Some are asking for Citigroup to pull their name -- opt out of naming for the New York Mets Stadium -- $400 million and you just gave them $25 billion. I mean, people are saying that smacks of it, particularly Congressman Elijah Cummings from Maryland, would say -- do you think they should opt out of the naming rights contract?

MR. FRATTO: That's -- I'll be honest, this is the first time I heard of that. I didn't know that they were involved in that. I would presume that if there's a contract then that's a legal question as to what they can do. But I'll leave that for Citibank for now, and Treasury, and the regular -- their regulators, because you're telling me something I'm not aware of.

Q But you said just now at the podium, you said banks are only in the business of lending. This is more than lending; they are lending their name to a stadium at a cost, a very expensive cost.

MR. FRATTO: I think that's a -- I mean, firms do that as a marketing item, and certainly marketing is important for any business. I'm not commenting specifically on Citibank's decision as I'm just learning about it right now, April. I'm sorry.

Q But marketing with government funds?

MR. FRATTO: I'm not aware of that. Like I said, Mark, I'm just learning of that right now. I'd want to look at it a bit more.

Q If it indeed pans out the way I'm telling you, isn't that a contradiction? They're asking for money, yet they are making an extravagant purchase at the cost to the American taxpayer.

MR. FRATTO: I'm just not in the habit of commenting on things that I'm not aware of.

Q Can I get something from you later, once you find out?

MR. FRATTO: Sure, absolutely.

Yes, Jon.

New Springsteen disc set for January

New Springsteen disc set for January
3 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen returns with a new album in January 15 months after "Magic." That's unusually quick for an artist with a reputation as a perfectionist.

The album is called "Working on a Dream." He's made 14 tracks with the E Street Band and they'll be available on Jan. 27.

Springsteen said he was excited by the return to pop production on his previous album and kept writing songs while touring with his band. They recorded the album in Atlanta during breaks in their concert schedule.

Springsteen said that "we all had a blast making this record from beginning to end."

Sports owner Mark Cuban in hot water , over stock trades

SEC Files Insider Trading Charges Against Mark Cuban
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2008-273
Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading for selling 600,000 shares of the stock of an Internet search engine company on the basis of material, non-public information concerning an impending stock offering.

The Commission's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that in June 2004, Mamma.com Inc. invited Cuban to participate in the stock offering after he agreed to keep the information confidential. The complaint further alleges that Cuban knew that the offering would be conducted at a discount to the prevailing market price and that it would be dilutive to existing shareholders.

Within hours of receiving this information, according to the complaint, Cuban called his broker and instructed him to sell Cuban's entire position in the company. When the offering was publicly announced, Mamma.com's stock price opened at $11.89, down $1.215 or 9.3 percent from the prior day's closing price of $13.105. According to the complaint, Cuban avoided losses in excess of $750,000 by selling his stock prior to the public announcement of the offering.

"Insider trading cases are a high priority for the Commission. This case demonstrates yet again that the Commission will aggressively pursue illegal insider trading whenever it occurs," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

Scott W. Friestad, Deputy Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said, "As we allege in the complaint, Mamma.com entrusted Mr. Cuban with nonpublic information after he promised to keep the information confidential. Less than four hours later, Mr. Cuban betrayed that trust by placing an order to sell all of his shares. It is fundamentally unfair for someone to use access to nonpublic information to improperly gain an edge on the market."

The complaint alleges that Cuban violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Commission's complaint seeks to permanently enjoin Cuban from future violations of the federal securities laws, disgorgement (with prejudgment interest), and a financial penalty.

The Yankees continue to rip off their fans by over paying for players

The Yankees continue to rip off their fans by over paying for players, No wonder the Yankees want you to pay $300 for the filed box seats in the infield look at the obscene money they are offering players as the stock market crumbles.

New York Yankees Season ticket holders should be outraged because they are the ones who will pay for these outrageous salaries

Motely Crue 2009 Tour Dates & tickets information

Mötley-style mayhem... Starting February 2, 2009 in San Diego, California, Mötley Crüe is back on the road and they are bringing with them Hinder, Theory Of A Deadman, and The Last Vegas - winner of Guitar Center's Make Rock History competition. Make no mistake - they will all be bringing it loud, hard, and nationwide.


DATECITYVENUE
Monday, February 2nd San Diego, CACox Arena
Wednesday, February 4th Reno, NVReno Events Center
Friday, February 6th Las Vegas, NVThe Joint
Saturday, February 7th Las Vegas, NVThe Joint
Tuesday, February 10th Omaha, NEQuest Center
Wednesday, February 11th Moline, ILiWireless Center
Friday, February 13th Grand Rapids, MIVan Andel Arena
Saturday, February 14th Madison, WIAlliant Energy Center
Sunday, February 15thRockford, ILMetro Centre
Tuesday, February 17thDes Moines, IAWells Fargo Arena
Wednesday, February 18thMinneapolis, MNXcel
Thursday, February 19thGreen Bay, WIResch Center
Saturday, February 21stNashville, TNSommet Center
Sunday, February 22ndBirmingham, ALBJCC
Wednesday, February 25thGreenville, SCBi-Lo Center
Friday, February 27thLafayette, LACajun Dome
Saturday, February 28thNew Orleans, LANew Orleans Arena
Tuesday, March 3rdMiami, FLHard Rock Casino
Wednesday, March 4thOrlando, FLUCF Arena
Friday, March 6th Atlantic City, NJ Borgata
Saturday, March 7thErie, PA Erie Events Center
Sunday, March 8thHershey, PA Giant Center
Tuesday, March 10thOttowa, ONScotiabank Place
Wednesday, March 11thHamilton, ONCopps Coliseum
Friday, March 13thUncasville, CTMohegan Sun Arena
Saturday, March 14thBaltimore, MD1st Mariner Arena
Monday, March 16th New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Tuesday, March 17thManchester, NHVerizon Wireless
Wednesday, March 18thPortland, MECumberland County Civic Center

Tixx.com gift certificates are available for Broadway shows 2009

Tixx.com gift certificates are available for Broadway shows


NEW YORK — Thinking about giving theater tickets as gifts this recession-plagued holiday season? And shudder at the full ticket price for Broadway and even off-Broadway shows?
Have we got a bargain for you, courtesy of the folks who brought you the discount Tixx.com tickets booth in Times Square.

Tixx.com gift certificates — available in $25, $50 and $100 denominations
CITY GUIDE: New York nightlife and entertainment
Certificates can be purchased:

• at each of the Tixx.com booths during normal hours of operation — cash or traveler's checks only.

• on the TDF website www.tdf.org— all major credit cards.

• by phone, 212-912-9770, ext. 374 — all major credit cards.

The certificates can be used to buy tickets for any of the nearly 50 productions (Broadway, off-Broadway, music, dance) usually available each day.

Broadway ticket availability

13. A young man tries to fit in. A new musical with a score by Jason Robert Brown. Bernard B. Jacobs.

A Man for All Seasons. Frank Langella stars as Sir Thomas More in this Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Robert Bolt's play about the battle between More and King Henry VIII. American Airlines. 212-719-1300. Closes Dec. 14.

All My Sons. John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson and Katie Holmes star in a revival of Arthur Miller's morality play. Gerald Schoenfeld.

August: Osage County. Tracy Letts' drama, a hit for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, concerns a venomous mother and her dealings with three daughters. Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for best play. Music Box.

Avenue Q. Love blossoms among the 20-something set — a group that includes puppets — in this very funny, adult musical comedy. Golden.

Billy Elliot. A young man in Britain's bleak coal country yearns to dance. A musical based on the hit film. Imperial.

Chicago. This Kander and Ebb-Bob Fosse creation is Broadway's longest running musical revival and deservedly so. Ambassador.

Dividing the Estate. Horton Foote's domestic comedy about a Texas family squabbling over an inheritance. A Lincoln Center Theater production. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 20. Booth.

Equus. Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe star in a revival of Peter Shaffer's play about a young man who blinds six horses — and why he did it. Broadhurst.

Grease. A revival of the venerable musical celebrating 1950s high school and featuring stars chosen during the recent NBC television reality series. Brooks Atkinson.

Gypsy. A powerhouse Patti LuPone stars as the mother of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee in a revival of one of the greatest of all Broadway musicals. St. James.

Hairspray. The cult John Waters movie set in 1960s Baltimore has been turned into a hilarious, tuneful musical. Neil Simon. Closes Jan. 4.

In the Heights. The lively off-Broadway musical about Latino residents in an area of upper Manhattan called Washington Heights moves to Broadway. Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for best musical. Richard Rodgers.

Jersey Boys. The musical story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Winner of four 2006 Tonys including best musical. August Wilson. Difficult.

Mamma Mia! The London musical sensation featuring the pop songs of ABBA makes it to Broadway. Die-hard ABBA fans will like it best. Winter Garden.

Mary Poppins. The world's most famous nanny comes to the stage after her great success as a P.L. Travers book and a Disney movie. New Amsterdam. http://www.tixx.com, a special Disney hot line, 212-307-4747.

Monty Python's Spamalot. A musical inspired by that demented film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Shubert. Closes Jan. 18.

Pal Joey. Young Chicago hustler meets older female socialite. A Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical. The cast includes Stockard Channing, Martha Plimpton and, in the title role, Christian Hoff. Now in previews. Opens Dec. 11. Studio 54. 212-719-1300.

Shrek The Musical. DreamWorks cinematic green ogre makes it to the stage in this show based on the movie and the William Steig book. Now in previews. Opens Dec. 14. Broadway.

South Pacific. Kelli O'Hara is nurse Nellie Forbush and Paulo Szot is French plantation owner Emile de Becque in a revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on one of the short stories in James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. Vivian Beaumont. Difficult.

Speed-The-Plow. A revival of David Mamet's darkly comic play about the Hollywood film industry. Jeremy Piven, Elisabeth Moss and Raul Esparza star. Ethel Barrymore.

Spring Awakening. A striking rock musical based on Frank Wedekind's classic drama about a dozen young people discovering their sexual identities. Music by Duncan Sheik. Book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Eugene O'Neill. Closes Jan. 18.

To Be or Not to Be. Nick Whitby's stage adaptation of the 1942 film comedy about the tribulations of a theater troupe in Warsaw trying to open a play as the Nazis invade Poland. A Manhattan Theatre Club production. Samuel J. Friedman. Closes Nov. 16.

The 39 Steps. A stage adaptation by Patrick Barlow of Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 movie thriller about a man on the run. Four actors portray more than 150 roles. Cort.

The Lion King. Director Julie Taymor is a modern-day Merlin, creating a stage version of the Disney animated hit that makes you truly believe in the magic of theater. Minskoff. http://www.tixx.com, a special Disney hot line, 212-307-4747. Difficult on weekends.

The Little Mermaid. Disney's stage version of its popular animated film about a sea maiden who longs to live on land. Lunt-Fontanne. http://www.tixx.com, a special Disney hot line, 212-307-4747.

The Phantom of the Opera. The one with the chandelier. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about a deformed composer who haunts the Paris Opera House is the prime, Grade A example of big Brit musical excess. But all the lavishness does have a purpose in Harold Prince's intelligent production, now the longest-running show in Broadway history. Majestic.

The Seagull. Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard star in Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Chekhov's classic tale of unfulfilled lives. Walter Kerr. Closes Dec. 21.

White Christmas. A stage version of the classic Irving Berlin movie musical. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 23. Marquis.

Wicked. An ambitious, wildly popular musical about the witches in The Wizard of Oz as young women. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. Gershwin. Difficult.

Young Frankenstein. Mel Brooks transfers his comedic monster mash of a movie from screen to stage — only with more song and dance. Hilton.

Janet Jackson’s seven postponed tour stops,

Sorry, Janet fans. If you were expecting to catch one of Janet Jackson’s seven postponed tour stops, you’ll be waiting a long time.

Jackson’s tour organizer Live Nation has said she will not be making up the shows in Montreal; Boston; Philadelphia; Greensboro, North Carolina; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Uncasville, Connecticut; and Verona, New York she was forced to cancel last month, because of sudden onset migraine-associated vertigo. She did manage to perform makeup dates in New York City and Atlanta.

There’s no word yet on when or how fans will be able to seek a ticket refund for the nixed shows.

Drunken Dead Head pees on the heads of Dead Heads in DC

One of the victims Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski allegedly urinated on Friday night at a D.C. nightclub said last night he initially thought someone had spilled beer down his leg.

But when he looked up to the balcony at Nightclub 9:30, where a Grateful Dead tribute band was performing, Joe, the 22-year-old University of Utah student - who only wanted to be identified by his first name - said he saw Lipski "grinning and urinating."

"He kind of had this grin on his face, and you could see his manhood in his hand," Joe said, who estimates 30 people on the dance floor were within range of a "long arc and stream of urine coming out into the crowd."

As the smell of urine hung in the air, a couple of people "ran off screaming" when they realized what was happening, Joe said.

The councilman emptied his bladder for a "solid minute," Joe said.

When bouncers finally stepped in, Lipski looked like a "deer caught in the headlights" and appeared "solemn" and "confused," Joe said.

Lipski, who has refused to discuss details of what happened, was arrested on charges of simple assault. According to a police report, Joe and another concertgoer - a 22-year-old female - filed complaints against Lipski.

Joe, who has an internship in D.C., said that after he gave his statement to police he returned to the concert.

"It was annoying as hell, for sure, and quite disgusting," Joe said about the incident. "I have been to hundreds of concerts and I have never seen anything like that before."

Demand for Obama inaugural tickets overwhelms supply

Demand for inaugural tickets overwhelms supply

"Dont leave home without them" says Tom Wilson Vp of ticket brokerage Tixx.com


WASHINGTON — As President-elect Barack Obama might say, there are no red tickets and no blue tickets, no VIP tickets and no standing-room tickets.

In fact, no tickets are available yet for Obama’s inauguration Jan. 20 — but that isn’t stopping people from selling them, a fact that’s prompting increasing anger from those organizing the historic event.

As lawmakers from NJ and beyond continued to be bombarded by ticket requests for what’s sure to be one of the most in-demand Washington events ever, the senator overseeing Obama’s inauguration said she plans to write to online merchants like eBay to ask that they not sell scalped tickets.

Tixx.com says all buyers should be Leary of any last minuet delivery of tickets, where brokers wait for the prices to come down and then fill their orders for tickets. Wilson says you are looking for disappointment if you leave your home without tickets to the big event, as demand will overwhelm supply.

This event will be larger than Tiger Woods first Pro Masters Golf Tornament by a magnatude of 10x tougher ticket.

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL 2009 SET FOR APRIL 17, 18 AND 19;

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL 2009 SET FOR APRIL 17, 18 AND 19;

STAGECOACH: CALIFORNIA'S COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND, SATURDAY, APRIL 25 AND SUNDAY, APRIL 26

Goldenvoice has confirmed the dates for this year's COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL--Friday, April 17, Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19--to be followed a weekend later by STAGECOACH: California’s Country Music Festival, set for Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26. The two critically acclaimed events will again take place at the breathtakingly beautiful Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA, the same grounds where the COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL debuted in 1999.

Additional details about both the STAGECOACH and COACHELLA line-ups and ticket sales will be available in the coming months. for tickets go to www.tixx.com
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