You're right -- following Moz on tour is an impossible, stupid dream for ordinary boys & girls
Contrary to some sniping...you can find out for yourself at the morrisseytour site how wealthy the girls must be if they have to forgo some of the shows. We hate it when our friends have a good time... Here's to schadenfreud!
> None of the questions were addressed . . .
Do I have to state explicit methods? What's wrong with encouraging someone to use his loaf? What works for me may not work for the initial questioner. Again, it all comes down to wanting something dearly enough to focus brainpower on coming up with the specific practical means. The details are so individual that to list most of them would be of little value to someone not in my personal position, place, and time.
But if you insist: Through various promotions with travel and credit cards I qualified for discounts on rental cars. And getting a bunch of friends to pitch in for gas, lodging, etc. helps keep costs down. I'll host an out-of-town friend whenever possible, and often the favour is more than reciprocated. Besides staying for free with friends wherever possible, one friend got four of us a $1 room in a nice hotel in Salt Lake City because of some kind of travel promotion.
By diligent bargain-hunting I found out that Virgin offered nonstop direct flights Los Angeles-London for only $350 roundtrip in December (1997). As long as it isn't during Xmess dates, airfare specials should be comparably low again because who in her right mind wants to leave mild, sunny L.A. for grey old Blighty in mid December? Hey, I never claimed to be of sound mind. Funny how 80% of the seats were empty on the way out to London. Well, it was nice to stretch out and wait...
For autumn this year, S/W also offered restricted promotional flights between L.A. and Phoenix for only $31 each way. To fly to Vegas from my home airport in SoCal. was $33 each way. So much for Vegas, though. I could've saved even more money by driving-carpooling, but since it was so cheap to fly I figured I could afford to spare my old carcass the long drives through the burning deserts. Anyway, I do searches on the internet, in the free weekly papers, through my travel agent, etc. to find bargains. I'm also lucky to be living in an area well served by many airlines with lots of regular flights to a lot of destinations. I couldn't do this so easily if I lived in Alberta, Canada. Morrissey obliges by not touring much during the most expensive and restricted flight dates.
I pinch the pennies wherever I can: I brownbag my meals when at work or on campus instead of eating out. I rarely have to pay to go out to see a gig thanks to guestlists and free parties. I don't bevvy much, and if I do it's usually free. Whatever meagre influence or tatty perks I have, I work it. I also do without a tv/vcr, newspaper subscriptions, new clothes...I budget practically nothing for entertainment/extraneous things. I've sold whatever non-essential things I have lying around -- some promo cds/records I get for free, books, clothes, memorabilia, etc. Last month I randomly met Morrissey in person as I was heading to Melrose to sell my clothes and old Doc Martens to raise funds to see his shows. If I hadn't needed to raise extra money in light of his upcoming tour, I wouldn't have ventured out that way, and then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting him so casually. What an unexpected delight to be impecunious for once!
I may not offer the best ideas for each person's own situation. It's better to suggest that one be individual and creative (while maintaining realistic vision) in getting the funds. Some people sell fanzines...their most viable commodity...their bodies...whatever is most advantageous and feasible for each person to support themselves while following the tour. Back during the Kill Uncle/Yr Arse. tours, I thought of buying gladioli and sunflowers wholesale and then selling them with a slight markup at the concerts, but then Morrissey seemed to stop liking flowers...and the whole seemed kind of stupid to me later on. I think all the flowers reminded me of those hippydippy Deadhead types. But you can learn a lot from the way all those Deadheads got around from city to city without a care or even a credit card.
> Most of us pay bills and no longer live at home. I could earn
> 13k per year as well, but I have student loans, rent and credit
> card bills that still must be paid (crediters have yet to accept
I'm in that situation. I live in rented flat with a roommate. I don't expect support from family. I pay all my own bills, too. I have some credit card debt, but it's entirely reasonable. I used a subsidized student loan to pay it off, and the student loan is interest-free long enough for me to work it off in a summer. If I have to be stuck working steadily for 4 months while living ascetically, that's totally worth my wonderful experience of seeing Morrissey at so many great shows.
> No matter how many "friends around the world" you
> have, there still has to be a bit of conventionally unearned
> income coming in if you're not even earning $1000.00 per month
Believe what you want to believe. If you want to insist that it can't be done, then go on and sulk. It matters little to me.
> You also say that "for the most part" the girl that
> runs Morrisseytour.com is self supporting. What does "for
> the most part" mean and what are your sources?
What do you want? Tax information? I say for the most part because I am not all-knowing of each of their individual financial details. But I can get a good impression at what general economic status they enjoy by seeing how they live. I've stayed in their homes (modest rentals from Oregon to NYC), seen the car one of them drove...nothing in their lifestyles ever broadcasted "trustfund brat" to me. The one who handles the site maintainence worked all kinds of crazy hours when I visited her in NYC (working day AND night plus weekend mornings-afternoons) this past summer. If she were getting comfortable financial support from mummy and daddy, why would she be working a full-time job plus side evening/weekend jobs? You think she's just some rich masochist? Working for kicks? Whatever. And to think I implied that scoffers lacked imagination!
> Finally, just because people have responsibilities doesn't mean
> they have no imagination -- even you should be embarrassed by
> that comment.
Thanks for putting foolish words into my mouth that I didn't say or mean... It seems to me that you don't really want to know how someone can do it on 13k. You sound more like you just want to rubbish the notion that some people can do it. Maybe having additional responsibilities could make one even MORE creative in thinking of ways to handle the responsibilities AND also meet one's goals as long as the desire to see Morrissey is great enough. Gotta love that "can-do" attitude of yours!
I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that some people lack imagination. I meant that some people must not DESIRE seeing Morrissey ENOUGH to exert their imaginations sufficiently to make it possible. Now whether you're SANE or not to follow, say, the entire Boxers tour on my income is entirely debatable. Anyway, what difference does it make to me if I admit to being crazy? I know several others who did such a thing and will gladly affirm that they are quite mad about Morrissey.
I'll admit I'm freer of responsibilities than most people my age -- I have flexible employment (but lower wages, no job security, and no benefits) and I don't have children, pets, or even houseplants to take care of on a daily basis. I never missed any academic or financial obligation when following Morrissey.
Or you can just believe that
I'm a spoiled brat who has tons of free money and little regard for responsibilities and financial consequences...I'm in no position to tell people to realize their nutty dreams. "You don't know a thing about their lives..."
