"Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs" - Arthur Schopenhauer
Achterhoek, the Netherlands
Joined September 2019
- Tweets17.5K
- Following1.2K
- Followers1.2K
- Likes28.6K
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Isn't it time to carve up Russia between Europe and China? Never be less ambitious than your enemy
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
If confirmed, this is telling: Russian data centres get hit, and online activity around AfD suddenly plummets. 📉
So much talk about German patriotism… then the connection from Russia goes down. 🤔🇷🇺
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Russia invaded Ukraine. The first country to surrender was the United States.
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Marvin Gaye’s secondary overdubbed vocal on What’s Going On, isolated, for anyone that needs to hear it. Like honey for the ear.
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
The White House media ban
reminds me of the Teddy Roosevelt quote:
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Shoutout to the people that do the awkward little jog when a car lets them cross the street.
You are not moving any faster, but the effort is beautiful. I see you. I respect you.
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
If Democrats flip the House and Senate everyone will get a $10,000 dividend, and a pony, and free ice cream for life.
(Folks can also choose free yogurt for life, because we’re Democrats after all).
😳 Trump is now literally trying to buy votes 😳
Trump just now announced that if Republicans keep the House and Senate in November, "I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000." He suggested the money will come from tariffs.
The desperation is palpable. Here's the full clip of his announcement:
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
I think the actual major problem with far right populists gaining power across Europe in the next decade is not that they're going to bring back 1930s fascism
We're too wealthy and our population is too old for that kind of upheaval. And even the most hardcore nationalists have realised how important it is to keep the EU and European unity intact
The problem is they're all going to spend years being overtly corrupt failures who can't get anything done and delay us from tackling the issues that are converging on us all simultaneously
Over the next 10 years, Europeans will have to deal with a militant Russia, deglobalisation, re-industrialisation, an erratic America, asylum, the boomer generation retirement, low birth rates, AI, climate change and the energy transition
All at the same time
Look at how utterly useless Trump has been for America. His sole goal has been personal enrichment through any means necessary and America has not being able to plan for anything and can't until he's gone
And that's ignoring the time needed to clean up the mess he caused first
We don't have time in Europe for us to go through this in dozens of countries before we correct course
But we also need to tackle all of these issues while maintaining our democratic institutions. All of these issues can erode them if not tackled and if we struggle to get through these next 10 years then many of us could start to look like Orban's Hungary
I don't think we should fear the far right as if the Nazis are back, we should fear that they'll be incompetent clowns who could set us up horribly for an extremely important decade for us
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
We have been told for our entire lives that our system of checks and balances was foolproof. In fact, the entire thing was held together only by men and women of honor. There were no real guardrails, no true limits. And now a genuine fool with no honor whatsoever has control.
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Eerst was het de Jood. Nu de moslim. Niet omdat de geschiedenis zich letterlijk herhaalt, maar omdat het mechanisme opvallend herkenbaar is: maatschappelijke frustratie wordt geprojecteerd op een relatief kleine minderheid. Dat zou ons zorgen moeten baren. open.spotify.com/episode/3ei…
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Let me expand on that thought if I may. Back in the day promotors Bill Graham and Wolf & Rissmiller fronted the money for venue rentals, local advertising, ticketing, security, insurance, and basic stage production. If a show bombed, the promoter took the financial hit.
For mid-level or developing acts, standard deals involved a flat guarantee or a percentage of the gross gate receipts plus a split of the "back-end" profits, commonly an 80/20 or 85/15 split in favor of the artist after all itemized expenses were fully recouped by the promoter. However massive stadium level acts like Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones worked with powerhouse managers like Peter Grant who completely flipped the script. Grant demanded massive flat guarantees up to 90% of the gross ticket sales upfront, forcing promoters to scramble to cover costs and eke out a profit from concessions, parking, or scaled-up ticket pricing.
Bill Graham Presents was absorbed by by SFX Entertainment in 1997, which was later bought by Clear Channel Communications and eventually spun off into Live Nation Entertainment.
The partnership of Wolf & Rissmiller Presents dissolved following the murder of co-founder Steve Wolf in November of 1977, with surviving partner Jim Rissmiller eventually winding down operations and declaring bankruptcy in the early 80s. Following the collapse of the firm, Avalon Attractions stepped in to fill the void left in the Los Angeles market and was eventually acquired by SFX Entertainment as well in 1998, which later became Live Nation Entertainment.
Now with Live Nation and Ticketmaster running the concert industry the exact opposite has occurred with the artist now being the one who takes all the financial risks while having to scramble to make a profit. With the promotors making millions off of ticket sales, convenience fees, parking, venue rental, and concessions.
Live Nation maintains corporate filings listing over 400 subsidiary and regional operational entities globally, though a precise single cumulative number for standalone independent "promoters" absorbed across its multi-decade corporate evolution.
Starting to see the picture here? Kinda makes your skin crawl huh? 🤷♀️
Francesco Frentrop⚡ retweeted
Average ticket prices in the 70s was $7 to $10. Average cost per seat in the 80s, $12 to $15. Average cost for concert seats in the 90s, $20 to $25 as corporate sponsorships, larger stage productions, and modern ticketing platforms expanded. By 1996, the overall average ticket price had climbed to roughly $25.81 for nose bleed seats. In the early 2000s, concert tickets were often $20-$50 for nose bleeds. Now the average ticket runs you between $100-$350 for the same seat, with big arena shows hitting $400-$500 range + plus fees. WTF happened? 😲
