Quickies

This week's Quickies entry starts off with a couple of items related to commerce and music in my home state of Virginia.

First up, the Phish concerts in Hampton the weekend of March 6th-8th were quite the boon to city's economies. I used the plural there because the city estimates the 75,000 Phish fans who showed up pumped $5 million into the city's legal economy thru the city's hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. Those fans also fueled the city's illegal economy by leaving behind $68,000 in cash and $1.2 million in illegal drugs that were confiscated during the nearly 200 arrests of Phish fans during the weekend. The neighboring city of Newport News reported an additional 70 arrests of concert goers. Maybe it's time Phish goes in the same direction as some of the older country and pop acts and set up shop in Branson, MO. Just a thought.

Second, the Harrisonburg, Virginia Daily News Record reports the Plan 9 Music store located in Harrisonburg will be closing in the near future. I know it's a sign of the times, but I hate to see these small chain/independent stores close, particularly the ones I frequent. The aforementioned DNR article summarizes the challenges faced by stores like Plan 9.

Finally, my friend Steve Tuttle has this piece in the latest edition of Newsweek detailing how his parents survive in tough economic times, both past and current. After you read the piece, I think you'll agree with me in hoping Steve was embellishing things a little when he quoted his mom as saying "We've had that trap since we got married!".