bbc news

In this, the year-ending sales figure season, the numbers have been given a skewed, positive spin. Nielsen convinced the media that 2008 was a record-setting year for music.

• The U.S. leg of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour had a gross of $91.5 million on sales of about 550,000 tickets. For those of you keeping score at home, that's an average ticket price of $166. By my math, the average ticket price on on the U.S. leg of her 2006 Confessions tour was $183.

Never underestimate the creativity and ingenuity of those who are desperate....

Inmate escapes German jail in box
By Greg Morsbach
BBC News
17:16 GMT, Friday, 14 November 2008

• Ticketmaster has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Front Line. (AP)

• Retail chain Hastings reported a slight increase in profit in Q4 2007 and a 100% increase in profit for the fiscal year. Music sales dropped 15.3%, and the company plans to reduce music inventory by 15-20%. (Billboard.biz)

Today at 3:05 EDT we’ll interview Dr. Bruce Thornton, author of Decline and Fall: Europe’s Slow Motion Suicide.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Blind rocker Healey dies aged 41

Truly sad news. He was so young…so talented.

I know every single word to Angel Eyes. It’s always been one of my favorite songs. I sing along with the radio every time I hear it played.

The lead-in to a BBC news story says it all: "Obesity needs to be tackled in the same way as climate change, a top nutritional scientist has said."

You already know where this is headed. Governments are going to get involved as liberals across the world start telling us how to eat and exercise, the same way they use global warming to manage the lifestyles of others.

We talk about a lot of topics here, focusing on what we can do as stewards of the resources around us and our time and life to love our neighbor. No topic is taboo, so we are going to talk, just briefly about what you wipe with. That’s write we are talking about T.P.

• There are rumors that EMI has made an offer for Chrysalis, one of the few remaining independent music publishers in the UK. (BBC News)

• Reuters just reported that Warner Music Group has also bid on Chrysalis. (Reuters)