I haven't received mine yet, and I hesitate to call it a "gift" to the fans.  The way I see it, I paid for it.

Rita's the only other person I know of (on this site) who is likely to be receiving it.  Of course, all you lurking U2.com members could take this opportunity to out yourselves....

I'll let you know what I think when it arrives, but I'm never interested in wallpaper and screensavers.  I'm not a huge fan of Miss Sarajevo and I'm not all that interested in owning a version of the Declaration of Human Rights (especially a version which omits numbers one and two)....so we'll see.

Now if there's some Bad/Gloria/I Will Follow/Electric Co./Zoo Station/The Fly/SYCMIOYO/LPOE (but magically omitting the ending which annoys me)/SBS/ISHWILF/In A Little While/New Year's Day/Elevation/Fast Cars/Stuck In A Moment (acoustic)/Yahweh/Bad/40....you get the idea. 

Well, being a bit of a tech myself, I really like the tech interviews.  I've managed to develop a bit of a crush-from-afar on Willie....and since I draw a bit of inspiration from Rachel, I'm still waiting for some Rachel coverage.

Please don't tell me the tracklisting.  I can guess, and the guess doesn't make me terribly excited.  I can wait for its arrival to get annoyed/depressed.

Question:  Since it's footage from Milan, is it directed (what I really mean is, is it edited) in the same style as the Chicago DVD - a style I don't like at all.

And yeah, in many ways, you've seen one - you've seen em all.  Except for the 20% that changes, and the crowd, and your mood that particular evening, and where you are in the venue....(basically, GA v anywhere else - but I wouldn't know about the really good VIP seats just to the sides of Edge and Adam, maybe they're as good as GA without the bother, but probably not the same energy...but the energy in my 11/21 GA area was CRAP....every night is a crapshoot, except for the 80% that's always the same).

I like a lot about U2.com, but there's also a lot I don't like.  If it weren't for the necessity of a presale code, I probably wouldn't bother.  But, given that a subscription is a necessary evil, the subscribers board can be extremely amusing.  I mean, have you SEEN the video of Christian onstage the final night in Boston?  Hilarious!  And the video of Sharon getting kissed by Bono onstage the night before? (I was with her the first time she got a Bono kiss, she swore she'd never wash again - I wonder....eeeeew.)  Of course, they're all East Coast people (so I know them personally) - but I imagine the same nonsense goes on for you west coast types.  Nah, maybe not.  There's no one as fashionably amusing as Christian. 

And, after Vegas, I think I'm probably an honorary member of the European fruitcake club.

In any event, if not for the people I met via U2.com my tour season would have been far less fun.  But the Communication CD, I'm sure that will be a disappointment.

Edited to add:  If not for U2.com, my bootleg collection would be seriously lacking.  I suggest you log on and check what Gibbo and Mog were up to last night...

Absolutely not true for the reviews.  You've obviously been reading the "officially accepted" and posted (on the main page) reviews, not the ones in the forum.

Let's not discuss the original presale, except to say that if you'd logged in, you'd have understood.  If I understand you correctly, you're saying that even without the presale, you somehow managed to get GAs, and that you ended up all the way at the back of GA, near the mix desk.  Again, if you'd been logging on, you'd have learned that there were some tricks that might be utilized in that situation to get you upgraded into the ellipse (Bomb Shelter).

BTW - no point in logging in now to search for Gibbo's bootlegs from last night.  The censorship patrol has already gotten at 'em.  Highights included wishing a Happy Birthday to Larry on his 20th.....  Gibbo's very old skool.  And I love him for it.

Hmmm....it was so long ago now, and so ugly I've tried to banish all memories, but I seem to remember that the one MSG GA I managed to get was entirely due to the band trying to make amends after the initial sh*tstorm.

My two NJ GAs were procured by trolling TM for last minute drops (something which I'd never have been alerted to if not for the message board).  Shows were Tuesday and Wednesday.  Monday night, home from work, zero tickets.  Monday night by 10pm = GAs for both, and extra seats I needed to sell.

The decrepitude of my Popmart seats are what caused me to sign up in the first place, so I can relate to that.  Couldn't make Elevation. 

I'm surprised that as a Prop member you got sh*tty seats.....  I never realized Prop was anything more than a fan mag, and I wasn't interested in that.  (Stupid me.)  I thought everyone in Prop always got the sweet spots!

Maybe the reason you got much more screwed than I was simply due to the amount of NY shows, vs. the amount of SF shows, though there's probably not as much of a frenzied rush for tickets in SF....who knows.  Sad that you got the screw, in any case.

I'll end with an excerpt from Mr. Fly's review of Boston VI (not the sort of nonsense on the main site - where they still claim MSG VIII ended well)....

Bullet the Blue Sky – “Hello My Name is Mr. The Edge. I will be your Guitar Demigod for the evening. Should you feel a lack of oxygen due to my guitar playing, a plastic mask will drop from the ceiling. Please pull the mask towards you placing the mask over your nose and mouth, and slipping the elastic band over your head. To secure the mask, pull on the loose ends of the straps. While oxygen will be flowing to the mask, the bag will not inflate, and you will be kept conscious by my guitar slinging. Please put your mask on before assisting others. Thank you for choosing me as your Guitar Demigod for the evening. Now sit back, relax and rock out as I rock you with my solo here.” Outside it’s America, Boston, Massachusetts, the hands that built America, Johnny comes marching home, I think I need some oxygen. Where’s that damn mask?

I'm still waiting for my cd to arrive.  I've been charged for it but I guess it will take a while to come through.  I probably don't see as much on U2.com as I should, having paid, but there is quite a lot on there.  I agree with Fran, lots of good stuff on the Zoo although I don't post there much - difficult to keep up with it.

Don't even start me on the pre-sale code fiasco.  Still at least it was ok in the end.  I had a fantastic weekend of U2 in June in London.

I re-up'd because I believe that IF there is a future tour, seniority will be a factor in presale nonsense.  Since I still see a presale (assuming they get the problems fixed, and it seems they're trying the "same-day pickup at the box office only" route in Mexico) as the best way to get a decent seat...I risked my $32.

I know they've said otherwise, but I'm betting it's a bluff.

So, speaking of spending too much on U2...

I'm currently traveling, for work, and a few blocks from my hotel was a cool record store, so I was browsing, and came upon the import cd single(s) of All Because of You, and was kind of excited at the stickers on the front, informing buyer that each version featured new B-Sides... but nervous because at this point, U2 seems to have run out of new stuff for B-Sides... and there was no track listing on the package of either...

But I'm a sucker for U2 B-Sides, and debated for the longest time if it was worth it to plunk down $20 for two singles (and cried one hot tear remembering my youth when I could have bought two 45's for under a buck...) and I asked the employees if they knew what the B-Sides were and they didn't, so I took the gamble..

And lost!  I have GOT to stop blowing money on U2.  They've got more than enough.  They can live without my money for a while.

I take a large responsibility here - I'm the fool who bought the pig in the poke, and the store could have popped them open and checked for me (speaking as a former record store manager - import singles always come unwrapped, I believe due to customs inspections, and it's up to each store to wrap them - these guys could easily have opened them up and peeked for me...) but I find it to be misleading when you're just pawning off more boring live **** to leave any sort of track listing off the cd and then hype the fecking thing like it's got something new on it.

But, just for ****s and giggles - the extra songs were - A live version of that song they wrote for Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl, or whatever, the same Miss Sarajevo from U2.Communication, and an accoustic studio version of Man and a Woman, which sounds pretty similar to the one on HTDAAB...

A U2 fan and his money are soon parted...

Don't worry Fran, it'll turn up, just takes a bit longer.  They've taken my payment so it must be on its way. 

Yes I was very disappointed to hear you got a voicemail message!  lol   

Rita - I didn't get a voicemail, because I THOUGHT I'd already signed up, so I didn't text my name in again.  But everyone else I know was talking about their voicemail for days!  LOL

I wonder if you can forward voicemails......  or, if you can figure out how to text the number they give out at the US shows, I can find out what the number is.  Of coure, then you'd be getting mail from ONE, as well as MPH.  Or not.  It's a mystery.

Snowing in Omaha, Nebraska today.  A friend of mine is camping on the GA line (tent, sleeping bags, etc.) and reports are that they're FREEZING.   I think they were allowed to move the line inside the arena early this afternoon.  I hope so....

Omaha!  Just the thought of it!