$250, $500 and $1,000 'We Are Marshall' premiere tickets go on sale: Matthews included

If getting close to Matthew McConaughey or Matthew Fox would really, really make your day, got $1,000? Or $500 might get you within gander range. $250? Might have to work the ropes a bit. A limited number of tickets for the premiere of "We Are Marshall," on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at the Keith-Albee Theatre, will go on sale from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13 in the box office at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center, says a news release from Marshall University.

Tickets are available for $250, $500 and $1,000 each. If still available at 1 p.m., Monday, they will remain on sale in the box office, but also go on sale online at www.ticketmaster.com.

"This is an opportunity for people in the tri-state area to buy tickets to the Keith-Albee premiere in person," says Marshall's H. Keith Spears, vice president for communications and marketing. "Because of unprecedented levels of sponsorships, the number of tickets remaining is limited. I would encourage anyone hoping to purchase tickets to the premiere of 'We Are Marshall' at the Keith-Albee to arrive early at the box office on Monday."

The max number of tickets with which you may abscond is 4 (though at these prices, it might be time to liquidate a portion of your child's college fund). The tickets will not be handed out Monday. You can pick them up between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.

What does a $250 ticket get you? A seat in the Keith-Albee and admission to a post-film gala at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. And $500? A ticket good for orchestra seating closer to the stars in the Keith-Albee and admission to the gala. OK, do you get a kiss from one of the Matts for $1,000? Not quite, but in addition to being seated near the stars during the movie and invited to attend the post-film gala, you also will be able to attend a pre-film reception.

We must ask: what happened to a second premiere of the movie that average folks and below-average-income folks could afford?

The Gazz Guide: coming up

The W.Va. Film Festival continues today through Saturday at the Capitol Plaza Theater, 123 Summers St. Photo for thegazz.com by Douglas Imbrogno

On Thursday (Nov. 9), watch for the upload of this week's Gazz Guide, a Charleston Gazette webcast of suggested things to do in the Charleston area in the week ahead. Amy Robinson will report on the remaining films showing at the W.Va. International Film Festival at the Capitol Center Theater. The film fest concludes this weekend with showings of "Quinceanera" and "Water" (Friday, Nov. 10) and "Heart of the Game," "Who Killed the Electric Car," and "Half Nelson" (Saturday, Nov. 11). See the full lneup of remaining film fest movies right here.

Also, Morgan Kelly will line up 7 reasons why Bob Seger is cool -- and 7 reasons why he's not. Seger performs 7:30 p.m., Nov. 14 at Charleston Civic Center. Tickets cost $56.50 through www.ticketmaster.com or order by calling 342-5757. There'll be a lot more tips of what to do and when to do it, so check out the gazz home page, this blog or thegazzTV page for the new weekly show.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Say goodnight, Blogger

There will be no new posts at thegazz.com lineup of blogs all day Tuesday, Nov. 7 as we switch to a new blogging program. We are abandoning blogger.com and moving to an in-house version of the Word Press blogging program. It's hard to complain about a free program (which blogger.com is) and are thankful blogger.com blogs got us blogging in the first place. But long lulls in fresh posts to our gazzblogs have not always been because of bloggers asleep at the switch. Sometimes, the switch didn't work. We have too often been unable to post for long stretches of time and it went on one time too many. And on the web, no one can hear you scream (which is what I was doing when our blogs were down). Our hope is the new program, hosted on our own servers, will allow is to serve up more frequent content to gazzblogs. Stay tuned.

thegazz.com editor
Douglas Imbrogno PS-- Blogger is acting up right now -- failing to recognize paragraph breaks. I feel an Internet scream coming on...

Yes, that Helen Thomas...

BOOK SIGNING: Helen Thomas and Maggie Gimore, noon, Wednesday, Nov. 8, Taylor Books Annex Gallery, 226 Capitol St.

Helen Thomas, the dean of the White House Press Corps and author of "Watchdogs of Democracy: the Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public" will speak and sign copies of her book, along with journalist Maggie Kilgore, author of "Remember to Laugh: Writing My Way Around the World" in the Annex Gallery of Taylor Books at noon Wednesday.

Thomas has been covering Washington for more than 60 years and nine presidencies and is displeased with the current state of journalistic ethics. She asserts that journalists have abandoned their duty as the watchdogs of democracy and have become mere lapdogs, failing to challenge the government.

GGGGGGG........

Our Gazz Going Out Guide webcast (or, talk like a pirate now, 'GGGGGG...;) is not online as averred, alleged and signified in this morning's print gazz (above). Our Adobe Premiere editing program has gone into cardiac arrest and is currently in ICU. Meanwhile, in its guts rests the raw footage we shot for the program. Maybe tomorrow (after we sacrifice a goat to the cyber-gods.)

The exodus from YouTube

If you notice on your visits to YouTube that there seems to be exodus of fresh clips by name folks -- like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart -- you'd be right. YouTube has been flushing copyrighted video clips (of, for instance, "The Comedy Show" and ""The Simpsons") off the site after recently receiving a 'hey, cease and desist' request via Comedy Central. It's a dicey business because YouTube is an immense word-of-mouth vehicle -- Colbert's savagely polite send-up of George Bush to his face got instant national exposure through YouTube. Here are two takes on the story, one from the NYTimes (registration required) and one from Slate, which explains why YouTube can still keep doing what it does -- so long as it takes a clip down quick-like after someone complains.

Blogger has been acting up...

And has not been allowing us to post for hours and days now. Fie upon thee, Blogger.com!

A gazzTV visit to the Charleston Bread company

Charleston Bread company founder Libby Chatfield

I'd read about the recently opened Charleston Bread company in my own newspaper, but had not really come across the place until I drove past the W.Va. public radio offices a week ago -- and there were the breadmakers cattycorner across the street at 601 Capitol St. If you haven't been there yet, make a video visit and watch the new gazzTV story profiling Libby Chatfield and crew's lineup of baguettes, raisin, olive and sourdough breads and more. Click right here. It'll give you a look that lacks everything but the smell of the place, which is heavenly. And the taste, which is just as good.

-- Douglas Imbrogno

Gazz cover: Oct. 26, 2006

He probably gets too too much exposure, what with those wall-to-wall Ford commercials. But for Toby fans, here he is, on the cover of today's print gazz. Money quote from the story by Adam Harris:

"The more I support the troops, the more pro-war people think I am. Everybody thinks you’ve got this big war-raging, right-wing redneck that does 'Courtesy of the Red White & Blue’' and I’ve never one time said I support the Iraq war," he said.

CORRECTION: Soulful Sundown Service is Saturday, not Friday at Unitarians

The following event was incorrectly listed in the print Gazz inside the Charleston Gazette today. The event was listed as taking place this Friday, but in fact takes place on Saturday, Oct. 21:

SHAYAR AND KROOSHAL FORCE: 5:30 p.m, Sat., Oct. 21. Free. Part of the Soulful Sundown contemporary worship service. Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd. Call 345-5042 or visit www.uucharlestonwv.org.

Gazz cover: Oct. 19, 2006

Here's today's print gazz cover, featuring the W.Va. Symphony's First Violinist Amelia Chan, pulling off a Pete Townsend roundhouse on her instrument. Not, in this case, a guitar although how cool would it be to see her smash it on the ground early Who-style> Not that cool. But the Symphony will be tackling the music of The Who and the Rolling Stones in a show this weekend at the Clay Center along with the Canadian rock troupe Jeans 'n Classics. Read Morgan Kelly's story right here.

Cover design by Brenda Pinnell, photo by Chris Dorst