Has anybody else been getting as frustrated with Hanson as I have?

I got MOE 7 today, and I'm a little bit depressed. First of all, "This Time Around" was released on March 6th, but I can still count on one hand how many times I've heard it. Why? Well, I'm not allowed to download things like media players onto the computer I use, so getting it off the Internet wasn't an option. I don't have MTV, so scratch that. No Chicago radio station has been willing to play it as of yet, although I'm still working on them. Some people got to hear the entire album online, but it was on a Friday night, so I couldn't do that for religious reasons.

Hanson.net. What a great idea. We don't pay you enough just by getting MOE, merchandise, and CDs and videos. Let's pay you more to get us connected to the Internet. I don't have enough email addresses, either, 5 more sounds good. (13 isn't enough nowadays.) I used to be in the center of everything Hanson online, back before Hansonline was worth clicking on, back when there were only thousands of sites. Back in those days, I ran a newsletter. It used to be fun, seeing what rumors you could unearth, going to chat rooms to find the few other fans. Now, it's a capital enterprise, big and impressive. You're expected to do something to make yourself stick out of the crowd. Well, I'm sick of it. I feel like I'm being drowned. What happened to the fun part?

MOE merchandise, combined, adds up to a cost of $175 US. When you add to that the $20 US that it costs to subscribe, that's basically two hundred bucks we're talking about. As late as MOE 6, there was a message that claimed all merchandise would be available through 3/1/2000. I was a little worried, because I didn't yet have one of everything, so I went to the MOE Wizard and asked which items would be discontinued. They responded, claiming that there was no limit as of yet on merchandise availability. Well, MOE 7 says that merchandise is offered for a "limited time" - but that's a bit ambiguous. We're not all millionaires, some of us have to save up for Hanson stuff. Can we at least be assured of how long we can order it?

I have been the best Hanson fan I could be. I call radio stations, email them, write them letters, write letters to newspapers, and vote online for them, even when I'll never get to hear/see their song as a result. I would go to a concert, if they ever did a concert in Chicago that I was able to attend. (The two times they've been here, I haven't been able to go for religious reasons.) I have 11 Hanson t-shirts, most of which I paid over 10 dollars apiece for. I have all of the CDs that I've been able to get. My walls are covered with posters, stickers, calendars, and etc. But most importantly, I like the music. I like the people behind the music, or at least what they've allowed us to see of them. I want to be more involved. But they seem devoted to making this about money. Well, guess what. I've spent a lot of money, and I have plenty more opportunities to do so without getting your Internet service. I'm sorry that I won't be involved with the online game anymore; the stakes are just too high.

So, I guess that means I'll start doing homework at nights again, and I'll just wait patiently for everything to be released on CD, so I can buy it and listen to it when I please. I will ignore the mounting excitement of those who have heard the new music in deference to the wonders of writing three term papers. I will be sublimely oblivious to the outside world of luckier Hanson fans and concentrate on my own life. And I will not hate you for it. When someone in the halls asks me, jeeringly, when Hanson are going to be played on the radio, when Hanson are going to be on the charts, when Hanson are going to have concerts again, I will just smile. Because I know in my heart that Hanson are just as important to me as they ever were, despite everything that's changed.


email me: sywaci@newton.dep.anl.gov

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