6 MAR 07: BIG BUCKS ON THE PRAIRIE

A big national broadcast from Columbus is now less than two months away. And it appears you'll need a big bankroll to be in the audience to see it in person. It's hard to believe the motel tax for visiting "Lake Wobegon" has gone up so much....

Yes, we're talking about the April 28 live broadcast of "Prairie Home Companion" from the RiverCenter. Georgia Public Broadcasting is offering "first dibs" tickets right now to its members -- and they start at 150 dollars. I guess the fictional movie version of that show didn't sell as many tickets as they expected.

Radio announcements on WJSP-FM Monday offered Prairie Home Companion tickets to GPB "members at the 150-dollar and 250-dollar level." Isn't it strange that the "upper level" people probably will wind up with the lower-level main-floor seats?

But wait, there's more! Donations of 350 dollars to GPB will get you not only "inner circle seats" to Prairie Home Companion, but a reception after the show where you can meet the "sound effects guy." The sound effects guy?! OK, he's a native Georgian -- but does Garrison Keillor already have dinner reservations at Bludau's?

The radio announcement says early-bird tickets also are being offered to RiverCenter members. The announcement didn't say how much they cost. But I don't need "Guy Noir, Private Eye" to guess they're probably expensive....

I went to the RiverCenter web site Monday night, and did some price comparing between Prairie Home Companion and other upcoming productions. Tickets for other events are downright cheap by comparison:

+ The Columbus Symphony Orchestra concert March 17 costs 25 to 33 dollars -- and sometimes conductor George Del Gobbo can be almost as funny.

+ A touring company's production of the opera "Carmen" March 29 costs 28 to 38 dollars. I could understand a higher price, if it actually had Carmen Electra in it.

+ Lily Tomlin's April 15 comedy show costs 36 to 52 dollars. One cha-ching-y ding-y, two cha-ching-y ding-y....

To be fair: you can spend less than 150 dollars to see Prairie Home Companion at the RiverCenter. But you have to wait until tickets go on sale to the general public April 2 -- assuming the big spenders don't gobble up all the seats first. So I guess this is Columbus's version of Los Angeles Lakers basketball.

If any seats are left for the general public, they'll cost between 40 and 65 dollars. Maybe this will make you long for that event Prairie Home Companion is replacing in late April - you know, Riverfest.

Perhaps the prices are high for Prairie Home Companion on purpose -- to avoid a repeat of a couple of years ago. We wrote then about an outdoor show in Atlanta's Chastain Park, which Garrison Keillor claimed was interrupted by drunks in the audience. And let's face it - Columbus is south of the land Jeff Foxworthy owns.

I had already decided NOT to attend the live broadcast of Prairie Home Companion - not really because of the cost, but because it occurs during the seventh-day Sabbath I keep. But in a working-class city like Columbus, is this show overpriced for the public? Or will Powdermilk Biscuits be sold outside, for the rest of us?

BLOG UPDATE: It didn't take long for the grumbling to begin, in the wake of the tornadoes. Several Talbot County residents wanted to ask the Commission for help Monday night - but the Chairman wouldn't let them, because the tornadoes hit after the deadline for the agenda passed. It's nice to know something there remained unmovable, through it all....

A tree removal company complained to WRBL Monday it can't haul away damaged limbs, because it's been barred from the Columbus city landfill. The city's reportedly cracking down on 18 businesses which owe the most money in landfill fees. So if you see trucks with Georgia license plates parked on the Phenix City edge of the Chattahoochee River, that may be why.

One tree remover argued this is the wrong time for a city crackdown on landfill fees, in the wake of the storm. This sounds a little like a drunken man saying 2:00 a.m. is the wrong time to close the bar, because buses have stopped running.

WRBL claimed the "landfill list" of 18 banned businesses is posted on the Columbus city web site. But I did a search for "landfill" Monday night, and couldn't find it. I suppose it's only logical for such information to be buried and hidden....

Instant Message to the Georgia Baptist Association: What was your group doing with those chain saws, clearing damage in the Brookstone neighborhood Monday? Doesn't the Bible clearly say, "Thou shalt not Stihl?"

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: We might not be able to have a Wednesday post, because of a trip out of town. We'll see....)

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