There's a danger in loving somebody too much

Out of love for them, I have gone through so much, given up some things and found others, but one thing's for sure, for them, I have lost a lot of money just throughout these 4 over years.

I've got every single one of their cds and vcds/dvds (except 1 or 2 foreign compilations)

I've also gone through the effort of hunting down local and taiwan auctions for all their posters (with the exception of advertisement posters) and having them shipped to me, only to sit quietly as a poster collection in my dark closet, in the hope of seeing daylight someday when I own my own house and can afford to have them all displayed.

I've got their 2nd album to 5th album and also concert Tshirts, and a number of different merchandises along the way. Was more stupid in the past so I bought more useless stuff last time and these days, I only buy tshirts :P, which are wearable (you can't eat keychains or wear a musicbox anyway).

For them, I've purchased tickets to their concerts, flown to Taiwan to attend their concert, spent money on taxis to and from the airport to see them off. I've even dug out money to pay for a webspace and then put in work tirelessly for free, creating and maintaining a website for them that they probably may not even know about.

I've even been cheated before, buying a cd in the hope of getting a poster only to be given a slip of paper and told that it could be exchanged for the poster after a certain time. But after that certain time, the slip of paper was not a sure exchange, it was based on a self-deteremined limit to the number of posters given. This particular record store at PS has since closed its doors but eventually opened again at a different level.

Then I've been cheated again when I bought merchandise online and one of it got lost because of the very conincidental typhoon that hit taiwan at that period and affected the ordering systems while flooding the warehouses. I never got that piece of merchandise till today even after querying a number of times.

Whoever said love was smooth sailing? i just know that love is blind, and its just so so true..

Just a few days ago, I realise that because of these 5 pple whom I love so much, I am to become a victim of capitalism once again. I'm choosing right now not to be, but I don't know how long I can resist the system. They can simply just choose to ignore my mail and not respond, by then I'll be really left with no choice but to fall prey to their intentions and hand over my precious hard earned money obediently.

I'm trying hard not to succumb because this time, it is simply too much. To begin with, there isn't much logic in owning 2 same albums, simply of different versions. I'm not gonna play one on my hi-fi and the other on my computer then synchronize the moment both start playing, just for that stereo effect. Its that twisted capitalist logic once again.

They believe that they are providing something of greater value and we, the proletariats who have no control over the entire production system, have to bow down to this belief too. All just coz, we wanna be closer up with this very fantastic band. But then again, if they weren't under this company, any other record company would utilize other money making tactics, whether or not we like it.

Yes, the record company is the king, but it doesn't mean that consumers should just be taken for suckers. They put in the big bucks and take the biggest risks when signing up artistes, but isn't the money of consumers also earned through hard work? Put on a weighing scale of practicality, effort definitely does not outweigh the value of risk; but put on a weighin scale of rationality, risk and effort certainly balance out - one is not inferior to the other.

I don't know how this war will turn out. I love email wars but then this time I've already lost half the battle coz the darn company doesn't have an email address. I'm not a phone person, I'll never win by talking verbally. I'll just have to hope that they receive the fax and email back! At least I'll still have more of a chance then.

Its not just raining bananas, but I'm going bananas~~~