Rebel, rebel. Aisle three

I never expected to be writing Wal-Mart and AC/DC in the same sentence.

Then again, you'd hardly expect the band to give Wal-Mart an exclusive on Black Ice, their newest album. So much for rockers as rebels. But maybe the group that did Ain't No Fun (Waiting Around To Be A Millionaire) isn't a good example.

They're not the only one. Garth Brooks? Well, that's not a surprise. But Journey? Fleetwood Mac in negotiations? The EAGLES did it last year with Long Road Out of Eden. Granted, they're all 'legacy bands' (I think that's a nice way of saying Rocking Chair Rock) who need all the marketing help they can get, but there's a certain disappointment that they sold out.

Don Henley chirped some nonsense about how Green Wal-Mart was becoming. Get Over It, Don: Wal-Mart was the largest music retailer in the country last year. They put some promotion muscle behind their exclusive albums and give them a lot of shelf space.

The deals also cut out the middlemen: record companies take a hefty piece of the pie. Wal-Mart has been pressing the labels to lower prices so sales will increase, and it looks like they've found one way. The artists get more money and Wal-Mart gets its prices.

It shouldn't bother me, but I just don't like Wal-Mart's business model. I'll bust myself for hypocrisy before some one else does; I'd go there occasionally if there was a store on Saipan. Fat chance, they sniffed around Guam and turned it down. But I'd only be looking for items I couldn't find anywhere else.

Ah, well. It's not an issue here so this is hypothetical.

But I have a question. Where is the closest Wal-Mart to Saipan?