Saturday, November 26, 2005
Warning!! Political Content!!
I think it's disgusting that a single issue is being used to decide whether someone is worthy enough to hold one of this country's highest judicial positions.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
More like iLooneyTunes
How does Apple come up with some of this stuff?
They got this "Just for You" beta. Based on past iTunes purchases and CD's in your collection, they recommend other songs on iTunes. So, I've been playing with it off and on. Based on the fact that I own Bringing Down the Horse by the Wallflowers, they suggest Demon Days from the Gorillaz. Why? Because the first 6 bits of each song are identical?
Even zanier, they've got Celebrity Playlists. Some musician or movie star has a short list of songs they like. Issac Hayes has one. But he picked 10 of his own songs!! In a list of 18. You'd think someone would have said something.
They got this "Just for You" beta. Based on past iTunes purchases and CD's in your collection, they recommend other songs on iTunes. So, I've been playing with it off and on. Based on the fact that I own Bringing Down the Horse by the Wallflowers, they suggest Demon Days from the Gorillaz. Why? Because the first 6 bits of each song are identical?
Even zanier, they've got Celebrity Playlists. Some musician or movie star has a short list of songs they like. Issac Hayes has one. But he picked 10 of his own songs!! In a list of 18. You'd think someone would have said something.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Well, I know you can't work in fast food all your life...
I try to be extremely cautious using the term "sell out". Others use the term very loosely. It refers to when a band changes its style, sound, image, etc. that attracts new fans, makes them a ton of money, launches them to mainstream media, and alienates original/hardcore followers.
I know what to look for, but who am I to judge (that's right, labeling someone a "sell out" is a judgement call and prone to human emotions and fallacies) which bands are sell outs and which ones stumbled into success when they chose a new direction to take their music in.
However, I do feel confident pointing out some of the more obvious ones...
Carlos Santana has been around for nearly 30 years. A guitar legend. But a single duet with Rob Thomas wins him 9 grammies, and he uses the "duets with other musicians" strategery on his next two albums.
It gets worse. Santana's just a speck of dirt compared to the mud clump that is Smashmouth. They spun their first hit "Walkin' on the Sun" into a career of whoring themselves out for any and all commercial promotions and financial gain. A cover of "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby" for "Can't Hardly Wait". A cover of "I'm a Believer" for "Shrek". No originality there. Give them a song and a fistful of dollars, and they'll do it.
But the worst offender? Destiny's Child. I don't believe for one second that they eat at McDonald's or shop at Wal-Mart. No way. And I think still appearing in commercials together is a total sham. They aren't together anymore. And I doubt that Beyonce is hard up enough for money to show up in a few spots. She has Jay-Z.
Fin.
I know what to look for, but who am I to judge (that's right, labeling someone a "sell out" is a judgement call and prone to human emotions and fallacies) which bands are sell outs and which ones stumbled into success when they chose a new direction to take their music in.
However, I do feel confident pointing out some of the more obvious ones...
Carlos Santana has been around for nearly 30 years. A guitar legend. But a single duet with Rob Thomas wins him 9 grammies, and he uses the "duets with other musicians" strategery on his next two albums.
It gets worse. Santana's just a speck of dirt compared to the mud clump that is Smashmouth. They spun their first hit "Walkin' on the Sun" into a career of whoring themselves out for any and all commercial promotions and financial gain. A cover of "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby" for "Can't Hardly Wait". A cover of "I'm a Believer" for "Shrek". No originality there. Give them a song and a fistful of dollars, and they'll do it.
But the worst offender? Destiny's Child. I don't believe for one second that they eat at McDonald's or shop at Wal-Mart. No way. And I think still appearing in commercials together is a total sham. They aren't together anymore. And I doubt that Beyonce is hard up enough for money to show up in a few spots. She has Jay-Z.
Fin.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Worth every penny
20 GB Fourth Generation iPod: $300
FM Transmitter: $40
Car charger: $40
Translucent silicone jacket: $20
iPod repair charges: $32
Getting back a shiny new iPod from Apple: priceless
FM Transmitter: $40
Car charger: $40
Translucent silicone jacket: $20
iPod repair charges: $32
Getting back a shiny new iPod from Apple: priceless
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Go team!
If you're an NDSU student or alumnus, visit NDSU Bison Hockey. Support the developing hockey program. Go to a game, or 12. Tell all your friends. Shout it from the rooftops. Stand outside someone's house with a boombox over your head.
If you have no affiliation with North Dakota State, you may ignore this post.
If you're a UND supporter, FUCK OFF!!
If you have no affiliation with North Dakota State, you may ignore this post.
If you're a UND supporter, FUCK OFF!!
That one decision
Travis has been spreading the seeds of doubt, even from 1500+ miles away.
Several of his acquaintances have been comtemplating that one decision that changed their lives forever, and whether they'd make the same choice again. Like his sister and his friend Bianca.
As a frequent reader of his web site and the blogs he hosts, I saw these posts earlier in the week and thought about it. Have I really made any decision that affected my life in a momentous way? Decisions I regreted? I moved out the Marshall Islands when I was 15. Not my choice. Going to NDSU? Well, there were some things I didn't like about that, but I'd say I'm pretty much happy with that selection. Back surgery? I do wish I had that one back, but see previous statement about that. Job-related? No, I liked my previous jobs, even though none of them have turned out to be permanent yet.
There were many, MANY small-to-medium decisions I always find myself regretting. But none of them life-altering.
Oddly enough, Spike TV is airing the episode of Star Trek TNG where Picard's old archeology professor wants him to leave the Enterprise to go on a quest to make the biggest discovery ever. Picard reflects on his decision to explore space and become a starship captain over an archeologist. Picard did not regret this decision, but he did feel bad for having to say no to his mentor.
Then I thought of it. That one decision I wish I could have back.
Her name is Carrie.
I let a stupid little thing like religion and parental approval keep us apart. She's Mormon; I'm not. Maybe our parents would have given their permission. My folks liked her. Her mom liked me (I never got a clear signal either way from her dad). I think we would have had their support. But I was too scared. If anyone objected, it probably would have been my dad. He's not too fond of Mormons in general. And I didn't want to lose his support.
So, we never got together. She went off and married some other guy. Swell guy, I hear.
And I continue to be miserable. And believe that I will be until I do find someone. And she'd have to be pretty damn special to make me end the regret.
Several of his acquaintances have been comtemplating that one decision that changed their lives forever, and whether they'd make the same choice again. Like his sister and his friend Bianca.
As a frequent reader of his web site and the blogs he hosts, I saw these posts earlier in the week and thought about it. Have I really made any decision that affected my life in a momentous way? Decisions I regreted? I moved out the Marshall Islands when I was 15. Not my choice. Going to NDSU? Well, there were some things I didn't like about that, but I'd say I'm pretty much happy with that selection. Back surgery? I do wish I had that one back, but see previous statement about that. Job-related? No, I liked my previous jobs, even though none of them have turned out to be permanent yet.
There were many, MANY small-to-medium decisions I always find myself regretting. But none of them life-altering.
Oddly enough, Spike TV is airing the episode of Star Trek TNG where Picard's old archeology professor wants him to leave the Enterprise to go on a quest to make the biggest discovery ever. Picard reflects on his decision to explore space and become a starship captain over an archeologist. Picard did not regret this decision, but he did feel bad for having to say no to his mentor.
Then I thought of it. That one decision I wish I could have back.
Her name is Carrie.
I let a stupid little thing like religion and parental approval keep us apart. She's Mormon; I'm not. Maybe our parents would have given their permission. My folks liked her. Her mom liked me (I never got a clear signal either way from her dad). I think we would have had their support. But I was too scared. If anyone objected, it probably would have been my dad. He's not too fond of Mormons in general. And I didn't want to lose his support.
So, we never got together. She went off and married some other guy. Swell guy, I hear.
And I continue to be miserable. And believe that I will be until I do find someone. And she'd have to be pretty damn special to make me end the regret.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Last night, I had a disturbing dream. But not disturbing in the traditional sense.
It all started when I walked out of Old Chicago on a warm summer afternoon. Across the parking lot, there was Steph, in business attire. Black suit coat and skirt down to the top of her knee. Deep teal button-down blouse. Black heels. And seven months pregnant with a mischievous grin on her face.
Rewind. Steph and I have known each other since freshman year at NDSU, but grew close when she started dragging me to watch her drummer boyfriend's band play in area bars. We must have went out watch them at least 10 times, starting in Nov. '02, before he was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender less than a year later. Shortly after that, she dumped him. Then I thought that it was my opportunity to move in, but I shouldn't have picked that moment when I was drunk in Old Chicago to make my move. We continued to hang out, but mostly at Co-Ed Intramural Hockey. By the end of that school year, Steph wasn't returning any of my calls.
Due to the way that I was treated, I felt the best thing was to cut all ties with her and move on. I caught myself thinking about her sometimes, but resisted all urges to reconnect. And I didn't see her again until our friends Paul and Nikki got married this June.
So, in the dream, Steph was treating me nice. She wanted to get on my good side again. But she didn't want to be friends again for the sake of patching things up. She didn't want me. She wanted my money or possessions or something. She wanted to use me for her own personal gain. Even tried to convince me the child was mine, when we both knew this to be false. I saw right through her. And I still wanted no part of it.
Normally, that'd be the end of it. But here's the disturbing part. Once I thought about that dream at work today, I couldn't stop thinking about it. About how the dream could be some kind of omen. How I was maybe unfair to Steph. How we should maybe go back to being friends. How I might still have feelings for her. How I want to call her. Imagining possible hypothetic situations where I might run into her, like at McDonald's on my lunch break or tonight's NDSU Men's Hockey Game .
And this just seems like a horrible idea. I have to keep talking myself out of doing exactly that. I don't want to go crawling back to her and seem even more pathetic that I already am.
I really wish I had someone to talk to about this. Travis is in Texas now. Vern's in St. Cloud. Paul and Nikki are mutual friends, but I don't know if I can talk to one of them about this without it getting back to Steph and making things worse. Maxwell would laugh at me. I could ask Lyn, but she's busy with her new daughter.
So, I blog. And fret.
As I wrote this, I was listening to U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", a song with which I will always associate with this dilemma from now on.
It all started when I walked out of Old Chicago on a warm summer afternoon. Across the parking lot, there was Steph, in business attire. Black suit coat and skirt down to the top of her knee. Deep teal button-down blouse. Black heels. And seven months pregnant with a mischievous grin on her face.
Rewind. Steph and I have known each other since freshman year at NDSU, but grew close when she started dragging me to watch her drummer boyfriend's band play in area bars. We must have went out watch them at least 10 times, starting in Nov. '02, before he was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender less than a year later. Shortly after that, she dumped him. Then I thought that it was my opportunity to move in, but I shouldn't have picked that moment when I was drunk in Old Chicago to make my move. We continued to hang out, but mostly at Co-Ed Intramural Hockey. By the end of that school year, Steph wasn't returning any of my calls.
Due to the way that I was treated, I felt the best thing was to cut all ties with her and move on. I caught myself thinking about her sometimes, but resisted all urges to reconnect. And I didn't see her again until our friends Paul and Nikki got married this June.
So, in the dream, Steph was treating me nice. She wanted to get on my good side again. But she didn't want to be friends again for the sake of patching things up. She didn't want me. She wanted my money or possessions or something. She wanted to use me for her own personal gain. Even tried to convince me the child was mine, when we both knew this to be false. I saw right through her. And I still wanted no part of it.
Normally, that'd be the end of it. But here's the disturbing part. Once I thought about that dream at work today, I couldn't stop thinking about it. About how the dream could be some kind of omen. How I was maybe unfair to Steph. How we should maybe go back to being friends. How I might still have feelings for her. How I want to call her. Imagining possible hypothetic situations where I might run into her, like at McDonald's on my lunch break or tonight's NDSU Men's Hockey Game .
And this just seems like a horrible idea. I have to keep talking myself out of doing exactly that. I don't want to go crawling back to her and seem even more pathetic that I already am.
I really wish I had someone to talk to about this. Travis is in Texas now. Vern's in St. Cloud. Paul and Nikki are mutual friends, but I don't know if I can talk to one of them about this without it getting back to Steph and making things worse. Maxwell would laugh at me. I could ask Lyn, but she's busy with her new daughter.
So, I blog. And fret.
As I wrote this, I was listening to U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", a song with which I will always associate with this dilemma from now on.
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