she dreams...

Mary Travers

1936 - 2009

click here to visit the Peter Paul & Mary website

click here for a terrific story from NPR

new itunes, new ipod - a tasty apple

A thin man in his 50’s stepped out on stage in a darkened auditorium accented in blue and purple light. Behind this thin man was a bright white Apple logo. The audience, quiet and respectful, rose to their feet in a round of applause for this unassuming balding individual wearing a black t-shirt tucked into his jeans.

What was special about this man?

He is Steve Jobs. Co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc.

He is also a man who in April 2009 underwent a liver transplant thanks to the selflessness of someone in their mid 20’s who had the forethought to sign a organ donation card. There has been much speculation over how Steve Jobs received his new liver but I prefer to concentrate on the generosity of the person who knew, even in death, an individual CAN make a difference. If you have not signed off on organ donation – DO! If I died today I would die knowing my organs could possible make a difference to someone in dire need. A helluva legacy don’t you think!

While Steve Jobs stole the “Apple Show” by just being there, the technology unveiled was no less impressive. Sure there was no Mac Tablet. No new version of the really cool Apple TV. The Beatles catalogue was not made available on iTunes. This is all OK! The idea of “buzz” for what a company may do is a marketing department’s wildest dream and putting my disappointment aside for a moment with the idea of PowerPC’s demise – I still love Apple and get fidgety like a child on xmas morning when I read about or watch the proceedings. I have to admit vocalizing an enthusiastic “YEAH!” when Steve Jobs came out on stage. This may be embarrassing to some but since I was alone with my Mac, smoking a Pall Mall red and drinking a glass of ice water with a freshly cut lemon wedge, I was content in my actions. Hell, you can look at my fashion sense and see I’m not one to embarrass easily.

The Apple Show introduced a new set of revamped iPods. I was extremely pleased to see a new version of the iPod Classic with 160gb of memory. There were rumors abound how Apple would retire the iPod Classic – I was glad to see this was not the case. The iPod Classic is my personal favorite because my basic requirement for an iPod is the playback of AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MUSIC – AND I MEAN ENORMOUS! My 80gb iPod Classic is not large enough for my music collection BUT as long as I can play my Who, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and large Indie, Blues and Reggae catalogues – I can survive without the other 300+ gigs of music until I get home. The new 160gb Ipod Classic would give me more disk space allowing me to sync more music and even have album cover artwork – something I used to sacrifice on my current model in lieu of music. I’ll discuss the “used to” more in a moment.

The updated iPod Touch takes the iPod a step further. Like it’s twin, the iPhone, the Touch is basically a large shiny screen with impressive graphics and great features. You can surf the internet via wi-fi. Check your email. Watch movies or television shows. Play games and download just about any “APP” imaginable to make your Touch a mini computer. I believe the Touch is the precursor to what the Mac Tablet will ultimately be. This is exciting for me! My issue with the Touch: MEMORY. I don’t have enough room on my 80gb iPod Classic so an 8gb, 32gb or 64gb Touch would be a step backwards especially if I use all the Touch’s abilities. APPs take up memory. Video takes up memory. Photos, Maps and Voice Memos all take up memory. This means, FOR ME, less room for what I want - MUSIC. The Touch is a great iPod for music but only if you have a casual collection and not the obscenely large collection someone like me has. Oh, I’d love one but until they have a 160gb version (and they will) I’ll wait.

This leaves the iPod Shuffle and Nano. The Shuffle is perfect for a workout and doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is. If you want something small with great sound while you run, ride your bike or jog and you can live with 2gb or 4gb of memory – the Shuffle is great. The Nano, on the other hand, is the one I recommend as the perfect “beginner” iPod. Sleek and stylish with a nice screen the Nano now boasts an FM radio with a “live pause” feature, voice memo capabilities and a video camera. YES VIDEO! 8gb or 16gb flash memory is fine for the casual collection (I did say beginner iPod) and the sound is fantastic. The Nano is fun to play with and I’d rank it 10 on the “cool factor”. I love this little iPod and kudos to the women and men who designed it. Like the Touch, however, you are limited by the memory available and this should be taken into account when making your decision on which to purchase.

So, what’s the best iPod to have? When I’m asked this question I always come back with, “how are you going to use it?” Games, videos, email… The Touch! Working out… The Shuffle and possibly the Nano depending on the active nature of the workout. Music and movies… The Nano or Classic! A friend, about nine months ago, wanted to purchase an iPod. She asked me about the Zune and after I stopped snickering we talked about what she needed in an iPod. She wanted one for music and the occasional bad tv show but when I handed her my Classic to look at her first reaction was – it’s big and heavy. An hour later she was the proud owner of a new Pink 16gb Nano. She thought about spending the extra $50.00 for the 120gb Classic but the size of the Nano ultimately won out. That and she loved the pink color.

Her next question: How do I put my music on it?

iTunes BABY! iTunes! And thus the announcement at the Apple Show getting me the most excited. iTunes9!

iTunes8 gave me a bit of a fuss from time to time. It worked great for syncing but more often than not it would crash while playing music forcing me to do something I rarely do with my Mac – curse it. I prefer to play my music through iTunes into my main stereo. I can use the equalizer producing exceptionally good quality sound and I have access to ALL of my music and not just what was synced to the iPod. When iTunes crashed my eyes would cross, the veins in my neck would pop out and my face would become flushed. The announcement of iTunes9 meant possible amnesty from the emotional stress.

So far, so good!

One rumor about iTunes9 was the integration of lastfm. I think lastfm is terrific and the thought of being able to play lastfm through iTunes takes me to my happy place. Turns out it was just a rumor. Bummer! iTunes9 did add some playlist sharing capabilities for twitter and facebook but since I’m convinced a part of my soul dies every time I hear the word “twitter” and I’d rather remarry my ex-wife than mess with facebook neither features are anything I will play with EVER!

A feature I do enjoy is the Genius playlist. It took almost four hours for iTunes to gather information about my library (it is rather large) and less than five minutes for the information to be transmitted to Apple and the list to be generated. Genius does what Apple touts it should – the creation of some really cool mixes. My first pick was Aimee Mann’s “Save Me”. The playlist Genius created included Rickie Lee Jones, Annie Lennox, Feist, Beck, Nick Drake, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Cat Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, Wilco, Simon & Garfunkel and Sufjan Stevens. Genius captured the mood of the music very well and I enjoyed what I head. The Genius Mixes, a new feature for iTunes9, took my entire library and created playlists for all my favorite genres. The Rock playlists were fairly typical of what you would hear listening to radio but what it came up with for my Alternative and Indie music was quite interesting. I don’t think I’ll throw iTunes on shuffle anymore – Genius does a better job.

The Home Sharing feature is not one I had a lot of luck with. This didn’t disappoint me since my music is available to both of my Macs through my network and I tend not to listen to music on the little eMac very often anyway. The only time I do is when I burn a disc for the car and I use iTunes to listen to what I want to burn. Not a big deal and apparently I’m not he only one having issues based on the technical forums I’ve read. They’ll fix it – They’re Apple!

The cleaner design of the iTunes Store is nice. I’m Apple’s worst nightmare – the guy who only downloads free NPR podcasts. I browse often and I will not rule out a purchase one day – the new cleaner look will make this possibility easier if it ever occurs. The iTunes LP feature is intriguing and some of the graphics and interviews temps me – temps me real bad!

The only complaint I’ve had with iTunes9, for the week I’ve played with it, is the omission of the “disable album art” on the iPod sync. A few days after I loaded iTunes9 I plugged in my Classic for a charge. I hadn’t changed anything on the playlists I sync and all of a sudden I was out of space. After looking around to see why I realized album artwork was being uploaded. Easy fix, I’ll just turn it off again! NOPE, the disable feature is gone. I’m hoping this is something the engineers overlooked and it will reappear when the first update is made available. I like having the artwork but I’d rather have the 700mb for my Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole box set. They were the two to go so I could keep everything else. The fact that iTunes doesn’t crash anymore – I’ll take the trade off

Overall, Apple has done a good job with what they’ve come out with this year. iPods are cool and iTunes (for the most part) works. If you have the expendable cash and want a portable mp3 player – don’t hesitate to buy an iPod! If you have not upgraded to iTunes9 yet, I recommend you do. There are some quirks to be worked out but an Apple quirk verses the other guys – I’ll take Apple!

remembrance

The list of people not forgotten!

president obama warps our children's fragile little minds?

Here is the speech President Obama gave to our nation's children.

Not once during the speech did I feel like my brain was being "washed" nor would my children (if they were able to view the speech) suffer a bizarre personality change.

Still, kudos to "fair and balanced" for proving, once again, fear works! I understand why they don't like the idea of quality education for our children - if our children become smarter there will be no one to watch "fair and balanced".

Before I go "let me leave you with a simple message" from the past,

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go help find some grandparents to euthanize.

number nine, number nine, number nine...

The Beatles by Robert Freeman 1963

A common misconception about me: The Beatles is my all time favorite group. It is not a colossal leap for someone to think this because I am an enormous fan of the Fab Four. If I were to rate groups in this manor The Beatles would be tied for a close second along with Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Dire Straits, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin, Cheap Trick, ELO… In other words, I have many favorites. My “all time” favorite would be The Who.

This is not based on who is better, who writes more prolific lyrics or who are better musicians. My ranking is based on emotions, memories and life altering events. My loss of virginity interrupted my listening to the album “Tommy” (a good reason to turn the music off). My first experience with herb occurred while listening to “Who’s Next”. The album “Quadrophenia” produced the first sounds to come out of my first car stereo in my ’66 Mustang Convertible.

Music, for me, produces a flood of beautiful memories and the occasional bad one. You want to see me become ill to my stomach play Kool and the Gang’s “Cherish” or anything by Air Supply and observe the memories of a bad marriage hitting me like a ton of bricks. Clearly these were acts she listened to and NOT me!

A big reason why friends always say The Beatles are my favorite is the many wonderful memories brought to the forefront every time I hear them and my inability to NOT vocalize it. One of my children was named after a Beatles lyric. Whenever I hear “Hey Bulldog” I get a silly grin on my face because of the laughter embedded in my consciousness from another one of my children. I think of friends long gone, old flames and passions from youth and MANY a good time.

What music is supposed to do when it is first-rate. Putting a song on, closing your eyes and actually seeing the surroundings from the past in your mind. Smelling the scents and rediscovering the emotions. It is actually quite terrific and as I’m reminded often enough, kinda “hippie” like.

I am what I am!

On Wednesday, 09/09/09, The Beatles studio albums will be released AGAIN. I’ve got them all on vinyl. I’ve got them all on CD. I’ve got them all ripped to my iPod. The idea of a new box set didn’t really do much for me except make me discuss corporate greed with friends. I heard this time they were remastered and cleaned up but I’ve heard this song before and knew the dance. This update didn’t really get me excited about the new set. That was until a friend invited me over to her house to hear the new discs.

OK, now I’m impressed.

The remastering took years to complete and those years were well spent. The music, clean and crisp, jumps out of the speakers and grabs hold of the listener. Well maybe in my case it was the Bloody Marys but the music was pretty damn good. Good enough to run out and purchase them on Wednesday? Not for me – I buy used! But for someone who doesn’t have The Beatles in their collection (shame on you to begin with) it is good enough. You have a choice of the box set (giving you an instant complete collection) or you can take baby steps and purchase them one by one.

All of this coincides with the release of The Beatles Rock Band video game. I could care less about a video game and purists might look at the idea as blasphemous, in the same vein as that dead singer (the one that won’t go away) letting NIKE use a Beatles tune in a commercial. I think it’s a tremendous marketing tool and will open The Beatles to a new young audience. There are kids out there who consider The Beatles to be “old fogey” music. Old stuff Dad (and maybe Mom if she’s cool) listens to. But when kids discover this music for themselves it becomes a different story. The Beatles Rock Band video game will do this so I suggest you take your pristine LPs and put them where the kids can’t get to them!

What I wish EMI had done, in the process of remastering these gems, was to remix them into 5.1. If you have ever watched Yellow Submarine in Dolby Digital 5.1 or even listened to The Beatles LOVE in 5.1 you have experienced a brilliant way to listen to music. Whenever I pull out my Wings “Venus and Mars” DTS audio disc and play it for friends I always get a WOW out of them. It is like sitting on the floor in the studio with the band playing live, just for you, with sounds coming from all directions. I would say EMI dropped the ball on this but I have a feeling we will see a 5.1 version box set with a hefty price tag come out eventually. Why give the consumer everything at once when you can milk them later!

Trust me, if a bunch of “stoner” musicians and artists can come up with this idea I’ll guarantee a producer and record executive also considered it. Pity it didn’t happen!

This annoyance aside, I still think The Beatles REMASTERED is a strong effort in reminding people just how good these four lads really were. Five if you count George Martin AND HE SHOULD BE COUNTED. I’d like to think, using some of what is being released now as an example, showcasing real talent might change what labels release in the future. It won’t and YES it does hurt to think I am now at that age where I channel my pop and think of today’s music as crap! Comes with the age I guess. Note I said SOME! Over the weekend I listened to the new albums from Wild Light, White Rabbits and Sunset Rubdown giving me hope for a brighter future.

The Beatles REMASTERED consists of;

Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles (aka The White Album)
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
and the rarities collection, Past Masters.

These are the UK versions, which is fine with me. The American versions (Meet The Beatles, The Beatles’ Second Album, Something New, Beatles ’65, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! with George Martin’s whimsical James Bond style score and the US version of Rubber Soul) are available on The Capitol Albums #1 and #2 box set. Or you can be cheap like me and create a playlist on your iPod and iTunes and take that trip down memory lane in the order you remember.

Hey, make fun but you work with what you’ve got!

Based on the quality of sound I recommend The Beatles REMASTERED to anyone who doesn’t own the discs to begin with. For those who do, you’ll just have to make the decision on your own!

Hey, we’re talking The Beatles here! I know people who owned their material on LP, 8-Track, Cassette and CD. If I, I mean THEY, are willing to put their hard earned cash down on the different media – the REMASTERED series will do just fine.

sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear...

Tuesday, September 8th is the day our children will fall into a trance. President Barack Obama, sitting behind a hypotonic spinning circle, will ensnare the nation’s youth “indoctrinating” them into a world of liberal socialistic thought and action. A first step in the process of changing the America of today into the Amerika of tomorrow.

Pardon me for a moment while I cough out a loud BULLSHIT!

President Obama is going to speak to America’s students about the importance of education. How setting goals for the future can lay a foundation for greater success. That taking personal responsibility for your education NOW will give you tools required to compete in the workforce later.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE… WHY!

If you listen to the talking heads on that “fair and balanced” channel or the idiots on “conservative” talk radio the “why” is MIND CONTROL! THUS the perfect reason for better education for our kids right out of the box.

So our children will not end up as dumb as some of their parents.

Seriously, how can anyone think a speech from the President to our nation’s students is going to be anything more than a televised “pep rally”. It certainly isn’t going to be a policy discussion! We are talking kids here. They see an “old guy” on television and instantly his spoken words become the same incoherent sounds Charlie Brown heard from his teacher in the classic Peanuts cartoon. I’m 43 and I still vividly remember what I was like as a wee lad. Richard Nixon’s words didn’t mold me into the man I am now. Neither did Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan.

President Obama, a man I have respect for, IS NOT going to turn my children into the “children of the corn” with a speech.

Yet there are parents who believe this is going to happen. Keeping their children home from school to avoided being “indoctrinated” into a new world order by the commander and chief. I still try to wrap my mind around this. What are these kids going to do during their day off? Watch Hanna Montana? Play video games? Perhaps be forced to read a bible!

Even school systems are sending home “permission slips” for parents to sign so their children can watch THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. If there were a god I would fully support her decision to snap this screwed up world out of existence and start over from scratch.

Fortunately I was never “indoctrinated” by the religious sect nor did I ever drink the kool-aid of god’s truth SO I know the world is safe her wrath. What the world is not safe from, however, is the wrath of “conservative reality” and their mantra of “be afraid, be very afraid!”

On Tuesday, Septemer 8th the President will speak to our children welcoming them back to school. There will be NO subliminal messages embedded in the video or audio. There will be NO mind control involved in his message. The only people talking about his message after it is over will be the “adults” putting their spin on the text.

I, for one, hope my children will be able to see the President and hear his words. I also know, being that age at one time, what they will take away from his speech.

Whatever they, as individuals, decide to and nothing more!

FOLLOW-UP: 09/07/09

Here is the text for President Obama's speech to our children. I would love for someone to show me in these words where he is "indoctrinating" our children into a new world order!

you've got...

EMAIL! Something a good portion of the population uses on a daily basis and for the most part takes for granted. You use it to flirt. You use it for business. You use it to keep in touch with family and friends. Sadly I’ve been using it daily for my endless employment search.

An enormously useful tool!

What happens when you switch internet providers? This question has been brought to my attention a few times in the last year.

My former employer made the decision to switch from DSL to cable. Not a big deal until you take into account their email address. An address all their clients have used for many years. The same with a buddy of mine only he made the decision, for money reasons, to shut off his internet access all together. All of his friends, including me, had gotten used to his current address. We would send him youtube videos of his blues band from years past, dirty jokes and the occasional naughty image we’d think he’d get a kick out of.

The question posed to me was, “what is the best way to deal with this?” A question that can be answered many different ways. Do you want a FREE solution? A paid solution like a domain registration? How big do you want take this?

The response, in both cases, was FREE. Can’t fault that!

My former employer’s clientele knows the company’s email address as one thing and switching to a different address could mean loss of revenue. Theory goes you send out a mass email message stating your new address and BAM, your done. Problem with this is most people, including myself, tend to ignore messages of this sort. It’s not that people are being disorganized, people are just busy and associate a message like this as spam. NO ONE LIKES SPAM! Maybe you’ll remember the address change the next time you need it – most likely you won’t. Same goes for a personal account especially when you are dealing with artists and musician types. Our “short term” memory tends to be subject to change.

What was I talking about? OH YEAH!

My recommendation based on expertise and keeping in mind the word FREE, was create an email account that has nothing to do with your internet provider. A good thing to do no matter what. I’m a huge fan of GMAIL and I’ll explain why in a moment. I recommended creating a GMAIL account for each department (not individuals) and setting the email client (Apple Mail, Outlook…) to use the new account as the return address months before the switch occurs. I have found people reply to messages more often than pulling up their address book (those who use one) and sending a fresh message. I hate to think what my address book looks like.

Setting the return address to the new account quickly resolves the “reply” issue. This is assuming you are using Entourage, Outlook or Outlook Express, Apple Mail, Thunderbird or even the old classic Eudora as your email software. If you are not using one, you need to think about starting. You have greater flexibility than just using websites.

I also recommended using a “signature” comment on all emails stating the upcoming change. Sure it’s going to be ignored but since a business email should have a “signature” anyway (the sender’s contact information) why not throw some extra text on there for anyone who actually reads it. It can’t hurt!

SO, Why GMAIL? Google’s reliability (I’ve never had a single problem) and the capability of receiving emails via POP and IMAP. A free feature making them just like a “@comcast.net” or “@att.net” account. NO DIFFERENCE! This means if you change your provider you don’t have to lose you email address or any features they offer.

Kinda neat isn’t it?

There are other free email companies offering this but GMAIL has a certain respectability and name recognition others don’t. AIM (or AOL) mail is not bad but the hoops you jump through to make it work with an email client is a bit much. Not great for the average computer user and frankly the AOL name is looked down on in some circles. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate AIM (AOL) but I wouldn’t recommend it to a client for business use.

Same with Yahoo. Yahoo (until the Microsoft purchase is finalized) is decent for personal mail BUT ONLY if you use their Instant Messaging or Personals feature. Yahoo doesn’t offer POP or IMAP accessibility unless you pay for the “plus” upgrade (why pay for something you can get for free) so business use goes out the window making Yahoo’s charm central on chat and dating. It’s good for that; I met this really sexy redheaded singer when she IM’d me. She had the cutest dimples and looked great in my dress shirt. If you ever see me – ask me to show you her picture on my ipod (after I show you pictures of my kids when they were very young). It will be the family friendly image – the other one is just for me (her idea, HOW COOL IS THAT!)

And then there is HOTMAIL (or LIVE mail)! After ten years of having a Hotmail address I deleted it a few months ago. NONSTOP accessibility issues with Entourage and Outlook made it more frustrating than anything else and I had already switched to GMAIL as my primary address after I started beta testing it back in 2004. Hotmail used to be cool but now I look at it like any other Microsoft product (sans Microsoft Office which is still decent). IT’S FLAWED! To receive Hotmail (LIVE mail) using the Apple Mail client I would have to pay for the “plus” upgrade. No Thanks! Even Entourage and Outlook now have issues with Hotmail. I had to download a program from Microsoft to make Outlook work with a friend’s LIVE mail account. Microsoft is not compatible with Microsoft? COME ON!

This is why I keep recommending GMAIL to business associates and friends. A great FREE product. Powerful with POP and IMAP capabilities. Everything an individual or business needs from their email without pulling out the credit card.

In the last ten years I have had two different DSL accounts, a cable internet account and the wireless service I currently use. All have their own email addresses but none of them is any better than GMAIL. By thinking ahead I have managed to keep the same email address through each change of service. When I moved from the Midwest to the East Coast. I didn’t have to worry about email. When I make my final move to the West Coast I STILL will not have to worry about email.

This flexibility is why I recommended GMAIL to my former employer and friends. It is a good FREE product with no association to an internet provider. If a service change occurs in the future, the email being used is unaffected. This is a good thing!

No muss, no fuss. A win win for everyone.

All of this is based on the magic word – FREE. There are paid alternatives out there. You can have a @companyname.com address if you are willing to pay for it. As I mentioned before, I was asked about free.

I like free. Free is good.