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Drunk on Destroyer's Rubies
I think I can safely say I am now officially on the Destroyer bandwagon. In the last three days I've probably listened to Destroyer's Rubies over 30 times. I've listened to it at home, at work, in the car, at the gym, in bed, pretty much everywhere. I can't get enough of it. It's such an For a while now I've been toying with the idea of becoming a full-fledged Destroyer fan, but something has always held me back. I'm looking forward to going back and revisiting Dan Bejar's earlier records now.
Here is a really thorough write-up with a bonus Destroyer drinking game that is sure to put anyone in the hospital. And in case you haven't seen it yet, there's even a Wiki to try and make sense of the genius that is Destroyer.
Technorati Tags: music mp3 destroyer rubiesA perfect response to that "4 things" blog dork meme
For the last day or so it seems like half of the posts in my RSS reader have been that stupid Four Things chain-meme that's going around. So I was first heartbroken, then delighted when I saw 37signals' addition to it. Also, the comments have a high level of unintentional comedy.
Technorati Tags: four+things memePerhaps the most compelling contextual ad ever
Almost nothing tickles the fun-strings of my heart like an ironicly placed contextual ad. This one came from the Technorati search results for "Joel Stein". I'm pretty sure right now that there are a number of people who would be interested the services offered in the ad.
For a little background, Joel Stein is a columnist for the L.A. Times. This week he wrote an article entitled "Warriors and Wussies" where he states that he does not support the war in Iraq, and as a result can not support our troops there. While his argument is pretty rational and level-headed you can imagine the hissy fit that is currently being thrown. My favorite quote is that "he hates America because he hates himself."
Page France
I know I can't say it any better than Said the Gramophone, so I won't.
"Jesus" is a song full of promise and zing. It's that greengrassy place where Ben Gibbard dances with Neutral Milk Hotel, both of them in flower-garland crowns. There are rings of melody and harmony - voice, acoustic guitar, electric, tambourine, - and one by one these rings are laid on top of each other. One by one until there's a stack of golden rings, which you can put on like a big bracelet. (You can then go propose to your love, or fly to the Fortress of Solitude, or make water spring from dry wells, whatever you want.)
I just love that little drum about 1:30 into this song. I have to admit that at first Page France was a little too Christian-rockish for me, but for some reason it's not anymore. I don't think they pull off the sincere religious thing off as well as Sufjan Stevens, but no one really does. Where Sufjan is more meek and humble, Page France is exuberant summer bible camp. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Technorati Tags: music m3p page+franceAI Phoenix
I could have sworn that I wrote about AI Phoenix before but it seems that I have not, and I apologize. For some reason, AI Phoenix has gotten very little attention in the current Scandinavian folk craze (You do know we are in the middle of a Scandinavian folk craze, right?). I've been able to only find one album of theirs (2003's I've Been Gone - Letter One) which now seems out of print. Ok, so maybe the lack of physical records has something to do with their continuing obscurity. Anyway, these guys are so good you should make a special effort to go out and find some stuff.
MP3 AI Phoenix - Call Me In Piccard
Technorati Tags: music mp3 ai+phoenix scandinaviaThe effects of the iTunes Video Store on network ratings
This shouldn't come as any big suprise, but some initial data is indicating that iTunes has had a strong positive impact on ratings for NBC's underdog "The Office", as well as seeming to help ABC's already successful "Desparate Housewives" and "Lost". The biggest suprise in this data is not that online distribution helps long-tail type shows (the music industry has already proven this) but that popular shows are also recieving rating lifts as they are made available online. As the benefits of online distribution become clearer, it will be interesting to see more networks rush to get their content on the internet.
It is also interesting to note that Fox, the network with the longest history of doing a poor job supporting shows that take some effort to find their audience (Freaks & Geeks, Arrested Development, etc.) is now the only major broadcast network without any type of online distribution presence. Maybe Rupert Murdoch has plans involving MySpace or something, but it's more likely that Fox is run by idiots who couldn't market a good show to save their lives. Yes, I am still very bitter about AD being cancelled.
Consider this my one and only "cat post"
I know the one and only reason anyone reads this blog is the hope that someday, just maybe I will post pictures of my pets. Well today is your lucky day. Quinn uploaded some pictures last night to Flickr, including these two gems:
The first is of baby Bruce, an African Sulcata tortoise who had a run-in with her ancestoral enemy. And yes, that is real urine.
Next is baby Nina, the most noble puppy in the world (at least for a moment).
You can continue on with your day now.
Technorati Tags: pets cat+post adorableI don't get this obsession with privacy on the internet
This week's big hubbub over iTunes displaying a "mini-store" within your library reminded me of one of the themes in John Battelle's excellent book The Search regarding search and privacy. In the book Battelle talks a lot about the "Database of Intentions" that Google (and your ISP, and presumably the government, and probably lots of other people) collect, waiting for the opportunity to act on it. Google gets no flack for saving your link trails and search history, because they are using it to improve their search engine for you whereas Apple is just trying to sell you more music. While this is an understandable reaction, it isn't really justified.
Your data is public. It is going to be collected. At the same time, you are going to see advertising on the internet. Doesn't it make sense to allow companies to (responsibly) use that data to provide advertising that you might actually find useful? Advertising does not have to be loud, dumb and completely ineffective. It can be quiet and well-timed. After all, you don't need to yell when someone wants to hear what you say. I'm all for the people who are already collecting my click streams and public habits using them to start relevant, respectful conversations with me, especially if it means the death of obnoxious, untargeted ads.
As a semi-related side note, I think AttentionTrust is probably on the right path to preventing abuse of this data, although they are a little too much of a high-level still at this point to really make much of an impact.
Technorati Tags: internet privacy search itunes advertising AppleThe saddest news from Macworld
Sure, Intel-based Powerbooks and iMacs are great, but what happened to iLife? The branding used to be awesome, now it's very much not.
Technorati Tags: mac macworld Apple ilife branding
When web companies listen to my unspoken thoughts then act accordingly
So today was my first day seriously using a Mac in about three years. Priorities being what they are, I went and downloaded NetNewsWire, only to find that it doesn't sync up with my FeedDemon/NewsGator subscriptions. Well boo to that! You think that since it's owned by NewsGator now, they'd figure out how to make that happen on the mac. After about three minutes of using NewsGator Online as an emergency-measures substitute, I began wishing that I had better control over my folders and could see what posts came from where in my open channels. Then sometime during the afternoon, NewsGator started doing just that. If it wasn't so miraculous, it'd be a little creepy. Turns out NewsGator released some updates today, and they just happened to be the updates I was wishing for. I then wished cash money would start flowing out of the DVD drive, but that didn't happen. Yet.
Technorati Tags: mac netnewswire rss Apple