Music

Music, Computers, and Convenience

September 25, 2010
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To anyone even remotely following the digital music scene it’s quite obvious that Steve Jobs’  ambition has been and remains the revitalization and revolution of media, with music being first in his sites. It’s something I’ve been waiting for for a long time, and so have many others. I’ve felt that the main reason Napster and its kin — Kazaa, Grokster, etc. — were/are so popular is simple: it provides a nice, clean, convenient way of allowing consumers to sample huge quantities of music they would otherwise not be able to. Furthermore, consumers have gotten tired of purchasing the same music but on new media — something the music industry seems to ignore as an issue for consumers. Case in point, I’m a huge U2 fan. I have all of their albums on a variety of formats. I have their earlier work up to the early 90s on vinyl. I then purchased the CD versions. I have special remixes, singles, UK imports, the Best Of CDs, and a few DVDs. And then there’s the cassettes I had for my car. I have literally paid for most of U2′s music multiple times. The music is fantastic but why am I paying

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Convenience

January 26, 2010
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How I wish the media firms would come to their senses and realize that the consumer isn’t their enemy and that what the consumer wants is convenience. I really would love to rid my house of DVDs, CDs, magazines, etc. and have most of that stuff digital. Books, at least for me, are the sole exception. I like having a physical book. But even there, in some cases, I’d take a digital volume. One case that comes immediately to mind is technical books that I use for reference. They’re huge, usually go out of date quickly, and weigh a ton. I’d prefer those puppies in digital form. So, here’s to hoping the media firms come to the realization that they have to come up with a utility-style structure wherein we can get what we want and the folks generating what we want get compensated. It’s not as if the Internet and computers can’t do this, it just requires a certain amount of collective will to build a new distribution solution as opposed to suing folks or making it difficult to get what you want in a digital format. Aggravating the consumer is not good business sense. Besides, storing our music

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Cowbells

June 17, 2009
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Sometimes things just happen. Like silence in a crowded restaurant. Recently I had back-to-back songs with cowbell pop up on my iTunes random playlist. Quite eclectic collection. I’m sure there are others. Dance the Night Away, Van Halen Don’t Fear the Reaper, Blue Oyster Cult Hair of the Dog, Nazareth Lay Lady Lay, Bob Dylan Time Has Come, The Chambers Brothers I’m sure there are plenty more, but these have it pretty front-and-centre. And whenever I hear a cowbell I think of Gene Frenkle and that Saturday Nigh Live sketch.

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U2: No Line On the Horizon

March 14, 2009
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Those that know me well know I’ve been a fan of U2 since 1979. I first heard a U2 song when a good friend of mine played a tune he’d brought back from Ireland. It was awesome and I was hooked. I believed them to be the future of Rock and Roll. For thirty years — has it been that long? — I’ve enjoyed their music. And just a few days ago U2 released their latest, No Line On the Horizon. What to make of it. I’ll make no bones about the fact I liked their earlier work the best. To me, U2 peaked with the 1st half of Joshua Tree, falling down on the 2nd half. Though In God’s Country is one of my all time favourites and it resides on the 2nd side. Thereafter, they have some impressive songs but the overall albums have been lacking. To be sure, some of my favourite U2 songs came after Joshua Tree, with my all time favourite being Until the End of the World on Achtung Baby. So as news emerged that a new U2 album was in the works and due out in 2009 I both anticipated it and dreaded

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A guy with a great sense of humour

November 27, 2008
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You’ve got to hand it to Rick Astley, the guy has a great sense of humour!

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Distractions, Big and Small

September 4, 2008
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A few folks who know me well asked why I’ve not posted anything in a while. It’s not for lack of interesting topics but more due to work, kitchen renos, the start of summer, etc. And as summer starts up I’m hoping to get out on the links but the weather, work, and the kitchen have conspired against any such plans. Bit of a bummer, but what can one do. And with so many distractions I’ve needed other distractions to make the lack of a kitchen less onerous, and so I’ve turned to music. Music, I always say, is infinitely listenable. You can listen to the same song over and over again and not be bored. You can listen to something you’ve not heard in years and it not only brightens your day but also brings back memories. Sure, sometimes the memories are bittersweet, or younger days when life was simpler, but even those reminisces are worth it. I have few regrets, so even a not so happy memory can still brighten my day since where I am today is a good place and to get here required me to pass through all the trials and tribulations that were my

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Musings

A blog of my musings. Some folks find it interesting and so I continue. Hopefully it will remain fairly interesting. At worst, it'll keep me writing orthogonally to my day job.

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