Month: December 2005

Holiday Blues

I was talking with a few friends and each one had their own tale of the Holiday Blues. Holidays are stressful. I am always amazed at how a time like Christmas, which is supposed to be a time when people celebrate the ones they love, has become a commercialized high pressured event that very few people enjoy any more. I live by a small mall, and when I walk over to get some snacks or Red Bull, I observe all these people rushing about in their SUVs cutting people off, cussing out their windows, all because they HAVE to get presents for all the people in their life. For me it’s just not about that at all. I don’t buy a lot of gifts. If I really know what I want to get someone I do it. If nothing comes to mind, I just give them a hug or a phone call and tell them how much they matter in my life, and that I love them.

I’ve known a lot of folk that get down during the winter months. Winter time depression really takes it’s toll on folk that endure long winters. I’m originally from Maine, and it seems like it’s winter there all the time. Winters seem to claim a lot of lives there. Icy roads cause a lot of crashes. Lack of sunlight and cabin fever adds up to a lot of craziness. I even believe that the folk there in the east coast suffer from heating their homes with petroleum tanks of oil stored in their basement. The fumes collect in their houses because every window and door is closed tight for months. I have lost over 11 friends to car crashes, cancer, and suicide, which all seems to stem from the long winter months stuck in doors.

Even though all this is a very serious subject, I’d rather make light of such things with a set of tunes all about The Holiday Blues. Sometimes the best way to get out of a rut is to see one self through a sense of humor. We start off with Brother Eye performing their song, Oh Well. Dan Hanrahan whips out a quick ditty about life titled: It’s Hard. Equator depresses us all with I Hate My Life, Frank’s Depression recites the very disturbing poem, He Was A Happy Boy, and Jordan Kratz and the Gorehounds finish up with Head Down To The Ground. So there you have it. At least this way you can kinda enjoy your Holiday Blues. Rock on. Merry Christmas everyone!

Image Enhanced PodcastIMAGE ENHANCED PODCAST – December 25, 2005

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Electricity

I had to go out tonight to get some DVD-R discs and VHS tapes so I can burn my footage of Baby Hoagie’s first year for my folks back in Maine. On my way I saw lots of Christmas lights, and I got to thinking about what a celebration of Electricity Christmas has become. We surround our houses with strings of lights, buy all kinds of gizmos, TVs, computers, cell phones, video games and battery powered toys for our family and children. We even cut down and drag trees into our homes and cover them in electric lights. If there is one thing that does not need an electronic gadget, it’s gotta be a tree, but some how they become the very victim of this brightly lit holiday.

So here is my set devoted to the mysterious powers of electricity. First it’s The Gorehounds with, Tune In To My Love. Then mixed right in comes Brent Clifford and The Unknown Rule with, Central Central. A spooky techno bizarre sound scape thing that may have broken my four-track. Next up is Richard McGhee Star Vocalist practicing the song, Thomas Edison from a musical movie we were trying to make at the time. Allen Frost and Dan Hanrahan rings us up with Telephone Joe, Philadelphia’s Brother Eye whips out Hey Sunshine, and The All Mighty Senators finish today’s image enhanced podcast for iTunes with, Solar Power. So there you have it, and it’s all brought to you by Electricity. Plug it in!

Image Enhanced PodcastIMAGE ENHANCED PODCAST – December 17, 2005

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Video iPod Problems

I consider myself a very pro-Mac kind of guy. I love my desk top and lap top, they are great machines. I really like GarageBand, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes. When I began my podcast, I wanted to make it one of the nifty image enhanced podcasts so I could share images, band photos and so on with my archived music. It’s like a non-stop Mac celebration here at SuperFan Studios.

Since it’s Christmas time Mrs Malone wanted to get me one of them there Video iPods so I could take my podcasts and videos with me. Where I’d be taking them, we were unsure, but none the less, she was convinced this was the obvious gift to get me this season since I’ve started this podcast. I said, sure, sounds like fun, lets visit the online Mac Store and check it out.

Now let me start this story with the fact that I am a grumpy old man, and am a stickler for the customer experience when shopping or purchasing expensive gear. That’s what brought me to using Mac computers in the first place. They allow me to do all the multi-media stuff I enjoy – right out of the box. Gotta love that.

I also know that the iPod is one of the only successful money makers Mac has had over the past few years. It’s become a big trendy thing to own, and I wanted to support Mac and get one too. I’ve just been waiting for the Video iPod, and now that it’s here, I was excited.

I have to say I hated the on line experience, and it made me mad trying to read all the details on what accessories I needed. Nothing seems to be sold with the iPod. Even the recharger requires purchasing the cable AND the part that plugs into the wall separately. What the hell is that? Now I know I can charge the iPod via USB as long as I drag my laptop computer with me everywhere I go, but if I want to charge it via the wall – I have to purchase a cable AND the wall plug. They are like $19.99 – $30.00 each. But then I realized I’d have to purchase a Dock to make it work. So there’s another $30 or $40 bucks for the Dock. Or maybe I don’t need the dock…geez who knows at this rate?

Now, as a customer I’m completely confused, and have “Buyer Stress”. I don’t know what I really need. All I know is that it’s NOT INCLUDED regardless. I did not want to make the purchase because I was not sure what I really needed. I also imagined a big tangled mess of wires and crap, when all I wanted was a small compact device I could enjoy. I imagined myself battling wires and cables, and getting all stressed out. Plus the cool thing with the iPod is that it’s small. What good is it if I have to carry my laptop or a bunch of stuff (dock, cable, wall plug) just to recharge it. Well let me tell you, it’s not good.

I asked Mrs Malone, is there like some $500-$600 package that just includes it all? I don’t want to drop several hundred dollars and then be held up because I still need some cable or thing. There is nothing worse than having a way cool gadget, and cannot start using it because some stupid wire is sold separately.

Sadly enough there was no All In One package for a customer like me. Like I said to Mrs Malone, I don’t care if I have a cable or two I don’t need, I just don’t want to get the thing, and have to wait another 3 weeks shipping just to enjoy my device that was supposed to be a simple fun thing.

The online Mac Store is very bold in the way that they allow customers to post opinions where they sell all their gear. I was amazed at how many people were as frustrated as I was at having to spend so much time figuring out what accessories they would need to enjoy their iPod.

I have to say I define the word “accessory” as something that is optional, NOT something that is mandatory. The fact that several people wrote that they were angry that the iPod did not come with the cable so that they can sync their iTunes music to their iPod is ludicrous. The fact that one has to separately purchase the wall adaptor in order to charge the iPod away from a computer is just silly. How can Mac afford to frustrate so many customers is beyond me. It’s as if the iPod is a one time use disposable unit the way it’s sold now. Maybe Bic should put out a disposable unit to compete??? Who wants to recharge their unit anyway? Just throw it away and buy a new one!

How many loving parents have bought an iPod for their kids, only to find out Christmas morning, that they needed a $20 cable just to load music from their computer? So sad. To shell out so much cash, only to disappoint the ones you tried so hard to please. I can understand that selling everything separately is a way to make more money, but that’s the best way to make someone that loves Mac, turn away and run, or worse, turn around and blog.

Plus if they are so interested in making money, where is the top of the line Video iPod that comes in a box with every damn accessory ever needed? We would have bought that one, regardless of price. If I have to spend over an hour reading a site, and am still not sure if I’m getting everything I need, how many others out there like me are NOT purchasing an iPod this season?

Christmas

So I tried to put together a set of winter time Christmas music, but it was tougher than I thought it’d be. After I put it all together, I sat back, and it was a little bleak. Cold, lonely… jeepers heck. It was wintry indeed.

We start off in New York City, a great place to spend the holidays. Mitchell Vaillant tells us all about driving a yellow cab during the holidays in Manhattan in his tune titled, Hackin’. Next up is a bizarre treat, it’s everyone’s favorite terrible band, The Pilots. These kids are all about 14, and the best part is the arguments at the beginning and end of each recording. This tune is from 1979 and titled, Wise Man. I figure all Christmas celebrations have a wise man or two, or three.

A song with a dreamy quiet winter feel is mopehead’s This Boy’s Life. Lazy as a cold day all snuggled up on the couch with a blanket. Frank’s Depression recites Jesus Christ Has Come And Gone. Rain Station warms us up with (Earth Don’t) Fade Away. This Can Free completes the set with Isn’t Life Wonderful? – which sounds like the name of a Christmas movie, so there you go. Happy Holidays Everyone!

Image Enhanced PodcastIMAGE ENHANCED PODCAST – December 7, 2005

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