blog – Page 14 – THOMnottom

The day the (e)Music died

This post began as one with much lyrical prose attempting to explain how my methods of musical aquisitions have changed over the years. But that became tiring. And led to this not being posted for a week. Essentially I just want to rant about the recent changes over at eMusic. Changes that have me on the verge of cancelling my account after 5 years of membership.

For those unaware, eMusic is a subscription music service. But unlike streaming services from Napster or Rhapsody, you subscribe to get a certain number of downloads each month. Each download gets you one song. Why would you buy music in this method? Because it was freakin’ cheap. On my current plan I typically pay $2 per album. Of course the follow up question is how could they sell mp3s for so little? And that has 2 answers. First, it was primarily indie, classical, jazz, and international artists that don’t sell nearly as much as the major label acts. Second, well, apparently they couldn’t…

A week ago Sony became the first of the major labels to offer some of their catalog on eMusic. In celebration, eMusic raised their rates. Significantly. Now I have no problem admitting that their business model was probably threatened and that my 17 cent per song account could not last forever, but they managed to butcher the situation worse than just about anybody could imagine.

Even though the “announcement” of the changes was made at the end of May, not a single e-mail to subscribers was ever sent. The original letter from the CEO was actually posted to a blog that they refer to as “unofficial”.
That post only spoke about the introduction of the Sony catalog – it conveniently ignored that they had already begun to implement a massive overhaul of their pricing structure.
Sony… SONY?!?! They went with the most heinous of the 4 major labels? This company holds nothing but contempt for their customers and that’s who they go with? The company that saw nothing wrong with infecting their customers’ computers with malware?
Oh, and we won’t even get the latest from Sony. Just the stuff more than 2 years old that MOST OF US ALREADY OWN!
They don’t just end the grandfathering of old accounts (something they claimed they would never do) – they come up with a whole new set of them. My friends who were on smaller plans then me would actually be switched (assuming they didn’t cancel) to a better plan than I am allowed to chose.
A couple posts on the message board claimed that they were listening, but several important questions were ignored, which leads us to the biggest screwup:
Album-only tracks are introduced raising the costs of many albums to 12 based, not just on track length, but on popularity (that’s right – no cherry picking the good stuff from Bad or The Final Countdown). Despite several pleas from their subscribers to clarify the concept of album pricing before July, the eMusic PR person… well… lied. She said it meant a discount and never addressed the fears that some people had about 7 and 8 track albums suddenly costing 12 downloads. Which turned out to be correct.

Most of this is pretty meaningless outside of the eMusic message board, but that won’t stop me from ranting here. Fortunately they’re stuck giving me my old rate until February. But at that point I’ll see the cost of some 3 and 4 track jazz albums skyrocket from 50 cents to $5 (yes they needed a price increase – but not that much). Rather than downloading 8 or 9 albums a month, I’d only get 3 – for about the same price. I’m willing to accept a certain amount of change, but it is doubtful that they can rectify the botch job that was this Sony rollout enough to convince me to say. And that’s a little sad considering how much great music I’ve discovered over there these past few years thanks to the low cost of exploration.

Then again, after the loads of cheap and free music I’ve acquired over the last year in particular maybe it’s time for me to take a break from acquiring and focus on listening…

Yard sale liveblogging – Day 2

I definitely should have been covering our yard sale yesterday on Twitter. The excitement of updates like “Some lady claimed $20 for 8 place settings was not a bargain…” or “I just spent 15 minutes trying to prove that a $10 microwave still works – JUST TOUCH THE FREAKING CUP! IT’S WARM!” would have driven my stats through the roof. If only it had occurred to me that my wireless access actually works outside… That’s why I’m blogging now. We’ve got some leftover crap that’s all in the “under 2 dollar” range (much of it free) and I’m stuck playing retailer for any stragglers while The Woman tries to get Kayleigh down for a nap.

But it’s a beautiful day outside – perfect to take advantage of the mobility of modern computing. D’oh! Just lost Internet briefly. Maybe modern computing isn’t as wonderous as though.

As hectic as yesterday was, we did well for such a disorganized bunch (thank you so much to all of our friends that swung by and provided us with help/goods/company/distraction). Cut the money in half and I would still have been thankful just to be rid of so much bulky crap in our basement. There was a little anxiety towards the end with so many unsold items left, but eventually we ditched 2 air conditioners, a microwave oven, a wet/dry vac, 2 light fixtures, 16 plates, 8 bowls, and 8 mugs. Lots of other little chachkas made their way into other people’s lives, but not having to return large metal devices to their resting place in our basement was the biggest win.

And today, with just a small amount of foot traffic, I can proudly proclaim that both of the large mirrors that taunted me all yesterday have left our possession. Yes, this weekend was a total win!

As much as I’d like to have another go at this later in the year, Craiglist and eBay will most likely be the tools of use for the remainder. The haggling drives me crazy. Going for a bargain is one thing. Acting annoyed because someone won’t sell crystal that’s worth $70 for less than $15 is another. And you know that people who balked at a DVD for a couple bucks will think nothing to pick it up in the store for over ten. At least we didn’t have someone trying to talk us down from a dime to a nickel like last time.

Later today it’ll be back inside to clean up the mess left behind. The only annoying part of getting rid of clutter is realizing just how much more was hiding behind it…

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

I think it’s safe to assume that you’ve all heard the news. Thankfully I’ve already posted a couple times this month because it would really bug me to break my silence over the death of such a bizarre pop icon. And let’s face it, the jokes are too easy, the tributes are too schmaltzy, and nostalgia is too glossy. But that doesn’t change the fact that a man who touched so many of our lives passed away and that makes us all take a step back for reflection.

Thriller was the first album for me. I was planning a list of the top 10 albums to impact my life, and it was #1 (chronologically at least). This was the album that made me, as a nervous little kid, figure out how to work that record player. I remember looking over the album cover and reading the lyrics while the music played in the background. And what makes that an even greater memory is that so many of us share in it.

A couple years ago there was an article in Paste Magazine about missing Michael Jackson. Not simply missing the talented singer/dancer/entertainer, but missing the concept of the huge pop star that everybody loves. In this day and age of constantly looking for the next great thing, we lose one of the best parts of music and pop culture in general – sharing the experience with other people. We all knew – and still know – Thriller inside and out. Just queue up that song in the middle of any group and someone will start acting out the video – and everybody else will recognize it.

Look at some of the big viral videos the last few years: Indian Thriller, Prison Thriller, A Capella Thriller… Even before those there was Alien Ant Farm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal”. We all recognize and cling to our common past.

Oh crap… am I veering towards schmaltzy?

At this point let me just say that I agree with Chris’s take on MJ. I wanted a comeback (with or without the capital C). I wanted to have a king of pop again. As much as I wanted to dislike everything he did after Thriller, that would ignore “Smooth Criminal”, “Black and White”, “Remember the Time”, “Leave Me Alone”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, etc. The video for “Bad” turned me off so much, but that didn’t change the fact that I actually continued to enjoy his music – come on, I LIKED MOONWALKER!

I’d like to say that this is the end of an era, but that era ended long ago. We may still cling to it in the 80s revival genre of movies and music, but it’s far from the same thing. Still, there’s a modicum of sorrow no matter how late we say goodbye to the past. At least we can still enjoy the music… and in this case maybe we can enjoy it even more without the bizarre personal sideshow that has plagued it for years.

Belated Father’s Day

One part of my gift for this past Father’s Day mirrored part of my gift for The Woman back on Mother’s Day – a tear-jerking slideshow set to appropriately maudlin music. Although it was uploaded to Youtube somewhat quickly, it was never posted here because… because our copyright laws are retarded. There, I said it. Here’s the video in its current state; please sing CSN’s “Our House” while viewing:

I plan on substituting another song, but haven’t had the chance to do it. And in the meantime I’m avoiding turning this into a rant against the ridiculous music industry…

Along with the slideshow, I got an awesome tie. It’s not just awesome because its beautiful and cool (which it is), but because it’d the stereotypical dad gift – and that makes me feel like a real part of the club. But the nicest part of the surprise was a copy of “Where the Wild Things Are” (along with a little stuffed Max), which I promptly read to my little girl. And yes, my voice cracked midway through.

Fortunately I was able to compose myself long enough to partake in a breakfast burrito and bacon/avocado omelet at Raymond’s. It was a good day.

Your moment of (baby) zen #5

When it rains, it pours

So I started writing something a couple nights ago. But sleep has a tendency to rob me of those late night posts that I used to… you know… post. So I thought I’d finish it during a break at work. But the rain has just played havoc with some critical lines, and left me with no free time. And then the following night we were faced with a difficult night of attempted baby-sleeping. Which brought me to this morning, when I figured I could finish my thoughts or at least upload some baby zen. But that needs an Internet connection…

Yeah, of course, as soon as I get some time it’s spent fixing something. In this case I was stuck yelling at some automated troubleshooting agent from Verizon… “Are there any lights on the router?” “One” “How many are there?” “ONE!” “I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand you. Did you say fun?” “THERE IS ONE LIGHT YOU STUPID PIECE OF…”

Let’s just say that I’m not a fan. But after 10 or 15 or 20 or whatever minutes they agreed to send me a new router. This would be far less frustrating if I hadn’t just spent a few hours last week taking out my old router and switching back to Verizon’s because of “issues”. Fortunately my other old router (one that Verizon forgot to ask be returned) is acting as a suitable replacement for now.

But in case you couldn’t guess by now, inspiration has totally left the building. It’s been a struggle to get this far and I have no idea what to write… wait a second… inspiration… a new reality show: fat women, old women, strippers and midgets compete for the love of a blind man. That’s so money, baby!

Alright, maybe it’s time for me to shut down for the night…

Your moment of (baby) zen #4

Happy Mother’s Day

This isn’t the video I wanted to make, but it will have to do. For my beautiful wife, who has given me the most wonderful gift that is Kayleigh. Happy Mother’s Day.

P.S. For those curious about the music, “Danny’s Song” was the first song that we used regularly to put Kayleigh to sleep. It’s now embedded in my head forever.

Your moment of (baby) zen #3

Take my money, please!

We’ve been itching to get some work done on our house. Nothing too big…actually we wanted something very big. There is a plan. A master plan. A master plan that involves knocking out walls and parts of the roof and rearranging plumbing. A master plan that would turn our humble “3” bedroom cape (our office/den is counted as a bedroom while the ones upstairs are awkward and small) into a spacious home with plenty of room on both floors.

But that plan had a flaw. And that flaw was the need for money. Specifically a need for money when the global economy decided to flush itself down the proverbial crapper. After a couple months of toying with the idea and speaking with some contractors I finally caved and called a bank. And they laughed at me. Alright, maybe they were actually polite about it, but some words were bandied about that didn’t put me in the best of moods. Words like “not economically feasible” and “decreasing property value” and “fat chance” and “stupid”.

It was disappointing because we managed to find a local contractor that seemed like the perfect choice to do the work. He suggested ways to cut costs even though he was already cheaper than other estimates, showed us some of his other work, took us to his office, bought me coffee, and was just generally a friendly guy. Once the money started to evaporate, we talked to him about doing the outside work that we need for safety reasons with the hope that next year some of the master plan could go into effect. And that’s where it currently ends.

And I’m left wondering, why do contractors not want my money? You see, we already started talking to some people last year about our crumbling front steps, potholed driveway, and collapsed retaining wall. They came in with some great ideas and put together some initial estimates. But once serious adjustments were made… where’d everybody go? Seriously, doesn’t anybody want money these days? Or are all contractors required to be flighty, inconsistent, and at least slightly unethical?

Unfortunately the hardscaping is not something I can do on my own (or even with the help of drunken friends). This isn’t like ripping out sheetrock or putting up shelves or replacing electrical components. We’re talking about demolishing brick steps, removing a concrete walkway, hauling lots of dirt and rocks, building a wall, and paving a driveway. My cordless drill, reciprocating saw, Wonder Bar, and large tub of joint compound just ain’t gonna cut it. Even if I drag up the sledge hammer chances are a few more bricks will be loosened and we’ll end up be using the side stairs for the next 3 years.

For all I know by this time tomorrow someone will get back to us with some concrete (har har!) numbers and we can start making plans to upgrade the decaying rubble look of our front yard properly. But I’m beginning to think the next time The Money Pit is on TV I’ll mistake it for a documentary…