-You know what I've had just about enough of? The Home Run Derby. I watched two minutes of it last night and in that time I came to the conclusion that it is time to spice up All-Star weekend with some other kind of event. Much like the NBA's dunk contest, it was fun for a few years, but we've just reached the point that we have seen the best we're going to see. The whole reason that homeruns are so great in a game setting is that you never know when one is coming; someone could go deep on any pitch, so you have to constantly be at the ready. The Derby doesn't just remove that anticipation - it makes homeruns repetitive. Also just like the dunk contest, the star power of the participants has dropped considerably. Instead of players who year after year are near the top of the homerun ranks, you have guys who are just having good first halves and even they only plan to enter it once or twice and after they win it they're never in it again out of fear of screwing up their swing. There should be a new kind of contest that the true stars would be interested in trying out. Then again, this is baseball and this is always how they have done it, so don't expect anyone in the league office to try and bring up some fresh ideas for another 40 years.
-I'm curious: has Mel Gibson had a conversation in the last couple of years that someone wasn't recording? With a third audio tape of him screaming at his baby-mama being released yesterday, it sure doesn't feel like it. Not that I feel sorry for the guy, but if you can't have a normal conversation without the fear that it will end up on the news then perhaps it's time to start looking at the people around you. Then again, you reap what you sow, so this could be simply be karma kicking him in the teeth.
-People in the publishing industry are always saying the magazines will far out-live newspapers because it is a more focused group of consumers who will remain loyal because they are getting just the features they want. While I think this is a good theory in principle, it does give me pause when, just two months after renewing a magazine subscription, I start getting mail from that same company about renewing again. They are always willing to offer me a couple free months down the line in exchange for more money now. I feel like if this keeps up at some point I would have years and years of free magazines subscriptions coming my way and that feels like anything but a solid business model.
-As a Red Sox follower I was obviously never a big George Steinbrenner fan, if for no other reason than the Yankees were always in the Sox way. However, you had to respect him because he was what we fans always say we want in an owner - a guy who is willing to do or spend whatever it takes to win. His detractors will point to the firing of managers and demanding that players get haircuts in keeping with the "Yankee Way" but the simple fact of the matter is that when he bought them the team was worth $10 million and now its value is in the billions. The truth is this: if he currently owned the Pirates and had them in contention every year you would never hear a bad word said.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Use Your Time Wisely
Down on Route 6 in Wareham is a great little roadside restaurant called the Kool Kone. While it would never be considered fine dining, the Kone's big attraction are its blue plate specials, where you can get two hotdogs, two hamburgers or two cheeseburgers (or any combination of those you feel like making), fries and a drink for cheap money. Considering the price, the food is actually very good. The downside is that this establishment is popular, therefore usually very crowded and the service is not what you would call 'swift'. It's totally worth the wait, though, because no place is going to be perfect. As you would expect, when I was down the beach last week I went for dinner one night to the Kool Kone. After placing my order I stood off to the side and began to engage in one of my favorite activities, which is people watching. I quickly noticed one of the more annoying things that can happen when you are at one of these roadside fast food places - the people who are never ready to order when it is their turn.
There was a group consisting of a mom, a grandmother and 6 other girls who were probably in their early teens. While they were waiting to approach the ordering window they stood around and began solving all of the problems of the world. However, the one subject they never approached was what everyone was going to have for dinner. Only when it was finally their turn did they think to look at the giant menu that had been hanging over their heads this entire time. Judging by how unprepared they were for this moment, I speculate that they were surprised that this was what was waiting for them at the end of this line they had gotten into. Perhaps they thought this was some sort of pre-ordering station. At this point came the discussions that should have been taking place this entire time: who wanted what, did two of them want to share a blue plate special, who wants onion rings instead of fries, what is everyone having to drink, should we just get a big order and everyone share? On and on this went, while the man who was only going to be ordering for himself stood silently behind them, giving off the vibe that he would rather pull his eyebrows off than be near these people anymore.
It was a fascinating thing to watch, made better by the fact that I had ordered well before them. Now, I'm not to the level of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi but c'mon, people - you have to at least be somewhat ready when it is your turn. Think about it this way - if you don't save a little conversation for when you are waiting for your food to be ready, what are you going to talk about during the rest of dinner? Ration out the conversation and be ready when it is your turn to order. These are not unreasonable requests. I, and the rest of the population that go any kind of fast food restaurant, will thank you for it.
-This week BlockBuster online came through with some good movies in the mail: Sherlock Holmes and Avatar. Now, I had seen Holmes in the theatres, but in addition to just wanting to see it again because it was a good movie, I was curious as to any special features it may have had. After all, that is the main point to renting DVDs - alternate endings, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes features. But, it turns out there weren't any on the DVD. While bummed, I figured that the Avatar DVD must be jam-packed with special features of James Cameron talking about how important he and this movie are. But, alas, no special features on the Avatar DVD either. I really hope this isn't a new trend of putting all the special features on a second DVD that doesn't come along with the rental, because that is really an inconvenient move. Also, it's not smart for Blockbuster, because if they're not going to include the special features then a lot of movies wouldn't even be worth a rental the first time around.
There was a group consisting of a mom, a grandmother and 6 other girls who were probably in their early teens. While they were waiting to approach the ordering window they stood around and began solving all of the problems of the world. However, the one subject they never approached was what everyone was going to have for dinner. Only when it was finally their turn did they think to look at the giant menu that had been hanging over their heads this entire time. Judging by how unprepared they were for this moment, I speculate that they were surprised that this was what was waiting for them at the end of this line they had gotten into. Perhaps they thought this was some sort of pre-ordering station. At this point came the discussions that should have been taking place this entire time: who wanted what, did two of them want to share a blue plate special, who wants onion rings instead of fries, what is everyone having to drink, should we just get a big order and everyone share? On and on this went, while the man who was only going to be ordering for himself stood silently behind them, giving off the vibe that he would rather pull his eyebrows off than be near these people anymore.
It was a fascinating thing to watch, made better by the fact that I had ordered well before them. Now, I'm not to the level of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi but c'mon, people - you have to at least be somewhat ready when it is your turn. Think about it this way - if you don't save a little conversation for when you are waiting for your food to be ready, what are you going to talk about during the rest of dinner? Ration out the conversation and be ready when it is your turn to order. These are not unreasonable requests. I, and the rest of the population that go any kind of fast food restaurant, will thank you for it.
-This week BlockBuster online came through with some good movies in the mail: Sherlock Holmes and Avatar. Now, I had seen Holmes in the theatres, but in addition to just wanting to see it again because it was a good movie, I was curious as to any special features it may have had. After all, that is the main point to renting DVDs - alternate endings, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes features. But, it turns out there weren't any on the DVD. While bummed, I figured that the Avatar DVD must be jam-packed with special features of James Cameron talking about how important he and this movie are. But, alas, no special features on the Avatar DVD either. I really hope this isn't a new trend of putting all the special features on a second DVD that doesn't come along with the rental, because that is really an inconvenient move. Also, it's not smart for Blockbuster, because if they're not going to include the special features then a lot of movies wouldn't even be worth a rental the first time around.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Twitter Catch-Up
I was down at the family beach house for a couple of days and thus wasn't able to keep up with my Twitter account. Hope I didn't miss anything. Anyway, here are some thoughts I collected while I was without Internet access:
-I was watching the news one night when they did a story about a sailboat hitting a barge. During the story I heard what could possibly be the most useless quote in the history of television. A woman who was a 'witness' to the crash said the following: "I thought the sailboat had the right of way due to the direction it was coming, but maybe the barge had the right of way because it was the bigger boat. I don't know who hit who, though, so I'm not really sure what happened." Oh, thank you, you've been very helpful.
-That story followed a report about a duckboat being hit by barge in Philadelphia (apparently barges are hard to get around). Just a couple days prior there was a news story about a whale-watching ferry running aground and nearly sinking off of Hingham. Who knew that boating accidents were like celebrity deaths - apparently they come in threes.
-The news proved to be very interesting that night, because next came a story about a mental patient who escaped early one afternoon from the guards who were supposed to be watching him and attempted to carjack a woman the next town over the following morning. The reporter mentioned that the victim was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was pulling into the parking lot at that moment because she wanted to get to work early that morning. Now, the woman is ok, so I feel like I'm not out of line to mention that she will probably never be early to work ever again, and no one is going to call her out on it.
-One of my go-to movie stations is HBO Comedy, because most of the time they either have a good movie or a stand-up special on. But, the other night when I flipped passed it was showing The Fifth Element. I'm pretty sure when they were making that movie this channel was not their desired ending spot. Apparently, now they've begun showing movie that have unintentional comedy as well. It's only a matter of time before they are showing Honey.
-While walking on the beach I saw two young parents screaming at each other over their not-as-young-as-he-probably-should-be child. They were causing quite the ruckas and thus a lot of people were staring. The main thing they were screaming about? How embarrassed they were that their kid was misbehaving and causing a scene. With all due respect to Ms. Alanis Morissette, I think that has to be the new definition of irony.
-I was watching the news one night when they did a story about a sailboat hitting a barge. During the story I heard what could possibly be the most useless quote in the history of television. A woman who was a 'witness' to the crash said the following: "I thought the sailboat had the right of way due to the direction it was coming, but maybe the barge had the right of way because it was the bigger boat. I don't know who hit who, though, so I'm not really sure what happened." Oh, thank you, you've been very helpful.
-That story followed a report about a duckboat being hit by barge in Philadelphia (apparently barges are hard to get around). Just a couple days prior there was a news story about a whale-watching ferry running aground and nearly sinking off of Hingham. Who knew that boating accidents were like celebrity deaths - apparently they come in threes.
-The news proved to be very interesting that night, because next came a story about a mental patient who escaped early one afternoon from the guards who were supposed to be watching him and attempted to carjack a woman the next town over the following morning. The reporter mentioned that the victim was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was pulling into the parking lot at that moment because she wanted to get to work early that morning. Now, the woman is ok, so I feel like I'm not out of line to mention that she will probably never be early to work ever again, and no one is going to call her out on it.
-One of my go-to movie stations is HBO Comedy, because most of the time they either have a good movie or a stand-up special on. But, the other night when I flipped passed it was showing The Fifth Element. I'm pretty sure when they were making that movie this channel was not their desired ending spot. Apparently, now they've begun showing movie that have unintentional comedy as well. It's only a matter of time before they are showing Honey.
-While walking on the beach I saw two young parents screaming at each other over their not-as-young-as-he-probably-should-be child. They were causing quite the ruckas and thus a lot of people were staring. The main thing they were screaming about? How embarrassed they were that their kid was misbehaving and causing a scene. With all due respect to Ms. Alanis Morissette, I think that has to be the new definition of irony.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
LeBron's Choice
As a one-time journalism major, I have a soft spot in my heart for the movie All The President's Men. All wannabe journalists love this movie, because when you are starting out in college, you think this is what your career is going to be like - working sources behind the scenes to break a story that will change the face of the world as we know it. The reality is covering really bad Division 3 athletic program's games that are attended only by the players' parents and girlfriends or writing stories about how the cost of parking passes is about to go up. Anyway, early in the movie there is a scene where Robert Redford (as Woodward) goes up to Dustin Hoffman (as Bernstein) and scolds him for taking a story off his desk. He looks at him and says, "I don't mind what you did. I mind the way you did it." I couldn't help but keep thinking about this quote on Thursday night as I was watching LeBron James' hour-long special about where he was going to be playing next season. While I don't agree with James' decision to leave the Cavaliers for the Heat (we'll get to why in a second), I can at least understand it. What I just don't get is the need to have an hour-long prime-time special to announce the decision. This could have been 10-15 minutes and no one would have been upset (seriously, I bailed right after he said he was going to the Heat and I think most other people did as well). Really, neither I nor Cavalier fans needed the extra 45 minutes of hearing LeBron refer to himself in the third person or trying to milk this attention for all it was worth.
You know, for a guy that keeps saying he wants to be a global icon and a billionaire, James made a very curious marketing decision. After years of be hyped as the best basketball player, from now on he will been seen by basketball fans as a guy who knows he isn't good enough to win a championship as the lead dog. For example, I never want to here the phrase "King James" ever again. A King doesn't go to someone else's team to be their running mate - he has them come to him. Look, I don't like Kobe Bryant at all, but even I will admit that Kobe never makes this decision. Neither does Jordan, Bird, Magic and certainly not Russell. Those guys were too competitive to leave where they were to try and ride another players coattails to a championship. James supporters will tell you that it's all equal, because both Bosh and Wade are also giving up money. This is about more than the dollars. The fact remains that money is the only thing Wade is giving up while Bosh and James are now two of the more hated men in the NBA. James pretty much gave up his hometown in this move. If this was truly equal then James, Bosh and Wade would have ended up in a city like New Jersey, because that would mean each was risking the same amount. Instead James and Bosh went to Miami, which is Wade's city and will remain Wade's city.
Also, let's slow down all this talk of this team being pencilled in for the next 10 straight NBA titles. Bosh doesn't exactly have a strong playoff history and even if he did, you need 5 guys on a basketball team - the Heat currently have one other player under contract. Media pundits have been pointing to the '08 Celtics as proof that three superstars can coexist and win. They forget that team won not just because of Pierce, Allen and Garnett, but because of guys like Rondo, James Posey and PJ Brown. The Heat need some size, because Dwight Howard is still in the Eastern Conference and Bosh doesn't want to play center (again, that's going to turn out to be money well spent). People think that NBA players will be lining up to take less money for the right to play alongside these guys and normally I would agree, but with a looming lockout and a lot of teams with money left to burn that is not going to be as easy as it sounds. All those teams that cleared a ton of cap space to get Bosh, Wade or James now will be spending it on second, third and occasionally fourth-tiered free agents. It's great that the three stars took less money, but it was going from $18 million to $16 million - they aren't starving. Talking a guy who could make $3 million on a bad team into taking $500,000 for the right to win a championship is going to be harder. I'm not saying that the Heat aren't going to be a great team next season, but let's see how the rest of the offseason plays out before we start mapping out the parade route.
-But hey, at least Cleveland's owner is taking it well. Jees, Dan, come of the ledge a little. I get that you're mad - if I were you, I would be mad as well. With Mo Williams and Jamison as your best scorers, you are looking at 35 wins, tops. Your franchise lost a native son, its best player and about half its value in an hour-long narcissistic and public spectacle (though, you can't be shocked when a man who refers to himself as King and has "Chosen 1" tattooed on his back is a bit full of himself). It would be like getting left at the altar on national television. It wasn't for lack of trying on your part, either. With one or two minor exceptions (waiting to get Shaq in the summer of '09 instead of at the trading deadline in the middle of the season springs to mind), you did everything conceivable to make James happy and keep him in Cleveland. Also, as a man who achieved his wealth fairly early in life, I would assume you're not used to disappointment, so maybe you aren't fully aware of how to deal with this. That being said, you're the owner, you're supposed to be a little more rational than the fans. You should be above petty tactics such as reducing the price of a LeBron James Fathead from $99 to $17.79 in a reflection of the year Benedict Arnold jumped sides. [Sidebar: A Fathead costs a hundred bucks? Seriously? No wonder you weren't afraid of the luxury tax.] I've heard from several people that when you are emotionally hurt, writing to get out all the negative things festering inside of you can be a very healthy thing. But, you're not supposed to send it and you're really not supposed to put it on the team's official website. They say that a man's true character comes out when he's facing adversity. I have to say, Gilbert doesn't look great in all this.
You know, for a guy that keeps saying he wants to be a global icon and a billionaire, James made a very curious marketing decision. After years of be hyped as the best basketball player, from now on he will been seen by basketball fans as a guy who knows he isn't good enough to win a championship as the lead dog. For example, I never want to here the phrase "King James" ever again. A King doesn't go to someone else's team to be their running mate - he has them come to him. Look, I don't like Kobe Bryant at all, but even I will admit that Kobe never makes this decision. Neither does Jordan, Bird, Magic and certainly not Russell. Those guys were too competitive to leave where they were to try and ride another players coattails to a championship. James supporters will tell you that it's all equal, because both Bosh and Wade are also giving up money. This is about more than the dollars. The fact remains that money is the only thing Wade is giving up while Bosh and James are now two of the more hated men in the NBA. James pretty much gave up his hometown in this move. If this was truly equal then James, Bosh and Wade would have ended up in a city like New Jersey, because that would mean each was risking the same amount. Instead James and Bosh went to Miami, which is Wade's city and will remain Wade's city.
Also, let's slow down all this talk of this team being pencilled in for the next 10 straight NBA titles. Bosh doesn't exactly have a strong playoff history and even if he did, you need 5 guys on a basketball team - the Heat currently have one other player under contract. Media pundits have been pointing to the '08 Celtics as proof that three superstars can coexist and win. They forget that team won not just because of Pierce, Allen and Garnett, but because of guys like Rondo, James Posey and PJ Brown. The Heat need some size, because Dwight Howard is still in the Eastern Conference and Bosh doesn't want to play center (again, that's going to turn out to be money well spent). People think that NBA players will be lining up to take less money for the right to play alongside these guys and normally I would agree, but with a looming lockout and a lot of teams with money left to burn that is not going to be as easy as it sounds. All those teams that cleared a ton of cap space to get Bosh, Wade or James now will be spending it on second, third and occasionally fourth-tiered free agents. It's great that the three stars took less money, but it was going from $18 million to $16 million - they aren't starving. Talking a guy who could make $3 million on a bad team into taking $500,000 for the right to win a championship is going to be harder. I'm not saying that the Heat aren't going to be a great team next season, but let's see how the rest of the offseason plays out before we start mapping out the parade route.
-But hey, at least Cleveland's owner is taking it well. Jees, Dan, come of the ledge a little. I get that you're mad - if I were you, I would be mad as well. With Mo Williams and Jamison as your best scorers, you are looking at 35 wins, tops. Your franchise lost a native son, its best player and about half its value in an hour-long narcissistic and public spectacle (though, you can't be shocked when a man who refers to himself as King and has "Chosen 1" tattooed on his back is a bit full of himself). It would be like getting left at the altar on national television. It wasn't for lack of trying on your part, either. With one or two minor exceptions (waiting to get Shaq in the summer of '09 instead of at the trading deadline in the middle of the season springs to mind), you did everything conceivable to make James happy and keep him in Cleveland. Also, as a man who achieved his wealth fairly early in life, I would assume you're not used to disappointment, so maybe you aren't fully aware of how to deal with this. That being said, you're the owner, you're supposed to be a little more rational than the fans. You should be above petty tactics such as reducing the price of a LeBron James Fathead from $99 to $17.79 in a reflection of the year Benedict Arnold jumped sides. [Sidebar: A Fathead costs a hundred bucks? Seriously? No wonder you weren't afraid of the luxury tax.] I've heard from several people that when you are emotionally hurt, writing to get out all the negative things festering inside of you can be a very healthy thing. But, you're not supposed to send it and you're really not supposed to put it on the team's official website. They say that a man's true character comes out when he's facing adversity. I have to say, Gilbert doesn't look great in all this.
Friday, July 9, 2010
You're Making Me Look Bad
I'm really hesitant to recommend things to other people. I know that my own view can be a bit narrow and because of this I don't usually like to advise people about movies or restaurants. Just because I like something does not mean it will be universally well-received. Also, I usually roll with things not working perfectly and what I might deem as an acceptable flaw could be a deal-breaker to someone else. I was reminded of this a couple weeks ago when I told a friend of mine about Skype. His sister had recently had a baby and he wanted to see the little one as often as he could, so I suggested he try Skype as a way to see the family without having to get on a plane. Now, I would never classify this particular person as "tech-savvy", but I thought he could handle it. I tried to reassure him that Skype was easy to use and he wouldn't have any problems. Of course, Skype let me down. He couldn't connect at first and then when he did the connection was choppy and bad. So typical. The worst part of this was that my friend is not into technology, because you know that if he was a computer programmer the Skype connection would have worked flawlessly. This kind of stuff never happens when the person you recommend a product to is the kind of person who would understand that sometimes there is just a bad connection or sometimes the Internet just doesn't feel like cooperating. It only fails when the person already thinks that computers are the devil.
This phenomenon of things suddenly deciding to change their behavior at the worst possible time occurs in other areas of life as well, only don't forget it can be the reverse - they'll go from broken to fixed. Objects will continue to not work properly until it comes time for them to not work in front of the key person, at which point they always magically get repaired without any help. Your car is a prime example. It could be making an unhealthy sound every time you drive it around for an entire year, but that noise will invariably stop once you finally have the money to take the car to the shop. Driving it in you're convince you might as well be dragging your engine behind you, but by the time the professionals hook it up to one of those diagnostic machines that vehicle will be humming like a Ferrari. Suddenly the mechanic thinks you're somebody who doesn't know anything about cars (fine, that part is true) and that you're just wasting everybody's time. Then you have to do that half-mumbled explanation, "Oh, well, it's not doing it now" while trying not to look like an idiot. Even your own body can betray you. Ever made an appointment to go to the doctor with some kind of joint pain? The morning of your scheduled visit will be the first pain-free wake-up you've had in months. Making a doctor's appointment might sometimes be the best medicine available.
-I want all the Twilight and True Blood people who think this vampire craze is going to last forever to pay attention to this particular mini-rambling. This week for some reason the premium movie channels have been showing Mel Brooks' take on horror, Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Now, this came out in 1994, which was the last time the vampire craze was going on, following Bram Stoker's Dracula and Interview with a Vampire. The fact that we went through a vampire craze 15 years ago and I barely remember it is further proof that is only a matter of time before we as a society will move away from shows and movies like Twilight and forget about vampires for another decade (and I am confident that I will be able to wait the craze out). I just want you all to be ready to laugh at yourselves in 2025. As for the comedy version of vampires - have you ever re-watched a movie a long time after originally seeing it? It can almost be like seeing it for the first time all over again. I saw this movie when it originally came out back in the early 1990s and I remember thinking it was funny; 15 years later I find it just as funny, but for different reasons. At 30 I get a lot more of Mel Brooks' humor than I did at 14, even though silly is funny at any age. Now, I would never pretend that it was as good as Brooks movies like Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles, but I will say this - it is the closest I will ever come to enjoying a vampire movie.
This phenomenon of things suddenly deciding to change their behavior at the worst possible time occurs in other areas of life as well, only don't forget it can be the reverse - they'll go from broken to fixed. Objects will continue to not work properly until it comes time for them to not work in front of the key person, at which point they always magically get repaired without any help. Your car is a prime example. It could be making an unhealthy sound every time you drive it around for an entire year, but that noise will invariably stop once you finally have the money to take the car to the shop. Driving it in you're convince you might as well be dragging your engine behind you, but by the time the professionals hook it up to one of those diagnostic machines that vehicle will be humming like a Ferrari. Suddenly the mechanic thinks you're somebody who doesn't know anything about cars (fine, that part is true) and that you're just wasting everybody's time. Then you have to do that half-mumbled explanation, "Oh, well, it's not doing it now" while trying not to look like an idiot. Even your own body can betray you. Ever made an appointment to go to the doctor with some kind of joint pain? The morning of your scheduled visit will be the first pain-free wake-up you've had in months. Making a doctor's appointment might sometimes be the best medicine available.
-I want all the Twilight and True Blood people who think this vampire craze is going to last forever to pay attention to this particular mini-rambling. This week for some reason the premium movie channels have been showing Mel Brooks' take on horror, Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Now, this came out in 1994, which was the last time the vampire craze was going on, following Bram Stoker's Dracula and Interview with a Vampire. The fact that we went through a vampire craze 15 years ago and I barely remember it is further proof that is only a matter of time before we as a society will move away from shows and movies like Twilight and forget about vampires for another decade (and I am confident that I will be able to wait the craze out). I just want you all to be ready to laugh at yourselves in 2025. As for the comedy version of vampires - have you ever re-watched a movie a long time after originally seeing it? It can almost be like seeing it for the first time all over again. I saw this movie when it originally came out back in the early 1990s and I remember thinking it was funny; 15 years later I find it just as funny, but for different reasons. At 30 I get a lot more of Mel Brooks' humor than I did at 14, even though silly is funny at any age. Now, I would never pretend that it was as good as Brooks movies like Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles, but I will say this - it is the closest I will ever come to enjoying a vampire movie.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
It Appears I've Wasted My Time
Nothing makes me happier than stupid projects. I've mentioned before that I am currently working on copying my old VHS movies to DVD (I'm still having trouble getting around that whole "protected content" issue, but I should finish just in time for DVDs to become outdated thanks to Blu-Ray) and I previously completed updating my iTunes library - making sure all songs had the correct title, artist, track number, album info and cover art. While I was updating this information I also took the time to individually rate my entire iTunes library catalog. Now, when I told my friends I was doing this most of them commented that didn't even know that this was an option, but not only did I want to give every song a star rating (1-5), I put some thought into my rating system. I wouldn't want to give a song a high rating, only to be sick of it in three months and cursing myself for stupidly thinking that some new song would stand the test of time. Here was the system I came up with for rating my library:
* - Song beds, audio clips: Stuff I used when I worked in radio that I just have never bothered to get rid of.
** - Comedy clips, poor-quality recordings, stuff I downloaded for other people: This stuff is usually from my early downloading days, before I would take the time to make sure this was the best copy I could get, or songs I don't like but don't want to delete, just in case.
*** - Good songs, not great: I played it conservatively and so this was where the majority of my music ended up.
**** - Either fantastic songs I have liked for at least 5 years or good songs by a trusted band: Not a lot of songs managed to get ranked this high. (Even now I'm debating giving "Sultans of Swing" a four-star rating. I must have done that during the height of baseball season.)
***** - My favorite songs by my favorite bands: Without looking I would estimate that only 15 songs out of over 1,000 made the cut for a five-star rating. It really is the best of the best.
I had a reason for doing this, I swear. The thing about me is that I, like the majority of the world, am sick of most of my iTunes library. 75% of my library consists of songs that got old really fast, I bought on an impulse or I downloaded because they reminded me of an ex-girlfriend and I was in a self-pitying kind of mood. However, that remaining 25% is made up of some great music that I never get sick of hearing. Now, the current iTunes "DJ" option, which I have talked about on a previous post, kind of sucks. It won't allow you to skip over songs; it just bumps the song on the list you would rather hear to the top. Meanwhile, those songs you're in no mood to hear just stay in line, lurking. But, there is an option that you can click on which reads "Play higher-ranked songs more often." So, I thought that by going through and actually ranking my songs, I would bring the 25% of my library to the front more often.
You know what I discovered? It doesn't matter in the slightest. The five-star songs bubble up just as often as the two-star songs. Apparently, the rating system is only there for my own personal use. Clearly my iTunes doesn't take it into account, otherwise songs that I haven't listened to all the way through since 2008 wouldn't come up as much as "Dream On" by Aerosmith. So, take it from me - unless you want to dazzle your friends with how much of a music snob you can be when it comes to the music that you already own - you can skip taking the time to rate your iTunes library.
* - Song beds, audio clips: Stuff I used when I worked in radio that I just have never bothered to get rid of.
** - Comedy clips, poor-quality recordings, stuff I downloaded for other people: This stuff is usually from my early downloading days, before I would take the time to make sure this was the best copy I could get, or songs I don't like but don't want to delete, just in case.
*** - Good songs, not great: I played it conservatively and so this was where the majority of my music ended up.
**** - Either fantastic songs I have liked for at least 5 years or good songs by a trusted band: Not a lot of songs managed to get ranked this high. (Even now I'm debating giving "Sultans of Swing" a four-star rating. I must have done that during the height of baseball season.)
***** - My favorite songs by my favorite bands: Without looking I would estimate that only 15 songs out of over 1,000 made the cut for a five-star rating. It really is the best of the best.
I had a reason for doing this, I swear. The thing about me is that I, like the majority of the world, am sick of most of my iTunes library. 75% of my library consists of songs that got old really fast, I bought on an impulse or I downloaded because they reminded me of an ex-girlfriend and I was in a self-pitying kind of mood. However, that remaining 25% is made up of some great music that I never get sick of hearing. Now, the current iTunes "DJ" option, which I have talked about on a previous post, kind of sucks. It won't allow you to skip over songs; it just bumps the song on the list you would rather hear to the top. Meanwhile, those songs you're in no mood to hear just stay in line, lurking. But, there is an option that you can click on which reads "Play higher-ranked songs more often." So, I thought that by going through and actually ranking my songs, I would bring the 25% of my library to the front more often.
You know what I discovered? It doesn't matter in the slightest. The five-star songs bubble up just as often as the two-star songs. Apparently, the rating system is only there for my own personal use. Clearly my iTunes doesn't take it into account, otherwise songs that I haven't listened to all the way through since 2008 wouldn't come up as much as "Dream On" by Aerosmith. So, take it from me - unless you want to dazzle your friends with how much of a music snob you can be when it comes to the music that you already own - you can skip taking the time to rate your iTunes library.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
It's Just Business
One of the great things about athletics is that most of the time you can find logic in them - nothing happens just because. If a guy falls in the draft we always discover a reason for it later (bad workout, failed drug test). If your team is continually near the bottoms of the standings, there is also likely a reason. Usually the reason is that the front office is being run by idiots who still take stuff personally, when they need to treat sports like a business. Take, for example, the ongoing saga of Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors. Bosh is a free agent and has had his bags packed to leave Toronto since last summer. The wrench in his plan is that, in an effort to have players and teams stay together longer, the NBA has set it up so that free agents get the most money by re-signing with their current teams (they can make around $30 million more by staying). This set-up benefits both sides because now, even if the player is set on leaving, it has become commonplace for the original team to sign the player to a contract worth more than another team could offer him, but then trade them to the team they wanted to sign with. The player gets his maximum deal and the team he's leaving can get players or draft picks in return. Bosh has said from the beginning he wants the max deal that the Raptors can offer him, but he doesn't want to stay in Toronto. However, Toronto has talked to the teams Bosh would be interested in joining (Miami, New York and Chicago) and has decided that they don't like what is being offered in return. Also, they aren't thrilled with the fact that Bosh appears to be really enjoying his free agency tour and has been constantly Tweeting about his meetings. Therefore, they are perfectly willing to let Bosh walk with nothing in return.
Look, I appreciate spite as much as the next guy, so I get why Toronto is in no rush to help Bosh make an extra $30 million. All they have done for seven years is build him up as this elite player (even though he's only been able to get his team into the playoffs twice, which in the Eastern Conference only requires a .500 record, and he's never gotten them out of the first round), yet the first chance he gets he's halfway out the door while the season is still going on. On top of that, he wants them to help him make extra money as he leaves and he only wants to go to a few specific places, which other teams know and that kills any leverage the Raptors may have had to get the best deal. It is a really dick move. Still, refusing to do a sign-and-trade is just going to hurt the Raptors more than it would Bosh. While I certainly don't have a high enough opinion of Bosh to think he warrants a max-level deal from any team, there are those out there who run NBA teams who do. He's going to get a ton of money whether the Raptors help or not. Sure, he'd like the $120 million the sign-and-trade would bring, but he won't be starving by signing with Chicago or Miami for only $90 million. In their petty effort to cost a former player some money all the Raptors are actually doing is hurting the remaining team. Normally in pro sports the teams have the upper hand instead of the players, but in this situation the roles are reversed. The Raptors may not like it, but in this case I think they may have to just deal with not liking how this turns out. The shame of it all is that the Raptors actually have some of the best fans in the NBA and they're the ones really getting screwed by this. He's leaving anyways, Toronto, at least get something in return for your investment.
-I always have had an appreciation for those little things in life that we all just do. We unanimously agree on so little nowadays, so I always take notice when it happens. The other night I was up at the local track running laps with my cousin (alright, I was walking, she was running). When we showed up there was only one other person on the track, but as we were going another 5-10 people showed up. The thing is, they all decided to walk the same direction, which was counter-clockwise. This, as it always does, got me to thinking: no one has ever told me that that is the direction I have to walk, but whenever I'm on a track I go counter-clockwise. Who made this decision for us, and why do we all just go along with it? Really, what would be the worse thing that would happen if you wanted to walk clockwise? Also, if I was down in Australia, would everyone be walking the opposite way? I had so many questions. At least I can provide you with one answer: yes, I did forget to bring my iPod and thus had a mile and half to think about this kind of crap.
Look, I appreciate spite as much as the next guy, so I get why Toronto is in no rush to help Bosh make an extra $30 million. All they have done for seven years is build him up as this elite player (even though he's only been able to get his team into the playoffs twice, which in the Eastern Conference only requires a .500 record, and he's never gotten them out of the first round), yet the first chance he gets he's halfway out the door while the season is still going on. On top of that, he wants them to help him make extra money as he leaves and he only wants to go to a few specific places, which other teams know and that kills any leverage the Raptors may have had to get the best deal. It is a really dick move. Still, refusing to do a sign-and-trade is just going to hurt the Raptors more than it would Bosh. While I certainly don't have a high enough opinion of Bosh to think he warrants a max-level deal from any team, there are those out there who run NBA teams who do. He's going to get a ton of money whether the Raptors help or not. Sure, he'd like the $120 million the sign-and-trade would bring, but he won't be starving by signing with Chicago or Miami for only $90 million. In their petty effort to cost a former player some money all the Raptors are actually doing is hurting the remaining team. Normally in pro sports the teams have the upper hand instead of the players, but in this situation the roles are reversed. The Raptors may not like it, but in this case I think they may have to just deal with not liking how this turns out. The shame of it all is that the Raptors actually have some of the best fans in the NBA and they're the ones really getting screwed by this. He's leaving anyways, Toronto, at least get something in return for your investment.
-I always have had an appreciation for those little things in life that we all just do. We unanimously agree on so little nowadays, so I always take notice when it happens. The other night I was up at the local track running laps with my cousin (alright, I was walking, she was running). When we showed up there was only one other person on the track, but as we were going another 5-10 people showed up. The thing is, they all decided to walk the same direction, which was counter-clockwise. This, as it always does, got me to thinking: no one has ever told me that that is the direction I have to walk, but whenever I'm on a track I go counter-clockwise. Who made this decision for us, and why do we all just go along with it? Really, what would be the worse thing that would happen if you wanted to walk clockwise? Also, if I was down in Australia, would everyone be walking the opposite way? I had so many questions. At least I can provide you with one answer: yes, I did forget to bring my iPod and thus had a mile and half to think about this kind of crap.
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