( 4:33 PM )
Apple of My Eye
So I think I’ve got a new concept for a blog. Not sure if I’m actually going to do it, but it’s my first halfway decent idea to have a reason to come here and post. But I’ll get to that later!
For now, I just want to say something about Apple. You see, my iPod died on Labor Day. I went through a week of mourning and disbelief and then asked Orcutt what to do to fix it (he’s been through the iPod fix routine before. Which is one of the big problems with iPods – fixing them becomes a routine.). So on Monday 9/12 I went online, set an appointment at the Apple store in Soho, went and found that since I wasn’t there at my appointed time, I was SOL for that day and had to come back tomorrow. Realizing that I had to wait until around 11am to go online and set the appointment, I did it right and got there on time, only to find that it would be about an hour before they could see me. I waited about 40 minutes at the Genius Bar and got lucky when a “Genius” (that’s what Apple calls them, but if they were really geniuses, they obviously wouldn’t be working there) walked down the aisle and asked people if they had an iPod problem (as opposed to other Apple items). He took a look, put it to his ear, took it to someone who was probably more of a “Genius” then he, came back and told me I had to go online to order a replacement because they couldn’t fix it and didn’t have my model on hand (a 40 gigger because you can never have too much music).
So now I was a little mad because I wanted my Poddy McMusic with me for an upcoming trip. But I had no choice but to do their dance and on Tuesday night 9/13 I ordered the replacement. Apple, being nobody’s fool, requires you to send them the broken ‘pod before they send you a replacement (unlike my Treo, who sent the replacement and then required a return of the broken one within 10 days. Have you noticed a pattern of problems with ‘the new technology’ here?). But Apple has to send you the box to ship it in (it’s all padded and cushy and pretty much impossible to break). So I’m thinking this whole process is going to take forever and I wont’ have it for the trip. On Thursday the box arrived and I sent it back immediately. Yesteday 9/21, Poddy McMusic II arrived all brand new and waiting for me to fill it up. I was happy. Until I got home and had to go through the rigamarole of fixing various bugs to make it communicate with my PC.
But we’re all fixed now and while walking the streets of the Big Apple today I remembered why & how I got so addicted to this little while machine. My iPod is single handedly responsible for reigniting my interest in music again. Not only have I bought 500 songs from the iTunes store (which I believed earned me enough brownie points to “file share” another 500 or 5000 or so songs), but I’m digging into new and old songs/bands again. Poddy and me have been together for nearly 9 months now and I’m only up to 6000 songs on the unit (because I’m fairly particular, ok anal, about what goes on it. I mean I’m in random play mode most of the time and I don’t see the point of allowing one bad to mediocre song on it), but thank goodness it’s back.
So if you see a rather handsome dude walking along with black earphones in his head (I went back to my Sony phones because the Apple headphones suck), dancing, sidestepping, mouthing and sometimes singing out loud, it’s probably me. Thanks for the timely turnaround Apple. You’re not so bad after all.
--Badfinger
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( 2:00 PM )
When The Levee Breaks
Sorry about the title, but I couldn't resist.
Damn. I'm humbled, saddened, distraught, angry and freaked out about New Orleans. Nawlins is one of THEE five great American cities (NY & SF come immediately to mind, Chicago and Austin could be thrown in there, LA probably not, Seattle, Memphis, and unfortunately Las Vegas are debate-able) and to think that it may not exist - at least for a long while - is simply unacceptable.
The music. The food. The culture. The music. Jazzfest. Mardi Gras. The food. The gardens. Drinking. No doubt that it's Satan's playpen, but that's no reason for it to be gone.
So I'm bummed. But then I get annoyed when I heard YOUR dumb ass president say, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." Yet we knew that was bullshit because the Army Corps of Engineers, city & state officials and even these media outlets reported on the "potential" problem many moons ago ( http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-rutten2sep02,0,1982966.column?coll=cl-calendar ). How does W get away with saying things like that?
Meanwhile, YOUR disgraceful Speaker of the House said "it looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." Yeah, let's just destroy the horrible living condidtions these poverty-stricken people were living in. Fuck them, who need 'em, right Dennis? And YOUR head of Homeland Security said, "Some people chose not to obey that [mandatory evacuation] order. That was a mistake on their part." Yep - praying that you'll make it through a hurricane because you're waiting to get paid on the first of the month so that you can buy a few gallons of $3.00/gallon gas to escape when you didn't know what was going to happen - yeah that's a life CHOICE that you made when you decided to be poor. Aren't these guys supposed to be Compassionate Conservatives?
They're saying that this was worst than 9/11 and I would have to agree. The Apple was emotionally freaked out everywhere, but it was only physically fucked in a few square blocks downtown (so to speak). We've got a national treasure on the edge of life and death and I don't know what to do or say. But I will pray and send some good vibrations down to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Cause Lord knows they've given the good vibe to anyone who's come their way.
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break, [X2]
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]...
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned, [X2]
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down....
--Led Zeppelin
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