My Thermos

Normally on Friday I try to do the Top 5 on Friday via Music Memoirs, but this week it's about 80's music videos. Since I believe that video did indeed kill the radio star, I'm going to pass. I might still do the Tuesday Tunes word association as those are always fun.

I've contributed a couple of interesting reviews to Web Worker Daily over the last couple of weeks. Remember, while you can pull up a list of just my articles, we've got a great group of authors so I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Thanks to Michael Wade at Execupundit for his frequent mentions of my little blog. I don't actively seek backlinks so while each one I get is an honor, his site is amongst those I regard most highly so I truly appreciate his acknowledgement.

Shout out to the good folks over at Nylvi for the very fine Paul Weller LP they sent out to me as my prize for a recent contest they held. If you're a vinyl junkie, you have to check them out.

On MichaelPhelps

Look, I don't blame Michael Phelps for apologizing. He has a living to earn, so he did what he had to do.

In the meantime, I merely note that this broken wreck of a man's failure to win any more than a pathetic fourteen Olympic gold medals (so far) is a terrifying warning of the horrific damage that cannabis can do to someone's health—and a powerful reminder of just how sensible the drug laws really are

Taken From - Via

The 25 things about me meme is big all over Facebook and elsewhere so I thought I'd point you to my previously posted 101 Proclamations. It's been almost a year since I put this list together and upon reading it again, I think it does a darn good job of telling you a lot about me.

and finally...

The Inquistor alerted me to the Golfer Pee Club, one of those "duh, why didn't I think of that" items. I'm not a golfer so I am not able to really discuss the usefulness of this, but it seems that it could come in quite handy given the amount of beer that can be consumed.

SB

So I'm watching CSI NY this evening and one of the characters says "She heard a ruckus.."

Immediately I say "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"

I didn't even think about. I didn't hesitate, it just happened. No one was there to hear me say it (well, Gina is asleep in her chair so I said it quietly) but I had to say it. It's just what I do.

Where does that come from? I mean, I know the quote is from The Breakfast Club, but why do I do that?

This isn't the only example - there are thousands of them, both triggers and responses.

"Whoops", "She is a button isn't she", "Nothing is over", "Did he say Germans?", "You'll get nothing and like it", "I do not think it means what you think it means", "So I got that going for me, which is nice", "Army training sir", "This place has got everything".. and the list could continue on forever really.

It's an endless game of call and response, and who knows how much of my brain these little tidbits occupy, and at the expense of what real and useful information.

And don't get me started on the music quotes, I'm even worse with those.

Sometimes my brain hurts.

SB

I've written in the past about how much I love my Sirius Radio, and have really been a supporter of the merger between them and XM.

So this morning I got an email announcing the new Sirius Radio channel lineup only to discover that The Vault is now Deep Classic Rock.

I'm not usually a pessimistic person by nature but I sort of freaked out a bit at this. I would say that 50% of my listening time is on The Vault and the thought of them changing things around too much is scary.

I haven't been out to the car yet so I really don't know what this means. The new name still pretty accurately describes the content from The Vault, so it doesn't necessarily mean any programming change. And who knows, maybe they'll even improve it. I'd love for them to go even deeper. I've yet to hear 10cc "Feel The Benefit" (parts 1 & 2 and 3) which is sort of my barometer for just how good a station can be.

It's time to go to work so I guess I'll find out soon. Wish me luck!

SB

I still hate talk like a pirate day

SB

On Being Self Employed - I wrote an article on WWD the other day about using downtime effectively so that when the uptime comes you are prepared for it. Over the next few months we'll see how well I did during my recent downtime as I just took on another large project today. Wish me luck, it's going to be a very busy time.

WWD - I am really enjoying my writing for Web Worker Daily. It's a whole new world writing professionally but the readers are great and I'm learning so much from my colleagues. I'm trying to be creative for my articles rather than just re-reporting the same stuff others write about. Is there anything you want to know about Web Working?

Fantasy Baseball - I'm now 11-6-0 which leaves me tied for 3rd in my division. I've won 3 weeks in a row now and doing well, just need to have the teams ahead of me lose. John Lackey pitched 8 1/3 of no hit baseball just now. How cool would that have been to pick up the no hitter. Alas - it was a no go. I blame Adam for jinxing him.

Gov't Mule - What a great show we saw at Navy Pier Skyline Stage. I was planning a full review with clips and song commentary but that will have to wait a bit Suffice it to say for now that we had a great time and the show was stellar as always. What an outstanding setlist. Have to love a Thorazine opener...

Set 1
Thorazine Shuffle
Temporary Saint
A Million Miles From Yesterday
Don't Step On The Grass Sam
Thelonius Beck
Maybe I'm Amazed
Patchwork Quilt
Catfish Blues
Mr. High & Mighty

Set 2
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Lively Up Yourself
I'll Be The One
Streamline Woman
Drums
Raining Pain Down In New Orleans
Fallen Down-> Gimme Shelter Tease
The Other One Jam
Mule Thankyou4lettinmebemiceelf Jam

Encore:
Bad Little Doggie
Little Wing

Entrecard - I've pretty much given up on dropping cards and the crap in the forums has kept me out of there as well. Their recent partnership with Sez-Who really annoyed me - along with the condescending attitude they displayed to anyone not using Wordpress (don't get me started again...) I've dropped the widget to the bottom of the page for now.

Cats - We are catsitting for my mom who is moving back here from Florida. There were some delays that kept her from taking occupancy so her kitties were here without a place to live. We set up an apartment for them in our lower bedroom and they seem to be adjusting well. We decided to keep them apart from ours and that seems to be working out for everyone. Maybe Gina will post pictures?

So that is what is happening with me - what's up with all of you?

I originally wrote the following in an email this morning but in thinking about it, I decided it might be worthy of a bigger audience (you know, the 3 of you that read me, rather than just the one person in the email thread.) It has been modified a bit to fit a larger context.

One of the things that really bothers me is when things become de-facto standards, even though they really might not be the best option for everyone. When choices are minimized and options ignored, people are making their decisions blind.

For example, WordPress has become the standard blogging platform even though there exist other very worthy options like Serendipity, Injader, Drupal, etc.. Could these have better served some folks? Probably. Did they consider them? Probably not.

Ask people about web based small business Contact Management and everyone is quick to talk about Highrise, which is indeed a fine product. Is it the best choice for everyone? Could something like BatchBook be a better option?

I think this same sort of thing can apply to music as well. Folks gravitate to "greatest hits" packages full of popular singles and radio fodder. Is Stairway to Heaven really the best Led Zeppelin tune? It's believed to be true, and so it perpetuates - at the expense of Tea For One or Nobody's Fault But Mine. Great songs that people don't hear because certainly Presence isn't as good as IV because, well, because the masses have decided that it isn't.

It's a challenge sometimes to fight this flow but I think it's worth it - and I try to do what I can to support those folks who take on that challenge. I try to do dilligent testing of solutions before I use them personally, and before I recommend them to my clients. I try to dig deep and offer some alternatives when I do get around to writing a BYOBO piece.

Presenting options and challenging the status quo is a goal of mine. I urge people to dare to be different, dare to go against the grain, and not just for the sake of doing it, but rather to make intelligent and informed choices. It's to your benefit to do so.

SB

Here are some of the things I have added to my idea bin to write about over the last couple of days.

Fantasy Baseball Update - So I lost. To the team that was 0-9. HRs and RBIs were non-existent and a couple of pitchers brought me negative points. This week is going a bit better. It's a long season.

Bring Your Own Best Of - I'm working on them, sort of. Meanwhile check out Nat over at Mini-Obs, she has posted a bunch of them. I might start with replying to those as some of her choices are a bit different than mine would be.

Alanis Morissette - Still not a fan of that "thing" she does with her voice, but I did find her surprisingly interesting and insightful on Howard's show today. My walkaway from the interview "secrecy vs. privacy" - talk amongst yourselves...

Blizzard of '78 - Really dug their first album. Got word that the new CD is in mastering so hopefully that means a release soon.

Entrecard - I haven't dropped cards in a week. I wish I had time. I don't. I still read a lot of sites I found there via RSS though.

Top Chef - After a couple of weeks of catching the repeats on Saturday while I'm working at home, I seem to be a bit more interested in this than I would like to be. I won't say I'm obsessed, but I will say that if Lisa wins there will be hell to pay.

Weather - We've had a lot of rain of the torrential variety and tornadoes virtually minutes away. Scary stuff over the weekend. Now it's just damn hot.

Idiomag - A tremendously cool online music magazine site I signed up for ages ago and am just now taking the time to read. Excellent stuff. Here's mine - you can make your own as well.

Thanks for hangin' in there with me - our normal programming should return soon.

SB