December 29, 2007

Merry Christmas!! Oh, wait...... I said that already.

AS YOUMight know by now, Christmas for me this year was excellent. In fact, I could probably even say that it Rocked. It was truly awesome, and I hope you can figure out what made it so awesome by clicking the links. Hope You have a Happy (rockin') New Year as well!!!

December 25, 2007

You'd Better Not Shout...

You'd Better not cry
You'd better not pout
I'm tellin' you why.

Merry Christmas to all you Christmasy people out there today! This is brought to you today on Christmas for your NEBTD pleasure, even though you probably will have better things to do today. Hopefully i will soon be able to fill you in on what i have received from others and what I soon will be buying for myself (not having it is not always an option). There also should be pictures on the way taken from my own wonderful camera (its film, so you might have to wait a while. It will be worth it). At the same time, keep in mind to be very zen about the presence (no, not presents) of your friends and family. Or just yourself. This is obviously the important thing. Have a wonderful day, and merry Christmas, y'all!!!

December 23, 2007

Here in Alabama!

Merry Christmas! Here is my first report from Birmingham, Alabama.

We arrived late last night and had dinner with the family. The drive was about 10 hours, but we had good food along the way and it was a good time. Although we did get lost at least twice on the way to the hotel, it meant that i got to see quite a few very exciting and beautiful Christmas light arrays. At some point I hope to take pictures of them to show y'all (that is what I have to say now that i am in the south). Nothing much has happened since, but I'm am looking forward to "cosmic bowling" tonight, and hope to have something really interesting to tell you about next time. And, this keyboard is really annoying, so I'm gonna stop now. Thanks, y'all!

December 15, 2007

Techno blip: Hold on, iPhone!

NOWIf you have read my earlier review of the iPhone when it first arrived September 25Th (Oh wait....that was Halo 3. Sorry), or whenever it was that the JesusPhone was released to upper-class America, you might remember what i have concluded about it. If you don't, I will tell you now. What i concluded was that the iPhone was a fabulous device that is nothing like anything coming before it, but was fabulously flawed at the same time. With it's obscene $499 price tag (we think that's what it was), and obscene monthly voice-and-data plan prices (maybe they are not that bad, but still not a lotta minutes for the money), the iPhone was unfortunately not going to be the savior of everyone. It's evident lack of a few things phones really should have, such as video with the camera [UPDATE: A new app lets you do just that. Barely.], and lack of things mobile 'net devices should have, like support for video streaming (other than YouTube), and third party-apps. Yes, APPle clearly did not live up to its name in this area (anybody else notice that? didn't think so). The release of Firmware 1.1.1. very audaciously shot down any app that a forward-thinking geek might have created to further improver his/her iPhone. And if they preferred T-Mobile to support this gadget, we really hope that they like bricks, too*. Given this, I ended up stamping the iPhone with a 6.5 out of 10 score (For your friends). BUT things have changes since then!

For those of you who know my original iPhone review already, this is the really
important part

Since my original review, Apple has not only reduced the cost of the great phone by $100, but also offered a $100 rebate to those who purchased them at the original price. And hell, they sure deserved it. On top of that, iSteve (with his pal iWoz**) has also allowed numerous third party apps on to the iPhone (and now the iTouch as well). Well....sort of. Apple has opened up to any application creators who wish to make something for their phone, and offered to approve it for download on their website. This is very difficult to explain. But in short, apps are now available, and more are coming. Still, the whatever-you-want, whenever-you-want other-party is still far out of sight from the iPhone. But this does not mean I should not update the review. And that is exactly what i am doing. For the reasons I have stated, the iPhone's Official rating has been officially raised from 6.5 to 8.0 out of 10. So here this:

The Apple iPhone:
8 out of 10
Super hot product
*Bricked- In the case of electronics,Rendered highly useless, much like a ceramic block.
**-If you noted that the nickname iWoz was listed as an official Wozniak nickname (after clicking the link to wikipedia), you must know that I honestly wrote that before reading the article. Funny nickname, though.

December 11, 2007

The New 102

Don't Look Now, But Mr.X in all his glory just created a new alliance of musicians and groupies for the sole purpose of rocking out to the beat of a different drum......preferably played by him. As chief of marketing for this new group, The 102, the Mr.X Clothing Co. has been converted to serve the purposes of The 102. Some of the old designs have been deleted, but for the greater good. Here is a link to the new shop. Spread it around, and rock out with Mr.X in the Bassment.......only @ The 102.

The New 102

Band Of The Week

Band of the week-
Ozomatli

I have seen ozomatli preform live in a club, on TV, on the radio, and on their albums and there is no doubt in my mind that this Latin hip-hop rock group has some of the best performances I have ever seen. They are a 9-piece band with a horn section, several percussionists and a couple of rappers in addition to the usual guitar-bass-drums rock group. And, they have played in about every musical genre you can possible imagine. From there most recent pop single, Cant Stop is one of their most fun. But that is only where the fun starts. I would highly recommend Ozo's newest album Don't mess with the dragon for fans of any Latin, hip-hop, R&B, rock, or jazz. This ethnically diverse group of musicians can produce so many varieties of excitement on a single disc, you might never be able to get enough. The hip-hop/pop tune about Los Angeles, City of Angels contains exciting brass and a little beatnik percussion and rapping to round off the full LA experience. Oh, and did I mention these guys where from Los Angeles? I probably did not need to, because you can here it in just about every song. La Gallina, Their Latin jazz tune written entirely about a chicken (in Spanish), is a fave on the Latino/Mexican pop charts. Also, the title track of an earlier Ozomatli album, Street Signs, is truly a musical trip that is not to be missed. Watch some of these videos, you might never think of hip-hop, Latin, rock, R&B, or jazz in quite the same way again.

December 4, 2007

Band of the Week: The White Stripes

The NEBTD band of the week!!!!!!
only a little late......

These days, rock bands are often overrun by large groups of musicians all wanting 15+ minutes of fame. Yet at the same time, music and the music industry is being consumed by a very large amount of over-hyped crap. Yea, I said crap. And although those first two statements where not necessarily related in any conceivable way, that does not make the White Stripes any less of an awesome band. Armed with an intense guitar player/singer who does not play any guitar that he would consider well built and a drummer who pounds out beats that would be considered.....er.....elementary by most any standard, you might think The Stripes would underwhelm as performers. They do not. Instead, they put on an unforgettable act that will undoubtedly leave you wondering where all that sound came from. Jack White stays interesting with his diverse musical diet, from 4-chord rhythm guitar to complicated riffs. While I suggest you check out a few of their albums (Elephant and White Blood Cells being two of my favs), I also suggest you immediately watch a couple videos from the NEBTD video bar. What??? No bass player???? Rock on, Stripes. Rock on.