Sunday, September 18, 2005

It's been a long time, long time...

I apologize for the lack of ambition that has led to no blog updates in a few weeks. I have plenty to say, I just haven't been using the old 'puter much at home lately.

In today's lesson, we learn how new media (aka the Internet) has changed how I want products delivered. In some cases, things have become so easy to obtain that we have become relatively spoiled, expecting that it should always be that easy. In this case, being spoiled is a good thing though.

Commerce should not be difficult. Although the last thing that most Americans need is a way to quickly indulge in something they desire, for those with a bit of self-control this is exactly how it should work.

Now, to get from the theoretical to the point. I think it might have been Ryan who said this first, "If it isn't on iTunes, it doesn't exist" (man, I bet Jobs would love to hear that). Much of my music purchases follow this belief. When I want a new song now, I either buy the CD somewhere like Best Buy, or I go purchase the individual song from iTunes. If neither of those work, I'm very likely to just decide it is too much work and look no further. Simplicity in shopping is good in my mind.

Very recently, I had to break this rule. First, we recently re-watched "The Big Bounce" after purchasing it. Fantastic movie, and it starts out with a great rendition of The Steve Miller Band classic "Rock n' Me". At first I thought it was by Sheryl Crow, but a quick google search proved that it was by an artist named Shayne Blue. I thought, "Great, I'll just search for her on iTunes and buy it." No dice. Shayne had made one CD with a group known as Theodore. They were not to be found either. I ended up purchasing her CD from CD Baby though, which was my first purchase through that fantastic site. If you haven't heard of them before, they are a great site, especially because they provide a way for smaller artists to make a fair share of CD sales. The CD turned out to be very good as well.

Next, I went in search of a song named "Unleashed" by a relatively unknown artist named Chris Classic. Again, no luck on iTunes. I found out about this after hearing it featured in a commercial for the incredibly sweet new Dodge Charger. The song was a mashup between "Hair of the Dog" by Nazareth, and a cool rap tune. A quick search of Google with nothing more than "charger commercial hair dog remake" gave me the artist and a history of the song. It is a mashup of an unreleased tune by Chris named "Live and Loose", with a remake of Nazareth of their own song, "Hair of the Dog." Unfortunately, although some press releases indicated the song was available on iTunes, it is not (as far as I can find). It is only available on Yahoo, which thanks to the taint that is WMA I refuse to touch. Thus, I am forced to wait, because it's not on iTunes, so it must not exist...


Finally, if you haven't seen the movie Crash yet, go watch it. Soon. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time.


Updated Oct 23: The info I had was a bit wrong. It is by Chris Cook, not Chris Classic. The song is now on iTunes. Rock.

Friday, September 2, 2005

It's the end of the world as we know it

Not really. It is however the end of the road for my college days, as those of you who read the blog and watched the grad school hell counter countdown and then disappear probably noticed. Disregarding the 3 year break I took after graduating from Iowa, I have been in school constantly since 1984. Ugh.

That is all finished now. My MBA is now complete (pending 2 final grades) as of last night. I have absolutely no intention of ever getting another undergrad/masters/doctorate degree of any sort. I just don't enjoy school at all anymore. I find it all rather fake and stifling -- I would much rather be in the workplace working on real issues that are defined and have a purpose (most of the time).

So, it is time to party. There will be some form of BBQ shindig at our house in the very near future, invitations are being prepared tonight. I also plan to enjoy watching the Iowa Hawkeyes start off their next fantastic football season this Saturday. I will do all of this with no thoughts of what homework I have due that night, or how tired I am from staying up writing papers the night before. Sweet!

Update: Only pending 1 grade now...
Update #2: WooHoooo, all grades are in now. The 4.0 has been successfully maintained.