Closed Tabs, Open Entries
Joan Baez? Woody Guthrie? Springsteen? Marvin Gaye ? Anybody know any other songs from Mr. Marvin? On the verge of another war, are more political tunes imminent? SOAD, BSF, Metallica?
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the media. And if a new, brave, band like the legends of yesterday appear again.
Time will tell. And by time, I’m thinking of Saddam Hussein. And the other Middle East adventures our nation has become involved in.
One of the best ways indie labels used to get bands publicity is compilation cds. Sent out as samplers, they would arrive in your mailbox along with an order, or simply in addition to a label brochure. It was a great way to introduce fans to upcoming talent.
In addition, bands (themselves) would also hand out sampler cds and cassettes at shows. Including songs from artists they were currently on tour with. Assuming you were a big enough fan of the music, going out of your way to meet the band, you were sure to be handed this freebie.
Street teams, were those people who were super fans. Fans dedicated to personally promote and spread the message. These fans were often the ones who were given 3 to 5 track discs, encouraged to pass them out to friends and others in the same “scene” (forgive me for using that characterization).
Personally, I’ve been a part/participated in all of it. Some of my favorite tunes/tracks/bands/freebies.
Good times!
Just out of curiosity, I did some searching the other day. Instant messaging software introduced me to many like minded people and music, movies, even art. It was no surprise that AIM and YIM have been gone for quite some time. ICQ, the most recent victim of modern technology and trends.
What surprised me is that IRC is still active. Granted, it appears limited to those there for nostalgia or the extremely tech oriented, but it’s great to see one of the old chat clients still up and running. Through various servers and users. I’ve discovered quite a few bands, movies, and learned quite a bit. My first (chipped) original xbox software was released and supported through irc channels.
Social media and platforms such as discord have replaced many of the “old school” favorites. It would be great if something basic like AIM could be released again, because it was a perfect platform to meet people with similar interests. As well as discuss and discover new things. And it didn’t feel overly invasive.
The winter storm is presenting many challenges, and now that we are dealing with bitterly cold temps, I’m looking over at my dog. Road travel has been limited to “necessary driving” only, so I’ve complied. Luckily, I prepared. I’m doing fine, but how’s the dog?
It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about that furry, anti-social, cat-like, bear like, stubborn, rebellious, independent, but also clingy, deceivingly intelligent, super protective, constantly shedding, dog of mine. He’s doing fine, and is becoming very comfortable with travelling. More recently, he’s enjoying the piles of snow he has to jump through to get to his “spots” outside. Its no surprise that he gets along well with those he’s around most. I’ve had 4 chows, they actually love people. But “Say No to Strangers”. The warming up period is challenging.
In my huge book on chow chows, it tells a story of Sigmund Freud using his dog to help during therapy sessions. And today, it appears the breed is being used to treat PTSD patients. I imagine this is because of their attachment style and natural behavior, being fiercely loyal and protective.
So the dog is doing very well. He has a buddy who stops over every once in a awhile to play, and another walking buddy he sees when we take trips to the north. He loves visiting family, and gets along with everyone.
He is currently studying the English language, and my every word. This dog understands, and is becoming frighteningly aware of my vocabulary, cues and commands. Deceptively smart, but seemingly oblivious.
It’s around 9:30 pm on a Saturday. I’m sipping a Sam Adam’s Cold Snap (probably my favorite beer). Like a good swath of the country, our area is on the verge of a snow emergency. At this point, I filled the car with gas, boiled eggs, made some cold pasta meals, some rice, beans, and checked the stock of milk and cereal. All good.
The batteries are charged for the flash light, as well as the batteries for the snow blower. Will it make it through several inches of snow on the driveway? Time will tell… and all this gets my mind going. How much profit is created off emergencies? The threat of catastrophe? For products? For behavior? For behaviors that create more profit, from products and services that remove worry and resolve conflict?
Shovels. Food. Seasonal Machinery. Spirituality. Assistance. Products? What is necessary?
After Covid, it seems that several services absolutely took off. Especially the “stay at home” kind. Online medical appointments, grocery pickup and delivery, pharmaceutical deliveries, even car buying on line. Was any of this a direct result of covid? When did the influx of all these damn prescription pill advertisements start on TV? For anxiety. Depression. Cancer. Psychological Disorders. Diabetes?
A marketplace?
The main argument against academia, and the pursuit of higher education is that it creates, then instills, too many questions in students. Are it’s pupils intelligently questioning the status quo and those that rely simply on “faith and confidence” in an existing system? Where does consumerism, marketing and advertisering fit in?
The culture definitely changes with every major event that occurs. Are we, as a society, recognizing this?
Edit: Off the album: This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In!
-SK
If you like this song, this is another great tune by the band. Love music always.
A walk down the steep white wooden stairs, a turn right. A walk to the corner, then turn right at the stop sign. Look to the left, across from the historical black church. There sits the Greek restaurant, once boarded up. Years ago, there were riots in the area. Remember the drive to People’s Corner? The community grocery store was boarded up too. Along with all the local businesses in the area. While driving through, people were in the middle of the streets, holding signs. “Beep if you agree with our protest”. Protests involving an unarmed minority being shot by local authorities.
Is this every city? Sometimes you have to wonder how incidents like the one in Minnesota relate to other cities. Some sort of cultural conflict, possibly misunderstanding between different communities, their experiences, and their outlooks on life. How close are you?
Throughout history, and for better or for worse, cities become “known” for incidents like these. The city I was born in, is famous for the treacherous treks across the frozen river, giving Harriet Beecher Stowe a well-known name in history. Motivating leaders to organize the creation of a freedom center near the original passage of slaves to a free state.
Hope everyone had a wonderful MLK day. It’s great to live in a nation that honors such a good man.
I’ve been using refurbished or recertified computers for many years. Look on any auction site and you can find plenty. An old computer “genius” friend of mine started swapping and buying components years ago and rebuilding pcs, servers, and gaming systems. He always had luck with it.
From my perspective, the older machines and components seem to be built better. They are more manageable with easily accessible components from their cases and shells. Of course, I’m speaking in generalities here, your mileage may vary. Obviously, another big advantage is you typically get more bang for your buck in storage space, processor, and RAM.
Where does this “thinking” apply elsewhere, outside of the nerdosphere?
I’m getting old. And find many items from clothes to phones, cars to music (mostly), better in the past. The design of cars, a dress shirt, the rhythm and focus of a song, movies, shows, etc. Yes, I’m getting old… did I mention that?
So what is acceptable in an age where “new” is advertised and encouraged? Consumerism is a very powerful collective practice in America, but I think I’m starting to really change my viewpoint when it comes to materialism and products. Entertainment and even travel.
Anyone feel the same? Leave a comment below… wait a second.
So what’s been going on with this site, me, and where is this leading to? This site…probably nowhere. It’s a place to be humorous and occasionally discuss tech and music (mostly). The past year I took a long break from technology (although not completely absent). Also had the chance to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a very long time. Which to me, is more valuable than anything else I have to talk about here or elsewhere. Often times I think tech interferes with our vision of the world, perhaps persuades and manipulates are viewpoints. Sometimes things are black and white, but often times things that should be pretty straightforward get translated in the wrong language (I am talking about foreign languages to you and me, due to mindset, agendas, values, and understandings of the world).
I mentioned Sirius/XM radio in another post somewhere, and I’ve been introduced to a lot of good music. Do you ever come across that one song you hear only one time and know you have to purchase it? It plays in your head for hours, perhaps days, and finally you either buy the digital download or the whole album. This has been that song for me (the recent one).
Crazy thing is, these guys were almost certainly playing at some festivals/shows I’ve been to in the past. Perhaps I didn’t make it over to their stage. But it’s great to see them still going strong. Definitely recognize the name, had a couple songs on some comps/mixed lists back in the day. Excellent tune. Beware of the internal disc jockey spinning this constantly in your head.
It was about 15 yrs ago when antennaweb and other similar sites were starting to get popular. Lots of folks were cutting the cable, checking their tv specs for “built-in” tuners…AND beginning to use tv boxes OR PCs to stream everything from local news, radio, YouTube, etc. Of course, this wasn’t the beginning of “cut the cable” culture, just the time when a larger group of consumers started noticing the trend (and switching).
Is it time to VPN everything? Good question. YouTube is much different than when it started (especially after being purchased by Google). With the popularity of tv boxes and streaming comes forced advertising and data mining. VPN’s can help resolve many issues, but they are not a full scale solution. As always, the devil is in the details. So be sure to check logging policies and also where the vpn company is located. You may be defeating the purpose of purchasing vpn service, by simply handing your data over to another data miner.
As of right now, I am getting personalized ads from Seattle and San Francisco. It’s kind of nice seeing what’s going on on the west coast. I’ve seen a couple of advertisements for school teachers and programs at local schools. Another for animal rescues. And another for state funded prescription coverage. YEAH!!!
It’s not as easy these days, but sometimes you just have to change the dial.
I think I’ll kill the radio, don’t want to hear this song..