Monthly Archives: August 2007

Music Monday: Aimee Mann

(This is early because tomorrow will be busy.)

I am going to give everyone the impression that I get all my music from TV and movies. Well, after college I pretty much lost my new-music-social-network (i.e. college friends) so I am necessarily limited from that point on. Anyone know a music version of shelfari?

I discovered Aimee Mann through Magnolia (huge dooce-sized content warning). This isn’t as shallow as it may seem because her music actually inspired the story, I think.

So here’s Wise Up (and one of the most bizarre scenes I’ve ever witnessed in a movie; for some this spoiled it–but not melodramatic me).

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That’s Just What You Are is one of her more normal songs. (And remember I’m doing this for the music, not to recommend anyone’s fashion sense or lack thereof.) If memory serves, this was written for an ex-boyfriend–as you could probably guess.

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Here she is in concert. I love this song.

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I’m so sorry I do not have a chance here to add to my reputation of gratuitous poster of buffy scenes. But, amazingly, the gillions of youth with too much time on their hands found something better to do than posting the episode where Mann is at the Bronze and Spike find’s out he’s been conditioned. Oh well.

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Below are the albums I own (and love). Sadly, I now need to find them since my iMac’s iTunes is locked behind a dead logic board. (Remember, if you decide to make a purchase, that the soundtrack and best-of is going to be redundant with some others).

links for 2007-08-27

links for 2007-08-26

1-click purchasing in meatspace

Mike Hyatt writes:

Today I went to the local Apple Store. I needed to pick up a small adapter, so I could use my favorite head phones with my new iPhone. When I arrived, I was surprised by the crowd. The store was jammed with people. But I was almost immediately greeted by an Apple clerk, who asked if she could help me.

There were probably ten clerks in the store but only one was behind the counter. The rest were mingling with the “guests.” Each of them wore a lime green shirt and carried a handheld credit card processor.

My clerk led me to the item I wanted and asked if I needed anything else. I told her that I wanted to browse for a few minutes. She said, “Fine. Let me know if I can help you further.” A few moments later, I found another clerk on the floor and told him I was ready to check out. He swiped my card and asked if I wanted to have the receipt printed out or e-mailed to me. I said, “E-mail,” and since I had purchased using this credit card before, they already had my e-mail address in their system. I was done and on my way in less than a minute.

Maybe this is old news to some of you.  I don’t know since I don’t do much in Apple stores besides drool.  But this is probably a great example of the internet teaching better practices to other areas of life.  Of course, much of the improvement is due to the decreasing size and increasing portability of the technology.  But still, someone had to think of using it that way.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea didn’t originate from someone saying, “I wish real reality could be this fast.”

John Woo is getting more than a movie

I’v had a slight fascination combined with repulsion for John Woo’s movies. I like the action for awhile but eventually get quite bored (I’m not joking or exaggerating; I had to fast-forward through parts of hard-boiled and face-off). But I keep thinking his pacing will improve and a World Magazine article from the nineties got me into his camp because he credited a Christian group with his survival as a child.

All that is to say, I’m more than a little intrigued about his new movie, and especially his associated new MMORPG.

links for 2007-08-25

Now I know what to get Jeff Meyers for Christmas

How cool!

“It used to bother me that he played that game so much” said Elizabeth Grimes of her 13 year-old son Danny. “He would sometimes wake up on a Saturday and play all day long without stopping. He never read his Bible either. But now I’m much more at ease. With those Bible verses always flashing up there I can be assured that he’s getting a good dose of the Good Book. I ask him every day now ‘Danny, have you played your Halo today?’ and if I don’t think he’s played enough I make him go in there and sit down and play some more.”