Why we should all keep the mix tape alive

If you're a product of the 80's or even most of the 90's you should be familiar with the concept of the mix tape. But for those who are unfamiliar, a quick rundown: a mix tape is an audio cassette filled with music from a variety of artists chosen by the mix tape maker for the mix tape listener.

As we've abandoned the audio cassette for the CD and now the CD for the mp3, we've started to lose the wonderful benefit of the mix tape. It's a way of introducing someone else to new music that you like. I'm sure some of you out there are thinking "this is what Pandora is for," but you'd be wrong.

The mix tape has a unique property. Things like Pandora try to find you new music that you like, but it's based on music you already know you like. The mix tape is hand-picked by someone else with no guarantee that the intent is to bring you music you like. They can often be filled with music you just don't care for, but that's the beauty! Say you give it a listen and you find yourself annoyed by the music, but then you think, "golly, my friend couldn't have that poor taste in music, I'll try it again." Perhaps this time you find yourself nodding your head to a couple of songs. Intrigued, you give it another listen. And another. And eventually you've realized that you like some of the music.

So now you think, "hey, if I like their music, maybe they'll like mine!" Now you get the wonderful chance to do something different with your music. Instead of just putting on any old album, or letting your computer shuffle things for you, you're now an active participant in your music collection. Now you're going over all of your tracks searching, listening, thinking, trying to find the perfect match. When you're done not only have you created a great new mix for your friend, but you've taken the time to appreciate the music you've got.

When all is said and done, two people have not only introduced each other to new music, but they've re-introduced themselves to their own music.

Whether it's on a cassette, CD, or flash drive, give a mix tape to a friend, and keep alive this wonderful experience.

Myth Understood

Here's a great myth: only old people don't understand computers.

Everyone talks about how young people just "get" computers and old people are sooo clueless. Well, guess what: young people have just as much trouble getting around their computers. It's all a matter of self-involvement. I've worked with people younger than I, people who grew up in this fancy computer age, who can't seem to grasp how copy and paste work.

If my 80 year-old aunt can learn the very basics of Windows (yes, we bought her her first computer at 80, what?), it's possible there are 10 year olds waking around not knowing that there's other ways to get places on the internet than through their home page search box.

Don't blindly discriminate. This has been a public service announcement from your local guy-who-keeps-an-online-journal.

Note: this entry was originally written 4/25/08, but sat around in my Drafts for over a year.

Beating the digital music stores

Although I'm a fan of technology, for some reason I've never embraced purchasing digital music downloads. There's something I love about having the CD that is exciting to me. But since nearly everyone I know has started buying music on-line (especially from the iTMS), I've started having a contest with myself: can I beat the iTMS pricing?

If we assume that each song is worth $1 and each full album is worth $10, an album with 2 hit singles on it needs to be $2 or less, or if I buy an album for $10, I should love every song on it. This makes buying new CDs very exciting. Some people like to bargain hunt for shoes, I do it for music.

I've found there are some very good benefits to buying music the way I do.

1. I'm not spending more money than my friends would on the same music.
2. I don't buy willy-nilly because most CDs are too expensive under my rules.
3. There's the chance I'll like more songs than I expected on an album, making my purchase a virtual profit.
4. Despite the progress made on iTMS, CDs still give you lossless tracks, full album art, and credits.
5. When my mp3 player runs out of batteries, I can pop in a CD and still enjoy my music.
6. If a friend wants to borrow an album, I can grab the CD and lend it to them without having to turn on my computer, or transfer files, or anything.
7. If my digtial copy gets corrupted, I've got a lossless backup.
8. I never have to worry if my files are in the right format for a certain player, or in any other format at all.

Although I know the RIAA would frown heavily on my purchasing used CDs and then ripping them to mp3s, I'd like them to know I do break my rules sometimes and buy new, full-priced albums. I'm willing to spend full price on a new CD at a concert. Great musicians should be rewarded for their hard work, and I feel that buying a ticket to their show and buying merchandice when you're there is the best thing you can do for them. Even if you go to their show and download the songs on your iPhone as they are played at the concert, at the end of the night, you're still paying a third party for their music, and you still can't have the band sign the cover.

A note: I'm sorry for singling out Apple, but they are currently the dominant venue for digital music downloads and music players. The same thoughts and rules apply to all digital music stores.

Food photography is hard, hand-held food photography is impossible

During a very delicious dinner recently, I decided to try my hand at food photography. I'd heard it is very difficult to do, especially as a professional with hot lights. It seems that once you get a pleasing looking composition, then your food is reflecting light in an unpleasing way. Despite this challenge, I decided to do it anyhow, because practice is always good, right? Well, I didn't have my tripod on me so I had to do the shots hand-held.

Hand-held indoor photography is also a difficult task due to generally poor lighting, and the combination of trying to get the food to look good and to keep my hands from shaking too much, I only ended up with one sorta okay photo out of about 12. Above you can see the final result.

Recipes for the lazy or: Magic Shell is a ripoff

Here's how to make your own Magic Shell chocolate ice cream topper and chocolate fruit shell:
Ingredients: chocolate chips.

Instructions:
Take a small pot, fill half with water.
When water boils, place glass mixing bowl on top.
Drop a few chocolate chips into bowl.
When chips start to melt, start stirring with spatula.
Continue to stir and drop chips in until you've got a nice sized pool o' chocolate.
Use liquid chocolate to cover fruit, ice cream, or whatever.
Never buy Magic Shell again.

It's almost embarrassingly easy to do. The best bit is you can use your favorite chocolate, not just whatever Smucker's wants to give you (no offense to Smuckers, please don't sue me).

So guys: impress your next date by looking like you can cook! Just don't try to cover your date in chocolate, unless she's into 2nd degree burns.

WTFicide

WTFicide: when something breaks due to unexpected input. My open source word processor committed WTFicide when I tried to load a new Word document.

Coined by "Baeocystin" of Ars Technica.

Batman (1989) revisited

A certain song ("Another Man's Rhubarb" -Pop Will Eat Itself) reminded me of the 1989 Batman movie. Having not seen it for about 8 years I decided to take a look at the IMDB quotes page for the film. Many have compared and contrasted Joker from the 1989 film and the 2008 film, and the general consensus is that the 2008 Joker better captures the essence of the character.

I can easily agree that the whole Jack Napier backstory in the '89 film is a terrible departure from the origin-less Joker of the comics. Joker is a great character because he is more important as a metaphore than as a villain. Clearly, this is what the '08 film hammered in again and again. But where I feel that Joker fell short was living up to his name, and this is where the script for the '89 Batman film really shines. The '89 Joker has a real zest for life. He just wants to have fun...at the expense of others' lives. You get the feeling that Batman is like a stern parent to a hyperactive child. I love this Joker, because the Joker metaphore is there, but it's subtle. He is both portrayed as the antithesis of Batman and his equal without hitting the viewer on the head with the idea.

The real issue at hand, I feel, is not that the '89 Joker is a poor joker (ignoring the origin story), but that Jack Nicholson was a poor choice. The criticism suggests that we weren't watching Joker but Jack. Although I think he's an excellent fit for the character, I can see the critics' point. To those critics, I say: read the script and invision your choice of Joker, and maybe you too can enjoy my favorite Joker.

I can admit it now: I love Goo.

I recently started playing a wonderful new game. It's got charm and wit and it's a fun challenge, but never so hard that I want to stop. It's called:

World Of Goo

It's a physics-based puzzle game in which you must construct structures with goo balls in an effort to to get as many goo balls as you can into a pipe. The graphics a smooth and simple, the music rivals some movie scores (reminds me a little of Danny Elfman at times), and the game-play is a pleasure.

Go, get dirty.

Lies he has told

I'm not usually one for just linking to people's blogs in my blog, because it just helps invalidate the existence of my blog, but to those who do read my blog, but neglect Primate Brow Flash, please take a moment and read this entry: Lies I have told.

My Halloween Movie Script

For your enjoyment, I've written a short screenplay entitled: MissDial. The tag line is "They Missed By One Number."

Cast:
Woman: beautiful brunette in early 20's, has soft voice
Man on phone: has raspy voice

[INTERIOR: Dimly lit living room]

Phone rings.

W:Hello?

Man on phone coughs.

W:Hello?
M:Hello.
W:Can I help you?
M:Susan?
W:No, I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number.
M:I don't think so.
W:Well, there's no Susan here.
M:Is this 555-2415?
W:No, it's 555-2416.

We hear the man hangup abruptly.
Cut to black. Roll credits.

Economic stimulus gifting

These days, it's easy to travel all the way to your local Amazon.com and buy your friend a birthday gift of the latest Eddie Murphy flop on DVD. You can even send it to him directly. Heck, you can even include a nice note, saying how much you appreciate him as a friend. But really, a kick in the shins and passing him a twenty next time you see him would do just as well.

In these trying economic times we need to be sure that what we're spending our hard earned money on is worthwhile. So why not redirect that money towards a gift that not only means something (besides showing your poor taste in films), but is beneficial to our economy?

Instead of trekking all the way to Amazon.com, type in fewer letters and go to Etsy.com. There you can find a wide range of handmade goods that can be shipped directly to your friend, and to top it off, you're sending that money to a disgruntled artisan who will be happy to drown their sorrows in booze and more art supplies, thus directly stimulating our economy.

So next time you have the urge to share with your best friend the delights of a man in a lady's fat suit, think again, and buy them something unique that will not show them how little you know about quality movie-making. And when you're done, you can sit back in your chair and imagine your new favorite artist running out and buying one bottle of paint and six bottles of beer.

Excuse me, I have to go rewind my VHS of The Klumps.

I'm A Conspirator!

Last night I went to my very first International Cartoonist Conspiracy meeting. The ICC meets at various locations once a month and does a comic jam. Despite what you might have heard, this does not involve cutting up comics, adding pectin, cooking and jarring. Instead, each person gets one blank (but numbered) page. A theme is decided upon, and each person creates the first panel on that page. Then the pages are passed around, each person continuing the story on that page. The final panel(s) must be linked to the next page's first panel, thus creating one (theoretically) coherent comic at the end of the night!

The Minneapolis branch is a great group of people to work with. They meet the first Thursday of each month at Diamonds Coffee Shoppe in Minneapolis at 6:30pm. It's a great time, anyone can participate, and they do NOT require you to be good at drawing or writing. Just bring your creative juices (and fruit pectin).

Side note: I've been informed that last night's comic will be part of a gallery show at Altered Esthetics called "Happy Holidaze" which will run Dec 4-20th.

Trying on other peoples' shoes

It's true: you can never really know what it's like for someone until you're (metaphorically) standing in their shoes.

Nothing says class like a nylon track suit and a tie

Feel free to replace the tie with a bolo or ascot.

Name/Job correlation?

My mother likes to joke that everyone in IT is named Dave. As it turns out, I've never worked with anyone named Dave. Not in IT, not outside of IT that I can remember.

However, I've found that working in the financial sector I'm currently working in the same office as 6 Michaels. There are a total of 7 in the company. Does working in finance attract people of a certain name? Are there other jobs that seem to attract more of one name than others?

Maybe there's just an over-abundance of Michaels in the area.

Feeling poor? Just convert a 5 dollar bill into Zimbabwe Dollars

Right now, the Zimbabwe Dollar is worth a whopping 0.00000000005353 USD. So go ahead and exchange some of your money, heck, even a penny, for millions of Zimbabwe Dollars!

And for some delightfully depressing reading, check out Dr. Gono's statement on the current state of monetary affairs in Zimbabwe. It makes you long for the Weimar Republic!

The (Really, Really) Dark Knight

I was going to write a long review of The Dark Knight, but since Michael Sragow already wrote it for me, here's a link.

For those who don't want to read the whole thing: it's a good film that's constantly dragged down by being too preachy and serious.

To note: This is not to suggest that the acting, cinematography, or directing was poor, just the script.

New York City?!

Get the rope.

Actually, get me stuff to do! I'm heading to NYC from July 24th-29th. I'll be hanging out with my sister some of the time, but during work hours on the weekdays I'll likely be on my own. I'm sure I'll go hit all the museums and such, but I want to hear about cool places to go and things to do that are rarely (if ever) in a guidebook.

Lay it on me, while I go get me some Texas salsa.

My perfect cup of coffee at work

I'll admit it: I'm cheap. If I can get free food, I'll take it. So if I have the choice between free hot coffee and pay-for cold soda, I'll take the coffee. The problem here is that I don't like hot coffee very much. I do, however, love iced coffee.

There are a few ways to make iced coffee, the easiest is to just drop a bunch of ice in a hot cup of joe and be done with it. This is terrible, unless you like weak, diluted coffee.

I take a long, drawn out route, but the results are exactly what I crave (and it's free). Here's how I do it:

1) Pour hot coffee into mug (I prefer less caffeine, so it's half decaf and half regular)
2) Add sugar to taste [optional]
3) Stir the heck out of the coffee while you work until it's cooled
4) Place mug into refrigerator until cold (10 minutes)
5) Place mug into freezer until really cold (5 minutes or so)
6) Enjoy!

Although the entire process takes over an hour (using a nice coffee mug hinders the cooling process a lot), what comes out at the end is a perfectly strong, ice cold cup of coffee.

So tell me, coffee drinkers, what laborious route do you take for your perfect cup of joe?

Yvonne's Original No Streaks Microfiber Cloth

I recently attended the Back To The 50's car show at the Minnesota State Fair grounds. At one of the vendor booths there was a simple product called "Yvonne's Original No Streaks Microfiber Cloth." They had a plain old window, a bucket of water, and one of their cloths. My father and I tested them. I even had the guy wipe my glasses with them. It appeared that the product worked! We were guaranteed that the product would live up to our expectations, or our money back.

I decided the best test would be on my bathroom mirror. It needed a little cleaning anyhow. I did a thorough cleaning with my trusty sponge. My mirror looked beautiful and streak-free. Then I did a very simple wipe with the cloth (lightly damp, as directed). My mirror looked exactly the same. I wasn't disappointed, but the fact that my sponge was just as good left me feeling like I'd been had.

But that was only part 1 of my experiment.

Part 2 involves the one thing that always kills a beautiful window: fog. Every time I clean my car, I'm always thrilled at the results...until it gets too humid out. Then I can't see anything but streaks. So to simulate this, I closed my bathroom door and started a hot shower. This is really where the truth comes out. My sponged side was the usual, broad, flat strokes of streaks. And Yvonne's Original No Streaks Microfiber Cloth?

Well, I guess you can't call them streaks. But the promise on the package of "spot free" isn't exactly accurate. The way water dries from the cloth wipe is in tiny little specks of water. Each and every one of these comes out when the glass gets foggy.

Was this better or worse then my sponge? That's a good question. Initially, the microfiber side looked like it wasn't even picking up the fog; it was amazing! The space between the specks was clean and clear. As the fog became more dense, the broad, flat streaks from the sponge became evenly covered in moisture, whereas the specks from the microfiber cloth stuck around. In the end, I was more easily able to see myself in the half of the mirror that the sponge had wiped.

The final verdict? Although these cloths are not pope-sanctioned miracles, they do provide ease of use and protection against minor fogging. I'd recommend them to anyone who is looking for a simple solution to cleaning glass, but doesn't need to polish camera lenses for a trip to the rainforest.

Update: I own a professional-grade CRT monitor that has a glass coating on it that's very delicate. This has always been very hard to clean properly, because you can't use anything but water, and even then you don't want to accidentally short the tube. Yvonne's cloth cleaned off all the fingerprints, left the coating intact, and a quick wipe with a cotton cloth made my monitor look like new. It was worth it right there.