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FYI, there's already a 192kbps mp3 in circulation out there (if you know where to look) of the new Rush single, ripped from the promo single. Sounds miles better than the one recorded off the radio that's also out there, and doesn't have the goofy DJ nonsense at the end.
You can also hear it streamed at what appears to be the official site.
Well, the new iBook has arrived, and I must say it is pretty sweet. Popped they keyboard to add 256MB more RAM and discovered that one of the screws holding the RAM shield in place was screwed down so tight that I couldn't get it to move at all. Took it in to the Apple Store at Woodfield to have a Genius look at it and they weren't able to make any progress, so I gave Apple support a call and they're sending a box on Monday. I'll be glad to let them strip the threads rather than doing it myself.
Luckily, I hadn't moved anything over from the iMac to the iBook, so there's really nothing to back up before I send it off.
Information was release yesterday about the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring DVDs. Even the two disc version looks pretty sweet.
Cue the Stravinsky, spring is here.
Things are kind of slow in the online department here. Waiting for the 2.0 release of Movable Type. Once that happens, perhaps I'll get around to doing a little template redesign. I really like the three-column CSS look at iBlog. Need to sit down with some printouts and see where the MT tags need to go and what I'd like things to look like.
Thinking of buying a iBook soon. Selling off the comic collection today, then need to sell my old PowerBook 540c, then I think I should be set.
Don't remember how I came across this site, but there's a Web site devoted to the history of the Chicago L, which I take to work nearly every day.
Geddylee.net has some info and a picture from what I'm guessing is the press kit for Vapor Trails. Looks like they're having fun.
The official press release is up at CDNow.com. Can't wait.
Another good copyright article at nytimes.com: Piracy, or Innovation? It's Hollywood vs. High Tech.
A quote from Andy Grove of Intel: "Is it the responsibility of the world at large to protect an industry whose business model is facing a strategic challenge?" he said in an interview. "Or is it up to the entertainment industry to adapt to a new technical reality and a new set of consumers who want to take advantage of it?"
Official word: the new Rush album is entitled: Vapor Trails. There's also an unofficial tracklist available at Jam!Showbiz. I'm a bit skeptical of the tracklisting, but I've got May 14 marked on my calendar.
I've been hearing little bits of Luther Wright and the Wrong's bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd's The Wall on WXRT the last couple of days. Pretty funny, but also well done.
Today is unusual musical selections day at work. Or, as a tip of the hat to Laurie Anderson, Difficult Listening Hour. Today's selections, in no particular order are: Eurythmics: 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), Jon Anderson: Olias of Sunhillow, and The Orb: Orbscure Trax: The Rare Excursions, which is even autographed (2 Jim, mit Lieben in 97 @ last! LX. P.)
Somebody at Salon.com is a big fan of Prince's Sign O' the Times album, and calls it the last great double album. I found it hard to believe that they didn't even mention the Black Album at all, which sort of goes hand-in-hand with some of the Sign material.
Good article at Salon.com about the entertaiment industry, your computer, music, and copyright, among other things. Worth a read for a good overview.
The "new" Cars CD, The Cars: Complete Greatest Hits is quite good, much better than their previous Greatest Hits collection. All it needs is A Dream Away and I'd have no complaints.
The new Los Lobos CD, Good Morning Aztlán, is in the can and will be released on June 4.
There's a new novel by Banana Yoshimoto, Goodbye Tsugumi, coming out soon (Spring, according to the publisher's site, August according to Amazon). I've been a fan of her writing ever since I bought a copy of Kitchen several years ago.
Decent article at MSNBC on the state of the music business.
Steve Jobs has a good reply to Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who took computer makers and the internet to task for fostering music and copyright piracy.
Who is surprised that blank CDs outsold recorded ones last year? A spindle of 100 usually costs less than $50. What percentage of the market buys more than 50 music CDs a year, besides Adam?
Some good stories/info at Wired as well.
I'd like to be able to buy MP3s of specific songs, and not have to track down a used copy of a CD just to get one song. Who wouldn't?
Yup, Schoolhouse Rock is coming out on DVD this August 27th.
I should really pick up Say Anything, which was released today. There's commentary from Cameron Crowe, John Cusak, and Ione Skye. Then again, I should also watch the Bootleg Edition of Almost Famous and poke around the High Fideltity DVD as well.
Looks like there's lots of ice on Mars.
Scientists have managed to contact Pioneer 10, which is on its way to Aldebaran. Pioneer 10 was lanuched 30 years ago and is currently about 7.4 billion miles away right now, and has only about two million years left to go.
The Space Shuttle's fixing up the Hubble space telescope.
And finally, don't forget the Astronomy Picture of the Day. Always something good there or in the archives.