A few things that happened in the past month or so

My blogging has been a little sparse lately, so here's a quick catch up...

I had some great chocolate pie on Thanksgiving

Then I went to the Clinton Library in Little Rock



Then school was over and we had a percussion party (with DDR, of course)


Then I went to Mississippi and met Justin's new kitten, Beatrix Kiddo

Then I went to my grandparents for Christmas Dinner


Then I had a lovely cup of tea at my parents house as a very creepy audio-animatronic Santa looked on

My mom gave Liana a giant Yoda Pez dispenser. (She was very excited)



Then on Christmas Day, I took a nap with Harry.


Oh, and I've been listening to Liana practice that new bass guitar!

First Bass

It is Christmas Day and the trip has gone well so far. A visit to Mississippi as well as numerous stops in Georgia.

Perhaps the most exciting news is Liana's gift. She will soon be rocking hard with her new Les Paul bass and Fender amp. This is a pic of her trying it out at the music store.

Over the River, etc....

I'm off to visit friends and family for a few days. I'll post from the road about the exciting adventures that take place. I'll be in Mississippi tonight and then on to Georgia.

B

Sony Blows It

A record company has once again decided to punish those that pay full price for their CDs. If you are a "music pirate" and want to "steal" the music, you'll know the simple workaround to accomplish your task. Law abiding citizens, however, will have their computer infected with a program that will allow "internet baddies" access to your computer (and limit your ability to listen to and legally copy the songs you paid for).

Seems like a bad idea, right?. For example, a few weeks ago I had heard a lot of good buzz about the new Neil Diamond CD 12 Songs. It also got a great review in Rolling Stone. So, I head out to buy it. I can't find it anywhere. I think to myself..."Wow, with such great buzz for the album, Sony really should have sent out more copies." Turns out that I should have been thinking..."Wow, the people that run Sony are idiots. If they hadn't had to recall all of those CDs, I would have dropped 16 bucks for it."

So, this buggy digital rights managemant software cost them sales, it cost them to recall the discs, cost them to reissue bug free copies, cost them the good will of their customers(and their artists), cost them to create fixes for already infected computers, etc. And, it didn't stop anyone who knew to hold down SHIFT key while they loaded the CD from doing whatever they wanted.

Neil Diamoind, with great reviews and currently on tour, must be incredibly upset about the whole thing. While I would have bought the CD that day, the delay has allowed my "Diamond Fever" to subside and also made me not that interested in buying anything from Sony for a while. (Note: I don't think that Mr. Diamond is upset about me specifically not buying his CD, but by the fact that this same scene played out time and again around the country. And, like any good artist, he's probably upset that his fans who bought the CD the minute it came out may have already had their computers compromised.)

SonyBMG made some interesting choices in what to "protect". That includes the Art Blakey CD Drum Suit and a Flatt and Scruggs CD called Foggy Mountain Jamboree. Is bluegrass piracy really a hige problem? Maybe it is...but it seems unlikely. And while it is unfortunate, there just aren't millions of college students on high speed networks trading Art Blakey sound files.

Here's a list of CD's that you shouldn't put in your computer. By the time it's over, the list will probably be much longer.The link is to a SonyBMG page. They aren't crazy about publicizing the flaw, so it could vanish at any time.
PSI & PARCELINK RETURNS ON THE WEB | Reason / Action

For a partial roundup of stories about this situation, visit this link at BoingBoing.net
Boing Boing: Sony Rootkit Roundup IV

Guitar Picker

If you like guitars (or just want to see something cool) check this link out. I found the link at http://musicthing.blogspot.net

Guitar Picker

Here's one for the percussionists out there

Hand Drums

"My head is empty and I long for another bite of baklava"

It's not exactly "breaking news" but I have recently discovered that the DVD box set for Chick Corea's 60th birthday concerts at the Blue Note is out. It's 90 bucks for the whole box. That seems like a lot, but it's only nine dollars per disc. The lineup includes the Akoustic Band with Weckl, the Three Quartet group with Gadd, the Now He Sings, Now he Sobs group with Roy Haynes, duets with Gary Burton and, of course, a lot of the other great players from CC's past and present (Bobby McFerrin, Miroslav Vitous, Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride, John Patitucci, Avishai Cohen, Jeff Ballard, Steve Wilson, Steve Davis, Tim Garland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gomez).

You can watch the trailer for the box set here. It is not a very well edited trailer and the interview segments with Chick, his bandmates, and his audience members are pretty bad as well. But, occasionally they will make you laugh (I'm not trying to be mean, just honest). The first 3 minutes or so of the trailer are quite confusing and you may be tempted to stop watching. But...don't! The trailer does include a good bit of footage from the concerts and gives you a chance to see some of the amazing footage.

So, check it out. I'm lucky enough to have an amazon.com gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket (and I've got to spend it on something). If you're not so lucky, then get your school library, your local library, or your rich friend to buy it.