Just one more day. Can I make it? I hope so. Amazon.com says my STEREO and MONO box sets will arrive on 9/9/9, via Next Day mail. Now I’m refreshing my order status page every few minutes, just waiting for the “order shipped” notice. Supposedly Amazon is also sending an email. I’ll be waiting.
Right now I’m listening to She’s Leaving Home by The Beatles
Update 09.08.09: Both MONO and STEREO box sets have been shipped. STEREO by FedEx and MONO by UPS. I won’t be posting here for at least a week… will be too busy listening to Beatles music:)
With the new release of The Beatles remasters, there is some new, high-quality album art going around– and Amazon.com has it! However, they don’t offer a direct link to it, and you have to use a JavaScript zoom feature to see it. However, the zoom window is much too small for high quality art for your tunes.
The solution? Edit the code yourself.
In a couple easy steps you can have high quality, at least 800 x 800 (depending on your screen resolution) artwork for your new Beatles albums. If you choose to buy digitally (when that happens), you’ll get the art and won’t need this. But if you plan on buying the actual CD, you may need the artwork.
Here’s how to do it.
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I will preface this article by saying I’m not a Michael Jackson fan, just a very casual listener to a select few of his songs. Like many kids growing up during the 1980s, I was subjected to his music and influence on popular culture. Although not an avid MTV viewer (1993 not withstanding), I did manage to see all his videos at one time or another– at least the classic ones. And although his music is not something I “got into,” I did a lot of singing around the house of some of his hits, including Beat It, Thriller, and Billie Jean.
This article is really just about my feelings and recollections of what I thought of Michael Jackson and what I have to say about this life and death. I did purchase the three aforementioned songs on iTunes in preparation for this article. I imagine with Jackson not around anymore to spend his own money, his debts may get paid off sooner than most people think. As of now, his personal debt has been estimated to be as much as $400 million or more. After that, I’m sure the family, record labels, lawyers, and a slew of others will be in court fighting over rights to his name, likeness, and music. Vultures.
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It’s 15 years and counting. It seems that every year or so, I put up a post about Kurt Cobain, either on a birthday or a death anniversary. I’ve already posted countless times about my feelings, what Nirvana and Cobain meant to me, etc. If you really want to know, use the sidebar search and type “Cobain.”
This year, I’d just like to reprint an article I grabbed off of Prodigy, and put up a screenshot of a Prodigy Poll at the time. I guess people were more wrong than they thought.
If you discover one thing in life, I hope it’s that nothing in life is worth taking your life. Giving up should never be an option. Suicide is a very selfish act and a cheap way to go out. Euthynasia and medical interests not withstanding, anything can be overcome.
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The Rover by Led Zeppelin
Just sitting here listening to iTunes. The song happens to be “The Rover” by Led Zeppelin. I have the remastered studio set. To me, this song sounds like it has a bit of noise on the recording, especially towards the end and beginning. You can hear audible tape hiss.
I can hear Cheap Trick and even ACDC in here.
I used to have a FREE Song Of The Week, but stopped that long ago. But in keeping with that tradition, every time I talk about a song I’ll post it here in MP3, 256 Kbps goodness.
See the Wiki entry for this song.
Enjoy!
Don’t forget, you can get high-res album art for this CD and many other in the Album Art (.mac Gallery). If you have a Mac and iPhoto, you can subscribe to the gallery and get instant updates as they are added!
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50 years is 600 months is 18,250 days is 438,000 hours is 26,280,000 minutes is 1,576,800,000 seconds. Buddy Holly took his last breath 50 years ago today. His last chord was strummed 600 months ago. Three generations have passed but the music still lives on. Even after his short career and tragic death, Buddy Holly helped shaped the path of Rock ‘N Roll forever. Elvis Presley may be the King of Rock ‘N Roll entertainers, but Buddy is the King of Rock ‘N Roll.
A Different Tale
The story of Buddy Holly is a tragic one, but a story shared with many a Rock legend– a rocker who started with nothing, but left with everything– far too soon. But unlike Hendrix, Cobain, Joplin, or Morrison, Holly didn’t contribute to his own demise. To the contrary, he was pushing the limits of recording technology and inventing new sounds. Holly was a pioneer during his time, in that he actually could write, sing, arrange, and play his own instruments. Each of these steps usually was performed by a specialist of the music industry. Rarely were artists so involved in their craft as Holly was. In two short years, Buddy Holly invented a sound that has lasted 50 years on.
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With the release of iPhone 2.0 firmware, applications can now be run on the iPhone (legally). One app I love and see room for even more functionality is the remote control app, released by Apple. It allows you to control your Apple TV library and iTunes library. Once your library is added, you can visually see a list of all content, and can choose it just as you would when watching on your iPhone, except when hitting play, it will play on your source (Apple TV / iTunes Player).
I was hoping for a full replacement of the current Apple remote, but there is no option to replace the buttons found on the Apple remote, specifically the menu, play, and directional buttons (volume up/down, rewind/forward). So as it is now, I have to use my “real” remote if I want to move around in the menu system of the Apple TV, such as changing preferences or searching. I was really hoping to be able to search YouTube much easier on my Apple TV. Hopefully the next version will bring all my wants to the app.
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John Lennon was murdered 27 years ago tonight. On December 8, 1980, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the loss of such a gifted and talented artist. Some 27 years on, I am. Aside from Kurt Cobain, a puzzle piece of my generation, musically, there was no other person I admired more than John Lennon.
My only connection to John Lennon in the physical world is an autographed thank you card, signed by Yoko Ono, I received way back in high school. I sent a letter and some money for purchase of flowers in his memory. I received a thank you card, and I can’t remember if I received the money back. I am pretty sure she did send the money back. For some reason, the card was ripped, and all that is left is a portion of the card where she signed it.
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Boy, does this album ever sound good. This is the perfect time to listen to this album. A good album is like a book; stimulating your sense of sound, as well your sense of perception and state of mind. The remastered CD sounds brilliant, so crisp and fluid.
Sounds of Silence was recorded in December 1965 at CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Bob Johnston.
Where have all the good albums gone?
Today I quietly ventured out of my seclusion to secure a copy of the long over-due DVD release of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged. The DVD is being released 14 years after it was recorded live in New York. Click here to read all about it.
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