Rantings of An 80s Nut: January 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Apostro-frustration

I'd been thinking about this for quite some time and it has taken me long enough to come to the decision that I need to eliminate apostrophes from some of my web sites. Yes, I'm staring at Rantings Of An 80's Nut above and it is a strong reminder of the error I have perpetuated. There are several reasons for this.

Visually, I think that I started using 80's because it just looks good yet the apostrophe is supposed to serve the dual purpose of standing in for something or showing possession. Not that music (or a nut) belonging to the decade is inappropriate. Grammatically, '80s or 80s is more appropriate. Since the ' in front of it kind of looks goofy (to me that is), I will be making the adjustment throughout my online work.

Another reason to make the change is that an assortment of errors arise from the current usage. If you check your current favorites area, you probably will see a messed up listing. Heck, the apostrophe in "80's Music Central" sometimes comes out like "& # 3 9 ;" which squished together are the html representation but in this form isn't visually attractive. I was able to rectify it on certain pages but I don't like having to chase down the issue.

The other concern is how it shows up in search terms. I like to search under 80's with hopes to see things like my site pop up higher in placement but from that search you will get a mixed bag that do not have the same spelling in their title. 80s would streamline the search criteria (even though I should probably add '80s, 80's and eighties in the meta tags.)

So, I'm off to start making some changes. (Heck, you can see that they've already been made above.) Here's hoping it helps and that it gets my feet back on the right path. Ahhh, the other reason that I'm making those changes... Ryan (a listener and frequent caller to the show) has made an offer to help redesign the page. For this, I'm humbled. But, the time couldn't be better to make the adjustments.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Bad Commercial Songs That Are Written Too Well

I can't really describe why but my favorite series of commercials right now are the ones from FreeCreditReport.com. I think that I finally noticed it from the latest one. So, for my own collection purposes, I'm posting them in order of recent to first.

I guess they are doing well enough to have spoofs that are popping up on YouTube.

Can We Print It?

I think my problem with current economic thought is the Bob The Builder attitude of "Can we fix it? Yes we can!" For those wondering what I'm talking about, see what some of our current presidential candidates are saying: Clinton, McCain, Obama, Huckabee, Edwards, Giuliani and Romney. The current president has a plan. The leaders of the House and Senate are working with him on it to make it a reality. Let's just say there are a whole lot of plans out there. If the current leadership (executive and legislative branches) pass the one being discussed, everyone will be taking out a loan for $800 or $1,600 for couples (now dropped to $600 each with an additional $300 per child.)

Why do I say 'loan'? I believe that is the best way to describe accepting money from China or your children (and children's children) that needs to be given back somehow. With a deficit, money has to come from somewhere. We don't have a bank account full of all the tax money sent to the government... it's empty. To keep it from becoming an entire black hole, more money is printed which drops the value of what is out there. Economic law of scarcity reversed. This inflates the prices of items purchased abroad as they track our international borrowing and spending by our politicians. These debts no doubt will be passed on to our children.

Yet, for some reason, there is a belief that each of us would spend $800 (updated to $600) each on items that could increase production here in the U.S. to spur growth. Yet, it's hard enough to find items just produced in the U.S. and most people would probably just pay it to their home loans (that just so happen to be secured by foreign investors.) I also have trouble believing that it will happen soon. Even if an economic stimulus program were agreed to this week, we'd see it at the earliest in May. I'd expect even later seeing as how tweaking things often slows something else down. Heck, the recent changes to tax legislation by Congress will be delaying tax returns for early filers. I'm thinking that they need time to print the money.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Life Update: 011708

I feel really bad that I haven't posted anything in a bit. Ever had 12 posts in your head that you know you'd like to write about but can't decide which one to do and find yourself without the time once you think you can type something up. So, I figured that using the common link of procrastination, I can whittle down some of those... life update time.

I seem to get a lot of gift cards during the holidays. This isn't bad but I believe my indecisiveness (when asked "Anything you need/want for ?") is infectious.

One bad thing about the winter months when you have a desert landscape is that the plants die back. So, as I type right now, I know I need to go outside to cut some little branches and used the leaf blower. Do I really want to do that in the cold weather, though.

By the end of last year, I had the last 5 episodes of Talking 80s Music mapped out and organized. This year... not so much. I need to get at least a week ahead of myself to allow me to contact a few of the possible subjects in hopes of getting an interview in here or there. Well, last night I spent several hours working out possible episodes that includes music by Tommy Tutone, Cutting Crew, T'Pau, Tony Carey, Glenn Tilbrook and a few others you might not have heard of (24/7 Spyz, 54-40, The Samples and Curiosity Killed The Cat). Scheduling one now allows me to contact the possible next in line to arrange an interview but doing an episode without an interview prevents me from featuring them (even with an interview) for quite some time.

One of the gift cards that I received for Christmas 2006 was from my father to aid in the purchase of a new suit. Usually, you don't want to buy a suit when you aren't at the weight you plan to wear it at. I also have never been good about buying nice clothes for myself (comfortable clothes rock.) Anyhow, I gave in and finally purchased the suit last week.

Having a Tivo in the bedroom works really well for catching up on shows while I'm doing web work. Having a DVR in the living room doesn't aid in multi-tasking. I think that's why I have one full season of Battlestar Galactica sitting on there that I want to see but haven't. I feel like I have to afford the time to go watch something there. Maybe, I need to run a long cable from the living room to my bedroom to watch some of those.

I get some emails that I don't answer right away. I like to tell myself that I'm thinking my response over. Then it gets to be a day or two and I feel like I should have written back by now. I have 3-6 of those in one of my email addresses right now. I guess that if it was urgent, I'd be all over it.

I handed Kerry my gift card collection. Remember how I mentioned that I get them? Well, I don't run off an purchase things just because I have a card. A few are from over a year ago. What made me turn them over? Probably when I noticed that two of the gift certificates that I had were for restaurants that were now closed.

Finally made my decision on party affiliation. I think it happened when former Libertarian presidential candidate/current Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul had people in my neighborhood. There were about 5 days until the (30-day) cut-off allowing party change prior to the caucus. Of course, I missed it because I procrastinated. So, I can't claim to be a Republitarian as of yet.

I really should go work on that yard. Need to accomplish something today before work.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Living On Video

I have been thinking that with all the gadgets that I own, I don't have one of these. I don't think that I was ever really interested in making films previously. Sure, I would be the one to hold the family's camcorder during Christmas to record their reactions when opening gifts. But, I can't say that I was directing anything... if anything, I felt it was easier being behind the camera than in front of it. So, I guess that is why I find it funny that I'm considering one of these in the near future.

Why would I do that? Well, I started thinking (which is where a majority of bad ideas start), I'm writing and doing podcasts... what about video blogging. The whole thought revolved around, one of my favorite hobbies, browsing the CD racks for new and old releases. I wondered, what would it be like to take people along with me. Maybe work a deal with Best Buy to allow me to film as I shop (might mean specific time of day) or talk to used CD stores.

Anyhow, it's a work in progress (at least mentally before financially.) I've been doing some research on camcorders at cnet.com and consumerreports.org. The variety (Mini-DV, disc-based, hard-drive-based, flash memory-based and "hybrids"... which I guess save electricity, are light and don't accelerate well -- like the cars) and quality levels just leave me shaking my head. Should be interesting which way I go with it. I'd also like to get some video of David as he grows up. I think it would be great to remind him that he currently runs around the house making dolphin and motor noises 10 to 20 years from now when he has someone special in his life.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Classically Martin: Frōzen Ghōst

I know that most people outside of Canada haven't heard of them but Frōzen Ghōst has a history and pedigree that you can't ignore. You see, 40% of a successful act went and started the band in 1987 while another 40% formed a band called Alias (also a very good group.) What successful act did they spawn from? Click here to find out.

I found the group through a tape made in about 1988 for me by my friend Phil that I mentioned awhile back. I was so enamored by the music and the name that I adopted it as a user name/handle when online and even set up my a BBS called the Phantom Zone around the persona during the time (before changing it the the Covert System BBS.) The band did very well in their Canadian homeland releasing 3 albums before calling it a day in 1993 and their singles even spawned a Essential collection in 2005. I can't say what exactly drew me to them but I think it has a lot to do with the songwriting and production. Very raw and emotional. So with that all said... here are a few videos by the band from their self-titled debut album. (I'd also recommend hearing "Dream Come True" from their follow-up.)

Should I See